Chapter 223 – Dungeon Distress -1-

A ‘minimum’ gold grade quest.

It is too heavy for a gold grade, which means that the possibility of an accident is high, and the compensation can be compared to that of blue gold.

If successful, it’s a jackpot without a doubt.

On days when you make a mistake, the probability of getting seriously injured or dying is terribly high compared to the usual quests.

“Roman. If you don’t want to get hit by an arrow in the back, stay alert.”

“Oh, I see.”

The avant-garde is Roman as usual, but the equipment has changed.

In order to reduce the injuries sustained during the quest, he even equipped himself with a solid shield and practiced all the time to skillfully handle the shield.

The way Alice joins in when there is a situation that she can’t handle alone with that equipment.

Although Alice stuck with me and trained me myself.

There was still a lot of uncertainty about the foot position that holds the center of gravity.

‘It would be nice if there was just one more member of the Order as a vanguard…’

Even if it’s not necessarily a avant-garde.

If there was at least one person from the church, there would be a balance, but until today, I couldn’t find the right person.

A reliable vanguard who knows how to handle divine power? A lone priest who remains alone in the gold ranks even with a rearguard?

It was a dream sale that was no different from a lousy delusion.

In the end, without additional people, the rearguard of the current party is Alice, a wizard, and Isolde, a new party member.

Isolde is a similar case to the two who left Edelman.

An adventurer who left a party alone and went to the capital to aim for a higher rank in the gold rank.

He handles the bow well and has quick feet.

Perhaps because he also had a job as a hunter, he was well versed in forests and mountains and knew a lot about plants, which is of great help.

I’ve done a few simple requests, and now my limbs are in good shape.

“What about Isolde?”

“She can go anytime.”

After untying the quiver and tying it again, Isolde grabbed a piece of bread on the table and stood up.

As it was, the three of them left the inn and walked diligently.

The destination is about two hours on foot.

‘The request is…’

Alice handed her map to Isolde and read her request again.

The content is simple yet meaningful.

The request was initiated when a herbalist testified that he had seen a bizarre scene of a tau walking out from under a waterfall.

Ordinarily, she would have passed it off as saying she saw something in vain.

Right after that, Tau appeared and was hunted.

It became a hot topic in the past because there was a history of a Tau suddenly appearing near the territory.

The Tau is a massive bipedal bull with a muscular body that enjoys a meat diet and has a warlike disposition.

One of the monsters classified as very dangerous because it has the habit of forming a colony.

Tau, who have to live in a colony in a deep canyon, appear near the territory, but it is not an issue to turn your eyes to.

So, is it true that the Tau come from under the waterfall?

If so, a request to know where it led, what the reason was, and the existence or nonexistence of the colony.

The reason for the request is not subjugation, but the key.

Even if it could be solved if the leading adventurers of the Tau Mariya Territory stepped forward.

What if there’s a path leading down to the waterfall and there’s a hidden colony of Tau there?

If it comes in a bunch instead of just one like the last time, then the territory is definitely over.

If there is a colony, you must find the evidence and quickly request help from the capital.

Even though it stipulated information that there is an unknown cave under the waterfall.

If the adventurer or knight of the territory dies after rushing in without further information, there is no one to protect the territory, so what’s the problem?

The knights and adventurers belonging to the territory were cared for until the reason for the incident was clear.

It was common for foreign adventurers to use it, and it was a natural way to operate, so there were no questions about Alice’s party.

There was also a price to pay.

…
…

“···Go in.”

Roman grabbed his shield and crept under the waterfall.

Roman’s mouth widened at the sight he saw as he put his feet under the pouring cold water.

“Is there a real cave?”

“Why can’t I see this from the outside?”

It is a neat oyster that feels artificially made.

“…”

It is a waterfall that is not very high and the falling water is not strong, so why can’t this cave be seen from the outside?

Even when Alice looked around the floor at Isolde and Roman’s question, she did not feel any magical treatment or knowledge.

‘What?’

If not the easiest way to cover your eyes from the outside.

Something natural. Or, with that water as the boundary, this place might be a dungeon.

There are several other reasons, but the most powerful is the inference that this is a dungeon from within.

Even as they are seduced by the reward, their vigilance rises.

“Just a little bit… Check it out and if there’s a problem or if I give you a signal, they’ll run away right away, okay?”

Roman and Isolde remained silent and nodded at Alice’s words.

