Level Up - Chapter 21

“Isn’t the atmosphere here heavier than normal?”

Joo Kyung Cheol frowned at the words. He was thinking the same though.

He wasn’t just gloomy about the atmosphere. He kept feeling something annoying.

“And look at the map of the cave here. It looks like an ant den.”

“An ant den?”

Joo Kyung Cheol’s complexion changed and he took the pad from the guild member and checked the map he drew so far.

The map looks really like an ant den. Of course, it was more complicated than a real ant den.

There were many roads, and some twisted parts.

However, the overall shape was clearly an anthill.

“Surely… … No way iron ants will appear?”

The guild members who heard Joo Kyung Cheol’s lowly murmur were stiff.

Iron ants, as their name implies, were ants with a body that was as solid as steel. It was about twice the size of a person, and the mandibles on the mouth were sharp like a knife.

It crawls on six legs, and the moment you find out how fast it is, you have to prepare for it to rush.

When an iron ant sees an enemy, it rushes at it and receives it with its body. The blades on the mouth exert great power at that time.

If you want to catch a rush of iron ants head-on, you must always be mindful of the danger of them piercing your stomach with their mandibles.

Anyway, it was really dangerous to meet iron ants in this terrain. So everyone was agitated for a moment.

Of course, the moment of agitation was very short.

“Ah, my brother too. Could it be? Think about the dungeon level here. It is bronze level 3. Are iron ants weak?”

“Right?”
Everyone relaxed a little. Iron ants were first encountered from the 3rd grade. There has never been a mention of iron ants found in a lower class dungeon.

In other words, it means that you will never encounter a beast like an iron ant until you reach the minimum gold level 3.

So, of course, there couldn’t be iron ants in this bronze level 3 dungeon.

However, Joo Kyung Cheol continued to look around and did not let go of the tension because of an unknown anxiety.

‘I don’t like it. At times like this, a major accident always happens… … .’

The moment Joo Kyung Cheol thought about it, something instantly shined in the distance from the cave.

“Wait? What?”

Everyone’s gaze naturally turned toward that. However, the sparkle itself was so instantaneous that everyone made a confused expression.

“Why’d you do that, brother?”

“Something just flashed over there… … .”

“I can’t see anything.”

“As I saw earlier, obviously… … !”

Joo Kyung Cheol couldn’t finish his speech without leaving. Because he found something fast approaching.

“Attack!”

As he shouted so, it passed Joo Kyung Cheol, who flung his body sideways as something huge passed by.

It was extremely fast, but there was no sound. Only a faint smacking sound was heard.

And something huge that passed by and hit the Crimson Poison Guild.

Puff!

Pugh!

Guild members went out and fell in all directions. And one disappeared with the giant monster.

With the hip pierced.

“My god, iron ants! Was that just an iron ant? Right?”

Joo Kyung Cheol cried urgently. Then Kwak Myeong Jin, who flung his body almost at the same time as Joo Kyung Cheol, replied with a quizzical expression.

“That’s right. T-this is definitely Bronze level 3… … How the hell are iron ants… … .”

Joo Kyung Cheol’s face was distorted for good reason. Somehow, it didn’t feel good when I first came in. He should have gone outside the moment he felt the strange ominousness that came from all sides.

‘It’s not too late yet.’

We haven’t come very far from the entrance yet. So we just need to go back like this. Before the iron ants flock to them.

“Hurry! Get out of here right now. Everyone get up quickly!”

Joo Kyung Cheol gave orders as if shouting. It was not easy to organize this situation without showing such a coercive appearance.

The guild members scattered on the floor woke up. Everyone looked disoriented by pain.

As they bumped into the rushing iron ants, everyone broke bones in several places. However, players are not ordinary people. They could move even with a broken bone.

Although the pain is the same.

The only good people were Joo Kyung Cheol and Kwak Myung Jin. The two of them had flung away to avoid it.

Kwak Myung Jin, who was a little ahead, turned to find the way, deciding to go back down the road.

And Joo Kyung Cheol decided to prepare for iron ants that might come again. Joo Kyung Cheol remembered the shield artifact.

If you knew that this was an iron ant cave in the first place, you wouldn’t have been in such trouble.

‘Damn it. I was too relaxed.’

I have a high level, but can I be beaten by only one iron ant? Would I find out if I were crowded?

Even if he had only taken his shield in advance, he would have properly prevented the rush of iron ants.

The scary thing about iron ants is because of the rush. Once you mobilize a shield and make it stop, there were many ways to deal with it.

It has a steel-like shell, so a weapon doesn’t work well, but if it doesn’t move, a weapon can penetrate the shell and hit the inside of the body.

It was also effective to use a weapon such as a hammer to give an impact.

Joo Kyung Cheol was in the middle of a group moving together. Iron ants might come from the front or from the back, so he was in the middle to cope with the situation.

Fortunately, however, he no longer met the iron ants until the party arrived where they were.

But the problem wasn’t the iron ants.

“What? How did this happen?”

“This, the entrance is gone!”

Everyone was very embarrassed. Obviously this way was right.

“Signal! The signal?”

Joo Kyung Cheol checked the signal and went to the place where the device was buried. No one touched it.

In case he might touch someone, he put a mark that only he could recognize, and the mark was fine. No one came here, and no one touched it.

That meant that the entrance that was really here was gone.

“How can you do this? Where the hell has the entrance gone!”

Joo Kyung Cheol exclaimed in confusion. He has never heard of the entrance moving.

“Brother! I think I will have to move.”

Due to the words of Kwak Myung Jin, Joo Kyung Cheol’s temper flared.

