I glanced sideways.

Lumina stared at Meiling with wide eyes, her hand covering her mouth.

Seo Yui had her eyes closed, lips slightly parted as though sighing.

And Chen Meiling—arms crossed, back straight, standing tall in her own way—faced the All-Around members without flinching.

Even though she was the smallest person in the entire banquet hall, her presence filled the space.

I thought she reflected on her arrogance after HAUT…

Apparently not. With such an overwhelming victory, her nose must have shot back up into the sky.

There was no need to give such a lousy impression. They would’ve let us into the dungeons anyway…

“Guildmaster!”

One of the All-Around members below the podium called out with a grin.

“Seems like the newbies are full of energy. Why don’t we give them exactly what they want?”

“Hm.”

Zeke’s gaze turned to us.

I realized he was carefully sweeping his eyes across the inventories strapped to our waists.

“Alright. Four recruits joining at once—no reason to wait. Abel.”

He smiled faintly as he called.

“Yes, Guildmaster.”

“Take them to the Pit. Anyone else who wants to watch can tag along.”

Abel gave a wry smile, while members below the stage quickly filed out of the hall.

Zeke stepped down as well, leaving with the rest.

“Uh… u-uh…?”

Lumina looked around, panicked at the suddenly empty hall.

“Well, it can’t be helped now. Let’s go.” Abel said with a smile.

“W-where are we going?” Lumina asked, her voice trembling.

“I’ll explain on the way.”

He led us down the podium stairs.

All-Around had its own initiation ritual for newcomers.

That was to enter the guild’s exclusive dungeon on the city outskirts—The Dark Pit—and return from the sixth floor.

“With what I saw from you at HAUT, you should manage to get through the fifth floor,” Abel explained as he drove.

“On the sixth floor, you don’t need to defeat the boss. Just bring back three resources unique to that level.”

“What? That’s it? Sounds easy. This is All-Around’s big initiation?”

“Mei-Meiling…” Lumina grabbed her arm as if to stop her.

“Yes. If you can make it that far, it proves enough to recognize you as All-Around’s strength.”

Hmm.

I studied Abel’s profile. He wore the same mild smile as always. That alone told me—he was All-Around through and through.

After about thirty minutes, we arrived at an abandoned industrial complex.

The only reason a proper road still led here was because All-Around had paved a private one for easy access to their dungeon.

Unmanned checkpoints stamped with the guild’s insignia along the way were proof of that.

The lot was filled with parked cars—clearly those of the members who’d arrived before us.

Following Abel deeper inside, the dungeon entrance came into view.

Around it stood several guild members, including Guildmaster Zeke himself.

“A-ahh…”

Lumina shrank back at the sight.

In the cement ground yawned a black pit, easily twenty meters across.

It swallowed the light whole, as if reality itself had glitched and turned that patch into void.

“As Abel explained on the way, I’ll repeat it for clarity.”

Zeke looked at us.

“The four of you will enter this independent dungeon—the Dark Pit—and retrieve three resources from the sixth floor. Those are—”

Black Quartz, Dark Springwater, and Blackwater Root, I recited inwardly.

“—Black Quartz, Dark Springwater, and Blackwater Root. All of them are gathering materials.”

As expected.

“The time limit is until midnight. Succeed, and you’ll be recognized as full members of All-Around. No one will look down on you—you’ll be equals. Of course, if you fail or quit, no one will fault you. You’re still trainees, after all.”

“…Though one of you might take that harder on the pride,” a female member called out, cupping her hands around her mouth.

“Hmph.”

Meiling snorted, drawing a ripple of oooohs from the crowd.

“Here.”

Abel handed over an inventory.

“It contains potions, antidotes, basic supplies.”

“Don’t need it,” Meiling said bluntly.

But I immediately reached out and took it.

“Yein! Why’d you take that? Didn’t you hear me!?”

I ignored her.

“Thank you. We’ll put it to good use.”

I smiled brightly, storing the items.

Truth be told, I didn’t need them either—I already had everything in my own inventory.

But who turns down free supplies?

Neglect items, and one day they’ll be the reason you fall.

“Then go,” Zeke ordered.

We approached the edge together and leapt into the Pit.

“Ye-Yein! Where are you!?”

“Hold on.”

I pulled out a lantern powered by a mana stone and Lightning Ore.

The darkness receded just enough to reveal the others’ faces.

“This is the first dungeon I’ve seen that’s this dark,” Seo Yui murmured, scanning our surroundings.

Indeed, before I lit the lantern, I couldn’t even see the silhouettes of the others.

Even now, the glow was as faint as a dying flashlight—almost as if the dungeon itself devoured the light.

“Let’s get our gear on.”

I set the lantern down and reached into my inventory.

The others did the same.

Once clad in a full set of level-55 rare plate armor, I finally felt secure.

While the others still readied themselves, I checked the inventory Abel had handed us.

Ten Lv.45 Healing Potions. Five Lv.40 All-Status Recovery Potions. Five Pouches of Shimmering Powder. Six Lv.20 Mana Stones. Just like the game.

I stowed them all in my own inventory and tucked the empty one inside my coat to avoid confusion.

“All geared up! Let’s move already!”

Meiling was the first to finish, magic staff in hand, her face alight with excitement.

