[Chapter 143]
[Unexplored Area]
Plop.
Something fell on his face.
"...Ugh..."
He regained consciousness.
His whole body ached.
On Taeyang frowned at the shock that hit his entire body as soon as he tried to get up.
"Where... is this?"
A cave made of blue asbestos.
Though there shouldn't be any corners for light to enter, the surroundings were strangely bright.
And there was no one around.
Neither people nor monsters.
On Taeyang faced this unfamiliar world and recalled why he was here.
"Come to think of it, back then I..."
Overcoming the pain,
On Taeyang, who struggled to get up, trailed off.
His memories became clearer.
"Right... that's right. I was captured by monsters..."
While he was leading his party members to tackle the 4th underground floor of the Academy dungeon,
On Taeyang, who had fallen behind compared to other parties, very coincidentally discovered a path leading down from the 4th underground floor.
At that time, he instinctively realized it was a shortcut.
And when he reached the 5th underground floor through that path,
"Those bastards..."
Very unfortunately,
On Taeyang's party encountered monsters in the form of bees.
On Taeyang recalled that moment and gritted his teeth.
"This is no time to be like this. I need to quickly save the others."
Due to Jo Ara who had difficulty moving,
The party ended up being captured by those creatures.
On Taeyang was also affected by their paralytic poison and was being moved somewhere along with his party members.
Then suddenly, strength surged and he was able to move his body,
On Taeyang was able to escape from the monsters using this unknown power.
And while fleeing from them, On Taeyang twisted his ankle and fell off a cliff.
That was his last memory.
"Where on earth is this?"
It seemed he had been quite lucky.
To be alive like this even after falling off a cliff.
The problem was that he couldn't tell where exactly he had fallen.
For now, On Taeyang decided to just start walking aimlessly.
"There don't seem to be any monsters..."
He passed through a narrow path.
After walking aimlessly for a while, an open space appeared.
What he discovered there was─
"─A person...?"
It's a person.
No, it's the remains of what used to be a person.
On Taeyang approached closer and only then realized that the person leaning against the wall was already dead.
"What on earth..."
A man wearing an Academy uniform.
The man's corpse looked intact as if he had just died.
No, it wasn't intact.
It had been mutilated.
And there was a small hole in the chest area.
On Taeyang bent his knees to match the man's eye level.
A name tag caught his eye.
On Taeyang murmured that name.
"─Hong Jin-woo...? Who is that?"
☆
I have a bad feeling.
The moment he confirmed the existence of the Golden Wasps,
Eunha pushed his party members hard and broke through the dungeon.
And right after reaching the 5th underground floor, he received Jin Seo-na's telepathy.
This is no ordinary chaos.
The dungeon really made up its mind.
Was it biding its time?
While meeting Jin Seo-na directly on the way and hearing the details,
Eunha was finally able to grasp the situation unfolding in the dungeon.
And when he heard that Jung Ha-yang was organizing a rescue team to save the captured students─
─Foolish
Eunha ran immediately.
Regardless of Ariel whining to go together from behind.
Even though Hosimiya Kaede eventually couldn't keep up with his speed.
Eunha ran recklessly while cutting down any monsters he saw.
And upon discovering Jung Ha-yang─
─Look at those things?
Although she had deployed protective magic,
Eunha was upset to see Jung Ha-yang surrounded by those creatures.
It looked like she was being oppressed.
In the end, emotions took over.
Eunha recklessly unleashed Platinum Cross as his heart led him.
Anyway, he was able to save Jung Ha-yang like that.
"Eunha!" "Are you hurt anywhere?"
No more monsters were coming out.
Eunha released the mana coating his sword blade and turned to Jung Ha-yang behind him.
She was welcoming him happily while holding a bright red bird like a flame.
Soon she released the protective magic and threw herself into his arms.
"You're really not hurt anywhere?" "No, we're all safe. But... You heard from Seo-na on the way, right?"
"I heard everything. People were captured by those things, right?"
"So we need to go rescue them quickly! If we wait for Players to come help from above, it'll be too late."
"I know."
Jung Ha-yang spoke rapidly.
She had looked so dignified just moments ago.
But now her face showed urgent emotions.
She must have been under so much pressure, trying hard to suppress it so as not to show the other students.
You did well, you did great.
You looked cool even to me.
Eunha patted her back to calm her down.
At first he thought it was dangerous,
But her judgment was correct.
So Eunha wanted to praise her judgment skills.
Above all─
─You were waiting for me to come. How cute.
He felt strangely pleased that she was relying on him.
It's really lovable.
It was then that she, seemingly somewhat calmed down, carefully opened her mouth.
"And you know..." "Yeah, tell me."
"I-byeol and Min-ho... were also captured." "...What?"
