Chapter 49 - Burning Dungeon (4)

I recalled that day’s conversation.

The story from that day when Han Byeong-cheol gave me a tidbit of information when I visited the Muwon Sword Family a while ago.

I don’t know if you’re aware, but in the case of Burning Dungeons, each dungeon shows a similar pattern.

I have heard such stories. But in the case of the Ujangsan Burning Dungeon, no particular commonality has been revealed yet…

What I’m about to tell you is about that very point.

I was lucky.

Perhaps Han Byeong-cheol was the one and only person who had found the peculiarity of this Burning Dungeon. And I had met him at a very exquisite timing to hear the story.

Not long ago, our Muwon Sword Family also raided the Ujangsan Burning Dungeon. But while looking at the report written after that, there was a rather peculiar description of the boss room.

The boss room?

Yes. The boss room. You know my personality, I can’t stand it when my curiosity is piqued, right?

So what did you do?

I mobilized every method I could to collect information on other dungeons in Ujangsan as well. Since there are many sword families and guilds that have already completed the raid.

So you’ve reached a conclusion.

Well, it’s still just a hypothesis for now. Since I haven’t been able to verify it.

But your tone seems confident?

It seems it’s all showing. Then I’ll tell you now. It might sound strange, but I think the boss monster’s shadow is a bit suspicious.

It was out of the blue to suddenly talk about a shadow, but the reason why it was suspicious was even more absurd.

For some reason, it feels like the shadow is alive.

It was certainly a strange story.

The concept of a shadow being alive was something I, who had been worn out on the battlefield, was hearing for the first time.

That’s an absurd story.

Yes. Everyone reacts that way. Honestly, if I had my way, I’d want to go into the Burning Dungeon myself and prove it, but unfortunately, there’s no way. Our sword family can’t bid for it anymore.

So you’re telling me to go and prove it?

Well, that’s about it. However, please keep it a secret from everyone that I tipped you off. There are quite a lot of people who would nag me.

And so, he continued to tell the story.

As I listened, I found myself nodding my head without realizing it.

If there were no lies in the information Han Byeong-cheol had gathered, his hypothesis plausibly explained the peculiarity of the boss room.

Understood. If you have nothing more to say, I will be on my way.

But I haven’t specifically told you how to prove my hypothesis yet?

You want me to try killing the shadow, don’t you?

Ho ho! It’s like you’ve learned mind-reading!

Now that I was in the boss room myself, I became certain.

That as Han Byeong-cheol had said, the boss monster’s shadow was alive.

And that the shadow could be killed.

Right now, my ‘Mana Eyes’ were proving it perfectly.

There was mana dwelling in the Skeleton King’s shadow, and it was even at a higher level than the main body.

In terms of ratio, it was about 3 to 7.

The shadow’s share was 7.

‘A peculiar case.’

The shadow’s proportion in this boss room was much higher than what Han Byeong-cheol had mentioned.

In conclusion, the main body of that Skeleton King was just a shell.

“Seo Ji-han. Step back. It’s dangerous!”

He was worried about me, like a brother.

“Don’t be scared, brother.”

“What?”

“I said there’s nothing to be afraid of. That boss monster isn’t as great as it looks.”

Only about 30 percent of what Seo Ji-won was feeling was the actual strength of the Skeleton King.

Meaning Seo Ji-won could handle it easily.

“You must have gone mad with fear.”

“I’ve definitely said it. That thing is no big deal.”

“You foolish child!”

Rattle!

Rattle!

Just as the Skeleton King’s body was huge, the rattling sound was also several times louder.

Finally, the creature began to move.

Whoosh!

Seo Ji-won immediately flew up like the wind and aimed his sword at the skeleton’s neck. And then.

Craaaaaaaash!!

He poured out an enormous amount of mana and swung his sword.

As sword and sword clashed, a sound as if space itself was vibrating echoed.

As I had expected, the balance of power was already tilted to one side.

The one being pushed steadily back by the clash of swords was that giant Skeleton King.

Shururururu.

Seo Ji-won just stared at this scene with a dumbfounded expression.

It must have been a completely unexpected situation.

“I told you. It’s no big deal.”

Of course, this expression was extremely relative.

It meant it was easy for Seo Ji-won, not that the Skeleton King was a truly trivial monster.

“It’s certain that something is strange.”

Seo Ji-won still hadn't let go of his suspicion.

The mana aura he was feeling from the boss must be vivid.

He charged towards the Skeleton King again.

And then, after lightly jumping into the air.

Craaaaaaaash!!!

He attacked in the same way as before.

At Seo Ji-won’s follow-up attack, the skeleton raised its huge shield to defend.

The shield hit by the sword trembled, and then the skeleton’s body staggered.

But Seo Ji-won did not press on more aggressively from there.

He was keeping the possibility of a trap in mind.

He took a step back and confronted the Skeleton King, catching his breath.

“You really don’t believe people.”

“Be quiet! I need to sort out my thoughts.”

It was time for me to start moving as well.

Seo Ji-won would also soon realize that the boss monster was unexpectedly a pushover.

So I had to finish off that shadow first.

Clang!

I drew the Reapersword.

Seo Ji-won didn’t seem to be stopping me anymore.

Now, he too was in a state of uncertainty.

“I’ll take care of myself, so you don’t need to worry about this side.”

“Of course. It has nothing to do with me even if you die.”

“A very good attitude.”

Seo Ji-won thrust his sword towards the Skeleton King again.

At the same time, I also began to act.

