Breaking Up With the Heroine in an Otome Game

25 – Side Quest Dungeon Exploration Failure and Strategy (5)

25

Dungeon.

It is a kind of ‘monster den’ that has appeared all over the world since an unprecedented cataclysm occurred in human history.

The name of the Yeongdeungsan dungeon in the game is ‘Crazy Wizard Kate’s Laboratory.’

In the past, a wizard named Kate discovered a dungeon and conducted an experiment by capturing humans and monsters and combining them into one creature.

Kate set up traps and released monsters inside the dungeon to prevent intrusion from outside, making it like a fortress.

The performance of the dungeon was so good that the heroes already failed once while trying to conquer it.

Especially traps.

A trap with falling rocks, a trap with the floor collapsing, a trap with tentacles rising up, a trap with the ceiling sinking, a trap that moves people randomly…….

In the dungeon of Mt. Yeongdeung, traps can be considered more dangerous than monsters.

But, yeah.

A trap really shows its true value only when you don’t know about it, right?

What would happen if you enter the dungeon without knowing most of its structure, traps, monsters, equipment, devices, etc.?

“Wait a minute.”

While seven people were exploring the inside of the Yeongdeungsan dungeon, following the footsteps of the advance team.

“Stay here for a moment.”

Lee Jin-hyuk, who was following along while carefully looking around, suddenly called out to people.

Oh Jeong-nam and Park Sang-cheol stopped walking and looked behind them.

Why am I suddenly calling you?

“Why are you doing this?”

“Would you like to take a look over there?”

Lee Jinhyuk nodded and pointed to the ground a little away.

The personnel turned their gaze towards the ground and realized that something that looked like a rectangular tile was very, very slightly protruding.

“I think that’s a trap.”

“Oh, yes?”

Oh Jeong-nam, who was at the forefront of identifying the presence of traps and taking responsibility for the safety of team members, looked straight into Jin-hyuk Lee’s face.

Trap?

This passage has already passed through the advance team once.

Also, Oh Jeong-nam, who was a scout, found nothing.

An academy trainee who has just entered Union found a trap that a veteran could not find?

“If you look closely, you can see a structural device in the gap in the floor. “I think it’s a trap that gets triggered if you step on it.”

“… ….”

Oh Jeong-nam frowned slightly.

Are you saying that you were able to identify that small gap with the naked eye?

I felt a little suspicious, but I slowly looked at the ground again just in case.

Then, as Jinhyuk Lee said, I was able to realize that there was an unknown mechanical device between the very slightly opened gaps.

He led the team by checking them one by one, but this was the fault of Oh Jeong-nam, who was in charge of scouting.

If he had continued to walk like this, one of the team members following him would have fallen into a trap.

“Ah…… “I’m sorry, I guess I didn’t look properly.”

“No. “This was a place that the advance team passed by without noticing, and it was so dark that it was difficult to see.”

No matter what Oh Jeong-nam thought, the trap was so secretly hidden that it was difficult to detect.

If I had searched very thoroughly, I might have been able to find it, but since I knew that the advance party had already passed safely, I unconsciously seemed to have looked a little less.

“But student Jinhyeok?”

“Yes?”

“You have great insight, don’t you? “How did you find that in such a dark place?”

Lee Jin-hyuk found out what professional Oh Jeong-nam had missed, and it was by no means hurting his pride, but he asked questions out of pure curiosity.

Lee Jin-hyuk was mentioned as an archer, and since Union has a lot of talented people, he may have had a better sense of vision than Oh Jeong-nam.

But.

“I saw the video from the squad’s body cam. So I was able to understand it to some extent.”

“Oh, really?”

Jinhyuk Lee’s answer was a little unexpected.

It’s a body cam… ….

Oh Jeong-nam also saw that?

“No, I saw that too, but it wasn’t a good enough video to detect a trap device or something?”

