The End of the Path We’ve Walked (8)
After pausing mid-step to turn around and briefly gaze at the lodging where Chae Do-min was, Sa Hae-geon soon moved again to follow his team members. Despite having trained to conquer dungeons by dividing into teams, the Espers all moved together in one large group.
Sa Hae-geon found this quite amusing. Rather than splitting into different directions, so many people moving together—where else could one find such inefficiency? Still, since they all had more experience than him, he quietly followed along, assuming they must have their reasons.
Dealing with the monsters wasn’t particularly difficult. As the conquest progressed smoothly, the Espers became somewhat bewildered. They had been intimidated by the notorious S-class dungeon, yet the monsters were collapsing with just minimal use of abilities. It wasn’t as if this were a C-class dungeon.
By this point, it seemed like this dungeon with its abnormal emergence time and unstable wavelength might actually be easier than usual. Some people who were puzzled by the strange situation couldn’t contain their curiosity and questioned the Espers who had participated in conquering the S-class dungeon that occurred about 10 years ago.
“Was it this easy 10 years ago too? The monsters are all dropping like flies—was there anything difficult about it? This is even easier than the A-class dungeon we conquered before coming here.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. It seems like nothing special. Is the boss the difficult part?”
One of the Espers who received the question frowned, showing obvious displeasure, but Lee Cheol-min answered with an unperturbed face.
“It’s difficult to compare then and now since technology and Esper ability proficiency have changed.”
“So the S-class dungeon from 10 years ago wasn’t easier than this one?”
Despite the nearly dismissive remark, Lee Cheol-min merely shrugged his shoulders without showing any sign of being offended. This behavior actually made Hwang Ji-hyun frown instead. She muttered as she watched Lee Cheol-min just laughing at the blatant disrespect.
“Does that guy have no pride? Why is he just smiling?”
“Noona, you don’t understand. It would be weird to get angry there. If he protested, it would look like he’s just flaunting his pride about the 10-year-old S-class dungeon. Besides, getting angry wouldn’t change anything.”
“Stay out of this, rookie. It’s irritating just hearing it, how must he feel? So frustrating.”
Hwang Ji-hyun frowned as she glared at Lee Cheol-min and the Espers snickering around him, then turned her head abruptly. She found all of them disagreeable. Of course, the worst among them was Yoon Seon-hoo, who belonged to Field Team 2 and remained at the lodging.
His behavior, acting on his own whims while relying on his good looks, seemed suspicious to her. She absolutely detested having such snake-like people around. And of all things, this cunning person had been selected for the conquest. What help could a mental-type Esper be in this kind of combat?
Shouldn’t mental-type Espers be utilized in real life to get confessions from criminals or for interrogations rather than in dungeons? No, she couldn’t understand why they were brought to the S-class dungeon conquest in the first place. If they had brought a few more offensive-type Espers or Guides instead, things would have gone more smoothly. Hwang Ji-hyun swallowed a sigh.
The forest-type dungeon wasn’t particularly challenging to conquer, except for the risk of getting lost due to its extreme darkness. Even experienced Espers muttered that at this rate, they would conquer the forest dungeon quickly.
Soon, only the boss remained in the dungeon. The conquest team, having dealt with wolf, fox, and deer-type monsters, stopped on the path leading to where the boss was staying. An Esper from the conquest support team checking a tablet announced:
“The boss is currently staying in the same place as when we entered. No significant movement detected.”
“Are there no other monsters nearby? Some bosses can generate monsters, you know.”
“It doesn’t seem to be a generative-type boss. There’s no characteristic wavelength that appears during reproduction.”
After pondering briefly at those words, Han Yoon-jung nodded.
“Good. Still, since we don’t know what form the boss will take, let’s move while remaining vigilant of our surroundings. There have been S-class dungeons where monsters could attack from distances where they couldn’t be seen.”
“Yes.”
The conquest team, with Han Yoon-jung at the lead, began to move quickly after responding quietly. Several Espers swallowed exclamations of admiration as they watched Han Yoon-jung take the lead despite the dangerous dungeon. Even though the situation wasn’t as dangerous as expected, it was rare for a high-ranking official to voluntarily take the vanguard in an S-class dungeon.
Sa Hae-geon also found it surprising that Han Yoon-jung was setting such an example for the Espers. In dramas and movies, high-ranking officials like ministers or vice ministers always insisted on their authority, shouting or threatening others to protect them above all else, but reality was somewhat different. Was this why everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Han Yoon-jung was put in charge of the S-class dungeon conquest?
