Chapter 121: Dragon’s Labyrinth (1)
A small room blocked on all sides by black walls.
The ceiling was more than twice their height.
At the front stood a single massive iron door that reached all the way to the ceiling.
And then.
[Dungeon: Dragon’s Labyrinth]
[Danger Level: Out of Standard]
[Main Objective: Investigate the Labyrinth]
[Time Limit: 100 hours]
The information appeared before the Hunters’ eyes through the System Board.
The term “disaster-grade” was something humans had attached; in the dungeon system, it was marked as “Out of Standard.”
“…….”
Everyone except Chae Jin-young and Eun Ji-eun stiffened.
They weren’t particularly bothered by the danger level.
They had already known it was a disaster-grade dungeon through Michelle’s foresight.
The real problem was the name.
“A labyrinth… the worst possible place.”
Even though it was her first dungeon raid in a long time, Michelle felt uneasy right from the start.
Labyrinth-type dungeons were disliked by most Hunters. No, it went beyond dislike—they were practically hated.
Even Michelle, who possessed foresight, didn’t like them.
First of all, finding your way in an unfamiliar place without a map was already a problem, and this labyrinth was intricately twisted with traps lurking everywhere.
One wrong step and you could be forced to buy a one-way ticket to the afterlife.
She could foresee the traps with foresight, but that would consume a huge amount of mana.
Moreover, most labyrinth dungeons had “escape” as the final goal. In other words, if you couldn’t escape, clearing the dungeon would be permanently impossible.
To foresee all the way to the exit of a disaster-grade labyrinth, she might have to be prepared to sacrifice one of her body parts.
This was why most high-risk labyrinth dungeons were considered impregnable.
“More than that, the dragon seems like the bigger problem.”
Michelle nodded in agreement with Hannah’s words.
The word “dragon” alone was enough to summarize it.
A monster that didn’t even appear in low-risk dungeons and served as the final boss in high-risk ones.
Even a dragon that appeared in danger level 1 dungeons was not easy to defeat even if ten 1st-grade Hunters attacked together.
There was even a Hunter-world proverb that said you shouldn’t even glance at dungeons where a dragon appeared as the boss monster.
Even Hannah, the Zero-grade Hunter called the world’s number one, found it a troublesome opponent.
One reason was that mental attacks were almost useless against dragons due to their nature.
Of course, other Zero-grade Hunters couldn’t handle it easily either.
“Both are shit, and now they’re combined, so it’s fucking shit.”
Kyle spat out curses, shocked by what might be the worst dungeon in history.
Hearing that, Jin-young asked,
“What are you all talking about? There’s so much swearing.”
“Well…”
Michelle roughly explained the terrifying combination of dragon and labyrinth.
“I thought it was something else. I heard the harder it is, the better the rewards.”
Whether it was a labyrinth dungeon or a dragon dungeon, it was known that the harder the dungeon, the better the rewards.
The materials and artifacts obtained inside were even better than the clear rewards.
Of course, if you asked whether it was worth risking your life for them, opinions would be split fifty-fifty.
“Since the two are combined, I bet the rewards will be pretty good? I’m looking forward to it.”
Eun Ji-eun said with an excited face.
Since this was her very first dungeon raid, she looked as innocent as someone on a picnic.
It was the complete opposite of the veteran American Hunters.
Jin-young looked at her and let out a small laugh.
Ever since she became a full-time Intelligence Department agent, her personality had changed quite a lot.
It was completely different from when he first saw her at the Dark Horse hideout.
He wasn’t sure if this was her original personality or if she had simply gained a lot of confidence.
But he thought there was nothing bad about being bright.
Mental management was a very important factor for growth and survival.
At that moment, Kyle raised his hand and spoke.
“I have one suggestion. Let’s only scout the entrance of the dungeon and then exit for now. Then gather more people and come back. What do you think? With a dragon and a labyrinth, five people are nowhere near enough.”
When Michelle translated and relayed it, Jin-young turned to Kyle.
Kyle flinched and took a step back.
The trauma from being beaten once was not easily overcome.
“Have you been here before?”
“Of course it’s my first time…”
“Then why are you spouting nonsense and carefully laying it out even before we start?”
“…….”
Kyle felt a bit angry at Jin-young’s rather harsh words, but he couldn’t show it outwardly.
“Do you know why I brought you guys to a dungeon I can clear by myself?”
“You can clear this… by yourself…?”
Kyle raised his eyebrows at the following words.
Of course, he didn’t doubt Jin-young’s skill since he had personally experienced how strong he was.
But this wasn’t even a 1st-grade dungeon—it was a disaster-grade one.
It wouldn’t be strange to dismiss it as mere bluffing.
“I’m helping so you don’t get toyed with by some prophet. You should at least manage that much. Any questions?”