"I-byeol was caught by the monsters, and Min-ho disappeared while trying to save her... It seems they were captured together."
"Geez..."
Yoon I-byeol and Mok Min-ho.
The two were captured by monsters.
Eunha clicked his tongue upon hearing something he hadn't heard from Jin Seo-na.
It seemed she had judged that he would hear it directly from Jung Ha-yang.
Even so, what he had to do hadn't changed.
"We need to go rescue them right now."
"Yeah, we have to. Eunha, so..."
"What?"
"...You can do it, right?"
They couldn't waste time like this.
Eunha decided to go rescue the students captured by the monsters.
At that moment, Jung Ha-yang grabbed his collar and asked.
"Don't you trust me?"
"..."
Jung Ha-yang's anxious gaze.
Eunha smirked.
Perhaps moved by his attitude,
She soon relaxed her tense expression and shook her head.
"─No. I trust you. If I don't trust you, Eunha, who would I trust?"
"Don't worry too much. I'll take care of everything. Just trust me." "...Okay."
Jung Ha-yang, who was much shorter than him.
Eunha patted her head and then raised his head to look at the students watching him.
""""...."""
The students' gazes were intense.
The students who had volunteered for the rescue team to save their friends were all moved that Eunha had come.
And when he stepped forward and─
"─Who wants to go rescue the kids with me?"
""""Oh─!! Of course only Eunha can do something like this!""""
He said what they wanted to hear.
The students clenched their fists.
☆
According to Jung Ha-yang's information,
Given that monsters appeared from the well behind the main hall, there's likely a huge space where they live inside the well.
In other words, it was speculation that a 6th underground floor exists.
The dungeon has changed quite a bit due to its transformation.
It's not that strange even if a 6th underground floor was created as a result of the dungeon's transformation.
Eunha approached the well.
When he poked his head into the well, all he could see was endless darkness.
When he spread his detection net, faint mana was detected.
But he couldn't be certain if a new floor really existed below the well.
There was no choice but to go down and see for himself.
"─Then I'll organize a party to go down with me."
First, Eunha decided to reorganize the rescue team into two groups.
One group needs to stay here and guard the well.
The wasp-type monsters didn't exist only on the 5th underground floor.
As there were various paths connecting the floors, those creatures were roaming around on any floor.
So they had to consider the possibility of being attacked from behind by them.
"Ha-yang, you stay here. I want you to stay and protect the well area from monsters approaching."
"...Can't I go with you?"
"No, it's dangerous. Just stay here."
"...Don't overprotect me. I have strength too."
"I'm not overprotecting you. You're the only one who can command the people staying behind." "If that's the case... Okay, I understand."
Eunha decided to leave Jung Ha-yang behind.
On the other hand, he felt uneasy about leaving only her, who was weak in close combat.
So he decided to add the names of friends who could handle close combat.
"Choi Eun-hyuk, Kang Si-hyung, Kim Min-ji. You stay here too."
"Huh? Boss, me too?"
"Yeah, you too."
As if he never expected to be called,
Choi Eun-hyuk's eyes widened.
He pointed at himself and asked Eunha.
Eunha answered briefly.
Then Choi Eun-hyuk made a displeased expression.
"I want to go down and save the kids too..."
"...You know?"
"...Yeah... I'll work hard, boss."
Just protect Ha-yang well.
Eunha only moved his lips.
Eun-hyuk, who was about to try persuading Eunha, quickly changed his mind.
He sensed that if he went against him, it wouldn't end well.
Meanwhile, Kim Min-ji next to them clicked her tongue as if the two were pathetic.
"The silly hyung will come with me."
"Oh! That's right! You have to include me!"
"As for Ariel, hmm..."
"Me! Me! I can do really well! You'll regret it if you go without me! Take Ariel who can even do beatbox with telepathy!"
"You really... Sigh, fine. Just stick close to me."
"Huh? Really? Then from now on I'll stick to Noh Eunha like glue?"
"Sigh..."
We don't know what will happen in the world beyond the well.
The more communication channels, the better.
Eunha added Jin Pa-rang and Ariel to his party.
He decided to leave a minimum number of telepathists in Jung Ha-yang's party.
"Next, the people who will go with me are..."
An operation to enter the monsters' lair and rescue the students.
Eunha gathered a party mainly of people skilled in combat.
Now he had to select supporters.
Of course, the supporter with skills that would satisfy Eunha was─
"─I'll go."
"..."
Only Cha Eun-woo.
Just as he thought that and was about to call her name,
Cha Eun-woo, who had been among the students, suddenly raised her hand high.
"Let me go. You'll need someone to treat the captured kids. I'll do that role. I can do it well."