“Ah. That? “After upscaling the video, I increased the brightness as much as possible and searched for each frame individually.”

“Yes?”

“After searching, I found about 108 places that looked a little suspicious, and I understand that among them, the places that were most likely to be traps were submitted as separate data and passed on to you.”

“Oh, yes. That… ….”

“It’s okay. Even if it were me, I probably wouldn’t have paid much attention anyway. “It was a place where the advance team had already passed, and the data was analyzed by an aspiring hero like me who didn’t know much about the field.”

Looking at the face of Lee Jin-hyuk, who spoke so kindly, Oh Jeong-nam was slightly impressed in his heart.

Of course, watching videos all day and memorizing them required a lot of concentration and memorization.

What’s more, you just memorized 108 places suspected of being traps?

It was quite surprising that Lee Jin-hyuk, who had never been here before, could point out a place he had memorized right away in this dark dungeon, no matter how much he used a lantern to illuminate his vision.

Now that I think about it, I heard that this guy’s theory score was very excellent.

I thought he was a kid who studied really hard, so much so that he was accepted into the best hero training institution in Korea with just one written score.

Isn’t it for no reason that I was accepted into Union with a poor practical score?

‘This is your first dungeon exploration, and it looks like you put in quite a bit of effort.’

Oh Jeong-nam nodded his head alone and was convinced, not convinced.

This was because there were various types of geeks and geniuses in this world.

For example, remembering something you see once in an instant, or calculating dozens of digits at once.

Once upon a time, I had seen Oh Jeong-nam once in the Gaonnuri clan.

A person with perfect memory ability.

Because of this, Oh Jeong-nam did not think it was a big deal.

But after some time.

“Kkiss, ss, ss!”

“Kkii, kiiiii, kiiiii.”

“Confirmation of red vampire bats ahead.”

Bat monsters flying powerfully from afar.

It flapped its large wings and rushed towards the companions.

The sharp molars seemed ready to bite the skin and suck out the blood.

“Everyone ready for battle.”

Han Seo-woo gripped the whip tightly.

It was not a powerful monster, but it was numerous.

Because it was a flying animal, it has good mobility and can instantly regenerate wounds through its blood-sucking ability, so it can waste a lot of stamina if it fights without thinking.

“Uncle Sangcheol, aggro from the front…… ?”

Was it that time?

“Wait a minute, you!”

All of a sudden, Jinhyuk Lee was spraying something similar to a spray into the air.

Seo Woo frowned at Lee Jin-hyuk’s sudden behavior and quickly tried to dissuade him.

What on earth is that guy doing?!

“Don’t do anything useless, get over here quickly…” … Yes?”

But what is this?

“Kik, eh? Ehh, eh?!

“Keeek?! Grumbling…… !”

“Kkiik! “Hey!”

Aren’t the red vampire bats that rushed in like arrows flapping their wings in pain?

Some bats were unable to flap their wings properly and hit their heads on stalactite-like surfaces! And collided with it.

The bats fell to the floor, spattering blood, and soon their whole bodies were shaking.

The rest of the bats went on a 36-step run.

“No, what is this…” … ?”

I was very embarrassed by the current situation, but like a veteran, I first disposed of all the surviving bats and then approached Jinhyuk Lee and said,

“What on earth did you do? Why are they like that…….”

“Red vampire bats have a very developed sense of smell, so they are vulnerable to the smell of certain chemicals.”

“What?”

“Just as humans react much more sensitively to a substance called geosmin than other animals, and no matter how much you dilute it, those vampire bats over there are much more sensitive to certain chemicals than other creatures… ….”

“No, wait, wait.”

Han Seo-woo waved his hand at Lee Jin-hyuk’s sudden explanation.

“How do you know that?”

“I saw it in a paper a while ago.”

“Thesis?”

“Yes. This is a paper presented by Professor Seok-yeon Koo two days ago…… This is a detailed account of the biological evolution of red vampire bats and the resulting characteristics and dynamics. It came from there.”

