Level Up - Chapter 10

The man who sneaked into the dungeon, Park Geun Han, moved cautiously. He believes in his ability and his equipment. After all, he had made considerable investments to get his current equipment.

The missions he mostly received were to sneak into the dungeons like this, so what he needed most was stealth. That’s why most of the equipment he had was focused on stealth.

The leather armor he wore was made by processing the leather of the Chameleon Drake, which usually appears in a Gold 5 dungeon.
He also engraved the cores extracted from the Chameleon Drake on it, so it succeeded in reproducing some of the beast’s abilities.

Park Geun Han was able to hide his appearance by assimilating with the surrounding colors. At first glance, the performance was so good, and it looked like he was an invisible man. But that was only if he doesn’t move. If he did, then it would cause disharmony with his surroundings.
Even so, it was still one of the finest equipment for him.

The leather boots he wore were also made by mixing special ingredients collected from the soles of the Black Leopard’s feet. Thanks to that, most of the sounds and even the signs of his movements have disappeared.

Obviously, Park Geun Han’s main duties were spying or assassination.

These two equipment alone were enough to spy on most people or teams.

And the knife he had, made by processing the horns of the Chameleon Drake, was a weapon specialized in assassination.

So he didn’t worry at all as he entered the dungeon. To be honest, his level was enough to go to a Silver 1 dungeon.

Therefore, there was no real threat in entering a Bronze 1 dungeon, so he lightheartedly took this mission.

Usually, he monitored players with higher levels, but this time Ryu Ji Hye was in charge, so he gladly took over. Of course, he thought that the mission would end in a very simple manner.

“She believes in her looks way too much.”

Ryu Ji Hye knew too well that she was pretty, and she knew how to make the right use of it.
In Park Geun Han’s view, that was her biggest problem.

“Well, it could be seen as a skill if you look at it differently.”

Yet, the level gap was quite wide at times like this, so it would have been much better for her to perform a mission that suited her capabilities.
In any case, Park Geun Han considered her delays as her personal tendencies.

Park Geun Han, who entered the dungeon, first found the location of Hyun Seok’s party.

He was also well-versed in tracking, so he found them in no time.

Moreover, within the dungeon are magical monsters.

“Considering their level, they couldn’t just wander around in the dungeon without caution.
So there was a high probability of them being somewhere around here.”

Park Geun Han looked carefully around, hiding his appearance, finding traces here and there.

“Well, you usually don’t have to cover your tracks in a dungeon.”

One could break the core to clear the dungeon, and the dungeon would disappear, so only a few players were careful to cover their tracks.

Moreover, it was very important to find the right dungeon for your level.

Hunting may be easy if you go to a lower-leveled dungeon, but there is no chance of growing stronger. On the other hand, if one goes to a dungeon above their capabilities, the risk of death is high.

So parties would usually conduct sufficiently advanced research before going into a dungeon.
That’s why unless the monster from a dungeon is specialized in tracking and hiding, no players have bothered to erase their tracks.

And that general tendency benefitted Park Geun Han when he spied on someone.

The same was true this time as well. He found their traces easily and pinpointed their direction only minutes after he entered the dungeon.

Park Geun Han eased his steps. There was no reason to be hasty. Dungeon clears are not that simple and fast, so he had plenty of time to watch.

After all, Ryu Ji Hye hasn’t done anything for ten days, so no one could say anything about Park Geun Han completing his mission a few hours later.

“I think I can finish this in a few hours.”

Park Geun Han smiled. Of course, he didn’t stop walking. For now, he thought it was better to find the target quickly.

After walking for a while, Park Geun Han suddenly pricked up his ears at a sound. He was called a competent pursuer and watcher because he could pick up little details like this.

He stopped and focused on the sound.

“The sound of wings?”

He heard the sound of an insect’s flapping wings. Though it was quite far, he was correct.
He thought for a moment and realized that he didn’t check what kind of dungeon this was. Of course, it didn’t mean much, but there was a clear difference between knowing such information and not knowing at all.

“It would have been much more helpful to know what kind of monsters were here.”

It was already too late for that though, and he already had a rough idea anyway, since there’s only one kind of flying insect in a dungeon.

“A Thunder Dragonfly’s nest.”

He thought about the characteristics of the Thunder Dragonfly. They weren’t much of a threat to him, except that the electric current can shock an opponent.

“It doesn’t matter even if they come in droves.”
As if to respond to Park Geun Han’s confident words, a flock of Thunder Dragonflies came from afar.

“Let’s see… one, two, three… Twelve?”
He couldn’t let his guard down against twelve Thunder Dragonflies. But that’s only if he fights back. There would be no problems when it comes to fleeing.

Park Geun Han hesitated for a moment.
It was then that he saw a person running in front of the Thunder Dragonflies.

