Chapter 10

The man, confirming there were no more moving enemies, leaned against the wall and sank to the ground. He shivered at the slimy sensation clinging to his hands and feet, and the throbbing pain in his shoulder, but what mattered was that he had defeated multiple enemies.

“Hah… hah…”

After catching his breath from the intense struggle, the pain in his shoulder also subsided considerably. The man stroked the head of the wolf that was sniffing around him, then stood up and collected the wooden spear and torch that were lying on the ground. He returned to the original intersection, relit the extinguished torch from the one stuck in the wall, and then went back to where the zombies had appeared. He examined the opened section of the wall but saw nothing special. The man carefully continued forward, wary of any traps that might be hidden beneath his feet.

Emerging from a long passage, he found himself at another new intersection. The man opened his phone, recorded the details of the rough map, marked his path with charcoal, and only then continued his journey. He passed through the second intersection, then the third and fourth, and at the fifth intersection, the man encountered new enemies.

“Hmm…”

There were three enemies. Their slow movements indicated they were zombies, just like before. Fortunately, being at an intersection meant he wouldn’t be caught off guard by his torch going out, as had happened previously. The man placed the torch he was holding in his left hand on the ground and gripped his wooden spear. While fighting bare-handed sometimes felt more comfortable, he couldn’t carelessly discard the advantage of reach the wooden spear offered when facing multiple opponents.

“Phew…”

Taking a deep breath, the man commanded the wolf, “Attack!”

The red wolf shot forward like an arrow. It lunged at one of the zombies, which had its back turned, and bit into its shoulder. The surprised zombies flailed their arms and lunged at the wolf, but while their attention was focused, the man stealthily approached again and stabbed the zombie in the back with his wooden spear.

Thwack!

A feeling like tearing water-soaked newspaper was transmitted to his fingertips as the wooden spear accurately pierced the zombie’s back. However, despite an injury that would surely be fatal to a human, the zombie turned to retaliate.

“Tch!”

The man clicked his tongue, pulled out the wooden spear, gripped it firmly with both hands, and brought it down towards the zombie’s head. But due to the zombie’s quick movement, he missed his mark this time, only lightly tapping its shoulder. It seemed there were many limitations to a wooden spear roughly cut from a branch.

“…”

As the distance closed, the zombie bared its teeth at the man. The man let go of the extended wooden spear and quickly delivered a two-hit combo to the zombie’s face that was lunging at him.

Thump! Thwack!

As if its head were greased, the first blow slipped and missed, but the second straight punch landed squarely on the zombie’s philtrum. The man was about to deliver a follow-up blow to the staggering zombie, but then a new zombie from the side rushed at him, flailing its arms.

Should he push forward, or retreat first to regain his stance? He hesitated for a moment, but his dilemma wasn’t long.

“Hyaaah!”

The man ducked and tackled the lower body of the staggering zombie in front of him. With an impact to its lower abdomen from his shoulder and a grab behind its knees, the zombie fell backward helplessly from the man’s blow. Even as he tumbled down with the zombie, disoriented, the man quickly scrambled to his feet, climbed onto the zombie’s body, and punched its head.

Wham!

Seeing the zombie’s head snap limply to the side, the man, as soon as his two-hit combo’s cooldown ended, mercilessly hammered the zombie’s temple.

Crack!

A crack appeared with the first blow,

Crunch!

And it crumbled with the second.

As soon as the man confirmed the zombie’s movement had stopped by the sensation transmitted through his fist, he threw himself forward. Rolling to his feet, he saw the zombie that had lunged at his back now flailing on top of the motionless zombie’s body. The man rushed over to the struggling zombie and delivered a soccer kick to its head, like kicking a ball.

Thud!

As the man’s foot struck, the zombie’s head couldn’t withstand the impact and detached from its body, flying through the air before hitting the wall and falling. The man turned his head to find the remaining zombie. The third zombie, though its shoulder was bitten, was extending its arms, hugging the wolf’s body, and wildly biting it.

“Tch!”

The man grabbed the wooden spear lying nearby and rushed over. He then stepped on the neck of the struggling zombie, which was tumbling with the wolf, and powerfully stabbed the wooden spear into its eye.

Squish!

As the wooden spear pierced its eye, the zombie struggled for a moment before going limp.

“Phew…”

The wolf, released by Jun-sang, whimpered and limped on one leg. A tooth-and-claw battle between a wolf and a zombie. Jun-sang clicked his tongue and first examined the wounds.

Suddenly, a new message arrived on his phone.

Summoned creature has sustained a minor injury. : To heal the injury, it is necessary to de-summon. Healing will take approximately 15 minutes. Would you like to de-summon? (Y/n) _

“15 minutes…”

As he was also quite tired from the continuous fighting, the man pressed Y to de-summon and rested there for a while.