Lost in these thoughts as he walked, they had now reached the vicinity of the dungeon boss.
Woo Jae-dam looked at Vice Minister Han Yoon-jung with a slightly tense face as he felt the boss’s heartbeat through the ground. Thump. Thump. Thump. It was a very clear pulse, as if it were right next to his eardrums. Woo Jae-dam’s lips stiffened at the chilling sound that made his hair stand on end. He realized all too clearly that the monsters they had faced to get here were truly insignificant in comparison.
Although he wasn’t overly concerned since there were many Espers of the same rank as him, he wondered if they could really finish without any casualties. Woo Jae-dam’s fists clenched at the thought that innocent people might be sacrificed. But the S-class Espers needed to conserve their strength as much as possible. This was the Ability Department’s instruction, and the same point was made when they changed the plan at the lodging.
They said conserving S-class Espers’ strength and minimizing injuries would make it easier to face the final boss. But would this place really consist of three environments like the S-class dungeons they had conquered before? They had already seen major differences in wavelength and dungeon environment, so would it follow the same pattern?
In a situation where nothing could be certain, could that one thing be claimed as definite? Should they proceed through this dungeon believing that without any doubt, considering the sacrifice of other Espers as a matter of course?
Woo Jae-dam was confused. Everything surrounding this dungeon was chaos.
And the same was true for Sa Hae-geon. As time passed, Sa Hae-geon realized that S-class Espers were taking action far less than he had expected. No matter how much they were preparing for unexpected situations and the final battle, wasn’t this too selfish? The thought lingered in his mind that it would be more efficient if S-class Espers stepped forward to help deal with the small fry or whatever else.
But he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud. He thought that since this conclusion came from those with more dungeon experience than himself, they must have their own justifications. And in a place where the chain of command was a fundamental principle, he couldn’t violate that rule.
Sa Hae-geon deliberately suppressed his doubts, thinking that others might share his thoughts but were simply conforming to the situation in silence. Later, after the conquest was over—no, when he returned to the lodging, he would tell Chae Do-min about it in detail.
“The boss has started moving. It’s approaching this way.”
Han Yoon-jung’s eyes gleamed coldly at the report from the Esper holding the tablet.
“This place is too narrow to deal with the monster. I think we should move first before the monster gets here.”
The Espers nodded at Han Yoon-jung’s direction and began to run in unison. With the help of Espers who could manipulate wind, they were able to move much faster than just running normally.
The conquest team encountered the dungeon boss at the end of a narrow, long path. The boss took the form of a tree with a large flower bud on its head. Even though this was a type of monster they had never seen before, the conquest team instinctively felt that they should not wait for the monster to bloom its flower bud.
However, to do that, they needed to deal with the monster quickly, but unfortunately, they had encountered it at the end of the path, which was problematic. After a moment of deliberation, Han Yoon-jung quietly instructed Lee Seong-rok and other Espers who could control wind.
“Please get behind the boss and lure it to a wider area.”
At the Vice Minister’s instruction, Lee Seong-rok and three other Espers immediately went behind the boss and shouted.
“Come this way, you bastard!”
“Over here!”
As sharp winds blew against its back like they were clawing at it, the monster let out an angry roar and turned around to chase the humans who were much smaller than its own body. Numerous roots exposed above the ground moved busily, reminiscent of centipede legs. Myeong Si-yeong’s brow furrowed at the eerie scene.
He glanced at Han Yoon-jung standing in front of him, then approached Woo Jae-dam and whispered softly.
“I really don’t understand.”
“What now?”
“Why do we have to make it so complicated? Wouldn’t it be better to just finish quickly and rest?”
“…What if someone gets hurt?”
“We have healing-type Espers and plenty of Guides, so what’s the problem?”
Woo Jae-dam stared at Myeong Si-yeong, who was still thinking of the S-class dungeon too simply, with a look of disdain before shaking his head.
“And I don’t understand why S-class gets special treatment.”
“Weren’t you the one bragging about being S-class not too long ago?”
“No, that’s not what I’m talking about now! It’s frustrating that they’re preventing us from taking action even if we want to. It feels like we’re being protected from behind. Like little pawns.”
After grumbling quietly, Myeong Si-yeong glanced at Sa Hae-geon behind him and muttered.
“And I’m not the only one dissatisfied with this situation.”
That Dual Esper who was known only through rumors and followed Chae Do-min everywhere also had eyes filled with discontent. His face looked like he was holding something back, clearly having thoughts similar to his own.
Something like yearning, perhaps.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
