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Episode 2
The Path Following the Skeleton
Dozens of corpses, still warm from recent death, lay scattered.
He asked as nonchalantly as possible.
“Did you kill all of these?”
“Not all of them. Most were done by that friend over there.”
The skeleton pointed at a pink slime hiding among the bodies.
“It’s shrunk quite a bit. It will take some time to recover. They were considerably strong humans, you see.”
Han Do-yoo checked the faces of the corpses and let out a sigh of relief.
They were not the faces of his party members.
‘Then who are these hunters?’
Judging by the devastatingly collapsed surroundings, an intense battle had taken place here. The equipment worn by the corpses also indicated a high level of skill.
‘Is this really the dungeon I entered?’
Just as an ominous feeling began to arise, the skeleton tilted its head.
“But something seems odd.”
“What is it?”
He answered casually, but goosebumps were rising all over his body.
‘Caught already?’
Then again.
‘It doesn’t make sense for them to suddenly mistake me for the boss.’
The skeleton stopped walking. However, an unexpected answer came back.
“The monsters haven’t blocked”
Han Do-yoo also rolled his eyes, following the skeleton’s gaze. It was true; not a single low-level monster was present.
“Clearly several hours must have passed since the battle occurred.”
Boss-type monsters like gatekeepers, once dead, are finished for good. Even if another raid party comes, the gatekeeper remains dead.
But low-level monsters is blocked after time passes.
“My Lord.”
The skeleton called out in a stiff voice.
He stifled the reflexive urge to use honorifics and answered as majestically as possible.
“Why do you call?”
“By any chance, were you greatly injured in the battle with the Constellation?”
“What?”
“A dungeon is influenced by its boss, is it not? Even with as little as I have in my head, I know that much!”
His mind raced.
The real boss of this dungeon had gone to battle a being called the Constellation.
Han Do-yoo looked down at the sword strapped to his waist.
‘And this sword belongs to the real boss.’
The vast cavern he saw before losing consciousness came to mind. It was a mess, as if a tremendous battle had taken place.
‘Did the boss die in that fight?’
That was a piece of fortunate news amidst the misfortune. He had been determined to escape before the real boss returned.
Simultaneously, a good excuse had also presented itself.
“The Constellation was more powerful than expected.”
“For my Lord to praise the Constellation, this is truly an unusual event.”
“It wasn’t praise, just…”
“By the way, Boss, are you not wearing your mask anymore?”
The skeleton scratched its head as it added.
“It’s my first time seeing the Boss’s real face. You always wore a mask, didn’t you? Seeing you like this feels really unfamiliar! Your manner of speaking is also strangely gentle now.”
The creature leaned in, staring intently.
Panicking here would mean the end.
“In the midst of battle, I didn’t even notice the mask breaking.”
“I knew it! I expected as much. That’s why I prepared this!”
The skeleton pulled a mask from its chest.
“Since the Boss wasn’t coming back for so long, I sometimes looked at it to soothe my longing. Now that you’re here, I guess this is unnecessary. I give it to you!”
[Tragic Mask Replica: Wearing the mask can conceal one’s identity. Crafted by the White Skeleton Swordsman, Orcatan, with deep affection.]
“Orcatan.”
“Did you call?”
So that was this skeleton’s name.
The mask only covered the left side of the face, but it seemed to be imbued with magic that hid one’s identity.
“No.”
‘But this guy is probably male, right? Can’t tell the gender from bones, after all.’
“We’ve arrived!”
Orcatan stood before a door, beaming brightly, and moved aside.
Then, he drew his sword, plunged it into the ground, placed his right fist against his chest, and bowed deeply.
“My Lord! With these incorruptible bones, I offer ten thousand respects and express my bone-deep gratitude for being able to stand once more beneath your sword!”
Han Do-yoo put on the mask and stepped through the opening door.
He let out a breath.
A room that seemed desolate and quiet, yet filled with an overwhelming presence.
He walked in a straight line.
On the black marble floor, the solid sound of footsteps slowly echoed.
‘The boss.’
He had never acted as a grand existence like a boss before.
But he had imagined many times about wanting to be the protagonist.
Straightening his back, a gaze with his head held high.
Through the mask, he projected arrogance, sorrow, and despair.
The two subordinates waiting on either side simultaneously knelt.
He instantly realized the presence filling the room belonged to those two beings.
But he couldn’t afford to be intimidated.
Acting is about controlling the atmosphere.
The subordinate on the left placed his right hand on his chest and bowed his head deeply, while the one on the right glanced subtly at Han Do-yoo and spoke.
“Have you returned, my Lord?”
He stopped and looked to the right. Looking carefully, a system window announced his name.
[The Cunning Researcher, Basil]
The left one was,
[The Rose of Night, Ellis]
When he shifted his gaze back, his eyes met Basil’s.
Half-closed eyes.
A slightly parted mouth and a tongue licking his teeth.
“You took a long time.”
It was a suspicious face.
‘What to do?’
If this situation were a script.
What kind of story would come next?
Han Do-yoo tightly gripped the sword at his waist.
[Script effect is activated.]
A small amount of the Lord’s memories entered his mind. It was only things like speech patterns, but that was enough.
‘The fact that such strong monsters are kneeling means there’s a definite hierarchy.’
The method to establish authority was simple.
“How long do you intend to keep that head raised?”
