## Chapter 238 – 238. Tutorial Floor (10)
#238. Tutorial Floor (10)
Ding-
「The Constellation, ‘Mysterious Beast,’ has defeated the 139th Incarnation.」
「3,000 WP awarded.」
「Acquired ‘Sphinx’s Heart.’」
「Sphinx’s Heart
Category: Item
Rank: C+
One of the treasures of the desert, used as a crafting material.
※ Rank increases when synthesized with a higher-grade Sphinx’s Heart.」
Thud.
A heart dripping with blood fell from the air. The foul odor made me instinctively wrinkle my face.
‘This is a treasure of the desert…?’
A hamster that had been rolling around in the sewers for days would probably smell better.
It was unpleasant, but I put it in my inventory for now. There might be a use for it later.
It would be even better if I could sell it.
The screen that appeared after dealing with the Sphinx wasn’t the only one.
Ding-
「Trait, ‘Magic Resistance (D-),’ is created.」
「Magic Resistance (抗魔力)
Category: Trait
Rank: D-
Resists things related to magic (魔).」
I got an unexpected bonus.
Well, considering the curse of the desert from earlier, and the snake head cursing me last time, it was about time I got a trait like this.
Ding-
[New curse recorded.]
[Curse of the Desert]
Curse of Corruption, Curse of Decay, Curse of the Soul, Curse of Chaos, and now the Curse of the Desert.
With this, there are now five curses recorded in ‘Lelia’s Small Key.’
Of course, just because they were recorded didn’t mean I could use them right away. Like other magic, I had to understand the mechanism through research.
That was also why I wasn’t learning new curses.
I didn’t have the time to delve into curse magic when I was already short on time to research existing magic and train in martial arts.
Of course, I hadn’t completely abandoned it. I needed to know the general content to proceed with research when I had time someday.
By the time the cleanup was finished, the Sphinx’s corpse had already turned to dust and disappeared.
Well, I wasn’t surprised since I expected it to some extent.
The snake head had a part of the Constellation’s soul imbued in it, but that guy was just one of the 139 incarnations.
Since the prerequisites were different, it was natural for the results to be different as well.
But I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
Swallowing my disappointment, I focused on the screen that had been blocking half of my vision since earlier.
「‘Dancing Destroyer’ praises your exhilarating swordsmanship.」
「‘Dancing Destroyer’ sponsors 5,000 WP.」
「“Haha! So you’ve learned the martial arts of the Buddhist faith!”」
「‘Saintess of Uruk’ glares at Dancing Destroyer with displeasure.」
「‘Saintess of Uruk’ sponsors 5,000 WP.」
「“Don’t forget. What a hero with potential needs is a beautiful goddess.”」
「‘Dweller in the Swamp’ is satisfied with the death of the Incarnation.」
「‘Dweller in the Swamp’ sponsors 5,000 WP.」
「“Khehehe, maybe it’s because they live in the sand, but the smell of blood is foul.”」
The Constellations’ reactions were the same as always, but the amount they sponsored was different.
15,000 WP at once. As expected, it was better to catch one strong monster than dozens of low-level monsters to get their attention.
Of course, not all the Constellations were friendly to me.
「‘Eye Watching the Throne’ is watching you.」
「‘Mysterious Beast’ frowns.」
It wasn’t unreasonable for them to show such reactions. One had his front yard invaded, and the other had his Incarnation killed.
But I didn’t care.
I was already on bad terms with them. It would be stranger to care.
As proof, the system remained silent even when the Sphinx tried to kill me by force.
It was hard to see it as an extension of what happened on the 6th floor underground. Unlike then, there were clearly watching spectators here.
It was reasonable to assume that the Sphinx’s main body, the Mysterious Beast, paid the price for this.
Otherwise, there was no way a mere Incarnation could have such guts.
But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand.
To go so far as to risk a WP penalty just to kill one human?
The effort was too much compared to the result.
‘Why did he try so hard to kill me?’
