Chapter 33. My Priority is to Escape

"W-what's going on?!"

"Why is this happening?!”

The entire dungeon shook violently. Roots pierced through the lava flowing beneath the cliff, changing the very terrain itself, including the spot where the party members sat. Feeling the ground about to collapse, they reflexively ducked.

“

AHAHAHA!”

Gwak Dong-Gyu laughed like a madman and retreated. He’d bought some time with his actions. Quickly dispelling his Beastification, Gwak Dong-Gyu attempted to rush toward the party members.

I’m injured! I’ll just say that bastard attacked first! They’ll believe me!

During an emergency, emotions tend to override logic. Surely, no one would stay quiet after seeing his mangled arm?

"Where do you think you're going?"

But then, a voice called from behind, sending chills down Gwak Dong-Gyu’s spine. He turned around to see Kim Do-Joon charging in with a murderous gaze.

Gwak Dong-Gyu was so startled, he barely registered that Kim Do-Joon had flung an axe at him.

No way!

Why was Kim Do-Joon still targeting him in this situation?!

As he narrowly avoided the axe, their eyes met briefly.

Just then, the ground beneath Kim Do-Joon started to crumble.

Fortunately for him—but unfortunately for Kim Do-Joon—the latter’s footing gave way, widening the gap between them.

Boom!

Kim Do-Joon started to fall.

"Die, you bastard!" Gwak Dong-Gyu jeered, raising his middle finger in triumph.

However, Kim Do-Joon was unexpectedly calm. Was it because this was his second time falling off a cliff? Actually, even during the first time, he was oddly unfazed.

Feeling the hot air rush past his face, Kim Do-Joon looked for a way to survive. Luckily, roots had grown over the lava, so he was unlikely to fall directly into it. No matter how high his resistance was, sinking into lava would be the end of him.

Just then, he spotted a cave on the cliffside.

That’s it!

Kim Do-Joon pulled out a grappling hook from his inventory and threw it with all his might toward the cave. Thankfully, it caught onto something sturdy, enough to support his weight.

Dangling from the rope, he looked up and saw Gwak Dong-Gyu peeking down at him.

“Fucking shit! Who the fuck are you, Indiana Jones?!” Gwak Dong-Gyu gritted his teeth. Producing a throwing axe from his inventory, he aimed it at Kim Do-Joon.

In the next moment, Gwak Dong-Gyu saw a gleam from below, surging toward him in an instant—a spear!

“

Ack!”

Recoiling in shock, Gwak Dong-Gyu stumbled several steps back, before regaining his composure. The spear, which had shot up like a lightning bolt, flew back down in a flash.

When Gwak Dong-Gyu looked back down the cliff, Kim Do-Joon had already disappeared into the cave.

Ugh, that monster...

Gwak Dong-Gyu trembled. Even when the entire dungeon shook, Kim Do-Joon relentlessly pounced on him like a blood-thirsty beast. Moreover, he shot his spear while dangling from a rope, as if he knew Gwak Dong-Gyu would look down over the cliff. Kim Do-Joon’s reflexes and combat skills didn’t match his E-rank!

Above all, Gwak Dong-Gyu couldn’t forget the look Kim Do-Joon gave him earlier...

[Dungeon information has been updated.]

[Lava Cave (D) → Helix's Sanctuary (B)]

"Dong-Gyu hyung! Are you okay?"

After the tremor had subsided, the rest of the party rushed over to Gwak Dong-Gyu. As if waking up from a dream, Gwak Dong-Gyu’s mind cleared. He remembered what he had to do.

“Argh!”

Gwak Dong-Gyu fished out a potion and poured it over his arm.

The liquid, bubbling intensely, couldn’t wash away his searing pain. So, he drank another bottle.

“What happened to your arm?! Where’s Mr. Do-Joon?!”

His party members were shocked. One of them quickly wrapped a bandage around Gwak Dong-Gyu’s arm. As expected, the potion alone wasn’t enough for such a deep wound.

Sweating profusely, Gwak Dong-Gyu took a deep breath and gritted his teeth.

“That bastard... he attacked me.”

“

Huh...?”

“What did you say?”

The party members were bewildered, but Gwak Dong-Gyu continued.

“He demanded a bigger share because of his contributions. When I told him we’d have to discuss it with everyone, he suddenly pulled out his weapon.”

“No way!” someone shouted.

It was Hwang Hyun-Woo, the one who was closest to Kim Do-Joon.

