Levelling Up In An Exclusive Dungeon

Chapter 50

Kang Jin-hyuk was heading towards the deepest part of the dungeon, enjoying luxury beyond his wildest dreams.

Whenever monsters suddenly appeared, Lucia would step forward and take care of them, leaving Kang Jin-hyuk with nothing to do but twiddle his thumbs behind her.

“Wouldn’t it be better if I fought too? At least to gain some experience……”

“You can do that to your heart’s content inside the temple, so save your energy.”

Lucia swiftly eliminated the additional monsters that rushed in and opened the newly received candy box to replenish her sugar levels.

When you receive payment, you diligently fulfill your assigned duties.

That was her ironclad rule as a Platinum-ranked adventurer.

“Doesn’t eating that much candy rot your teeth?”

“Only humans have that problem. Not me.”

“But still, wouldn’t there be a smell or……. other problems?”

“I purify my body with magic every day, so how could there be any such problems?”

Only then did Kang Jin-hyuk realize that he had never smelled any bad odor from Lucia.

The fact that her skin was clean even though he had never seen her wash her face was all thanks to the power of magic.

‘Should I call it clean or dirty…….’

She’s a woman who doesn’t even brush her teeth or wash her face because she can purify herself with magic.

His head started to hurt as he pondered how to interpret this.

“You’re thinking about something useless again, aren’t you?”

When Lucia noticed and asked, Kang Jin-hyuk quickly shook his head as if his spinal cord had reacted without his brain’s involvement.

“No, I was just thinking about how to get through the temple.”

“Forget about getting through. Just come crawling out when you think you’ve gotten strong enough.”

“Why? Is there something more dangerous inside?”

“I hear there’s a guy who demands a strange test.”

“You haven’t seen it yourself?”

“Only the mage who went with me entered the inner part of the temple.”

Only the mage had entered the inner part of the temple, as they didn’t know what kind of bizarrely statted monster might appear if they went together.

“Did that mage pass the test?”

“Seeing that he brought back the mana core he wanted, it seems like he passed.”

“Didn’t you hear anything about the content of the test?”

“He said he absolutely couldn’t talk about it. I guess confidentiality is a condition.”

Although Lucia had started the story as a warning, it only stimulated Kang Jin-hyuk’s curiosity.

‘A test that grants you what you desire…….’

Perhaps because he was in a position where he had to become drastically stronger in the remaining time, it felt even more tempting.

Lucia saw Kang Jin-hyuk shut his mouth and his eyes gleam.

“Sigh.”

Lucia let out a sigh as if she found him pathetic and continued to clear out the monsters blocking the path.

It would have been a long journey originally, but.

Thanks to Lucia swiftly dealing with the monsters, Kang Jin-hyuk was able to reach the front of the temple in no time.

As if to signify the end, a giant wall blocked his path, but in its center was a door with a dragon’s image carved into it.

“Is this the temple?”

“Yes. You can tell just by looking at it.”

“The only thing you can tell just by looking is the dragon picture.”

There was no sense of a temple from its appearance.

Rather, the imitation temple on the 2nd floor had a more antique and mystical feel.

“This is as far as I go with you.”

Lucia slung her bow over her shoulder and stepped back.

Although it was something that had been decided from the beginning, Kang Jin-hyuk couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

But there was nothing he could do, as the monsters’ stats increased significantly the moment she followed him.

Thanks to her care, his condition was at its peak, and he had enough consumable items prepared.

Kang Jin-hyuk confidently took out the key he had received from the dwarf.

He approached the massive door blocking his path and inserted the key into the keyhole.

Even before he turned the key, the image carved into the door glowed brightly, exuding an extraordinary atmosphere.

“Hoo.”

Kang Jin-hyuk took a deep breath and turned the key to open the door.

With a grand sound, the door opened to the left and right, revealing only a gloomy darkness behind it.

As Kang Jin-hyuk took a step forward, a light flickered on as if it had a sensor.

“It’s more like a maze than a temple.”

The only difference from the 1st floor was that the walls were a bit more antique.

Kang Jin-hyuk, who had expected a more magnificent sight, stepped inside with a sense of disappointment.

Then the open door closed automatically with a thud.

“Geez……. It’s not like a horror movie.”

Kang Jin-hyuk calmed his startled heart and took out his baseball bat.

He couldn’t let his guard down for a moment now, as enemies could appear at any time.

As he slowly moved forward, he heard footsteps from around the corner.

The footsteps, mixed with the clanking of metal, were slowly approaching Kang Jin-hyuk.

“Is it a guy wearing armor or something?”

Even if the enemy was fully armed in armor, Kang Jin-hyuk had Aura.

Aura was a cheat skill that ignored defense and dealt damage unless it was blocked by another Aura. Wearing armor would only slow down the enemy’s movements, making them easier to deal with.

Kang Jin-hyuk’s confidence grew as the color of the Aura imbued in his baseball bat deepened.

“Come on, let’s see what you got.”

The owner of the footsteps, which grew louder as they got closer, finally rounded the corner and revealed itself.

Kang Jin-hyuk gasped involuntarily as he confirmed the identity of his opponent.

“What the f**k?”

It wasn’t just one opponent.

What emerged from around the corner were knights in full plate armor, numbering at least 20 by a rough count.

They marched in formation, moving in unison as if they were one, creating a sound that could be mistaken for a single person’s footsteps.

Kang Jin-hyuk was speechless at the chilling sight before him.

Clank.

The knights, spotting Kang Jin-hyuk, simultaneously drew their swords and assumed identical stances as if they were cookie-cutter images.

