I made a hole just large enough for my body to pass through, then let go.
‘Did I make it too small?’
I regretted it as I crawled through the hole on all fours like a dog. And I’m an S-class Esper—this seems too undignified. Thankfully, no one was around to see me like this.
I was about to stand up after crawling through the hole when I had to revise the thought I’d just had.
A large golden eye was staring at me as I crawled out on all fours right in front of the hole.
‘What is this?’
I blinked slowly.
At first, I didn’t even recognize that what was in front of me was a living creature’s eye. Who would immediately recognize an eyeball larger than their own head as an eye? But the moment I noticed the feline-like slit pupil and the iris surrounding it moving to follow me, a primal human fear of the unknown struck my mind.
Reflexively, I covered my entire body with a thin flame barrier and moved far away from the eye.
[So it’s you, the fearless human who woke me from my sleep.]
A massive black body stirred and rose from its prone position. My gaze followed upward, my head tilting back. The place I had broken through the wall into was enormous, accommodating that giant body with room to spare.
‘A black panther.’
If not for its abnormally large size and the red jewel embedded in its forehead, I might have mistaken it for an ordinary black panther that had wandered into the dungeon.
‘That jewel in its forehead must be the dungeon’s core.’
Since the moment the monster opened its eyes, the surrounding waves had begun to vibrate subtly. It was evidence that the dungeon was being activated.
‘Even if I’d been careful, I would have had to wake it anyway.’
The monster itself being the dungeon’s core—this was my first time seeing such a case, and it was hard to believe even with my own eyes. Moreover, this monster clearly possessed intelligence. This was evidence that it was a high-ranked monster even among S-class monsters.
‘High-ranked even among S-class. Do I have a chance?’
Not all monsters that emerge from an S-class dungeon are S-class themselves. The dungeon’s level is determined by the amount of energy its core possesses. Naturally, having more energy means a higher frequency of stronger monsters appearing, but that’s not an absolute criterion.
So, I was extremely unlucky right now.
[For a human, you possess quite impressive energy.]
While I remained in a standoff, unable to gauge the monster’s full power, fortunately it didn’t seem intent on attacking me. Rather, it was looking at me like a child who had discovered a new toy, rolling its golden eyes with curiosity.
[How did you know to come here?]
Seeing the monster attempting conversation, I thought about how to leave this place peacefully. I didn’t think I would lose to the monster, but if it came at me with full force, I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t be injured.
“Sorry for waking you up. I came in by mistake.”
It wasn’t like I didn’t know it was a dungeon when I entered, so saying I came in by mistake made no sense. But I raised both hands to show I had no intention of attacking and gave an innocent smile.
[You came in by mistake?]
The expression was just like someone who rushed to the door for a package delivery, only to discover it was for the neighbor.
‘It has a panther’s form but speaks like a human—it makes human-like expressions too.’
I was a bit taken aback by the monster’s obvious disappointment, but my feet were steadily moving towards the hole.
“Well, I’ll be going now. See you next time.”
Of course, that was a lie. If I had known the monster itself was the core, I wouldn’t have entered the S-class dungeon so unprepared. If I were to come again, I’d bring a team to kill the monster and deal with the core.
‘Maybe it’s because it can talk, but using the term “kill” feels uncomfortable.’
Among the monsters I had seen, none had such clear intelligence as this one. Monsters are usually drawn to the energy of the dungeon core like moths to flame, moving solely by instinct. Just once, I had seen a monster that walked upright like a human, but although its appearance was similar to a person, its behavior was no different from the monsters I knew.
[Where do you think you’re going?]
As I approached the hole, the panther’s huge front paw fell above my head. It wasn’t moving at high speed, so I dodged it immediately, but the problem came next. The creature blocked the hole I had come through with its front paw.
[You must pay the price for waking me from my sleep.]
It was a moment when I regretted my past self for making such a timid hole again.
No matter how big the monster was, if I had made the hole as large as my body, it wouldn’t have been blocked so easily.
[This is my space. You cannot leave without my permission.]
I could tell the monster’s mood had significantly deteriorated just by seeing how the surrounding waves were twisting rapidly, unlike before. The dungeon activation was accelerating at a rate incomparable to when the monster had just opened its eyes. The monster lowered its upper body while its golden eyes gleamed. That posture was similar to that of a predator preparing to bite the neck of its prey, waiting for the right moment to strike.
