Among the dungeons that appeared, some of them contained goblins! Not all the Abyss goblins were as honorable and proud as the goblins of the Ephes Kingdom. If the surrounded hunters saw Odaigon, they wouldn’t exclaim something like, ‘That goblin is here to save us, unlike the other goblins!’
Rather, they’d likely say, ‘Ugh, I thought it was a mob!’
“No, who would mistake me for a monster?!”
“That’s just how humans are, so please understand. Can you transform?”
“I can... I’ll use Polymorph...”
6th-circle magic, Polymorph! It was a powerful magic that allowed him to transform into another race.
Sighing, Odaigon used Polymorph. Soon, he turned into a handsome man with a pale face.
“Oh. Aren’t you handsome?”
“Master. I’m cautious because I am proud, but I’m known among the goblins for being handsome.”
“I-I see. Thank you for telling me something that I wasn’t curious about.”Choi Yeonseung nodded and looked Odaigon up and down. He looked like a human being. His outfit made him look like a magician from fantasy novels, but...
“That should be good enough. Let’s go.”
The ghouls kept attacking as he spoke. Nevertheless, with just a flick of his fingers, Choi Yeonseung smashed the ghoul’s head with just his finger strength. It was meaningless no matter how many of them there were.
“How come they still haven't killed the humans despite already having them surrounded? What is the boss monster doing? Where is it hiding?”
“It probably isn’t like that, Master.”
“?”
“If they were being controlled by an intelligent being, they wouldn’t have just surrounded this area. They would’ve used other methods as well. There have to be unavoidable circumstances that force them to keep charging to this place. You’re probably too strong for it to be worth your time, Master, but I’ve heard of something like this before. A monster called Tarun, the ghoul king.”
“Odaigon. I’ve dealt with it before. I’ve been in the Abyss for a few years...”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Ghoul King Tarun! It was a monster that appeared in the form of thousands of ghouls. Upon seeing thousands of ghouls, a person would usually think, ‘someone must be controlling or summoning them.’ However, Ghoul King Tarun was a monster that exploited this loophole.
He was a monster made up of thousands of them. A group monster that roamed around in swarms! It was no match for a strong being like Choi Yeonseung or Odaigon, but this enemy would be no different than fear personified for those who couldn’t kill all the ghouls.
In fact, the Ganes team that came in here had been stuck for nearly a month, unable to do anything.
***
The first time they came in here, the hunters just thought, ‘We have to avoid the ghouls!’ They were worried about what type of monster would come out of the ruins, but they never thought they would be trapped in one for nearly a month.
“There are no monsters! I’m done checking!”
“What? Really?”
“That’s fortunate!”
“Block the entrance! The entrance! If the ghouls manage to get in, then we’re ■!”
“Wait. There’s a basement here!”
“Get inside!”
The Ganes team hurriedly entered the ruins and were lucky enough to find a basement. Even ghouls couldn’t open the basement door and enter! Everyone managed to survive and could now take a breather, but…
They now faced another problem.
“Uh... How do we get out? To leave this dungeon, we have to either kill the boss monster or find the exit...”
“......”
It wasn’t long before the hunters realized how dire their situation was. They were trapped here!
Step, step, step—
Grrrrr—
The sound of the ghouls from above continued. It felt like there were more than dozens of them. If they opened the door and went out, they would be crushed to death by the ghouls’ number. Unable to do anything, they just let time pass.
One day.
Two days.
Three days...
“What if I set them on fire with Fire Barrier magic?”
“Are you crazy? You won’t be able to kill dozens of them. There are hundreds out there... No, there are thousands. If you use something that bright, you’ll just be calling all of them over.”
“I just gave an opinion, you jerk!”
“Everyone, stop! We have to be quiet!”
They stopped fighting the moment Richard shouted, but the hunters looked dissatisfied. Everyone was starting to feel nervous about the situation.
“How much food do we have left?”
“... I think we have enough for around ten days if we eat sparingly.”
“... This is insane.”
Richard grabbed his head. A dungeon raid usually lasted about a week at most. Even if they were cautious and brought more than enough supplies, no team could have supplies for over two weeks. What was even more frustrating than having only 10 days of food left was that they had no way out of this situation.
At first, everyone expected rescue to come. Richard was the child of a chaebol family, so he expected his family to persuade other hunters to rescue him. However, after a week had passed, everyone came to a realization. There was no rescue team!
The dungeon entry restriction was 10 people, but nine people had entered. Only one more person could enter through the door. No matter how good the money and rewards were, nobody would enter a dangerous dungeon for a rescue mission. Hunters above A-grade never gambled. The government would’ve stopped them even if they wanted to.
“It is over, ■■! All over! Get out of the way! I’m going to open the door and get out!”
“Get him!”
Canean, the most experienced hunter, overpowered the rampaging hunter. If he went crazy and opened the basement door, they would all die.
“There is almost no food left! What are we going to do?!”
“It is better than letting the ghouls kill us. Tie up this idiot!”
“Shouldn’t we do something, Canean? Team leader. We have to do something before we become so hungry we don’t even have the strength to use weapons!”
Richard flinched at the fierce voices of his teammates. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have seen such tough attitudes.
“We will just die if we go out now!”
“We’ll die anyway if we stay here! When is the rescue team coming?”
“They could be coming later...”
