Chapter 48

“Stop, I said!” Jun-sang flinched at the voice from behind him and quickly opened his card. “Open Sprint, Open Will-o’-the-Wisp.” He lit up his surroundings with the will-o’-the-wisp and increased his speed with sprint. But as Jun-sang sped up, Seo Yu-mi’s mouth, as if she had been waiting, also spat out words to summon a card. “Me too, Open Sprint!” “…” Seo Yu-mi had a sprint card too? Come to think of it, Seo Yu-mi was the woman who had cut down zombies and skeletons like radishes without even knowing what combo cards were. Since she had completed a quest one more time after that, it was possible she had obtained a combo card by now.

As Jun-sang recalled that thought, a large tree trunk suddenly fell in front of his eyes. This was clearly a trap! But Jun-sang, seeing the tree trunk larger than an adult’s torso falling in front of him, activated Shoulder Charge as is. Immediately, Jun-sang’s body shot forward as if blurring, and the tree trunk fell towards Seo Yu-mi, who was closely pursuing him from behind. It was a perilous sight, enough for an unaware person to imagine Seo Yu-mi being splattered into a bloody mess and flying away, but, “Hah!” With a burst of spirit, her hand swung, something flashed, and the large tree trunk split into two and bounced away. Truly astonishing strength! No, even before strength, the very ability to show such divine skill with a kitchen knife was already beyond the realm of human capability.

“Tsk!” Jun-sang clicked his tongue and ran, then suddenly saw a pit appear in front of him and jumped over it with all his might. It was quite a wide pit for a woman to jump over, but this time too, Seo Yu-mi grabbed the hem of her dress with both hands and effortlessly leaped over it. “Why are you running away!” “Why are you chasing me?” “Because you’re running away!” “…” Jun-sang was momentarily speechless at her overly confident remark. Then, javelins began to fly towards Jun-sang. “Hup!” Jun-sang used weaving, shaking his body in a U-shape with his arms tucked at his sides, and ducking, lowering his stance by bending his knees, to avoid the incoming javelins. But Seo Yu-mi had no such thing. She just chopped down whatever she saw. “…” A loud crash of javelins shattering behind him sent a chill down Jun-sang’s spine. He needed to check the quest… If not, he should at least look at the minimap! But with Seo Yu-mi chasing him closely with a kitchen knife behind him, he had no time. He was just thinking of knocking her down and leaving when suddenly, a rock door began to descend in front of him like a shutter.

“Pig!” Seeing the thick rock door, Jun-sang quickly equipped ‘Spirit of the Reckless Boar’, then lowered his body and activated Shoulder Charge. Immediately, the air in front of Jun-sang split into two, and he instantly collided with the rock door. With the power of Shoulder Charge, enhanced by the martial artist and the Spirit of the Reckless Boar, the rock door shattered into pieces as if hit by a bomb. “Tsk!” The best option would have been to slip out from underneath before the rock door fully descended, but the door descended without giving him even enough time for such acrobatics, forcing him to break it.

But the descending rock door was just the beginning. This time, three or four rock doors simultaneously began to slide in from the left and right like sliding doors. As soon as the cooldown ended, Jun-sang activated Shoulder Charge once more. KWA-KWANG! The rock doors shattered so easily, one might have thought they were merely plaster sculptures. “Jun-sang-ssi! Did you just call me a pig?” “…” As Jun-sang broke through obstacles and advanced, Seo Yu-mi was able to leisurely follow behind him. He felt like something wasn’t right, but before that thought could fully form in his mind, skeleton soldiers appeared in a line with shields and swords, blocking the way.

However, that was not enough to slow down Jun-sang, let alone Seo Yu-mi. CRASH! The skeleton soldier blocking the path with its shield was shattered like a broken toy by a single kick from Jun-sang, and even the skeleton soldiers that Jun-sang’s hand didn’t reach were sliced apart by Seo Yu-mi’s pursuing kitchen knife. As Jun-sang broke through the skeleton soldiers and ran forward, three or four spears suddenly shot out from behind him, blocking Seo Yu-mi’s path, but once again, her kitchen knife flashed, and they were cut down like straw. Who would have known there would be someone rampaging through the dungeon at such a mad speed? The person who set the traps aimed for someone who would slowly observe their surroundings and advance, not someone who would ignore everything and sprint at an incredible speed.