“…….”
At the word “prophet,” Hannah’s expression darkened slightly.
But she quickly bit her lip and burned with fighting spirit.
Michelle had also been away from Hunter activities for a long time, so it was about time she started getting back into the swing of things.
She couldn’t spend her whole life hiding, only using foresight and relying on others.
‘If it’s this person who can twist the future in unpredictable ways… it might be possible.’
Jin-young was the first person since Godfather to introduce uncertainty into her foresight.
Michelle was always ready to follow him.
“If there are no questions, we’re leaving. But before that.”
Jin-young turned to Michelle and added.
“Michelle, you are banned from using foresight in this dungeon. Well, automatic reflexive attack prediction is fine, but nothing more.”
“Eh? Why?”
Michelle’s eyes widened at the instruction not to use her main ability, foresight.
“If everyone relies on your foresight, it won’t help with growth. And the same goes for you yourself.”
“…I understand.”
After thinking for a moment, Michelle nodded.
As a 1st-grade Hunter, she had one more unique ability besides foresight, so there would be no problem in combat.
“And Chairman Hannah, use only mental abilities as much as possible.”
“But they won’t work well against dragons.”
“That’s exactly why I’m telling you to use them. You’ll get the hang of it eventually.”
“…I’ll try my best.”
If it had been the old Hannah, she would have doubted Jin-young’s words, but now she decided to trust and follow him without question.
He was the benefactor who had saved her mind when it had nearly fallen into a swamp.
“Alright, Association President, you handle tanking.”
“…I will do that.”
At Jin-young’s words, Kyle ultimately walked toward the door first.
Since Hannah and Michelle—the hope of America—were following Jin-young, he had no other choice.
He also felt that his senses had dulled considerably.
It was because he had stepped back from the front lines as he got older and spent more time sitting at a desk.
He tried hard to rationalize it, but he himself knew it was just an excuse.
Kyle had only just entered his forties, so there was still no problem with him raiding.
He had simply grown complacent with his current life and become rusty.
Thinking about the disasters that would come, he could no longer afford to remain stagnant.
Step. Step.
As the one who always played the tank role in raids, he took the lead.
Kiiiiiiiik—
The massive door opened with a loud groan. The moment he stepped outside,
Shwaaaek— Thud!
Something pitch-black flew toward Kyle.
Kwaaaaang!
He was struck directly, sent flying back, and slammed into the opposite wall.
“Ambush right as the door opens? Interesting dungeon.”
Jin-young smirked while looking at the large black tail that had appeared in front of the door.
Normal dungeons didn’t rush in from the start, but this one truly deserved to be called disaster-grade difficulty.
“Are you okay, Kyle?”
Michelle asked as she approached Kyle, who was crawling out from the wall.
“Kuugh… Just what the hell…”
He muttered with blood dripping from his mouth.
Fortunately, he had released mana and reinforced his body before opening the door, so he avoided serious injury.
It was only possible because he was a body reinforcement-type Hunter; any other Hunter would have had their mana barrier shattered and suffered heavy damage.
“Starting with a dragon… Don’t tell me every monster in the labyrinth is a dragon.”
Hannah said quietly while looking at the owner of the tail.
If that assumption was true, this dungeon itself would be the worst possible matchup for her.
The dragon’s tail still lingered in front of the door.
At that moment, an alien voice came from beyond the door.
“Just what is this…”
It was a clearly flustered dragon’s voice.
The sound was like a tiger’s roar that could freeze humans in place, yet the actual words were not.
It was because its tail had been caught by Jin-young’s psychokinesis.
“This is a bit of a foul, don’t you think, lizard?”
“How dare a mere human…”
The dragon spread its wings wide and tried to break free from Jin-young’s psychokinesis.
“You guys always spread your wings first when you’re at a disadvantage. Makes me want to snap them.”
The moment Jin-young finished speaking,
Crack— Crunch—
The two wings that had soared high into the sky suddenly drooped downward.
“Gah……!”
The black dragon convulsed with a short scream.
“You’re still a young one. You feel pain quite well.”
The adult dragons Jin-young had encountered in Renard usually didn’t feel pain.
Most of them acted as if they had lost the sense of pain altogether.
Of course, if pain exceeded a certain threshold, they couldn’t help but scream.
“Why would a mere human…”
Before the black dragon could finish its sentence,
Bwoooong— Kwa-kwa-kwaang!
Its body floated low into the air before being slammed straight into the labyrinth floor.
“Looks like that’s the only thing you know how to say. You really haven’t lived long enough. The rest of you should be able to handle this one easily, right?”
Jin-young said while turning to the other Hunters.
The expressions on the Hunters’ faces were a sight to behold.
It was the first time they had seen someone treat a dragon like a toy.
