TRPM 387

chapter 387

“Did you have some plans for today?”

Sofia asked me that when I muttered that things ended later than I expected.

“No, nothing like that. I just thought I’d get home before noon and have lunch.”

Of course, there’d be no one to greet me at home right now.
My mother would have gone to New Faith.

“Then let’s all go raid a dungeon.”

That was what Woo Ji-min suddenly suggested. Naturally, Yeon Mi-rae, Sofia, and I all turned to look at her at the unexpected comment.

“Huh? Why?”
“A dungeon, all of a sudden?”
“Yeah. All four of us here are Awakened, right? So we can go into a dungeon.”

Ah, true enough.

“Is this because the dungeon reward we got yesterday was so sweet?”
“… Ahem…!”

Judging by how she seriously considered becoming a bounty hunter in the UK not long ago, Woo Ji-min seems oddly steeped in capitalism.

“The reward yesterday was big only because the dungeon had been deemed ‘Unraidable.’ Normally, the payout is small—or more often, there’s no reward at all.”

The main source of income for Awakened who enter dungeons isn’t the reward money but rather the byproducts that come out of them.
Sometimes people would even avoid clearing a dungeon just to keep farming those byproducts.
Though, these days, with dungeons appearing more than ever, that’s far less common.

“Tsk… I thought I’d earn some easy money….”

Woo Ji-min clicked her tongue with genuine regret, then changed her tune as if something had come to mind.

“Then why don’t we just raid another dungeon that’s been deemed Unraidable?”
“……”

I couldn’t find anything to say against that.
Raiding an Unraidable dungeon….

“That won’t be easy.”
“But with Gun-woo, we’ll be fine!”

At her words, both Mi-rae and Sofia sighed.
And Sofia, as though reading off a manual, explained what “Unraidable” meant.

“There are two main reasons a dungeon is deemed Unraidable. First, when no clear method of clearing it can be identified. Most dungeons are cleared once the boss monster is killed, but sometimes you need to meet hidden conditions before it counts as cleared.”

Such cases, though, are relatively rare.

“The dungeon’s layout often gives clues. For example, if the interior is vast and monsters either take ages to respawn or don’t respawn at all, then you usually have to hunt every monster inside.”

And the other case….

“Even if the method is known, if it’s practically impossible to achieve.”

Most of the remaining Unraidable dungeons in the world today fall into this category.

“Typically it’s when the dungeon is so large you’d have to kill every monster inside.”

Other examples include when the dungeon environment is far too harsh for humans to advance, or when the monsters are so strong that you’d need multiple wall-breaking experts just to stand a chance against the boss.

“Unless it’s something like that, dungeons usually aren’t labeled Unraidable.”

The dungeon Elena, Ji-min, Chloe, and I went to yesterday fell into both categories: too harsh an environment to advance, and a boss far too strong.

As for the environment, we only pushed through by forcibly repelling it….

‘And if Elena and Chloe had gone alone, they might not have been able to beat that boss.’

Its carapace was breached only because Ji-min, whose burst damage outclassed theirs, struck through it, and Elena destroyed it from the inside through that hole.

Which means—even as wall-breaking Elementalists, Elena and Chloe wouldn’t have been able to pierce the boss’s shell.
That’s how tough it was.

Anyway.

“But still, with Gun-woo, won’t it work out somehow?”
“……”
“……”

Sofia glanced at me after Ji-min said that, but didn’t deny her words.
Neither did I.

I don’t know every Unraidable dungeon out there, but… would there really be any dungeon in this world I couldn’t clear?

“Hmm….”

The conversation naturally shifted toward me tackling an Unraidable dungeon.
I thought about it for a moment.

Should I really be the one to clear them?

The thought was brief.

“Let’s go.”

The fewer dungeons there are, the better.
Especially Unraidable ones.

To keep monsters from spilling out, a mid-sized guild usually has to do periodic “clean-up” inside.

If clearing one lets that guild instead tackle another dungeon in need of clearing, then it’s worth the effort.

‘Though the guild managing it will feel like they’ve had their honey jar snatched away.’

