Chapter 18

Chapter 18.

 

The tanker’s taunt skill had no effect at all.

That was because the Obsidian Titan was already dead.

Lee Ha-kyung’s face was slightly flushed.

He had won a dramatic victory.

He calmed the heart pounding wildly in his chest.

‘The Void is definitely on a higher level than the upper Abyss. But my strength works here too.’

It seemed he did not need to fear this unknown place before even testing it.

Of course, it did not really matter whether he was afraid or not.

Lee Ha-kyung was going to keep pushing forward either way.

As he stood there catching his breath, the tanker came over and spoke to him.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes.”

“Well… I was rather rude earlier.”

It was a somewhat ambiguous apology.

Was he apologizing for failing to hold aggro properly?

Or for doubting Lee Ha-kyung’s ability and looking down on him?

Lee Ha-kyung did not care either way.

A little hazing was normal no matter where you went, and he was not fragile enough to be hurt by something this minor.

No, he was not someone who could afford to be swayed by petty emotions.

With a calm expression, Lee Ha-kyung said, “Anyone can make mistakes. As long as it does not keep happening.”

Naturally, his answer carried two meanings as well.

Whatever the apology was for, he meant not to do it again.

The tanker bowed politely.

“Thank you. Oh, and…”

“Yes?”

“I should have introduced myself sooner. I am Kim Sang-woo.”

“Ah, right.”

Lee Ha-kyung gave an awkward smile.

He had not expected the man’s attitude to change this quickly.

Soon after, he collected the Obsidian Titan’s spoils.

Field bosses usually gave slightly worse rewards than dungeons of the same rank.

But this was The Void,

and the Obsidian Titan was considered Unknown-rank.

The loot was probably going to be fairly good.

Sure enough, the reward was a large metal club.

Its name was Titan Mace.

It was an artifact with a taunt amplification effect.

Lee Ha-kyung turned the weapon over in his hands.

‘The center of gravity is too high. It is too heavy and too large for me to use.’

A single heavy, crushing blow.

And taunt amplification on top of that.

Anyone could tell this was an artifact made for a tanker.

A little later, the rest of the group joined them.

The Great Sage immediately began praising Lee Ha-kyung.

“See? I told you he was the real deal. Just look. He crushed a boss by himself that would probably be considered Incomprehensible-rank in the upper layers.”

Of course, there was one part of the Great Sage’s words that was slightly off.

If the Obsidian Titan were placed in the upper Abyss,

it would probably land somewhere between Unknown-rank and Incomprehensible-rank.

Even taking into account how much harder The Void was.

There was a little exaggeration in the praise, but Lee Ha-kyung did not bother correcting it.

‘Everyone seems willing to go along with it, so whatever.’

As long as the result was good, that was enough.

The Great Sage quickly organized the situation.

“To be honest, Mr. Ha-kyung practically killed the Obsidian Titan by himself. So we will divide only the spoils apart from the artifact. Does everyone agree?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Good. Then you can just keep the mace. We will butcher the corpse first, then continue on.”

Everyone nodded at the Great Sage’s proposal.

It did not seem as though they were agreeing just because of the leader’s authority.

Each of them might have received tens of billions of won apiece.

That was not something people gave up easily.

But no one objected.

They all acknowledged what Lee Ha-kyung had done.

‘It is not easy to demand a share when you did nothing.’

Strictly speaking, the profits from Titan Mace should have been divided too.

After all, a raid included everything from entering the dungeon to making it back out alive.

The distribution of loot obtained during travel was also covered in the contract.

If this had been Raiders Guild, they would have insisted on splitting it immediately.

And they would have done it with a shameless face.

Lee Ha-kyung liked the way the Great Sage handled things.

‘It is not just because I got the artifact. If people refuse to acknowledge someone else’s contribution, the raid team falls apart.’

The Great Sage understood that very well.

A little later, the raid team finished gathering the spoils and started moving toward their destination again.

They had made it past the rocky mountain, and fortunately, the dungeon was not much farther away.