“Phew…”

When he pulled the wooden spear out of the zombie’s head, the charred tip of the spear was crushed from hitting it too hard. The man took out his multi-tool from his waist to trim the damaged tip of the spear, but it didn’t work as well as he hoped. Thinking that he would need to get a proper multi-tool, not a toy like this, once he got out of here, the man took out some roasted wolf meat from his pocket, chewed on it, and silently sharpened his only weapon.

After finally finishing the spear’s repairs, which took about 20 minutes, the man stood up, summoned the wolf, and continued his journey. However, the man soon arrived at a dead end. He thoroughly searched for anything hidden but unfortunately found nothing.

Returning to the fifth intersection, the man headed down the unexplored path. This time, he found a small room. He briefly checked for hidden enemies, but there was nothing except a small box in the center. Thinking it might be a trap, the man cautiously approached the box and lightly poked it with his wooden spear, but there was no reaction. When the box was completely pushed aside with no reaction, the man finally opened it. Inside, there was a small stone tablet the size of a mobile phone.

Curious, he touched it, and the stone tablet suddenly emitted a faint light and then disappeared.

“Huh?”

As he stood there, bewildered, a message arrived on his phone.

Congratulations! You have obtained the special card ‘Item Appraisal’. : Obtaining a special card allows you to unlock sealed special abilities. -Special ability ‘Item Appraisal’ has been unlocked. -Currently, there are 3 items that can be appraised: 1. Unidentified Ring 2. Unidentified Ring 3. Unidentified Seed -If you wish to appraise an item, press the corresponding number. If you do not wish to appraise, press n (1/2/3/n) _

“Ohh…”

The man quickly selected option 1. A new message appeared.

Item appraisal has begun. : Item appraisal requires some time. Please wait a moment. Currently 0% complete.

The man watched silently as the percentage on the message reached 100%. After about 30 seconds, a new message followed.

Item appraisal is complete. ———————— Item Information Name: Ring of Life Level Requirement: None Type: Ring Grade: Common Effect: Life Force Enhancement 5% Seed: 1 Slot Description: A ring that awakens the wearer’s life force. A seed can be equipped in the slot in the center.

“Life Force Enhancement…”

The man thought this probably meant it increased his HP. He couldn’t know the exact value since he didn’t have precise character information, but more HP was never a bad thing, whether a lot or a little. The man slipped the ring with the groove shown in the accompanying photo from his inventory onto his finger. He felt a slight surge of vitality returning to his tired body.

The man then proceeded to appraise the next item.

Item Information Name: Ring of Fire Resistance Level Requirement: None Type: Ring Grade: Common Effect: Fire Resistance Enhancement 5% Seed: 1 Slot (Regeneration Rate Enhancement 5%) Description: A ring that awakens the wearer’s fire resistance. A seed is already equipped.

“Regeneration Rate!” Hadn’t he clearly confirmed the effect of regeneration in the previous battle? Although it was only 5%, combined with the effect of the Bloodstained (R) card, it would become 15%. The man put this ring on his left hand as well, then appraised the last item.

Item Information Name: Vampiric Seed Level Requirement: None Type: Seed Grade: Uncommon+ Effect: Life Drain 5% Description: A seed held by the owner of the cave. Can be equipped to items or cards with Seed Slots to enhance abilities. A special ability ‘Detachment’ is required to detach a once-equipped seed. [Click here to equip this seed to an item or card.]

The Vampiric Seed was the very item that had been in the wooden box held by the giant monster rat in the cave. Life drain, like regeneration rate, significantly increased survival during combat. The man pondered for a moment before deciding to equip the Vampiric Seed to the Bloodstained (R) card. Equipping it to an item carried the risk of the item breaking, and the Bloodstained (R) card was his most powerful card, making it likely he would continue to use it. Of course, it said that if he obtained the special ability ‘Detachment’, he could remove an equipped seed, but he couldn’t blindly trust a function he didn’t know when he would acquire.

The man tapped the equip command at the bottom of the item information. Immediately, a list of equipable items and cards appeared on the screen. The Ring of Life was the only item, and all the rest were cards. The man selected the Bloodstained (R) card, which was located at the very bottom of the card list.

Equipping Seed. : The ‘Bloodstained (R)’ card has a total of 5 slots. Currently, all 5 slots are available. Once a seed is equipped, it cannot be unequipped until you obtain the special ability ‘Detachment’. Would you like to equip the ‘Vampiric Seed’ to the ‘Bloodstained (R)’ card? (Y/n) _

When the man pressed Y, a message followed instructing him to place the seed on the phone screen. As he did, light emanated from the screen, and the seed disappeared before his eyes, followed by a “Dismount successful” message.

Once he had finished appraising and equipping all the items he had obtained, the man retraced his steps. How long had he been wandering the dungeon, slowly drawing his map? After fighting zombies twice more, the man, with a somewhat tired expression, entered a new intersection.