NOVEL NEXT chapter 27
27 – Site Quest Dungeon Exploration Failure and Strategy (7)
027
Trap.
It was a trap.
I was deliberately led into this large room.
I want to surround this room with monsters and prevent them from leaving this room.
“Queee!”
“Kir, rreuk! “Good luck!”
“Keee, eee, keee!”
“Krrr, rrr.”
Numerous monsters are rushing in like the tide.
Toothed ants.
White bell spider.
Poison dart lizard.
Blue claw frog, etc.
They are coming both from the opposite exit and the entrance.
They were not powerful monsters, but they were numerous.
Moreover, it was embossed, embossed.
‘I thought you couldn’t see it clearly until now, but were you preparing for a soul team fight?’
Of course, Jinhyuk Lee could not hide his embarrassment.
Why are there more than a dozen monsters attacking back and forth?
This is probably someone’s doing.
The most likely one is, of course, the boss of this dungeon.
This is the crazy wizard Kate.
I knew that games and reality are different, but I never thought it would come out this way.
But something is strange.
Isn’t there a setting where Kate can control common monsters?
Could it be that there was something Jinhyuk Lee didn’t know? Or is it a setting I forgot?
“Erina! Clear a path with one big hit! Sang-cheol and Jeong-nam enter after that! Baeksan plays the role of keeper in the center! Jinhyuk Lee and Seolhyun Yoo, don’t miss out and follow us!”
Han Seo-wu quickly gave orders to his teammates.
A large number of monsters attacked, but they were not strong enough to threaten one’s life, so if one dealt with them calmly, one could easily defeat them.
But the important thing now is not defeating those monsters.
Get out of this room.
There is not much time left until the forced random transmission trap is triggered.
Can you escape through all those monsters in a short period of less than a few minutes? I kept repeating this to myself, but honestly, I was a bit skeptical even when Han Seo-woo thought about it.
But you can’t just sit back and let go.
Han Si-woo shouted loudly.
“Erina now! “Shoot towards the exit!”
For Erina, whose specialty was support magic, powerful elemental magic was not very effective, but it was inevitable in order to clear the way.
“Magic Boost! Dragon Lighting!”
Erina, who was memorizing a spell, shouted her starter word.
At that moment, bluish electricity rushed through the dragon’s form like a beam of light, piercing through the swarming monsters.
“Kkkkkkkkkkk?!”
“Grrr?! Kku!?
Fifteen monsters burned to a dark color.
Like a black toaster toasted in the oven.
Smoke rose from all over my body.
“Huh, huh…… It has magical power…….”
Erina was breathing heavily.
It was the most powerful magic that could be used right now.
She lost strength because she had used up a lot of her stamina and magic power.
“Han, Han Seo-woo! Until that magic circle activates…… Wow, Wow, only 2 minutes left…… ! “We have to break through somehow!”
“Pfft! That’s easier said than done…… !”
Thanks to Erina, a small path has been cleared, but there are too many monsters blocking her path.
No sh*t, Han Seo-woo cursed in his heart.
More than fifty monsters are surrounding us.
How do you break through that in 2 minutes?
‘Damn it! ‘Why don’t you just force yourself to break through?’
If they pushed a little too hard, it could have worked out somehow, but there was a pretty high chance that Jinhyuk Lee and Seolhyeon Yoo would be left behind.
Moreover, Yoo Seol-hyeon was the third lady of the Gaonnuri clan, so any unfortunate incident should never have occurred.
That’s why I formed a team with this much strength…….
“Oh sh*t! Time is almost up…… !”
“Ha.”
In response to Erina’s cries, she only frowned.
‘What should I do?’
Even if the team members are scattered due to the random transmission trap, each team member has enough experience, skill, and ability to survive.
Also, just in case, we came equipped with a location tracking device so that we can know each other’s location even if we are separated, so we will be able to meet somehow.
But those kids…….
“Yoo Seol-hyun, Lee Jin-hyuk! Even if the location changes, stay still and hide in that spot! I’ll come find you soon, so don’t do anything useless, okay…… ?!”
Before Han Seo-woo finished speaking.
“Ugh?!
“Wait!”
“Aye!”
With the sound of the random transmission magic circle being activated, a white flash of light engulfed us.
In the light particles scattered brightly like the sun.
Jinhyuk Lee thought.
Did you simply let your guard down?
Or was there a setting you didn’t know about?
What variables arise from the difference between the game and reality?
Well, what is the reason?
I don’t know the reason, but one thing is certain: There is nothing Jinhyuk Lee can do in this situation.
If Jinhyuk Lee had been as strong as the rest of the team, wouldn’t he have been able to cope with these variables?
If it weren’t for the burden of Lee Jin-hyuk, he might have escaped.
But Jinhyuk Lee was weak.
So much.
***
‘Ugh, ugh.’
