## Chapter 162 – 162. Dungeon Survival
162. Dungeon Survival
Crack!
My sword pierced the white skull of the skeleton. The skeleton, which had been twitching even after losing its arms and legs, completely stopped moving.
Then, the skeleton’s body turned to dust and disappeared. This skeleton was proof that it was summoned by a hunter. Normal skeletons don’t disappear like this.
‘Let’s see. 100 survival points for catching a treasure skeleton.’
If you eliminate a hunter, you get 20 survival points per person.
‘I’ve eliminated 7 hunters, so that’s an additional 140 survival points. A total of 240 survival points earned.’
Still, it’s -722 survival points.
I shook my head, thinking about the survival points. No matter how much I think about it, I can’t win with survival points. There’s no hope.
‘It’s a bit of a shame that I missed two, but this is a decent result.’
There must have been battles elsewhere. I think at least 15 people have been eliminated.
I untied the bundle the skeleton was carrying.
“The food is… three servings of shrimp fried rice. Let’s eat it all now.”
“All of it? Isn’t it better to save one serving just in case?”
“It’s annoying to carry around, and it might spoil. Let’s just eat it all. We can get more food at 6 o’clock anyway.”
“What if something like yesterday happens?”
“Meeting Kang Seok-soo was just bad luck. With our skills, we’re not inferior to any other team.”
Han Ha-rin nodded. We had eliminated seven hunters, giving us an idea of the hunters’ level. Even if a hunter uses mana, it’s difficult for them to mount a proper counterattack against Han Ha-rin and me working together.
We ate the shrimp fried rice at a reasonable distance and looked at the piece of paper.
L-4
“Is this information?”
“It seems like there’s something in the L-4 area.”
I said calmly.
I knew the identity of this information.
The L-4 area is a fake.
L should be seen as the consonant ㄴ. And ㄴ is the second consonant. The second letter of the alphabet is B. The real place is B-4 area.
I know this because I already found out through hacking.
‘They twisted it to a childish level. A normal hunter would go to the L-4 area, confirm there’s nothing there, and just give up. Survival is urgent. There’s no time to calmly solve a quiz.’
Unlike other information, only this information was twisted like this.
‘The treasure in the B-4 area is so great that it will shake the balance.’
I plan to get this treasure.
‘That’s how I can execute the plan I have in mind. If I just go straight to the B-4 area, I’ll definitely raise suspicion, so I have to visit the L-4 area first.’
The annoying thing is that the B-4 area and the L-4 area are on opposite sides. It shows the organizers’ intention not to give it away easily.
“Let’s go to the L-4 area first.”
•••
“The Gukcheon Hunter team has arrived at the L-4 area and is looking around… The L area is a desert. There’s no way there’s anything there.”
Jo Seok-hoo said, looking at the main screen. The screen showed Seong Yu-jin and Han Ha-rin wandering around in a desert with nothing but sand and cacti.
-Maybe it’s hidden inside this cactus?
-……Maybe.
“Ah~. They’re just destroying innocent cacti. As you can see, there’s nothing inside the cacti!”
Jo Seok-hoo said with a laugh. He also welcomes scenes like this. If the atmosphere on the broadcast is always heavy, it becomes less interesting.
-…Senior. I’ve been thinking, maybe it’s not the L area, but the B area.
-B area?
-Listen to me. From what I’ve seen, the organizers don’t seem to have a very good personality.
“Haha. That’s right. Our director doesn’t have a very good personality. B-4 area… Baek Ji-eun, what do you think of Seong Yu-jin’s reasoning?”
“Uh… I don’t know…?”
“As far as I know, Baek Ji-eun, you participated in the production of Dungeon Survival Reforged. Don’t you know what’s in the B-4 area?”
It’s true that Baek Ji-eun is one of the association’s managers for Dungeon Survival.
“I was in charge of the monsters… I don’t know much about the treasures hidden in the dungeon.”
This is not a lie. Her ability is ‘Binding’, which restrains targets and prevents them from moving. She used her ability to capture monsters before the dungeon started.
“The B area was a snowy area. Is there a dangerous monster in the B-4 area?”
Baek Ji-eun said with a knowing smile.
“Hmm. That’s a secret. If I spoil it, the viewers will have less fun.”
“Just tell us. The production team will edit it anyway.”
“Jo Seok-hoo, you can’t act. That’s why I can’t tell you?”
“Haha. I’m not very good at acting. And that means… there’s something in the B-4 area?”
“I don’t know.”
Baek Ji-eun smiled with her eyes.
And after a while. The main screen changed again.
It was the Aqua Stone team with Kang Seok-soo. As a strong contender for the championship, the main screen showed them very often.
“The information that the Aqua Stone team got from catching the treasure skeleton was the location of the boss monster. They came to the right place. Viewers, that giant tree is actually a D-grade boss monster called Wood Keld. It’s a tree that breathes fire.”
Hong Soo-won, who was watching the screen, opened his mouth.
“Wood Keld has high defense and health, and is extremely resistant to fire. However, it has low mobility. It’s almost at the level of a turtle crawling slowly. If you exploit that weakness, you can hunt it without much difficulty.”
Hong Soo-won continued.
“It’s difficult for even a C-class hunter to catch a D-grade boss monster alone, but I think the Aqua Stone team will be able to catch it without difficulty under the orders of Kang Seok-soo.”
“Ah! Kang Seok-soo has just thrown an ice spear created with magic! The full-scale battle is starting! Will the Aqua Stone team be able to hunt the D-grade boss monster, Wood Keld! Viewers! Let’s watch together!”
20 minutes.
That’s how long it took for Wood Keld to die.
“20 minutes is a very good record. They earned 300 more survival points by catching a boss-level monster… I dare say, the winner will be the Aqua Stone team.”
