Chapter 175
“We finally made it.”
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 stronghold.
The Awakened standing guard on top of the barricade spotted Zeon’s group and the West District Awakened and shouted:
“Open the gate!”
The protective barrier briefly disappeared, and the gate in the wall opened.
Zeon’s group and the West District Awakened quickly went inside.
“Whoa!”
“They’ve already set it up like this?”
Levin and Brielle stared in amazement at the scene inside the stronghold.
What had once been just a fortified wall was now filled with tents and facilities for people to sleep and eat.
In the meantime, the team led by Jelloei had fully established the base.
Now they could rest here and plan their strategy.
At that moment, one of the Awakened from the Pegasus raid team approached Zeon.
“The captain would like to see you, Mr. Zeon.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go.”
“Please follow me.”
The Awakened led Zeon into the largest tent.
Inside, a large table was set up, and Lee Jiryung was sitting at the center.
“You made it back safely.”
“Did I keep you waiting long?”
“No, you came at just the right time. But I heard there are already casualties?”
“Yes.”
“And that casualty happens to be Cha Jincheol?”
“Yes.”
“How did that happen?”
“We encountered a Grim Reaper.”
“A Grim Reaper? You mean the reaper from old tales?”
“That’s right.”
At Zeon’s answer, Lee Jiryung frowned deeply.
It wasn’t that he didn’t believe him—
it was just that the situation was that absurd.
“Of all things… So is the owner of this dungeon a Grim Reaper?”
“I’m not sure. But one thing is certain—this dungeon is connected to the item Cha Jincheol was carrying.”
“The Jade Keeper’s binding rope?”
“It definitely came from another dungeon, yet it’s connected to this one? Then does that mean the other dungeons that appeared on Earth are all organically linked?”
Lee Jiryung’s intuition was sharp.
Zeon knew that the dungeons on Earth were fragments of Kurayan, but most Awakened believed they were simply natural occurrences.
Reaching that level of deduction under such circumstances was no easy feat.
“Anyway, if it’s a Grim Reaper, then the owner of this dungeon is likely undead.”
“Did you prepare any anti-undead items?”
“What kind of items would there even be? We’ll just have to smash them with brute force.”
Very few Awakened in Neo Seoul had ever experienced an undead dungeon. That was how rare they were.
This was Lee Jiryung’s first time entering one as well—but he didn’t seem particularly worried.
Undead didn’t mean truly unkillable.
You just had to destroy them until they couldn’t rise again, and then crush them completely.
And finally, break the core—then everything ends.
A frighteningly simple method.
And all the more effective because of it.
Of course, that only worked when you had overwhelming power.
“There will be many casualties.”
“That’s something we have to accept. The greater the risk, the greater the reward. Everyone who joined this raid knows that.”
You couldn’t clear a dungeon without being prepared to die.
Before entering, there was no way of knowing what dangers awaited inside.
Some dungeons were cleared easily—
others demanded countless lives.
To be an Awakened who raids dungeons meant constantly throwing yourself into danger.
No matter how strong your armor or weapons were, there was no guarantee you would survive.
Death could come at any moment.
But if you did make it out alive, the reward was certain.
Even if you died, your family would be compensated and could live comfortably.
That was why Awakened joined raid teams.
“Anyway, good work. Get some rest until the scouting team returns.”
“Will you begin the raid as soon as they’re back?”
“The sooner we clear a dungeon, the better.”
“Understood.”
“Have you recovered much mana?”
“Somewhat.”
“I hope you recover quickly. It seems your power will be absolutely necessary for this raid.”
“I thought my role was only to locate the dungeon entrance?”
“Situations change. You don’t want to see more casualties either, do you?”
“That’s true, but it’s not my responsibility. Well then…”
Zeon gave a slight bow and left the tent.
The moment he disappeared, the opposite flap of the tent opened, and Bronson entered.
Lee Jiryung spoke to him:
“Push him into as many dangerous situations as possible. That way, he’ll come to rely on us emotionally.”
“Understood.”
“He hasn’t fully recovered his mana yet, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.”
For now, Zeon was still in good condition, leaving no openings—but once he weakened, an opportunity would come.
Lee Jiryung was an expert at seizing such moments.
Zeon returned to the tent where Brielle, Levin, and Eloi were.
The three of them were sitting in chairs, resting.
Brielle looked him up and down and asked:
“You okay?”
“With what?”
“That guy didn’t try anything, did he?”
“Who? Lee Jiryung?”
“Yeah.”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Be careful. I don’t like the feel of him.”
“I am.”
Zeon replied with a faint smile.
Ever since entering the dungeon, Brielle had been unusually sensitive.
Zeon thought it was related to her nature as a High Elf.
Her senses were far sharper than those of ordinary elves, so in a dungeon filled with such ominous energy, it was only natural she would react more strongly.
