DBOFS 32

Chapter 32

Meanwhile, back in the dungeon—where not even a full day had passed, let alone a week.

“Huff, huff—”

There I was, gasping like I was about to puke. Hiding in the bushes, spying on the monster beasts.

‘This is so hard.’

My heart was pounding like it might explode. I panted with a rifle in one hand and a Molotov cocktail in the other.

‘Ugh, this greasy stench of oil is killing me.’

I really felt like throwing up.

But no matter how I felt, my body moved mechanically as I hurled the Molotov.

Fwoosh—

The flames traced a smooth arc through the air and struck the monster’s head with perfect accuracy.

Splat!

“KRWEEEAAARGH—!”

As soon as I heard its scream, I raised my rifle.

Fire and oil had to melt and burn the monster’s skin before the bullets could properly reach its core.

Bang—!!

Click. As soon as I fired the lever-action rifle, I emptied the chamber and reloaded.

With a flash of a golden shell casing flying through the air, the system alert popped up.

[You have defeated the carnivorous plant ‘Danelcus’!]
[Current kill count: (19/20)]

Ha, there’s still one left?

“I really feel like throwing up…”

I muttered blankly.

The large rifle looked far too burdensome for my slender frame. My face had gone pale from exhaustion.

Objectively, I looked like a fragile girl about to break at any second.

Maybe that’s why—when I groaned in pain, sympathetic voices rang out around me.

“Don’t puke, Jade! Swallow it!”

“Yeah! If you’ve got the strength to puke, use it to shoot that bastard!”

“I’m seriously about to die—!”

“…….”

Their fiery support brought tears to my eyes. Swallowing what might’ve been puke or tears, I turned my body the other way.

“KRWAARRGH—!”

Thud, thud!

The monster I had hit with the Molotov twisted and smashed its head on the ground, trying desperately to extinguish the flames.

A moving target is tough. One that moves that fast is even worse.

“KRAAAHH—!”

But I’d fired so many rounds that by now, I could instinctively read its path and pull the trigger.

Bang—!!

[You have defeated all ‘Danelcus’ carnivorous plants!]
[Quest complete.]

“……!!”

The moment I saw the alert window, I threw down my rifle and screamed.

“KYAAAAAAHH!”

My scream, like a pterodactyl’s roar, startled Anella’s group.

“Wah?!”

“W-What? Are all the monsters dead?”

“Is it finally over?!”

“It’s done! The clear screen popped up! It’s really over, for real!”

But I couldn’t see their surprised faces. In fact, I couldn’t see anything.

“You didn’t think I could do it, huh?! But I did it! I freaking did it!”

All because of that cruel, petty quest—one that demanded a ridiculous condition without offering proper rewards, and threatened death upon failure.

“But none of my party members died! I did it! I made it happen!”

I was jumping and pointing wildly at the air—completely unhinged.

“Suck it, you bastard! AHAHAHAHA—!”

Well… I wasn’t the only crazy one.

“It’s over! It’s really over!”

“WAAAAAAAH!”

“KYAAAAH!”

Anella’s party had also gone nuts.

‘Yeah, you guys suffered too.’

Sure, I led the charge and landed the kills, but they hadn’t exactly had it easy either.

“Extra mags! Where are the extra mags? I’m out of bullets!”
“Over here!”
“The Molotov won’t light!”
“AARGH! All the bottles are breaking! Someone protect them!”

They had to pass me reloads and light Molotovs at just the right moments without interrupting the flow. And they had to draw aggro or tank so the monsters wouldn’t target me.

“WRAAARGH—! You monster bastard! Over here!”
“Look here! Look here, not at Lady Jade—look at me!”
“You can’t reach me, huh? Can’t catch me? Frustrated, aren’t you? Annoyed? Pissed?”

[KRWAAAARGH—!!]

Frankly, the fact Anella’s group hadn’t died while playing meat shield was a miracle.

“WE DID ITTTTT—!!”

Everyone, broken and exhausted, let out their victory cries.

“Huff, huff…”

“Ugh, I’m gonna die…”

Then we collapsed.

Thud. I was the first to hit the ground.

“Hic… I did it…”

The floor was covered in monster corpses and dusty dirt, but I didn’t care.

‘I really thought I was going to die.’

I’d been too busy frantically shooting, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t terrified of the man-eating monsters.

‘Thank goodness my fear threshold is high.’

