Chapter 59: Mage and Alchemist (Rare)

M E M O R I Z E

“Trap… escape…”

“Caught in a trap. Escaped.”

Even though he was speaking in short, broken words, the male priest’s face was contorted in extreme pain. But when I repeated his words, showing I understood, a flicker of relief crossed his face. He seemed to mistake us for highly experienced users.

The user gave a faint nod and haltingly continued.

“Comrade… betrayal… abduction…”

“……”

“Help…!”

I could see his eyes, which kept trying to close, fluttering violently. Death was at his doorstep, yet he was desperately holding on. Finally, as if he had exhausted all his strength, the priest uttered his last word, “Help,” before his eyes rolled back into his head. The faint spark of life he had managed to cling to seemed to have been completely spent by seeing us and speaking those few words. I heard the kids gasp as the priest’s body went limp on my lap.

I gently laid him on the ground and closed his eyes with my palm. A solemn and gloomy atmosphere settled over us. An Sol, in particular, had turned deathly pale. It was a sign that she still couldn't remain indifferent in the face of death. But there was no time to wallow in sentimentality. The priority was to piece together the keywords the user had left behind and deduce what had happened. I slowly repeated the words he had spoken.

“Hyeong. Do you think it might be related to the Vagrants?”

An Hyeon, having also heard the user’s words, offered his own theory, but I shook my head. It was a possibility, but for me, who knew the future, it was completely off the mark. After a moment of organizing my thoughts, I was able to formulate a plausible scenario.

The kids looked anxious. Seeing them constantly moisten their lips with their tongues, I felt the need to explain. As they waited for me to speak, I opened my mouth, my voice quiet.

“At the entrance of the Obsidian Forest. Do you remember when I told you there were other users who came in before us?”

“Yes. I remember… Ah. Then?”

An Hyeon, who had nodded immediately, now looked at me with a spark of realization in his eyes. In our day-to-day lives, he often seemed clueless, but in moments like this, he showed a different side. It was a hundred times more reassuring that his mind worked well in critical situations. I gave him a confirming nod and continued.

“Right. It seems that caravan discovered this dungeon before us. However… for some reason, the caravan was wiped out. Or something of similar magnitude happened.”

“Th-then, Oppa. What do the words that user just said mean? That…”

“Hmm…”

Trap. Escape. Comrade. Betrayal. Abduction. At Yu-jeong’s question, I began to flesh out the vague picture I had in my mind. Until now, I had assumed the caravan was wiped out due to the lack of a guide, but it seemed that prediction was completely wrong.

The answer lay in recalling the details of the corpse we saw when we first entered the underground. Thinking back carefully, it was unlikely he died right at the entrance. There were no visible dangers around. That archer must have entered the dungeon alive. And he was almost certainly acting as a guide for the caravan.

After organizing my thoughts, I spoke in a low voice.

“The caravan was probably heading in the same direction as us. But if you look at the direction the user’s body was facing when he collapsed, his head was pointed toward us. Considering his lower body was torn off and he had a large hole in his back, it means he was struck from behind while fleeing in the direction we came from. In other words, the first words, ‘trap’ and ‘escape,’ mean they entered the dungeon, fell into a trap, suffered a major incident, and were trying to flee back the way they came.”

“Then… comrade, betrayal, abduction?”

“The user we saw at the entrance was an archer. He was likely a comrade in the caravan. But it seems he betrayed them for some reason along the way. The word ‘betrayal’ can mean many things, but in the context of a dungeon… it’s highly probable he ran away to save himself.”

As I finished explaining the keyword ‘betrayal,’ it was quite a sight to see the negative emotions swirling on the kids’ faces. However, I had already told them to get a firm grip on themselves at the beginning, so there were no more warnings. Now it was time to explain the final word, ‘abduction.’

“And the last word… it seems some of the caravan’s users were abducted by the dungeon master.”

“Is that even possible?”

An Hyeon asked with wide eyes, and I answered with a matter-of-fact expression.

“Of course. Hall Plain isn’t a game. It’s a real world. It’s not unheard of for alchemists to conduct experiments on human bodies. Have you forgotten what kind of dungeon we’re in?”

