Chapter 142

 

The dungeon boss is already dead, so there’s no danger. Besides, Choi Yichan is strong, so I believe he’s safe…….

What happened? Didn’t we get sucked in together? Hmm … at least we’ll see him when we get out of here, right?

Now I really wanted to get out of this dungeon as soon as possible, I was exhausted and my head was still a mess.

“The boss is dead, so we can leave, right?” HingHungHong asked in a tired voice.

“For now, yes, but there seems to be a slight problem.”

“……a problem?” I asked, alarmed by the clue in his tone.

Here’s what he said next: the phenomenon commonly referred to as Dungeon Call is more accurately described as world erosion. In other words, the other world is trying to erode our current world.

“It’s kind of like an alien invasion in a sci-fi film or something similiar.”

For some reason, the dungeon looks like something out of a sci-fi film, so that’s where the analogy came from.

“The dungeon boss … the King of the Otherworld has been defeated, but the ship they came in, the Source, remains.”

“The source?”

“The Sephiroth branch of the false world.”

In my head, I connected Ki Yoohyun’s words with the information I’d obtained through the system. Is this about the world tree that came from another world to invade this world?

Aside from the fact that the scale is so ridiculously large that it doesn’t really make sense … is that why the modifier ‘of the false world’ was added after the name?

At that moment, HingHungHong suddenly interrupted, “How do you know this?”

“That’s…”

“That’s right! More than that, I saw what you did earlier and you looked really strong.”

HingHungHong didn’t seem to be very perceptive. Even after seeing the battle earlier, he hadn’t guessed Ki Yoohyun’s identity in the slightest.

“Haha …. I’m just one of the Hunters who got caught up in this.” Ki Yoohyun smiled awkwardly.

“I thought I had seen your skills somewhere before too! That famous … you know who.”

“…….”

“…….”

“Huh? Why is everyone just staring at me? Did I say something weird?”

I quickly changed the subject before HingHungHong reached the correct answer, “But I’ve already killed all the monster branches. Cheese Pizza-ssi here is the last one.”

“Well….” Ki Yoohyun thought for a moment before adding, though he didn’t seem convinced, “There might be a body left somewhere.”

“…… again?”

It’s not like it’s a summer weed that multiplies indefinitely no matter what you pull! I’m sick of plant-type monsters.

“If it’s the main body … Ouch!”

I couldn’t finish my sentence.

Kugugung━ Suddenly, the floor shook violently. The walls and pillars of the hall moved and the space changed shape. Raging waves of ether enveloped us and sucked us in.

“Ash, be careful……!”

I looked back at Ash first while trying not to lose my balance. He was helping the grandfather of the Demon King Cult Twilight from falling. The part-timer of our house really grew up well.

“Aaaah!”

“….Rieul-ssi!”

Ki Yoohyun caught me as I stumbled.

Kugugugung, kung, kung━

After a moment, the shaking stopped and I came to my senses. My surroundings were unfamiliar again. It seemed that the etheric wave had transported us earlier.

[You have arrived at the deepest part of ‘Dungeon: Temple of the False World.’]

[Let’s stop the erosion of the False World by destroying the source of the dungeon.]

“…….”

“…….”

How many layers this dungeon had? How about changing its name to Matryoshka1 Dungeon?

The space in front of me looked more like a hospital than a temple. There was a door at the end of a white-walled corridor. Strange. This is supposed to be the deepest part of the dungeon, but it looked too ordinary to be a dungeon. It’s as if two completely different buildings were joined together.

“Why is there a hospital out of nowhere?”

Ki Yoohyun stared at the door at the end of the corridor, “I feel a strange power coming from there. There’s something there.”

“Could that be the source of the dungeon?”

“Maybe. When we defeated the boss, the dungeon earlier lost its power and collapsed, and I think that source pulled us here.”

“So over there it’s the … end, then.”

I hope this one is the ‘real_final_last_final_end.’

There might be new dangers ahead, so the people of the Demon King Cult Twilight, which consisted of many elderly and middle-aged people, decided to wait here. Cheese Pizza and Lee Yoomi stayed behind in case a monster appeared.

“Everyone, please be careful.” The grandfather, the leader, bowed his head.

“Come visit our store next time when you get out of here. You are the ones who took care of our Ash.”

Ash decided to go with me, even though I told him he didn’t have to. After a few moments of regrouping, we reached the door at the end of the corridor.

“Can I open it?”

“Hold on, let me take a look.” K Yoohyun was about to check the other side of the door.

Click, the door opened.

“…Uh?”

“My niece….?”

Choi Cedric, my uncle, and a Healer who visited our cafe before, appeared.

Why are you guys coming out of there……?

***

How did you get here, what has happened so far that you couldn’t contact me, etc …….. I had a lot of questions, but I couldn’t ask any of them.

Because inside the hospital room, on the bed, there was a slender girl lying there.

