“Hyeong-Won… I miss my father. I want to get out of here. Sob, sob!” the scout Yang Gwang-Jin wailed, bursting into tears. In response, Kim Hyeong-Won quietly patted his shoulder.

Just a few hours prior, Gwang-Jin had just been a high school student who was bright and zealous. Now, however, that child had turned into a total loser[1]. He simply cried and cried, drenched in feelings of depression and self-loathing. The boy had once talked about how he wanted to play baseball with his friends after exiting the Dungeon. Now, he could not even do that anymore because he had no right arm.

‘Choong-Jae. How far are you trying to go?’

Hyeong-Won was bitter about his friend, the cause of the current situation. However, Jeon Choong-Jae had no intention of listening to him.

‘If he’s going to keep doing this, I’ll just have to…!’

Throb!

Hyeong-Won had to bring his train of thought to a halt, as the brand on his back read his thoughts and began to do its work. It growled, saying it would detonate itself if he continued with his stupid thought.

“What are you all dawdling for?! Come on, why aren’t you moving?!” a man suddenly yelled, kicking Hyeong-Won from behind.

He was an intimidating-looking man with a back covered in tattoos. His name was Han Shin-Gu, and ever since Choong-Jae had revealed his true colors, Shin-Gu had been busy being his henchman. Evidently, he had been a gangster in the outside world.

“Huh, what? You got a problem, man? Aren’t you gonna lower your eyes? I went easy on you because you were Big Brother’s friend, but why is the look in your eyes so cocky?” Shin-Gu taunted Hyeong-Won.

He swaggered forward, trying to pick a fight by daring Hyeong-Won to punch him if he was capable of doing so. After realizing that Hyeong-Won and Choong-Jae had drifted apart, he wanted to take the position of second-in-command.

Hyeong-Won thought about snapping back, but he fought the urge back down. Fighting Shin-Gun would just be stooping to his level.

“Hmph. You can’t say shit, but you’re still such an ass,” Shin-Gu spat.

He believed that Hyeong-Won had reacted that way due to being afraid of him. He lightly snorted and passed by Hyeong-Won. Of course, he did not forget to intentionally crash into Hyeong-Won’s shoulder.

‘Haa! What should I do, really?’ Hyeong-Won thought, forcing himself to swallow down the sigh that nearly escaped his throat. He felt constantly suffocated by the frustrating situation, which had no solution in sight.

* * *

Of course, Hyeong-Won had no way of knowing whether Choong-Jae knew his thoughts.

‘This doesn’t make any sense…!’ Choong-Jae thought, his expression stiff as he led the group into the fifth sector. He kept encountering signs of the massacres committed by Chang-Sun.

‘Overpowered’.

If such scenes were to be summarized with one word, that would be it. There were not only hundreds, but over a thousand monsters lying dead.

As Choong-Jae’s group continued along the path, they did not find a single spot that was not covered in monster carcasses. Each corpse was missing one or two limbs, their torsos often blown apart. The sight was so horrific that people with weak stomachs collapsed on the floor and retched. However, others felt a thrill as they imagined Chang-Sun’s performance.

Still, they did not matter to Choong-Jae, who never gave up in his pursuit. His eyes were filled with a mad gaze. Although he had not realized it yet, he had unconsciously begun to accumulate another kind of mana little by little.

It was demonic energy, a kind of power only wielded by demons. It could eventually lead to an illness known as Demonization Syndrome, warping a being into someone who could no longer make sound and rational decisions, and instead lived for power and power alone.

Choong-Jae was already being irreversibly corrupted.

‘There must be some kind of mistake. No, I’m sure. Otherwise, how could a normal human who hasn’t been chosen by a god get stronger this quickly…?!’

Only one resolution remained in Choong-Jae’s mind, and that was to see Chang-Sun’s brilliant exploits with his own two eyes as soon as he could. If Chang-Sun was using an exploit, Choong-Jae would figure out how it worked. If Chang-Sun was cheating, Choong-Jae would stop him. After that, Choong-Jae would take everything himself and gain the goddess’s recognition once again. That was his goal.

[Entering the fifth sector.]

[The Player ‘Lee Chang-Sun’ is clashing with the ‘Decaying Plague Spider’!]

[The Player ‘Lee Chang-Sun is dominating!]

However, by the time Choong-Jae finally reached the destination…

Clang, clang, clang!

Boom, boom―!

He discovered Chang-Sun was fighting the giant spider one-on-one.

[The Celestial ‘### ### ###’ exclaims lightly at the brilliant exploits of the player ‘Lee Chang-Sun.’]

