Chapter 58. Dungeon Training Practice (2)

Chapter 58. Dungeon Training Practice (2)

When I opened my eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling greeted me.

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

I lifted myself off the cold cave floor. Beside me, Baek A-Young groaned as she shifted her body.

She also seemed to be regaining her senses, sitting up and looking around.

“T-This... An indiscriminate transfer? This level of dungeon berserk is ridiculous...”

Rumble—

The dungeon itself had expanded, and the mana density had increased.

Naturally, the monsters that appeared would be slightly stronger as well.

“A-Young, calm down for now.”

I met Baek A-Young’s anxious gaze. She was trembling like a puppy caught in the rain.

“U-Uh, yeah. I’m here, so don’t worry, Hoyeon.”

“A-Young, you can’t even fight.”

“T-That’s true...! But I can heal really well!”

She couldn’t hide her trembling. Honestly, even I would feel hopeless if I were dropped into a dungeon with just one cadet.

Especially since she had no combat ability whatsoever—it was no wonder she was uneasy.

“Let’s move for now. I may not look like it, but I’m pretty strong. You saw the news about me taking down that demon, right?”

“Of course, you even got an award for it. But wouldn’t it be better to stay put rather than wandering around? It could be dangerous.”

If I wanted to pass through this berserk event quietly, staying put would be best.

I knew the future—rescue teams would arrive in two days.

But before that, I needed to take Baek A-Young’s virginity. To set up the right scenario, moving around was necessary.

“We don’t have time to wait for rescue. It’s better to find other cadets or the healer team.”

“Mmm... Alright, let’s do as you say.”

She looked reluctant but followed my suggestion.

Since I was the one with combat ability, she respected my decision.

However, she couldn’t hide the unease on her face. It felt like she didn’t trust my strength.

Maybe she didn’t trust me as a person either. Honestly, I felt close to Baek A-Young because I knew her from the game, but in reality, she hadn’t known me for long.

I needed to build trust with her first.

Leading the way, I had Baek A-Young watch our rear as we slowly explored the dungeon.

“Wait a second.”

“Hmm?”

Chuu-chuu-chuu!

Crackle!

Not long after, the sound of frantic wingbeats echoed ahead in the passage.

“This sound... It’s probably a swarm of cave bats. Let’s back off.”

“There’s no way to escape in a straight passage. I’ll handle it.”

“We need to run! From the sound, there are over twenty of them!”

“It’s fine, just watch.”

I reassured Baek A-Young, who was worried because she didn’t know my true strength.

I gathered a small amount of mana and conjured a fireball, sending it forward at a slow pace.

Flutter, flutter, flutter!

The glowing fireball illuminated the cave before colliding with a massive swarm of bats, dispersing into mana.

Forget twenty—there were over fifty of them!

“T-There are way more than I thought! Run!”

Grrr! Chuu-chuu-chuu!

The swarm of cave bats finally came into view.

Their numbers were unexpectedly high. Burning them all would be inefficient.

‘No choice. I have to go all out.’

With only Baek A-Young watching, it was fine.

Maybe I could use this as an opportunity to raise my trust level with her.

“Haa... It can’t be helped.”

“Hoyeon! I’ll hold them off—run!”

Baek A-Young suddenly stepped in front of me, spreading her arms in a cross and closing her eyes tightly.

What the hell is she doing?

The bats, seeing us, charged forward.

At that moment, I conjured a whirlwind from my hands.

A small storm shot forward from my palm.

The charging bats couldn’t slow down in time and were sucked into the vortex.

Fwoosh—!

With my other hand, I created over a dozen fireballs and hurled them into the whirlwind.

It was double-casting.

The bats caught in the whirlwind instantly turned into a massive inferno.

The few that managed to escape were picked off with fire lances.

“Huh...?”

Baek A-Young, who had been shielding me, opened her eyes wide in shock.

Her attempt to take the hit for me was admirable, but the bats never even got close before they burned to death.

