NOVEL WEB Chapter 25: Star, Home (10)
Rumbleee―!
Three of the Highoff Clan’s players were patrolling a hallway in the tomb when they suddenly heard the sound of rumbling.
“Hmm?” one of them exclaimed.
“Is something wrong?”
“Well… I think I felt the ground shaking and even heard someone screaming. Didn't you hear it?”
“What the hell are you talking about? Are you seeing things because you’ve been stuck in a cave for too long?”
“Could that be it?”
“Where the hell is that Lee Chang-Sun guy?”
Section Chief Lee Jae-Seong had assigned them a simple mission to accomplish on their patrol. A man named ‘Lee Chang-Sun’ had appeared in the Dungeon Ranking out of the blue, so they had to find him.
It seemed that Chang-Sun would end up in front of the boss monster’s room in no time if Jae-Seong did nothing. Thus, he instructed his subordinates to quickly eliminate Chang-Sun, as he was unsure what the other man had seen in this place. In order to silence him for good, Jae-Seong was planning to use Chang-Sun as a supplementary ingredient for ‘Blood.’
His subordinates had accepted the order without question; they felt no guilt, as they had already taken care of several reporters before.
One Player in the patrol group started up a conversation, saying, “By the way, it’s a bit funny.”
“What is?”
“The intruder’s name is Lee Chang-Sun.”
“Ah, Tyrant?”
“Yeah, I heard a lot of rumors about how he became an alcoholic after his retirement and did crazy stuff while he was drunk.”
“I think he’s just an attention seeker, wanting to be noticed.”
“From what I heard, he got entangled in the Jamsil Gate…”
“Why do you know so much about him?”
“Hehe. I was Tyrant’s fan because I liked his nasty temper.”
“You’re one consistent fuckup.”
The patrol group chatted incessantly while they searched for Chang-Sun. They believed that no matter how talented the intruder was, he would never be able to fight against all of them, the elite Players of the Highoff Clan. They also knew the Dungeon better than anyone else due to their frequent patrols, and another group was following them not so far behind. Surely, the other group would aid them immediately if something happened.
That was why they failed to realize that they had not heard anything from the other group for a long time, even though the other group should have reported their status at regular intervals. In truth, the Player who had written off the screaming he heard as a coincidence had not misheard it at all.
“…Huh?” one Player exclaimed in surprise as he suddenly stopped and tilted his head in confusion.
“What’s wrong?”
“Shouldn’t we have met up with the Group 6 guys right about now?”
Each patrol group was supposed to patrol an assigned route at a set time, so some patrol groups were bound to run into each other. That meant they should have already run into Group 6, but the other group was absent. Something was off.
His teammate yawned loudly and casually answered, “One of them might have gone to the toilet. You know their leader is Sir Poopsalot.”
“No, something is weird.”
“Ha! You’re being paranoid again, man. The only thing we found the last time you did this was an elk… Huh?” The second Player stopped in the middle of criticizing the first Player, suddenly looking down as a stone about the size of a human fist came rolling toward him.
‘Where did this come from? Is someone playing a prank on me?’ he wondered before looking away.
The first Player abruptly yelled, “Hey! Move!”
“Wha…?!” His teammate blinked, beginning to ask what the first Player was talking about. However, he was cut short as a strange symbol inscribed on the stone began to shine, then abruptly exploded—scattering stone fragments and smoke, along with pieces of his head, all over the place.
The two surviving Players simultaneously realized that they had been ambushed, and quickly tried to draw their weapons. However, they were no longer able to move; when the stone exploded, the smoke it released had entered their lungs and paralyzed them.
Pzzz―
[You are poisoned!]
[You are poisoned!]
[You have sustained a fatal injury.]
Those were the last messages the last two Players ever saw. They collapsed on the floor, foaming at the mouth as their insides melted from the deadly toxin. Their muscles continued to spasm, but their movements soon ceased as Chang-Sun severed their heads.
“There are eighteen people left now, right?” Chang-Sun quietly muttered, pulling [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] out of a corpse. The Purgatory Brazier blazed, quickly incinerating the three corpses.
He had been steadily reducing the number of enemies present the same way he dealt with that group, ambushing them using similar round stones. Each stone was similar to a grenade; in order to make them, he had used ‘Skill Unification’ to combine the effects of his [Blood Toxin] with an Explosion Rune.
‘I never thought runes and [Blood Toxin] would be such a good match. This combination is going to come in handy from now on, considering how I can also use it in [Trap Installation],’ Chang-Sun thought, smiling faintly.
