Chapter 367: 2nd and 3rd Week Large Scale Dungeon Part 2

Like I originally intended, I moved with my party members to a quieter spot.

Fortunately, there was a table available, so we sat around it, and Go Hyeon-woo was the first to speak.

“Based on experience, I’d wager that you, Kim-hyung, already have a destination in mind.”

“Yeah, we’re heading to the White Wolf Tribe territory.”

The White Wolf Tribe was a branch of werewolves, known for their white fur, just like their name suggested.

Most of them inhabited polar regions and were known for wielding ice-type skills.

And the dungeon we were entering this time was #566, the White Wolf Tribe territory.

The objective was to endure waves of attacks as we crossed their land and ultimately defeat the boss monster. The chieftain of the tribe.

Go Hyeon-woo asked again,

“May I ask why you chose that place?”

“It’s simple. The rewards are great. Of course, the difficulty is pretty high too.”

To be precise, it was rated above E+ rank.

It was practically a D-rank dungeon.

Naturally, no one had any complaints about that.

Especially Go Hyeon-woo who actually looked more enthusiastic.

“A higher level of difficulty? Sounds promising.”

“And another reason we picked it is because it suits us. It’s an ice-themed dungeon.”

The perfect stage for Hong Yeon-hwa to shine.

Thanks to her unique trait [Aqua Flame], most ice-type monsters wouldn’t even be able to resist. They’d just melt away.

“…..!”

Hong Yeon-hwa already looked excited. Her expression was full of anticipation.

On the other hand, as soon as she heard the word “ice”, Seo Ye-in’s motivation seemed to plummet.

In a rare move, she raised her hand to express her opinion.

“I object.”

“Why?”

“It’s cold.”

The sloth really was sensitive to the cold.

She could sleep so deeply that she wouldn’t notice being carried away, but even the slightest chilly breeze could wake her up.

And since the dungeon was almost certainly going to be full of cold winds, she was already dreading the idea of going.

Still, that was only an issue of motivation. Her skills didn’t drop much because of it.

Of course, motivation does matter, but it wasn’t enough of a reason to give up the opportunity for Hong Yeon-hwa to shine and consider a different dungeon.

There’s also a specific reason we need to go to this one.

So I made a suggestion to Seo Ye-in.

“Then how about we decide by majority vote? I vote yes.”

Hong Yeon-hwa rolled her eyes.

It looked like she didn’t want to go against Seo Ye-in, but she also didn’t want to give up a rare chance like this.

Carefully, she raised her hand.

“I-I’m okay with it…”

“……”

Seo Ye-in looked between the two of us, then raised her other hand.

“Against.”

“You already voted against it.”

“Two votes.”

Now that’s just unreasonable.

Raising both hands doesn’t give you two votes.

And even if I let that slide, the outcome wouldn’t change.

Naturally, everyone turned to Go Hyeon-woo, and he gave a sheepish smile.

“Haha… Sorry, Miss Seo. I’d like to follow Kim-hyung’s lead. This dungeon piqued my interest quite a bit.”

“……”

The current vote tally was three in favor, two against (not really).

A look of desperation spread across Seo Ye-in’s face.

Then, as if something came to mind, she eagerly rummaged through her inventory. But it seemed she couldn’t find what she was looking for.

I had a pretty good guess, so I asked gently,

“Looking for the tiger plushie?”

“Mhmm.”

“Guess it’s in the dorm, huh?”

“I’ll go get it.”

“Get it? Like it’s some object? Then the plushie can’t vote.”

Seo Ye-in paused for a few seconds, then changed her wording.

“…I’ll go bring her.”

“Too late. Voting’s over.”

“No way…”

Seo Ye-in’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

Since the matter was already settled, I didn’t bother pointing out that the tiger plushie was just a toy.

Returning to the original topic, I continued my explanation.

“The last reason’s kind of personal. I want to grab a hidden piece.”

“What kind of hidden piece are you talking about?”

“A dimensional crow appears.”

According to the stagnant water’s big data, a crow craftsman is expected to visit Dungeon No. 566 tomorrow.

At that, not only Go Hyeon-woo but even Hong Yeon-hwa looked intrigued.

“I’ve heard rumors that dimensional crows are incredibly powerful beings.”

“Just watch from the sidelines. Don’t pick a fight.”

“Haha, is that supposed to be advice?”

I then explained the dungeon’s progression from start to finish and handed out a short guidebook to each of them.

“We won’t follow the replay exactly, so focus on the guide instead.”

“Understood.”

“M-Mhmm.”

The three nodded in agreement without complaint.

Next, we began preparing the necessary supplies.

We’d be spending two to three days in the cold after entering the dungeon.

The thermal effect of our school uniforms alone wouldn’t be enough, so each of us prepared a set of winter clothing.

We also packed plenty of heat packs.

Next came food.

We swept various instant foods from the school store into our inventories.

Even if they were just instant meals, they were still way better than the calorie bars for finals week.

Lastly, we borrowed various camping supplies from the future camping enthusiast, Dang Gyu-young.

Though she did have a few complaints during the process.

– Hey, why are only you guys going? You’re leaving me out?

– It’s part of the practical exam. We can’t take a third-year with us.

– I’ll be a first-year starting today. Just let me join!

– Senior, please don’t be unreasonable.

– Ugh, whatever. I’m upset now. Hurry up and make it up to me!

Though she kept grumbling, Dang Gyu-young eventually lent us a tent, a camping stove, and more.

The next day.

