TRPM 352

chapter 352

I perfectly memorized the unfamiliar pattern I had just seen and stepped into the dungeon.

That single pattern alone wasn’t enough to create a device to detect concealed dungeons.

After all, it was hard to believe that every concealed dungeon shared the exact same pattern.

So…

‘I need to check the patterns of multiple concealed dungeons first, then figure out the key pattern that hides the gate.’

To do that, I’d have to find several concealed dungeons and compare and analyze their patterns.

‘If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve memorized the pattern of that concealed dungeon I saw last time….’

I shook my head at the thought.

That dungeon probably didn’t have any new pattern to begin with.

If it had, I would’ve noticed something off as soon as I saw the gate.

Most likely, the gate was only concealed until the dungeon had grown enough—then it turned into an ordinary dungeon.

Once monsters started pouring out, there was no reason to keep the gate hidden.

Krrrk…!

As I was thinking, a drake that had sensed my presence approached, drooling.

‘Oh, right. I’m inside a dungeon right now, aren’t I?’

The first thing to do in a dungeon is prepare for ambushes and assess the surroundings, but I had completely forgotten.

Of course…

Crack!

Even if my mind had forgotten, my body moved on its own, shattering the jaw of the drake as it opened its mouth to devour me.

Kraeeek?!

“…Ugh, gross…”

The problem was that the drake’s saliva splattered everywhere during the process.

But my defensive qi barrier blocked it anyway, so it wasn’t actually a big issue.

After confirming that, I decided to observe the drake.

Kreek…! Kraek…!

“…Looks like it’s just a regular drake for now….”

It seemed the monsters in a concealed dungeon weren’t drastically different from those in other dungeons.

Then again, the last concealed dungeon I’d seen had been the same.

So was the only difference really just the gate’s concealment feature?

Thud! Thud!

As I watched the drake writhing in pain from its shattered jaw, a group of drakes, drawn by its cries, came rushing my way.

“…”

I drew the Harmony Divine Sword from subspace and aimed it at the oncoming drakes.

Countless magical swords materialized in the air and shot toward them.

Thwip! Thwip!

Kyaooohh!

Kroaaaah!

Even with magical swords embedded in their bodies, the drakes didn’t slow down, charging at me through the pain.

They weren’t dying instantly because I had deliberately avoided their vital spots—I wanted to experiment since this was my first concealed dungeon.

“Judging by this, it’s not like the drakes have weakened just because this is a concealed dungeon….”

Their scale durability and instinct to attack despite pain were no different from ordinary drakes in other dungeons.

…So did the Black Fog really create these concealed dungeons without any risk?

‘No, that can’t be.’

Ten years ago, there had been a dungeon where multiple types of monsters emerged.

This spring, there had been a parasitic dungeon that altered its surrounding environment.

And now, a concealed dungeon.

‘And all the anomalous dungeons that appeared before my regression were like that too.’

Their numbers were extremely small compared to normal dungeons.

Which meant even the Black Fog couldn’t casually create such anomalies.

In extreme cases, it might take them a long time to recover—like that one dungeon where multiple monsters emerged.

“…Still, this dungeon seems focused solely on concealing the gate.”

I muttered as I thought inwardly.

‘Could it be possible to deliberately manipulate the Black Fog’s behavior to exhaust its power, forcing it into another recovery period?’

Of course, directing something as widespread as the Black Fog—which practically covered the world’s oceans—would be no easy task.

Crunch!

Even while lost in thought, I dodged a drake’s snapping jaws.

Its bite wouldn’t actually wound me, but it’d still be unpleasant.

Slash!

I cut through the neck of the drake that tried to bite me.

“?”

Oddly, I felt like my blade wasn’t cutting cleanly.

I glanced down at the Harmony Divine Sword in my hand.

‘There’s no way the Harmony Divine Sword would dull.’

Its blade wasn’t made of steel but of my own internal energy.

So if it felt like it wasn’t cutting well…

‘My swordsmanship must’ve dulled.’

That was the only explanation.

“…Come to think of it, lately I’ve been just firing magic swords instead of swinging the sword myself.”

It was more convenient that way.

Naturally, my swordsmanship had dulled from disuse.

‘It’s not like I never swung a sword during that time….’