“I’m not a pig, you know?” “…” “I’m actually really skinny!” “…” He wondered what she wanted him to do about it, but before he could voice that thought, the space in front of him suddenly widened, and a group of monsters blocked the way. Among a dozen or so skeleton soldiers stood a figure draped in a black blanket-like cloth, holding a rather ornate staff. “Hahahaha… You’ve managed to get this far… Ugh!” But he couldn’t finish his sentence. Jun-sang, who had suddenly appeared in front of him, charging forward and activating Shoulder Charge, was the reason. “W-wait… GAH!” Jun-sang, who had charged forward, sending the skeleton soldiers blocking his path flying like bowling pins, immediately landed a Shoulder Charge on the chest of the figure draped in the blanket. This individual was originally the mid-boss of this dungeon, with a pattern of using skeleton soldiers as a shield and casting spells from behind. Normally, one would have struggled considerably with the electric magic this mid-boss unleashed, but unfortunately, both Jun-sang and Seo Yu-mi, who followed him, were far from what one would call normal or ordinary.

Though his chest was hit by a Shoulder Charge that could instantly shatter thick rock walls, perhaps because he was still a mid-boss, he didn’t instantly break apart like a zombie or a skeleton soldier. Of course, even so, he couldn’t avoid his chest collapsing, ribs breaking, and internal organs turning into a bloody pulp. “Gurgle… C-cowardly… I was talking…” But the mid-boss couldn’t even finish that sentence. Jun-sang’s knee, which had pursued the mid-boss sent flying by the recoil of the Shoulder Charge, crushed the mid-boss’s gorilla-like head. While Seo Yu-mi was putting on a kitchen knife show against the skeleton soldiers blocking the way, Jun-sang took the staff and seed from the boss, then quickly searched for an exit and discovered another cave entrance about five meters up in the rock wall.

“Open Leap.” Jun-sang, who had equipped Leap instead of Sprint in his slot, quickly leaped onto the protruding rocks on the wall and ascended to the exit in an instant. “Ah! Wait!” Seo Yu-mi, who had been delayed by slicing up skeleton soldiers, stretched out her hand and shouted that, but Jun-sang didn’t look back and ran off again using Sprint. “Oh, come on!” Seo Yu-mi frowned, then approached the wall and began to climb towards the upper exit, stabbing her kitchen knife into the rocks.

Thanks to the rock wall, Jun-sang finally managed to widen the distance from Seo Yu-mi. Only then did he pull out his phone from his pocket to check the quest.

Slay the Evil Sorcerer Hidden in the Dungeon.

• An evil sorcerer who has harmed many people intends to create a dungeon. Slay the evil sorcerer before the magic traps are completed.
• [This quest involves multiple participants simultaneously.]
• (Hidden) Slay the Chimera Sorcerer. (Cooperative) -> Completed!
• (Hidden) Slay the Twin Chimeras. (Cooperative) -> Incomplete.
• (Hidden) Search for the Hidden Ancient Relic. (Solo) -> Incomplete.
• (Hidden) Destroy the Central Control Room. (Solo) -> Incomplete.

It seemed the sorcerer who had been knocked out in one blow earlier was actually a chimera. Jun-sang checked the minimap and continued breaking traps as he ran forward. After a short while, he saw a red exclamation mark flashing ahead and closed his phone. Smart devices in the form of glasses were slowly coming out these days; maybe he should buy one of those. Using a phone tied up one hand, making it practically impossible to use while fighting and sprinting in a hurry like before. Glasses were a bit much, but a goggle-shaped one would be nice.

As Jun-sang thought that, a place similar to where the Chimera Sorcerer had been appeared before his eyes. Upon entering, two mid-bosses surrounded by skeleton soldiers appeared. These mid-bosses resembled the boss he had defeated in the forest before, but the difference was that they each had a large arm almost as long as their height. Jun-sang pushed aside the skeleton soldiers blocking his path with a Shoulder Charge and immediately approached the mid-bosses. As Jun-sang rushed towards them, the mid-bosses each swung their massive arms like hammers, attacking him.

“…” Jun-sang frowned, seeing the two massive fists coming at him, divided vertically, giving him no place to dodge. Countering was difficult because the opponent’s arms were too long to get the right distance, and Shoulder Charge was still on cooldown. Jun-sang first jumped up to avoid the lower punch and then punched the upper punch with his fist. CRASH! With a violent explosion, both the mid-boss and Jun-sang were thrown backward.

