NOVEL NEXT chapter 10
10
I led Eungaye and Cheon Woojin into the depths of the field.
Along the way, we encountered demons, but Eungaye easily took care of them.
After about 10 minutes of walking, we arrived at a place where a massive cliff stood tall.
The dungeon was hidden behind overgrown bushes on the cliff.
“…So, there’s a real dungeon here.”
Eungaye, who had been skeptical, widened her eyes. Cheon Woojin turned to me and asked.
“Haesol, have you checked what’s inside?”
“It’s a snake’s den. They’re not that strong.”
“So, there’s a mother inside.”
“Right. With a dungeon like this, it should be around Grade 4 to Grade 5 monsters.”
The two of them showed a slightly tense expression at the mention of advancing from Grade 4 to Grade 5.
However, rather than tension, it seemed like curiosity was more prominent as no one suggested turning back.
And so, we passed through the bushes and entered the dungeon. As we did, a damp air enveloped our bodies.
Not even a minute had passed, yet the insides of our school uniforms were already damp.
“Ugh, feels awful.”
Eun-ga-ye, with a grim expression, waved her hand. Magic radiated as moisture seeped in.
There were no human dehumidifiers. It was indeed a good decision to bring her along, I thought inwardly, nodding my head.
From the darkness, dozens of pairs of bright yellow pupils flickered. Hexagon-shaped offspring. A swarm of snakes had appeared.
“Up ahead.”
“I know.”
At my warning, Eun-ga-ye raised her sword. Cheon Woo-jin also gripped his sword.
Their bodies were enveloped by a thin layer of magic.
It was a preliminary measure to prevent the venom of snakes from invading. It was time for the two of them to begin the actual battle.
The flock of iron flew past them. It was the rain of Gram that I had unleashed.
Kiiiiii!
The cries of the snakes echoed through the darkness.
The three rain swords swiftly crushed the snakes in an instant. Mere demons couldn’t withstand the rain of Gram.
Moreover, since it was a long-range attack, I didn’t even need to consider poison.
“That’s it.”
Nodding satisfactorily, the surroundings fell silent. Cheon Woo-jin and Eun-ga-ye were looking at me with amazed eyes.
Unconsciously, Eun-ga-ye turned to look at the floating rain swords behind me and asked inquisitively.
“What…what is that?”
“What else, it’s a rain sword.”
“You’re a rain sword master?”
“For now.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. I thought rain sword masters were only in history books.”
Eun-ga-ye stared at me as if I were a rare animal. Well, in this day and age where guns and magic have advanced, rain swords belong to the fringe.
In terms of speed, they are slower than guns, and in terms of strength, weaker than magic.
Furthermore, controlling rain swords with magic makes it an incredibly difficult task.
Filthy difficult and filthy weak.
That was the general assessment of rain swordsmanship by people these days. Of course, I am an exception.
The rain of Gram is not just a simple rain sword; it’s incomparable to magic in terms of power.
“It’s more useful than I thought.”
While Eun-ga-ye was showing a surprising reaction, Cheon Woo-jin smirked.
“Hey, Hae-sol.”
“Yeah? What is it?”
As I turned back to look at Cheon Woo-jin, who was walking cautiously ahead, he asked carefully.
“Can’t we just keep going straight like this?”
“What are you saying? Might as well clear everything out while we’re at it.”
The dungeon was a straight, wide road, with fluorescent stones embedded in the ceiling illuminating the path.
This is a structure where, no matter who looks, following the main road straight will lead you to a boss room with a hexagonal shape.
However, instead of heading straight to the hexagon, I started by clearing out the small caves scattered around.
It made sense.
[…Hunted a Unisnake. Proficiency of the Victory Sword slightly increased.]
[…Hunted a Unisnake. Proficiency of the Victory Sword slightly increased.]
[…Hunted a Unisnake. Proficiency of the Victory Sword slightly increased.]
“Why waste the chance to take the bus already?”
Even now, snakes couldn’t handle the head-on assault of Eunga-ye.
There was no other bulldozer like the solid sword strike infused with gravity pushing forward.
Not just Eunga-ye.
Every time Cheon U-jin’s sword was drawn, the snakes scattered in pieces.
Their boasted venom was futile against the duo’s powers.
Even mindlessly swinging from behind, my proficiency kept rising steadily.
As soon as three snake dens were cleared in a flash, Eunga-ye looked back at me with a faint smile.
“Strange.”
“What?”
“Even though we’re hunting together, why does it feel like we’re losing something?”
But Eunga-ye just chuckled as if she couldn’t figure out what exactly was being lost. Maybe it was something unknowable even if one died.
Thanks to her bulldozer-like performance, my Victory Sword’s proficiency was now looking at level 2 in no time.
Well, I had contributed a bit from behind, so it wasn’t all lifted up completely…
“Easy peasy.”
As I smirked, Eunga-ye made a displeased expression.
Anyway, that was when we were sequentially clearing out the snake dens. Suddenly, the dungeon shook. I licked my lips.
“Tsk, knew things were going too smoothly.”
The wide passage of the dungeon. A human-shaped iron doll was walking with heavy footsteps.
“Life Guardian.”
