The faint vibration grew larger and larger, and as the floor began to shake violently as if an earthquake had occurred, Raon’s body naturally staggered.
“Team Leader Kang. You can’t get separated from my side.”
Raon, who had been trying not to fall, looked at the person who grabbed his arm to help him balance for only a moment before he was startled by the loud sound echoing through the dungeon and looked ahead. Nayeon had been right next to him just a moment ago, but the person holding him now was Seowoo.
“Fuck. It makes no sense for golems to appear starting from here.”
“We should’ve known when the dungeon was going crazy lately. Lee Minji. Quickly request backup.”
Nayeon, who was now standing next to Hyungjun, cursed while generating wind to create a protective barrier in front of the team members first.
“Is Nox even coming?”
“Ah, I don’t know. He didn’t answer calls or messages. Taehyun, hurry and guide Hyungjun first. If Hyungjun collapses here, we’re all dead. Kim Seowoo. How many golems are up ahead?”
“Two. One is about 30m ahead, the other seems to be about 100m away. It’s past the corner 20m ahead, so it hasn’t spotted us yet.”
Raon, who was listening to the team members urgently sharing information, hastily covered his lower face at the suffocatingly thick concentration of phytoncide scent. Unlike himself, who felt like he was being crushed to death by that scent rather than the refreshing fragrance of an early morning forest, the Espers seemed calm, even pleased. Only then did Raon realize this was Taehyun’s guiding.
“Backup says they’ll send reinforcements, so fall back a bit and wait. There’s a space we can slip into on the side of the path we came from, so that should be good. Taehyun. How far has the dungeon map progressed?”
“About a third. It would be nice if we could complete the dungeon map before backup arrives, but… it’ll be difficult, right?”
“Unless Nox comes, it’ll be difficult. We can handle them one golem at a time, but if two or more swarm us at once, we’re at a disadvantage. And right now Team Leader Kang is here too.”
“Ppirong!”
Raon, who had been keeping his distance from the team members and breathing as shallowly as possible from a slightly distant spot due to Taehyun’s heavy guiding, hastily reached out to grab Bbobbo, who suddenly jumped out of his embrace.
Wasn’t it hiding because it was scared until now? Bbobbo, who had been sticking close to him and only occasionally going to nearby walls to take a bite of minerals, was now prancing in front of Minji.
“Hm?”
“Squi. Squiing.”
Raon sighed deeply at the sight of Bbobbo showing off its elegant form and acting cute in front of the team members. Even though it didn’t like being touched by anyone, Bbobbo’s personality was such that it became depressed if no one paid attention to it, so its current behavior was clearly full of intention to draw everyone’s gaze.
And because Raon knew why Bbobbo was showing off like that, he withdrew the hand he’d been reaching out to grab Bbobbo and approached Seowoo instead.
“You’re wearing a dungeon watch, right?”
“Yes.”
“Could you give it to me?”
“Ppyoo~”
Shortly after, it didn’t take much time for Bbobbo, wearing the dungeon watch that had been on Seowoo’s wrist around its neck, to fly alone into the dungeon.
“Will it be okay?”
“It’ll be fine since nothing in the dungeon considers Bbobbo an intruder. And Bbobbo wanted to do this first anyway.”
“…Does Bbobbo understand what we’re saying?”
While it did follow his words for now, Raon couldn’t completely reassure the team members who seemed doubtful. Since he couldn’t know what Bbobbo might do.
“I could bet all my fortune on the fact that it understands everything we say, even though it pretends not to hear or understand when it doesn’t want to do something, so don’t worry about that part. Though I do question whether it can go all the way to the end of the dungeon and reveal the entire dungeon map.”
“I’ll go and come back quickly.”
When Nayeon, who had wrapped herself in wind, carefully headed forward, the thick forest scent that had been pressing down on their surroundings gradually subsided.
“Is there no way to contact Min Esper?”
Though he didn’t know about dungeons as well as they did, the fact that the earthquake-like trembling continued without stopping meant that the situation was worse than expected.
“Only dungeon walkie-talkies work here, so there’s no way to contact Min Esper. We reported the situation to the center, so maybe if they do it from there.”
“Ah, fuck. We’re screwed. It’s completely a golem field.”
After Bbobbo entered the dungeon, profanity burst out all too naturally from Hyungjun’s mouth as he watched the information coming in through the tablet, but no one took issue with the fact that he’d cursed.
Even from just glancing at what he showed, one could tell that golem-class monsters were swarming.