‘This has become troublesome.’
I had tried to resolve this peacefully without aggravating it, but now the use of force seemed unavoidable.
A direct confrontation would be a fight where both sides would lose a lot, which made it even more headache-inducing.
Though it was meaningless to recall why this situation had escalated, I felt somewhat wronged—was saying “I came in by mistake” that offensive?
‘It’s not even wrong. I didn’t know there was a monster here…’
Just as I was thinking that, the black panther’s body vanished from sight. Simultaneously, a shadow fell over my head, and when I looked up, I saw the massive predator’s claws already right in front of me.
It moved with incredible speed that didn’t match its huge size. Since it was already too late to dodge, I created a flame barrier around my entire body. The moment I raised my guard to the maximum level I could muster, the monster’s paw tore through the flame barrier and struck my body.
Boom!
Even though I rotated my body just before crashing into the wall to minimize the impact, my head was still ringing.
I quickly got up from being embedded in the wall and readied my stance.
‘To be distracted in front of an S-class monster. Ugh, that took ten years off my life.’
After clashing once, it was clear. Forget dialogue, now it was a frontal assault.
‘It’s okay. In my current condition, I can take it on.’
Perhaps because I had received more Guiding than necessary from Yang Garam last night, my physical condition was at its peak. I cleared my mind of any intention to hold back and faced the monster before me. The monster had already prepared for its second attack and was licking its lips.
[Next time, I’ll swallow you in one bite.]
“Not a chance.”
I raised my output to 80%. The monster, sensing my energy, seemed to grow excited with fighting spirit as it puffed up its fur and leaped high. With my physical abilities maximized, I could now clearly see the monster’s movements that I had missed earlier.
I ducked under the front paw flying toward my head and quickly dove under the monster’s head. Wrapping flames around my leg, I delivered a kick to the monster’s jaw. A massive fireball struck like a critical hit. The monster’s enormous body flipped over and crashed into the ground. A thunderous sound, incomparable to what I had experienced earlier, echoed as the ground crumbled like a cracker.
“Whew.”
Landing lightly on the ground, I rotated my leg gently due to the dull pain that felt like I had hit steel.
“As expected of an S-class. Conventional attacks wouldn’t have worked anyway.”
When dealing with such a large monster, concentrating on inflicting a critical hit in one spot was more effective than causing damage throughout. If it were weaker monsters, I could have finished them by creating and throwing a few thousand fireballs, but for an S-class monster, even tens of thousands of fireballs might not leave a scratch. It was just one strike, but I had raised my attack to 80% of my full power.
‘It won’t get up easily… Wait, it’s getting up right away?’
However, defying my expectations, the monster immediately raised its massive body. Drool dripped from its open mouth, and its fiercely glowing eyes gleamed with murderous intent toward me. Having completely lost its reason from that one hit, the monster roared and sprang up like a coiled spring.
The sound of it cutting through the air was terrifying. The monster’s movements became more violent as it launched attacks, and consecutive blows that could take my life with just a slight graze followed one after another. I bit my lip as I dodged the monster’s attacks.
‘If I continue to drag this out, it’ll be dangerous.’
In truth, more than the monster itself, I was worried about the energy flowing from the activated core attracting monsters from the other world.
The exact timing of monster generation varies greatly from dungeon to dungeon, making it unpredictable. The same goes for their appearance points. Sometimes they suddenly drop from the air, sometimes they emerge from the ground. But one thing is certain: weaker monsters appear farther from the core, and stronger ones appear closer to it.
In other words, if other monsters started appearing here, there would truly be no way out.
‘I need to end this quickly.’
This was an expected outcome from the start. I had considered trying to hold out until the Center Director arrived, but it remained true that the longer this dragged on, the more disadvantaged I would become.
“100% output.”
Before my regression, I had never attempted 100% output even once. This was because the risk of going berserk increases proportionally with the amount of ability used. Although a warning sound rang from my band, I drew upon all the ability I could muster. It felt like my body couldn’t keep up with the ability I was using, like an overflowing sea.
‘Just once. I can’t do this twice.’
I’m not even sure if my body can handle this one time. Thinking of this as my final strike, I concentrated all my power into my fist.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
