Dungeon Breaker

Chapter 7

—–CROW—–

“Cheon-ho, you’re amazing! Truly, truly amazing! Incredible!”

“Hmm.”

Luciel, her arms around Cheon-ho’s neck, jumped up and down.  She seemed incredibly happy.

Cheon-ho would have liked to continue enjoying this moment, but unfortunately, it wasn’t possible.  The succession of light windows appearing wouldn’t allow it.

And hadn’t his father told him?

‘Too much is as bad as too little. A man should know when to retreat. Why? Because it’s cooler…’

His father was always right.

Cheon-ho composed his expression and gently pushed Luciel away slightly.  “By the way, Luciel.”

“Yes?”

“It seems the Plague God is angry.”

“Ah.”

Luciel’s mouth formed a small ‘o’ as she looked back at the light windows.

[The Plague God roars in fury at you for slaying his apostle.]

Honestly, she was worried.  It was a god, after all.

But Luciel put on a brave smile. “It’s alright.”

“The Plague God’s wrath?”

“Yes, the Plague God is one of the many evil gods residing in the Great Labyrinth, but he’s holed up deep within the lower levels. Even if he’s furious, he can’t do much.”

Luciel even scoffed slightly.

But Cheon-ho still asked cautiously, “Are the evil gods the Demon Lord’s subordinates? And by ‘deep within,’ do you mean they have physical forms?”

Information was always important.

At Cheon-ho’s specific questions, Luciel’s playful demeanor vanished.

“Yes, several evil gods, subordinates of the Demon Lord, reside within the Great Labyrinth.  They all have physical bodies. In fact, the Five Goddesses and the Demon Lord also have physical forms.”

It seemed their concept of gods was a bit different from his.

“Angels like me, although our rank is very low, are also considered gods. Lowest-ranking gods, you could say… So, the Plague God, despite being called a god, is just a little… no, a lot…  umm, anyway, he’s a bit stronger than me and controls an entire floor of the Great Labyrinth, but he’s not *that* significant.”

‘He seems significant enough.’

Even Luciel seemed to think so.  She’d probably just gotten carried away while explaining.  She was even sweating nervously.

“Hmm.  So, you’re saying he won’t directly harm us right now.”

“Yes, that’s right.  And since the Plague God is our enemy anyway, it doesn’t make much difference whether he’s angry or not.”

“I understand.”

He decided to accept it for now.

Then Luciel pointed at the light window again. “More importantly, Cheon-ho, look at this. The Labyrinth World has remembered your achievement. This is truly remarkable!”

“Hmm, is there any benefit to that?”

“Of course! It means the Labyrinth World has started recording your story. As your story accumulates like this, your status will rise!  You might even become a god someday!”

“Hmm.”

Cheon-ho replied with a straight face, but inwardly, he was anything but.  He had to pinch his thigh to maintain his composure.

‘A god?’

Of course, based on what he’d seen so far, it wouldn’t be the omnipotent god he imagined.

But still, a god.

Just the word itself sounded amazing!

It was a tempting proposition.  No, to be honest, he really wanted it.  Among his countless simulations, becoming a god wasn’t a common outcome.

‘It seemed too unrealistic.’

He *had* fantasized about marrying a goddess, though.

“Ahem.”

Feeling a strange sense of guilt at Luciel’s innocent, tilted head, Cheon-ho cleared his throat again.  “I see. But that’s a story for later. Let’s focus on the task at hand.”

“Yes, Cheon-ho.”

“Let’s check the rewards first.”

After massacring the rats and defeating the Mad Crawler, his level had reached 15.

‘It’s still amazing.’

Leveling up increased his magical power and physical abilities.  It was true.  He couldn’t see the exact numbers, but he could definitely feel it.

If his initial physical abilities upon arriving in the Labyrinth World were comparable to a high school student who could win a medal at the National Sports Festival, he now felt like an Olympic gold medalist.

“Look at this, Cheon-ho. We got something useful.”

[Mad Crawler’s Magical Essence]

[Steel Kite Shield +1]

A jet-black kite shield and a jet-black Magical Essence lay in front of the Crawler’s corpse.

