Chapter 210: Centipede (2)

TL: SHW

I reached the Dungeon Core in no time. In fact, I got there so quickly that it was almost embarrassing. It made it look like I'd fled in a panic... No, like I'd rushed off to deal with the core.

No. That wasn't it.

Even if it was only D-rank, a dungeon was still a dungeon.

And this dungeon was suspicious as hell.

A two-meter centipede I'd never seen once in twenty years suddenly shows up? That made no sense. It was just one more reason to shut this dungeon down immediately.

This was strictly about destroying the core. Breaking the Dungeon Core wasn't going to trap us inside the dungeon anyway... There was nothing wrong with finishing things quickly and decisively. I absolutely had not dumped an annoying job I didn't want to do on Hong Seok-young and run away.

“Hmm...”

The Dungeon Core didn't look much different from when I'd checked it earlier. It hummed quietly as it continued operating. The centipedes crawling around nearby were ordinary... Well, too big to call ordinary centipedes, but for monsters, they were a perfectly reasonable size.

Maybe it was because I'd just seen that revolting two-meter monstrosity, but even the sight of forearm-sized centipedes clustered together now made my skin crawl. They say humans are creatures that learn. I didn't need to learn this fast.

Either way, I had to get past those centipedes to destroy the core.

I didn't even want to get close to them, so I simply set them on fire. If Yoo Ji-eun had seen me, she might have gotten angry and told me not to waste her sword like that.

If she didn't like it, she shouldn't have given me the sword.

Even if they were monsters that only gnawed on leaves and rotting meat, they thankfully had some survival instinct. Startled by the flames, they scrambled backward. The ones that failed to get away in time writhed in the fire, crackling like burning firewood.

Thud!

“......!”

The ground heaved at a completely unexpected moment.

I hadn't been prepared at all, so I staggered before catching my balance. Ah, damn it. There went my pride.

Rumble!

I frowned.

The ground shook again. The vibration felt similar to what I'd sensed earlier. The floor quivered, then split apart with a sharp crack. Thick antennae poked through the narrow gap, followed by a centipede crawling up from below.

“What the hell?”

Did Hong Seok-young let one get away?

That man might love messing around, but surely he wouldn't pull this kind of stunt inside a dungeon.

But I soon understood what had happened.

“Oh...”

I shut my mouth. Centipedes were pouring endlessly out of the hole in the ground.

One, two, four...

I had no idea where they'd been hiding, or how Daseon, which claimed to have searched every inch of the dungeon, had somehow missed them.

Watching a whole swarm of two-meter centipedes made my head go blank. Monsters that looked like two-meter mosquitoes hadn't been anywhere near this disgusting.

“...Ah, fuck!”

While I was momentarily stunned, one of the centipedes started crawling toward the core. I only snapped back to my senses when I saw its antennae twitching.

‘The door is designed to open automatically once the power runs out, but...’

The dungeon structure Hope had explained to me. More precisely, how a Dungeon Break occurred.

‘That doesn't mean it can't be opened before then. You just have to reach the Power Source. There isn't any complicated procedure.’

‘Even so, that sounds way too simple.’

‘Of course a Cradle capable of more functions would have a longer procedure. But most of them are basically escape pods, remember? To put it in simpler terms...’

‘A life-support system with an emergency opening mechanism.’

‘Yeah. Apparently. That's about all they usually do.’

‘Then if you destroy the Power Source, the Dungeon Core, none of those functions work anymore?’

‘It's basically the same as cutting the power completely. What could it possibly do after that?’

That two-meter centipede didn't seem likely to possess any particularly nasty abilities. The Mana I sensed from it supported that, and it didn't look like it carried any poison capable of contaminating the Han River.

But what if a D-rank dungeon containing Hong Seok-young and, as far as the public knew, Hong Seok-young's one and only disciple suddenly suffered a Dungeon Break?

That wouldn't even be something people could joke about. I also had no desire to see centipedes crawling through the middle of Seoul, but that was one thing and this was another!

As long as I was standing here with both eyes open, there was no way I could let that happen.

“Tch!”

I clicked my tongue and tossed the sword briefly into the air. It was airborne for less time than it took to blink. Enough. I turned my sword hand over.

I stepped forward with my left foot. I leaned back at the waist and put my shoulder behind it. The tip of the sword had to be level with my eyes. No, a little higher. The target was huge anyway, and it was close. Even a rough throw would hit, so I needed to kill it in one shot.

That entire train of thought took less than a second.

The sword left my hand.

“......!!”

Crunch.

The insolent centipede that had stretched its antennae toward the Dungeon Core was skewered by the sword.

I hadn't restrained my Mana, so the force behind it tore the centipede's body to pieces. Blue flames flared across the corpse before scattering. As expected, Yoo Ji-eun's sword really was excellent.

Still trailing sparks, the sword continued on and buried itself in the Dungeon Core.

Crash!

At the same instant, the sound of shattering glass came from above.

“......! .........!!”

The centipedes crawling across the floor trembled, their legs quivering violently. The two-meter centipedes emerging from the hole did the same. Thank goodness those things didn't have any organs for making sound. Otherwise, the racket probably would have been murder on my ears.

But judging from that violent reaction, I was certain I'd successfully interfered with whatever incomprehensible plan they had. Come to think of it, one of them had looked like it was coming this way earlier, only to run off. Had it been one of these? This was supposed to be the direction of the core, and apparently they really had been trying to open the gate and trigger a Dungeon Break. Good thing I'd hurried over. See? I had a plan all along.

