Just as I expected, once the dungeon lit up, the three of them advanced without hesitation.

Starting with the small black golems that first appeared, followed by pitch-black shadow demons, black goblins, and more.

As if to prove they were dark-attribute monsters, an endless stream of jet-black creatures emerged.

However, they were no match for my kids.

It was only natural. When Lumina brandished her dual daggers, four or five of them fell in the blink of an eye.

When Seo Yui stomped her foot, a dozen died.

And Meiling was a living magic bullet machine gun.

I couldn't even count the number of monsters Meiling killed on our way up to the 3rd floor.

And the 3rd-floor boss, a group of spectacled black goblins that used restraining items—

KWAAAAANG!!!

They vanished without even a scream, consumed by the Hellfire Orb Meiling launched.

"Isn't a Hellfire Orb a bit much for level 30 monsters?"

I said, feeling sorry for the black goblin mob that disappeared three seconds after we met them. Meiling just snorted.

"Hmph. There's no such thing as 'too much' for monsters."

Then again, who was I to talk?

The number of monsters I had killed in the game would easily be in the millions.

Still, an inner voice argued that the game and reality were different.

‘But there’s no guarantee this is reality either.’

That thought suddenly made me think of my original world.

An ordinary world with no monsters or Awakeners.

When I first came to this world and possessed Nam Yein's body, I was determined to return.

Things like monsters, dungeons, and hunters are only fun when you encounter them in a game.

When it becomes reality, your life is on the line.

In fact, the first thing I saw when I possessed Nam Yein was a group of boys and girls falling to monsters.

‘But now that I’ve built a foundation, living in this world is quite manageable.’

I had these three kids who acted as my hands and feet, or my spear and shield.

Behind the scenes, I had the backing of key figures from various powers like Eleanor, Chairman Porter, Cheon Jiwon, and All Around, or even the powers themselves.

I had won HAUT, and after graduation, I would be active as a member of the All Around guild. I had essentially achieved everything an aspiring hunter in this world could dream of.

Even better, thanks to my Craftsman skill, I had an amount of money in my bank account that I could never have earned in a lifetime in my original reality.

‘If I were to leave and Nam Yein became the owner of this body again, he’d think he hit the jackpot.’

The thought suddenly made me feel a little regretful.

‘But this isn’t my world. And this body isn’t mine.’

The kids standing in front of me now rely on Nam Yein, a silver-haired boy their age, not Hong Heecheol, a man approaching his 30s.

"Hey! Nam Yein, what are you doing! The portal's open!"

Snapping out of my thoughts as if waking from a dream, I looked at the three people standing in front of the floor-transfer portal.

"Something feels off."

"What?"

Meiling narrowed her eyes.

"Huh? What's strange?"

Lumina asked, her eyes widening slightly.

"Over there."

I pointed to one of the walls in the boss room.

"It looks a little different from the walls we've seen so far."

"What do you mean, different? It looks the same."

Meiling said, sounding dumbfounded, while Lumina blinked and stared at the wall I was pointing at.

Seo Yui, however, walked over, examined the wall, and then turned her gaze to me.

"You mean here?"

"Yes. The color of that part is slightly different."

"Ah! You're right!"

Lumina exclaimed.

"..."

Meiling looked surprised for a moment, then bit her lip and turned her head away.

She seemed annoyed that she hadn't discovered it herself.

"Hmm."

Seo Yui tapped the wall with her fist a few times before striking it hard with her shield.

The discolored section crumbled, revealing a hidden space inside.

We entered the space.

"What's that...?"

Seo Yui, who had entered first, muttered as she looked ahead.

Inside, a single item emitting a blue light rested on a small altar.

"It's Magic grade, isn't it?"

Meiling said.

"For something hidden in a boss room, its rarity is low. Besides, why a lantern now?"

Just as she said, the item on the altar was a lantern with an angel decoration.

I stepped past the kids and looked directly at the lantern.

My Craftsman ability activated, showing me the item's status.

---

[Consecrated Lantern]

Lv.35

Consumable

Magic

A lantern imbued with holiness. When infused with mana, it emits a light that defies darkness and reveals the profane.

---

I picked up the lantern.

It immediately began to glow brightly.

"It's a light that makes your heart feel warm."

Lumina murmured, staring blankly at the lantern.

"Seeing as it was placed here, it might be useful later. Let's take it."

“Okay."

Seo Yui nodded in agreement.