“Don’t talk nonsense, you stupid bastard! Only one more person can enter this dungeon, so what makes you think they’d be able to send a rescue team?! This is all because you brought in a porter for rubbish reasons! There is one less spot because of him!”
“Does one spot make a difference now?”
Richard’s words were right, but they didn’t reach the hunters who had been trapped here for nearly two weeks.
“Everything was already bound to go downhill the moment the team leader extravagantly hired a porter!”
“We shared everything the porter brought! Didn’t you eat some too?”
“How can we believe that? How do we know you didn’t secretly eat more?”
“What’s that supposed to mean...”
Richard was dumbfounded, but the atmosphere was turning against him. No matter who it was, they needed someone to take responsibility. The porter Cleton noticed this and spoke urgently.
“I… I just did what I was told!”
Richard was a B-grade hunter, but Cleton didn’t think he could win against five or six C-grade hunters. Joining the other side was better for Cleton.
“......!!!”
Richard was shocked when he was hit in the back of the head. His team members, who had been friendly with him, and Cleton, who used to flatter him nonstop, had all betrayed him. He never doubted them before, so their betrayal was even more shocking!
“So you did sneak some on your own! Even the porter is saying it!”
“Don’t talk nonsense. You threatened him!”
“If you truly want to be our team’s leader, then take responsibility.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Go out and make a path! Show us what makes you a B-grade hunter.”
“Do you think I would listen to that?”
“Do you think we will do nothing if you don’t listen?”
Apart from Richard, all the other hunters were on the same side. Richard’s eyes were burning.
“Even if I die here, I won’t let you guys get anything good!”
“Hey, this young master has courage. Do you think you can beat everyone here? We are all C-grade.”
“I’m against it.”
“?!”
The words of Canean, the oldest among them, shocked everyone.
“What? Canean? Are you siding with the young master?”
“No. I have no intention of taking sides. If we fight now and this place collapses, we will all die together.”
“So let’s subdue that jerk and push him out! We have to do something!”
“I would rather bet on the possibility of the rescue team coming here! Stop talking nonsense!”
“We don’t need you, Canean. Back off. We’ll subdue him ourselves. No, let’s tie up Canean and throw him away!”
Richard took the initiative while they were arguing.
-Ahlos’ High-speed Ice Bullet!
Ahlos’ High-speed Ice Bullet, a 5th-circle magic! He learned it from a magic book he was able to obtain with the support of his family. It looked like an ordinary ice arrow, but its strength was in its reaction speed. Once he had made it, he could launch it at any time! This advantage was very great in a dungeon where they didn’t know when or where they could be ambushed.
‘I didn’t think I’d be using it in this situation!’
“I’ll make sure to kill the first three bastards to come at me!”
This was the first time Richard had felt like he had nobody on his side. He had grown up with the strength of his family backing him up all his life. He had never been in this situation or made such a decision before. This made him realize how small the world he lived in was! He regretted not living with a bit more thought, but it was already too late.
Richard gritted his teeth as he aimed the three ice bullets. ‘If I had the chance again, I would never be fooled by these bastards...!’
Richard, whom the hunters thought was an easygoing third-generation chaebol, caught his team members in surprise when he cast 5th-circle magic instead of backing down. His ice arrows would directly hit the first three people to move against him. Even if they cast magic, they would be far too slow to counter it!
‘I thought he would listen to us if we threatened him a bit...’
‘That is a 5th-circle magic! I’ll get killed immediately if that hits me!’
“... C-Calm down, Young Master.”
“One more word and I will shoot you first!”
The anger of a betrayed man was terrifying. The C-grade hunters faltered back.
The hunters had been divided into two sides. Having lost momentum since they couldn’t intimidate Richard to leave, the hunters just whispered to each other.
“Now the food left is really...”
“... You, porter. You will only eat one meal every other day.”
“Ah... No! I can’t...!”
“I was being considerate to you... Eat only one meal every three days. If you don’t like it, go outside.”
“......”
Richard heard their conversation faintly in the distance and spat on the ground. He wasn’t even disappointed anymore. He was just despondent.
“Canean... No, Mr. Canean, aren’t you going over to their side?”
“I don’t think that’s a viable option right now.”
“... Why didn’t you tell me anything before?”
“What?”
“That everyone thought of me like that...”
“Would you have listened if I told you? Without kicking me out?”
“... Fair point.”
Richard laughed. He was right. If Canean had given him this advice before, he wouldn’t have believed it and would’ve become angry.
Canean spoke again. “Still, you are a decent person.”
“There’s no point in flattering me now. We can’t even leave this place.”
“Being able to acknowledge and fix your mistakes is a great advantage. Not everyone can do that.”
“What... What good does it do us, though? It seems like I’m going to die here with those jerks anyway...”
Instead of answering, Canean just took out a cigarette and lit it, which he had saved until now. He took a deep puff and handed it over. Richard received it with a frown. “Don’t give up so easily.”
“... Haven’t we been holding on for almost a month now? How is that giving up easily?”
“I managed to survive this long because I didn’t give up until the end. Think carefully. Wouldn’t it be unfair if the rescue team came the moment after you gave up?”
“Kukukuk. You’re better at joking around than you look. If anyone really comes, then even if it is all my assets—”
Bang!
At that moment, the basement door caved in and a muscular man fell from above. It was Richard’s first time seeing him.
“Is there anyone here from Earth?”
“...???”
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