[The 'Lord of the Corrupted Corridors' is gazing at you.]
Thud.
Jin-hyuk narrowed his eyes.
No doubt about it.
A direct message from the boss.
"Look! Did you see that? The status window…" Teresa asked.
"Yes. I see it too."
But there was no need to panic.
An intelligent boss monster's indirect message was just a display of emotion — there was no physical threat behind it.
Still…
'I don't remember this guy ever showing interest in a player…'
The Lord of the Corrupted Corridors always remained sealed inside its chamber.If an intruder appeared, it simply sent minions; any direct contact was cut off completely.
So why now?
Why show interest?
…Interesting.
What was its intention?
"The boss monster is gazing at us. What does this mean?" Teresa asked.
"In the best case, it's interested in us. In the worst case, it doesn't plan to let us leave alive. You can interpret it like that."
"Does it acknowledge us?"
"It means it acknowledged me. Not you."
How dare she try to take his spotlight?
Judging by the tone of the message, it was clearly directed at him.
"…"
Teresa stared at him, stunned.
She was one of Europe's most famous rankers.
He was a porter.
If you asked a hundred people, every single one of them would say the boss meant her.
Yet…
Where did this man's absurd confidence come from?
At this point, she wasn't sure if he was shameless or just impossibly competent.But instead of arguing, she simply shook her head.
"When you first talked to me, you said you knew all the traps, right?" Teresa asked.
"Yes. It's been a while, but my body remembers."
The first floor was easy.But it had been more than six months since he last entered these ruins.
No problem.
People said forms could be lost, but experience was eternal.
"Then… what do we do?"
"Draw the attention of the undead. I'll take care of the rest."
By dividing roles properly, he could secure all the items while avoiding unnecessary leveling.
Jin-hyuk gripped his dagger in reverse and prepared to drop into the pit.
"Ready."
"Then, let's start."
Teresa activated her magic.
Right on cue—
Woong!
[Teresa activates Lv5 Song of Battle!]
Warm energy pulsed from her body.
[All Stats +3 for 10 minutes.]
A wide-area buff skill — rare and very powerful.
'Oh, this is pretty good.'
Jin-hyuk whistled softly.
If she didn't already have the unique skill Blessing of the Stars — the revival skill — he would've gone for this one.
Koh!
Teresa leapt straight into the swarm of undead.
"Grrr…"
"Kuaaak!"
Ghouls and skeletons lunged with foul breath and swinging axes.
But—
Kakakak!
Their attacks bounced off her armor without even leaving a scratch.
Expected.
Among the 100 players here, Teresa was by far the most stable ranker.
And although it was a replica, she was wearing the Armor of Joan of Arc.
Common mobs stood no chance.
"Kuak!"
"Ackkk!"
Her shield smashed ghouls' heads clean off.
Bang! Kwang!
Her sword cut skeletons apart with precise arcs.
Fast.
Accurate.
Breaking through like a living bulldozer.
Now.
Tat!
Jin-hyuk landed lightly and burst into motion.
While maintaining speed, he weaved between the monsters, adjusting only the bare minimum.
Most of the aggro was on Teresa, but a few ghouls came for him simply because there were too many.
"Kiiik!"
Ghouls swung their claws.
Puak!
He struck their joints. Their posture collapsed instantly.
"Kuak?"
The ghoul's body locked up, unable to move an inch.
Skeletons met the same fate.
And then—
The fog thickened.
Pssss!
Black spears shot forward at lightning speed.
"…"
Dangerous.
Jin-hyuk instantly changed direction.
Pak!
A crater formed where he had been standing.
A direct hit would have killed him instantly.
'Right. Relics are never easy to obtain.'
His gaze sharpened.
Left.
Between the rocks — the Lich preparing its spell.
A mage made of white bone, eyes glowing blue.
"This is no place for a human to come."
A screeching, metallic voice.
Implying this place was more suited to corpses.
The threat dripped with territorial pride.
'Five Dullahans as guards…'
A head-on fight would be troublesome.
But ignoring them was impossible — Teresa would get swarmed later.
"Go back. One more step and I'll turn you to ash."
Black lightning gathered in its palm.
Fifth-circle magic.
Swish.