It was a golem existing in the dungeon of the field.
Its mission was to escort unauthorized visitors out of the dungeon for the safety of those visitors.
I thought it would be fine at the entrance, but inevitably, the guardian appeared.
“Do we have to deal with this?”
If the guardian showed up, it was better to give up on the hexagon and retreat.
Apart from the penalty for falling for the guardian, it was a matter of discipline.
However.
“A golem here too?”
“Seems like it.”
Eunga-ye and Cheon U-jin, seeing the Life Guardian for the first time, looked intrigued. Upon their reaction, I made up my mind.
“What’s the big deal, just break it and pretend we didn’t know. Whatever.”
It felt too regrettable to give up on the hexagon just because of a single guardian.
At that moment, a grinding sound came from the approaching guardian. It was like the sound of a speaker turning on.
Sensing that it was about to spout nonsense, I blurted out.
“Smash!”
Kaaahh!
The Gram’s blade flew and struck the guy’s metal head.
***
A Life Guardian is no easy target for ordinary attacks. The golems placed in dungeons are nothing but talk when it comes to durability.
Of course, breaking their core will halt their movements. I knew the core was located at the chest’s seam. However, knowing doesn’t make it any easier to destroy.
In addition to piercing the magical barrier surrounding the core, the core itself is incredibly strong.
So, it’s like pounding away like a madman just to make a dent.
But.
Crack!
“That thing shouldn’t break so easily…”
Is it defective?
I was baffled watching the core shatter like an eggshell under Eungaye’s strike.
“Indeed, a formidable opponent.”
Using Gift leaves quite an impression as powerful as a single strike.
“Ugh… dizzy… Let’s rest for 5 minutes.”
Though staggering and looking pained, the collapse seemed to have a severe backlash.
Regardless, having easily taken down the Life Guardian, we indulged in a brief, honey-like rest.
At that moment, Cheon Woojin, leaning against the wall, glanced at me and smirked.
“Haesol, what are you doing?”
“Skinning a snake.”
I peeled off the skin of a cornered snake on the floor.
The method is simple. First, chop off the head-neck part with a knife, then grab the tip of the skin and peel it off like removing a sock.
“Why suddenly skin a snake?”
Cheon Woojin and Eungaye blinked. Seeing their clueless expressions, I bit my tongue inwardly.
‘They’re going to catch monsters…’
Well, Cheon Woojin and Eungaye were abnormally strong compared to their peers, but in terms of experience, they were no different from green rookies.
How much would freshly enrolled rookies know about monsters? At best, they might have faced Grade 1 or 2 monsters.
So, Cheon Woojin and Eungaye were judging monsters based on Grade 1 or 2 standards.
But it was awkward to compare a hexagon to such small fries.
Without proper preparation, if one were to face him, he could easily dissolve them into a handful of toxic liquid, be it a sword master or a sorcerer in the future.
Well, since he was bound in the dungeon, escaping was an option, but it was still risky.
Meanwhile, Cheon Woojin and Eungaye remained calm, as if nothing was wrong.
‘How did I end up bringing these guys into the dungeon…’
I sighed inwardly and asked, “What kind of dungeon is this?”
“A snake pit.”
“What kind of snake pit?”
“…With vipers?”
“Yes, a viper-infested snake pit. And what we’re here to meet is a monster.”
······.
The expressions of the two individuals who finally understood what I was trying to say became tense.
Until now, they had only faced snakes that weren’t as dangerous as they seemed with just a bit of magic, but now the opponent they were facing required more than that.
“So, how does that relate to stripping snake skins?”
“It helps prevent poisoning.”
In a proper scenario facing a Hexagon Snake, one would need a proper gas mask and take an antidote beforehand, but there were no gas masks or antidotes here to prevent poisoning.
However, there were natural gas masks available, made from the skin of deceased ‘Monoceros Snakes’.
These offspring of the Hexagon Snake possessed strong resistance to the Hexagon Snake’s venom, making their skin the best material for gas masks.
“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and strip.”
As they cut the stripped snake skin and attached it to their shoulders, Eungaye and Cheonwoojin reluctantly began peeling off the Monoceros Snake’s skin following my lead.
Despite not applying any adhesive, the snake skin stuck closely to their bodies, meticulously adhered in places like the back where it wasn’t visible.
“Ugh, it’s sticky. Are we done?”
“We missed a spot, so stay still for a bit.”
That’s when the three of us were busy peeling and attaching snake skin to our bodies.
Kugugugugugu!
The dungeon shook once again. This time, the shaking felt different from when the golem appeared.
It wasn’t just the ground trembling, but rather a sensation of something massive approaching.
‘Something massive?’
It was when I made a puzzled expression.
Shiiiiii!
From afar, a sinister howling sound could be heard. And then, the owner of the howling sound revealed itself. Eungaye and Cheonwoojin widened their eyes.
“What is that?”
“······A snake?”
A creature too massive to be called a mere snake was rapidly crawling through the passage, filling it entirely.
But there was no doubt that it was a snake. My face twisted in confusion.
“How did that thing even crawl out?”
The identity of the snake was undoubtedly the Hexagon Snake, a magical beast that should have been bound in the boss room.