“Hmm…” Was it because it was a martial artist combo that didn’t enhance normal attacks like the Berserker combo? Jun-sang even felt a subtle pain in his fist. Looking at it, regeneration had indeed begun, and heat haze was rising. Deciding that dealing with two opponents at once was troublesome, Jun-sang summoned the wolves he hadn’t summoned until now.

“Wolfpack.” As the command left his mouth, three wolves appeared out of thin air. “Attack!” As Jun-sang pointed at one of the mid-bosses and ordered an attack, the wolves all leaped towards the mid-boss. The mid-bosses were startled by the sudden appearance of the wolves and tried to defend against them together, but Jun-sang took advantage of their momentary distraction towards the wolves and rushed towards the right mid-boss. The mid-boss reflexively swung a fist at Jun-sang, but Jun-sang, having burrowed inside, let the massive fist pass over his head and activated Counter. THWACK! As a powerful hook struck below its jaw, the mid-boss’s brain was shaken by the impact, causing a concussion, and it staggered backward. Of course, Jun-sang was not foolish enough to miss such an opening. He immediately followed up and activated Shoulder Charge, which had finished its cooldown. CRASH! The flailing mid-boss could not withstand the devastating impact that pierced its chest and was sent flying into the wall. Immediately, Jun-sang pursued him, and his elbow struck the mid-boss’s philtrum, crushing its face and instantly killing it.

Once one was defeated, the rest was easy. Jun-sang slowly approached the mid-boss, whose attention was fixated on the wolves, then leaped up and slammed his elbow onto the back of its head. Struck directly on the area connecting its neck and head, the mid-boss couldn’t endure the shock and simply collapsed to its knees. Jun-sang kicked the fallen mid-boss’s back to knock it over, then fiercely stomped on the mid-boss’s neck with his military boot, breaking it.

“Phew…” Jun-sang, catching his breath for a moment and searching for and acquiring the seed from the mid-boss’s head, only then realized that this mid-boss’s seed was larger and blacker than usual. He found it strange and was about to examine it more closely when a shout suddenly came from the entrance. “Jjong-ah!” “…” Jun-sang quickly unsummoned the wolves and, as before, used Leap to quickly exit.

“Huff… huff… Damn it… I missed him again.” Seo Yu-mi, who arrived late at the mid-boss’s room, once again looked resentfully at the towering rock wall in front of her, but eventually began to climb again, stabbing her kitchen knife into the wall. While Seo Yu-mi was huffing and puffing her way up the rock wall, Jun-sang was once again battling a barrage of traps. Breaking through incoming logs and knocking down arrows as he advanced, Jun-sang noticed a red exclamation mark flashing on his minimap again.

But something was strange. The mark was inside a rock, some distance from the passage. After a moment of thought, Jun-sang decided to use the simplest method. “Hoo-up…” He activated Power Strike. Immediately, 1 second passed, then 2 seconds, and at 3 seconds, Jun-sang unleashed a full-charge Power Strike against the rock wall beside the path. KWA-KWANG! The violent destructive power shook the cave as if an earthquake had struck, and Seo Yu-mi, who had almost finished climbing the rock wall, also slid down and fell to the floor.

“Ugh… It hurts.” Seo Yu-mi made a tearful face and massaged her knee, which was bleeding from scraping against the rock. But as she reached out and covered her knee, a faint light flowed from it, beginning to heal the wound on her knee. It was healing magic. “Tsk… It’s so hard to see Jjong.” After healing her wound, Seo Yu-mi began to climb the wall again, stabbing her kitchen knife into it.

Around that time, Jun-sang discovered a room hidden within the broken rock wall, containing an ancient relic. “Is this it?” As he lifted the small box with his hand, he saw the original hidden entrance loudly closing. Of course, that meant nothing to Jun-sang, who had broken through the wall to get in. Jun-sang confirmed that the quest had been updated, then put the box in his inventory and moved to find the last remaining hidden quest.

The sound of Jun-sang breaking the wall was also heard by the two men who were carefully entering the entrance. “Whoa!” “Huh!” As the cave suddenly rumbled and shook, the two men were startled and quickly pressed themselves against the wall, then fell. “I… I don’t know if this is okay.” “Indeed. It makes one uneasy…” The two men, perhaps thinking the cave might collapse, began to walk even more cautiously.