Chapter 10
TL: Uncle Choi
Editor: Bait
Players do not get along at all.
Particularly in dungeons, the players become very tense.
Monsters will be monsters, but the main source of tension came from the compet.i.tion among players that fiercely increased.
The tension was palpable.
If a dungeon is cleared, it will disappear whether or not the player’s body is still inside.
In other words, there is no better environment for killing someone you don’t like.
Even so, there were cases where a player would send out a rescue signal.
‘Even my sworn enemy is fine, so anyone… please!’
The state of Yang Se-kyung’s party was very dire.
Her party’s situation did not look hopeful at all.
Kieeuuu!
Kieehh!
A group of over 50 goblins surrounded Yang Se-kyung’s party as they glared with killing intent.
“How does it look?”
“The wound is too deep. I need to st.i.tch this properly.”
Meanwhile, the formation of Yang Se-kyung’s party was arranged in a semi-circular position. In the center was a man with his back leaning against a tree, vomiting blood. Another man in front of him was working hard to treat him.
“d.a.m.n it! Why did it have to be the priest?”
The one who was injured was the healer.
It was one of the worst problems that a party could face.
The value of a healer was indescribable in a dungeon where supplies were limited.
‘Which one attacked him?’
What drove Yang Se-kyung even crazier was the fact that she could not tell which goblin attacked their healer.
No, that wasn’t a goblin.
‘d.a.m.n it. I’m sure. There’s someone who can transform into a goblin.’
If it was just a goblin, it wouldn’t be able to tackle one of Yang Se-kyung’s members and stab the priest deep in the ribs with a blunt knife.
There was something wearing the mask of a goblin.
‘I was too careless. Come to think of it, there wouldn’t just be goblins in a B-rank dungeon…’
A mysterious monster far stronger than a goblin was wearing a mask that looked like a goblin. Moreover, it was targeting Yang Se-kyung’s group.
They had no choice but to hastily fire a rescue signal.
‘Anyone is fine so please…’
Despite her wish, Yang Se-kyung did not think that the chances of receiving help was high.
First of all, it was unlikely that those who noticed the rescue signal were nearby. It was also difficult to say that those who did come to help would be much stronger than Yang Se-kyung’s party.
It was obvious that those who could help would be aware of the risks and would move with caution.
Simply put, it would take a long time for the rescue to come. The priest who urgently needed emergency treatments was most likely going to die.
‘f.u.c.k.’
When Yang Se-kyung’s thoughts reached this point, her eyes revealed hopelessness.
It was then.
Hwaruruc!
Flames spread in the front of the Yang Se-kyung’s party!
“Fire?”
Kieehh?
Surprised, Yang Se-kyung’s party and the goblins both turned toward the direction of the fire. Puk!
Then an object the size of a goblin’s head flew toward the distracted goblins.
Kkeuk!
A goblin was struck by something and fell to the ground after spurting out a brief scream.
Pu-ukk!
Then a few more objects flew in and struck the goblins’ heads.
Kieeehh!
The goblins were outraged by the nuisance.
However, the anger did not last long.
Kieehh?
It was because they recognized the fact that they were not attacked with stones but with heads of their own family members.
The murderous, bloodthirsty atmosphere of the battlefield began to cool down rapidly.
‘I, I wonder who it is?’
‘I can’t believe they cut their heads and threw it…’
‘Horrifying.’
Even the members of Yang Se-kyung’s party, who were surrounded by goblins were terrified by the scene.
As a result, there were no more goblins who were not afraid remaining in the vicinity.
The goblins looked around with a terrified expression.
Jjwaak!
The sound of a whip tearing at the flesh of goblins filled the air.
Kkeuk!
A goblin that was. .h.i.t by the whip gave off a shriek.
The situation was essentially settled with that.
A spreading path of fire, flying heads of their own people, an enemy attack that began and ended with screams of their companions.
In such situation, could the goblins really have the ability to regain their composure and act calmly?
Kieeehh!
Kieeee!