However, what shocked her wasn’t the sight of the burning bats—it was my magic.

The world knew me as a fire-element mage. I had deliberately only used fire magic until now.

Moreover, double-casting was a dream ability for mages. Even many active professionals couldn’t master it—it was an advanced technique.

These were secrets I had kept from everyone.

Of course, this was only a fraction of my secrets, but for Baek A-Young, it was still a huge revelation.

Learning such things all at once was naturally overwhelming.

If I were truly evil, I might have killed her to keep the secret.

Of course, I had no intention of doing that.

“A-Young, didn’t I tell you to trust me?”

I smiled at Baek A-Young, who was too stunned to speak.

Finally, she relaxed and responded.

“Hoyeon, you...! With this level of strength, we can definitely make it!”

Realizing that I was far stronger than she had thought, Baek A-Young smiled, as if seeing hope.

Good. She now had hope in me.

In other words, she trusted me a little more.

“A-Young, please don’t tell anyone about what you just saw.”

I hardened my expression as I spoke.

Honestly, I didn’t really care if people found out about this level of ability. It wasn’t like they’d discover I could use all elements, and having two wasn’t unheard of.

Double-casting was riskier, but Im Sol could cover for me if needed.

Regardless, sharing a hunter’s secret wasn’t a light matter.

Unique skills and special abilities—

These things could become weaknesses if known by the wrong people.

You never knew who might betray you. That’s why hunters always hid some of their strength.

Now, Baek A-Young had learned one of my secrets.

“I trust you, A-Young. I haven’t known you for long, but I can tell you’re a good person.”

She quietly listened to my words.

“I’ll do my best to escape. So let’s survive together.”

“Mm. Don’t worry, I’ll do my best too.”

Looking at me with bright, determined eyes, she seemed to trust me more than before.

*

How long had we walked? Despite exploring for a long time, we hadn’t found anyone—nor an exit.

‘Shit, is it supposed to be like this?’

I knew I had been teleported due to the berserk event, but I wasn’t sure about the details. It made me uneasy, but since no monster here could threaten me, I kept moving forward.

“Haa... Haa...”

The sound of Baek A-Young’s breathing behind me was growing more ragged.

Healers naturally had low stamina. Unable to continue without a break, I stopped in a clearing to rest.

“A-Young, you look exhausted. Should we rest here for a bit?”

“Yeah, thanks... Haa...”

“No worries. I’m tired too.”

I sat in the center of the clearing and began meditating.

I had used quite a bit of mana in the battles leading up to this point.

Kekekek... Krurrrk...

As soon as my meditation ended, as if on cue, goblins began approaching the clearing.

“Great. Just as I replenished my mana, now I have to use it again.”

Boom!

The goblins never even got close before they turned to ash and disappeared.

“Hoyeon, are you okay? You’re not overexerting yourself, right?”

“I’m fine.”

The dungeon had gotten stronger, but none of the monsters posed a real threat to me.

And that was the real problem.

Baek A-Young had a peculiar preference.

She needed to personally heal a severely wounded ‘man,’ and after using up all her energy in the process, that weakened man had to lose control and pounce on her.

On top of that, despite receiving her healing, he needed to be so overcome with lust that he acted purely on instinct.

Leaving aside the psychological aspect, there was a physical issue.

I had to be injured badly enough that Baek A-Young would use up all her strength to heal me.

At that level, most of my internal organs would have to be ruptured.

Fortunately, since her stamina had already been drained from walking through the dungeon, a single major wound should suffice... But getting suddenly injured after incinerating those bats so effortlessly would be strange. I needed to think it through.

“How did things end up like this...?”

Baek A-Young hugged her knees, looking dejected.

I knew that we would be rescued in two days at the latest, but from her perspective, she was understandably anxious.

We didn’t even have any food, so we would have to starve.

I had planned to bring rations for emergencies like this, but they were confiscated during the equipment inspection.