[You have entered the dungeon ‘Abyss of Infestation’]

[This is a space crawling with Brood Eaters and Hemobeasts]

[Find and defeat the Brood Sovereign hidden deep within the Abyss]

[Rank: Incomprehensible]

[Limit: 5 people]

[Reward: Unknown Artifact]

The moment they passed through the stone door, a pink space opened up before them.

The floor, the walls, the ceiling—

every part of it twitched faintly like living tissue.

A long, tangled maze stretched out before them.

It was supposed to be a small dungeon with a five-person limit, but the inside was surprisingly spacious.

Only the corridors were narrow.

“From here on, I will take the lead.”

Kim Sang-woo stepped forward with a short bow.

His face was set, and his eyes burned with determination.

It looked as though he wanted to make up for his earlier mistake.

Kim Sang-woo carefully rounded the corner.

There did not seem to be any traps, but that did not mean they could relax.

Anything absurd could happen inside a dungeon.

The unpleasant corridor repeated itself about three more times.

Then a chilling sound rose from behind them.

“Krriik! Krik?”

It had come from the path they had already passed through.

If that was a monster, then the back line was about to be attacked.

The Great Sage was just about to call for Kim Sang-woo.

But danger struck far faster than expected.

“Kwiiiiiik!”

A thick body like a larva.

A height of well over two meters even though it stood hunched over.

And four forelegs like a mantis.

The creatures that appeared with shrieks were grotesque enough to make anyone sick.

They seemed to be the Brood Eaters mentioned in the system message.

Warning bells went off in everyone’s head.

—K-Kim Sang-woo…!

The Great Sage’s urgent voice rang through Whisperer.

But the Brood Eaters had already started attacking.

“Move!”

The Great Sage and the ranged dealers unleashed attacks first.

Then they tried to throw themselves aside.

They were trying to block the Brood Eaters’ approach

and shift their positions.

But the creatures were far from easy opponents.

Shk! Skang—!

The Brood Eaters casually knocked the projectiles aside with their forelegs.

Then they rushed forward at terrifying speed.

The back line was a heartbeat away from being wiped out.

And then—

SPLAT!

With a sickening sound, a Brood Eater’s body split cleanly in half.

Transparent fluid spilled out,

and the severed chunks of flesh collapsed limply to the floor.

A moment later, the Great Sage spoke in confusion.

“M-Mr. Ha-kyung?”

The figure who had suddenly appeared was Lee Ha-kyung.

He should have still been far ahead.

He and the tanker had been responsible for clearing the way.

Naturally, the Great Sage could only find it strange.

But Lee Ha-kyung had in fact been carrying out his role perfectly.

The moment he sensed danger, he had simply rushed here.

His movement had been so fast that it created the misunderstanding.

“We can talk later. This side was more urgent.”

The Great Sage nodded vigorously.

Then Lee Ha-kyung began cutting through the Brood Eaters.

Fwoosh—! Slash!

With Abyss Refinement, now at Stage 3.

Once Lee Ha-kyung became a dependable front line on his own, the battle changed completely.

Now the ranged dealers could attack without hesitation.

But then a rather strange sight unfolded.

Thump! Thump!

The arrows flew in graceful arcs, only to bounce right off.

It seemed to be because of the Brood Eaters’ elastic outer shells.

If the arrows hit perfectly head-on, they penetrated at least a little.

But if the angle was off by even a bit, they bounced away immediately.

Lee Ha-kyung, on the other hand, was different.

Slice! Splurt—!

Each Brood Eater split neatly in half with a single strike.

It was such a brutally unnatural contrast that everyone tilted their heads.

The Great Sage, in particular, voiced the question outright.

“No, why are they not penetrating? Is it because I did not apply an enhancement?”

“Well… I was not exactly attacking normally. I was using a skill too.”

The two archers in the Great Sage’s team were among the highest-ranked fighters in the awakened world.

And yet their attacks were not landing properly.

