"..."
Kwon Jihan stared blankly into space.
"Hyung, me too! Me too!"
Soo Jaehee jumped up. Yoon Seo waved his hand, looking annoyed.
"Everyone, just go ahead. No need to ask for permission."
As soon as the permission was given, a flood of skill notifications appeared. Yoon Seo also opened his system profile window, which he hadn't checked in a while.
[Seo Chaeyoon, 29 years old, Male
Rank: S
(Skill
(Item 'Branch that Killed the Sage' used to enhance all skill abilities)
(Item 'Lucifer's Smile' used to enhance all resistance abilities)
(Item 'If You Still Have a Kind Heart…' used to enhance all skill grades)
(Item 'Habaek's Jade Seal' used to apply
Traits: Survivor, Creator, Protector, Chosen One
(Protected by the God of Life)
(Protected by the God of Death)
(Protected by Gaia)
(Protected by the Watcher)
Skills:
Special Skills:
※Gaia Skill:
*Additional statuses can only be viewed in dungeons.]
It was a profile that immediately wiped away the tension and anxiety felt by Soo Jaehee and Hong Euiyoon.
***
The new 300 Revengers had finished their preparations for entry. The heads of hunter organizations looked at them, their expressions even more determined than those of the Revengers. Since the heads were hunters who had also been active during the time of the Great Cataclysm, they understood the Revengers' hearts better than anyone.
Yoon Seo noticed that Yoo Juncheol tried to distribute his gaze fairly among everyone, but couldn't help lingering a bit longer on Kwon Jihan. Then, their eyes met. Yoon Seo gave a slight reassuring smile, and Yoo Juncheol nodded solemnly.
The new Revengers boarded much more advanced armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery vehicles, and others—equipment far better than those that had been helplessly swallowed by lava ten years ago.
Since there was a plan in place, Yoon Seo did not board any of the vehicles, instead positioning himself at the very front. Kwon Jihan stood next to him—not because of the plan, but simply because he wanted to be by Yoon Seo's side.
"Then…."
Seokyoung Perfect Team 2's leader, Lee Inseon, checked the time and began to speak.
"October 14th, 10:00 AM, Arctic S-Class Explosive Type Red-Black Dungeon, three hundred members entering."
Yoon Seo walked in slowly, step by step, and then Kwon Jihan followed. After them, the armored vehicles carrying the new Revengers followed.
Into the red-black portal…
Yoon Seo closed his eyes and then opened them again.
With the intense heat, red lava appeared before him.
Yoon Seo vividly remembered when he entered the Great Dungeon ten years ago.
The searing lava was exactly the same as back then.
He gathered his magical energy.
[The
He used
The plan was to completely eliminate the need to deal with the lava field.
That was the plan.
[The dungeon is being
[
As soon as Yoon Seo entered, he used
[You have entered the Dungeon. Number of Hunters: 301 | Time Until Explosion: 1850 Hours]
[It has been determined that no additional participants will enter the dungeon.]
[The dungeon portal is closing.]
What…?
[
[
[The dungeon has been terraformed.]
Yoon Seo, who landed not on lava but on solid ground, cleared the
"..."
Too shocked to say anything, he looked up, only to find Kwon Jihan also staring at the empty space, wearing a similar expression, and then looking at Yoon Seo.
[Number of Hunters: 301]
The new Revengers were supposed to be 300 people.
***
19. The Real Enemy
[The God of Life watches with a heart full of emotion.]
[The God of Death watches, hoping that this time you will finally die.]
The message announcing the arrival of the divine blessings appeared.
[The Gaia System informs all awakened beings in the dungeon:
The
However, to protect the native environment of the planet, the Gaia System will place a time limit on
As a token of appreciation, a bound item 'Double EXP upon Dungeon Clear' has been gifted to everyone.
Please check your inventory.]
[
The usual Gaia System message was received.