“Huh.”

Han Seo-woo was embarrassed.

What is he saying now?

I read a paper related to vampire bats a while ago and discovered their weakness?

It is surprising that a very busy Union Hero trainee was reading useless papers. How could he have expected a red vampire bat to appear?

“How did you know there would be a red vampire bat? “It’s a monster that wasn’t even in the investigation by the advance team?”

“I didn’t know.”

Huh?

You didn’t know?

“I was just guessing.”

Lee Jinhyuk continued to chant in a calm voice.

“Based on the survey data of the selection team, considering the environment near Yeongdeungsan Mountain, temperature, humidity, topography, light and dark inside the dungeon, monsters, magic power concentration, size, native plants, etc., The types of monsters that can live in this environment are found. There are approximately 53 species.”

“Uh, um.”

“After abbreviating the most powerful monsters, I searched the Internet for their characteristics and countermeasures, looked up as many as I could, and became familiar with them.”

“Yeah, really?”

“Of course, I brought not only countermeasures against red vampire bats, but also items for other monsters.”

Suddenly, Jinhyuk Lee started taking out various items one by one from the backpack he had packed.

A flashlight with over 100,000 lumens, a high-frequency blaster, a 170-decibel binge-boosting device, lotus claw frog pheromone perfume, and more.

These were items that could be very effective against some of the monsters that were likely to appear in this dungeon.

“… ….”

No, I was wondering why you brought such a big bag.

Did you bring those things?

Han Seo-woo looked a little tired.

“Do these in one day? “You found everything, memorized it, and prepared it?”

“There were a lot of things I already knew, and more than anything, I was fortunate that Yoo Seol-hyeon prepared it quickly when I asked her to do it.”

Han Seo-woo was completely speechless.

“I heard you watched the body cam video earlier and memorized the places where there might be traps that you couldn’t find. “In one day.”

“Yes.”

Are you crazy?

How do you research and memorize all that in one day?

“They say it’s Yubi Muhwan, right? “It would be best to prepare as much as possible.”

“Hmm.”

“And the reason I didn’t tell you these things in advance was because I wasn’t sure that such monsters would come out and they might think I was strange for no reason.”

I can’t really say no.

‘Now that I think about it, you said that he had data that he had researched and compiled information on, right? There’s no way you could have done all that in one day. Did Yoo Seol-hyun give you information in advance when attacking the advance team?’

Anyway, there is nothing wrong with thorough preparation.

However, it is necessary to caution against self-indulgent behavior.

If you leave it alone, it may continue to behave as it pleases.

With such thoughts in mind, the moment Han Seo-woo slowly opens his mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

Jinhyuk Lee struck first.

“There is such a thing as team position, but I felt like I acted a little arbitrarily. “I was lucky this time and it was a disaster, but there is no way that will happen again next time.”

“…… Well, that’s right.”

“I’m sorry, Team Leader Han Seo-woo. From now on, I won’t move as I please.”

“…… Okay, that’s all you need to know.”

First of all, I can’t say anything because you keep your head down and say you were wrong.

Moreover, he discovered a trap that Oh Jeong-nam had missed earlier, and his behavior was quite clear, so it was enough to elicit the sympathy and sympathy of other team members.

Just like this.

“Oh, no, Jinhyuk Lee. Thanks to you, I was able to easily chase away the bats. Seowoo will understand. Yes?”

Park Sang-cheol, who had a good personality, was supportive.

Considering his usual personality, it was natural.

Also, if Lee Jin-hyuk had not discovered the trap earlier, the person who would step on it was Park Sang-cheol.

“Because this was my first time. “I hope you’ll be more careful in the future.”

When the wizard Erina shrugged her shoulders as if it was okay, Han Seo-woo couldn’t help but whet his appetite.

Because there would be nothing good to say in this atmosphere.