A huge silver flower sprouted from her body, and the sight of it answered the question in my mind. Ah, that’s it. That’s the root of the dungeon and what caused this situation.

At first I thought it was the same as the monster branches I had defeated. However, no, this was different, much stronger, and I could instinctively feel its overwhelming power.

“Heuh, ah, ugh….!”

The girl gasped and twisted her body. She looked tortured. It was a pitiful sight that made me want to do something about it right away, but … plant roots sprouted from under her epidermis like blood vessels. It seemed to have completely fused with the girl’s body, making it difficult to separate.

“That’s ……. what on earth is that?”

Choi Cedric muttered, his face twisted in pain, “It’s Rona.”

Rona? I’ve heard that name before. Surely … yes, that was the name of Cedric’s sick sister.

“Eugh, ahhh, aghh….” Rona screamed, tearing at the sheets. Choi Cedric, unable to bear the sight of her, tried to reach her, but the giant silver plant grew even larger and pushed him away.

“Move! Ugh … let go of our Rona!”

Sriiing━ Choi Cedric raised his sword.

“Wait! Stop!” My uncle tried to stop him, but it was late. Choi Cedric relentlessly cut down the plant in front of him.

Tuk, the flower fell.

“Aaaahhh!” In that moment, Rona cried out in pain, as if her body had been cut.

“Oh, no…….” Choi Cedric, white as a sheet, stopped his sword. A new flower quickly grew in the place of the cut.

“Damn, I can’t believe he left a trap like this…….”

“What happened?”

Ki Yoohyun asked my uncle. Without turning his gaze away from the scene in front of him, Uncle briefly explained what had happened. He had originally tried to cure Rona with some kind of elixir, but at that moment, that flower sprouted on her, and the hospital room itself was dragged into the dungeon.

But it’s strange.

What sprouted from the girl’s body looked like the monster branches, except with flowers on them. It’s unlikely that the girl, who was asleep the whole time, was drinking Super Buff Coffee, so why did that tree grow out of Rona’s body?

To my question, my uncle answered briefly, “It’s because of the Grimoire.”

“….the grimoire?”

It’s book that the owner of Azalea Pawnshop mentioned. What does that book have to do with this current situation?

“It’s a long story, but … that girl is keeping a Grimoire. It attracts otherworldly beings with a power that is incomparable to that of a golden wine.”

The Sephiroth branch had been hidden in Rona’s body for a very long time, but it hadn’t sprouted until now. Just as a plant needs soil, light, and nutrients to grow. With the presence of the girl, the grimoire, and the elixir, the environment for it to take root has finally been completed.

I asked if the flower was the same kind as the monster branches, if it could be destroyed with ginger ale, but he shook his head.

Sephiroth branches feed on dreams. And when it has consumed all the dreams, the flower begins to bloom. He told me that once it begins to bloom, no medicine can help. I felt my vision go black.

“And that flower is … the source of the dungeon. When it’s fully bloomed, then…….”

My uncle trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. It was Ki Yoohyun who picked up where he left off.

“The dungeon break will occur, and countless monsters will appear through it to attack our world.”

“Then, what should we do…….”

Tiring! At that time, the system notification rang again. The notification that popped up this time could be seen by everyone present.

[Let’s stop the erosion of the False World by destroying the source of the dungeon.]

No way, this message meant …. a possibility I didn’t want to think about popped into my head.

“Aaaah, heuuugh….!”

Rona screamed in agony. The roots that had burrowed deeper beneath her epidermis began to stir. It was almost too painful to watch.

This is ridiculous. That can’t be possible.

Then, as if to refute my thoughts, a system alert popped up again.

[Dungeon Break will occur if the dungeon’s source is not destroyed.]

[The inhabitants of the False World are targeting this world. Destroy the dungeon’s source to stop them.]

“…….”

“…….”

A heavy silence descended. No one dared to speak, all of us glaring at the bizarre flower.

“No way, that girl … does that mean we should kill her……?”

The atmosphere froze in place at Jijon’s rather insensitive remarks.

“Eup, why, eup, let go of me …. heup!”

Next to him, HingHungHong hurriedly covered Jijon’s mouth.

“You can’t do that.” Then, with red, bloodshot eyes, Choi Cedric spoke up, “I don’t care what the system says, I don’t care what happens. I won’t let anything harm my Rona.”

Sreeek━ Choi Cedric drew his sword. He showed us that he was willing to use his sword to protect Rona if necessary.

Who could have told such a person about the danger of the Dungeon Break? No one could dare to step forward, and a strange alternate state continued.

“Eonni.”

I heard a voice call out to me.

Who is it? There’s no one here who can call me that2.

I glanced around, my eyes landing on Rona on the bed. Swallowing a groan, she nodded. She was speaking in my head.

“….Rona?”

Translator’s Corner:

 

Russian doll. A set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another .

 

↩︎

 

Since everyone else in the room are men, only Rona could call her ‘Eonni’. ↩︎