The thing I had to pay attention to was the monster’s shadow.

Among them, I set the target as the center of the shadow, the heart point where mana was most densely gathered.

Ziiiiiiing.

The Reapersword, imbued with mana, began to resonate.

The Guyeopcho necklace instantly replenished the depleted mana, and I aimed my sword in time with Seo Ji-won’s movement.

Craaaaaaaash!

The moment Seo Ji-won unleashed his attack, I thrust my sword towards the target.

In that fleeting moment, the shadow moved its shield on its own and blocked my sword.

The shadow had initiated a movement independently of the main body.

The moment the sword touched the shadow shield, I felt a repulsive force flowing through the tip of the sword.

A strange experience.

For a mere shadow without substance to achieve such harmony.

I immediately pushed mana into the Reapersword again and exploded the mana at the tip of the sword.

That shadow was a mass of mana itself, existing without substance.

So, it was a target that I could sufficiently attack even with my speck of mana.

Just as a small spark could freely stir up a huge mass of oxygen.

Craaaaaaaash!

The shadow shield was annihilated at the same time as the mana explosion, and the Reapersword thrust towards the shadow’s heart as if nothing had happened.

The timing was very exquisite.

Seo Ji-won was also preparing a decisive blow.

I intended to finish off the shadow slightly faster than that.

Craaaaaaaack!!

[You have cleared the dungeon.]

Immediately after the Reapersword exploded its mana, the Skeleton King crumbled down.

For a moment, a winner’s smile spread across Seo Ji-won’s lips.

Suddenly, I felt a little sorry.

I didn't intend to deceive him like this.

***

When the boss room vanished and Seo Ji-han and Seo Ji-won reappeared, the people cheered once more.

“Waaaaaaah!!”

Dungeon cleared.

Everyone had expected it, but they had succeeded in clearing it perfectly without a single casualty.

But while everyone was cheering, there was one person, Choi Ho-joong, who couldn't be purely happy.

It was because the expressions of Seo Ji-han and Seo Ji-won who came out of the boss room were too contrasting.

Seo Ji-han had his usual indifferent expression, his thoughts unreadable.

On the other hand, Seo Ji-won’s atmosphere had changed drastically compared to before entering the boss room.

A smile was on his lips, and confidence was evident in his eyes.

In that case, it was as clear as day what had happened inside the boss room.

‘As expected. The difference in their skills can’t be helped, huh?’

It was also true that he had held a sliver of hope.

Because recently, Seo Ji-han had always shown a mysterious power that surpassed expectations.

Still, Chamryongdan was truly amazing today.

Although they might have been pushed back in the final boss room, overall, there were many times they had shown superiority even when compared to the veteran Myeongundan.

So today should be a good day for the unit leader, Seo Ji-han, as well.

With that in mind, Choi Ho-joong went to meet Seo Ji-han.

“Unit Leader, you’ve worked hard!”

“I didn’t do anything, so there’s nothing to say I worked hard for. Anyway, you’ve announced the get-together to the members, right?”

“Of course, Unit Leader! This time too, everyone is attending!”

For a moment, Choi Ho-joong was slightly conflicted.

Wondering if he should be the one to treat for today’s get-together.

But then he quickly decided to drop that thought.

‘I must be crazy. Who am I to worry about whom.’

Although Seo Ji-han would be broke from today’s dungeon rewards, he was, by name, a direct descendant of the Haewon Sword Family.

He felt there was no reason to worry at all.

And at that moment.

[Dungeon reward settlement has been completed.]

The message everyone had been waiting for was sent.

“Finally!!”

“It’s here!!”

The atmosphere began to stir.

In a Burning Dungeon, it was the unwritten rule to reveal each other’s dungeon rewards while waiting for the dungeon to disappear.

Because it was a festival where there were no blanks.

“First, our Myeongundan will reveal our rewards.”

Seo Ji-won, with a leisurely face, suggested that they reveal their rewards first.

The Myeongundan members began to reach into their inventories one by one and take out the rewards they had received.

Cheers erupted from here and there.

A lottery drawing with no blanks had literally begun.

“Wow! Look over there! 3 Mana Runes appeared at once!”

“Look at the size of that Mana Stone over there!”

“It seems like items are appearing quite often too?”

An atmosphere of a big hit continued.

In a normal C-grade dungeon, getting a fist-sized Mana Stone was the average reward.

Compared to that, the class of rewards today was different.

“Finally, Myeongundan’s Unit Leader is revealing his!!”

At someone’s shout, people’s gazes all moved towards Seo Ji-won.

It was a moment of focused attention.

It was unknown how the boss room raid had proceeded, but it was easily guessable.

Everyone was thinking that today’s best reward would come from Seo Ji-won.

Seo Ji-won looked at everyone, nodded his head once, and then put his hand inside his inventory.

Immediately, a smile bloomed on his lips.

“It’s an item.”

At that one phrase, this dungeon became a crucible of excitement.

Especially on the Myeongundan side, things went crazy.

It was truly a festival atmosphere.

A moment later, in his hand was a ring with a reddish glow.

“An item that replenishes mana. It’s named Teddyah’s Ring.”

“Waaaaaaaaaah!!”

With Myeongundan’s mechanical reaction, the atmosphere reached its peak.

With Seo Ji-won being the last, all of Myeongundan’s dungeon rewards had been revealed, and now it was Chamryongdan’s turn.

At that moment, Seo Ji-han walked to the center of the formation.

“On our side, I’ll go first.”

He put his hand into his inventory with an indifferent expression.