[The Celestial ‘### ### ###’ strongly pushes her subordinate to do something.]

Now, the divine name of ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ was completely illegible. Choong-Jae thought it was simply evidence that the goddess’ attention was drawing further and further away from him. Under such conditions, when he found out the goddess’s focus was on Chang-Sun and not on himself, it was like pouring the oil of jealousy to the fire of his inferiority complex.

‘I must kill Lee Chang-Sun,’ Choong-Jae thought, gritting his teeth. At the moment, he had no way of gaining back the goddess’ attention or taking the top spot in the Dungeon Ranking.

[The Celestial ‘### ### ###’ threatens her subordinate, saying she will not forgive him if he fails to display a proper performance.]

Choong-Jae felt impatient, but he did not hastily launch an attack. Instead, when he came within reach of his goal, his feverish madness subsided and his mind began to work more clearly.

‘If I clash with him right now, my group will just end up dying. I have to play both sides. A little bit more… Let’s wait a little bit more for them to be weakened.’

He had no idea what trick Chang-Sun had used, but the Plague Spider’s injuries looked severe. Half of its eight legs were gone, and its body was severely injured.

However, the final boss monster was still a final boss monster. It was incredibly powerful. Its every step caused the ground to collapse beneath it, and an endless stream of toxic gas emanated from its mouth. Due to that, Chang-Sun visibly became more fatigued over time.

At this rate, even if the Plague Spider died, Chang-Sun would be exhausted. Choong-Jae’s plan was to aim for that very moment.

If he forced the civilians to attack Chang-Sun… No matter how strong he was, Chang-Sun would still be completely worn out. Then, Choong-Jae himself could step in and finish the fight.

‘Besides, when I think about what he’s done so far, it looks as if he’s been uncharacteristically trying to keep the civilians out of harm's way. In that case, things will be much easier.’

Chang-Sun would no doubt think Choong-Jae had a bit of conscience left, but Choong-Jae himself thought that kind of clumsy attitude would only result in a quicker death.

‘Still, I think it would be better to have another weapon, just to be sure.’

Such as a hostage, for instance…

‘Hmm?’

Choong-Jae’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted, as he sensed a foreign presence within his field of perception.

Atop a big tree on the other side of the clearing, there was someone else lying in wait, obscured by leaves. That person was a significant distance away, but Choong-Jae could smell the distinctive scent of the brand even from where he was standing.

The person was Woo Hye-Bin. However, Hye-Bin had not discovered Choong-Jae’s group.

‘That girl, wasn’t she…?’

Having trouble remembering the little girl, Choong-Jae squinted as he searched his memory. Eventually, he remembered a certain group of five female middle school students. He had abandoned them to a monster wave because he found their endless chattering noisy and bothersome… From the looks of it, however, Hye-Bin had been fortunate to survive after being rescued by Chang-Sun.

‘This will be easy.’

A corner of Choong-Jae’s lips twisted into a smile, and he quickly mouthed words in the direction of Shin-Gun. It was a direct message system that could be only used with branded slaves.

『Hey, Han Shin-Gu.』

Shin-Gu replied subconsciously, “Huh?! Yes, Han Shin-Gu reporti…!”

In response, Choong-Jae berated him.

『You stupid moron! Won’t you shut up? Do you seriously wanna get caught by that bastard?』

Han Shin-Gu swiftly covered his mouth.

『I-I apologize…!』

Choong-Jae asked him a question.

『You, you said you would do anything I asked you to do, right?』

Shin-Gu replied with a rosy expression. It seemed almost as if he would even cut out his heart if Choong-Jae asked him to. He clearly knew what to do in order to survive the hellish Dungeon.

『Yes, indeed! Ask me anything! I will even bark or wag my tail like a dog if you ask me to, Big Brother!』

Choong-Jae responded with a command.

『In that case, go do as I say right now.』

As Choong-Jae continued to give orders, Shin-Gu’s eyes widened and wavered nervously. However, in the end, he nodded heavily.

* * *

[Critical hit!]

[Critical hit!]

Constantly bobbing and weaving between the Plague Spider’s limbs, Chang-Sun launched an unending barrage of attacks. He drove bone spears deep into the parts of its shell that were riddled with burn marks, and stabbed [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] into the red spots shown by [Viper Eyes].

And yet, the Plague Spider showed no signs of collapsing. Living up to the title of ‘final boss’, its ‘health bar’ was simply too long. On top of that, it continued to move as if it had sustained no injuries at all. Its strikes were strong and violent, and it moved extremely quickly. It also spat both toxic gas and acidic fluids, making it difficult to approach.

