Chapter 23: Promotion Exam (4)

“Next, go straight ahead. There’s a snake stuck to the ceiling every three meters, so let’s sweep them all up first.”

“Yes, bro! Should I charge up my Breath?”

“I’ll handle it this time. They’re lined up in a row, so we can wipe them all out at once.”

“Let’s take the middle path.”

“Is the other way a dead end, hyung?”

“The right path connects too, but it’ll add about 50 meters to our route. No point in wasting time on that.”

As time went on, it was only natural that Taejoon’s viewership skyrocketed.

Haa, how did I end up doing something like this? Seonah muttered, a faint smirk playing on her lips as she realized she had become the actual manager.

The situation was absurd, but she couldn’t help but feel a grudging sense of satisfaction. Taejun’s efforts were finally being recognized by the world.

But…

Despite this, a nagging unease lingered.

The difficulty level is way too high for a B-rank evaluation.

Her anxiety intensified when tens of thousands of viewers suddenly flooded into Taejun’s stream.

So he’s really been eliminated.

In terms of pure combat skill, Kang Gun was a prodigy who surpassed even some B-rank hunters.

Yet this promising rookie had been eliminated so anticlimactically.

It’s just that Taejun is exploiting him so easily, no one’s realizing how precarious Kang Gun’s situation is.

The dungeon’s structure was far more complex than before.

The Thousand-Year White Snakes were undeniably much stronger.

And there was a pitch-black mist swirling intermittently within the dungeon.

Are those deliberate traps set by the Allied Forces headquarters?

Just then, Taejun’s voice echoed as the streaming screen switched

The screen showed an altar upon which rested what appeared to be the skull of a massive serpent.

Only two hours after entering the dungeon, Taejun and Junhyun had already found the key to unlock the boss room seal.

Only then did Lee Seonah finally exhale in relief.

No matter how convoluted the process, now that they had found the object, the dungeon clear was practically guaranteed.

Thud.

But the moment Taejun strode forward and lifted the skull from the altar…

KUGUGUGUG

The streaming screen went dark.

Instantly, the chat room exploded.

The screen had gone black, but the chat log kept updating.

This meant the streaming channel hadn’t been terminated, but the video feed had been cut off for some reason.

Most suspected a problem with the streaming data line inside the artificial dungeon.

Viewers howled with frustration, blaming Union Headquarters’ shoddy management.

But Lee Seonah bit her lip.

Her intuition was screaming a warning.

Perhaps this wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

Kugugugugung!

A deafening roar tore through the air, making me furrow my brow.

What on earth is going on?

The anomaly occurred the instant I obtained the key to the boss room. Suddenly, the dungeon began shaking violently, as if struck by an earthquake.

“Hyung?! Does a split-type dungeon always do this when you get the key?!”

“Hold still.”

I calmly waved my hand at Kim Junhyun, who was flapping around in panic.

At that very moment—

Whoosh!

A chilling wind swept through, and my vision shifted.

A new scene had been overlaid upon the altar where the snake’s skull had rested.

In an instant, Junhyun and I found ourselves standing in a corner of a massive cavern, its walls illuminated by glowing crystals.

The cave was roughly the size of a sports field. In its center stood an altar adorned with a black hexagram. Atop the altar lay the skeletal remains of a serpent, its length easily exceeding ten meters.

Moments later:

”…Huh?”

“What’s going on? How did this happen?”

Choi Jinho and Yoo Se-rin came into view, standing not far away. Yoo Se-rin looked disheveled, as if she had just been in a fierce battle with monsters—her hair was wild and her clothes torn. Choi Jinho was carrying Kang Gun on his back, the unconscious youth’s head slumped forward.

Did everyone in the dungeon get transported here?

As soon as they acquired the key, they were teleported to another location.

So, where was this place?

Activating Parsley Navigation.

Right. It’s the boss room that had been sealed by the stone door inscribed with runes.

But something felt off.

In a split dungeon, the process of finding the key and backtracking to the boss room was supposed to be a crucial part of the evaluation.

Yet, they had skipped that step entirely.

Could the dungeon have been restored to instantly teleport them to the boss room the moment they found the key?

“Even if they restored it like that, it’s still strange.”

It makes no sense to summon not only eliminated participants but also their mentors.

“Choi Jinho, explain.”

“Explain what?”

“Being instantly teleported to the boss room as soon as you acquire the key. Is this another device restored by the Federation Headquarters?”

Only then did Choi Jinho look genuinely flustered. He glanced around at his surroundings before stammering, “I-I don’t know. I’ve never heard of anything like this before.”

“What?! If even Mentoring Oppa doesn’t know…” Yoo Se-rin cried out, her eyes trembling.

But before she could finish speaking—

Saaah…

A chilling, eerie cold seeped into our bones.

Immediately afterward, thick black mist began coalescing around the central altar in the chamber.

Srrrk.

Within the swirling darkness, a figure began to take shape.

I narrowed my eyes and stared intently as I asked, “Choi Jinho, what was the original boss monster assigned here?”

“Ice Demon Lee Mooki. Originally the boss of the Demon Sealing Cave.”

Ice Demon Lee Mooki, a B+ threat-level monster.