The most likely possibility was that someone ordered him to do it. If this hypothesis was correct, there was one likely suspect.
The Constellation that started watching me the moment I entered the dungeon, Eye Watching the Throne,
Horus, the owner of this temple.
But no matter how much I thought about it, I had no memory of being on bad terms with Constellations of that type. How long had I been in the Tower in the first place?
‘Did he hide some dark history inside the temple?’
Even so, I have no intention of turning back now.
If he really didn’t want me to clear the dungeon, he should have sponsored 100,000 WP and asked me nicely. How dare he try to kill me?
That’s attempted murder plus being obnoxious.
I wrote the names of the two beasts in my mental kill list and turned to leave.
“Kang Hyun-woo!”
“Hyun-woo!”
“…?”
Lucifer and Ise-rin were running towards me from afar.
Lucifer closed the distance as soon as she saw me. She looked clearly flustered.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?!”
“Huh…?”
I was a little surprised by her unusually strong reaction.
She had never been like this before.
I was momentarily stunned, but I roughly understood what was going on.
The aftermath of the Sphinx’s rampage must have reached the place where the two were, and Lucifer, noticing the anomaly, must have brought Ise-rin and rushed over.
‘…I’m a little touched?’
I couldn’t help but smile at her sweating appearance.
I didn’t expect her to worry about me this much.
“Well, as you can see, I’m fine.”
Except for my right arm being tattered, I was fine.
“…You expect me to believe that?”
Lucifer poked my arm with her fingertip, making a sullen face.
“Ugh…!”
My body reacted reflexively to the unexpected pain.
I wondered why my arm wasn’t moving well, but it seemed like the muscle was torn.
“How did you scout to get so battered in the meantime?”
“…Am I not battered?”
I was wronged. I hadn’t been hit even once when fighting the mummies or the Sphinx.
“You’re not?”
Lucifer didn’t like my answer and glared at me with a fierce look. Immediately after, before I could even react, she hugged my right arm with all her might.
Of course, I screamed in agony and writhed.
The pain continued until Ise-rin, who had run up behind us, stopped her.
After the situation calmed down, I explained the whole story to the two of them. Meeting the Sphinx, solving the riddle, and the guy attacking me because he couldn’t accept the result.
But unlike my expectations, Lucifer was furious at the fact that I had fought the Constellation’s Incarnation alone and hugged my arm with all her might again.
I desperately sought help from Ise-rin, but I was completely ignored.
***
In fact, a torn muscle would heal quickly if I used Sojucheon like before.
But I was met with strong opposition from the two and was temporarily excluded from combat.
To be exact, I was only allowed to use magic from the rear.
“Hyun-woo, are you hungry?”
“A little?”
Ise-rin smiled brightly at my answer. It was the kind of smile that would drive men crazy.
She took out a small fruit from her pouch and brought it to my mouth.
“I picked it during the day. It tastes like a mix of grapes and strawberries, you know?”
Doesn’t that mean it’s poisonous if she picked it in that forest?
I had such doubts for a moment, but since there was a living witness right in front of me, I obediently accepted it.
It had less sourness and a higher sugar content than I expected, and tasted closer to wild strawberries.
“You don’t have to worry. Lucy told me it wasn’t poisonous.”
“…?”
I was a little surprised.
I thought she didn’t like Ise-rin.
“What.”
Lucifer answered curtly, noticing my gaze.
“No, just. I thought you two seemed to have gotten closer.”
Lucifer frowned at my smile. It was a look I was quite used to now.
She makes that expression whenever she’s in a bad mood, but she also does it when she’s embarrassed or shy.
“I could open the door myself.”
“It’s okay.”
The moment Lucifer stepped forward to open the door that the Sphinx was guarding.
Kugugung-
The stone door began to open on its own, scattering dust.
「Cleared the first trial.」
「1,000 WP awarded.」
I opened the status window.
「Current WP: 32,600」
I had quite a bit, but I was still hungry.
“Did you get WP too, Noona?”
