While Kim Ho and Hong Yeon-hwa were enjoying a peaceful time together, another dungeon raid was underway deep within the Dungeon Building.
Whoooooosh!
A fierce wind relentlessly battered Dang Gyu-young and Seo Ye-in’s faces.
This had less to do with the weather and more to do with the speed at which they were traveling, as they were flying through the air on the back of a gigantic serpent.
The serpent, which would normally have been covered in golden feathers, was now completely black.
It was none other than the fifth shadow undead, the Feathered Serpent.
And as they flew through the air at such high speed, something was closing in on them from behind even faster.
Accompanied by the piercing cry of a bird of prey.
Screeeeech!
Seo Ye-in and Chattering Sloth immediately turned around and unleashed a barrage of shots from their magic guns.
As blue bullets rained down, their pursuers could be seen veering away to evade the gunfire.
They were enormous creatures with the heads, wings, and talons of eagles and the bodies and tails of lions.
Monsters known as Griffons.
And riding atop them were knights clad in heavy armor.
In other words, they were Griffon Knights.
One of the knights skillfully maneuvered through the air before charging straight toward them with a thick lance held out in front.
Whoooosh!
A look of irritation crossed Dang Gyu-young’s face.
“These bastards, seriously.”
Between fighting in the air, which she wasn’t accustomed to, and being chased nonstop, her stress had reached an all-time high.
And it would be Kim Ho, the one who had chosen this dungeon for her, who would have to help her relieve that stress.
“Just wait until I get out of here.”
Come to think of it, I haven’t been pulling his cheeks as much lately, have I?
With that thought in mind, Dang Gyu-young sharply changed the Feathered Serpent’s direction, causing the Griffon Knight’s lance to narrowly graze the tip of its tail.
Seo Ye-in seized that brief opening and opened fire.
Ratatatatata!
Struck in the back of the head by a barrage of magic bullets, the knight and his Griffon plummeted helplessly.
And Seo Ye-in and Chattering Sloth didn’t stop there. They started steadily whittling down the number of pursuers.
Ratatatatata!
Another piece of good news was that Seo Ye-in’s accuracy was improving rapidly as the battle went on.
Her gray eyes sparkled as she spoke.
“……Super-duper genius.”
– Adaptive Marksman.
“Total chameleon.”
One by one, the Griffon Knights were shot down.
The last remaining knight abandoned the pursuit, turned around, and fled.
He probably wasn’t running away simply to save his own skin. More likely than not, he intended to return with reinforcements.
Either way, Dang Gyu-young and Seo Ye-in finally had a chance to catch their breath, and the Feathered Serpent began gliding through the air at a more leisurely pace.
The moment things settled down, Chattering Sloth’s eyes lit up.
– ……Bucket list.
Apparently, there was something she’d always wanted to try if she ever got the chance to fly.
She stood up, then went a step further and balanced herself on one foot.
But suddenly, she began wobbling, lost her footing, and fell straight off.
“……”
“……”
Seo Ye-in and Dang Gyu-young silently watched Chattering Sloth fall farther and farther away beneath them.
A moment later, with a flash and a sharp pop, a hologram appeared, and she was resummoned behind them.
– ……My mistake.
“Waste of mana.”
– Won’t do it again.
True to her word, Chattering Sloth stopped fooling around and sat quietly in her place.
A short while later, they spotted a building perched atop a towering mountain peak.
It appeared to serve more as a warehouse than an outpost. It was also one of the dungeon’s hidden pieces and a source of materials.
As they landed, the Griffon Knights guarding the warehouse came out to greet them with weapons at the ready.
“Who goes—”
Crack!
But they promptly found themselves sprawled on the ground after being struck with a club.
Dang Gyu-young stretched her body this way and that, then lightly thumped her lower back with her fists.
“Ugh, my back’s already killing me, and we haven’t even been riding that long.”
“Mine as well.”
“I was flying pretty rough, wasn’t I?”
The Feathered Serpent’s ride comfort was absolutely terrible.
Being a serpent, its body naturally undulated as it moved. And with Dang Gyu-young constantly maneuvering to avoid enemy attacks, it had been darting up and down, swerving left and right without a moment’s rest.
Of course, she hadn’t had much choice.
If the Feathered Serpent took too many hits and ended up being forcibly unsummoned, they would fall straight to their deaths.
“I guess we’ll get used to it if we keep riding. Might as well consider it flying practice while we’re at it.”
“……? Okay.”
Seo Ye-in nodded, though she still looked a little puzzled.
Boom!
Soon after, they smashed through the warehouse door and stepped inside.
The interior was piled high with all sorts of monster and animal parts, including hides, horns, claws, and teeth.
Griffons were largely carnivorous, and their huge size meant they needed enormous amounts of food, forcing them to constantly roam the mountain range in search of prey.
Naturally, all that hunting produced plenty of materials, and since selling them could bring in a considerable profit, warehouses like this one existed to store them.
Dang Gyu-young and Seo Ye-in promptly swept everything recognized as an item, meaning anything they could take as a reward, into their inventories.
[Spiked Turtle Shell (B)]
[Chilly Monkey Hide (C+)] x2
[Pink Queen Ant Carapace (B)]
The materials they had collected were already impressive in both rank and quantity, but this was only the beginning.
There were still several more warehouses left to loot.
However, before putting their backs through another ordeal, the two decided to take a break.
The strategy guide had also instructed them to “wait a while”.
As they munched on the calorie bars they had brought as snacks, they took in the surrounding scenery.
Eventually, Dang Gyu-young brought up a topic.