Of course, it was not that they could not hurt them at all.

If they stacked the Great Sage’s buff skill on top of Mana Refinement?

Crunch—!

Then, like now, they could kill a Brood Eater.

But these things were just trash mobs they had encountered right at the start of the dungeon.

And they had to throw a full-power punch at something like that?

No wonder everyone looked baffled.

While the others stood there staring blankly, Lee Ha-kyung wiped out the rest of the Brood Eaters.

“That takes care of it. We can move forward now.”

“How are you killing those things so easily?”

At the Great Sage’s innocent question, Lee Ha-kyung almost let out a dry laugh.

Apparently, his ridiculous performance had shocked them quite a bit.

Still, he felt it would be better to explain at least a little.

There was no point in making things awkward by saying something strange.

After thinking for a moment, Lee Ha-kyung answered in a modest tone.

“It is because of their springy outer shells.”

“Even so…”

“It is just a matter of compatibility. There is no need to get discouraged because your attacks did not work well. Shall we collect the spoils quickly and move on?”

“Ah, yes.”

The Great Sage’s gaze was strange.

It was as though they felt diminished somehow.

They had brought a team they had every reason to be proud of,but they kept getting compared to Lee Ha-kyung.

Then, suddenly, the Great Sage tilted their head.

“Hm? But where is Kim Sang-woo?”

“That is true. If we called him through Whisperer, he should know something went wrong in the back line.”

“We should go forward quickly.”

“Let us.”

Lee Ha-kyung tore through the twisting corridor at high speed.

Tap tap tap tap!

As he came around the corner, he saw Kim Sang-woo’s back.

In front of him was a swarm of chimp-sized monsters.

Those were probably the creatures called Hemobeasts.

So that was why Kim Sang-woo had not come back.

He had been blocking the path here.

‘That is why the back line never got surrounded.’

Lee Ha-kyung thrust his blade beneath Kim Sang-woo’s arm.

It was practically a brute-force move.

And yet his blade sliced through a Hemobeast’s tentacle just as it sprang upward.

Ssst— Thud!

It was a strike so precise it was almost absurd.

Startled, Kim Sang-woo whipped his head around.

“Mr. Lee Ha-kyung?”

“Focus. The attack on the back line is already dealt with, so do not worry.”

“A-all right!”

The two of them worked together with startling ease.

It felt like fighting alongside a comrade he had been paired with for over a decade.

Of course, that was only possible because Lee Ha-kyung’s skill was so high.

He could read Kim Sang-woo’s movements

and adjust perfectly to them.

Smack! Crunch!

The Hemobeasts toppled one after another.

In truth, they were not especially difficult monsters.

Their round bodies were covered in tentacles, but their combat power itself was not that great.

The real problem was the poison gas they emitted.

[You have been poisoned by a Hemobeast]

[Your movement slows]

[You take continuous damage]

Tap. Tap. Tap.

It felt as though someone were pricking him with needles over and over.

Before he knew it, both Lee Ha-kyung’s and Kim Sang-woo’s arms and legs had started swelling.

It was an immune reaction.

But then the Great Sage’s voice sounded through Whisperer.

—I am cleansing the poison now!

[The poison has been removed by abnormal status recovery]

The swelling all over his body vanished instantly, and Lee Ha-kyung’s face returned to normal.

Now all that remained was to finish off the remaining Hemobeasts.

But right then, Something unexpected happened.

[You have encountered the abyss dungeon boss, Brood Sovereign]

[The Hemobeasts have gone berserk]

FWHAAAH!

A gigantic larva-like monster burst straight through the wall.

That much was understandable.

This was a small dungeon to begin with, so it was possible for the boss to appear early.

But what happened next was astonishing.

“Chirrrrit!”

The swarm of Hemobeasts rushed the Brood Sovereign.

It was an unprecedented scene.

Monster fighting monster in a savage frenzy.

At that moment, something flashed across Lee Ha-kyung’s mind.

‘If that is the case, then could this entire dungeon…?’