“What…… Then we regroup and move on.”

And again not long after.

“What is it this time?”

“This is the only way, and there is a door…” ….”

The team members stopped for a moment.

A large metal door was blocking the road.

Sangman numbers are displayed on the screen above the switchgear. What is this again? The team members were lost in thought.

5212 = 0

6202 = 2

9408 = 5

8102 = ?

*If you get it wrong more than 3 times, boom!

“Riddle? “Are you kidding me?”

“I heard that there is this type of dungeon, but it seems a bit artificial.”

“Should I just break the switchgear? If we do well, it might open?”

“Quit. “If you make a mistake, the door may break down.”

“Hmm. That door looks solid. “It seems like it will take quite a bit of time to break through, right?”

“Oh, I don’t know. “For me, using my brain is like rat poison.”

While everyone was talking about various things and exchanging opinions, Jinhyuk Lee took a step forward.

“I think I know the answer to this.”

“Huh?”

Han Seo-woo was a little surprised.

You solved that strange riddle?

Already?

“Can I try entering the correct answer?”

“Umm…… Well.”

Han Seo-woo glanced at the other team members and asked for their consent, and the other team members nodded as if they could do whatever they wanted.

I didn’t think I would find the right answer if I kept thinking about it anyway.

Also, not only did we have more than three opportunities, but we also had some expectations about what Jinhyuk Lee has shown so far.

“What is the correct answer?”

“I’m not sure, but it’s probably 3.”

“3? Why?”

Han Seo-woo expressed his doubts.

I have no idea why it is number 3.

“It’s easy if you think about the regularity of the riddle. “You can think of the hole in the number as 1.”

“Uh, really?”

“Yes. The numbers 0, 4, 6, and 9 have one hole, so 1. The number 8 has two holes, so 2, and so on.”

“Hmm… ….”

What can I say?

Was it really an intuitive problem?

Of course, I don’t know if it’s the right answer or not.

Han Seo-woo scratched his chin.

“I’ll try typing it in.”

Soon, Jinhyuk Lee entered the number 3 on the panel.

What does Han Seo-woo think as he looks at it? The moment I was thinking that.

Dude! And wouldn’t that be a large door opening?

Oh, it was really the correct answer?

“Is it true?”

“Honestly, it was a rather intuitive and one-dimensional puzzle, wasn’t it?”

“… ….”

Han Seo-woo pursed his lips.

No, she didn’t even have that one-dimensional thought.

The answer to the riddle itself was a bit vague, but anyway, what can Han Seo-woo say who couldn’t even guess anything?

“Anyway, the door is open, so should we keep going? “There are traces of the advance team being dragged all the way there.”

“…… Yeah, um. Let’s go.”

Han Seo-woo thought as he savored his appetite in his heart.

Honestly.

I thought it would be lucky if it didn’t get in the way.

I guess I need to change that thought a bit.

No, not a little, but a lot.

***

A wide open space.

Time for a little break.

Yoo Seol-hyeon and Lee Jin-hyuk spoke in a whisper at a little distance from their companions.

“Wow, how can I memorize such things in just one day?”

Well, it was strange that I could remember the details of the game I played in my past life.

Of course, there were quite a lot of things I forgot.

“Cook, cluck, good job. I read the paper in advance…… I cut the video into frames and memorized them…… “Although this excuse is a bit funny.”

“…… No, but the thesis is real. “Is it true that it was announced two days ago?”

“Yeah~? Cook.”

“Ah, but why does everyone just believe it? “If it were me, I would have looked at him like, ‘What kind of bullsh*t is that?’

“You got some medicine for being top in theory.”

“No, it’s still like cancer… ….”

Yoo Seol-hyeon, who had been watching Jin-hyuk Lee’s excuses that didn’t even seem to be his words, just chuckled and laughed.

You should at least use the information you found out through future predictions, Lee Jin-hyuk.

Isn’t it?