Chapter 103

Chapter 103: Double Dungeon (2)

To cut straight to the result—the lionesses that attacked us weren't particularly strong.

They were weak, even.

Coldly speaking, they were fodder-tier at best.

At first I'd only planned to drive off the one chasing us, but once we realized they were nothing special, there was no reason to stop.

We wiped out all the lionesses without needing the wildebeest's help.

The wildebeest had shrewdly fled while we fought. Didn't matter either way.

"Good work, everyone."

"You too, Professor."

The expedition's mood after their first victory was, needless to say, sky-high.

Murakami and Baekryeon were arguing over who'd performed better, and Wang Sheng was looking after his subordinates.

"Hm?"

Wang Sheng was looking after his subordinates?

That seemed off.

Wang Sheng, that was not your image at all.

Don't tell me he was the type who mouthed off constantly to superiors but was actually good to his juniors?

"You guys saw that, right? Those giant beasts had us surrounded, but the great Wang Sheng displayed divine prowess and saved the party......"

"Incredible, sir!"

"As expected of you, Boss!"

Right, of course he wouldn't be.

Wang Sheng had cornered his guild members and was bragging about himself.

The boredom was written all over their faces, but what could they do? When the party leader says jump, you jump.

"Professor, are you hurt anywhere?"

Do Yeonha called from behind.

As a priest class—and a rare S-rank priest at that—she'd been handling all healing for the expedition.

"I'm fine."

"I figured you would be. You were incredible out there. Why do you fight so well when you're a professor?"

"I can hold my own enough not to drag anyone down."

"What? That was way beyond 'holding your own.' You were overwhelming even compared to A-rank Heroes. And what's your class, by the way? Your weapon keeps changing every time I look."

"I use everything. I'm an All-Master."

"What? R-really?"

Do Yeonha was taken aback.

All-Master was effectively a class that existed only in legend.

Having the talent was one thing—actually reaching mastery was a separate matter entirely.

Even for someone talented in a single class, reaching a certain level demanded blood-grinding effort.

The same applied to All-Master.

Being born with talent in every class was rare but possible; pouring effort into every class was not.

That was why All-Master was a class no human living a hundred years could achieve.

I was the exception, of course.

My class proficiency wasn't earned through effort—it came from elsewhere.

"Yes."

"Hmm... can't doubt it when I've seen it myself. What an enviable talent. Oh wait, is that rude? It's not talent—it must be a level reached through bone-grinding effort."

"It's fine."

Sure. No problem.

Because pure talent-based freebie was exactly what it was.

"Hmm. By the way, Professor—the dungeon's difficulty seems easier than expected. What about just clearing it and getting out?"

Do Yeonha's suggestion was reasonable.

If the lionesses represented the average threat level here, we could clear this without reinforcements.

But I wasn't certain that was the case.

Some dungeons started easy and ramped up exponentially the deeper you went, so there was no need to rush.

If anything, the rush was on the other side.

They'd lured me in and surely wouldn't sit still watching while I waited for Lie Xiao and Edelin.

The Double Dungeon's master—the Evil God—would make the first move.

To kill me. To remove the obstacle.

THOOM—! THOOM—!

Right on cue.

Something was coming.

"Enemy!"

Every Hero went on high alert.

This enemy would be tougher than the lionesses—I could feel it.

Before, the stampeding footsteps of the beast herd had overlapped into a continuous rumble, but this time it was a single, far heavier set of footsteps in sharp, discrete impacts.

One creature.

But its mass dwarfed the wildebeest and lionesses beyond comparison.

Given the animal theme of this place, another animal-type monster should appear.

Something with that much mass... had to be an elephant, or...

─GRRRAAAAWWWR—!

...What. Why are you here?

The newcomer's shocking appearance left me momentarily speechless.

A massive head. Jaws that looked ready to chew through anything. Short arms and enormous legs. A tail stretching out like a lizard's.

A familiar form, though I'd never seen the real thing.

Seriously, why is that here.

"A-a dinosaur!"

"What the hell! It's a giant T-rex!"

Shocking, sure—but only for a moment.

Dinosaur or elephant, beat it down and that was that.

"H-huh?"

"Professor, if you go alone like that—"

With a size gap this enormous, finesse was unnecessary.

What mattered was power.

You needed to hit hard, even if crudely, just to deal effective damage.

I transformed Jeivult into a massive hammer and leaped high.

Then—full swing.

The dinosaur looked down at me with contempt.

A tiny human's strike—how much could it possibly hurt? It'd find out soon enough.

CRAAASH—!

I slammed the side of its face dead-on.

The impact was enough to make even the colossus stagger.

─Grrrr.......

The dinosaur's face twisted with rage as it glared at me.

That had definitely registered as a clean hit.

"Wang Sheng! Back me up!"

"H-huh? Okay!"

Against something like this, technical fighters like Murakami or Baekryeon were less effective than a simple brute like Wang Sheng for the role of holding the monster in place.

While the two of us doubled as tanks and pounded away, the rear line prepared their big spells.

No matter how fearsome a monster looked, everything had a weakness.

If it seemed strong in close combat, finish it with magic.

"Just hold for one minute!"

One minute. Acknowledged.

The dinosaur wasn't entirely devoid of instinct—sensing the massive mana gathering behind it, it roared.

Its thick leg stomped down at me. I dodged instantly.

CRAAASH—!

Powerful and fast—quite the nuisance.

