Chapter 175

Chapter 175

“We finally arrived.”

Levin wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and let out a sigh of relief.

After countless hardships, they had finally reached the base.

The Awakened keeping watch from atop the bulkhead discovered Zeon’s group and the West District Awakened and shouted,

“Open the gate.”

The protective barrier disappeared for a moment, and the gate in the bulkhead opened.

Zeon’s group and the West District Awakened hurried inside.

“Wow!”

“They already set all this up?”

Levin and Briel gaped at the scenery inside the base.

Inside the base, where only the bulkhead had been erected, facilities for people to sleep and eat had already been prepared, including tents.

In that short time, the team led by Jeloei had perfectly set up the base.

Now they could rest inside and prepare a clearing plan.

At that moment, one of the Pegasus Raid Team’s Awakened approached Zeon.

“The Captain wishes to see Lord Zeon.”

“Now?”

“Yes!”

“Let’s go.”

“Please follow me.”

The Awakened guided Zeon into the largest tent.

Inside the tent stood a large table, and Lee Ji-ryeong sat at its center.

“You returned safely.”

“Did you wait long?”

“No, you came at the right time. But I heard there has already been a casualty.”

“Yes.”

“And that casualty just happened to be Cha Jin-cheol?”

“Yes.”

“How did that happen?”

“We encountered a Grim Reaper.”

“A Grim Reaper? Do you mean the Reaper that appears in old stories?”

“That is correct.”

At Zeon’s answer, Lee Ji-ryeong frowned deeply.

It was not that he did not believe Zeon.

It was simply that the situation was that absurd.

“All sorts of things are appearing here. Then is the master of this dungeon a Grim Reaper?”

“I’m not sure. For now, it is clear that this dungeon is connected to the item Cha Jin-cheol had.”

“Warden’s Binding Rope?”

“Yes.”

“It was clearly an item from another dungeon, yet it is connected to this place? Then does that mean other dungeons that appeared on Earth are also organically connected to one another?”

Lee Ji-ryeong’s instincts were sharp.

Zeon knew that the dungeons appearing on Earth were fragments of Kurayan, but most Awakened merely believed they occurred naturally.

Under such circumstances, deducing this much was by no means easy.

“In any case, if there is a Grim Reaper, then the master of this dungeon is highly likely to be undead.”

“Did you prepare any items for undead?”

“Would there be anything special as far as items go? We have no choice but to break them with force.”

Almost none of Neo Seoul’s Awakened had experience with undead dungeons. That was how rare undead dungeons were.

This was also Lee Ji-ryeong’s first time entering an undead dungeon. But he was not especially worried.

Undead did not truly never die.

One simply had to break them until they died and crush them so they could not rise again. Then, finally, destroying the core would end everything.

It was a frighteningly simple method.

It was also efficient.

However, this method only showed its power when one possessed overwhelming combat strength.

“There will be many casualties.”

“We will have to accept that. The greater the danger, the greater the return. Everyone who joined the raid team knows that.”

Clearing a dungeon without being prepared to die was impossible.

That was because no one knew what dangers existed inside a dungeon before entering it.

Some dungeons were conquered easily, while others produced countless casualties.

Becoming an Awakened who cleared dungeons meant throwing oneself into danger at every moment.

Even if one protected the whole body with good armor and wielded strong weapons, there was no guarantee of surviving.

One could lose one’s life at any time.

In return, if one survived, the reward was certain.

Even if they died, their families would receive compensation and live in comfort.

That was the reason Awakened joined raid teams.

“In any case, you worked hard. Rest until the exploration team returns.”

“Do you intend to proceed with the clearing as soon as they return?”

“The faster a dungeon is cleared, the better.”

“Understood.”

“Has your mana recovered much?”

“To some extent.”

“I hope you recover quickly. It seems your power is absolutely necessary for this dungeon clearing.”

“I believe my role was only to find the dungeon entrance.”

“Circumstances always change. I doubt you want to see many casualties either.”

“That is true, but it is not my responsibility. Then......”

Zeon lowered his head slightly and went outside.

As soon as he disappeared, the door on the other side of the tent opened, and Bronson entered.

Lee Ji-ryeong said to Bronson,

“Drive him into as dangerous a situation as possible. That way, he will come to rely on us emotionally.”

“Understood.”

“It seems he has not fully recovered his mana yet, so it should not be too difficult.”

At present, Zeon was still intact, so there was no gap to probe. But once he weakened, an opportunity would come.

Lee Ji-ryeong was a man highly skilled at seizing such opportunities.

---

Zeon returned to the tent where Briel, Levin, and Eloy were staying.

The three were each sitting in chairs and resting.

Briel looked Zeon up and down and asked,

“Are you okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“Did that man do anything to you?”

“Who? Lee Ji-ryeong?”

“Mm!”

“He didn’t.”

“Be careful! He doesn’t feel good.”

“I’m being careful.”

Zeon answered with a faint laugh.

After entering the dungeon, Briel’s nerves had grown sensitive.

Zeon thought it was related to the traits of a High Elf.

Since her instincts were far sharper than an ordinary elf’s, she was reacting especially sensitively to this dungeon filled with ominous energy.

Eloy asked Zeon,

“What are you going to do now?”

“Eat first.”

“Eat?”