Each stone would detonate on impact due to the Explosion Rune carved on it, causing the [Blood Toxin] on it to spread through the air along with the smoke and fragments. Chang-Sun had chosen Biotoxin for the current situation in order to ensure that the toxin would spread very quickly through the targets’ respiratory systems. Some Players with great Toxin Resistance could withstand it for a while, but they would still be paralyzed and unable to do much in response.
There were thirteen people left by the time Chang-Sun got close to the final room where the boss monster resided. Chang-Sun moved quietly once again, following the guidance of [Viper Eyes]. His movements were like that of a prowling beast, carefully hunting its prey.
* * *
Not even an hour passed before Jae-Seong noticed that something was off.
[The Dungeon Ranking has been updated!]
[Dungeon Ranking]
First Place: Jeong Yoo-Jin (150,000 Points)
Second Place: Go Seung-Won (145,495 Points)
Third Place: Lee Jae-Seong (109,500 Points)
…
Eleventh Place: Lee Chang-Sun (Update!)
Fifty-seventh place, forty-second place, twenty-first place, and eleventh place—those were the ranks the person named ‘Lee Chang-Sun’ had achieved in just a few hours.
At first, Jae-Seong had simply thought that a reckless, stupid Player had entered the Dungeon. Although there were some guards outside, some fairly talented Players snuck in from time to time. Those Players were not much of a problem because they often got stuck on the complicated Dungeon Quests, so Jae-Seong’s subordinates normally just waited until they got tired and took them out.
However… Things were different today. Jae-Seong wondered whether something had gone wrong. Was the ranking system broken? If the system was fine, how could a person increase their rank so quickly?
He had an even bigger problem, which was that he distinctly remembered ordering his subordinates to capture the mysterious intruder. He was already having a headache because of Jin Dae-Hwan; he did not want to care about anything else, let alone a strange, irritating fly.
‘Why… aren’t they coming back?’ Jae-Seong thought, shaking his leg.
The Dungeon Ranking was updating constantly, but his subordinates had not returned even after a long time. If they were having trouble fighting the intruder on their own, they should have reported it to him, but he had not even heard any reports. It was as if they had disappeared completely from this world, leaving only him behind.
“Hey! Is anybody outside?” Jae-Seong shouted from within his tent. Normally, shouting like that would bring some subordinates running, but no one appeared. The only response he received was silent.
“You bastards! Can’t you hear me?” Jae-Seong cursed angrily. Soon, however, his anxiety compelled him to stand up. He planned to go outside and call for his subordinates.
‘If they’re just getting on my nerves for no reason, I’ll just use every last one of them to make more ‘Blood’.’
However, it was still quiet outside.
Ding!
[The Dungeon Ranking has been updated!]
[Dungeon Ranking]
…
Eighth Place: Lee Chang-Sun (Update!)
The Dungeon Ranking just happened to update again at that moment. Jae-Seong could not help but feel nervous when he saw the new information. Trying to fight back his anxiety, he aggressively flung open the tent’s entrance and headed outside.
Several of his subordinates should have been outside, but the whole area was empty. Despite that, the blazing fire and tools strewn across the floor indicated that several people had recently been present.
Ding!
[The Dungeon Ranking has been updated!]
[Dungeon Ranking]
…
Sixth Place: Lee Chang-Sun (Update!)
When he saw the Dungeon Ranking, Jae-Seong felt as if invisible hands were grabbing his throat and choking him. He yelled angrily, “Fuck! These bastards must be slacking off. Where the hell did they disappear to?!”
‘I have to get rid of this weird anxiety.’ That was the only thought that filled Jae-Seong’s mind.
However…
Ding!
[The Dungeon Ranking has been updated!]
[Dungeon Ranking]
…
Fourth Place: Lee Chang-Sun (Update!)
As if it were mocking him, the notification bell continued to ring.
Ding. Ding.
The message alarm that had always brought joy to Jae-Seong was only serving to unsettle him today. He felt dizzy, as if he were being strangled.
“Fuuuccck! Where did they go?!” Jae-Seong cursed as he nervously moved around, aimlessly searching the nearby area. He went through the other tents where his subordinates stayed, the whole camp, and the guard posts…
Surrounded by the horrible silence, he could barely breathe. He felt as if he would go mad unless he found someone else, but the area was deserted. It felt like a ghost town, where all the inhabitants had simply evaporated.
Ding!
[The Dungeon Ranking has been updated!]
[Dungeon Ranking]
…
Third Place: Lee Chang-Sun (Update!)
Fourth Place: Lee Jae-Seong (109,500 Points)
When Jae-Seong saw the name ‘Lee Chang-Sun’ rise above his name in the Dungeon Ranking, he belatedly realized what emotion had been dominating his body and mind—it was fear.
Fear brought by the ghost named Lee Chang-Sun.