"Hyung wouldn't do that... He isn’t that kind of person!”

"Oh,

you

’d know, alright." Gwak Dong-Gyu retorted.

“Yes, I know him!”

“Since when?”

Gwak Dong-Gyu clearly remembered that Kim Do-Joon had only visited Hwang Hyun-Woo’s shop once. He deliberately asked not for confirmation, but to let the others hear.

"Well, it’s only been a few days, but..." Hwang Hyun-Woo trailed off.

"How well could you know someone after just a few days? Mr. Hyun-Woo, this world is more dangerous than you think. You can't judge people based on appearance alone. More often than not, they have a couple of screws loose.”

Gwak Dong-Gyu’s logical arguments discredited Hwang Hyun-Woo’s claims.

Moreover, to the party, Gwak Dong-Gyu was a D-rank, whereas Kim Do-Joon was an E-rank. Unless it was an ambush, how could Gwak Dong-Gyu possibly sustain such severe injuries? And to launch an ambush in the first place, Kim Do-Joon must’ve had something to hide!

“S-still, we should hear his side...” Hwang Hyun-Woo insisted.

“Well, even if we want to, we can’t. The ground collapsed, and he fell below,” Gwak Dong-Gyu interrupted.

Hwang Hyun-Woo's face turned pale.

Having sowed enough doubt, Gwak Dong-Gyu averted his gaze.

“We don’t have time for this. As you all saw, the dungeon has been upgraded to B-rank.”

Reality hit the party members, making their faces pale. They’d gathered to conquer a D-rank dungeon, only to be trapped in a B-rank one. The word “death” loomed over everyone’s mind.

"W-what do we do now?"

"Let’s find a place to hide and wait for a rescue team!"

Gwak Dong-Gyu shook his head, saying, "Rescue teams can't get through the multi-root. We have to escape ourselves."

“N-no way...! That’s impossible...!”

"Let's retreat. The exit is the way we came in.”

"But what about Do-Joon hyung?" Hwang Hyun-Woo spoke up.

"Hwang Hyun-Woo."

Gwak Dong-Gyu’s tone shifted drastically, his tension palpable, and everyone shivered.

"Got more complaints? I have no intention of rescuing that traitor, so just follow me," said Gwak Dong-Gyu.

Hwang Hyun-Woo and the other party members were speechless. However, unlike the terrified Hwang Hyun-Woo, the rest were somewhat reassured by Gwak Dong-Gyu’s decisiveness. In an emergency like this, having a dependable leader was comforting.

Hmm, not a bad vibe.

Gwak Dong-Gyu thought, sensing the mood. Unlike the others, he was confident that he could survive even a B-rank dungeon. So, he remained calm and assessed the situation.

I just need to keep this up.

Inwardly, Gwak Dong-Gyu was satisfied, but he maintained a serious front.

"Then, let’s get going,” Gwak Dong-Gyu said.

***

[Dungeon information has been updated.]

[Lava Cave (D) → Helix's Sanctuary (B)]

Kim Do-Joon received the dungeon’s updated information as well.

"B-rank,

huh

..." Kim Do-Joon muttered to himself as he entered the cave.

Well, I can handle that.

If it had been an A-rank dungeon, Kim Do-Joon would be facing a serious risk. Nevertheless, a B-rank dungeon should be manageable, because it was only slightly tougher than the Orc Kingdom.

Honestly, it’ll be more of an issue if Gwak Dong-Gyu takes down the boss...

If the boss were defeated, the dungeon would close after a grace period of about a day. If Kim Do-Joon failed to escape in time, he’d be trapped, just like in the past.

Back then, he’d been inside a labyrinth when the dungeon closed, allowing him to return to Earth after clearing it. Then, should he stay in the labyrinth in case the dungeon closed? Was that even plausible?

Also, there’s no way I’m testing that.

Kim Do-Joon couldn’t afford to die or go missing. Otherwise, Kim So-Eun would be left alone in the world. Although Siwelin was there, it was highly likely that she’d disappear if he died.

Crunch! Snap.

Suddenly, he heard a noise. It sounded like a beast gnawing on meat.

[Helix's Hunting Dog]

Compatibility

- 47%

It came from a large, black, and muscular dog monster. It likely appeared from the updated dungeon.

Sensing Kim Do-Joon’s presence, the creature sniffed the air and turned toward him. Its red eyes glowed menacingly as it focused on Kim Do-Joon. With each breath, flames flickered from its mouth. The smell of sulfur filled the air.