“You know, about the Hye-seong.”
“Yes.”
“What do you think? If I said I wanted to come along?”
“That’s fine.”
Seo Ye-in answered without a moment’s hesitation.
Dang Gyu-young gave her a mischievous look and asked again.
“Are you sure? You won’t get to spend time alone with Kim Ho.”
“Winter break.”
– You invited us.
The original plan had been to take only Kim Ho to her family home.
However, Seo Ye-in had rather insistently demanded to come along, and after much deliberation, Dang Gyu-young had agreed.
They had even exchanged these words.
– I don’t mind you coming along, but let’s make one condition.
– ……?
– If you ever go somewhere to see the Hye-seong or anything like that, you have to take me with you.
“So you’re saying you want to return the favor?”
“Yes.”
– Thank you, Qyu.
Both Seo Ye-ins nodded at the same time.
Dang Gyu-young watched them with a fond, approving look before speaking.
“It’s the thought that counts. You two can go without me.”
“……Are you sure?”
“Not even a little.”
“……?”
As Seo Ye-in tilted her head, Dang Gyu-young flashed her a playful grin.
“I just have a feeling it’d be better if I stayed out of it this time.”
“Thank you.”
– How considerate, Qyu.
The warm atmosphere lasted only a moment before Dang Gyu-young’s expression turned serious.
“But you’ll have to do me a favor sometime too, got it?”
“Okay.”
“Let me have some alone time with Kim Ho sometime, like when you two went downtown.”
“Time alone together.”
– Ho-Qyu time.
And with that, their renegotiation came to a successful conclusion.
As they turned their attention back to the scenery, they spotted several black dots in the distance.
They were, of course, Griffon Knights.
Just as expected, the one who had fled earlier had returned with reinforcements.
So that’s why the strategy guide told us to wait.
If they had left right away, they would have encountered them in midair, leading to an even tougher battle than before.
– Screeeeech!
A griffon let out a piercing screech.
One by one, the heavily armored knights landed and surrounded Dang Gyu-young and Seo Ye-in.
One of them, who looked considerably stronger than the rest, stepped forward and glared at the two.
Then, noticing the wide-open warehouse, his face twisted with anger.
“You’ve gone far beyond the line. As if taking down our brothers wasn’t enough, you even raided our warehouse.”
“You’re a bunch of thieves yourselves, so don’t talk to me about crossing lines. You guys started this in the first place.”
Dang Gyu-young fired back without missing a beat.
The Griffon Knight’s face twitched, but a moment later, a self-deprecating smile spread across his lips.
“……You’re right. Those who take from others must always be prepared to have things taken from them.”
“Looks like today’s your turn to be on the receiving end.”
“We’ll see about that.”
The griffons and their knights assumed their battle stances and slowly began tightening the encirclement.
Yet rather than growing tense, Dang Gyu-young and Seo Ye-in actually seemed pleased.
“You’re only a pain when you’re buzzing around like mosquitoes.”
Would they still be Griffon Knights when they were on the ground?
Or would they be nothing more than griffons plus knights?
And I’m much stronger on the ground.
Whoooosh……
The shadow beneath Dang Gyu-young’s feet spread outward, and humanoid figures began emerging from it one after another.
As her Qyu-shadow undead rose and the corridors took shape around them,
Seo Ye-in and Chattering Sloth also gripped their pots tightly and each declared,
“Take them down.”
– Teach them a lesson.
***
After killing time outside for quite a while, Shin Byeong-cheol headed down to the basement level of the Dungeon Building.
There was still quite a bit of time left before the half-day allotted for Kim Ho and Hong Yeon-hwa’s dungeon run was up, but he wanted to get there early and wait for them.
After all, dungeon runs sometimes ended ahead of schedule, and if they came out to find their guide missing, it would be a complete disaster.
There was another reason as well.
They should’ve changed shifts by now, right?
He wanted to avoid the times when the Disciplinary Committee, especially Song Cheon-hye, was on patrol.
Her tracking abilities had improved dramatically, and she had even come dangerously close to catching him.
That had left Shin Byeong-cheol feeling more than a little uneasy, so he had decided it was best to avoid running into her altogether.
They’re only human, after all.
No matter how elite they were or how promising their futures as heroes might be, they couldn’t stay awake twenty-four hours a day.
Nor could they devote all their time to patrolling the basement floors.
They had to rest, train, and run dungeons themselves, didn’t they?
Sure enough, when he entered Floor D and looked around, Song Cheon-hye was nowhere to be seen.
He could only sense the occasional presence of other Disciplinary Committee members and faculty scattered throughout the area.
Then why do I have such a bad feeling about this?
He hadn’t noticed any signs that he’d been discovered yet.
Was it just his imagination?
Of course, he didn’t really have a choice.
Without him, Kim Ho and his partner would have to make their way back up on their own, so all he could do was fulfill his duty as their guide.
Suppressing the uneasy feeling that kept creeping over him, Shin Byeong-cheol hurried toward the lowest level of Floor D.
But just as he was about to cross over to Floor C, his expression stiffened.
“……!”
The vague sense of dread he’d been feeling had become reality.
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead as he muttered to himself,
“Ahem, did I take a wrong turn somewhere? How’d I end up on Floor D? Guess I’d better head back up~”
“It’s too late to play dumb.”
A familiar voice came from behind him.
Shin Byeong-cheol turned around stiffly, his movements almost creaking, and found Song Cheon-hye standing there.
She was staring at him coldly with electricity crackling from both her hands.
Fzzzzzzzzt.
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