Chapter 11

The chilling sensation ended, and a dull feeling spread from my butt throughout my body.

Of course, the pain wasn’t severe, but looking at the reduced HP, I could roughly guess the extent of it.

My arms and legs seem fine…

I got up. I didn’t feel any discomfort in my movements.

I looked around. Perhaps due to a faint light coming from somewhere, I could see objects, albeit dimly.

A massive iron gate not far away caught my eye.

An iron gate?

Could it be the special Dungeon I was looking for?

It’s a bit different from what I knew…

I’ve never heard of falling down, nor of the gate being so large and magnificent.

But in the current situation, worrying was pointless.

I’ll find out once I open the gate and go inside.

Thud.

Muhyuk, standing in front of the gate, reached out his hand.

The moment he touched it, the iron gate moved.

Creak, creeeeeak.

The massive gate opened, emitting an unpleasant sound.

At that moment, a message popped up.

[You have discovered a level 15 ‘Unique Dungeon’.]

[Experience (50 percent) is increased inside the Dungeon.]

Muhyuk’s movements stopped instantly.

A Unique Dungeon…?

It wasn’t the special Dungeon I was looking for.

But I had found a Unique Dungeon, known to be even harder to discover.

I couldn’t quite grasp the situation, but one thing was certain.

Jackpot.

The entry limit was level 15, the same as the special Dungeon I was looking for.

If I had entered the special Dungeon, I wouldn’t have been able to enter this place later, even if I had found it.

Of course, if I clear the Unique Dungeon, I’ll definitely exceed level 15, creating the problem of not being able to enter the special Dungeon I had initially planned for.

But I didn’t think the rewards here would be any less than the special Dungeon I was looking for.

The levels of Dungeons are divided into four categories.

Normal Dungeons, which are relatively easy to find.

Special Dungeons, which are higher-ranked.

And Unique Dungeons, which are extremely difficult to find but offer excellent rewards.

Of course, that’s not the end.

There are also Ancient Dungeons, of which only about ten have been discovered in the long span of 10 years.

Those who cleared Ancient Dungeons all made a name for themselves, so you can imagine how amazing they are.

Anyway, Muhyuk had now discovered the second-highest of those four ranks, the Unique Dungeon.

It could only be described as luck.

The benefit of the special Dungeon I was originally looking for was a potion that increased Knowledge and Wisdom by 2 each upon clearing it.

I’ll probably get even better rewards here.

Of course, if I’m very unlucky, I might get rewards similar to or lower than the special Dungeon.

But judging from the atmosphere, that didn’t seem likely.

Dark and gloomy.

And heavy.

It felt like there was something extraordinary.

While living with total paralysis in the past, I had watched countless videos of Rankers.

It was a kind of sense that had naturally developed.

“Skeleton Summon.”

Golgolil and Golgoli appeared.

Kilik, kiririk.

Muhyuk’s expression was satisfied as he looked at the two of them.

“Zombie Summon.”

I summoned a Zombie, which was weaker than the Skeletons but had high health and defense, to take at least one hit from the enemy.

With the two Skeletons and one Zombie, I passed through the gate.

Then, the iron gate closed on its own, and light emanated from the left and right.

It was an ordinary stone, but it seemed to have magical power imbued in it.

“Oho.”

I approached and touched the stone.

I applied force, but it didn’t budge.

Information Check.

A window popped up in front of my eyes.

[Stone Imbued with Magical Power]

A stone imbued with Light magic.

There was nothing special about it.

I lost interest and advanced along the path.

A heavy silence hung in the air, making me feel unnecessarily tense.

It wasn’t excessive, just right, so it didn’t feel bad.

It was then.

I felt a presence in the distance.

“Halt.”

Golgolil, Golgoli, and the Zombie stopped.

I ordered the Zombie to stand at the forefront and waited for the presence to appear.

The sound of scraping the floor grew louder, and the small dot that had been visible in the distance gradually took shape.

A snake…!

It was a snake with geometric patterns.

Muhyuk frowned as he looked at the creature flicking its tongue and approaching.

Disgusting.

But I couldn’t just stand there and watch.

It was time to fight.

Swish.

I drew the Sword of Destruction and the Solid Shield.

“Zombie, defense mode. Golgolil, stand by on the left. Golgoli, stand by on the right.”

My Wisdom stat is still low, so this is all I can command.

But if I give appropriate commands with short words, I can make their actions organic.

The snake was now close at hand.

“Golgolil, Golgoli. Auto-attack.”

Simultaneously with the command, Muhyuk also moved.

As I slowly moved in a semicircle, the approaching snake collided with the Zombie.

The Zombie was pushed back significantly, and the snake took its place.

Golgolil and Golgoli on the left and right thrust out their fists.

The bones at the center of their fists were sharply extended, piercing the snake’s skin.

The snake shook its body.

Golgolil and Golgoli, who hadn’t reacted to the attack due to their low Wisdom, collided with the snake’s body.