A strong flash of light steals Jinhyuk Lee’s vision.
My vision is blurry and I can’t see clearly.
I had to quickly secure my view because there might be a monster there, but I couldn’t come to my senses because of the pleasant stench that instantly stung my nostrils.
‘Wow, wow, what on earth is this smell…’ … ?’
A very disgusting and foul odor was rising, and yellow gastric juice was continuously rising from the innermost parts of the body.
The smell was reminiscent of stinky tofu that had been deodorized for a very long time or a sewage treatment plant, so Lee Jin-hyuk frowned and blocked his nose.
‘Ugh, that’s disgusting, really.’
Jinhyuk Lee opened his heavy eyelids, lifted his head, and began to look at the surroundings.
However, the surrounding area was pitch black, so visibility was not good.
He had a lantern, but he couldn’t light it because it might attract the attention of any monsters that might be nearby.
‘But it’s too dark…’ ….’
As he thought he was trapped alone in the dark, not knowing where he had been sent, an unknown cold sensation gripped his heart.
But then.
“Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, the smell…” …. This… ….”
I heard Yoo Seol-hyeon’s voice right next to me.
What, you moved to the same place as Yoo Seol-hyeon?
I could say it was a blessing in disguise.
I was scared because I thought I was alone.
Jinhyuk Lee was slightly relieved.
“Yoo Seolhyun? Are you okay?”
“Ugh, you, you here too…” … Ugh!”
I approached her and spoke to her.
It was dark so I couldn’t see it well, but when I got right in front of me, I was able to get some visibility.
Yoo Seol-hyeon just folded his waist in half and retched repeatedly with his pretty face downcast.
He seemed to be out of his mind due to the foul odor.
“Ugh, ugh. “What about other people?”
“I can’t see it. “I guess they’ve all scattered.”
“The smell, the smell, it’s so bad…” … Ugh, what on earth is this…… Smell… ….”
“Yoo Seol-hyeon, would you like to try detecting if there are any monsters around?”
“Whoa, whoa, okay, I got it for now…” ….”
It was the moment when Yoo Seol-hyeon gathered his thoughts and slowly used his strange abilities to check for the presence or absence of the monster.
Pot!
Bright lights blinked.
The ores hanging from the ceiling gave off a bright light. Someone turned on the light. Even before he could think about who it was, Jinhyuk Lee saw unfamiliar things in his field of vision.
‘This place?’
As the darkness slowly cleared, I realized that things like glass flasks, beakers, test tubes, and droppers were lying around.
Also, the ground was covered with an unknown slimy substance, and it was seen that the already rotted corpses of monsters, bone fragments, sewage, etc. Were mixed together.
Soon, Jinhyuk Lee realized.
He knows where he is now.
“Nice to meet you~.”
Voice of a young woman.
Gapjik tapped on his ear.
It was a familiar but unfamiliar voice.
In short, it’s a voice I’ve only heard in games.
“I never thought a customer would come again like this~.”
He quickly turned his head towards the source of the voice.
A figure began to crawl out from afar.
Yes, I didn’t walk out, I crawled out.
“Ugh. I heard you’re having a lot of fun these days~?”
The body of a human woman and the lower body of a snake.
A half-human, half-animal woman.
“Hello~?”
It was reminiscent of Lamia from mythology.
The name of the woman who greets you while gently brushing her bleached white hair is Kate Morn Bernstein.
This was the boss monster of this dungeon.
‘Why did it have to be sent here?’
“Lee Jin-hyuk…… Could it be that…… ?”
Yoo Seol-hyeon, who was next to him, whispered quietly, clutching the pole of the spear tightly.
It seems that he realized that the snake-shaped thing was a boss monster.
“Uhehehe. Hi? Hi?”
“… ….”
Is it because Kate’s intelligence has degenerated?
He was acting like a child.
“Aren’t you going to accept my greeting? “It’s too much~.”
‘…… I guess my personality is just as set.’
At first she thought she was really screwed, but Kate was just grinning with a friendly face.
Considering that he doesn’t let it out until he lives, it doesn’t seem like he wants to do anything right now.
Of course, it’s just a moment of entertainment.
It was obvious that his true nature would soon be revealed.
“Am I angry?”
“Oh, sorry.”
Jinhyuk Lee pretended to accept what was being said.
Because it was not good to continue to ignore it.
“…… Jinhyuk Lee, this.”
Yoo Seol-hyeon muttered in a very quiet voice as if it were a whisper and eventually showed a glimpse of his cell phone screen.
The location of other team members was displayed on the cell phone screen.
Everyone seemed to be coming towards this direction, but the distance was quite far.
I thought I would have to wait a while until my team members arrived.
“I’ll spend some time talking.”
“First of all, I understand.”
“What~ Why are you two whispering so much~? “Just leave me alone~?”