However, the situation was far from hopeless.

‘I’m almost there.’

Chang-Sun noticed that the Plague Spider was slowly approaching its limit. He knew how Plague Spiders normally behaved because he had experienced killing such monsters in Arcadia.

‘Toxic gas. That’s made from the monster’s blood. It means the monster is using its last bit of strength.’

Of course, Chang-Sun had no intention of allowing it to keep releasing toxic gas. What he needed was the Plague Spider’s heart. If the blood drained out, the heart would be empty too. If that happened, all his efforts would be for naught.

The reason he had been dragging the fight out without reaping the Plague Spider’s life was none other than that.

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ is very curious about when you will reveal your evil, serpentine mind.]

‘It looks like they’ve taken the bait too. Then, shall I put an end to this?’

When Chang-Sun sensed the presence on the outer ridge of the boss area, his eyes shone coldly. He tightened his grip on [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth], infusing profound magic into the blade.

Ding!

[Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] shook ferociously and let out a howl.

The technique Chang-Sun used was known as the ‘Sword’s Cry’ or the ‘Sword Howl’. It was magic that could only be performed by those who could control mana as if it were an extension of their bodies.

Boom!

Tread―!

Chang-Sun stomped the ground with his right foot as if he intended to blast it apart, using the ‘Zhen Jiao’ technique known only to martial arts masters. His blade moved swiftly, powered by the force of his stomp, as well as the potent torque that resulted from twisting his torso. Using the principle of rotational force[2], he swiftly cleaved the Plague Spider in two, striking diagonally from left to right.

[Critical hit!]

[You have successfully reproduced the true form of the attack, achieving the exquisite principle of 'Ascension'.][3]

[The critical hit has depleted the remaining HP of the ‘Decaying Plague Spider’.]

[Eliminated the ‘Decaying Plague Spider’!]

...

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Achieved Level 20.]

...

[The fifth and final sector of the Dungeon Quest: ‘Pioneer’ has been successfully conquered.]

[The Dungeon Quest has been completed.]

[Compiling the final ranking.]

[Dungeon Ranking]

Maximum Points: 100,000 Points

First place: Lee Chang-Sun (97,450 Points)

Second place: Jeon Choong-Jae (2,000 Points)

Third place: Park Hae-Seong (550 Points)

[Different rewards will be given out based on performance.]

[Different rewards will be given out based on rank.]

A scarlet line of blood formed across the Plague Spider’s body, before a fountain of blood began to spurt uncontrollably from it.

Thud…!

As the Plague Spider fell apart, bisected neatly into two halves, the ground rumbled powerfully. At the same time, a continuous stream of messages filled Chang-Sun’s vision.

Finally, he had succeeded in conquering the Dungeon… and practically through solo play, receiving almost no help, no less!

[The Celestials in Dungeon Channel KR-9,721 all let out exclamations.]

[The news of your successful completion of the ‘Tutorial’ spreads widely across Heaven.]

...

[The <Management Bureau> has greatly expanded the maximum number of viewers on this channel.]

[The <Management Bureau> has privately awarded bonus merits, as you have unlocked a great achievement.]

[??? Karma has been accumulated!]

[??? Karma has been accumulated!]

...

[??? deities have begun showing a deep interest in you.]

[?? deities have revealed a strong desire to have you.]

[? deities have expressed their determination to have you.]

Normally, it meant a great deal if the Celestials showed ‘interest’ in a person. There were many beings who vanished without making much of an impression on such beings.

However, if their ‘interest’ exceeded a certain level, it would become ‘desire’. From that moment on, the subject would no longer be considered a simple believer; one could then obtain the qualification of a priest or pontiff.

And yet, words such as ‘determination’ or ‘greed’ superseded all that. They were expressions of a desire to have the subject no matter what; they were practically a love call from a deity, in an attempt to convince the subject to become their apostle.

That was how much Chang-Sun’s achievement of overcoming the ‘Tutorial’ meant. It was truly unbelievable to think a novice had done such a thing.

Of course, some Celestials doubted that Chang-Sun was truly a novice. However, the records displayed before them could not lie, which was all the more reason to be thrilled.

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ snorts as he watches other Celestials belatedly making a fuss.]

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ urges you to reveal your serpentine mind. ]

Still, Chang-Sun had no time to enjoy the messages. He had to begin the next battle.

Pah―!

[The Dungeon is closing.]

As the Dungeon began to close, several people pounced on Chang-Sun. It was Choong-Jae and his group.