At the coldly spat words, Basil hastily lowered his head.
“My apologies. I was so happy to see my Lord that I made a mistake.”
Basil felt his heart sink under Han Do-yoo chilly gaze. Having nearly earned his Lord’s displeasure the moment he returned, Basil pressed his face flat against the floor.
‘Seems my attitude was vaguely similar to the real boss’s.’
He couldn’t tell what level of monsters they were.
What was certain was that there was no possibility of winning.
In that case, the strategy of starting off strong from the beginning had worked.
He started walking again.
At the end of the room, a throne sat atop steps.
He sat there.
Then, the system window activated. Various phrases poured down like rain.
【You have sat on the throne. Information about the dungeon is automatically displayed.】
【The dungeon and the boss are in a unified relationship. As the dungeon level rises, the boss’s abilities also grow.】
【The dungeon’s owner has changed, releasing the core synchronization. The dungeon has degenerated to Lv 1.】
SSS-Grade (Locked) Dungeon: Dark Divine Palace
Core Lv: 1
Four Great Guardian Kings
White Skeleton Swordsman 「Orkatan」
The Cunning Researcher 「Basil」 (Some stats locked)
The Rose of Night 「Ellis」 (Most stats locked)
Founder of Black Magic 「Belzemeron」(All stats locked – Slumber)
Rare Monsters
Colossal Pink Slime (Critical Condition)
Spider Queen (Critical Condition)
Berserker Goblin (Critical Condition)
Requiem Golem (Locked)
Hydra Dragon (Locked)
…
Low-Level Monsters (Unable to is)
For a moment, he was stunned by the stark system window that appeared.
‘Am I really the owner of this dungeon?’
Why?
At that moment, the system message he saw just before falling here came to mind.
‘You have acquired the Proof of the Sovereign. Your position is promoted to Boss.’
“Don’t tell me.”
[Han Do-yoo]
Age: 28
Race: Boss Monster
Skills: Adaptation, Script, Sovereign’s Heart
[Stats]
Strength: 5
Agility: 5
Stamina: 5
Intelligence: 5
Spirit: 10
Luck: 10
His race had changed.
He was no longer human.
‘My life is ruined.’
No, now he’s become a monster, so…
‘Should I say my monstrous life is ruined?’
It was the kind of lame joke that bonehead over there would make.
Han Do-yoo raised his head and looked at the ceiling.
A large ore, shaped like a diamond, embedded in the very center.
The Core.
He knew that if that were destroyed, the boss would die too.
He didn’t know what kind of dungeon this was, but either humans would come in and shatter that core,
Or, he would be discovered by these guys and killed.
‘One of the two.’
A life where he never got to be the protagonist even once.
Spending his whole life just cleaning up after others, and now he becomes a monster and dies?
“‘Absolutely not.'”
The moment he thought that, an absurd laugh burst out.
Because all the monsters here were looking up at Han Do-yoo.
He had accidentally landed the lead role here, something he had never done before.
His heart beat strangely fast.
Catching his breath, he thought rationally.
The answer was predetermined.
“‘I have to protect this dungeon.'”
To a degree where he could stop humans if they came.
But right now, it was so low-level that even low-level monster is were blocked.
Low-level monsters are essential for whittling down raid parties bit by bit.
Without them, you can hardly even call it a dungeon.
And that’s not all.
From rare monsters to gatekeeper monsters.
The variety was quite vast, but most were either locked or in critical condition.
‘Just looking at the number of monsters, it seems like a fairly large dungeon.’
Of course, right now.
“It’s a mess.”
“!!”
Contrary to Han Do-yoo intention, this single sentence sounded like this to the three subordinates:
‘The dungeon became a complete mess while I was gone.’
It wasn’t completely unreasonable. While the boss was absent, many rare monsters had died, and the dungeon was partially damaged.
“My apologies!”
“I have nothing to say.”
“Please kill me.”
These three had indeed been slacking off, so their guilt was showing.
Unaware of this, Han Do-yoo silently watched them.
‘They startled me. Why are they acting like that all of a sudden?’
Basil, who had been sweating bullets, spoke towards Orcatan.
“Let’s quickly show the gift we captured earlier.”
“Ah, I almost forgot!”
“We have prepared a gift for my Lord. Seeing that fellow will surely surprise you as well, my Lord. Please, forgive our transgressions.”
He thought he’d already been surprised enough for a lifetime today.
He felt like he wouldn’t be surprised by anything now.
He was wrong.
At that moment, a human was dumped at the foot of the throne.
‘?’
He rubbed his eyes and looked again.
“My Lord, you always had a great interest in strong humans, did you not? I stopped Orcatan from killing him.”
Looking at the stiffened Han Do-yoo, Orcatan opened his mouth.
“Is it really something my Lord likes? Your expression doesn’t look good!”
“Being brainless makes one that foolish. Our Lord is surprised right now. A human that strong is rare.”
“Oh! I see.”
The reason was wrong, but he was surprised.
“‘Why are you here?'”
Because at his feet, begging for his life, was Hyun Sang-beck, the vice-captain of the [White Tiger] guild raid team he saw on the morning news,
And his trashy school senior.
“Sp-spare me.”
An incredulous laugh escaped at the absurd situation.
‘What do I do with this?’
Seeing that laugh, Orcatan and Basil began to clap.
