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chapter 72
“Huh?”
[Bait Combat Sandworm (Lv.31)]
Mud-colored skin dripping with slime, sharp spines protruding everywhere.
Its circular mouth was lined with hundreds of overlapping teeth.
-We’re screwed.
-Why does it look like that?
-Did it come from hell?
-The bait is way too strong.
“Ugh….”
Yeonwoo hesitated, then regained his stance.
Turning toward Hanbit behind him, he asked,
“Was this a place where you fight monsters?”
“The challenge dungeon was like that too. Why? Is it hard?”
“Hard? It’s perfect.”
Shing—
Yeonwoo drew the sword at his waist.
Then he kicked off and charged at the sandworm.
Slash—!
Kieeek—!
With a powerful strike, the monster’s neck split open.
Hanbit watched quietly from a few steps back.
“Oh, not bad.”
-Watching mode ON.
-Sandworm butcher Roper.
-Mobs melting;
-Seems weaker than it looks?
Seeing Yeonwoo easily kill the monster, the viewers reacted immediately.
Slash—!
After killing the last sandworm, Yeonwoo turned back with a proud face.
“How was that? Not bad, right?”
“Worth bragging about. You’ll get through quickly.”
“Just trust me. Hurry up and follow!”
In high spirits, Yeonwoo advanced boldly.
His right hand still traced the wall.
Tap tap—
After turning a few more corners, several new monsters appeared.
This time, they were crabs with sharp pincers.
[Bait Combat Crab (Lv.31)]
Monsters of the same level as the sandworms.
Fueled by excitement, Yeonwoo immediately charged again.
“This is nothing!”
Crunch—!
He continued cutting them down energetically.
“Well done, well done.”
Hanbit clapped leisurely from a few steps behind.
Yeonwoo’s shoulders were raised high as he moved forward.
‘Looks like there are even more outside.’
Chat messages kept coming in saying more players were waiting outside the dungeon.
It was about time to move.
Step—
Yeonwoo continued along the right wall.
Rustle—
“Why are there so many monsters?”
Finally, he complained as the monsters kept appearing.
Even so, the incoming monsters didn’t stop.
Rustle—
At that moment, a bug monster crawled down from above Yeonwoo’s blind spot.
Hanbit quietly drew his bow and pulled the string.
Ping—!
The arrow flew fast and pierced the bug’s head.
Yeonwoo, focused on combat, didn’t notice.
-lol he has no idea.
-He’s working hard.
-But isn’t this dungeon actually easy?
-Re-evaluating difficulty.
The chat’s evaluation of the dungeon gradually tilted in one direction.
Just because the monsters weren’t very strong.
Hanbit glanced casually at the camera.
‘See? Looks easy, right?’
He swallowed the words he wanted to say aloud.
All he needed to do was keep showing how easy it looked.
“Oh, aren’t we almost there?”
“Really?”
“Just keep going. You might even be the first to clear it.”
“Then I need to hurry!”
With a bit of hope added, Yeonwoo’s motivation flared up.
Slash—!
Ping—!
His fierce struggle and Hanbit’s support continued a few more times.
Then, a few minutes later—
Ding—
A clear alert sound rang out.
[User Cuckoo donated 1,000 won.]
[Breaking news) 2,300 players spying have entered the waterway.]
‘They’re here.’
Hanbit clenched his fist.
Over two thousand players, including Ranger.
A perfect lineup to serve as sacrifices for clearing this dungeon.
“Huh?”
Yeonwoo, who had been fighting hard, finally stopped.
“They already entered? We haven’t even cleared the maze yet! And 2,300 is way too many!”
Not knowing the hidden plan, his reaction was natural.
Hanbit deliberately furrowed his brow slightly.
“This is a problem.”
Murmuring while looking at the chat, he pretended to think for a moment.
Then he turned his gaze to Yeonwoo.
“They’ll get here soon, right?”
“At least Ranger will come fast. But what do we do? If we lose the clear, that’s a huge disaster.”
Yeonwoo sighed while looking at the maze, sword drooping.
But the next chat update made his sigh even deeper.
-Breaking) Ranger declares he’ll accept PK.
-Looks like he’s really mad lol.
-Why are you messing with kids playing?
-Sorry lol;
-Can we borrow this place for a bit?
-Huh? You too?
“He’s going that far? Haah.”
“Wow, PK? That’s bad.”
The two reacted at the same time.
Yeonwoo genuinely looked troubled.
For Hanbit, PK didn’t matter at all.
Before anything could happen, it would already be over.
“I’ll try to hurry.”
Anxious, Yeonwoo tried to push forward somehow.
It was admirable—but it was time to switch roles.
“No, you did more than enough.”
Hanbit patted Yeonwoo’s shoulder with a light step.
Then, drawing his blue-white sword, he stepped forward.