“Where are you going! We have to find the missing entrance first!”

“No, it’s too wide here. If ants come from all sides, defense will be impossible!”

Kwak Myeong Jin also screamed as if it was stuffy.

Joo Kyung Cheol’s mind flashed as if he had poured cold water over it.

And the feeling of a fight wrapped around his body.

Crack!

There was a crackling sound from all sides. The sound was quite loud. It wasn’t a sound that one or two iron ants could make.

Everyone’s faces, including Joo Kyung Cheol, went pale.

Iron ants poured out of holes everywhere. There were more than ten.

“Everyone hold on somehow!”

At the order of Joo Kyung Cheol, the guild members ground their teeth and swung their weapons. In preparation for such a case, he was prepared to wield his weapon at any time, so he was not helplessly swept away by the iron ants.

Chae Chae Chae Chae Chae-Cheng!

However, it was not enough to deal with a group of iron ants by themselves.

Of course, that was also very well known by Joo Kyung Cheol.

So the choice he made was to run alone. Throwing his colleagues as food for iron ants.

“You motherfucker!”

In the ear of Joo Kyung Cheol, who moved his body, he heard Kwak Myeong-jin swearing. Joo Kyung Cheol muttered with a cold expression.

“You originally knew I was a bad guy.”

* * *

There were few signs of the fight left. The iron ants returned to the nest with all their prey.

In the ant den, there was a room for iron ants, a room for iron ant eggs, and finally a room for the queen ant.

Iron ants are not picky eaters. It means that they don’t just eat meat. It eats all the clothes and equipment the player is wearing, and even the corpses of allies.

So, it was rather strange that the rubble remained on the battlefield.

Hyeon Seok hid and watched all the sights. The iron ants killed or injured all members of the Crimson Poison guild, and took all the bodies of the dead iron ants.

But not everyone died.

As soon as the first fight began, Joo Kyung Cheol, who escaped, survived, and Choi Chang Soo, who somehow removed his body during the fight, survived.

Unfortunately, the two fled in the same direction.

“It will be polite to watch over you to the end.”

Hyun Seok started moving quickly in the direction where the two disappeared.

By now, the iron ants will be having dinner. This means that there are few iron ants walking around in the ant den.

Hyun Seok moved quickly, but he was not in a hurry. It was because he knew well what would come out when they went this way.

At this end, a queen ant lives.

* * *

Kuung! Kuung! Kuung!

Joo Kyung Cheol and Choi Chang Soo’s expressions were distorted by the heavy movement of the queen ant.

Joo Kyung Cheol was still holding a shield, and Choi Chang Soo was holding a sharp sword.

The two were forced to work together. I was standing near the entrance where the queen ant entered.

“Is it good to run away to live alone?”

When Choi Chang Soo talked, Joo Kyung Cheol smiled.

“Because you say that, you won’t live. Don’t talk and start the fight.”

“If you don’t say anything, I’ll do well, so block yourself well. Don’t stab me in the back.”

They may say that, but both were contemplating how to get the other one to run away as a bait.

‘The moment it is blocked with a shield, I’ll slide down and exit.’

Choi Chang Soo thought so and his eyes shone. It was possible though. No matter how much Joo Kyung Cheol is trash, he will block it with a shield at least once. That way he will live by himself.

Kugugugung!

The queen ant approached quickly. Because of the enormous size she filled her den, there was no room to slip out by her side.

Even if you slide down, you have to pass through the bent part of the leg.

Choi Chang Soo was confident. He has been watching similar scenes for two months without rest.

The queen ant came close to him. Joo Kyung Cheol clenched his teeth and raised his shield.
And Choi Chang-soo immediately tried to slide down. But he couldn’t.

“Fuck!”

Choi Chang Soo grabbed his chest and staggered. The moment he tried to slide, something hit his chest.

When I checked, it was a small stone.

“Oh shit!”

Kuung!

Joo Kyung Cheol showed the power of level 54 without regret. As if proving that he didn’t raise the level by picking the ground, the shield artifact was also properly infused with magic.

Woosh!

The Queen Ant pushed Joo Kyung Cheol little by little. However, Joo Kyung Cheol was not easily pushed back.

“What are you doing! I’m not going to last!”

“Damn it! I know I’m not doing this because I want to!”

Choi Chang Soo was irritated and tried to swing his sword. But he couldn’t. Another thing hit him in the chest.
“Gagging!”

A stronger shock came this time.

“What are you doing!”

It was not Choi Chang Soo but someone else who answered Joo Kyung Cheol’s cry.

“What am I doing? I’m trying to punish you.”

Joo Kyung Cheol got goosebumps at the voice he heard behind him. How and when did he get behind him? There was no one in this room except the queen ant.

“Then I’ll be good at it.”

Hyun Seok struck Joo Kyung Cheol’s hand holding the shield with his fist.

Kwa-duk!

The sound of breaking bones rang.

“Ahhhhhh!”

Joo Kyung Cheol screamed and stepped back. In the distance, his vision blurred by the pain, he saw Hyun Seok slowly escaping the gap in the legs of the queen ant.

“Hey motherfucker!”

Of course, it was an empty cry.

The queen ant struck both of them.

Bang!

The rough sound of stalks rang in the cave.

Hyun Seok moved away from there and his eyes brightened. Now the time has come to clear the dungeon.

‘First… … I’ll have to deal with those who are outside first.’

He didn’t even feel guilty about destroying the Crimson Poison Guild.

These were trash among trash. If they do not disappear and remain, many people will fall into the pit of hell in the future.

Hyun Seok moved quickly toward the entrance to the dungeon he had hidden.