As my words ended, all the kids’ faces turned pale.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

We walked in silence for a while. If their alignments had leaned toward Chaos, they would have likely demanded we turn back to the city without a second thought. However, An Sol and Yu-jeong’s alignments were closer to Order, so the consensus was to rescue the abducted users. The male priest’s final word, “Help,” had been effective. As for me, I was satisfied as long as we kept moving forward, no matter the reason, so I had no complaints.

The underground passage grew wider as we went deeper. While walking through the seemingly endless tunnel, I raised a hand to halt our progress. I had been maintaining my detection skill at a higher intensity and wider range than usual, so I was picking up details more clearly, one by one. I couldn't guarantee the outcome of a battle in a dungeon, so I thought it best to provide a thorough explanation before we engaged.

“About 100 meters ahead, there’s an open area. A pack of monsters is gathered there. There are over twenty of them… and they appear to be Renga.”

“Renga? Hmm… I think I’ve heard of them.”

“They are monsters similar to doggies, about 80cm to 1 meter in size. They’re very agile and have sharp, hook-like claws on their paws, I think.”

“Correct. To add one more thing, a Renga’s tail can also be a powerful weapon. It’s not as flexible as a scorpion’s, but its destructive power is on par with their claws.”

I chuckled to myself as An Sol described the Renga as doggies and puppies. If Renga had intelligence and could understand emotions, they might have thrown a fit at those words. At any rate, I nodded at An Sol’s cautious answer. But there was one more point to address.

“The problem is, the Renga I’m sensing seem a bit different from normal ones. Everything else matches your description… but I’m also detecting some that are bipedal.”

“Huh? That can’t be right! I heard Renga are fundamentally quadrupedal. Could you be mistaking them for another monster? Ah! No, that’s not it. There’s no way Su-hyeon Oppa is wrong, so I must be the one who’s mistaken.”

If it weren't for that last part, I might have seen An Sol in a new light. I sighed as she went on, playing all the parts by herself.

“The claws, the tail, the body shape—it all matches. In any case, let’s go and see for ourselves. We have to pass through there to move forward.”

An Hyeon and Yu-jeong were just blankly watching the conversation between me and An Sol. Then, they met each other’s eyes and shrugged. Well, they couldn’t exactly jump into a conversation about something they knew nothing about. This is why I told them to study in their spare time.

The relaxed atmosphere ended there. As the distance to the open area decreased, a fierce tension began to rise among the party members again. I gradually quickened my pace until I was almost power-walking toward the clearing.

I had fought Renga in my first life. They were quick-witted but hot-headed and incapable of tactical movements. In that case, the best approach would be a swift charge to eliminate as many as possible, then switch to a defensive stance while luring the enraged ones.

The kids also started to run behind me, drawing their weapons. If only we had an archer or a mage, we could have landed a powerful opening blow and followed up with a combo attack for even greater damage. A pang of regret hit me, but it just meant I had to cover for that absence.

“Hyeong! Are you sure you’re okay to fight?!”

An Hyeon, who was performing the strange feat of deep-breathing while running, shouted at me with a powerful voice. Seeing him grip his spear tightly, it seemed his natural combativeness was kicking in now that a fight was imminent. I raised a hand to signal I was fine and then explained the tactics in more detail.

“As long as I don’t use more mana than my limit, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me and stick to the formation. Once we enter the clearing, we’ll rush the first group we see, take them out quickly, and then slowly retreat toward the wall. Renga are fiercely protective of their kind, so if we kill even one, they’ll come at us with bloodshot eyes. Their defense is weak, but they’re fast and their claws are sharp, so be careful. And…”

“Yes.”

“Keep in mind that they might be different from normal Renga. We’re about to engage. As soon as you see them, don’t hesitate. Take out the ones in front of you.”

Normally, I would have thoroughly verified the strategy and entered calmly, but this time, speed was of the essence. They had a keen sense of smell, so if we delayed, we risked being ambushed instead.

As we ran at full tilt, a square-shaped passage came into view, just as I had predicted. And beyond that passage, I could see an open area with dark soil. Without a moment’s hesitation, I passed through the tunnel and entered the clearing. Soon, I could see over twenty Renga roaming around inside.

As expected, their senses were sharp. The moment I stepped into the clearing, all the Renga turned their heads toward me in unison. As they let out cries that sounded like air hissing from a balloon, I decided on my target in less than a second and kicked off the ground.

