Chapter 66 – The Ordeal (2)

Dojin’s party wandered around to find the way. Orion, who took the lead in finding the way, knew one thing.

“This… We are not lost.”
“…… Then?”
“The dungeon… It has changed.”

Around that time, the maddening noise in the dungeon also slowly stopped. Only then did Orion be able to fully use his hearing his.

Like a sonar, it collects as much sound as possible from all directions to find its way.

According to the information they found, they didn’t get lost, but the shape of the dungeon itself changed.

“It turned out like a maze.”
“It’s like a maze…….”

Dojin stepped on the surrounding wall and walked out. As he walked away, a fork in the road appeared.

Assuming that time is infinite, the way to escape the maze was very simple. Dojin walked along the left wall.

What if there is a dead end? Even if it does, it doesn’t matter. Walk along the left path.

Seeing this, Orion immediately realized what Dojin was doing.

“… It will take a really long time, but I’m sure.”

“Yes.”

In the first place, the dungeon wasn’t that wide. No matter how twisted the road is, you can escape in a matter of hours.

Realizing that, the party sighed in relief and followed Dojin. There were times when I met monsters in between battles and took a break from fatigue, but with the belief that I would definitely find the end.

But that belief did not last long.

Hard….

“This sound….”

Now came a familiar sound. The sound was so grand that it made me think that the dungeon would collapse.

While Dojin was thinking that, the wall moved. Do-jin saw that the far-open road was blocked by a wall.

“No, what…….”

Within seconds, the noise stopped. That meant that the location of the dungeon had completely changed.

Unfortunately, Do-jin did not know how to pass through the maze that randomly changes over time.

Fortunately, even in a dungeon where you can’t see in all directions, you can tell the time. Do-jin took out the electronic watch he had kept in the steel box so that it would not break.

The wristwatch I bought for the college entrance exam, I never thought I was good enough to buy it now.

The clock pointed to 11:00 p.M. Six hours had passed since I came down to the 29th floor. Until now, Do-jin had never been in a dungeon until this late.

‘I’ll be angry if I go back.’

It was a common occurrence for Do-jin to stay out all night, but not for Eun-ha. The children who realized that she and her dojin disappeared at the same time would realize that they were trapped in a dungeon.

And sure enough, he will come to rescue them. She thought so

‘…… Wait a moment.’

Dojin stopped and looked around. Come to the rescue? Who the hell
After living in modern times for nearly 20 years, it was only natural for someone to come to the rescue, so I was mistaken.

This was another world, and this was the most fantasy dungeon in that other world.

Those who enter once are isolated from the outside.
There is no way to save those who entered the dungeon.

‘No way.’

No one comes to the rescue Dojin realized that fact.

* * *

Early in the morning, Deok-gu looked at Seo-yoon, who came to visit him, and asked about the business she brought.

“… What?”
“Do-jin didn’t come back.”
“You must be staying out.”
“Together with Eunha.”
“… That’s a big deal.”

The two headed to the dungeon. The fact that those two didn’t come back at the same time on the same day meant that something had happened to them.

Deokgu immediately ran to the guild. He was also registered as a level 2 adventurer and the president of a newspaper, so the guild staff rushed out and responded to him.

“Ah, welcome. Deokgu…”
“I came to ask you something.”
“Yes, whatever.”
“Did Do-jin come back yesterday?”

Hearing that, Pion tilted his head and asked again.

“I, that…… You didn’t come back Have you ever returned home?”
“Yes. Still, in case you don’t know, I came to ask….”
“Is that so, Dojin-nim…….”

Pion lowered her head and made an expression filled with regret and longing. Deokgu, who saw that, looked at her as if she was strange.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you organizing a rescue team?”
“Yes? What is that…”
“A person disappeared from the dungeon, why don’t you go find him?”
“Ah, Deokgu-nim, you don’t know much about dungeons.”

Peon seemed to be used to this kind of situation and dealt with Deokgu skillfully.

“Unfortunately, that can’t be the case.”
“Why? If it’s money….”
“Physically, there is no means to enter the dungeon.”
“… Ah.”

Deokgu, who had forgotten about dungeons for so long, had forgotten even such basic common sense.

A dungeon is basically a space isolated from the world. A world within a world. The fact that the dungeon up to the 10th floor was opened for no reason was not surprising enough to surprise the world.

“No, wait… He, how can it not be?”
“In the first place, dungeons were isolated from everyone else and were testing my abilities. I’m isolated from everyone and I can’t even meet them, so how can I go get them?”

There is a reason for the small number of level-up rewards, even though there are sweet rewards.

The psychological pressure of not being able to get help.
An extreme environment where even the slightest mistake leads to death.

Anyway, Deok-gu, who realized that there was no way to save Do-jin, went mad.

‘Wait, then what should I do now…… ?’

It’s been a long time since I’ve had an experience that is white in my head. Do-jin was their leader and mental support.

It was a pillar that would never collapse, and thus a pivot to lead the children.

How would Seoyoon and Aram act when he told them that Dojin might be dead right away? Deok-gu didn’t even dare to predict.

“I, really. I really can’t do anything….”
“…… Sorry. Deokgu.”
“… No, it’s nothing for you to apologize for.”

Deokgu forcibly grabbed his weak leg and stood up. Stumbling out of the drawing room, he leaned against the wall and lost himself in thought for a moment.