Jin-hyuk stepped forward.
"Oh my, too late to regret that."
"You—!"
The Lich signaled the Dullahans.
"Koooo!"
"Kwakk!"
The five Dullahans roared and charged.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Despite their low intelligence, their coordination was excellent.
At the same time—
The lightning spell fired.
"Die, human!"
Fast.
Deadly.
But—
Wheik!
A wave of fire burst forth.
The lightning struck a curtain of flame and shattered harmlessly.
"W-What are you, human?!"
A full-power magic attack…
Blocked like nothing.
The Lich's pride — its magic supremacy — was crumbling.
Then—
Kukukuku!
Flames scattered into thousands of fragments.
Tak!
Jin-hyuk appeared right in front of them.
"I'm running out of time. Let's end this quickly."
He stepped on a Dullahan's thigh—
Tuk.
Then its shoulder—
Tuk.
Then shot five meters into the air.
He shrugged.
"I'm not as fast as lightning, but…"
Predictability was death.
"Your shield won't stop this."
A dagger boosted tenfold by Rift and Adaptive stats.
Fifth-circle magic was far too weak to block it.
Maybe if the shield was seventh-circle…
But this?
Not a chance.
The dagger vanished from his hand.
A red flash.
A straight line.
"Kuam!?"
[5th Circle 'Energy Shield' activated!]
A transparent barrier wrapped around the Lich.
But—
KWAANG!
It shattered instantly.
The blade carved into the Lich's torso.
"Kua… ack…"
The Lich stared at him in disbelief as the blue light dimmed in its eyes.
Its magic was gone.
It wouldn't disappear — phylacteries existed — but it wouldn't move for a while.
'That's that.'
Jin-hyuk retrieved his dagger.
"Grrr…"
"Ku…"
The Dullahans stepped back, losing their will to fight.
He ignored them. Leveling wasn't the goal — the relics were.
"Phew."
Time for the real challenge — the traps.
"W-What kind of porter does that…?"
Teresa whispered.
Her heart pounded earlier when she charged through the undead, wanting to show off to the arrogant man.
But after watching him fight…
Her pride shattered.
'He really did fight the Dullahans alone…'
Even the Lich was a toy in his hands.
'He deserves his confidence.'
He was strong enough to act like that.
But the real shock came when they entered the trap zone.
"Ah…"
Her lips parted.
Bang!
Jin-hyuk slipped past spears rising from the ground with pixel-perfect timing.
Fifteen arrows shot at once.
Impossible for normal players.
Fog covered everything.
'Visibility is terrible. Need to be more careful.'
Kakakak!
He cut down arrows while navigating by memory alone.
Then—
[Vision is distorted.]
Sight warped.
'Now the gap needs to be exactly 32 cm.'
Every attack would feel delayed.
This was why the trap zone was feared.
He timed each step by instinct and memory.
Swish.
Ropes.Needles.Pressure plates.Swinging blades.
Every movement triggered another trap.
'Three steps here… two to the right…'
He kept going.
Precision.
Focus.
A single mistake = death.
A little more…
Just a bit more…
100 meters left.
[Hearing becomes dulled.][Sense of touch is paralyzed.]
Five senses muted.
Reflexes meaningless.
Patterns useless.
This was the infamous section.
Only by dying thousands of times could one learn the perfect pattern.
Bang!Kick!Bang!
Kwang! Kwang! Bang!
Over and over.
Woong!
A dagger flew at his heart from the fog—
He caught it with his bare hand.
And threw it aside.
[All senses return.][Fog cleared.][The undead enter their rest.]
"Haa… it's been a while. My whole body's sore."
His wrist and shoulder throbbed.
Three months younger and this would've been easier.
Still—
He felt refreshed.
His gaze moved to the items on the stone pedestal.
A parchment with Latin inscriptions.
The Oath of Apostle Peter.
And…
'Good to see you again.'
A crystal glowing bright blue.
Frozen Tears.
Finally.
'Time to collect Subspace, the Magic Soul Pill… and then call Teresa to neutralize the Frozen Tears.'
If touched barehanded, frostbite was guaranteed.
He turned to call Teresa—
"That… put it down. Slowly."
A voice came from behind him.
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