"It's a bit bright, but we already figured out how to light up this dungeon anyway. Isn't it just extra baggage?"

"If we don't need it, we can just sell it on the market."

I replied nonchalantly to Meiling's comment.

‘You’ll find out why we need the lantern when we get to the 4th floor,’

I muttered inwardly.

***

About five minutes after entering the 4th floor.

"Why can't I see it!?"

Meiling shouted.

"I've been looking ever since we got to the 4th floor, but I can't find the lighting device!"

"Shh! Meiling, be quiet. Monsters might hear us and come."

Seo Yui warned in a low voice.

"Kikikik!"

"Kek kek!"

"Kyaa!"

Just then, an ominous laugh was followed by Lumina's scream.

Six black goblins emerged from the darkness.

"Ah, Meiling."

As I called her name in a blaming tone, Meiling flared up.

"What, what! How do you know if they came because they heard me or because they heard our footsteps!"

At that moment, a clang sound was heard.

Seo Yui had blocked the attack of a black goblin that rushed in with a sword.

‘She blocks well.’

It was dark, and because their skin was pitch-black, the forms of the black goblins were hard to see.

Even so, Seo Yui had reacted instantly to the monster's attack.

"Ah! Senior!"

Lumina, holding her dual daggers, moved to Seo Yui’s side.

"Tch! As if you're not going to die in one hit, how arrogant!"

Meiling also raised her magic staff.

And in the next moment, something strange happened.

"Huh!?"

It started with Lumina.

Her swiftly swung dagger clearly passed through the black goblin in front of Seo Yui.

However, the creature ran on as if nothing had happened, moving away from Lumina.

Kwaang!

"Huhhh?"

Meiling's voice, full of confusion, followed.

The magic bullets fired at the black goblin flew past it and destroyed the wall behind.

"What are these things? Why aren't my attacks hitting?"

"Kyahaha!"

"Kiyaaho!"

Just then, the black goblins let out high-pitched cries that sounded like laughter and charged again.

"!"

For the first time since entering the dungeon, Seo Yui put on her blue half-mask.

Kaang!

Kaaaang!

The black goblins' sword slashes and the darts fired from their blowguns were blocked by Seo Yui's shield.

Lumina attacked the black goblin that Seo Yui had pushed back once more.

Whoosh!

"Kyak kyak!"

But even though the sword clearly entered its body, the creature stood up straight and retreated to its companion holding a blowgun.

"Huh, what?"

Faced with this repeated bizarre phenomenon, Lumina looked back and forth between her dagger and the black goblin, bewildered.

Kwaang!

Kwaaang!

Meanwhile, on one side, magic bullets continued to fly into the wall and explode.

"What the hell are these things!"

Meiling shouted, her voice filled with frustration.

She had faced enemies that could withstand her attacks, but never one that her attacks didn't hit at all, so it was natural for her to be flustered.

‘Guess it’s about time I helped out.’

I took out the Consecrated Lantern I had stored in my inventory.

"I'll secure a bit more visibility!"

As I shouted and infused mana into the lantern, a dazzling light flashed from it.

"Kyaaaaak!"

"Keeeeek!!"

The black goblins, which had been moving as if seeping through the darkness, screamed and stopped in their tracks.

"No way?"

Meiling muttered and quickly fired a magic bullet.

Pow!

The blue magic bullet struck the black goblin's head directly.

The result was an instant kill.

"Yein! Keep that lantern held up!"

Seo Yui shouted before using Shield Charge on the creature in the center of the black goblins.

Kwaang!

Crack!

With a heavy sound like being hit by a running car and the sound of breaking bones, the black goblin struck by the shield flew into the wall.

Thud!

It died instantly from the secondary impact.

Kuuuung!

When Seo Yui used Stomp, the surrounding black goblins all lost their balance and fell.

In that opening, Lumina rushed in and quickly cut them down.

This time, Lumina's daggers definitively ended the black goblins' lives.

Once the attacks started landing, cleaning up the monsters was over in an instant.

It was only natural, given the nearly 20-level difference.

"Yein was right."

Seo Yui, her full face revealed after deactivating her ability, said with a smile.

"The moment the lantern's light hit them, the black goblins' bodies became clearer, and our attacks started working. It really was a necessary item."

"I know, right? I never imagined it would have this effect. I guess it wasn't hidden in the boss room for nothing."

Even as I said it, I felt so shameless.