“Are you really that excited just because we haven’t gone to a dungeon for a week?”

“It’s not a week! It’s been ten days since the last dungeon!”

Meiling waved her staff with impatience.

I strapped the lantern to my belt.

Bwoooom.

As Meiling channeled mana into her staff, a pale blue glow spread around us.

“…Weird. I used the same amount of mana as usual, but the light’s weak.”

“It’s probably the dungeon itself. My lantern’s glow is weaker too.”

I explained as she studied her staff.

“For now, let’s close ranks.”

“Y-yeah!”

Lumina pressed tight to my left side.

Seo Yui stepped ahead of me, and Meiling moved to my right, opposite Lumina.

We advanced in a T-shaped formation.

“…What kind of monsters show up here?” Lumina whispered.

“No idea. This dungeon belongs exclusively to All-Around, so I haven’t heard any details.”

“Huh. So there are dungeons you don’t know.” Meiling sounded genuinely surprised.

Of course not. But I can’t just flaunt that here.

If things turn dangerous, I’ll nudge them the right way.

Then—thunk, roll.

The ground ahead bulged upward.

“Kyaa!”

“Ugh…”

The shriek from right beside me made me wince.

What emerged from the floor was a one-meter-tall golem of solid black stone.

“What the—these tiny things?”

Meiling fired off mana blasts without hesitation.

Her staff’s glow vanished, shrinking our field of vision.

Bang! Bang!

Two consecutive blasts shattered the black golems into fragments.

“Ah…”

Lumina looked sheepish at how effortlessly Meiling had dispatched them.

No wonder—monsters on the first floor never went above level 10.

At level 55, Lumina had no reason to be afraid.

We pressed on, guided only by my lantern and the faint stafflight Meiling recharged each time.

Every now and then another black golem would crawl out, only to be pulverized instantly by Meiling’s spells.

“…Boring.” She clicked her tongue.

“Yein.”

“Yes?”

I turned to Seo Yui’s quiet call.

“What are you looking for?”

“I was just wondering how All-Around members manage in a place this dark.”

“They probably haul around a ton of lights,” Meiling said.

“Maybe. But I doubt that’s enough.”

I swept my headlamp beam across the floor—then froze.

I stepped forward.

“Ah—!”

Lumina scrambled after me.

“There’s something here…”

I knelt and made a show of studying the ground.

The others clustered close.

“What’s this pattern?” Meiling asked.

On the floor was a circle etched with a crystal-like design.

“There’s a line leading out from it,” Seo Yui pointed out.

Meiling raised her staff again, illuminating a faint line that stretched ahead.

We followed it along the wall.

“Lumina, stop.”

I grabbed her wrist before she walked face-first into the stone.

“Huh? Ah…”

She backed away quickly, startled.

“Lumina, even with light, keep your eyes open,” Meiling scolded.

“Heh… sorry.” Lumina laughed awkwardly.

“There’s another mark here,” Seo Yui said, pointing at the wall.

“Though it looks different.”

Indeed, it had the same circle-and-crystal motif, but now rimmed with radiating lines—like rays of light.

“Maybe if we touch it, it’ll light up?”

Meiling pressed her palm against the crystal engraving.

Nothing happened.

“….”

She pouted and gave the wall a useless slap.

“Hm… ah, wait…”

I leaned closer, pretending to puzzle something out.

“Yein? Did you figure something out?” Lumina asked.

“Not sure, but I have an idea.”

I pulled a mana stone from my inventory and pressed it against the engraving.

“Ah!”

Lumina cried out.

The stone’s glow flowed into the wall.

The symbol flared blue, then the entire passage lit up brilliantly.

Now we could see—this dungeon wasn’t a cavern but a constructed corridor, alternating halls and chambers.

“Wow!” Lumina spun in awe.

“So it just needed mana? That’s all?” Meiling muttered, unimpressed.

“At least we can travel comfortably now,” Seo Yui said with a smile.

“But how did you know there’d be a light source?” she asked.

“Well, Meiling was right—they could carry lights. But even with that, it wouldn’t cut this darkness. My lantern and her staff both weakened here. So I guessed the dungeon itself suppresses light. All-Around’s been running this place for ages, so I figured they’d have a workaround. The crystal design reminded me of mana stones, so I gave it a try.”

“Wow… I’m really glad we have you, Yein. I never would’ve thought of that,” Lumina said, eyes shining.

Though honestly, the real hint was elsewhere.

The inventory Abel gave us.

It held potions—and mana stones.

Back when I first played this event, I never understood why they included mana stones. Potions made sense, but the stones?

Now it was obvious.

The faint lines drawn on the dungeon floor from the very start weren’t just decoration—they guided explorers straight to these light stations.

All you had to do was feed them mana.

That’s why I’d been “coincidentally” following the lines the whole time.

“Alright, with the lights on, let’s move. We need to get higher, fast.”

At that, Meiling’s eyes gleamed.

“Perfect! Let’s go!”

She marched ahead, excitement spilling out.

Seo Yui sighed, quickening her pace to walk at Meiling’s side—after all, letting a mage take point was unthinkable for a tank.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah!” Lumina beamed.

The first three floors shouldn’t be a problem now.

I followed after them, thinking back to the other “hint” tucked away in Abel’s inventory.

(End of Chapter)