Kate began to grumble with a dissatisfied expression as we whispered and talked.
“Let me play with you too, will you play with me? Huh? Huh? Now, let’s play… ….”
“No, wait a minute. “Before that, I have something to ask you.”
“Hmm~? What?”
It’s a bit dangerous.
Because that b*tch’s game is very far from common sense.
I was fortunate to have some knowledge of Kate’s character settings.
First of all, it was necessary to divert the conversation to somewhere else. Before whining to be played.
“Aren’t there people who came in not long ago?”
“Ah. Yes. They locked me up over there, hehehehe. “I’m going to eat it later.”
Kate pointed to a deeper room with her chin.
She seemed to be a place to hold captured humans.
“Eat, la…” ….”
“Huh? “What’s wrong~?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
I already knew that this b*tch could even eat people due to the worldview, but hearing it directly like that was a bit of a shock.
And this place was also a human laboratory where people and monsters were captured and tested.
“Ah. By the way.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Are you the one who ordered the monsters to attack us?”
“Me? Hey, no, no.”
She snaps her fingers and smiles arrogantly.
“My kids did it, guess what? “Isn’t it amazing?”
“Children?”
“Yes! I used to be~? Hmm? So, these are children created a long time ago. “It’s sad that I can’t make it now.”
Are you referring to the experiments Kate created with synthetic magic before she lost her wits?
“A monster among children? Was it a monster? Anyway, we can induce the movement of those things.”
Kate’s explanation of the test subjects was not detailed and was not important enough to memorize, so she seemed to have forgotten it from her memory.
I never thought that among Kate’s test subjects, there would be a synthetic organism with such settings.
It was a bit unexpected.
“Ah. But my children… ….”
Kate, who had lowered her head, raised her head again and looked straight at Jinhyuk Lee. Kate’s lips, which had been laughing mischievously, plummeted. A soft and thick life blooms like a haze.
“…… You were the one who killed it, right? It was like that, right? It was burnt to a crisp after being hit by your blitz earlier. “I feel so sad.”
He muttered in a gloomy voice and suddenly shot a sinister gaze.
Like a bipolar patient, there are significant mood swings. She just can’t keep up with Kate’s emotions. How can she understand the emotions of the monster Naburangi?
You shouldn’t think that you can communicate just because you’ve talked a few times. That Kate has been a crazy b*tch since her human days.
“Huh, it’s okay though, it’s okay. Because.”
Suddenly, the lower jaw split into four long pieces, and something that could be a tentacle or a tongue popped out from inside.
Sticky liquid dripped from the tip of the tentacle.
That was some kind of paralyzing poison.
“You guys.”
Beak, beep, a bunch of tentacles shot out from around Kate’s shoulder blades.
Tentacles that tore the skin and were flabby came into view. It was covered in thick liquid and blood. It was truly disgusting to see it writhing like a living snake.
Wow. Jinhyuk Lee frowned. In the game, he was just tolerable, but in real life, he looked even more disgusting.
Is this the boss visual of an otome game?
“You can eat it, hehehe! “Maybe you’ll feel better again?”
“Ugh.”
Yoo Seol-hyun hid her lower lip for a moment because she was smiling brightly and showing off her life, but she was able to overcome Kate’s life by remembering a much stronger enemy she had defeated not long ago.
I heard from Jinhyuk Lee that the black-handed gibbon is much stronger.
The half-man, half-snake monster had a more intense appearance, but it did not have the fear and fear that tightened the heart as much as the black-handed gibbon.
Of course, he will be stronger than Yoo Seol-hyun and Lee Jin-hyuk.
“If you hold me obediently, I’ll eat it so it hurts less~? “The female’s flesh is soft and delicious.”
“Crazy b*tch.”
Yoo Seol-hyeon, who seemed to be unable to bear it any longer, frowned and swore, and took a commanding stance, holding on tightly to the large monster-fighting long spear.
“Jinhyuk Lee, get ready. “It will take some time for the other team members to come.”
Yoo Seol-hyun, who entered a battle stance, concentrated on staring at Kate without even looking back.
“Have you prepared a lot of things? “I’ll try my best to tank, so I’ll ask you to support me.”
“…… Okay.”
Jinhyuk Lee took out various items from his large backpack as if he had no choice.
These were boss battle-specific items prepared in case of an emergency.
Pheromone bomb, fire magic scroll, spray for Kate, nerve poison arrow, explosive talisman for attachment, high frequency repellant, 100,000 lumen flashlight, metal scrap for scattering, etc.
A build created by combining memories from the game and various information from reality.
You should be able to fight quite well at this level.
Perhaps.
***
Has about 15 minutes passed?
“Heo-eok, heo-eok, heo-eok… ….”
Yoo Seol-hyeon took a deep breath.
His chest heaved and heaved intermittently.