It must have appeared for everyone, but no one was checking their inventory. Yoon Seo was surprised by the number of people, 301, but others were astonished both by the number and by the incredible
Do Deungsoo composed himself and gathered the people.
"First, we need to verify the number of people. No, wait, Hunter Alec, please use
"Got it."
After Alec launched
"There are 300 people."
"Hmm."
He counted again, and there were still 300, yet the dungeon entry message indicated 301 people. He counted once more, but the result remained the same.
['Alec Switch' has activated the
Alec created a
"What in the world…?"
"Shit, what is this? Did a ghost come in or something?"
"Ugh, this is starting to scare me."
Soo Jaehee clung to Hong Euiyoon, whining. While everyone was feeling uneasy, Kwon Jihan folded his arms and looked at Yoon Seo.
"Hyung, was it like this 10 years ago?"
"No. Back then, the number of survivors matched the number of people indicated in the entry message. I have no idea what's going on now."
"We need to decide what to do quickly. Time is passing."
At Alec's words, Do Deungsoo, Chris Kyle, Park Soobin, and the other leaders gathered.
Ten years ago, they cleared it in 77 days using a skill called
Their plan was to clear the lava zone in 3 days, the swamp in 5 days, the labyrinth in 5 days, and the temple in 7 days. They couldn't afford to waste time counting heads. However, they also couldn't recklessly proceed with the strategy, considering the possibility of uninvited guests like Galaxaia sneaking in.
"I have a guess."
Kwon Jihan said as they were in the middle of their discussion.
"Please, go ahead."
"If there's someone in the dungeon—"
Before Kwon Jihan could finish his thought, a voice interrupted.
"Excuse me—."
The ones who spoke were Lawrence Mille and Rio Deli, a couple known for their closeness.
Blushing, Rio spoke up.
"It might be because of us. We weren't planning to reveal it yet…"
"Ah…"
The leaders immediately grasped the situation the moment they heard his shy voice. Lee Inseon asked.
"How long has it been since you got pregnant?"
"Four weeks. We just found out two days ago…"
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"We thought it was only a cluster of cells at this stage and wouldn't be counted among the dungeon entry numbers. We didn't mention it because we were afraid they wouldn't let us in."
"That's true. I thought anything under four weeks wouldn't be counted."
Do Deungsoo frowned.
Gaia's system only includes a fetus in the headcount after six months of pregnancy. This has been confirmed through numerous tests.
"It seems the Gaia system has updated behind our backs again. Don't they know they'll get criticized by users for making stealth patches like this without notice?"
Soo Jaehee grumbled.
"Haha, congratulations! You have to go back. Safely."
"That's right, congratulations. Please show us the ultrasound picture later."
Yelena and Park Soobin congratulated them with a sense of relief. The couple mentioned they had the ultrasound picture, and they immediately took it out to show off. The group enjoyed a moment of light-hearted conversation, but Yoon Seo frowned.
'Why are they entering a dungeon in early pregnancy? Are they insane? Neither of them is in their right mind.'
Do Deungsoo clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"That solves the headcount issue. Now, let's proceed with the mission."
They reviewed their plan and immediately put it into action.
***
['Lawrence Mille' has activated the
['Rio Deli' has activated the
Boom!
The soon-to-be parents fought intensely. Yoon Seo reinforced the shield he had placed on the couple.
Yoon Seo really couldn't tell whether they were brave or just foolish. And beyond that, he felt uneasy.
Was this really an unnoticed update? Was that missing person really the fetus? Did the Gaia system consider a four-week-old embryo as a human being?
If not, none of this made sense, and yet, he still felt uneasy.
Whoosh!
As his headache worsened, a fire worm lunged at him, flicking its long tongue. Yoon Seo drove 'Existing Spirit' into the fire worm's spine, slicing straight through to split it in half before landing on the ground. Without missing a beat, he kicked off the ground to crush the skull of a monster that was targeting a B-rank hunter, then incinerated two more monsters with