As soon as the conversation with Michael ended, people started moving busily.
‘Is this really okay?’
No matter how famous and influential Michael was within the union, I wasn’t sure if it was acceptable for him to tour a dungeon alone like this.
Soon, Michael summoned all the awakened ones in the base, ordered them to guard me closely, and began to move toward the dungeon.
He already knew that Ara was my familiar, so he didn’t pay much attention to her.
“Don’t worry. We’re just going to take a quick look inside the entrance and come back out.”
Including Michael and me, there were a total of 10 people accompanying us.
To return from the dungeon, we would need to use a return stone, so this meant we were about to spend 1 billion won just for a brief entrance into the dungeon.
“Are you sure this is okay?”
“It’s fine. I’m covering all the costs myself.”
I wasn’t just asking about the money—I was questioning whether it was okay to make such a unilateral decision. But it felt like my words weren’t getting through.
Well, whatever.
I guess I’ll just go along with it.
I finished putting on all the protective gear Michael had prepared for me, and I also dressed Ara in her equipment.
“How fascinating.”
Ara was bouncing around like a space suit-wearing creature. From what I could tell, the people here seemed to have already fully assessed the dungeon’s environment.
“Just 15 minutes. We’ll check the inside for 15 minutes and come right back.”
With Michael’s words, the awakened ones began entering the dungeon one by one. They all looked tense, and I felt guilty as if they were being dragged along because of me.
Among them was Marcell, an awakened one from Austria who had called me last night, looking particularly anxious.
“Let’s go in.”
Michael, standing at the back, waited for Ara and me to enter.
Since we’d already been here the day before, we walked inside without any tension.
“…”
Was it my imagination, or did I hear Michael’s voice full of curiosity behind me? Before I could confirm, we were already inside the dungeon.
‘Something feels off.’
***
Michael watched Kyu-seong and Ara, who were walking ahead, with a puzzled expression.
It was definitely a Rank 9 dungeon, one associated with wrath, one of the Seven Deadly Sins. And yet, they showed no signs of concern as they entered.
Honestly, when he suggested the idea this morning, he hadn’t been too worried. He had expected them to decline.
‘Was this not a protest?’
Michael had assumed that Kyu-seong coming all the way here was some form of protest. He thought Kyu-seong was making a fuss to get more attention or support.
After all, there was no real reason for him to come here.
Everyone knew by now that Kyu-seong was not a combat-type awakened but rather someone from a production class.
It seemed impossible to believe he genuinely wanted to enter the dungeon.
“Um, Michael? Aren’t you going to enter?”
Someone spoke to him, but Michael remained silent, deep in thought. Kyu-seong’s behavior was simply incomprehensible.
While others were nervously trying to hide their fear, he casually put on his gear like he was heading out for a picnic.
At this point, Michael wondered if Kyu-seong had truly come because he wanted to explore the dungeon.
‘Does he not understand the dangers of high-level dungeons because he’s a production-class awakened?’
Michael thought this was a reasonable conclusion as he tried to make sense of Kyu-seong’s actions.
Soon after organizing his thoughts, he entered the dungeon.
And as soon as he stepped inside, he felt a sudden wave of heat.
Fwoosh!
He was well aware that the Dungeon of Wrath was filled with lava and volcanic zones. However, this heat was far from ordinary.
“Aaaah!”
“Run away!”
Monsters!
A wyvern was flying through the sky, spewing flames and toying with the ground below.
Its dragon-like appearance alone was terrifying, and to make matters worse, it was attacking.
The awakened ones who had entered earlier were desperately using their return stones, fleeing in a panic.
“Stop! No! Where’s Kyu-seong!?”
Michael tried to stop them, but the awakened ones were already in full panic, disappearing one by one.
In the end, Michael decided to deal with the wyvern rather than stop those returning.
Crack!
The ground around him split.
Stone spikes shot up, swirling around him before flying at the wyvern in an instant.
-Screeeech!
The wyvern, clearly injured by the attack, shrieked and fled.
“Phew.”
However, Michael had used up quite a bit of mana in that attack, feeling a slight dizziness. He quickly drank an expensive potion.
“These worthless fools.”
As he looked around, he realized there was no one left except him.
If anyone had been injured or killed, there should have been some traces, but the empty clearing was all that greeted him.
‘Did Kyu-seong return too?’
At least that was some relief.
The fact that there were no signs left meant that Kyu-seong must have made it out safely.
There was no reason to stay here alone, and it wasn’t as if he could endure it by himself anyway, so Michael took out his return stone as well.
-Screeeech!
At that moment, he noticed the wyvern he had struck earlier returning with its companions, flying toward him.
This was why high-level dungeons were dangerous. It wasn’t just one powerful monster; they often moved in groups.
“Hmph. I just need to use the return stone.”
Michael immediately activated the return stone.
In a flash, his view changed.
“M-Michael, sir…”
In front of him, the awakened ones were trembling like defeated soldiers. Marcell, in particular, appeared to have wet his pants, as his trousers were visibly damp.
“Ugh, you pathetic fools.”
Already in a foul mood, Michael cursed them out and ripped off the mask he was wearing, throwing it to the ground.
“Are you still calling yourselves awakened? If that’s how you behave, why even work at the base? What are you planning to do on the actual raid day when you’re acting like this now…?”
Though, to be fair, Michael’s sudden decision to move up the schedule had caused most of the problem, no one dared to say anything.
Even they knew how shameful it was to run away as soon as they entered.
And, in truth, there was another reason.
“Michael! I apologize!”
“I’m not finished talking!”
“T-The thing is! Kyu-seong is missing!”
“What?”
Finally, Michael began to check the members, or more accurately, he was searching for Kyu-seong’s presence.
