Dungeon Breaker

Chapter 9

—–CROW—–

Cheon-ho already had a good griddle in the form of the kite shield.

But a griddle alone wasn’t enough for proper cooking.

‘Grilling and boiling.’

His father had divided cooking into two main categories.

A griddle was a tool solely for grilling.

Boiling required a concave tool that could hold water.

‘If I had to choose between a griddle for grilling and a pot for boiling, I would choose the pot without hesitation.’

‘Why?’

‘To drink the broth.’

Broth.

Water infused with the essence of ingredients.

First, it increased the volume of food.

Second, it extracted deep flavors.

Cheon-ho closed his eyes for a moment, recalling camping trips with his father.

A starry night.

Sitting by the bonfire, they drank chicken broth, the cold night air serving as a side dish.

That feeling.

The satisfaction he only felt after swimming and eating cup ramen.

‘Father, why are you so obsessed with food?’

He remembered the question he’d asked as a child.

And at the same time, he recalled his father’s answer, which contained a profound truth.

‘That’s obvious. We do everything to eat and live.’

Since everything was for eating and living, one should eat well.

Cheon-ho closed his eyes and nodded slightly.

His father’s words, no matter when he recalled them, could only be described as truth.

And Luciel looked at him with unease.

What was he thinking, holding the helmet like that?

‘Ah, I see.  He’s resolving to inherit the will of the previous Hero.’

As expected of a Hero.

She’d really pulled a jackpot with this summoning.

Luciel looked at Cheon-ho with warm eyes.

A few minutes passed.

Finally snapping out of his reminiscence, Cheon-ho opened his eyes and said, “By the way, Luciel, a Chronicle Quest appeared.”

“Yes, Hero! A Chronicle Quest appeared!”

Luciel, beaming, spoke with eager eyes.

As she moved her fingers, new windows of light appeared in the air.

[Chronicle Quest: Adversary of the Plague God]

[The God of Healing, an enemy of the Plague God, entrusts you and your angel with a crucial mission.]

[The Plague God is conducting a ritual at altars set up on four floors of the Great Labyrinth, from the 1st to the 4th.]

[If the ritual is completed, disaster will surely befall the lower levels of the Labyrinth World.]

[Destroy the Plague God’s altars and stop his ritual.]

[The God of Healing will aid you.]

A quest that put him in direct opposition to the Plague God.

“Hmm.”

He was already at odds with the Plague God, so that wasn’t a concern.

Cheon-ho decided to look further ahead.

“Luciel.”

“Yes, Cheon-ho.”

“Let’s organize our thoughts.”

“Um… about the Plague God’s altars?”

“That too, but first, about our immediate goals.”

The Five Goddesses and their forces summoned Heroes from other worlds to conquer the Great Labyrinth and liberate the Labyrinth World.

He already knew this.  Luciel had asked him to save the Labyrinth World.

But that was the ultimate goal.

It was too distant a goal to consider while still on the 1st floor.

“You said you were planning to descend with the Hero after summoning them, right? To join the other Heroes who were summoned before me and are already exploring the labyrinth.”

“Yes, and there are areas on the lower floors where the natives of the Labyrinth World live.”

“Then our immediate goal is to reach those areas. Which floor are they on?”

At Cheon-ho’s question, Luciel pursed her lips, then squatted down and fumbled in the air.  She was holding chalk, seemingly intending to draw and explain like she had when they first met.

“The Labyrinth World is vast. In fact, the 1st floor alone is as large as an entire continent. So, each floor is divided into several areas.  There are areas dominated by the Demon Lord’s subordinates, areas inhabited by the natives of the Labyrinth World, and areas where the Heroes are exploring together.”

Luciel drew a large circle and divided it into sections.

“It’s important to know where we are now. If we’re lucky, we might arrive in our territory as soon as we descend to the 2nd floor.”

“Hmm.”

In other words, if they were unlucky, they could end up deep in enemy territory.

“Is there no way to know our current location?”

“Since we entered the Great Labyrinth through an emergency escape route, I don’t know right now. But if we explore this area a bit more, I should be able to figure it out.”

Luciel said apologetically.

Cheon-ho nodded.  “Alright.  And it’s not your fault, so don’t feel too bad.”

“B-But…”

“It’s okay.”

Cheon-ho smiled reassuringly, and Luciel’s eyes teared up.

He continued, “Then let’s proceed with the Chronicle Quest while descending.  If we have to go down anyway, it’s better to have a purpose.”

Moreover, they couldn’t ignore the Plague God’s ritual, based on the quest description.

‘Since it’s the Plague God’s disaster, a plague might break out.’

He’d already been summoned.  He would do his part as the son of a Hero.

“Hero…”

Luciel’s eyes shone with admiration.