"Hmm..."
Cha Eun-woo's attitude was firm.
Eunha hesitated to answer.
At first he had been thinking of including her in the party, but.
Was her gaze always this fierce?
Cha Eun-woo's eyes were sharp.
Her face looked full of determination.
She wasn't the Cha Eun-woo he normally knew.
Eunha pondered whether it was okay to take Cha Eun-woo like this.
After much deliberation─
"─You stay close to me too." "Okay, thanks. I'll make sure not to be a hindrance to you, Eunha."
Seeing the desperation in Cha Eun-woo's gaze,
Eunha included her in the party.
Thus, a party of students centered around Noh Eunha, Bae Su-bin, Jin Pa-rang, Ariel, Cha Eun-woo, Hosimiya Kaede, and Bong Gu-rae was formed.
☆
"...By the way, Eunha. I've actually been wanting to ask something." "Yeah. What is it?"
"Is that bird on your head perhaps the one that came out of that egg?"
"Ah, right. I forgot to introduce it. Hey, say hello."
After finishing organizing the party,
Eunha stood in front of the well with the party members entering the unexplored area.
And amidst the students staying behind to guard the well gathering to see them off,
Jung Ha-yang, who stepped forward as their representative, carefully asked.
It was actually a question all the students had been wanting to ask.
"Pipipi papapa pupupu!"
"Its name is Fire Chicken!"
""""...."""
When Eunha told it to greet,
The baby bird perched on Eunha's head chirped.
Ariel, who poked her head out from behind Noh Eunha, told them the baby bird's name.
The students made awkward expressions.
Jung Ha-yang also looked flustered.
"F-Fire Chicken...?"
"Pipipi!"
"It's called Fire Chicken because it looks bright red like fire!"
Because Fire Chicken seemed so satisfied, Eunha couldn't bring himself to say it was a name he didn't like.
He couldn't answer anything.
Ariel answered instead.
"Uh... Um... It sounds like a name that would like spicy noodles?"
What can you do when the monster itself likes it?
Though Jung Ha-yang looked bewildered,
She said while scratching her cheek.
Then she reached out to Eunha.
"Will you come here?" "Pipipi!"
As if understanding the meaning of her gesture,
Fire Chicken flew to Jung Ha-yang.
Jung Ha-yang caught the bird with both hands and examined the monster up close.
"I could probably check with the Player Library... But somehow it doesn't seem to be based on a common monster?"
"Pipi?"
"Really?"
"Yeah... Ah, I feel like I've seen a monster similar to Fire Chicken before, but what was it? I think it was quite high-ranked..."
It seems Jung Ha-yang sensed something from Fire Chicken.
Eunha chuckled softly.
Imagining how surprised she would be when she found out the identity of the bird she was holding.
"I'll tell you when we get back. You'll probably be shocked when you hear it."
"That much?"
"Yep. Be prepared to be surprised."
"Okay, I will. Anyway, you have to come back without getting hurt, okay?"
"I won't get hurt. Don't worry."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really."
"No. I can't believe this." "What are you going to do if you don't believe me?" "Hey." "Pi?"
While having a lively conversation with Eunha,
Jung Ha-yang spoke to Fire Chicken, who had been blankly sitting in her arms.
Fire Chicken tilted its head.
"Please take good care of my boyfriend. Can you watch and make sure he doesn't overdo it and get hurt?" "Oh geez..."
Jung Ha-yang asking a favor of the baby bird.
Eunha burst out laughing at the scene that looked like a comedy skit.
Jung Ha-yang soon laughed along with him.
"Papapa!"
Fire Chicken left her arms.
The bird that had been circling above their heads soon settled on Eunha's head and sat down.
"Then I'm going?"
"Ah, and Eunha."
"What now?"
"You remember what I said earlier, right?"
Eunha, who was taking on the vanguard role of entering the unexplored area first.
As he was about to enter the well,
Jung Ha-yang called out to him.
"Our role is to rescue the captured kids. Not to defeat the boss that might be there." "..." "You know that, right?"
Just a little while ago,
She had tipped him off about something.
That there was a high possibility the one ruling over those creatures was a 4th tier monster.
Not wanting to unnecessarily lower the students' morale,
Jung Ha-yang hadn't told the other students this.
A 4th tier monster.
Assuming it was influenced by the dungeon, it would be estimated to be at least a 4th tier overrank, a disaster-level monster.
Eunha recalled what she had mentioned.
"I told you not to worry. Do you think I'd confuse something like that?"
He's not
How many people would be crazy enough to try taking on a 4th tier monster alone?
Moreover, unless he was an idiot, would he try to face a boss with a party made up of students?
He assured her it would absolutely never happen.
Noh Eunha declared confidently.