“Should we call Bbobbo back and just go out for now? It’d be better to wait outside and come back in when Team B and Min Esper arrive. There’s no sign of a dungeon outbreak, and it’s not a dungeon that will naturally dissipate either.”
“Team Leader Lee. Please tell the center that I’m here. And make sure! To also tell Min Esper that I’m inside this dungeon.”
“Pardon?”
“Since things have turned out this way, I feel like I’ll get an earful somehow later anyway, so I should at least pretend to handle the situation. Oh, and please make sure to also tell Min Esper that Bbobbo accompanied me. If he says he wants to talk to me, please ignore that. If Team Leader Choi seems like he’ll go on for a while, it would be good to add that I’m having a bit of a hard time.”
What was the fastest way to bring Jaehwi here? He had no choice but to sell himself out. Wouldn’t he fly right over, angry to the top of his head?
Though he hesitated, Raon, seeing that Minji was contacting the center, moved his body a bit more toward the entrance. Because he was concentrating on maintaining his balance due to the shaking ground, his insides felt queasy too, so he carefully lowered himself to sit.
“Um, Team Leader Kang…”
As Minji cautiously spoke to him, Hyukjin’s angry voice rang out clearly from beyond the walkie-talkie she was holding: “Hey! You crazy bastard. Where the hell do you think you are to go barging in? Fuck. Get the hell out right now! If you even think about coming out, I’ll kill you…”
“Whether I die here or die coming out, I’m departing this world either way. Isn’t it safer here since there are team members protecting me?”
Raon, who had been speaking calmly since it wasn’t the first or second time seeing Hyukjin angry, took the walkie-talkie that Minji hesitantly held out to him as if this was something she couldn’t handle. Then he calmly cut off the radio. If you don’t want to answer, just cut it off. The situation had already been reported, and wasn’t handling it the job of those outside?
“I don’t know much, but the situation seems quite serious, so let’s call Choi Nayeon Esper back, and I’ll try calling Bbobbo. Even if Bbobbo doesn’t hear and doesn’t come out, let’s go out first when Choi Nayeon Esper comes back.”
Raon, who had barely sat down on his bottom but couldn’t even rest and got up with a groan, muttered in a very small voice, “Bbobbo. Come out.”
“Team Leader Kang. Was that just now you calling Bbobbo?”
Raon nodded slightly at Taehyun’s question, asked with a bewildered expression. Is there some law that says you have to shout loudly? What if they stimulate the monsters inside by making loud noises and end up in danger?
“Nayeon’s on her way back. It’s no joke inside, so we do need to exit the dungeon. Hyungjun and I will stay behind and leave as soon as Nayeon comes, so Seowoo and Taehyun, go out first with Team Leader Kang.”
Though they were retreating without even making it a third of the way into the dungeon, not a single team member hesitated. Because safety was more precious than conquering the dungeon.
“But what about Bbobbo?”
“Looking at how it keeps revealing the map and the situation keeps updating, as expected, it doesn’t seem to be recognized as an intruder by the dungeon monsters. It seems safe, so let’s go out.”
When Seowoo, who seemed to have lingering attachment to Bbobbo, firmly told Taehyun who kept looking for Bbobbo, and took the lead, Raon silently followed behind him. Unlike lower-level dungeons, high-level dungeons definitely weren’t places for low-grade people like him to enter and exit casually. Having learned another thing like this, it seemed he needed to gain more experience in D-rank and below dungeons.
With Seowoo ahead and Taehyun behind, walking trudge by trudge between the two, the vibration of the floor weakened as they went. The team members seemed fine, but even at the 1/3 point, he couldn’t maintain his balance and struggled. That meant the vibration got stronger the further in you went.
There wasn’t even time, so why were there so many things holding him back?
If he was going to manifest as an ability user anyway, how nice would it have been if he were A-grade?
Raon’s body, which had been reflecting on how insignificant his abilities were, suddenly floated up for a moment before tumbling across the floor. Before he could even register the pain, Seowoo’s urgent voice and Taehyun’s voice answering him buzzed in his ears. They were clearly talking, but the sound buzzed so he couldn’t make out the meaning of their words. Shaking his dizzy head and barely raising his head, Raon’s eyes widened incredibly.
There had never been a case of monsters respawning in places they’d already passed through. Raon’s gaze, looking at the monster rampaging right in front of them, quickly turned toward Seowoo and Taehyun. This dungeon didn’t suit Seowoo, who was a metal-type Esper. On top of that, Taehyun was… even if he was a combat Guide. Blood burst out from Seowoo’s mouth with a coughing sound as he knelt on one knee, apparently pushed back by the force while blocking the monster.