Of course, Eun Ji-eun, who was seeing a dragon for the first time, was the exception.
“I’ll take it on by myself!”
Kwaang!
The black dragon that had been driven into the floor burst back out.
Thanks to Jin-young releasing his psychokinesis.
Tzzzzzt…
The creature released blue mana from its body and spoke.
“This body, the gatekeeper of the labyrinth…”
But at that moment.
Craaaack—
Eun Ji-eun’s freezing ability completely encased its body in ice.
The black dragon was trapped inside a solid block of ice.
“Wow, it really isn’t a big deal. If we keep going like this…”
Crash!
At that moment, the ice block shattered into pieces and the black dragon broke free.
It had destroyed the ice itself.
“Kroooooooar!”
The black dragon roared fiercely, whether from sorrow or resentment.
Jin-young turned to the Hunters and said,
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to coordinate an attack?”
Only then did serious determination appear in the eyes of Eun Ji-eun and the American Hunters.
A raid is teamwork.
It means solving problems while organically helping one another.
No one should charge ahead alone or fall behind.
The enraged black dragon opened its maw and exhaled blazing breath.
Kuhwaaaaaak—
Eun Ji-eun responded by releasing red mana.
Crack— Craaaack—
While her freezing ability neutralized the dragon breath,
Tadadad— Kuung!
Kyle swiftly exploited the opening and swung his rock-hardened arm like a boulder.
Kwaaaang!
His stone fist struck the dragon’s abdomen.
But it wasn’t enough to knock down the creature covered in tough scales with a single blow.
Then they just had to keep attacking until it worked.
Boom! Boom! Kwa-kwaang!
Meanwhile, Hannah attempted a mental connection with the dragon.
“Kh… Damn it…”
The black dragon was gradually losing its mind from the cold pushing back its breath, the stone fists hammering its abdomen, and the uninvited guest trying to pry into its mind.
Then came the decisive blow.
Tzzzt—
Dozens of blue portals opened around the dragon.
Shwaaaaek—
Sharp magic swords flew in from all directions.
Tskakang— Katzztzt! Puk!
The magic swords that had been bouncing off the scales slowly began to dig into flesh.
With its mental barrier weakened by the coordinated attack, the black dragon finally thought,
‘I want to give up on life.’
Its mind filled with negative thoughts and strength drained from its body.
Hannah’s mental connection had succeeded and led into Mind Control.
Eun Ji-eun finally froze the dragon’s head.
Craaaack— Crash!
Kyle’s stone fist smashed its head to pieces.
“Huff… huff…”
Once the fierce battle ended, everyone breathed heavily, exhausted.
Michelle and Kyle, both 1st-grade, had consumed too much mana, while Zero-grade Hannah suffered aftereffects from connecting mentally with the dragon.
Eun Ji-eun was relatively fine, but she had still used more mana than usual.
“We’re just getting started and you’re already tired? What are you going to do?”
“…….”
They wanted to make the excuse that it had been a long time since their last raid, but they knew it wouldn’t work on Jin-young, so they stayed silent.
“Let’s recover while moving. Alright, let’s go.”
At Jin-young’s words, the Hunters started walking and began recovering their mana at the same time.
Their faces were tired, but their eyes burned with determination.
After one battle, their dormant Hunter instincts seemed to have awakened.
The stronger the stimulus, the greater the effect.
The party finally stepped out of the small room.
“This labyrinth is definitely much larger than others.”
Hannah said while looking up at the ceiling that was easily hundreds of meters high.
It seemed to be because it was a labyrinth where dragons existed.
The walls and ceiling were all gray, yet strangely bright even without any lighting.
It was probably due to magic.
The corridor seemed endlessly long, but a wall soon appeared.
Two paths branched off to the left and right.
“It’s started.”
Kyle clicked his tongue bitterly at the fork.
If they chose the wrong path, it would take a long time to come back.
With the 100-hour time limit, wasting too much time would mean failure.
“Can’t we just break through?”
At Jin-young’s words, Kyle’s eyebrows twitched.
“It’s a thought everyone has, but no one has ever succeeded. Well, maybe it’ll be different here.”
He walked up to the wall and drove his stone fist straight into it.
Tskwa-kwa-kwa!
With a tremendous roar, Kyle was sent flying back.
The hard stone covering his fist had completely shattered.
“This crazy…”
Kyle was stunned by the unimaginable hardness.
Jin-young clapped for his reckless courage and released psionic energy.
“Everyone close your eyes.”
Then, mixing in a bit of Cyclic energy and giving it reverse rotation,
Zzkakakakang— Pat!
A intense white light flashed like a burst of lightning.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
The labyrinth wall exploded and completely vanished.
Beyond the gaping hole, another corridor was visible.
Jin-young glanced beyond it and said,
“There’s a treasure chest.”
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