As I followed the neatly connected caves, I felt the air suddenly change around the end of the cave.

Heavenly luck struck me, and I remembered the Platinum Adventurer and the Living Armor Dungeon I had explored.

“…The atmosphere has changed.”

“Shh.”

I made Roman quiet and looked at the floor. Where is the smooth stone floor?

All of a sudden, the floor is connected with square bricks.

‘…?’

Alice, walking down a dark road, stopped her steps.

“Wait a minute! Everyone stop.”

“What’s the matter?”

Alice’s voice stopped Roman, who was walking in the front, and Isolde let go of her hand holding her string.

Beans- beans-

Alice hit the stone floor with the tip of her foot, then fell on her face and pressed her ears to the floor.

– Poetry!

‘The bottom is empty…?’

As I concentrated more and more, I heard a sound from under the floor.

Isolde, who is sensitive to smells and wind, doesn’t seem to notice.

Alice, who handled magic closely related to the ground and developed her senses, knew that the bottom of the floor was unstable.

“The floor here is—-.”

-Aaaaa!!!

The timing to not allow gossip. Alice’s words were cut off by Tau’s scream.

Thud-! Thud-! Thud-!

“Roman! Raise your shield!”

At the end of the hallway, I heard Tau’s vocal chords vibrate.

I can feel the heavy running that echoes on the floor getting closer and closer.

-Kreur!

Tau, who ran in a straight line, showing off his muscles, carried a huge pole on one shoulder.

‘Are you carrying a weapon?!’

Everyone in the party was so startled that they stopped moving for a moment.

Tau is basically an image of tearing and crushing creatures with fists based on ignorant muscle strength.

It was simple, but the tau that carried the pillar like a weapon in that way was a different kind from the normal tau.

A vanguard with a shield. The way he stopped running at a distance without running into Roman.

I felt intellect and it was heterogeneous.

The feeling that I wouldn’t allow myself to go down any more of these corridors.

-Khuu!!

Drooling through her sharp teeth and letting out her snort.

The moment Tau, holding the stone pillar on her shoulder, took a stance to strike the floor.

‘Tero!’

– Siik!

Alice, who read the situation, moved her mana and solidified the spot where her pillar was stamped with Tero.

-Kraaaaa!!

Thud!

At the same time as the roar, the brick floor cracked like a spider’s web, but it did not collapse.

‘I endured!’

Seeing the situation, Alice’s expression brightened.

-Kuu? Kaaaaa-!!!

Contrary to expectations, Tau, who saw the floor that had not been broken at once, raised the pillar again, showing off his thick muscles.

“Both jump back! Floor!”

The moment the leader’s order came down, Isolde read the ominousness and ran backwards as promised at the beginning.

Hearing the roar of the Tau up close, Roman’s legs stiffened with fear.

“Uh…? Uh uh!”

Alice, who was about to fall after Isolde, saw Roman, who was motionless with her legs trembling, and her expression hardened, swearing at her.

“Hey…! Crazy!”

The sober thought of throwing it away was the first thing that came to mind, but as long as you are the leader of the party, you are responsible for leading the party members.

In order to go higher, you have to overcome this level of crisis.

Pududeuk-

As Alice maxed her mana, her horns rose and scales sprouted from one of her arms.

She ran to her quickened legs and grabbed Roman by the back of his neck.

“Ouch!”

Alice threw Roman away as it was, to buy more time.

She tried to cast magic at the Tau.

-Kaaa!!!

Thud!

The floor under her pillar collapsed and Alice began to fall.

Alice, who expected her floor to collapse and be empty, was quick to judge.

I couldn’t see down because of the darkness, but I lay down and heard the sound of the water.

“Tero! Go back!”

She first sent Tero, who was struggling in the air, back to the spirit realm.

With a plop!

The cold water that pierces her bones robs her of her breathing and her body’s freedom.

Is the color of the water really black? Maybe it’s because there’s no light under the stone floor.

Alice is caught up in a strong current that makes her unable to see even when she opens her eyes.

Not knowing where she was to the left or where to the right, she began to drift away.

Knuckle-!

I can assure you that the fear you are feeling desperately right now is no different from a weapon used to kill your mind.

I felt like I was going to die of fear, not of breathing.

Holding her breath while strengthening her body with mana, she waved her hand upwards, hoping for something to catch…

I waited for the blocked ceiling to end.