Of course, I knew the purpose of this lantern.

From the 4th floor of the Dark Pit onward, the lighting device doesn't appear until you reach the midpoint.

Until then, you have to fight monsters in total darkness.

However, the monsters that appear from the 4th floor receive a strengthening buff in the dark.

For example, the black goblins just now had a buff called 'Unity with Shadow'.

Monsters with this buff have a very high chance of evading attacks in the unlit parts of the Dark Pit.

That was why Lumina's and Meiling's attacks passed right through them.

‘In the game, it was simply displayed as a ‘miss.’ So this is what it’s like in reality.’

Other buffs included 'Blade of Darkness,' which strengthened dark-attribute attacks; 'Contagious Darkness,' a curse aura that caused blindness and weakened attack power; and 'Shadow Cloak,' which made them invisible.

Of course, all of these disappear once you find the lighting device and turn on the lights.

But as I said, the lighting device doesn't appear until you're halfway through the floor.

This is where the Consecrated Lantern, hidden in the secret room of the 3rd-floor boss room, comes in.

Using the Consecrated Lantern can nullify the dark-type buffs of nearby monsters.

‘The first time I challenged the Dark Pit with a ticket, I missed this lantern and had a really hard time clearing the initiation quest.’

Back then, I didn't even know that a hidden boss existed in Latessai.

The thought made me feel nostalgic for some reason.

‘I’m having a lot of random thoughts today.’

Was it because I had revealed the mana stone generation technology and succeeded in luring Cheon Jiwon to capture Yang Len?

The thought that I could watch the fall of Forward without having to suffer through the long civil war quest must have given me some peace of mind.

Of course, it wasn't completely over yet, and there were still one or two things left to do.

"This dungeon is starting to get fun. Let's stop resting and get going."

Meiling said with a smirk.

The memory of her flustered face when her attacks weren't working was still vivid in my mind.

As I was thinking that, my eyes met Lumina's.

I saw her give a wry smile.

It seemed we were thinking the same thing.

***

With the help of the Consecrated Lantern, we passed through the 4th floor with ease.

From the 5th floor, a curse that reduced movement and attack speed was applied to the entire floor, but it meant nothing to us.

Because there was a simple solution.

---

[Ezonil's Teaching]

Lv.1

Accessory

Unique

A silver necklace engraved with the teachings of Saint Ezonil. It prevents the profane from approaching.

★ Gain Curse Immunity.

---

Ezonil's Teaching.

It was the Unique item I had created before to utilize Meiling's Death Domain.

As a level 1 Unique item, it provided no stat boosts, but it was very useful in times like these.

And so, holding the curse immunity item and the Consecrated Lantern, we easily cleared the 5th floor and finally arrived at the 6th.

On the 6th floor, a curse that lowered attack and defense was added, but we were able to overcome it with Ezonil's Teaching as well.

"On the 6th floor, we could just gather materials and go back, but since we're here in the dungeon, how about we level up a bit before we leave?"

I said, looking at the three of them.

Our level was 55.

Considering we hadn't even entered Phase 2, it was very high.

However, strong opponents like Persila and Yang Len always attacked us without warning.

We managed to escape each time, but there was no guarantee that my strategies or preparations would always work out perfectly.

Therefore, the higher our level, the better.

"I'm for it. It's been a while since it was just us in a dungeon, so let's have some fun before we go."

Meiling said.

"Yes. I agree with Yein too."

Seo Yui said and looked at Lumina.

"Ah, me too."

"Then, since no one objects, let's start hunting..."

I stopped mid-sentence.

"..."

My brow furrowed.

The kids I had just been talking to were gone.

It was as if I had been talking to myself this whole time.

‘There’s no gimmick like this in the Dark Pit.’

It wasn't the work of a monster either.

No monster has this kind of ability.

‘Could another hunter be lying in ambush...? No. That doesn’t make sense either.

This was a closed-type, not an open-type, dungeon.

A new instance is created each time you enter, so ambushes and invasions are impossible.

‘Then what is it?’

Just as a huge sense of anxiety I had never felt before began to pound in my heart—

"..."

My mouth froze, and no words came out.

Without any warning, a man appeared.

A man with his eyes covered by a cloth, wearing clothes that looked like a monk's robes.

There was no doubt.

The Foot of Justice, Latessai

Cayman.

The final boss of Latessai's main scenario was standing before me.

(End of Chapter)