“Skeet! Skeet!”

Just as I was about to swing my sword at the creatures in front of me, a spear shot past me like a bolt of lightning. The spear, cutting through the air with force, squarely smashed the faces of the Renga that were just turning their heads. Seeing the Renga’s face cave in and shatter rather than being pierced, I felt a sense of unease. But as the creature’s body crumbled, it seemed the end result of death was no different.

“That’s one down!”

The spear belonged to An Hyeon. Seeing me charge in first, he had followed right behind and used his long reach to launch a preemptive attack. The tip of his spear shimmered with a heat-haze-like aura, indicating it was heavily imbued with mana.

An Hyeon’s opening attack gave me some breathing room. I immediately changed my target to the Renga near the one he killed and slashed fiercely. Even though it was a surprise attack, there was no way they could dodge my sword path, honed by years of experience.

The moment I beheaded two of them with a single swing, I understood the source of the unease I had felt earlier. First, there was no blood. And when I cut their necks, it didn't feel like slicing through soft flesh, but rather like cutting through a hard shell. This… was a chimera.

“Kweeeee!”

The ambushed Renga seemed to be in great confusion. Seeing them still in disarray, despite having noticed us, I was tempted to press the attack and finish off a few more. In the few seconds I hesitated, I saw Yu-jeong dash past me.

“Wait…!”

Yu-jeong was charging toward a lone Renga, slightly separated from the first three we had killed, her body bent low. I didn’t even have time to stop her. She was boldly holding her dagger in a low grip.

Yu-jeong’s charge was good, but it felt a beat too slow. As I watched the Renga gradually regaining their composure, a sense of failure washed over me. The very Renga Yu-jeong was targeting was already swishing the tail attached to its rump.

============================ Author's Note ============================

“Give me a cool scene too.”

“Okay. It’s in the next chapter.”

“Oh, k.”

『 Re-Replies 』

1. Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusk: Congratulations on first place. Haha. It’s always hard to type out your ID…. ㅜ.ㅠ

2. HumanLife: To HumanLife-nim, who always says such warm things. Thank you. For now, he’s holding back. The principle is to talk it out once or twice, let them experience a few real battles, and then let it explode if the problem persists. Since they’re still beginners, he’s in the position of observing them a little longer. (The problem is that his expectations are probably too high. Hahaha.)

3. hohokoya1: I almost couldn't post today. I had a burst of inspiration at the last minute and managed to finish by typing like crazy. It's 11:46 PM as I'm writing this afterword.ㄷㄷ

4. Hwanggeol: Yes. Thank you. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

5. 『Love is.』: From a broader perspective, it's true that the kids are still newbies. By the time they leave Mul, you'll be able to see them having grown to a point where they're incomparable to their current selves. :)

6. GradeRown: Hmm. Since the upper and lower body were separated, even if his life could be saved, his lower body cannot be reattached. Reattaching the lower body and restoring its function would require a much higher-level spell.

7. AshyWings: Kekekeke.(?) The severing demonic art strikes again!

8. UnscrupulousLawyer: Thank you. That’s right. It’s the beginning of the new year. I will approach everything with a positive and passionate attitude. Thank you!

9. noc647: You will gradually find out as the story unfolds. This part could be a spoiler, so I will refrain from commenting. Please understand. :)

10. Geumwon: Looking at the situation alone, you might find it awkward. However, if I explain it in relation to the setting, you can see it as the <alignment> stat at work. An Hyeon actually stayed still, while An Sol and Yu-jeong were the ones who said to save him. Even though they knew he couldn't be saved, they couldn't just watch him die. Another reason is Su-hyeon's own obsession. He felt the need to watch his mouth in front of the kids, so he deliberately avoided saying things that might seem cold-hearted. I hope that's a sufficient answer. Thank you for the question.</alignment>

I always read all the comments repeatedly. Please don't be too disappointed if you don't see a re-reply. If there's something you're really curious about, you can send me a message and I'll answer! (Please leave lots of comments! And recommendations too…☞☜)

Well then, I will take my leave for today.

I hope you can always read with a comfortable heart.

Bookmarks, recommendations, comments, critiques, and questions are always welcome.