Otherwise, I might’ve frozen and died before I could shoot. Lucky for me, I was the resilient-in-a-crisis type.

Someone muttered from where they lay.

“Of all things, why did it have to be a root-type plant…”

Exactly. I silently agreed.

Danelcus was a plant-type monster that sprouted from one root—so if one was attacked, all the others noticed.

Basically, the twenty monsters were all part of one entity.

‘Would it kill the system to mention that ahead of time?!’

I raged inwardly, but of course, got no reply. I shut my tired eyes and tried to breathe slowly.

Sigh… Anyway, is this really that dungeon?

Because I broke out two years earlier than in the original timeline, I couldn’t remember much about this version of the Unknown Dungeon.

But I had one hunch.

‘Originally, this dungeon was destroyed by the Mercenary King, Alucas.’

In God of Divine Judgment, there was a line that said Alucas destroyed an Unknown Dungeon in some imperial region.

‘Even if he was an S-class ability user, there’s still the matter of compatibility. His ability—fire—must have been a good match for this dungeon.’

Based on that assumption, I’d told Anella to stock up on Molotovs. If they turned out useless, we could always throw them away.

“Thank goodness…”

If we hadn’t had those, we’d have been screwed. I jolted upright.

Wait—so my hunch was right? If this really is the Unknown Dungeon that Alucas destroyed…

‘Then maybe we don’t need to go all the way to the Imperial Coffin.’

Because “that item” might be the reward right here. Assuming Harris had done his job.

Thump, thump— My heart pounded in my ears.

Maybe—I wouldn’t need to go to the emperor’s tomb to free Adrian from the magic.

Maybe…

[You have successfully completed the quest. Level up!]

“…Huh?”

Still basking in the high of hope, I blinked at the words on the screen.

‘Level?’

My exhausted brain couldn’t quite process the letters, but my torn-up body was already rapidly healing like it had gone through high-speed recharging.

“…!?”

Even after experiencing it firsthand, I could hardly believe it.

‘Ah, right. You can level up in dungeons.’

According to the lore of God of Divine Judgment, a certain amount of energy is needed for a world to cycle.

If the energy isn’t enough, the world collapses.

‘Of course God of Divine Judgment has multiverse lore!’

So, worlds on the brink of collapse due to energy shortages start stealing energy from weaker worlds.

‘Through rifts.’

If a rift isn’t closed in time, the world rots and turns into a dungeon.

Survival of the fittest at its finest. No wonder power-hungry, morally bankrupt ability users were a thing.

To prevent this, our world in God of Divine Judgment did a desperate balance patch with what little energy it had left.

‘That’s how we got systems, level-ups, dungeon loot, and all that.’

The wealth from dungeon loot, the honor of saving the world, and the power from level-ups.

‘Most people would kill just to get one—but we can get all three… No wonder everyone rushes in.’

Given that stat windows, quests, and leveling up only appeared in dungeons, they were irresistible opportunities.

And I happened to be one of the few chosen people. This was a system exclusive to ability users or guides.

‘If the quest hadn’t appeared, or if I hadn’t killed all the monsters, I wouldn’t have been able to escape.’

Willpower comes from stamina.

With my stamina fully recharged and endorphins from near-death adrenaline pumping, my optimism circuit didn’t just restart—it did a full 360°.

‘All praise the system!’

I really am lucky. I didn’t die like a background character—I made it! The system chose me!

Now a devoted follower of the system, I stood up.

“Well then, let’s take a look at the glorious reward our dear system has bestowed upon us.”

Finally, a chance to uncover the true identity of our mysterious body owner, Jade Rian.

‘The reward was… stat unlock, right?’

Which felt awfully stingy for everything I went through.

My faith dropped fast.

‘Whatever. Let’s check it out first.’

When I opened my status window, the screen was still full of question marks, but a few things were now readable.

A few—but…

“……So petty!”

Many of the words still had “??” or were broken, so I couldn’t fully read them.

“Ugh, seriously?! Just a little peek like this?”

Once again, I’d failed to uncover the secrets of Jade Rian. What a secretive extra.

‘Ooh, at least some skills are visible.’

Excited, I zoomed in on the skill list…

[Perfect Aim of ???]
[Soaking ??]
[Absorption ? Technique]
[Blessing of ??]

“……”

Are you kidding me?

This bastard system seriously gave me this as a reward?

And that wasn’t even the worst of it—