Sofia, thinking the same, asked me:

“It’s fine if we go, but won’t the guild managing that dungeon push back?”

The one yesterday was an exception, but in general, guilds assigned to Unraidable dungeons rake in quite a profit.

They get government subsidies for the regular clean-ups, and the byproducts inside are theirs.
On top of that, the more they clean the same dungeon, the more efficient they get.

The only downside is they don’t get the Artifacts granted by the Awakener system.
Otherwise, it’s easy money.

“They’ll resist, sure. But the justification’s on our side. And no guild will openly pick a fight with us.”

The Association would back us—since they want Unraidable dungeons gone too.

And most guilds handling them are mid-sized at best, without even a single wall-breaker among them.

‘No such guild would be crazy enough to challenge a team with two wall-breakers.’

If they did, we’d deal with it then.

“In that case, I’ll book the nearest Unraidable dungeon.”

Sofia said, pulling out her phone to make a call.

Regular dungeons can be booked through an app, but not Unraidable ones.
You can’t just send anyone in there.

Sofia booked us a dungeon classified Unraidable for its volcanic terrain, which made advancement nearly impossible.

“Ugh, so hot….”

Ji-min fanned herself with her hand.

‘Hot, sure….’

But her body would be fine.

Her bones, made from eternal cold iron, and her muscles and skin, made from branches of the World Tree, wouldn’t suffer much damage.

Though, if she actually jumped into the lava, even I couldn’t say what would happen.

“So be careful.”
“As if I’d be crazy enough to jump into lava.”

Hearing her reply, I turned to look at the one struggling most among us.

“You okay?”
“I’m fine.”

Ji-min’s body naturally resisted heat, and Mi-rae and I had protective aura around us.
But Sofia was different.

Even wearing the heat-resistant suit the Association gave her, she was suffering.

‘I heard those are the latest models—enough to keep someone alive even in a real volcanic eruption….’

Made of insulating material, layered with magic to prevent tearing, plus spells to keep the inside comfortable….

Even so, she looked miserable.
The people who used them in real eruptions must’ve felt the same.

“… Just watching you makes me feel hotter. Take it off—I’ll block the heat for you.”
“… Sorry.”

Sofia apologized and removed the suit, after I protected her fully with aura and magic.

“All right, brief us on this dungeon.”
“Yes. As you can see, it’s a volcanic terrain with lava constantly erupting. The boss’s lair is…”

She stopped and lifted her head toward the lava-flowing volcano.

“… Inside the crater.”
“… That boss won’t be an easy one.”

A monster dwelling inside a lava-filled crater meant it could withstand the heat.
And usually, monsters resistant to heat were also resistant to physical damage—though weaker to magic.

“Are you sure?”
“It’s not visible right now, but there have been sightings of the boss flying above the crater.”

Mi-rae asked, and Sofia answered.

“So people know what kind of boss it is?”
“Yes. A Red Dragon.”

A dragon type, then.

“Which means the other monsters inside must also be dragon-types.”
“So the guild managing this dungeon must be pretty skilled—yet they must also be making tons of money from dragon byproducts….”

Mi-rae frowned, muttering.
I shared her concern.

If the guild made that much money, greed might blind them, and they could ignore both our justification and our superior strength to pick a fight anyway.

As I said earlier, we’d deal with that if it came.

“A dragon, huh….”

While I was thinking that, Ji-min looked unusually excited.

“What is it?”
“… I’ve never hunted a dragon-type before.”
“… Really?”
“Today… I’ll become a Dragon Slayer….”

… What’s with her?

“Master. A word…”

Mi-rae leaned close and whispered in my ear.

“After the Black Mist incident, hunting dragons was seen as proof of strength… almost like a romantic ideal.”
“……”

… Why?

For a wall-breaker, dragons were troublesome but manageable.
Even veteran Awakened could kill them with proper preparation.

“At the time, dragons were thought of as the strongest race.”
“Hmm….”

True, dragons are strong monsters—but hardly the strongest.
Still, I guess back then, with so little known about monsters, it made sense people saw them that way.