The goblins began to flee.
“Ah!”
As the tables turned, Yang Se-kyung and her party breathed a sigh of relief without realizing it.
‘They came.’
‘Thank G.o.d.’
The feeling of relief after surviving a near death experience overwhelmed them. However, those feelings did not last long.
“I don’t know who you are but thank you for your help… Huh?”
It was because the person who showed up was completely unexpected.
“Nam… what was your name again?”
“I’m Kim Woo-jin”
Kim Woo-jin appeared.
Not long after the goblins left, other two parties arrived.
The questions those two parties asked were the same.
“What? Everyone’s fine?”
“Where are the monsters? You didn’t send a rescue signal because you wanted to someone to talk to, did you?”
They had questions regarding what happened even though everything was pretty much over.
“Oh, that kkakdugi came as well. His name… what was it again?”
“What? Oh, did you join their party? I see that you are not a good judge of character. Anway, what was your name?”
They also did not know Kim Woo-jin’s name.
“What did you say? This dude?”
“This dude saved you guys?”
Naturally, both of the parties were quite surprised that Kim Woo-jin saved Yang Se-kyung’s party.
Of course, surprise wasn’t same as respect.
“I heard that you guys cleared a dungeon by yourselves before… but to request for help because of a small incident like this… I guess you weren’t much.”
“Tsk, tsk, this wouldn’t have happened if you lowered your head to us before entering the dungeon.”
Rather, the two parties belittled Yang Se-kyung’s party for being rescued by Kim Woo-jin.
It was also their way of looking down on Kim Woo-jin.
They did not consider Kim Woo-jin to be a significant player.
Such an audit did not offend Kim Woo-jin.
It didn’t make him angry at all.
First of all, these stuff were none of Kim Woo-jin’s business.
Before Kim Woo-jin returned to the past, everyone here was just one of the 119 sacrificial lambs lost to the dungeon.
To Kim Woo-jin, their att.i.tude did not matter.
‘Right now is a good time. How I can lure them into agreeing to some bets?‘
Kim Woo-jin was working towards this.
“It doesn’t seem like there are only goblins. According to their story, there is probably a monster capable of transforming within the group of goblins… perhaps a mutant goblin.”
Kim Woo-jin studied the leaders of the two parties while saying these words.
“Aren’t you mistaken? Originally, you can be bitten by a chihuahua but afterwards, it can become a bulldog in the story, right?”
“It probably was a mistake. I mean, why would the goblins run away if they had someone so strong? Are you telling me they ran away because they were scared of just you?”
Of course, their att.i.tude was apathetic.
“Just in case, we should work together and combine our strength.”
“Ah, I’m done. That discussion already ended before we entered the dungeon. Let’s just take care of ourselves.”
“If you die, it’s your destiny. Isn’t this a place where everyone fights for their lives? You shouldn’t have come to the dungeon if you were afraid of dying.
Kim Woo-jin was repeatedly ignored.
Yet, Kim Woo-jin insisted on speaking.
“But aren’t we all from the Phoenix Guild? I think we should at least work together little bit.”
Kim Woo-jin gave a long sigh and continued.
“It’s not like we’re betting on who’s going to kill the boss monster, we should cooperate…”
It was at that moment.
“I like the sound of that.”
A man interrupted Kim Woo-jin.
“No wonder I was bored. I guess it’s because there wasn’t any prize. Did you say you were Kim Woo-jin? You spoke well. Let’s make a bet. Like giving something to the one who catches the boss of the dungeon.”
This was the moment when they bit Kim Woo-jin’s bait.
Of course, n.o.body could see through the ruse.
“How about cash? Huh? How about a hundred million each? Shall we make a prize pool of about 1.5 billion won? Everybody’s got enough to spare.”
Rather, the man continued to talk boldly about making a bet.
“If you are scared, you can just get the f.u.c.k out of here.”
He even threw a provocation.
“Only 100 million?”
And in response to the provocation, Yang Se-kyung responded with another provocation.
