Chapter 277
Although their dungeon briefing was full of details because this wasn’t their first rodeo, things were bound to be different once we entered. The woman and her group were re-learning that fact again, and the close battle continued, hinting that many casualties and deaths would occur.
I said tersely, “I’m fine.”
When the squad’s healer glanced at me and moved to Ryuichi, the woman approached me. We were inside the dungeon of the Maruka Clan. Her face was covered with mud from the swamp along with water, soil, blood, and unidentified matter from the ground. A handful of mud fell off as she swept a hand down her face. Then, she sniffed at it even though it only smelled salty and disgusting, and frowned. At that moment, her blood-stained gums were revealed.
“Is this all poop?” she asked.
Despite her injuries, she looked ok overall. In addition, I could see that she was mentally in good shape as she talked to me during our personal rest time. Her slender neck and prominent clavicles also gave off a sharp blade-like impression. Although she had spent a few humiliating years in the New Triad, she had reached Act Two, Stage Two.
The woman asked in a confident tone, “This is not your first time against the Maruka Clan, right?”
“You are lucky,” I replied.
Then, the woman looked back with a faint smile. I saw the captain nodding at her, and his subordinates began to move as if they wanted to brag about their skills. They finished wiping the mud off of their weapons and grabbed them. Then, two of them moved to the retreat. It was obvious what they were about to do. They were going to piggyback on my work.
The girl continued, “We want to trust you, Mr. Kwon. However, we can’t continue working only with faith. We need something more. Listen up and don’t get mad. We will hide you from your enemy until the very end, so I hope you show us good faith.”
The dungeon was like a boat floating on the sea. Only the captain and his sailors knew what happened on the ship, and they could claim anything. Even if they ended up killing a member, it’d be easy for them to pass it off as if that unlucky guy had slipped from the deck and fell into the ocean. The woman basically wanted me to be their loyal shrimping net.
“Shut up, and tell me what you want,” I snapped.
“We should point that out so that there’s no misunderstanding in the future.”
“...”
“You, Mr. Kwon, are only going to receive XP. We have come to that agreement, okay?”
Both of her eyes stared at me as she smiled broadly.
“What are you doing? I’m waiting for your answer.”
I responded, “Okay.”
Finally, the surreptitious movements toward me subsided, and everyone acted as if nothing happened. The woman simply continued to smile. She was clearly satisfied that she could control platinum Awakened at her will.
She continued blithely, “Who knows? Our squad might hit the jackpot, and there could be a day when we don’t care about the association. Don’t lose hope for now. After all, we never expected that we would be released from the New Triad.”
Guys like them violate the association’s rules and take away the quest items?
I was pissed, so I said one thing, “Shut the fuck up.”
***
We were doing a random battle quest in the dungeon now, and the monsters were constantly spouting out amoeba-like-shaped bubbles. The creature’s unpleasant-looking eyes were stuck in a clump of protoplasm,[1] and they were staring at the captain. Soon after, the monster quickly morphed into the same appearance as the captain. No matter how many times the captain attacked it, the monster kept copying him in return. The captain was obviously failing. He couldn’t even stop the process, so the result of this battle was predictable.
Everyone was watching the captain’s struggle while holding their breath. Within the blink of an eye, he was surrounded by four monsters that looked just like him, and he kept getting wounded. His protective barrier had been consumed on the way here, so now he could only rely on the team members.
Shortly after the captain declared that he had failed the battle quest, the hall became a mess as all the short-distance dealers jumped into them. The monsters divided their cells rapidly, so the eerie copies weren’t limited to the captain. The split versions quickly copied others. Although these creatures couldn’t copy skills and items, the power and speed of the mirror clones were equivalent to the original’s. Fighting a monster that resembled you felt disgusting, especially when these copies got injured and you got to see the sickening appearance of ‘yourself’ ripping apart.
The situation was settled not long after that. In the aftermath, there were several dead bodies floating in the puddle of mud.
[Attack Squad: You have failed to complete the quest ‘Endless Division.’]
I said to the woman who was simmering with anger, “The Maruka dungeon I experienced earlier was a different place.”
“Why didn’t you follow the order?” she snarled.
I shrugged and replied in a provoking manner, “We had to protect the long-distance camp. What made you give the order to charge? If you want to control me the way you want, give me proper instructions first.”
Her face hardened because the results were already clear. I then volunteered to stand sentry and suggested to the woman to do so as well.
While we were standing next to each other and watching the opposite side, I commented, “The capital city attacked the D-class Maruka dungeon last month.”
“Yeah, I heard.”
As expected, the woman seemed to know about it.
I continued, “I was there too.”
She blinked, clearly startled. She then stuttered, “That’s… too much, even for a joke. I can’t believe you were in the Human Caliber’s squad.”