‘What do we do? How how….’
“Ah, really—— what’s that all of a sudden, that?”
“So.”

At that time, I heard the high-ranking adventurers on the second floor talking loudly. Their bodies were stained with dust and dirt, and they seemed to have just returned from the dungeon.

Among them, the man in the front quickly approached my supervisor and began complaining.

“No, hey, listen, we tried to cross the 30th floor today….”
“Some wall is blocking the 29th floor….”
“I can’t go up….”

Deokgu, who was lost in thought, listened to them and focused on their conversation. The summary of the story was as follows.

Suddenly, something happened in the dungeon.
A huge wall blocking the 29th to 30th floors.
Upon hearing the story, a piece of information pops into Deok-gu’s mind.

‘There is no ruler on the 20th floor, Do-jin said that.’

In his own way, Dojin speculated why there was no ruler on the 20th floor and that there would be a ruler on the 30th floor.

It was a story I wasn’t interested in, so at the time, I was lightly spilled.

But now, the puzzles fit together with the stories of adventurers passing by.

‘The 30th floor, the ruler, the strange occurrence in the dungeon, the wall blocking entry….’

As a result of gathering the information, one fact came to Deokgu’s head.
Do-jin is alive.
Realizing this, he ran straight to the mansion.

* * *

Realizing that they were trapped, the first thing Dojin found was food.

“A lunch box left over from lunch, and one for spare. A few biscuits for emergency calorie replenishment.”

As much as I expected that it would not exceed a day no matter how long it was in the first place. The food they brought was also pathetic.

After counting the amount of food he had brought, Orion calculated how long he could survive with this food.

“Well, I can eat this for four days.”
“… Four days? How can I live for four days after eating that?”

Hearing that, Raize went crazy, but this girl, who had the smallest body and seemed to eat the least, actually consumed the most food.

A lot of calories are consumed in the process of restoring her mana. Restricting the amount of food means that the amount of magical power recovered is also reduced.

For her sorceress, her lack of magic feared more than anything else.

But nothing happened to Orion.

“Then what do you do? Are you saying you want to just shoot a few spells, eat all your food, starve yourself from tomorrow and die in four days?”

“…… No, it’s not like that.”

At Orion’s reasonable remark, Rize kept his mouth shut. However, Dojin also agreed with Raise’s opinion.

“It’s stupid to last four days on this.”
“Leader, but…….”
“Orion, where are we?”
“That’s a dungeon…”
“Yes, it is a dungeon. It’s not a place someone will come to rescue you just because you’re waiting.”

Sharing food increases survival time. But what if you face a monster in the middle?

Having lost energy from not eating, they wouldn’t be able to fight against monsters easily, and if they did something wrong, they could get hurt.

Being hurt now, with no means to recover, was the same as dying.

“Eat it and recover your energy… Even if it’s disgusting, you have to eat monsters.”
“Mo, a monster?”

Raize asked in surprise. Dojin nodded her head.

“What are you doing? They eat it often in the city too.”
“I’m not going to eat!”
“What are you talking about, minotaur meat and camu cows are openly sold.”
“…… That’s cattle Not a monster.”
“It’s the same monster.”

However, it was not that Dojin could not understand Raise’s heart. Even if he was like himself, he would have reacted like that if he had been told to hunt wild dogs and eat them when he was stranded in the mountains.

Eating dog meat in society is not the same as killing and eating wild dogs.

Similarly, there was a vast difference between eating monsters that were domesticated in society and consuming monsters rampaging in dungeons.

“This is the only way.”

But that was the only way.

“I-over there….”

“Oh, Eunha.”

“Monsters disappear when they die, but how do you eat them… ?”

“—That’s a very good question.”

Saying that, Do-jin disappeared for a while and he appeared with Werewolf. The Werewolf that appeared then faced off against Dojin, but he did not become an opponent for Dojin, who had already dealt with Werewolf many times.

Do-jin, who neutralized the werewolf in an instant, spoke while trampling on the werewolf’s neck.

“You know, when these guys die, they don’t leave a single finger behind… But there are exceptions. Do you know what?”

“That, like blood. If you bury it, it won’t disappear….”

“Yeah, just like that.”

Wow, Dojin’s sword cut off Werewolf’s arm. Do-jin, who threw away his severed arm, looked at the party as if asking what they were doing.

“The meat eaten before death does not disappear.”

Looking at the thrown arm and the party hesitating, Dojin said.

“What are you doing? Don’t eat quickly.”
“Hey, how…….”
“If you don’t eat, you die.”

Hearing those words, Rize finished the calculation in his head. He was right. No matter how disgusting it was, I had to eat to live.

Raje slowly raised his arm. Heavy. How many kilometers will it be? It was sure to be enough for four people to eat.

Hwaaak, as I got closer, a fishy smell came out. Raja now closed his eyes and put his mouth on his arm.

As I chewed on the flesh dripping with blood, the smell of blood that filled my mouth made me vomit.

But he persevered. Swallow, swallow, …… Gulp.

“Puha-! …… Come on, eat too.”

“…… What are you doing?”

“What are you doing, you’re eating because you asked me to eat…!”

Dojin looked at Raize as if he was embarrassed. Then he told her

“No, I meant grilled… ” .”
“…… Yes?”
“Make a fire with magic and bake it… I hope you will eat it raw. Are you okay?”
“…… Woo-wook.”

Guweeeee
Raise regurgitated everything I ate.