Most dungeons contained monsters. The monsters were precious prey that gave experience and riches, making it natural for players to recognize a dungeon as a hunting ground. n.o.body was interested in the origin of the monsters in the dungeon.
“Chicken isn’t bad.”
Kiyaaaaaaack!
Eat Spicy Jokbal’s sword cut at the c.o.c.katrice. The c.o.c.katrice let out a sharp scream as it struggled. Its eyes were bloodshot as it kept heading deep into the dark dungeon. There was no interest in Eat Spicy Jokbal, who had just seriously decreased its health gauge with one blow. Thanks to this, Eat Spicy Jokbal was safe from ‘petrification.’ He was safe from one of the top status effects.
“The Snake Dungeon was the right answer.”
People might ignore it, but most dungeons were built with a purpose. They all had different features and purposes. That’s why different types of monsters lived in different dungeons.
[Snake Dungeon]
Rating: Epic
A dungeon built by Dungeon Maker Eat Spicy Jokbal.
Due to the argandi trees planted in large quant.i.ties inside, rodents such as the ratmen proliferate in large quant.i.ties. It is a paradise for snake monsters who eat them.
...
...
Eat Spicy Jokbal had built this Snake Dungeon in order to communicate with the Burangtang Clan, who wors.h.i.+pped snakes. He built the Snake Dungeon near the Burangtang’s village and became friends with them, allowing him to clear the ‘Burangtang’s Treasure’ hidden quest. In other words, the Snake Dungeon was originally meant to be near the Burangtang’s village.
But Eat Spicy Jokbal had the Dungeon Summoning skill. Dungeon Summoning was a skill that could only be triggered when the cave, building interior, mountain etc. was placed in a ‘occupied’ state and had the ability to ‘summon your dungeon for a limited time.’
The reason Eat Spicy Jokbal summoned the Snake Dungeon was to target the c.o.c.katrice. The favourite food of monster which had the head of a rooster and the body of a snake was the ‘amphisbaena’.
Kieeeeeeek-!
The c.o.c.katrice recovered from the wound on its neck with its unique resilience and resumed das.h.i.+ng. It was blinded by its appet.i.te and didn’t even look at Eat Spicy Jokbal’s party. It only chased after the delicious smell coming from deep in the dungeon.
“Bongsik!!”
“Stop! Severe Cold Spear!”
Ma Bongs.h.i.+k. One of the four founding members of Blood Carnival. He enchanted his spear with spells. In other words, a magic spearman. His spear had the power to induce the ‘chill’ state.
Jjang!
Jjeejeeeong!
The c.o.c.katrice was stabbed by the spear and its movements started to slow rapidly. This was the power of severe cold. It wasn’t as dramatic as other status conditions such as ‘frostbite’ or ‘frozen.’ But it showed the power to ignore resistance to abnormal conditions. The chill caused the one affected to slowly lose health and agility.
“Okay! Well done!”
Eat Spicy Jokbal jumped high as the c.o.c.katrice was slowed down. His battle power, supplemented by the dungeon buff, was comparable to Grid before Grid for the Enlightenment Sword.
Sakak-!
Strong. The c.o.c.katrice’s health gauge fell by a tenth when hit with Eat Spicy Jokbal’s sword.
Kiik...!Kiiiiiik!
The c.o.c.katrice’s eyes widened. After receiving a certain amount of damage, it woke up from the prey it was focused on. As soon as its gaze moved to Eat Spicy Jokbal...
“Oh my! Boys! What are you doing?”
Viola wore a witch’s hat and spun her magic wand. Like Ma Bongs.h.i.+k, she was a founding member of Blood Carnival and her cla.s.s was a conjurer. She had the power to strengthen an effect or increase the duration of a status effect. The gaze of the c.o.c.katrice once again returned to the dungeon. It immediately started running again while the Eat Spicy Jokbal attacked it.
『 W-What is this...? 』
The commentators were filled with great doubts. Why was there a dungeon in Reilt Canyon, the stage of subjugation expedition? According to the information released by the S.A. Group, a dungeon shouldn’t exist here. Then why was the c.o.c.katrice obsessed with this dungeon and why weren’t the Korean players affected by its petrification?
More than anything else.
‘Strong!’
The Korean team members were performing tremendously, despite being unknown. In particular, Eat Spicy Jokbal was outstanding. The c.o.c.katrice was only a level 260 field boss, but its base defense was high. There were few who could cause it to lose one-tenth of its health with one blow out of the 1,500 rankers partic.i.p.ating in the National Compet.i.tion. However, Eat Spicy Jokbal was doing this continuously. The c.o.c.katrice’s health fell every time his sword struck it.
"Waaaaahhhhh!"
“I don’t know who he is, but he’s great! I’m cheering for him!”
While the commentators couldn’t understand the situation and had fallen silent, the crowd and viewers were cheering. The development beyond expectations excited the audience.
***
“A dungeon?”
Finally, the Russian players descended the canyon. They were confused when they entered the cave where the Korean players had hid.
[You have entered Snake Dungeon.]
[You haven’t received permission from the creator. The dungeon considers you an intruder.]
"Now I understand why the c.o.c.katrice headed here.” Alexander confidently said after thinking about it. "This dungeon is the real stage of the subjugation expedition. The canyon was just a bait.”
Ikonikoski admired Alexander’s interpretation.
“I see! We wasted our energy and time trying to climb the canyon to get the c.o.c.katrice!”
“That’s it. It’s my fault for not seeing it from the beginning.”
"On the other hand, isn’t it great that the Korean players came here from the start?”