“I’ll take the lead now.”
***
At the entrance of the waterway, where debris had been pushed aside.
Among the countless players, Ranger’s group was visible.
Their gleaming equipment bore the Rashten corporate logo.
Crunch—
Ranger clenched his teeth.
On one side was the broadcast screen he had left open.
On it, Roper and Black Dragon were navigating the maze.
‘Black Dragon… damn bastard.’
Since starting Record Project, Ranger’s life had changed.
A superior status, almost like nobility.
Even within the conglomerate Rashten, he received top treatment.
Though he lagged behind other competitors, he always existed as a proud vanguard.
Until that day arrived.
‘Then luck is skill too. Or do you lack both?’
The first humiliation he ever suffered—from a man named Black Dragon.
He’d managed to keep a straight face then, but one misstep could’ve led to PK-level rage.
‘If only that incident hadn’t gone wrong….’
It started with the hero-guaranteed skill quest that appeared with Artsvel.
Right after Black Dragon cleared it, Ranger—who had been gathering information from all angles—received an anonymous tip.
Using that, he easily collected materials from Bomb Slimes in a hidden cave, eventually monopolizing them.
The confident announcement that he could easily crush newly started players was perfect.
Then a post appeared on the RPG community, flipping everything upside down.
Whose doing it was—your judgment.
-All monopolized by Rashten?
-What trash.
-Greed overflowing.
-Big companies are always like that.
-Seriously selfish bastards.
Naturally, all arrows turned toward Rashten, who had monopolized them.
While monitoring public opinion, Ranger and the staff heard that Black Dragon had logged in.
And when he went in front of Artsvel’s general store, a quest appeared.
[Quest]
Learn the second magic from Artsvel.
The book’s seal will解除 after 5 minutes.
Objective: Use Artsvel’s spellbook.
Reward: 10,000 gold, Fire Burst (Rank 2 – Hero), 3 stat points, 3,000 experience
A Rank 2 skill quest that appeared shockingly fast.
With a calm expression, Black Dragon easily acquired the skill.
Ranger and his subordinates rushed to the quest as well—but only the worst outcome remained.
Not only did they fail, the opportunity itself vanished completely.
‘Does he have a backer? Or another corporation?’
There were plenty of corporations at odds with Rashten.
Since guilds existed in-game, competition structures were clearer.
It wouldn’t have been strange if one of them backed Black Dragon.
But all those speculations were blown away by what happened yesterday.
‘Episode reset… what a joke.’
The shocking world message that appeared to all players.
Its impact shook even the real world.
Information agents were still scrambling to grasp the situation.
‘Still… rejecting Rashten?’
Even if he didn’t like it, Ranger had to admit Black Dragon’s knowledge.
If he served under him, Ranger felt he could climb to the top vanguard ranks.
With that in mind, he met Rashten’s chairman, finalized the recruitment, and went to find Black Dragon.
But the arrogant bastard, shoulders raised high, spat nonsense and rejected the offer.
‘Why would I join Rashten? From what I hear, you’re not that impressive.’
No matter how much he’d achieved early on, Black Dragon was still an ordinary player.
Yet he failed to recognize that and looked down on a corporation with a vanguard team.
He even implied that higher-ranked vanguards than Ranger had already made offers.
Words that dragged out the inferiority complex Ranger had buried deep inside.
『Oh, aren’t we almost there?』
『Really?』
At that moment, voices from the broadcast echoed.
Watching the screen, Ranger carefully mapped the maze’s progress in his head.
Then he made his decision.
“We’re entering too.”
“Captain, wouldn’t it be better to watch until they clear the maze before entering?”
One subordinate approached and asked.
Ranger shook his head firmly.
“No. We go in now. If they exit the maze, everything might already be over.”
It was a decision completely devoid of emotion, despite the boiling anger.
Neither complete trust nor complete distrust could apply to him.
Black Dragon’s actions were unpredictable from start to finish.
Methods, process, results—nothing had gone as expected.
And with his ability to toy with others, caution was essential.
There was no intention of being dragged along by Black Dragon’s plan.
This time, even if it meant PK, he would seize the upper hand.
“I’ll take the lead. Follow at a distance.”
Tap—!
Ranger kicked off and entered the waterway.
With his high Agility, he instantly accelerated.
Thud—!
Several frogs appeared in his path.
Gripping his bow, Ranger pulled the string with emotion.
Ping—!
Crackle—!
The arrow, bursting with electricity, wiped out every monster in the corridor.
A razor-sharp attack, as if infused with his rage.
‘I’ll make sure you can’t spout nonsense anymore.’
If Black Dragon was getting arrogant, the best cure was to force him to face reality.
He would overwhelm him with absolute power and make him feel stripped bare.
With a grim expression, Ranger clenched his fist.
‘The boss is mine, no matter what.’