Appearing as a Thousand-Year White Snake magnified to a massive 10 meters.

Not a particularly challenging boss for a B-rank promotion trial.

But…

Definitely not that.

The monster that had now revealed itself bore no resemblance to a snake.

Over two meters tall.

Clad in ragged scraps that draped like a cloak, revealing stark white bones beneath.

Wielding a skull staff in its hand.

A pair of piercing blue eyes shone from the empty sockets of its fleshless skull.

“Huh?”

Yoo Se-rin stared at it, muttering in a pale voice, “Why… is a lich here…?”

One of the highest-tier undead monsters had appeared: a Grade A Lich.

“Fuck, why is a Lich here…?” Choi Jinho muttered through gritted teeth.

If even the mentor was this panicked, the others were clearly doomed.

“A Lich? That’s the kind of monster you’d need at least three A-rank Hunters to even stand a chance against…”

“We’re screwed. I knew something felt off from the beginning…”

Kim Junhyun and Yoo Se-rin trembled, their eyes wide with panic.

Well, I guess it was inevitable.

I stared at the skeletal mage floating above the altar, the Lich engulfed in a malevolent aura that made its blue eyes burn with unnatural intensity.

The lich emanated a far more overwhelming aura than any monster I had ever seen.

Suddenly, it spoke.

“Qeo Dao Mentos…”

The lich’s jawbones creaked open, and a sinister voice emanated from its maw.

Among higher-tier monsters, some occasionally utter such words.

Of course, it was impossible to understand them since the language wasn’t originally from Earth.

Just then, a new information window popped up:

A transdimensional language has been detected.

Activating [ Simultaneous Translator ].

Ah, now that I think about it, translation was one of the system’s basic functions.

But would it work on an otherworldly language like this?

“Mana… Sari…”

As the lich’s jawbones clicked again and its mouth opened—

The “Simultaneous Interpreter” has detected a new language: ancient Turkic from the Dekameron dimension. Translating to Korean from the “Earth” dimension.

“Aeori Men Da ka… hack… Quite a fresh gathering of humans brimming with vitality. I must thank the Contractor for this.”

Before we knew it, the lich’s words had seamlessly transitioned into fluent Korean, delivered in the same spine-chilling voice that scraped against the chalkboard like fingernails.

But there was no time for shock.

I replayed the lich’s words in my mind.

He mentioned a Contractor.

My thoughts raced.

An artificially restored, man-made dungeon.

Thousand-Year White Snakes that refused to die from any ordinary wound.

And now, the lich claiming the boss room.

My gaze shifted between Yoo Se-rin, who stood frozen with a pale face, and Kang Gun, who had lost consciousness.

Ah, so that’s how it is.

It’s been a long time since I tasted human vitality, the Lich intoned. I’ll absorb every last drop of your life force, as slowly as possible, leaving nothing behind.

Suddenly, the Lich swung his skull staff.

Clack! Clack!

The sound of bones colliding echoed through the air.

Kreeeeak!

The remains of the Ice Demon Lee Mooki, resting at the center of the altar, began to rise.

A 10-meter-long undead serpent, its skeletal form glowing with baleful light, turned to face us.

“Lee Taejun!” Choi Jinho shouted, setting Kang Gun down. “Take the kids and fall back! Find an escape route! I’ll buy you time here!”

Click!

Choi Jinho drew a 1.5-meter-long short spear from his suit.

At least he’s still got some fight left, I thought, seeing him step forward in this situation. His grit hasn’t completely rotted away.

But I shook my head.

“There’s no way out.”

“Look! Boss rooms are always supposed to have escape routes!”

I checked the dungeon map.

Just as I expected.

“It’s already blocked off. The moment that lich appeared, this boss room sealed itself like a real dungeon.”

“What? What are you talking about?!”

“Someone rigged this dungeon during its restoration.”

Someone among those who restored the dungeon had set a trap to harm the four trillion won group.

The likely targets were Kang Gun, Yoo Se-rin, or both.

Choi Jinho, Kim Junhyun, and I had been caught in that trap too.

“Rigged? Don’t tell me they did this to eliminate rookies from rival guilds…?”

Only then did Choi Jinho’s eyes widen.

“Which guild would commit such a mad act…?”

But before he could finish speaking—

Kreeeee!

An undead monster, radiating malevolent energy, lunged at Choi Jinho.

The massive snake’s skull tore into the very spot where Choi Jinho had been standing moments before.

CRASH!

A deafening explosion erupted, sending rock fragments and pitch-black demonic energy scattering through the air.

Amidst the acrid cloud of dust, Choi Jinho leapt into the air, clutching his spear.

“Damn it!”

Fortunately, only his suit was torn; he hadn’t suffered any injuries.

But there was no time to catch his breath.

SKREEEEE!

The undead Lee Mooki, its head buried in the ground, surged back up and charged again—moving with speed and reflexes far surpassing its original capabilities. Its transformation into an undead creature had drastically enhanced its stats.

“What…!”

Panic flashed in Choi Jinho’s eyes. Suspended helplessly in mid-air, even he stood no chance of dodging the attack.

But before the snake’s skeletal fangs could reach him,

Whoosh!

The fireball erupted from my hand and struck the creature’s skull with pinpoint accuracy.