I smirked. “I told you. If I hadn't been stuck in this damn situation, then you wouldn’t have been able to even look at me. Ugh, let’s stop talking about the old days. The more I think about it, the more fucking annoying the current situation feels.”
“So?”
At this point, the captain and his subordinates who were severely hurt turned their heads also toward me.
I boldly stated, “How many people do you think will be alive by the time we reach the boss monster battle? With the way we’re doing right now, it’d be impossible to get that far. You are all on the wrong track.”
I continued while clicking my tongue, “The first question I have is why are we challenging the E-class dungeon with this group that is barely strong enough?”
If this were the old System, then this group basically consisted of three C-class and twenty-two D-class Awakened. In terms of that alone, it wasn’t a bad composition to challenge and conquer an E-class dungeon. However, that was only true if the Proficiency Level of their skills was at a certain point! After the System had been edited, the Proficiency Level of Awakened fell far behind from their overall level section. There were only a few Awakened who had the maximum number of skills.
When you put it simply, it was like this. If one compared the D-class Awakened in the past and the Gold section Awakened in the current era, then the difference was huge. That was why I described it as noncommittal.
In fact, they should have gone to an F-class dungeon if they wanted to conquer one without any casualties as they were only at that level. Of course, the reason why they risked challenging the Maruka Clan’s E-class dungeon was because of the quest that their captain was carrying out secretly.
“But tell me if you want to conquer this dungeon. Do you think you guys know more about the Maruka Clan than I do? I don’t know how much information you paid for…”
I tapped my head and added, “Everything I know about them is here. I won’t ask you to hand over your command. Just listen to my lead. You should appreciate what I’m willing to do because I’m basically carrying your group.”
The woman exchanged looks with the captain before she laughed while clapping her hands in silence. There couldn’t be a more satisfying smile than hers.
“Appreciate it?”
She grinned.
“Yes, appreciate it.”
***
Before the boss match, we had one final rest period. Everyone who was able to was lying down on any patch of dry land that they could find. Ryuichi began to set up a tent near where I was resting. When I raised my upper body up, he gestured at me, telling me to rest more. People had changed their attitudes toward me. They were no longer sarcastic, but instead very polite. Ryuichi slightly lowered his head before disappearing.
Then, the woman came in. She was clean after a shower and naked. Her arms were covering her breasts and bottom. The smile on her face was more playful than obscene, and it was a surreal combination of purity and disgrace.
“Mr. Kwon…”
The girl burrowed into my arms and leaned against me. I could smell the scent of the disgusting dungeon from her hair, but her skin had a flowery scent.
She purred, “Don’t chicken out. The captain approved this, and this is your reward.”
Her index finger started to brush my skin from my navel to my chest.
“Are you sure you didn’t insist on this?” I asked.
Her eyelashes were still wet. She stared at me, fluttering her tangled, wet eyelashes.
She smiled. “Ah, you are so quick-witted. I thought you were dumb at first because you told me everything even though I was a stranger.”
“It was the same wherever I went,” I responded.
She shook her head. “No, you were confident that you would take control wherever you went. I have been through all sorts of assholes, but you are new. I now know why the Ilsung commander’s girl fell in love with you.”
She began to press more deeply on my side. Also, she was trying hard to smile cutely. Well, she was already pretty even if she didn’t try.
I pushed her off and said, “You are basically saying that you will take away everything from me.”
However, she clung again to me with a face that didn’t show a hint that I had hurt her pride.
She asked enticingly, “I know you lied about your level. You must be far above us. Can I see your status window? I want to know everything about you.”
I smiled mirthlessly. “Sure, go ahead. Only if you want to open up yours too.”
The woman looked me in the eye and shook her head from side to side. At the same time, her eyes also trembled a bit.
“Do you want me to expose more of my skin? Don’t trouble me, and do whatever you want. I’ll do whatever… you want me to do…” she sighed.
I sternly said, “Stop pretending like you are shy, and just get to the point.”
Then, the girl hugged my neck with a look that she couldn’t stop touching me.
“...You will do your best against the boss, right?”
Her warm breath tickled my ears.
I rolled my eyes. “Was all of this just to confirm that?”
“It’s nothing to you, right? You were right in saying that we are lucky.”
Her voice became quieter, and her lips touched my ear.
“Why us? Wouldn’t it be better to choose a group that gave you more XP? Like the group under the direct control of the Sakura Corps.”
I shrugged. “The poster stood out.”
“Ah. You don’t know that you are as lucky as us, do you?” she asked.
I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean?”
“Shhh-”
The girl took her face off my ear and slowly moved her lips. She didn’t make any sound, but the movement was clear enough that I could understand each word.
“There is a hidden quest after the boss match.”
1. The colorless material that consists of the living part of a cell. ☜