She had been desperate for help from anyone a little while ago, but her personality would not allow her to tolerate such provocation.
No, she was even more furious because she was helped by Kim Woo-jin.
‘s.h.i.+t, if the dungeon is cleared like this, I wouldn’t be able to show my face in public.’
If the dungeon was cleared, she and her team were likely to be known as a group of n.o.bodies who was saved by a n.o.body.
“Then how about 300 million instead of 100 million?”
The other party leader was willing to take the bet.
It was then.
“Wait, wait a minute.”
Kim Woo-jin, who remained silent, said with a voice full of nervousness.
“I don’t have that kind of money. Even my car is a light car cause I don’t have the money…”
However, the people around him did not pay attention to Kim Woo-jin’s worries. They were more interested in Kim Woo-jin’s words.
A man shouted.
“Let’s bet our car keys. The one that kills the boss takes all the cars in the parking lot.”
“Next time, don’t send a rescue signal. It’s annoying.”
“Let’s meet outside the dungeon. Don’t forget to have your car keys ready. I’ll pay for the taxi fare at least.”
The three parties scattered again after the farewells.
Naturally, there was no interest in Kim Woo-jin during that process.
“Thank you.”
The only attention Kim Woo-jin received was from Yang Se-kyung and her party as they expressed their grat.i.tude.
This kind of treatment made Kim Woo-jin feel a little miffed.
‘I didn’t expect to be overlooked this much…’
Although he expected that he wouldn’t be treated well, and even wanted to be ignored… to think he would be ignored to such an extent?
‘They deserved to be annihilated.’
It was also understandable why the Phoenix guild allowed players like these to become test subjects for this dungeon. ‘Of course those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds weren’t able to deal with the slime properly… they lack the eyesight to observe their surroundings well enough.’
Slime.
It was the boss monster that currently resided in this dungeon.
It was also a very annoying monster to deal with.
Although slimes in normal games and novels were even more of a fodder monster than goblins, it was different here.
Slimes, which can change its form into any monster, were extremely troublesome to deal with. It was far more troublesome than anyone would imagine. In order to go against it, experience of dealing with various monsters was required.
‘It was comical to expect the players to have enough experience when they were only Lv 10 at most.’
Even though the players here were promising and had excellent qualifications and talent, they lacked the necessary experience.
That’s why this dungeon turned into a tomb for many promising talents.
The players who had enough combat experience to capture the slime hidden among a crowd of goblins could be counted on one hand.
Of course, it wasn’t a problem for Kim Woo-jin.
In the end, the circ.u.mstances unfolded in the way Kim Woo-jin desired.
‘Anyway, I guess I can get more benefits from this predicament.’
Due to their high self-esteem, a compet.i.tion with prizes was created. Moreover, the prizes weren’t small.
‘Thank G.o.d. I wouldn’t have enough money to fully arm all the skeleton soldiers even if I had all the money in the world.’
Furthermore, after he confirmed the combat capabilities of his skeleton soldiers, there was a need to invest in their equipment in earnest right away.
That was not the only reason Kim Woo-jin had in mind.
‘They’ll voluntarily act as bait.’
More importantly to Kim Woo-jin, the three parties will only aim to catch the slime, the boss monster.
The three parties will actively explore and chase the slime, ignoring the rest.
‘While they do that, all I have to do is diligently catch the small fries.’
From Kim Woo-jin’s perspective, having the slime as a dessert after having his fill on goblins that were overflowing within this dungeon was the most appropriate strategy.
Two goblin skeletons expressed their will to Kim Woo-jin.
Tteol-geu-reok! Tteol-geu-reok!
They were signaling that they were eager to fight.
[The Emissary of the Underworld Has Taken Interest In Your Battle.]
And Kim Woo-jin’s halo prompted Kim Woo-jin to fight.
Thump! Thump!
And Kim Woo-jin’s heart also urged Kim Woo-jin to fight.
The hunting dog’s slaughter has begun.
- Kkakdugi = radish cubes