“Ah, yeah. I have a little over 5,000. Should I give it to Hyun-woo?”
“That’s a bit…”
Who do you take me for, a gigolo?
I stroked Ise-rin’s head and headed beyond the door. Then I made eye contact with Lucifer, who was walking ahead. She looked very dissatisfied.
But that was it. She didn’t exactly come closer or anything.
‘…Is she embarrassed because of Ise-rin?’
Her tone and personality have changed in many ways compared to when I first met her, but she’s still not honest.
That’s what makes her charming, though.
I swallowed my laughter and headed beyond the door.
Contrary to my expectations, the path wasn’t complicated. It was just a straight path that continued.
Mummies occasionally popped out and blocked the way, but they were just low-level undead who couldn’t overcome their weakness to fire magic.
The smell of burning rotten corpses stung my nose.
I helped Ise-rin, who had a weak stomach, and continued forward.
How many mummies did we deal with, and how many corners did we turn?
“Oh, there!”
The second gate finally appeared.
Unlike the first gate, there was no gatekeeper like the Sphinx.
There was only a door beyond a straight course of about 500m.
“It’s a trap.”
Detection magic didn’t work, so it was difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the trap, but it was too obvious to doubt.
They could have at least hidden some arrow holes in the ceiling.
“What are you going to do?”
“Well, there are two options.”
Break the trap, or run through it.
Of course, the former was impossible. It was impossible to break the corridor.
By process of elimination, there was only one left.
“I can carry Serin Noona and run.”
Carrying one woman is possible even without one arm. It’s almost healed anyway.
Ise-rin blushed and nodded quietly.
It wasn’t the first time she had been in my arms anyway. She had been in my arms when I entered the dungeon.
I thought it was roughly settled, but a third party expressed a dissenting opinion.
“I’ll carry her.”
Lucifer, who suddenly appeared, blocked the space between me and Ise-rin. She looked more serious than ever.
“Are you serious?”
“It’s more reasonable than having an injured person carry her.”
“I’m almost healed…”
Thud, the heel of her shoe pressed down on my instep.
There was no pain, but the psychological pressure was considerable.
When I didn’t say anything, Lucifer immediately picked up Ise-rin. Lucifer was quite tall for a woman, so they looked quite good together.
But Ise-rin looked dissatisfied.
「‘Saintess of Uruk’ munches on popcorn at the love triangle.」
Anyway, except for a little noise before the start, the second trial ended without incident.
Did it take about 3 minutes?
「Cleared the second trial.」
「2,000 WP awarded.」
Countless traps poured out from the walls, ceiling, and floor, but that was it. The traps didn’t even graze our clothes.
We passed the second trial and decided to spend the night near the gate. It wasn’t a good choice to push on without knowing the size of the dungeon.
While I was setting up the barrier, the two of them set up the tent and prepared dinner.
At first, I was going to eat lunch boxes, but it was rejected due to the two’s dissenting opinions. I was seized with anxiety for a moment, but I couldn’t overturn a decision made according to democracy alone.
And really surprisingly and naturally, the two were terrible at cooking.
‘…Should I not have given them the sugar?’
No, even if they can’t distinguish between sugar and salt, burning the food is a separate issue.
Crunch.
Is this rice or a rock?
“…How is it?”
“…Just eat quickly.”
But I couldn’t dare to complain at the two’s expectant eyes.
I quietly gave them a thumbs up.
After the bizarre dinner, it was time for bed.
It was a little early, but considering that we were going to move from dawn, we needed to fall asleep as soon as possible.
I returned to the tent, gently stroked my aching stomach, and closed my eyes. It was an eventful day.
‘…I hope I don’t get a stomachache tomorrow?’
For now, I had no choice but to hope not.
˙
˙
˙
How much time had passed?
I naturally opened my eyes to the strange weight and rustling sound on my stomach.
At that moment, I met a pair of purple eyes.
What broke the heavy silence was a strangely subdued voice.
“Looks like you slept well?”
