Must Save, Entering the Dungeon (2)

After carefully checking all the combat equipment, perishables, and camping supplies in the dungeon, Renail began to shout in high spirits.

“Let’s go to the dungeon now!”

“Let’s go.”

“Yeap.”

“Oh… these people are so serious.”

Renail was excited, almost as if she would fly away in her eagerness, but her party members were calm.

Originally, in the game, the main character who didn’t know his place ran wild, and the rational Renail stopped it, but it was completely the opposite. Of course, there was only one cause.

“He’ll light up our way. You don’t have to be too nervous, but you shouldn’t be just optimistic. He’ll be disappointed.”

“Yeah, of course. Eonni, let’s leave that idiot behind and go ahead.”

“No, Save isn’t all wrong. We don’t know what kind of dangers the dungeon will show. No matter how perfectly prepared we are, we could lose our lives by committing a single mistake.”

“Hmm, yeah… Let’s be careful!”

After hearing the nagging from Louise, Save and Renail became a little calmer. However, Louise, who actually said such a thing to Renail, could not hide her coldness inside.

‘I know what kind of danger it’s going to be…’

However, this remained to be unseen. It was heartbreaking to deceive an innocent boy and girl, but this was still inevitable.

‘We’re already in the mire.’

It felt like she had signed a contract with the devil. Louise closed Evan’s notebook in her hand and put it together. From now on, she would have to be an accomplice to the devil and deceive these children.

“Then let’s go.”

“Yes!”

Louise’s party, walking on the morning streets, was very noticeable.

The first reason was that all the members looked decent, and the second reason was that Louise, who led the party, had a metal badge symbolizing Astray.

“Lady, I’ve never seen you before, and you’re so pretty, too!”

“It’s an Astray.”

“That’s the new rumored member of Astray? She looks like a noble…”

“What, so the two beside her are new?”

“Maybe they’re candidates? They’re both pretty, too.”

As expected, they were all judged by their appearances. Even Evan, who reached the pinnacle of beauty, could not escape it. Louise promptly herded her companions to the dungeon’s entrance, ignoring the explorers who were busy whispering everywhere.

“You’re in a good position.”

“That’s right. Master Evan has my back. What do you think?”

“I don’t think Master Evan himself picked you. How did you get into Astray? Hmm, no, I get it. Women can use their bodies as weapons…”

“Ha, as expected, the outsiders don’t know anything. You haven’t seen Master Evan yet, have you?

There was quite a mixture of dirty stories among the words heard from all over the place.

Save, who thought Evan was a god, was upset and reached for the halberd behind his back, but Louise firmly stopped him.

“They’re just jealous of us. If we react, we lose.”

“Jealous? You mean us?”

“Of course. Now the city is centered around the teacher. When they see us under his protection, they become just ordinary explorers who have nothing.”

There was such a calculation when Louise first arrived at Sherden and found Evan, although, she was in a completely different situation from what she had planned when she first asked for Evan’s help. Of course, she was satisfied now.

“I can’t believe anyone could take his hand… they were just poor people.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

Save, who had an expression like he was going to tear a person to death after hearing them insult Evan, quickly regained his calm. “If he hadn’t chosen me, I’d still be a nobody in the countryside. I sympathize with them, but I won’t hate them.”

“I think that’s too much…”

Jealousy, which stemmed from an earnest desire, was not a sin unless it developed into an act that would harm others.

Of course, they had insulted him verbally, but they were lenient with him because they thought a lamb had joined Astray.

“We just need to be strong. If you show that you can be confident without your teacher’s protection, that kind of gaze will quickly disappear.”

“You’re an apostle. I’ll keep that in mind. But I can’t stand him being insulted because of me…!”

“Oh, he’s in his fanatic mode again.”

The party left behind the small commotion and came to the entrance of the real dungeon, the magic camp. A member of the Ironwall Knights, who had been waiting for Evan, welcomed them.

“Good luck.”

“Yes, we’ll be back safely.”

Originally, entering the dungeon required a fairly strict inspection process from the knight and wizards, but of course, the Louise party had a free pass from this.

Three of them stood on the magic circle, and as soon as the wizard muttered something, the light came upon them. When they closed their eyes for a moment because they couldn’t overcome the glare, they were automatically transported to the inside of the dungeon.

[It’ll be fate to come across him.]

[That’s funny. I can’t believe you’re after him.]

[Are you struggling to correct your broken destiny? Or…]

[Are they just a sculpted ship that was sent off by him?]

In a series of messages that came to his ears, Save instantly flinched and looked around, but the only thing that covered all sides was the endless darkness.

Audience? No, it was definitely a voice with a distinct meaning. If so… then maybe this was his test. The hand that had been holding onto his halberd clenched.

‘There’s something I need to pursue in the dungeon.’

Come to think of it… he wasn’t the one who led them to the dungeon. Save clenched his teeth with a firm determination.

Of course, if Evan had known it, he would have said it was just a Dungeon login message, but he wasn’t here. Perhaps Save would never know it.

