It was our first day in the dungeon. I was a D-class Hunter when I first entered this dungeon in the past. At that time, I was a North American guild member, and our party was filled with people from E-class to A-class.
I couldn’t remember the captain’s face. The only thing I could recall was his sharp eyes in his deep eye sockets as I spent a long time wandering the dungeon with him. He died during the battle against the boss monster. It wasn’t because he had sacrificed himself for his team. Instead, it was because the boss monster, the Barba Dean, had persistently targeted him.
In order to conquer this dungeon, we needed the Man Who Overcomes Adversity and Mary’s Hands. In front of the blue barrier that separated the dungeon from reality, I explained to Woo Yeon-Hee about the quests and monsters that we would encounter there.
“We should be alert and focus on our Senses because monsters hide here. There are two types,” I said.
I was referring to the assassin and sniper, and that was how the System positioned them. We didn’t have to deal with them in combat quests, but they were powerful.
“Also, use Mind Control only on the monsters that I specifically tell you to,” I added.
I first used the quest item prior to the full-fledged conquest.
[You have used the item ‘A Child Who Hates Plague.’]
Woo Yeon-Hee’s tense look was relieved when she saw a spirit that was smaller than the size of her thumb that glowed with various lights. When she carefully unfolded her palm, the spirit sat on her hand and folded its wings. However, spirits actually didn’t exist, contrary to what had just appeared.
“It’s pretty.”
Woo Yeon-Hee’s face brightened for the first time as if she was in a fantasy movie, not a horror film. She couldn’t take her eyes off the spirit, but I wasn’t happy with it as I knew the true identity of spirits. Well, I didn’t want to disenchant her.
“Uh..?”
The spirit suddenly flew high, and Woo Yeon-Hee made a sad sound. It was because of the Barba high-ranked plague sorcerer’s bone necklace on her. The spirit hovered around us and pointed in the front. When its tiny arms and fingers moved, Woo Yeon-Hee smiled.
“Don’t loosen up and focus on your Sense. We’re going in now,” I said.
***
It was our seventh day in the dungeon. We had brought extra items like last time, and Woo Yeon-Hee equipped herself with new items as soon as we entered the safe zone. On the other hand, I didn’t need to arm myself as my divine defense tools had a high damage absorption rate and short cooldown time.
While Woo Yeon-Hee was changing her necklace, I reached out my arm to the back of her head. Her reaction was just a few seconds slower than mine, then she grasped the situation. I held the neck of a rat, thrust a dagger into its stomach and pulled it up to its neck. Its internal organs poured out, and its trembling head dropped to the ground.
Ah, it’s supposed to be the ‘safe zone.’
We walked again while avoiding the contaminated zone. Woo Yeon-Hee was no longer happy like she was before when she just met the spirit because fighting against the monsters that abruptly jumped into us and focusing on the surroundings for hours on end was tough. However, it wasn’t necessary for me to reprimand her to focus more since she was making up her mind to become serious.
Then, the spirit disappeared into the wall. The spirit’s passage to the laboratory was different from the one created by the plague sorcerer that I had killed. The path was too narrow, so we had to crawl. The spirit hurried us, and there was a medium-sized laboratory in the end.
At least five small laboratories were connected to each other, and they were filled with plague sorcerers. All kinds of research were going on, such as contaminating gemstones and performing medical experiments on alive Moongs. We could feel the Barba Corps’ ambition and tenacity by listening to their unpleasant ‘Kieuk’ noises.
Woo Yeon-Hee was fascinated by the sight as she realized that the monsters we were fighting against had their own civilization. However, she became pale when she noticed their malicious actions toward the Moongs. I pointed out one guy to her, and she twirled her index finger.
Do you want me to control that one’s mind? She seemed to be asking me that.
Yes, she was correct. I moved my lips silently while pointing at the storage containers.
Protect those.
Her eyes darkened, and the two sorcerers closest to the container stopped. Then, they nodded briefly after glancing up at the ceiling.
***
We had been careful similar to how we acted when we first attacked the F-class dungeon. We made sure no monster ran away to sound the alarm, paid attention to detect the snipers that were sparsely deployed, and rested to recharge her Mind Control skill. Ten days had passed since we first entered the dungeon. Our journey had been slightly delayed as we had encountered a high-ranked plague sorcerer that used to be the E-class dungeon’s boss monster.