The clothes were torn here and there, making it difficult to find a clean place.
His blond hair was scattered and disheveled, and his body seemed to have bruises all over his body and one of his ribs was cracked.
“Huh, huh…” ….”
I tried my best not to fall by using the spear as a cane.
His left arm didn’t move very well and his legs were shaking so hard that it felt like he was going to collapse at any moment, but he somehow held it together.
If you fall now, you will die.
Therefore, Yu Seol-hyeon was chewing his lower lip tightly and somehow maintaining his sanity.
“Ugh, ugh, ugh, it hurts, it hurts!”
Kate squeaked and screamed.
Her physical condition was also not normal.
Her bleached white hair was blackened by the fire attribute scroll, and the bundle of tentacles on her back were almost completely cut off and only blood was gushing out.
Also, her upper body, which was human, was poisoned with various bruises, and when she was hit with a strange spray, blood flowed out along with her coughing.
Her clothes were torn to shreds and unrecognizable, and five or six arrows were stuck in her shoulders, arms, and upper abdomen.
The snake’s lower body also had many wounds, as if it had been stabbed by a spear, and from metal pieces scattered by Lee Jin-hyuk.
“What a weak topic! Just annoying…… “I’m doing it!”
Kate growled, letting out her ferocious murderous spirit.
Those guys kept mistreating Kate by showing strange tricks for a weak subject.
It was so annoying because I kept poking at the painful area.
“Ha, ha, it might not get any harder, Jinhyuk Lee. “What about the other team members?”
“I think I’ll have to wait 10 more minutes.”
“That…” … Go.”
Yu Seol-hyeon had used up most of his stamina and did not have the strength to hold on any longer.
The reason we were able to fight this far in the first place was thanks to the supplies and command ability that Jinhyuk Lee had prepared.
If Yoo Seol-hyeon had been alone, he would have died three or four more times already.
“…… “Yoo Seol-hyeon.”
“Ha, ha, ha, why?”
“I have to prepare something for a moment. “Just give me just one minute, just one minute.”
“…… 1 Min?”
“Oh, I’ll take care of it after that.”
Yoo Seol-hyeon was a little puzzled, but as she was now, there was nothing she could do, so she slowly lowered her head.
What he had shown so far was giving Yoo Seol-hyeon an unknown credibility.
“…… Okay, one minute, one minute?”
He thought he had already used up all his options, but did he still have some tricks left?
Lee Jin-hyuk had the ability to predict the future, so he might have used unusual methods that Yoo Seol-hyeon did not know about.
So let’s try to believe it.
Jinhyuk Lee.
“Why are you whispering and yelling like that?”
“Ugh!”
Kaang!
He swung his tail like a whip.
His arm tingled, as if he had been hit by a large rebar.
Yu Seol-hyeon frowned and swung his spear, somehow sending his tail flying to the side.
“Die, die!”
“Ugh, wow! Ugh!”
Kate pushed without stopping.
She continued to swing her remaining bundle of tentacles, putting more and more pressure on Yu Seol-hyeon.
I tried hard to block, but it was impossible to block all the attacks, so I got hit on her shoulders, sides, thighs, etc.
I was losing consciousness due to the intense pain, but I gritted my teeth just for the sake of surviving the one minute that Jinhyuk Lee had mentioned.
‘1, Minute…… Just one minute…….’
It was quite a hardship to last a minute without Lee Jinhyuk’s support when she had exhausted her stamina, but despite this, Yoo Seolhyun persevered.
Replaying the thought over and over again in her head for just one minute was all she could do right now.
‘…… Just hold on, hold on just a little longer.’
It was only for a moment that I gritted my teeth to block the tentacles that kept attacking me.
‘…… Uh? Why did they suddenly stop attacking?’
Isn’t Kate smiling faintly while stopping her attack?
Anyway, if this was an opportunity, it was an opportunity.
It feels like a minute has already passed.
“Lee, Jinhyuk Lee, this is enough…… ?”
“Kick, kick.”
Yoo Seol-hyeon glanced behind her, but there was no one there.
Only Kate’s laughter pierced her ears.
Uh, huh? Jinhyuk Lee, where are you?
Are you hiding a little?
“Kkkkkkkk, ah~ It’s funny, you guys~.”
“Jin Lee…… Hyuk?”
“Hey, you idiot~ He ran away.”
“What?”
Soon, Kate smiles brightly.
“That boy abandoned you and ran away.”
All of a sudden, Yoo Seol-hyeon’s heart sank.
I wanted to deny it because I heard something unbelievable, but as a result of spreading my senses widely, I couldn’t find any sign of Jinhyuk Lee.
That means.
Lee Jin-hyuk is not here.
No, then really?
‘Oh, hell? Jinhyuk Lee, run away…… ‘You hit it?’
And to live alone.
Are you abandoning me?