“Okay, then let’s go.”

Louise, who came to her senses a little later than Save, looked at the compass and spoke. Their primary priority was navigation.

“Do you know how to navigate?”

“I learned it from my teacher.”

“As expected!”

“As expected.”

Renail and Save both expressed admiration simultaneously, but the meaning contained in them seemed a little different. Louise moved on, not wanting to pay attention anymore.

“It’s very wide…”

“I can feel the wind everywhere.”

“Oh, really? I can’t tell…”

Louise didn’t feel it, either. However, it was clearly felt by Save.

The countless lives that were living and breathing in this huge space, the ones that were hostile to them, the ones that were on alert, the ones that didn’t notice them, and the ones that were running forward with the same purpose as them…

[Learned Passive Skill: Trace Detection Lv.1]

“Huh?”

A small smile came to the lips of Save after seeing the sudden status notification.

Even though he had trained alone in the village for so long, he gained skills as soon as he entered the dungeon.

“Louise, I think I can sense movements.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ve got a skill. It’s like… it’s like a tool. Just give me directions, and I’ll try to catch things we need to be wary of.”

“Uh….”

Louise only felt half-confident, but decided to listen to him as she had nothing to lose. It was a good choice.

“I think there’s a trap ahead.”

“It’s real.”

“Well, should we cover it with dirt?”

They couldn’t possibly be threatened because now they could find the location of the hidden traps!

“Oh, I found the trigger. I think we can break it down……. Alright, move forward again.”

“Wait, everyone, stop. I feel something…”

They found a monster that had been sneaking up on them since earlier!

“The ceiling!”

“A dungeon spider!”

One of the biggest factors that had led to the rapid increase in the difficulty of the early dungeon were these monsters.

They had brown bodies similar to the earthen walls that covered the dungeon, and were known for secretly crawling through the ceiling and walls, waiting for an opening to attack.

Although they were not poisonous, the spider’s web was threatening because it made weapons useless, and some of its front legs were very sharp.

It was surprisingly strong and often ran away with a few of the party members. A party member who was caught by them would never come back. Its notoriety was so high that it even earned the nickname ‘novice killer’.

“Renail, drop that!”

“Leave it to me!”

However, it was not a threat to them because they knew its approach in advance. As soon as Save warned them, Louise chanted sharply, and Renail immediately cast beginner’s magic.

-Oh, no!

The leg of the spider, which rose upside down from the ceiling, fell onto the floor. Louise rushed as if she were waiting for it, and hit the spider hard with her shield.

Boom!

The spider’s body burst with a banging sound. Thanks to the shield, Louise’s body was not covered with spider fluid. She sighed and turned around to speak.

“You did a great job, Save. How did you know? I didn’t think you had this ability.”

“It told me.”

“…I don’t understand, but okay.”

‘I don’t want to get any closer with him,’ Louise thought desperately and moved on. The center of the dungeon was waiting for them.

* * *

At about the same time, all of the Astray Knights, including Mirole, who cleared the dungeon to the 31st floor, headed back to the dungeon.

Both senior and junior groups had reached the 31st floor, but they decided not to join up and instead proceeded separately.

“Oh, it’s a spider.”

They often appeared in the heart of the dungeon.

They evolved according to their living environment and were drastically different than the spiders on the first floor as they ate other monsters and leveled up to become much stronger.

“You know that spider webs are unexpectedly annoying, right? If you don’t want to throw away your clothes, you can intercept them yourself, because I won’t help you.”

“I see. There aren’t any more of them.”

“What? Spiders…There was…”

“There are no more.”

That was a terse reply from Mirole. Evan raised his hand and stopped pointing into the air. He didn’t even see her raise her bow, but she seemed to have cleared it up in an instant.

“I’m happy that my ability, which has been stagnant for many years, is growing as my dungeon level increases. My body movements have become more prominent. That’s how I can shoot arrows faster.”

“I see….”

‘I see. This is how other party members felt when they saw me.’ Mirole had a belated realization.

The other party members were stunned by the fact that someone could move faster than Evan.

“Wait, so, is there something we can do in the dungeon when we’re with those two?”

“Hush, be quiet.”

“Let’s go to the 70th floor. But if you think it’s still that way, I’ll take you alone.”

“No, I’m the one that’s moving with Evan.”

“It’s my job to serve the Master. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to give in.”

Without even consulting with Evan, the party members were already thinking about splitting the party in two and choosing to see who would be Evan’s partner. Raihan felt dumbfounded.

“Everyone, we’re inside the Dungeon. The enemy is weak, but if you relax-”

“-no more.”

“…What?”

At the moment, Raihan looked back with his head tilted at the voice heard from behind.

There was a figure of Mirole putting up her bow.

“There are no more enemies. I’ve taken care of everything.”

“You took care of everything…?”

“Yes, the entire floor.”

Mirole smiled slightly as she said this.

“There are no monsters on this floor anymore. Let’s go to the next floor.”

“3333…”

The party decided to stop thinking and silently went to the next floor.