Fortunately, it seemed to be a purely physical fighter with no mana skills.

Then again, perhaps it was precisely because it couldn't use mana that its physical abilities had developed this far.

FWISH—!

Without a moment's rest, the dinosaur whipped its tail like a lash.

A low, fast sweep across the ground.

Dodging required jumping—but what attack would it follow up with at that timing?

So I'd block instead.

I switched Jeivult to a rectangular shield—scutum—and layered defensive skills.

Bring it.

"Hngh!"

CRASH—!

The tail struck the shield dead-on with a tremendous noise, but I held.

I took some shock, but there was something gained too.

"Nine Curses."

From my palm, dark, murky fog began seeping out.

I pressed it onto the dinosaur's body, and the fog rapidly spread across its frame.

─Grrrr......? SHRIEK!

Nine Curses.

A curse that hammered nine different hexes in simultaneously.

Among debuff skills, it was the pinnacle of curses—notorious even among the infamous. The thing would be helpless for a while.

The activation condition was maintaining direct palm-to-body contact for three or more seconds.

Nine Curses wasn't designed for use in combat.

The idea of a fragile caster closing to touch range and holding contact for three-plus seconds was practically impossible.

Normally, Nine Curses was used for restraining captured enemies.

Which meant its power was exceptional.

─Ghk, grrk.......

The massive body began convulsing and seizing, until it finally foamed at the mouth and collapsed.

A finishing blow from the rear line's prepared magic sealed the deal.

"You told me to hold for one minute, then went and finished it yourself. So much for S-rank Hero dignity."

"The matchup just favored me. It wouldn't have been favorable for you, Mr. Murakami."

"Hmm, is there any opponent where the matchup doesn't favor you?"

"No. I'm an All-Master, after all."

"Ha, total cheat—a cheat, I tell you. Weapon arts, barehanded fighting, magic, hexcraft, spiritism, even holy prayer—you can do anything. Then again, reaching that level must have taken bone-grinding effort."

Baekryeon cut into our conversation.

"Isn't it a waste—having that much skill and teaching brats at an academy? Being an active Hero and protecting people suits you much better."

"This wench, how underhanded......"

"Shh, quiet, old man. Professor, come to Yeonho Guild. I'll give you the same treatment as our S-rank Heroes—the cream of the crop, even."

"I appreciate the offer, but no thank you. I'm not interested."

"H-huh?"

My flat refusal caught Baekryeon off guard.

Murakami then laughed heartily and made his own pitch.

"A man of his caliber wouldn't be satisfied with that. Professor Cha, come to Katanaz—I'll give you everything. After I die, the Guild Master title of Katanaz itself."

A radical offer.

He must have put tremendous resolve behind it, but it didn't move the person it was aimed at.

"I'm sorry."

"Hm, why? No interest in being a Hero?"

"Being a professor suits me better."

"...Hmm. My offer remains open. If you change your mind, come find me."

"Same for mine."

"I'll keep it in mind."

My mind wouldn't change.

Once my work as a professor was done, I planned to retire immediately.

No—more accurately, I'd be forcibly retired.

When all the Evil Gods were dead, Gates would vanish and the world would return to peace.

Return to peace.

The truth was, I was the only one who'd view that state as natural.

The people of this world had lived with monsters, Gates, and Heroes from birth.

So what would happen to Heroes?

In a world without monsters, Heroes weren't needed.

Superstars paid fortunes to protect the world would become people who were just strong and utterly useless.

Being useless would be the best case.

If Heroes' power was put to use somehow, that use would assuredly not be benign.

In the game, the world itself was destroyed by the ending, so the shared goal of rebuilding humanity prevented internal conflict.

But the world I was shaping would reach its ending in a far more intact state.

What would humanity become then?

Without a common enemy, how would humanity treat the biological weapons called Heroes?

Just as I'd discarded the tamed monsters in the pyramid after the hunt was done, would humanity discard Heroes too—

And then there was me.

I didn't know why I'd been summoned to this world.

But one thing I could guess was that I was currently playing a mode called the "Hidden Ending."

What happened to a player who'd seen the game's ending?

A player no longer needed by the game—what would the game do to—

"Professor, the blood scent here is strong. Other predators may be drawn in. Shall we relocate?"

"Yes. Let's do that."

Handling one giant dinosaur had been draining enough; if a pack showed up, the expedition might need to brace for total annihilation.

After salvaging Mana Stones and other spoils from the monster, we moved on.

"Where do we go?"

"We need somewhere safe if we're going to survive here."

"Anywhere with decent living conditions?"

"We're only staying a few days before leaving—do we really need that?"

A brief exchange of unproductive opinions.

Ideally I'd use my Taming skill to scout the area, but with no telling what might happen, I decided to conserve it.

The feed materials used for Taming would run out fast if used carelessly.

If the best option wasn't available, I'd go with the next best.

I voiced the location I had in mind.

"Let's follow the wildebeest herd from earlier."

"The wildebeest?"

"Yes. They're low-aggression animals, so they won't attack us. And if we're near a large herd's territory, carnivore monsters won't easily approach either."

I swallowed the thought that we could use the wildebeest as shields and run if things got bad.

That would've been unbecoming of a Hero.

"Understood."

"Sounds like a solid plan!"

The destination was settled quickly.

The expedition placed archers with tracking skills at the front and followed the wildebeest herd's trail.

Before long, we arrived at the herd's home ground.