Chapter 124 – District 2 (3)
16. District 2 (3)
The reward wasn’t much. Still, I took care of it carefully. Maybe it’s because I paid so much attention to the spec-up budget while preparing for District 2, but if it had been The Long Terror, I was carrying things that I wouldn’t have picked up because I took up inventory.
“Hey, Hendrick.”
“Uh?”
“Oh, no.”
“What. It just makes people curious.”
I was scared, then I was excited, then I was scared again, then I was happy, then I was scared again… She felt it the other day, but she was a very dynamic woman with mood swings.
“There are two things that annoy me the most in life, you know what they are?”
“Yes?”
“One is to stop talking. Two.”
“Two?”
“…”
“… Two?”
“…”
“What, what!”
“Is it annoying?”
“Ah?”
“It’s okay if it’s really nothing, but if there’s something that’s bothering you and you can’t notice it and say it, it’s not okay. Because there shouldn’t be any trivial variables here. Really nothing? Then just move on.”
It wasn’t just to make fun of Illumina. One might say she overdoes it, but she didn’t want to miss out on any details, as she told her. Moreover, isn’t this the first time with Illumina? Perhaps the keen senses unique to beastmen have discovered something we couldn’t find…
“The man we encountered, no, the monsters.”
“Uh.”
“You mean they all did it because they were tinged with fear. Then… Are we going to be like that too?”
“If you succumb to fear. If you conform to that trashy voice, it might.”
“That won’t happen, Illumina.”
Kaya interrupted as she brushed the flesh off her armor.
“How many times have I not told you? Believe in yourself, believe in your colleagues who believe in you, and never give up. You must never give in. That’s why I’m enduring this pain now. Have you already forgotten?”
“No, I haven’t forgotten.”
“Hold on as long as you can. Then the captain, I, and Shay will support you. Same goes for Illumina. We, no matter how experienced we are in dungeons, are not immune to fear. It’s not even less affected. It’s just getting used to it and tolerating it better, but the limits will be similar. At that time, Illumina will support us. Do you see what I mean?”
“Ugh, ugh! Sorry… You said something strange.”
“No. As the captain said, it is better to confide now. The battle is over.”
“Ah. I’m sorry earlier, Illumina unnie. She was worried about her sister, but I said it a little harshly.”
“No. It’s true that I made a fuss…”
Mmm.
If she hears Shay speak really harshly, she might be completely taken aback. When she thought about it, there was no verbal abuse that bordered on a fit this time. Did traveling with us make it possible to repress it a bit?
But just in case you don’t know, let’s give Illumina a tip.
“There are times when Shay swears very badly. She’s telling me in advance just in case, so don’t be too surprised when you go.”
“Huh? Shay? Nonsense!”
Okay. There was a time when I thought so too. I heard the sound of a mane slitting the stomach while smiling with that face. If that target was me, I might have really lost my mentality.
“Let’s go.”
“Depart!”
[Health]
Shay: 24/24
Kaya: 20/20
Eugene: 20/20
Illumina: 15/15
[Mentality]
Shay: 0
Kaya: 0
Eugene: 0
Illumina: 0
Looking at the current condition, I was very satisfied. Fulfi Fulmental. At the end, Shay’s health was reduced, but she was branded as a judge by the fear-tinged beast, and she regained 3 health as soon as she killed it. The bleeding stopped right after the battle and she stopped it right away.
As a result, perfect.
I had already passed through one room, and I wondered if I was already drinking kimchi soup, but I couldn’t help it.
‘It’s my first time like this, so how can I not be thrilled!’
Of course it will fall soon. I was going to fall… Isn’t the fact that I’ve completely broken through a room like this, that the period of mental bursting is pushed back.
‘No. It might not explode at all.’
Excessive excitement does not hit. Because voodoo could have happened.
[She kicks her tongue and withdraws as if regretting the whisper of fear that was looking for an opportunity.]
[Brightness: 92]
Upon entering District 2, the brightness-related messages also seemed to have changed to something more blatant. It wasn’t just because of my mood, the brightness went up less compared to District 1. If it was District 1, it would have gone up to 97 or 98.
Not only that, but the types and number of traps also increased. In Area 1, it was at most a poison dart or awl trap, and that was the case with the sinking trap before 2-1, as well as the one we are experiencing now.
“Bounce! Run with all your might!!”
“Aaaaa!”
Thud-! Thud-! Thud-! Thud-!
As I was cautiously advancing as usual, I didn’t know who had touched anything, but there was a slight clicking sound… The moment Illumina pointed at the ceiling, we had to run in reverse on the path we broke through without even looking back.
“Oh, how long are you coming!”
“Run at once!!”
From a huge iron awl that looked rusty but seemed like it would turn into a skewer if stabbed, frightening things like guillotine blades and huge rocks chased after us at breakneck speed.
“Captain!!”
“Break through-!!!”
Eventually we got back to 2-1, and Shay slammed her shoulder into her tightly closed door without slowing her down.
Kwaaaaang-!
“Close!!!”
“Aaaaa!!!”
Shay’s charging was so powerful that the door, which normally only opened for one person, opened wide enough for two people, and as soon as we entered, we slammed the door shut again with all our might.
Kung-Koo-Goo-Goo-!!
“Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha…”
I ran and got dizzy. Saliva came out. My legs faltered and I sat down.
“How… What is this…”
It was confusing. How could such a trap exist?
I looked around later. 2-1 remained the same. The corpses scattered here and there proved that what he was experiencing was real.
‘It is possible to return to the room you originally broke through in The Long Terror, but it is fortunate that it is actually possible…’
Kaya, who rested her hand on her chest to catch her breath, Shay, who patted her shoulder, and Illumina, who was lying on her back and panting, scanned the message.