Cheon-ho gave her the charming smile he’d learned from his father and looked back at the light window. “By the way, Luciel, is the God of Healing on our side?”

“Yes, the God of Healing is one of the lesser gods under the Five Goddesses.  As the name suggests, she’s in charge of healing.”

“Is she also in the deeper levels?”

“Yes, she supports the Heroes from the deeper levels. She’s a very beautiful, wise, and benevolent goddess.”

“Hmm.”

That was a relief.  He’d been honestly worried about being targeted by the Plague God, but if they had a god on their side, things should work out somehow.  Connections were best countered with connections.

“Alright.  Then let’s start working without further delay.”

Cheon-ho extended his hand to Luciel.

Luciel took his hand and stood up, asking instinctively, “Working?”

“Yes, working.”

Cheon-ho replied with the expression of a working man, and Luciel felt a sense of foreboding.

—–CROW—–

Staying in a cave filled with Ancabra’s Poison, even with the antidote, wasn’t a good idea.  So they had to hurry, and Cheon-ho enlisted Luciel’s help.

‘Ugh… this is gruesome…’

Luciel stripped the clothes from the corpses of the Plague God’s priests.

The reason was simple.

‘Processed cloth and leather are valuable.’

They could be used for something.  Even if it was just sewing them together to make a blanket.

Luciel couldn’t argue with Cheon-ho’s logic.

Following the resourceful Hero’s instructions was the best course of action for now.

‘Eugh… I have to do this, I have to do this!’

Despite her pale face, Luciel widened her eyes and, with her lips tightly pressed together, focused on stripping the clothes.

It was a necessary task.

She had to be helpful to the Hero.

While Luciel stripped the priests’ clothes, Cheon-ho wasn’t idle.

He gathered fragments of the altar for firewood and mentally reviewed the structure of the cave they’d passed through.

‘There must be a food storage.’

It was easy to be misled by the status window, quests, and levels, but this world wasn’t a game.  The Giant Rats and other monsters were living creatures.  They needed to eat and sleep.

There had to be an ecosystem within the Labyrinth World.

Dozens of Giant Rats.

More than ten priests of the Plague God.

A group this size couldn’t survive by simply foraging for food every day.

They must have stored food.

‘The most important thing for survival is water.  Next is food.’

His father’s teachings.

He had secured water.

But not food yet.

Meat alone wasn’t enough.  He needed vegetables and fruits for fiber and vitamins.

‘Based on the structure, the only place for a food storage would be…’

Having figured out the approximate location, Cheon-ho turned his head.

Luciel, having finally finished stripping the clothes, wiped the sweat from her forehead and gasped for breath.

‘Luciel, I’ll feed you well.’

Was this what his father meant by responsibility?

Their eyes met, and Luciel smiled faintly. Cheon-ho nodded silently, his lips pressed together.  He turned his gaze towards the presumed location of the food storage.

—–CROW—–

Cheon-ho’s prediction was correct.

Inside the Rat Hole, there was a food storage almost as large as the altar chamber.

‘Ooh, oooh!’

Cheon-ho marveled at the food storage, while Luciel’s face paled, and she stumbled backward.

It was, after all, a Giant Rat food storage, not one for humans or angels.

Corpses of various monsters.

Giant insects.

Unidentifiable moss and tree roots.

‘H-Hero?’

Luciel looked at Cheon-ho with unease. And then, she instinctively stifled a scream and closed her eyes.

Cheon-ho’s eyes were sparkling.

“Let’s take everything.  It’ll all fit in the Inventory, right?”

“P-Probably?”

“Let’s hurry.”

Luciel had no say in the matter.  Her Inventory began to fill with strange things she wouldn’t normally touch.

‘This is weird, this feels weird!’

It felt like she was stuffing her pockets with insects.

But she had to endure it.  She had to overcome it.

Because she might have to eat these things later!

‘Waaah! I shouldn’t have thought about that!’

Luciel tried to shake off the thought, but it was no use. She’d never learned a spell to erase memories.

About 20 minutes later, Cheon-ho emerged from the Rat Hole with a satisfied expression, followed by a pale and exhausted Luciel.

“What should we do? Shall we rest here for today, or since we still have time, should we look for another campsite?”

“L-Let’s look for another campsite.”

Perhaps they could find something edible besides rats, bugs, and moss.

Luciel replied with a hint of desperation, and Cheon-ho nodded.

“Alright, let’s hurry then.  I’ll prepare a much better dinner for you tonight.”

“Huh? Oh… okay.  I-I’m looking forward to it!”

Luciel replied with a pale smile, and Cheon-ho thought, ‘She seems quite tired. I should really put some effort into dinner.’

He hoped they’d find some better ingredients.

Gripping his kukri, Cheon-ho’s eyes gleamed as he led the way.

He had the face of a hunter.

—–CROW—–