“W-What? He’s gone? Why? Why isn’t he here?”
No one could answer his question.
In the first place, they were too busy trying to save themselves to worry about anyone else.
“No, why isn’t he here?!”
“I’m sorry!”
“Sorry? Sorry? Is ‘sorry’ enough? Huh?!”
Even when they used the return stones, no one was left in the dungeon.
He had checked thoroughly before leaving, so how could Kyu-seong not be here?
Michael began to realize the seriousness of the situation and paled.
He had valued Kyu-seong, but only in the sense of a useful asset, nothing more.
However, now that things had come to this, all sorts of problems began to surface in his mind.
‘If word gets out that Kyu-seong has gone missing, there will be chaos everywhere!’
After the attack incident, Kyu-seong had already proven his significance.
Just dealing with Korea, Kyu-seong’s home country, would be a headache.
But it wasn’t only Korea that would be in an uproar if something happened to him.
“Th-this… this…!!!”
Michael, overwhelmed with frustration, finally snapped.
His face turned bright red, and just as he was about to curse out loud, he suddenly felt something break, and his vision went dark.
“M-Michael, sir!”
“Call the medic! Get a medic!”
Michael’s last thought before he passed out was…
Of…
It’s over.
* **
“Wow, I didn’t expect things to go this way.”
As soon as we entered the dungeon and encountered the wyvern, everyone scattered in panic.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Ara and I ran toward the direction of Gnoll’s village. Thankfully, the wyvern was too distracted by the awakened ones who had annoyed it to notice us, so we made it through safely.
“It’s back. We’ve returned quickly.”
“Indeed. Ara, I’m going to change my clothes real quick. Do you need to change yours?”
“No! I like them!”
I quickly discarded the astronaut-like suit and put on the full armor of the Phoenix King again. Ugh, I felt like I was suffocating in that other suit.
Within a few hours, we were able to return to the gnolls again.
Since we had already traveled this path once before, we arrived much faster this time.
And this time, we had plenty of time to spare.
Outside, they were probably going crazy, thinking I was missing, but that’s their own fault.
‘Who told them to recklessly enter a dungeon like that?’
Still, I couldn’t stay too long, since news of my disappearance might even reach Korea.
I didn’t want to cause unnecessary worry.
“Knock, knock! We’re back again.”
Using Ara’s clairvoyance and insight, we avoided all the monsters and made it back to the hidden cave. We knocked on the camouflage wall again.
This time, the gnolls came out right away, without any hint of suspicion.
-Kenkeng!
-Kengken!
“Hahaha.”
Like little puppies, they jumped into my arms, full of affection.
I petted the gatekeeper gnolls for a while and then we headed underground together.
It seemed they had sensed my arrival because everyone was waiting for us at the village entrance.
‘These guys really seem to trust humans.’
It was hard to read the thoughts of slimes, and goblins were more loyal than affectionate.
Each species had its own distinct characteristics, which I found fascinating.
“You’ve come back quickly! Did you miss me that much!”
“Ah, Ras!”
Waving cheerfully, I greeted Ras, whose tail wagged in response.
His words and actions were always oddly out of sync, which only added to his charm.
To celebrate our reunion, Ras happily chewed on a dog treat.
He hadn’t touched the one I gave him the day before, saving it for my and Ara’s return.
“I didn’t expect you back so soon. Then again, I suppose I am quite charming, enough for you to return quickly.”
Ras, curled up on my lap and wagging his tail furiously, said that with a smirk. How is that not cheating?
Of course, I had been eager to see Ras too, but it seemed he had missed Ara and me even more.
“Ras!”
“What is it, Ara?”
“When we go to my house, there’s something even tastier than this!”
Oh, Ara’s already trying to sell the idea!
Without even speaking, the conversation naturally flowed.
– Your house? How would I visit your home?
“Kyu-seong can open the door!”
Since we were in a village, there was a makeshift door in place. Thankfully, there was no need to tear down a door just for this.
– Open a door?
“With my ability, I can teleport through spaces. As long as there’s a door, I can open Ara’s dungeon anytime.”
– Hoho. That’s quite remarkable. It’s the first time I’ve heard of such an ability.
Was he showing interest?
If he visited once, he would see that it’s a better place than this and might even want to move there, right?
Half in expectation and half in excitement, I waited for Ras’s response. Finally, Ras opened his mouth.
– In that case, perhaps I should visit once…
Thud!!!
Huh? What’s going on now?
Suddenly, the ceiling trembled.
At the same time, a loud roar echoed.
– Graaaooo!!!
A monster’s roar?
But the sound was no joke. Even though we were quite deep underground, it still managed to create this kind of noise…
“What is that sound?”
Ara, hearing it, was all excited and asked.
Ras furrowed his brows and stood up from my lap.
– It seems to have woken up.
“Woken up?”
– Did you not see the cave on the way here?
“I did.”
“I saw it.”
– It belongs to the master of that cave. Thanks to that creature, this village remains safe.
Ah, so that cave had an owner.
Well, it did seem like the perfect spot for a monster’s nest.
But judging by that powerful roar, it didn’t seem like an ordinary monster.
– It’s time to put it back to sleep again.
“Huh? Put it to sleep?”
– It always roars loudly when it’s awake. So, after it’s had a meal, I usually go out and put it back to sleep myself.
Ras, the one personally handling the “noise complaints” from this monster.
What kind of method does he use to put it to sleep, I wonder?
“How do you do that?”
– A knock on the head.
“Huh?”
– When I give it a knock on the head, it falls asleep. For now, I’ll let it eat a bit since it just woke up.
Wait… So, Ras puts it to sleep by giving it a little bonk with his tiny paw?
As expected, a knock from Ras is divine.
Cliche Novel 