[Barba Corps Interrupter:
High-Ranked Plague Sorcerer ⅔
Plagued Laboratory 15/20
Plague Sorcerer 71/100]
I had completed more than seventy percent of the S-class quest, which was my first solo quest. We also managed to complete three group quests and opened three platinum boxes. Of course, we took two runes per person in the laboratory.
On our fifteenth day, Woo Yeon-Hee faced the moment where she could be the most powerful.
The monster in front of us looked like a dinosaur and was the result of the Barba Corps’ biological research. The System could even place it as a boss monster in lower-class dungeons. When I killed the rats and drove them to the corner by using Ruler’s Ring and Devi’s Sword, Woo Yeon-Hee succeeded in taking full control of the gigantic monster’s brain. The monster dragged its huge body toward me. Its rough breath came out through its fangs and covered my face.
“It must be immune to the plague and has a medium-level defense. Can you feel it?” I asked.
The monster nodded, then I pointed at the place where I cornered the rats. After a bit, round objects that looked like soccer balls started to roll out. They were actually the rats’ heads that were torn and crushed, and their screams filled the space.
This was just a warm-up. I waited for the gigantic monster to come out and tightly hugged Woo Yeon-He’s body with one arm.
“There is another high-ranked plague sorcerer somewhere ahead. Let’s finish it, too,” I said.
***
It was now day twenty-two. The spirit sitting on my shoulder finally spread its wings and flew ahead. Its flapping was a signal that guided me to the final destination of the S-class quest.
Moreover, the System was pretty generous. They considered each room in the laboratory as one ‘Plagued Laboratory’ for the quest instead of counting the entire lab as one. I just had to destroy one more medium-sized laboratory to complete my solo quest. Woo Yeon-Hee could feel my excitement. She had been suffering from the repercussions of mentally dominating the monster a week ago and sickening headaches due to hidden monsters. However, she finally smiled as she felt my emotions. Perhaps, I was grinning as well as the corners of my lips were raised at one point.
“Let’s go,” I said.
The plague sorcerer controlled by Woo Yeon-Hee didn’t stand foolishly as she had repeated the same strategy three times already. It stayed near the storage containers and kept casting spells, hitting the backs of its fellow allies. The spirit trembled whenever the plague sorcerers died, and if it could talk, it would have been moaning in happiness. It flapped its wings in excitement, and when more than three sorcerers collapsed, it frantically shook its body.
This is the last time I’ll have to see that shabby thing.
Crush!
We ended the extermination and took all their research papers. I had completed the quests that asked me to kill high-ranked and regular plague sorcerers. We just needed to ruin five more laboratories.
[You have destroyed the laboratory.]
…
[You have destroyed the laboratory.]
The last one!
[You have completed the quest ‘Barba Corps Interrupter.’]
[The Barba’s research has slowed down.]
It was such a heart-warming message! The reward message popped up just as I was recalling South America being crippled with pestilence in the past.
[You have obtained a ‘challenger box’ for completing the quest.]
I had been waiting for this multicolored box. I thought I would never see it again after that time I received the First Virtue’s Devi’s Sword. However, it appeared in front of me once again. I would be happy with anything, whether it was a skill, insignia or item. Whatever it might be, it would take me to the next level.
I felt the tremor under my eyes, then Woo Yeon-Hee held my hand warmly. She was looking at me with joy, and her eyes were even filled with tears.
“Congratulations,” she said.
The box opened. Did I mention that the light from the challenger box had a healing effect? It not only cured wounds but also reinforced the defensive barriers and recharged the Damage Resorption rate of equipment to their maximum. I blew those notification messages away and focused on the spectacular light concentrating in the box. It was an insignia if the rays of light headed toward my chest, an item if it headed toward my hands, and a skill if it covered my entire body. The light shone brilliantly toward my hands, and I hurriedly collected it with both hands.
[You have obtained the item ‘La’s Sun Cape.’]
[La’s Sun Cape (Item)
Effect: It increases every resistance by 20 percent and randomly starts ‘La’s Blessing.’ It can be converted into ‘La’s Sun Sword.’
Physical Damage Absorption: 15000/15000
Magical Damage Absorption: 15000/15000
Class: S]
[New categories have been added.
Target: Spiritual Resistance, Mental Resistance, Decomposition Resistance, Phobia Resistance, Power Resistance, …]
The categories that Deva King’s Protective Gloves didn’t give me were being added all at once. I had not been aware of some of the Resistances that showed up. What was more surprising was that La’s Sun Cape could be converted into a weapon.
[The item ‘La’s Sun Cape’ has been converted into ‘La’s Sun Sword.]
It was my first time seeing it, and it was burning in my hands.