Grooooowl!

The Hunting Dog lunged at Kim Do-Joon.

First things first.

Kim Do-Joon raised his Lightning Spear and thrusted it into the dog’s mouth!

Swoosh—

The spear impaled the beast, electrocuting it from the inside out!

"

Argh! Argh!

"

The dog could barely scream as its inside burned!

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Crunch! Crunch!

The dog desperately bit on Kim Do-Joon in retaliation, but the defensive effects in his gear protected him. The creature wasn’t strong enough to penetrate his defense.

[You have defeated a monster. You have gained Experience Points(EXP).]

Moments later, Kim Do-Joon gained his first experience points in this dungeon. Waving the corpse off his spear, he thought to himself.

My priority is to escape.

He needed to find a way out, whether by climbing the cliff or finding a path through the cave.

***

Meanwhile, people gathered at the barricade of the Sangam-dong Lava Cave dungeon.

Creaaak—

"Hey! Report this immediately!”

"What should I say?"

The standby soldiers were flustered.

“Say that another root has emerged! Hurry!"

After the superiors received the reports, the response was swift. Recognizing the phenomenon as a multi-root, reinforcements were called in, consisting not only of soldiers but also others, just in case.

“Is this the multi-root dungeon? Is there anyone inside?”

“Yes, a D-rank party! Based on the updated information, the dungeon appears to be a B-rank.”

“They’re pretty much dead...”

Various guilds and reporters had gathered upon hearing about the rare multi-root phenomenon. The journalists especially flocked around the spokesperson for the Karma Guild.

“We’d like to apologize for failing to detect the multi-root during the initial exploration. We’ll dispatch a rescue team as soon as the root opens.”

Despite the occasional pointed questions, the spokesperson of the Karma Guild maintained their composure. In the end, most people didn’t blame the Karma Guild because initial explorations usually involved a cursory scan near the entrance. Moreover, to detect the multi-root, one would have to find another World Tree root inside the dungeon, which wasn’t easy.

"

Tsk.

" A man clicked his tongue while watching the scene unfold.

The man, dressed in a flashy white suit, was Baek Hwi-Soo. He was the leader of Team 1 from the Rune Mage Guild. His guild ranked at the bottom of the top four guilds and had recently been targeted by Karma Guild.

"What do you think?" Baek Hwi-Soo asked his subordinate, who stood next to him.

The subordinate was perplexed, seemingly not understanding the intent of the question.

"Think about what, Sir?"

"Apparently, they didn’t detect the multi-root during the initial exploration.”

“I don’t see any problem with that. While some multi-roots are easy to spot, more often than not, they’d stay buried.”

"That's true, but..."

For some reason, Baek Hwi-Soo couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling, especially after learning that Gwak Dong-Gyu was the leader of the party inside.

“Our members had some friction with Gwak Dong-Gyu before. Every time that happened, Oh Tae-Jin from the Karma Guild would rush to his defense,” Baek Hwi-Soo added.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, even though he’s just a D-rank. It stood out to me to this day.”

If they were to discuss it on a case-by-case basis, none of what happened would be considered significant. Karma Guild missed the multi-root during their initial exploration, and Gwak Dong-Gyu, whom Oh Tae-Jin was so protective of, happened to be in said dungeon.

At first, they seemed like mere coincidences, but as they piled up, it began to feel like fate.

Baek Hwi-Soo had a bad feeling about it all.

“Alright, let’s say it’s suspicious, but I don’t see any issues. Are you suggesting that the Karma Guild intentionally sent their member into a dangerous dungeon?”

“I’m asking because I don’t know!” Baek Hwi-Soo grumbled.

For an event to be intentional, it must offer some benefit. However, neither the Karma Guild nor Gwak Dong-Gyu seemed to gain anything from this situation. On the contrary, D-rank Gwak Dong-Gyu’s life was at stake.

“Forget it. We’ll find out when we investigate after the multi-root reopens,” Baek Hwi-Soo said.

For the multi-root to reopen, one of two conditions had to be met: either the newly updated boss monster must be killed, or all the Hunters inside—considered foreign invaders by the dungeon—perished.

"Which do you think it will be?" the subordinate asked.

Baek Hwi-Soo pulled out a cigarette and placed it in his mouth.

“I sure hope it’s the boss.”

But it won’t be easy.

Baek Hwi-Soo swallowed the latter half of his thoughts and lit his cigarette.