It was a sight so flawless that not even a speck of dust could find its way in.

Although it seemed difficult to attack them head-on, it didn’t mean there was no way to strategize.

Kang Jin-hyuk imagined the form of lightning with his baseball bat and swung it with all his might towards the knights.

A massive thunderous roar shook the maze, and a lightning bolt, emitting a bright light, struck the densely packed knights.

Because they were clad in full-body metal armor, the knights were forced to experience the full power of the lightning.

“Did I get them?”

Kang Jin-hyuk realized what he had said a moment too late and shut his mouth.

But once spoken, words couldn’t be taken back.

The knights, who had been emitting smoke from between their armor, started walking again as if nothing had happened.

“My big mouth.”

Kang Jin-hyuk sighed and gripped his baseball bat tightly.

“If lightning doesn’t work, it means they’re not alive, at least.”

Considering their machine-like, synchronized movements, they couldn’t be seen as living beings.

“They don’t seem to be skeletons……. Then are they Golems?”

Since skeletons made of only bones couldn’t possibly withstand the weight of that armor, the probability of them being Golems was higher.

If they were Golems, the reason they were completely covered in armor would be to protect their cores.

“So, the only way is to break through head-on?”

Kang Jin-hyuk, looking around, turned his back and ran away before the knights could approach.

The knights chased after Kang Jin-hyuk with even faster movements.

Kang Jin-hyuk, confirming that the knights were chasing him as intended, immediately turned his body sideways.

The place where the knights, chasing after Kang Jin-hyuk, arrived was a narrow passage where only one person could barely pass through.

Kang Jin-hyuk beckoned with his hand from the other side of the passage, provoking the knights.

“What are you doing? Crawl in here if you want to catch me.”

As if provoked, the Golems changed their formation and lined up in a single file.

Lined up like a train, the knights entered the passage one by one, starting from the front.

“They’re actually coming in.”

They might have good unity, but their intelligence seemed to be the worst.

The knights were approaching one by one, completely abandoning their numerical advantage.

Kang Jin-hyuk raised his baseball bat and smashed down on the helmet of the knight approaching at the front.

The knight tried to defend with his sword, but the Aura-enhanced bat broke the sword and dented the helmet.

Even though the helmet was dented like a crushed soda can, the knight didn’t fall.

Kang Jin-hyuk took a step back as the knight swung his broken sword.

“The core isn’t in the head. Then is it in the torso?”

Kang Jin-hyuk twisted his body to avoid the knight’s attack as he swung his sword again.

He swung the bat with all his might towards the knight’s exposed side, and a crunching sound, along with the feeling of something breaking, was transmitted through his hand.

“There you are.”

The knight, whose core was destroyed, collapsed powerlessly.

『Level Up.』

Thanks to the monster having a considerable amount of experience, Kang Jin-hyuk leveled up immediately.

But he had only just defeated one.

The knight following behind didn’t give Kang Jin-hyuk a moment to rest and threatened him by swinging his sword.

“Now that I know the location of the core, it’s only a matter of time before I catch them.”

Kang Jin-hyuk smiled leisurely and defeated the knights coming through the passage one by one.

The sound of metal clashing echoed through the narrow passage for a long time.

When Kang Jin-hyuk’s level had risen considerably.

There were no more knights walking with footsteps.

“That was easier than I thought.”

Kang Jin-hyuk, who had been intimidated by Lucia’s words, felt relieved after defeating the knights.

“I can hunt comfortably as long as I have MP potions left.”

Kang Jin-hyuk replenished the MP he had depleted with Aura using a potion he took out from his inventory.

The only drawback of Aura was that it consumed too much MP.

If he could just chug potions like in a game, it wouldn’t be a problem, but.

In reality, after downing more than 20 potions, he felt bloated and had difficulty moving.

“Should I induce vomiting to empty my stomach?”

Kang Jin-hyuk seriously considered it for a moment and returned to the spot where he had first encountered the knights.

Even when he closed his eyes and listened to the surrounding sounds, he couldn’t hear anything this time.

But just in case, Kang Jin-hyuk took out the radar from his inventory.

“Hmm……. There are no monsters around here already.”

Kang Jin-hyuk was disappointed to see that there were no blinking dots on the radar.

In a situation where he had to quickly catch monsters and level up, this kind of flow was not welcome at all.

“I guess I’ll have to go deeper.”

Kang Jin-hyuk moved forward with the radar on, in case of a sudden monster ambush.

After wandering through the maze for about 5 minutes, a bright dot appeared on the radar screen, which had only shown a black screen.

“Alright.”

The moment Kang Jin-hyuk cheered at the discovery of a new prey, three more dots appeared.

Then 5, 10, 15……. The dots on the radar multiplied endlessly.

“Huh?”

When the dots, reaching 100, finally occupied the radar screen, Kang Jin-hyuk realized the gravity of the situation.

And when those dots started moving towards Kang Jin-hyuk’s location all at once, a chill ran down his spine.

“How can these guys not know when to stop?”

He had wished for many monsters to appear, but he hadn’t wished for a situation where 100 of them would rush in at once.

Thinking he should go back to the narrow passage and force one-on-one fights, Kang Jin-hyuk turned around and saw on the radar that dots were densely appearing in front of him as well.

“Uh oh?”

This is bad.

It was already too late when he realized the situation he was in.

Kang Jin-hyuk, who had lost the timing to escape, was faced with the crisis of dealing with countless monsters rushing in from both front and back.