“...”
Was the story like this? Alexander panicked for a moment before soon denying it.
“No. They just got lucky.”
Eat Spicy Jokbal, Viola, and Ma Bongs.h.i.+k. The Korean team members partic.i.p.ating in this event were really nothing. They were unknown players he had never heard of before. Alexander was certain that the three of them were certainly the lowest of the 1,500 players competing in this National Compet.i.tion. The lack of skilled Korean players gave credence to this thought.
“The c.o.c.katrice came to the place where they are fearfully hiding... Those guys are really lucky.”
They were really ugly players who got to eat for free.
"Let’s go after the c.o.c.katrice. No matter how weak, the Korean players can hunt the c.o.c.katrice. We can’t give them the chance.”
It had been three minutes since the c.o.c.katrice entered the dungeon. It was the time when the c.o.c.katrice had just unleashed its opening petrification offensive. It was the right timing for the Korean team to counterattack.
‘They will slowly chip away at its health... It should be around 1/30th so the momentum isn’t that high. All variables should be blocked.’
It wasn’t good to relax. Alexander lit a torch and started running with his colleagues. They advanced into the depths of the surprisingly large dungeon. Snake-type monsters popped up several times along the way. But they were only level 100 and weren’t a threat.
‘Strange.’
Alexander and the Russian players got gooseb.u.mps. It wasn’t convincing that monsters who were only level 100 would appear in the National Compet.i.tion. There was also the warning window about not getting the permission of the creator when they first entered the dungeon.
‘It’s like a separate s.p.a.ce...’
There were many reasons to be wary, but they lacked grounds to doubt the situation. The Russian players were forced to move forward and eventually reached the end of the dungeon. Then they saw it.
Kyaak!
The c.o.c.katrice’s head was separated from its body!
"What?”
Only seven minutes. It had been seven minutes since the c.o.c.katrice entered the dungeon. Yet the c.o.c.katrice ended up being raided. It was by the unknown Korean players!
“W-Who the h.e.l.l are you?”
How could they do this? Alexander asked in a trembling voice and Eat Spicy Jokbal replied while dealing the final blow to the c.o.c.katrice.
“The two gold reserves.”
***
“Run!”
The wave that occurred when South Korean defeated Russia and overturned everyone’s expectations was huge. After the Group A game, the other players partic.i.p.ating in the subjugation expedition ran to the cave at the entrance of the canyon at the start of the game. It was because everyone knew that the c.o.c.katrice would come to this place.
But,
“...?”
“…????”
The c.o.c.katrice didn’t move from the top of the canyon. It stayed in place and waited for the invaders. It was the same in the other games. Apart from South Korea’s Group A match, the c.o.c.katrice never descended from the canyon.
‘What is this?’
The commentators, spectators, partic.i.p.ants, and viewers thought they were possessed by ghosts. No one could understand why the c.o.c.katrice showed a different behavior pattern only in Group A. In the meantime, the games continued and now there were only 12 countries remaining
The quarterfinals began. The first teams in the quarterfinals were South Korea, the United States, and Canada. n.o.body felt sorry for South Korea, who was a.s.signed to be in the same group as the strongest winning candidates. It was because the players were aware of the Korean players’ strength after they defeated the c.o.c.katrice in an instant.
‘It’s tricky.’
The US representative, Cloud clicked his tongue. The United States hadn’t won a single gold medal in the four group events that were held. They were in a position to win a gold medal in the subjugation expedition, but they had to face Canada, who had won three gold medals in the previous team events, and South Korea, who showed an unexpected power.
‘If we fall here, there won’t be a bronze medal.’
The United States representatives had to figure out how to increase the odds and the conclusion was surprisingly quick.
“We have to stop the Korean team from entering the cave.”
It was a fact that the c.o.c.katrice showed a strange behavior pattern when the Korean players entered the cave. They didn’t know what the principle behind it, was but there was a possibility that unexpected variables would occur when the Korean players entered the cave.
As a result, Cloud and the other US players ran in the direction of the Korean players at the start of the game. The Canadian players made the same judgment as the American players. They were worried that they c.o.c.katrice would jump down while they climbed up the canyon.
『 Ah! South Korea is in a great crisis at the very beginning!! 』
South Korea became a common target because of their unimaginable power. The commentators were making a fuss while the Korean players were calm. No, they rejoiced at being noticed.
"Cloud and Henry... It wouldn’t be an excellent debut if I didn’t face people of at least this standard!”
“Yes. It’s better than one Alexander.”
“Then let’s hunt humans instead of a chicken this time.”
The six US and Canadian players partic.i.p.ating in the subjugation expedition were the highest ranked players in the top 500 unified rankings. It was evidence that both the US and Canada recognized this event as important. Since both countries wanted to secure the number one position in the overall rankings, it was natural to boldly invest in this event. However, South Korea had invested more than the two countries.
Eat Spicy Jokbal. The concept of ranking was meaningless to a sun grade powerhouse. South Korea had the strongest players who could match Grid. The rankers in the top 500 were just hatched chicks in front of Eat Spicy Jokbal.
Puk!
Sukakak!
Without needing to reveal any special powers, the Eat Spicy Jokbal trio slaughtered the American and Canadian representatives with pure combat power. Both the United States and Canada missed out on a bronze medal while South Korea won the gold medal.
Throughout the day, Eat Spicy Jokbal rose to the top of all portal sites’ search queries. The sale of spicy jokbal in the country rose sharply. Ironically, the jokbal store that Eat Spicy Jokbal operated in Haenam was on holiday.