“It’s okay. The future Archmage is with you. We’ll find a way to survive.”

“...Pfft. Alright. I’ll trust you. Sorry for showing such an immature side of myself.”

“It’s fine. I’d be extremely anxious too if I were alone. But thanks to you, I’m not lonely.”

Baek A-Young still hadn’t fully caught her breath. She was clearly exhausted.

But I couldn’t let her completely recover.

She needed to heal me and collapse from exhaustion.

That meant I needed to drain more of her stamina.

“Let’s get moving again. I don’t know what time it is without a watch, but we should hurry. The monsters are starting to gather.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Despite her fatigue, Baek A-Young didn’t complain as she stood up.

We resumed walking.

The further we progressed, the more we encountered the same cave walls over and over again.

Even though I couldn’t track the exact time, we must have been walking for hours, yet we hadn’t run into a single person. How was that possible?

Either the dungeon had expanded massively, or there was something else I wasn’t aware of. I couldn’t be sure.

The occasional small talk between us had also disappeared.

The cave’s oppressive atmosphere demanded silence from us.

As we walked in near-total silence, only the sound of our breathing filling the space—

“Aaaaargh!”

A sudden, distant scream shattered the silence.

I turned to meet Baek A-Young’s eyes, then immediately sprinted toward the sound.

“Gaaaah! Aaaaargh!”

Squish! Rip!

The horrifying screams were accompanied by the grotesque sounds of something being crushed.

“Aaaaargh!”

And then, silence.

But another sound took its place.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The heavy footsteps of a massive creature echoed toward us. The rhythm of its stride suggested it was a humanoid monster.

It was approaching head-on, closing the distance quickly.

Baek A-Young, now hearing it too, pressed herself against my back.

“Krrrraaah!”

“O-Oh no, it’s an ogre!”

An ugly, towering brute filled my field of vision.

Dumb as a rock, but possessing overwhelming strength and vitality—a high-level monster.

In one hand, it clutched the torn-apart corpse of a cadet. Though it was a gruesome sight, my mental fortitude wasn’t weak enough to be shaken.

“Grrr—!”

The ogre’s bloodthirsty gaze locked onto me.

Whoosh!

It hurled the cadet’s corpse at me.

‘Cotton Guard.’

I blocked the disgusting projectile and glanced at Baek A-Young behind me.

“H-Hoyeon, are you okay?”

As expected of a professional Hunter, she wasn’t fazed by the sight of a corpse.

Instead, she was more concerned about my mental state.

But I was more focused than ever.

Thump.

This familiar sensation.

Thump.

My combat instincts screamed at me—the ogre in front of me was insanely strong.

Thump. Thump.

The heat rising in my body was as intense as when I had faced Felix—maybe even more.

This ogre was stronger than Felix, the two-horned demon.

In games, ogres were always portrayed as absurdly strong. I had thought, “How powerful can a dumb brute really be?” But facing one in reality, it was truly terrifying.

Its sheer size and monstrous face exuded overwhelming pressure.

No joke, if I took a single hit, I’d be splattered like a pancake.

Shit. Why do they have to make these things so strong? Couldn’t they just be weaker?

“H-Hoyeon, we have to run this time. For real!”

“And if we run, will we survive?”

“I’ll hold it off—just run! You’re younger than me, you have to live!”

“That’s unnecessary. We’re not that far apart in age.”

She always tried to act mature. As if she was that much older.

I pushed Baek A-Young behind me and stepped forward.

“H-Hoyeon...!”

I had no idea why such a monster was in this dungeon.

Maybe the increased mana density had drawn in stronger monsters.

Either way, I couldn’t leave Baek A-Young behind and run.

If she died, the main quest would fail, and I’d die too.

So, I had no choice but to fight.

“Just wait a moment. I’ll handle this.”

Thump.

‘Clairvoyance.’

I pulled all my mana to the surface.

*************************************************

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