[You have safely avoided the dangerous trap.]
“… Under?”
“Leader?”
What. Is this the end?
Really? Sincerity? In real?
I went through the message log again, but that one line really ended. It was absurd.
“Captain?”
“No… I’ve never heard of a trap like that coming out. I’ve never experienced it.”
It was understandable that traps could become vicious. It was nothing strange at all, since the monster specs had risen dramatically. But… Isn’t this a bit over the line?
‘What the fuck are you doing if you complain like this? I don’t think anyone will listen to me if I file a claim.’
My mentality was black. The unexpected trap seemed to have a big impact on the mind and body.
“I can’t seem to hear any more, so let’s open the door first.”
“All right.”
“Let’s stick together, two by two. If you do three, it will open. One, two, three!”
It wasn’t difficult to open the door.
But none of us wanted to step out the door.
“Ah.”
“La Ella…”
I couldn’t get out exactly.
Large rocks and blades were blocking the way. There wasn’t even room for a single person to dig in. If the door couldn’t be opened from the inside, if those piles were positioned just a little closer to 2-1.
We might have been isolated in 2-1, or we might have been crushed by that pile as soon as we opened the door.
“Leader.”
“…”
“Commands.”
I smiled at the pile and put my backpack down.
‘I did, but I never thought the day would come when I would use this.’
After rummaging through my backpack for a while, I pulled out a tool that could be used as either a shovel or a pickaxe. There were exactly four.
“Hendrick… Maybe that’s what I’m thinking, isn’t it? Yes?”
“If at all possible, let’s not break it down.”
“Ah…”
It had never been done here before, but the soul remembered.
Let’s go.
K-pickaxe & K-shovel.
Caang-!
**
Because the backpack we are wearing is a magic backpack, I, who has knowledge of the Longer Terror, packed that pickaxe and shovel in advance, and our stamina is pretty good.
We were finally able to break through the piles that blocked the passage between 2-1 and 2-2 like fat in an artery.
“Finished… !”
We hadn’t even entered the 2-2 yet, but we were already on the verge of spreading sweat profusely all over our bodies. It was nonsense to disarm because you never know when and where a monster might pop out, but the armament was too heavy. Nana in her light armor and the unarmed Illumina were tolerable, but Kaya Langshei in her heavy armor…
“Whoa… Let’s take a break for a while.”
“We are fine.”
“Then would you like to lift the mace with one hand right now?”
“…”
Kaya’s hand and her arms trembled relentlessly as she tried to lift the mace. She couldn’t even lift half of it. And that was true for Shay and Illumina as well as for me. I can’t even hold a weapon properly, so how can I successfully attack? It is not expressed as a message, but it will definitely have a huge impact on the hit rate.
What if there was no pickaxe and shovel?
While admiring myself for my preparedness, the fact that I had to use it in itself annoyed me.
[Fear permeates little by little into the exhausted body and tired mind.]
[Shay mentality -5]
[Kaya mentality -4]
[Eugene mentality -5]
[Illumina mentality -6]
It was not a resting place, so I had to accept the decrease in mentality. Ignoring the message, I wiped away sweat, rehydrated, and massaged my limbs. Relatively less difficult, I massaged their arms and thighs little by little, but I couldn’t openly refuse, perhaps because they knew I wasn’t doing it with a shady mind. Thanks to that, after a refreshing start, the atmosphere that was almost exhausted from the beginning due to the irrational traps, manual labor, and the unique atmosphere of the dungeon has improved to some extent.
“Thanks to the captain.”
“I’m going to beat you three times with gratitude and resentment.”
“They are very vicious!”
Comrades who arrived at 2-2 gritted their teeth. After a while, the anger grew. That anger had no target to relieve, and soon turned into fighting spirit. It was a very desirable phenomenon.
“Let’s go.”
Shay opened the door. The inside of the 2-2, which seemed to be slightly larger than the 2-1, was slowly revealed. And for the first time, I regretted opening the door itself.
‘Fuck, this, now, what…’
As soon as I entered, I saw corpses scattered all over the place. Whether or not they died in the same way, the corpses had different appearances, and there was no place that was not stained with blood. It was at least a dozen or so.
The corpses of both men and women were stripped naked, some piled in towers, others stuffed and hung on the walls. Other corpses were badly damaged, as if they had been eaten by animals, and they were scattered here and there indiscriminately. Others were dangling from hooks like big butcher’s cuts, dripping blood.
And on the inside wall…
‘Faces’ that seemed to express extreme pain were hung like masks.
Will it be like this when hell descends?
My teammates, who were poised to break through 2-2 right away, couldn’t move a single step.
“La, Ella, Sir…”
“Oops, whoops-!”
Kaya blankly muttering Raella and Illumina gagging.
“The filth of the world, which is less than maggots, will slash, slash, tear, and crush a hundred times a thousand times without borrowing the name of Justitia-sama…”
Shay with the switch on.
‘Puckin…’
And while I desperately endured the rising nausea, pretending to be calm, I tightly closed my eyes to the fact that I had met one of the top 3 elite monsters in The Long Terror that was the most annoying and fucked up to deal with.
“Ah… Are you a new believer… ?”
“Fuck.”
At that moment, the head of the monster who was ‘sculpting’ the corpse turned towards us, and realizing that his lines were no different from those in The Long Terror, I forcibly gave my body strength.
“Hmm… Unbelievers… ?”
“Everybody, wake up-!!!”
[Encountered an elite monster, 〈 Horror Artist 〉.]