We gathered in front of the dungeon building at the appointed time and began descending the stairs to the basement.

Since No. 566 was located near the very bottom of the E-floor, it would normally take a long walk to get there. But we already had E-floor access.

After switching elevators a few times, we got there in no time.

[No.566] [White Wolf Tribe Territory]

Everyone put on their winter gear.

I looked over each of my companions and spoke.

“If everyone’s ready, let’s move out. I’m going first.”

With that, I stepped into the portal.

The next moment, I found myself standing in the middle of a snow-covered forest.

A cold blizzard kept lashing against my face.

Whoooosh—!

Soon after, Go Hyeon-woo, Seo Ye-in, and Hong Yeon-hwa came through the portal one by one, only to be hit by the same fierce wind.

Whoooosh—!

Seo Ye-in immediately flinched.

She seemed to try hiding behind me to escape the wind, but then, to my surprise, she gave Hong Yeon-hwa a little nudge.

“Fire…”

“M-Me?”

“Fire…”

“Uh, yeah. Just a second.”

In a rush, our portable lighter chanted a spell over her. Red magic circles appeared on the ground, and a pillar of flame shot upward.

Fwoooosh—!

The blaze was so intense that the snow around it melted instantly, exposing the ground beneath.

The air grew noticeably warmer.

Drawn to the heat, Seo Ye-in slowly crept closer.

She probably wanted to warm up as much as possible.

“So warm…”

“Warm is nice, but look over there.”

I stopped her for a moment and pointed in one direction.

Through the blizzard, we could make out the silhouette of a structure. It was a totem set up by the White Wolf Tribe.

It was the source of the blizzard and enhanced ice-type skills within its range.

For now, the fire pillar was keeping the area warm, but its magic had a time limit.

To keep it going, Hong Yeon-hwa would have to keep feeding it mana.

The totem, on the other hand, generated the blizzard just by existing.

“We need to destroy it, right?”

“Destroy it…”

Despite shivering, Seo Ye-in pulled out her magic gun and shifted it into rifle mode.

Seeing that, I asked,

“Can you hit it from here?”

“I can…”

The totem was quite far, and visibility was terrible due to the snowstorm, so I figured we’d have to get closer.

But maybe her eyesight was just that good….or maybe the cold had her pushing her skills to 120%.

Seo Ye-in aimed at the totem for a few seconds, then pulled the trigger.

Boom—!

The next moment, the totem snapped in half at the waist and collapsed, and the blizzard noticeably let up.

Our once-blurry vision also cleared up significantly.

In many ways, it was now much easier to move.

Top priority is securing a safe zone, then meeting the crow.

And conveniently, both objectives could be accomplished in the same place.

So I scanned the surroundings, picked a direction, and began to lead the way.

“Let’s move.”

After walking for a while, the blizzard, which had quieted down, suddenly grew fierce again.

Immediately, Seo Ye-in ducked behind my back.

I pointed off into the distance to the right.

“There’s another one, right?”

“A totem.”

“We need to destroy that too, don’t we?”

“Destroy it…”

When Seo Ye-in sniped the totem, just like before, the blizzard and cold weakened.

Of course, this was only the second one.

Totems were scattered all throughout White Wolf territory.

So we had to keep stopping to destroy them after walking just a bit, over and over again.

Watching us, Go Hyeon-woo commented,

“Thanks to Miss Seo, we’re saving ourselves a lot of trouble.”

“No need to go all the way there.”

If we had to approach each totem directly, the travel distance would easily double.

And the chances of encountering combat on the way would also increase.

On the other hand, with a ranged class in the party like now, all that hassle was significantly reduced.

That was one of the reasons we chose this dungeon in the first place.

“There’s another totem.”

“Taking it out.”

Thunk!

Clearing the totems as we went, we eventually came upon a gently sloping hill.

At the top was a relatively open space.

In the center stood a wide, flat rock like an airship dock. It was similar to the one we saw at Rainbow Lake.

Which meant the crow would appear here.

Now all that’s left is to wait for it to show up.

No need to just stand around shivering in the cold.

So I said something everyone would be glad to hear.

“Let’s start a fire first.”

“Campfire.”

Seo Ye-in who was uncharacteristically enthusiastic jumped in.

Apparently, the cold had turned even a sloth into an energetic person.

Although Go Hyeon-woo and Hong Yeon-hwa didn’t show it, they must have been feeling the cold too. They each began carrying out their roles without hesitation.

When Go Hyeon-woo swung his sword with brush-like grace, a large tree was sliced apart in an instant and turned into firewood.

Seo Ye-in and I carried the pieces over and stacked them neatly, while Hong Yeon-hwa skillfully controlled her fire magic.

Fwoosh,

The large pile of firewood caught fire, and the surrounding temperature began to rise quickly.

It wasn’t an ordinary fire, but one enhanced with Aqua Flame.

Its effect at driving away the cold was several times stronger.

Thanks to that, the area warmed up in no time, and we spent our time basking in the heat.

Seo Ye-in had already begun dozing off.

We decided to let her rest for the time being, checking the time periodically.

Then, when the moment came, I stood up.

“It’s about to appear.”

“…….!”

At my words, the group quickly gathered near the rock. They then focused their attention as if determined not to miss a single detail.

Moments later, the air rippled violently a few times, and a dark figure burst out.

It flapped its wings furiously and landed on the rock.

“Caw.”

Its appearance was slightly different from the crow tailor and the crow sage I had seen before.

It wore something like overalls, and a variety of tools hung from its waist.

The Crow Craftsman.