“Chae Hyun Seok?”

“What the hell is wrong with him, and where are all the other members?”

Park Geun Han made a quick decision.

“I have to get out.”

He had to get out of the dungeon. Park Geun Han was only spying them so it didn’t matter if he ran away from here without helping Hyun Seok.

No, rather, it was more of a problem if he got caught. He wasn’t a member of the team, but he was in the dungeon.

He had nothing to say if he got caught.

“Well… Those low-level twerps won’t be able to do anything to me anyway.”

Still, there was nothing beneficial for him if he got caught. Park Geun Han swiftly stepped back cautiously.

The dungeon’s entrance was not far from here, so it was really simple to run away.

“Shit, they’re fuckin’ fast.”

The Thunder Dragonflies came to him at a rapid speed. Park Geun Han turned around.

There was nothing more to look at. The situation was urgent over there as well, so they probably wouldn’t notice he was here.

He kept on running but he began to panic after a while.

“What? This is a little weird.”

No matter how hard he ran, the exit to the dungeon did not appear.

Basically, the entrance and exit of the dungeon have the same shape. Also, once it was created, the position would not change.

He followed the same path he came from, but the exit was nowhere to be seen. Park Geun Han didn’t even try to hide his presence any longer and he just ran as fast as possible. Still, he couldn’t shake off the dragonflies that were tailing him.

“Damn it!”

He was running so fast that he could be barely seen. But no matter how hard he ran, he couldn’t find the exit.

Looking at the surrounding scenery, he did not go in the wrong direction. He was certain that the dungeon exit had disappeared. Park Geun Han turned back with a puzzled look. Now that the exit was gone, he had no choice but to fight those Thunder Dragonflies.

“Where did he go?”

When he turned around and checked, he couldn’t see Hyun Seok.

But the Thunder Dragonflies were still flying towards him.

He had no choice but to fight a dozen Thunder Dragonflies alone.

“Ah… really. I’m going to have to sweat a little.”
Even now, Park Geun Han is not taking the situation seriously.

What made him serious was the thunderstorm the dragonflies poured towards him.

Kkurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Park Geun Han avoided the lightning bolts with his superhuman reflexes. It was an unexpected blow, so avoiding it was mostly luck.

“Wha… what, what is this!?”

He thought they were a Thunder Dragonfly, but they turned out to be mutated ones. Park Geun Han clenched his sword and tried to regain his composure as much as possible.

In this case, he had to retreat. But he didn’t have a choice. The Thunder Dragonflies poured out lightning one after another.

Park Geun Han jumped around in fright.

“What?! Don’t tell me those 12 are all mutants? No way!”

A mutated Thunder Dragonfly was a boss. That said, this dungeon must’ve had twelve bosses. But that was ridiculous. Park Geun Han’s face turned black.

Before he knew it, twelve Thunder Dragonflies had already surrounded him. They were mutants so they’re intelligent as well.

There was tension on Park Geun Han’s face. Then, countless lightning bolts started striking him.

“ARGHH!”

He was able to avoid the first two but had to take the rest with his body. It’s just impossible to dodge all of them.

Thankfully, he had a pretty high resistance. If he didn’t, he would have lost his consciousness now.

“Shit! My body isn’t moving.”

He was paralyzed after getting hit, and fear covered Park Geun Han’s eyes as the twelve dragonflies had started surrounding him.

The dragonflies opened their mouths in unison, and their shark-like teeth began to tear the still body in front of them.

* * *

Choi Chang Soo was watching from afar as Park Geun Han was being eaten by the Thunder Dragonflies.

“Damn. I’m getting goosebumps.”

For a moment, he forgot the fact that although Hyun Seok may look ordinary, he was the cruelest person Chang Soo had ever known.

Who knew that he’d actually gather the magical monsters and then throw them at the enemy? Chang Soo was certain that he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if he made someone like Hyun Seok his enemy.

He and his comrades had once again firmly decided not to leave Hyun Seok’s side.

“I have to make it that way.”

He doesn’t want anything to break their current life pattern. So he watched ’till the end.

“Well…, it’s a punishment, so it’s fine.”

Choi Chang Soo turned around after confirming Park Geun Han’s end. Now, it’s time to hunt those dragonflies again.

* * *

The dungeon was cleared relatively fast. The dragonflies were not in a good condition because Park Geun Han had resisted at the last moment.

Hyun Seok and his party, who warped out of the dungeon, received a startled look from Ryu Ji Hye.

“You’re alright?”

Hyun Seok simply nodded lightly at Ji Hye’s question.

She could only sigh softly because Hyun Seok’s expression was as cold as when she had first met him.

A madman blew her ten days of effort into the air.

“I’m not going to sit still if he’s really going to do it this way.” Ryu Ji Hye’s eyes flashed sharply.