But I hadn’t faced monsters with drake-level defense in a while, so I hadn’t noticed.

“…Looks like I need some rehab.”

I’d already planned to closely observe all the drakes in this dungeon to study the concealed dungeon’s traits.

I might as well adjust my swordsmanship by fighting them directly.

“Let’s see…”

I extended my senses to count the number of drakes in the dungeon.

A little over a hundred?

That should be enough.

Thrust!

I drove the Harmony Divine Sword into the neck of a nearby drake, beginning my slaughter.

Time passed, and a mountain of drake corpses formed.

Blood flowed down from the pile, creating a small stream.

“…This brings back memories.”

It reminded me of the time just before my regression.

‘The number of monsters cut down by my blade back then was so great their blood formed rivers.’

Of course, back then I’d slain far more monsters than today.

They’d come in the tens of thousands, not barely over a hundred like these drakes.

By comparison, this was nothing.

“Purify. Cleanse.”

As I had done before my regression, I turned all the blood on my body into clean water.

“Dry.”

Then I dried my soaked clothes.

This time, unlike before my regression, no one interrupted me.

‘Dry—’

Just before finishing the word, I quickly ducked my head.

Something sharp swept past where my head had been.

Before my regression, a doppelgänger had attacked me at that moment, and I’d lost my life.

I recalled that memory and moved my body.

‘Its speed was something even my former self struggled to follow.’

I pictured the doppelgänger’s lunge.

I moved lightly, and it missed.

‘A single blow had enough force to send me flying back then.’

I caught its fist mid-swing.

This time, unlike before, its fist never reached my face—and it couldn’t even pull back.

‘Efficient movements….’

I stared at the doppelgänger.

Where once its movements had seemed flawless, now I could see openings.

And now, I could move more efficiently than it.

“Hoo…”

I had surpassed my pre-regression self long ago.

And it seemed I had surpassed the doppelgänger that once killed me too.

‘But seriously, what was that doppelgänger?’

Thinking back now… it had been far too strong.

I remembered Sir Sergei, who had been one of the candidates for the world’s strongest before I was known as the Artist.

If Sergei had fought that doppelgänger…

‘…It would’ve been a crushing victory for the doppelgänger.’

Knowing both their strengths, I could only conclude that.

That was how strong the doppelgänger that killed me had been.

How had such a creature been created?

‘Even if the doctor who made the doppelgängers was alive back then… it shouldn’t have been possible to enhance one to that level.’

Doppelgängers were chimeras—monsters with awakened human genes spliced in.

That’s why they had both the monsters’ physical abilities and the awakened humans’ skills.

Which meant…

“…The doppelgänger that overwhelmed me before regression had the physical power of a monster and the skill of an awakened being so great I could gain insights just by watching its movements. That implies it combined the genes of two such beings….”

Did such a monster and such a master even exist?

It was plausible for an awakened master—many hid their true power in seclusion.

And even without one, the doppelgänger could’ve developed such techniques over time by fighting countless awakened beings.

But a monster with such overwhelming physical ability existing without me ever hearing of it?

“…I don’t know.”

For now, I gave up thinking.

Remembering my pre-regression self had raised odd questions about the doppelgänger, and my instincts told me it was important—but right now, the concealed dungeon came first.

As for the doppelgänger… I’d learn more when I raided the organization’s headquarters on Mars.

“Anyway, there was nothing odd about the drakes….”

Their traits were nearly identical to those of drakes in other dungeons.

“Basically, the dungeon’s ecosystem isn’t any different. That means nothing inside changed—the only difference is the gate is harder to find….”

Until now, the Association had located dungeons by sensing the energy emitted from their gates, not by finding the dungeons themselves.

If the gates were now hard to find, that meant their energy emission had been suppressed.

…Wait a second.

“…Is it impossible to find the gate itself instead of its energy?”

For example… the spatial distortion created when a gate connected Earth to a dungeon.

Of course, it would be impossible to detect that through normal means—but I knew someone who could.

‘Yes. We detected an intruder here earlier.’
‘It’s the same place where you sliced space to enter the academy….’

Shin Hanji, the director of the Seoul Awakened Academy, was the person who had sensed me slicing space when I infiltrated the academy.