“...Hmm.”

Still, once the centipedes had settled down, stopped moving all at once, and turned their antennae toward me... unease washed over me.

Think about it. We're talking about at least a hundred centipedes all looking at me. I'm not Hong Seok-young. When I see something disgusting, I react like a normal person and find it disgusting.

Click. Click. Click-click. Click.

Aggressive noises came from the centipedes. I couldn't tell whether they were clacking their antennae together, grinding their teeth, or rattling their legs, but I knew one thing for sure: it wasn't a gesture of peaceful negotiation.

“My sword, it...”

I looked at the Dungeon Core. Naturally, Yoo Ji-eun's sword was still embedded in the core, which was now leaking Mana like a sieve.

It wasn't as though I had no other weapons. I still had the Dagger Lee Mi-seon had given me for the forum, and the backup weapons I'd used besides my spear were safely stored in my Subspace. Naturally, my spear was there too, so I could simply take it out.

No, but. But... I don't want to use my precious babies, the ones I'd worked so hard to clean and maintain, on things like those!

If someone told me to kill goblins, fine. I'd do it. But those things. Those things...

If Yoo Ji-eun asked me now which kind of dungeon I'd refuse to enter, or what kind of monster I couldn't bring myself to fight, I'd happily give her an answer.

I'd never realized I hated arthropods this much.

***

Click!

Hong Seok-young frowned at the aggressive sound coming from the centipedes.

Among the handful of Hunters who had entered the Songpa District dungeon after it appeared, Hong Seok-young had been one of them. According to the official records, he'd been roughly the third.

Back then, he hadn't noticed anything particularly strange. Finding a corpse covered in runes had certainly been unusual, but that had been evidence of the Ark's involvement, not an anomaly within the dungeon itself.

But now, look at the centipedes moving in perfect coordination. He had no idea how they communicated, but the way they maintained formation while attacking was remarkably organized.

If he had been an ordinary Hunter instead of Hong Seok-young, he would undoubtedly have been overwhelmed.

‘Definitely not D-rank... B-rank? This could easily qualify as A-rank.’

This was how a monster swarm with a leader moved. Considering the testimony about a centipede enormous enough to contaminate the Han River, there might be something like a queen bee or queen ant somewhere in this dungeon. Those big ones had been crawling underground, hadn't they? Who knew what might be down there after enough digging...

Crash!

“...Oh. The core's broken.”

The flow of Mana inside the dungeon shifted. If the change was noticeable the instant the core broke, the dungeon itself would probably collapse quickly as well. They could simply wait for it to fall apart, or he and Woo Hwijae could leave through the gate without any trouble, but...

“I think I've got a rough idea of what's so suspicious about this dungeon now, too.”

Hong Seok-young leisurely rubbed his chin as he watched the writhing centipedes.

There really wouldn't be any problem with leaving now.

“Would leaving now be a bit of a waste?”

There were fewer opportunities than one might expect for the two of them to talk alone, with no eyes watching and no ears listening. That had become even more true after Woo Hwijae left the pension with Woo I-rok.

“I should probably teach him one more thing while we're here.”

Hong Seok-young kept his hand on his chin. The strange standoff with the centipedes continued.

“It's not like there's anything grand enough here to call a lesson... Still, he doesn't know anything about this side of the job. And I don't intend to spell it out for him, either.”

It was the centipedes whose patience ran out first. Click! With a nerve-grating sound, they lunged violently at Hong Seok-young.

“Now, now. I'm thinking here. The least you could do is wait quietly.”

Hong Seok-young casually swatted a centipede away with the Wooden Sword. It was casual by Hong Seok-young's standards, anyway. To the centipede, it was more than enough to threaten its life.

Thud!

The centipede sent flying by Hong Seok-young's light swing smashed through five or six trees before going limp.

“Next?”

Hong Seok-young beckoned leisurely toward the centipedes. The creatures, which had been holding themselves rigid, shuddered and looked as though they were about to rush forward before retreating instead. A moment later, though, their demeanor changed and they swung their heads toward Hong Seok-young.

“So there is a leader.”

Hong Seok-young nodded with a knowing look.

“Do I have to start watching what I say inside dungeons now too? That's a lot more things to worry about.”

Hong Seok-young tilted his head back and looked at the sky. More precisely, at the dungeon ceiling.

“Or I could just break the core before talking... Hmm. Better safe than sorry.”

“Teacher!”

“Oh. Did he always hate bugs?”

Hong Seok-young scratched his head as he watched the man running toward him from a distance, calling out. Behind him, a swarm of centipedes was crawling after him at an unbelievable speed.

Even for Hong Seok-young, a man famous for clearing any dungeon quickly and without hesitation, it was a somewhat unfamiliar sight. He faltered for a moment, then gave an awkward laugh.

“I guess he could.”

“Why aren't you killing them?!”

“Wait a moment... No, where's your sword? What did you do, sell it off already?”

“To the Dungeon Core.”

“Do dungeon items stick around when the dungeon disappears?”

“...I'll retrieve it before we leave.”

Hong Seok-young burst into hearty laughter.

“Well, your timing's good.”

“What?”

“Watch closely, Hwijae-gun.”

Without switching weapons, Hong Seok-young kept the crude Wooden Sword in his hand and pointed its tip toward the centipedes.

“I'm going to show you how monsters from the future behave.”

***

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