If the Rat Ogre’s Magical Essence was the size of a ping-pong ball, the Crawler’s was about the size of a baseball.

‘Item drops too, huh?’

It wasn’t just dropping items it had been carrying.  Like in a game, it was dropping items it wouldn’t normally possess.

“It seems to be a pretty good shield! It’s even reinforced, something you rarely see on the 1st floor.  Uncommon grade?  It even has a few options.”

Luciel grinned and lifted the kite shield.  She grunted with the weight, but her face was bright.

“Hmm.”

Cheon-ho glanced at the kite shield for a moment, then absorbed the Crawler’s Magical Essence first.

Just like with the Rat Ogre’s Magical Essence, he grasped it and focused his will, and it was absorbed. The feeling—no, the pleasure—was truly immense.

“Mmm.”

Cheon-ho swallowed a moan and focused on the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, channeling the absorbed magical power into his dantian.

‘Good.’

As expected of a Named Monster. The amount of internal energy he gained was incomparable to the Rat Ogre’s.  The internal energy in his dantian seemed to have almost tripled.

“Luciel, what are the shield’s options?”

“They’re additional abilities. You’ll know if you try it yourself, Cheon-ho.”

Luciel grunted again and handed the kite shield to Cheon-ho.  True to its name, it was a rhombus-shaped shield with one end particularly long, large enough to cover Luciel’s entire upper body.

[1. Shock Absorption: Absorbs a portion of the impact received by the shield.]

[2. Lightweight: Slightly reduces the weight of the shield.]

Made entirely of steel, it was quite heavy.  Without the Lightweight option, Luciel wouldn’t have been able to lift it at all.

“Hmm.”

Cheon-ho examined the kite shield more closely. It seemed to be naturally black, not painted.

“It seems to have considerable defensive power.  With the Shock Absorption option, it should easily block a Rat Ogre’s attack, right?”

“That’s right.”

Cheon-ho nodded slightly, placed the kite shield down, and then asked Luciel, “By the way, Luciel, it seems the Hidden Quest isn’t complete yet.”

“Ah…”

Luciel quickly moved her fingers.  The light window related to the Hidden Quest reappeared, and as Cheon-ho had said, it was still marked as in progress.

“Since the conditions are defeating the Crawler and destroying the altar, it seems we need to go inside the Rat Hole.”

“Will that be alright? There’s still smoke inside.  I could try purifying it with Purification Magic, but…”

Luciel said with a worried look, and Cheon-ho looked around, gauging the time before reaching a conclusion. “Let’s rest for a bit. We don’t know the size of the Rat Hole.”

“Huh? Here?”

“Yes, this is the best place. If we block the entrance we came through and the Rat Hole, it’s a sealed space, so there’s no risk of being ambushed. And more importantly, because of *that*.”

Cheon-ho pointed towards a small spring, or rather, a small fountain where water trickled from a hole in the wall.

It was the only water source they’d found so far.

Perhaps the Rat Hole was in this room because of the spring.  Even rats needed to drink water.

“You can purify the water with Purification Magic, right?”

“Uh, yes. I think so.”

“Good.”

Cheon-ho took a deep breath.

He closed his eyes briefly and reviewed what he needed to do next.

And Luciel, watching him, thought, ‘This is ominous.’

No, not ominous, but strange.

And Luciel’s strange feeling intensified with Cheon-ho’s next words.

“Let’s begin the work.”

Work.

It sounded like it had a special meaning.

—–CROW—–

‘Son, a man needs to be resourceful.’

‘Resourceful?’

‘Yes, resourceful. Women are attracted to resourceful men.’

[Fortification has become Lv3.]

[Butchery has become Lv3.]

Cheon-ho first blocked the entrance to the room.  Since it was a hidden entrance, he could easily separate the inside from the outside by piling up some debris.

Next, he shoved the Mad Crawler’s corpse into his Inventory and strung wires across the Rat Hole again, to prevent any surviving… rats from escaping.

With the essential groundwork complete, Cheon-ho laid out the Giant Rat corpses near the spring.

‘Five for now.’

He skinned them with his combat knife and washed the blood off in the spring water.