“Once we start clearing the dungeon in earnest, we won’t even have time to eat properly. We should eat while we can. Levin!”

“Yes, Brother.”

Levin took out the food they had prepared from the subspace backpack.

His backpack was full of food Old Man Kleksi had made for them. Levin took out some of it and placed it on the table.

“Now, let’s eat.”

At Levin’s words, everyone gathered close and began eating.

“It’s delicious.”

After tasting the food, Eloy’s eyes widened.

The food Old Man Kleksi had put his skill into was truly delicious.

Eloy knew very well how remarkable it was to be able to eat food of this quality inside a dungeon.

“This is really good.”

“I packed plenty, so we’ll be able to eat whenever we have time to rest.”

“Well done, kid! Your ability is impressive, and your preparation is even more impressive.”

“Hehe!”

At Eloy’s praise, Levin smiled brightly. Briel jabbed Levin in the side with her elbow.

“Just eat. Don’t get bewitched by the fox for no reason.”

“Mm!”

Levin nodded and focused on eating again.

It was when everyone had nearly finished their meal.

“The exploration team is back.”

“Open the gate.”

A noisy commotion came from outside.

The four hurriedly finished their meal and went outside. Then they saw the exploration team returning to the base.

But the exploration team’s appearance was far from ordinary.

They looked terrible, as if they had fought a fierce battle.

There were scratches all over their armor, their hair was disheveled, and bloodstains showed on them.

At the news that they had returned, Lee Ji-ryeong ran over.

“Are you all right?”

“Huff! Huff! Wait a moment......”

Gesling raised a hand while breathing roughly.

Lee Ji-ryeong waited until he calmed down.

Gesling, who barely caught his breath, struggled to open his mouth.

“First, we confirmed the place that seems to be the core.”

“You did?”

“Yes! It is definitely the ancient castle.”

“As expected.”

“It was an ancient castle built in a style I have never seen before. It felt like a medieval castle from Earth, but a powerful force field had been cast over the entire castle, so we could not even approach it.”

“A force field exists? Not around a boss, but around the ancient castle?”

“Yes.”

At Gesling’s answer, Lee Ji-ryeong frowned.

That was because the clearing difficulty had become higher than expected.

Disabling a force field was not easy.

To disable a force field by proper methods, one had to mobilize many magic-type Awakened, especially those well-versed in force fields.

The Pegasus Raid Team had such Awakened as well. But there were not very many of them.

“It will be difficult through proper methods. We have no choice but to break it by force......”

“The problem is......”

“There is another problem?”

“There are shifting sands.”

“What?”

“There is a shifting sands zone on the path to the ancient castle.”

“A shifting sands zone?”

“It is an enormous shifting sands zone. A powerful attraction force is at work, so it cannot be crossed by ordinary means.”

“Then how did the exploration team cross the shifting sands zone?”

“I apologize. We could not cross it either.”

Gesling trembled as if recalling it was dreadful even now.

A giant mole monster had appeared in the area where the exploration team was hiding.

The giant mole monster that emerged approached the shifting sands zone.

At that instant, an invisible force dragged the giant mole monster into the shifting sands zone.

It struggled and resisted, but it was no use.

In the end, the giant mole monster was dragged into the shifting sands zone.

The exploration team did not know what happened beneath the sand.

What they saw was the shifting sands zone violently heaving as if an earthquake had occurred, and they heard the giant mole monster’s desperate scream.

They had never heard such a horrific scream in their lives.

After witnessing the giant mole monster’s end with their own eyes, the exploration team gave up on advancing any farther.

They had discovered that the ancient castle was covered in a force field only by observing it from afar.

“In the end, you learned nothing beyond that.”

“I apologize.”

This was the first time the exploration team had failed to gather proper clearing information.

It was clearly the worst kind of dungeon in many ways.

If he could, Lee Ji-ryeong wanted to stay several more days and gather information step by step, but he did not have that luxury.

The more time passed, the higher the possibility that Cha Jin-cheol, who had been taken by the Grim Reaper, would lose his life.

West District was the largest sponsor of this clearing.

If Cha Jin-cheol died, their relationship would fall to its worst. To prevent such a situation, they had to save Cha Jin-cheol at all costs.

“It cannot be helped. We have no choice but to solve it by pushing through with our bodies......”

“Do you intend to proceed with the clearing like this?”

“If Cha Jin-cheol dies, Kim Hyun-su will throw a damn fit. Even if it is difficult, we have to move. And we have him, do we not?”

“But he still has not fully recovered his mana. Will he be able to control the shifting sands zone?”

“He will manage somehow. He is the kind of man with the ability and resolve to do so.”

Lee Ji-ryeong had met all kinds of people while leading a dungeon raid team. Because of that, he took pride in the fact that his eye for people was better than anyone’s.

“They say his mana is depleted, but he must have a hidden move. Otherwise, he could not be that confident. We must use this opportunity to make him reveal every card he has hidden.”

“Understood.”

“Then we leave only the base team behind and depart with everyone else.”

“Yes!”

Bronson relayed Lee Ji-ryeong’s order exactly.

The gate in the bulkhead opened, and the Awakened set out toward the ancient castle.

It was the beginning of the dungeon clearing in earnest.

Zeon looked toward the direction of the ancient castle and muttered,

“How many of them will be able to return alive?”