Eloi asked Zeon,
“What are we doing now?”
“We eat first.”
“Eat?”
“Once we start the real dungeon raid, we won’t even have time to eat properly. We should eat while we can. Levin!”
“Yes, hyung!”
Levin pulled out the food he had prepared in advance from his subspace backpack.
His bag was packed with dishes made by old man Clexi. He took some out and placed them on the table.
“Alright, let’s eat.”
At Levin’s words, everyone gathered around and began their meal.
“Wow… this is good.”
Eloi’s eyes widened as she tasted the food.
The dishes prepared by old man Clexi were truly delicious.
She knew very well how incredible it was to be able to eat food of this quality inside a dungeon.
“This is seriously good.”
“I brought plenty, so we can eat during breaks.”
“Good job, kid. Your abilities are impressive—and your preparation is even more impressive.”
“Hehe!”
Levin beamed at the praise. Brielle nudged him in the side with her elbow.
“Just eat. Don’t get charmed by a fox.”
“Ow—okay!”
Levin nodded and focused back on eating.
Just as everyone was finishing their meal—
“The scouting team is back!”
“Open the gate!”
Noisy voices echoed from outside.
The four quickly wrapped up and stepped outside. There, they saw the scouting team returning to the stronghold.
But something was wrong.
They looked like they had gone through a brutal battle.
Their armor was scratched all over, their hair was disheveled, and traces of blood could be seen.
Hearing of their return, Lee Jiryung rushed over.
“Are you alright?”
“Huff… huff… just a moment…”
Gesling raised a hand while catching his breath.
Lee Jiryung waited until he calmed down.
After finally steadying his breathing, Gesling spoke with difficulty:
“We’ve identified a location that is likely the core.”
“Really?”
“Yes! It’s definitely an ancient castle.”
“I thought as much.”
“It was a type of fortress we’ve never seen before. It resembled a medieval castle from Earth, but a powerful barrier surrounded the entire structure—we couldn’t even approach it.”
“A barrier? Not even a boss, but the castle itself?”
“Yes.”
At Gesling’s answer, Lee Jiryung frowned.
The difficulty of the raid had just increased significantly.
Dispelling a barrier was no easy task.
Under normal circumstances, it would require a large number of magic-type Awakened, especially those skilled in barrier-breaking.
The Pegasus raid team did have such Awakened—but not many.
“It won’t be easy by conventional means. We’ll have to break it by force…”
“The problem is…”
“There’s more?”
“There’s a quicksand zone.”
“What?”
“There’s a massive quicksand zone along the path to the castle.”
“A quicksand zone?”
“It’s enormous. A powerful force is at work—there’s no way to cross it normally.”
“Then how did the scouting team get past it?”
“…We didn’t.”
Gesling trembled, as if recalling the experience was horrifying.
A giant mole-type magical beast had appeared near the area where the scouting team was hiding.
The creature moved toward the quicksand zone.
At that moment, an unseen force dragged it into the quicksand.
It struggled to resist—but it was useless.
In the end, it was pulled under.
What happened beneath the sand, even the scouting team didn’t know.
All they saw was the quicksand churning violently like an earthquake—and the desperate screams of the creature.
They had never heard such a horrifying scream in their lives.
After witnessing its end, the scouting team abandoned any further advance.
Even the presence of the barrier around the castle had been discovered from a distance.
“So in the end, you didn’t find anything more.”
“…We’re sorry.”
It was the first time the scouting team had failed to bring back proper reconnaissance information.
In every way, this was clearly a worst-case dungeon.
Ideally, they would have stayed a few more days to gather information carefully—but they didn’t have that luxury.
The longer they delayed, the higher the chance that Cha Jincheol—taken by the Grim Reaper—would die.
The West District was the biggest sponsor of this raid.
If Cha Jincheol died, relations with them would collapse.
To prevent that, they had to rescue him.
“…It can’t be helped. We’ll have to push forward with brute force.”
“You’re going ahead like this?”
“If Cha Jincheol dies, Kim Kyungsoo will go berserk. Even if it’s risky, we have to move. Besides… we have him, don’t we?”
“But he hasn’t fully recovered his mana. Will he really be able to control the quicksand zone?”
“He’ll manage. He’s got both the ability and the resolve.”
Lee Jiryung had led countless raid teams and encountered all kinds of people.
He took pride in his ability to judge others.
“He may be low on mana, but I’m sure he has something hidden. Otherwise, he wouldn’t act so confident. This is the perfect chance to make him reveal everything he’s hiding.”
“Understood.”
“Leave only the base team behind. Everyone else moves out.”
“Yes!”
Bronson relayed the order exactly as given.
The gates of the barricade opened, and the Awakened set off toward the ancient castle.
The full-scale dungeon raid had begun.
Zeon gazed in the direction of the castle and muttered quietly:
“…How many of them will actually make it back alive?”