Baek Ji-eun’s eyebrows twitched. She quickly managed her expression and said to Hong Soo-won.
“It’s only the second day. Isn’t it too early to decide the winner?”
“I was just stating the facts.”
“If you’re so confident… do you want to bet with me?”
“What kind of bet?”
Hong Soo-won’s eyes were filled with interest. He sincerely believes that the Aqua Stone team, or rather, Kang Seok-soo, will win. So he can accept a bet with a smile.
“The loser donates 500 million and apologizes to the viewers on their knees for ruining the commentary because they have no eye for talent.”
“……Hoo. I like that. Okay. Instead, how about the loser apologizes not only to the viewers but also to the winner?”
“Good. The winning condition of the bet is… Hong Soo-won, you bet on the Aqua Stone team winning. And I bet on a team other than the Aqua Stone team winning, is that okay?”
On the surface, it’s a favorable condition for Baek Ji-eun. She’s betting on numerous teams, not just one.
However, Hong Soo-won nodded lightly and accepted.
“That’s an interesting bet. The camera is filming now, so don’t try to back out later.”
“Oh my. That’s what I wanted to say… I’ll return it to you, Hong Soo-won.”
The two were smiling, but the atmosphere between them was as cold as a blizzard.
“Hahaha. This is a really fun bet!”
Jo Seok-hoo tried to smooth things over, but it wasn’t easy.
•••
The second day of Dungeon Survival.
Han Ha-rin and I got the food that dropped at 6 o’clock and spent time in a nearby rest area.
Our plan for Dungeon Survival is to give up hunting monsters and maintain our condition as much as possible, and then start eliminating other hunters on the fifth day.
Since we gave up on survival points, it didn’t matter whether we spent 12 hours or 24 hours in the rest area. Of course, the fact that we had sex in there is a secret between Han Ha-rin and me.
The afternoon of the third day of Dungeon Survival.
We arrived at the B-4 area. It was a snowy area. It was covered in snow all around. It was so white that it was hard to tell what was what. Fortunately, the sky was clear and it wasn’t snowing.
“Senior. I’m counting on you.”
“Okay.”
Han Ha-rin started using gravity to clear the accumulated snow. The snow floated up and flew far away. After repeating that a few times, an ice cave on the ground was revealed.
“Senior. It’s here. It’s blocked by ice, so I can’t go down. Please break the ice.”
Kwaaang!
A gravity ball from Han Ha-rin’s hand shattered the ice wall. We carefully entered the cave. An association employee with a camera followed behind.
Han Ha-rin looked quite nervous. There’s a high probability of traps or monsters in caves like this.
‘But there are no traps or monsters. This is the end.’
I followed Han Ha-rin, acting with a stiff expression. If I’m too calm, I’ll be suspected.
Zzzzt.
We entered the dark cave, lighting it up with lightning. The cave wasn’t deep. We reached the end in less than a minute.
“Oh. There’s a treasure chest. We came to the right place.”
“Wait! Don’t approach it carelessly! It might be a trap!”
My body stopped.
‘That was a mistake. Hunters usually become wary when they see a treasure chest…’
There’s a small chance that the treasure chest itself is a trap or a monster like a mimic.
The words that hunters hear endlessly are not to be careless when they find a treasure chest.
‘There’s only a piece of paper inside. Ugh.’
I couldn’t say that, so I felt a little frustrated.
I approached even more cautiously and tapped the treasure chest with the tip of my sword.
‘…Ha. What am I doing?’
Not only that, but I also sent lightning to the treasure chest.
“Senior. It’s just a box. It doesn’t react to electricity, and I don’t feel anything in particular.”
“Really? Still, open it as carefully as possible.”
“Yes.”
I cut the lock with my sword and opened the treasure chest with my sword.
There was only one piece of paper inside the treasure chest.
-Check the tablet!
That was the sentence written on the paper. I put my sword away and picked up the tablet.
〉The treasure you found is a ‘Real-Time Map’.
〉Every 3 hours, the location of monsters and participants will be displayed on the map in real-time for 1 minute.
〉When using it, you must shout ‘Real-Time Map!’ towards the camera.
“Oh, wow!”
I smiled.
This gave me a valid reason for my actions.
“Senior. I think we need to change our schedule.”
•••
“The Gukcheon Hunter team! They have obtained the hidden treasure, the real-time map, and are acting without hesitation! They are hunting hunters, not monsters! The hunters must be really scared!”
Jo Seok-hoo said excitedly.
Seong Yu-jin and Han Ha-rin, as nature-type ability users, were fun to watch in battle. Especially Seong Yu-jin’s lightning, which was so spectacular that it was admirable every time I saw it.
“……Isn’t that kind of treasure a bit… too overpowered?”
Hong Soo-won said with a sullen expression.
The Gukcheon Hunter team was running rampant. The number of association employees chasing them had reached six, just like the Aqua Stone team.
Baek Ji-eun smiled at Hong Soo-won.
“It’s a good treasure, but the Gukcheon Hunter team worked hard to get it. And it’s because it’s the Gukcheon Hunter team that they can be so active. It would be difficult for other teams to act like that.”
“…Ugh. Still, it won’t be easy for the Gukcheon Hunter team to win. If things go smoothly like this, they’ll eventually be left with the Aqua Stone team. If they fight, the Gukcheon Hunter team will be at a disadvantage.”
The Aqua Stone team, which is collecting survival points, will eventually win if they survive. They just need to focus on defense without fighting properly. Even if they do fight, the Aqua Stone team is more likely to win.
“The Gukcheon Hunter team knows that too. I’m looking forward to it. What kind of plan they have. Maybe Dungeon Survival Reforged won’t even go to the last day.”
“……In the end, the Aqua Stone team will win.”
“We’ll see who the winner will be.”