Luciel’s face was pale, and her hands trembled, but she didn’t look away.

‘I can’t tan the hides right now.’

Two steps were required to make use of animal hides.

Remove the fat.

Remove the fur.

Removing the fat was easy enough with a knife, but removing the fur was the problem. He needed to soak the hides in lye or tannin, which required a large container.

He could leave the fur on and use them as pelts, but the Giant Rats’ fur was stiff and sharp, making it unsuitable.

So Cheon-ho removed only the fat from the hides and placed them in his Inventory.  They wouldn’t rot inside.

‘This is so convenient.’

Cheon-ho smiled slightly as he butchered the Giant Rats.

Normally, he would have to smoke the meat to preserve it, but with the Inventory, he could simply store it raw.

Cheon-ho carefully wrapped the Giant Rat meat, leaving out half a rat’s worth, and put the rest in his Inventory.

And Luciel, watching the whole process, thought, ‘What did he do before this?’

His skill at skinning and butchering was extraordinary. He exuded the aura of a professional.

Moreover, perhaps due to the influence of the labyrinth system, his movements were getting faster and faster.

Blocking the entrance, skinning, draining blood, and butchering the meat.

After completing all these tasks, Cheon-ho washed his hands in the spring water and moved on to the next task.

He gathered usable stones from the debris and piled them in two separate heaps in front of the Rat Hole.

He built another bonfire between them, adding the remaining solid fuel and kindling.

‘This much firepower should be enough.’

Cheon-ho narrowed his eyes and placed the kite shield on top of the piled stones, directly above the bonfire.

“H-Hero?”

Luciel’s eyes widened, but Cheon-ho didn’t stop.

This was why he’d checked if the shield was made of pure steel.

“Just wait a moment. I’ll make something delicious for you soon.”

“Uh, um, what?”

Cheon-ho greased the surface of the kite shield—now a makeshift griddle—with the fat he’d scraped from the hides.

*Sizzle…*

An appetizing sound.

Even the fat smelled delicious.

Luciel’s expression turned blank.  Cheon-ho, with a satisfied look, placed thinly sliced Giant Rat meat on the griddle.  He didn’t forget to sprinkle salt from his survival kit.

‘Let’s not hold back and eat this too.’

The kimchi he’d taken out to eat with his ramen.

He opened the airtight container and placed a few pieces of kimchi on the griddle, filling the air with another pleasant aroma.

“Luciel, sorry to ask, but could you flap your wings gently?  So the smoke goes into the Rat Hole, not outside.”

“Uh, uh, okay.”

Luciel started flapping her wings.

And amidst the gentle breeze, the appetizing sizzling continued.

*Sizzle…*

The meat cooked.

The fat rendered, and the kimchi grilled.

Luciel couldn’t help but gulp.

Cheon-ho flipped the meat with chopsticks.

[Cooking has become Lv4.]

‘It’s a good thing I have a griddle.’

Cheon-ho thought, and Luciel had a similar thought.

“Let’s eat.”

There was a cutlery container on the table, with plenty of spoons and chopsticks.

Luciel, awkwardly holding her chopsticks, gulped again.

It was only natural.  She hadn’t had time to eat since escaping headquarters, so she’d been practically starving all day.

‘An Uncommon grade kite shield…’

One with two options, no less.

But now, it was an excellent griddle.

‘Giant Rat meat…’

Rat meat, to put it bluntly.

But Luciel shook her head.  The temptation before her was too strong.

*Sizzle…*

She surrendered to the sound, succumbed to the smell.

Luciel, without further hesitation, put the meat in her mouth.

‘Ah!’

Juices burst forth the moment she bit into it.  She’d never eaten Giant Rat meat before, but it tasted somewhat like chicken.

The salty flavor of the salt enhanced the taste.

The essence of grilling meat, honed by Cheon-ho through years of practice (with his father).

“Delicious, right?”

Cheon-ho asked, and Luciel, chewing the meat, nodded reflexively.

She answered honestly, following her instincts.

“Yes ♥”

Luciel was happy, and Cheon-ho was satisfied.

—–CROW—–