Fear that he was trapped in this silent place alone, when all his subordinates had disappeared.
[Your mind has been contaminated!]
[Your mind has been contaminated!]
…
[You have fallen into the ‘Feared’ state.]
“Ahhhhh! Lee Chang-Sun! Where are you?! I know you’re out there! Come out! Come on! Come out!” Jae-Seong ranted as if he had gone half-mad, swinging his sword like a lunatic after clumsily drawing it. He thought—no, he was certain that Chang-Sun was hiding and watching him from somewhere. It made no sense otherwise.
Ding!
[Dungeon Ranking]
…
Second Place: Lee Chang-Sun (Update!)
Amid all the chaos, Chang-Sun had continued to climb the Dungeon Ranking. Jae-Seong finally realized how Chang-Sun had improved his ranking so quickly.
From the achievements Players unlocked while completing Quests to the number of monsters and other enemies they killed, every action in a Dungeon was converted to points. In short, Jae-Seong’s subordinates had been killed extremely quickly.
Judging from Chang-Sun’s rank… it was safe to assume that everybody else was already dead. Jae-Seong could never have imagined that they would be completely wiped out, and he was incapable of logically understanding what was going on.
It would at least take a renowned Player to annihilate Jae-Seong’s team, but he had no idea who the enemy was, as he had never heard of Chang-Sun before. He at least needed some clue in order to come up with a way to defeat his enemy, but he had none, leaving him incredibly frustrated.
A shiver ran down his spine. Rather than anxiety, he was now overwhelmed with terror, making him feel as if he had fallen into the depths of the ocean to drown.
‘Am I going to end up like my subordinates?’ Jae-Seong thought. It terrified him, as he had always dreamed of glory, not a mere dog’s death.
“Save… m…!” a man choked out, barely within earshot.
Jae-Seong heard the voice of Deputy Section Chief Son, who normally always catered to his every need. Thinking he would be able to find some clues about his enemy, he ran in the direction where Deputy Chief Son’s voice had come from.
Just as expected, Deputy Chief Son lay collapsed on the floor, but Jae-Seong was not sure whether he could still call the other man a human. Deputy Chief Son was more comparable to a burnt lump of meat, or a heap of trash soaked in blood; every one of his limbs was severed, and the only part of his body that remained intact was his mouth. He would no doubt die if Jae-Seong left him behind.
“Hey! Wake up, Deputy Chief Son!” Jae-Seong yelled as he ran toward Deputy Chief Son, grasping at the final straws of hope he had left.
“Save… me…!” Deputy Chief Son simply repeated as if he could not hear a single word, instead of giving Jae-Seong an answer. “Ghost… is comi…!”
Straining to hear more details, Jae-Seong flipped over Deputy Chief Son, who was lying face down. Then, he found something unexpected. From Deputy Chief Son’s chest to his lower abdomen, his body was covered in strange symbols that Jae-Seong had never seen in his life.
The first emotion that struck Jae-Seong when he saw the symbols was terror, and he was right to be afraid. The symbols that covered Deputy Chief Son’s body were runes, and they began to shine brightly. The deputy chief had been turned into a booby trap, a living dummy engraved all over with Explosion Runes.
Boom, boom, boom!
The corpse trap was extremely powerful, and the massive blast covered Jae-Seong completely with broken bone fragments, scraps of meat, and pieces of brain. Every last shred was covered with Acidic Toxin and Corpse Toxin, melting Jae-Seong's flesh. The room filled with white smoke that carried the vile stench of rot.
Tsssss!
“Arrrggghhh!” Jae-Seong screamed loudly.
[You have sustained horrific burns.]
[You have been poisoned with Corpse Toxin!]
[You have been poisoned with Acidic Toxin!]
…
[Warning! Your HP is quickly decreasing. Attempt to detoxify yourself as soon as possible.]
[You have fallen into the ‘Brink of Death’ state.]
Jae-Seong had bent over to move Deputy Chief Son’s body. That meant his whole face and upper body had been exposed directly to the explosion, and his face was already starting to melt completely. Rolling across the floor, Jae-Seong screamed at the top of his lungs and tried to stop the poison from spreading by circulating his magic. He tried to pull out a bottle of detoxifying potion from his inventory, but he could not see, so his hand just hovered in the air.
[Death is approaching!]
Swoosh―!
Chang-Sun approached stealthily, running toward Jae-Seong. Jae-Seong was an expert Player in the Level 30 range, meaning he was at least ten levels above Chang-Sun. On top of that, Jae-Seong had many subordinates, which had meant he was supposed to be unkillable. However, the entire process had not been difficult for Chang-Sun, who enjoyed hunting.
It was now time to finish his hunt.
Slash!