Bone fragments scattered in all directions from that one attack.

Kilik, kiririk.

It was an overwhelming difference. But the role of the summoned creatures was enough.

I didn’t expect the summoned creatures to do anything to the monsters in the Unique Dungeon anyway.

I just wanted them to be of some help.

Right now, the summoned creatures were doing a great job of drawing the snake’s attention.

Muhyuk didn’t miss that opportunity.

Swish.

Muhyuk, who had already arrived in the creature’s blind spot, leaped.

Falling onto the snake’s head, I powerfully slammed down the iron sword of monstrous strength.

[Critical Hit!]

I had turned off the message display, but Muhyuk knew.

It hit.

The feeling was perfect.

It must have been a critical hit.

Perhaps because of the sudden, massive damage, the snake made a strange noise and twisted its body violently.

But Muhyuk never let go of the sword’s hilt.

Kieeeeeek!

I held on, enduring for a long time.

When the creature’s movements calmed down a bit, Muhyuk took out a dagger from the sheath on his waist and stabbed it into the creature’s skin again.

I took out another dagger and stabbed it again.

Stab, stab, stab.

The snake’s movements stopped after about seven more attacks.

“Hoo, hooah…”

Muhyuk, his tension gone, belatedly checked the message.

He burst into a laugh filled with astonishment.

[You have killed the ‘Strength Snake’.]

[The ‘Strength Stat (0.1)’ has increased.]

While savoring the meaning of the message.

Unique Dungeon.

This was a place that increased stats.

Strength Snakes, Health Snakes, Agility Snakes, Knowledge Snakes, and Wisdom Snakes appeared randomly, and each time one was defeated, the corresponding stat increased.

Strength Snakes had strong destructive power and fast movements, but their health was weak, so they could be killed with about eight attacks.

However, being hit even once would reduce about 30 percent of HP, making them quite dangerous.

Fortunately, I could attempt attacks by throwing in the Zombie, Golgolil, and Golgoli, and if I succeeded in attacking without missing that sacrifice, I could catch them more easily.

Health Snakes had low attack power, so there was no danger of dying.

But their defense was high and their health was extremely high, so I had to attack continuously for 20 minutes to barely kill them.

Agility Snakes were fast to begin with.

The more serious problem was that they could easily see through Muhyuk’s attacks.

This was due to their high reaction speed.

The solution was simple. Or, rather, there was no other way.

I just had to blindly attack in all directions.

Fortunately, the width of the Dungeon was narrow, and if I attacked wildly with the two Skeletons and the Zombie, I could shock the creature at least once.

The Agility Snake would pause for a moment when attacked, and I had to seize that moment to hunt it down.

Wisdom Snakes were smart, so they would run away or call for allies the moment they sensed danger.

They became the most difficult to deal with if they were missed.

But if I secured the escape route in advance, there was no easier creature than the Wisdom Snake.

Finally, Knowledge Snakes used magic. However, it was at the level used by a mage in the late teens, so it wasn’t difficult to deal with.

Muhyuk’s Knowledge stat was high, so his own magic defense was excellent, and he also had the power of items.

“Hoo.”

Anyway, hunting here was already on its third day.

I had been hunting non-stop all day the day before yesterday and yesterday, and from morning until now today.

I occasionally logged out to eat and rest, but I was still mentally and physically exhausted.

But I couldn’t leave the Dungeon.

This was the best hunting ground.

Stats increased every time I hunted a monster, and the experience gained from the Dungeon discovery buff was also enormous.

Moreover, I could collect bones and leather by recovering corpses, so it would be foolish to leave.

I have to clear it.

Muhyuk steeled his resolve and moved again.

A snake is visible in the distance.

Now I could identify the type just by the pattern.

The creature approaching now was a Wisdom Snake.

The most difficult one.

The first time it ran away and brought allies, I ran away without looking back.

Since then, when dealing with Wisdom Snakes, I blocked their retreat from the start to prevent them from escaping.

Just like now.

“Golgoli Summon. Defense Mode.”

Muhyuk retreated.

Meanwhile, the approaching Wisdom Snake carefully confronted Golgolil.

Was it just because it was only defending?

The Wisdom Snake, gradually closing the distance, coiled around Golgoli’s body.

Meanwhile, Muhyuk carefully turned back and blocked the retreat.

“Golgoli Summon. Zombie Summon. Defense Mode.”

Two summoned creatures were enough.

The space wasn’t that wide, so they had to go through the two summoned creatures to pass through this place.

Kiririk!

Meanwhile, Golgolil was destroyed.

No matter how much of a Wisdom Snake it was, it was only in defense mode and was coiled by the snake, so there was no way to escape.

It doesn’t matter.

Now that I’ve blocked the retreat, it’s as good as caught.

No, I can easily deal with Wisdom Snakes even without summoned creatures.

As long as the remaining summoned creatures block the retreat. Gripping the sword’s hilt tightly, I kicked off the ground.

Pabat.

I quickly closed the distance with the snake.