There was a thump-thump-thump as Alice’s tiny body continued to crash into the water.

Something to be expected with a stone beak. Or huge boulders sleeping in the water.

Unannounced shocks hit her body and the crack in the rock grabbed Alice’s leg.

‘Chi, calm down… Stay calm…!’

As she concentrated her trembling spirit and moved her mana, the rock opened and let go of Alice’s feet.

If it weren’t for her earthly expertise, she might have had to cut her ankle with the dagger she had.

I don’t want to die.

As I was being pushed by the current, scratching at the blocked ceiling with just one thought, a change came.

‘···!!’

Did the Goddess see her earnest self and let go of her hand?

The ceiling, which was blocked off with no room for her head to stick out, ended.

Alice’s right arm, out of hard scales, seizes a piece of land that can be climbed.

I drove my strong claws into her and grabbed her with all my might.

Resisting the waters that tried to float her back, Alice pulled herself up with all her might.

“Heo-euk…!! Heo-euk-!! Coke! Haha!!”

She is soaked in water.

Climbing up to her place, she didn’t know where she was, Alice vomited water and fear onto her floor.

If she was an ordinary person, not the strong body of the Yongin people, she would surely die.

Like her breathing, she couldn’t resist the current and may have already lost her mind from the shocks she bumped into.

The experience of being caught up in a dark current without a single light is fear itself.

“Ugh…”

When she regained her breath, her whole body ached with pain.

She crawls away from her watery body and tries to get up from her seat.

One of her legs gave out strength, and she fell with a crash and crawled across the floor again.

“Portion···.”

An empty belt as she reaches for her waist to drink a potion for times like these.

As she struggled, she lost both the potion hung on her waist and the dagger hung on her thigh.

‘There is no potion…’

She tried to immobilize her legs by hardening the soil with magic, but I don’t know what condition her ankles are in.

The moment I got stuck between the rocks, I think something went wrong.

Even the simple act of standing up doesn’t go as planned.

“After···.”

It was a mental problem rather than a physical pain.

A situation that conjures death. A primordial fear gnawed away at her thoughts and oppressed Alice.

“Te, do you have Tero?”

– Poetry! Seek!

Hearing the voice, Tero, who manifested from the floor, let out a sad cry and hit Alice! It stuck.

“You’re safe…”

She pushed away her fear to some extent just by the existence of someone other than herself.

I used my senses, which I had become accustomed to in the dark, to focus my eyes on what was in front of me.

‘Could it be… Moon?’

If Ou or Tau built a house, it would have been the size of a door that would have been used.

I don’t know why there is such an ignorant door in a place like this.

One thing is certain.

The gloomy energy and ominous patterns sounded an alarm to his senses.

He was telling himself not to open that door.

So, is there any other way or route without opening that?

Even if you move your head and look around, there is no way out.

‘There are choices…’

In the current situation where you can’t even wake up, if a monster comes out, you can’t fight properly.

However, waiting here is a position where it seems absolutely impossible to rescue the party members no matter what they do.

It feels like suicide to re-enter the current in anticipation of another place.

Completely blocked

The moment you realize that it is a pit of despair where it is difficult to make hopeful observations.

“Mom and dad···.”

Tears flowed from Alice’s eyes.

*****

‘My brain is broken.’

Even though I’ve been living outside for such a long time.

What is the human body that feels uncomfortable in the outdoors just because it has been attached to the capital city for less than a year?

I don’t know how it happened.

Whoops- Whoops-

One of the hidden pieces I threw away. Copper called frost made of dew.

To keep my mouth from getting bored, I chewed the frost like a cookie and ran nonstop.

‘It just tastes like water?’

It is a material used to make a specific weapon, but the performance of that weapon is ambiguous, so it is for beginners and mid-levels.

So I pretended to be crazy and ate the ingredients to see if there was a special effect.

It was ordinary ice that did not feel any change in the body.

After stepping on the last tree and jumping, I see a small manor.

Although you have to go a little further to find the dungeon under the waterfall.

‘I have to go right away.’

It’s only been a day since I’ve been fighting and running without rest with my eyes open.

In the mansion, closing my eyes at a certain time every day made it very unpleasant for my body to send me signals to grow.

The realization that I was definitely lax.

Establish a loose mental discipline with a little swim in the cold water.

It is time to wash away the blood that has stuck to it.