CH 4

If you fail to clear the dungeon within the time limit, the monsters will escape and affect reality. As a result, in the early days of awakenings and the dungeons, the number of casualties was increasing steadily, and the government had almost fully incapacitated.

No matter how good the conditions were to tempt awakening, a bunch of houses were destroyed immediately, and no one rushed into the government’s office to tell them that their families were in danger in such a situation.

Moreover, there was a sudden appearance of powers that transcended human’s, but there was no way anyone would listen to them. And the illegal hunters tried to dig into that gap.

Although they aren’t called Illegal hunters yet, they will gradually strengthen their influence and even buy and sell the bodies of the Awakened people without any hesitation. The name of the guild they had established in the novel is called ‘Red Apple.’ The reason I know all this in detail is because they are the forces that will confront the main character, Kang Si-hoo.

[Awakened: Kim Yong-tae]

[Awakened: Yoo Jin-woo]

I glanced at the words flashing above their heads. Perhaps it’s because I’m a constellation, I can see these things.

‘By any chance, can I see more information of other people too?’

[Summary of Individual’s Information.

[Awakened: Yoo Jin-woo]

[Title: Awakened

Status: Unable to check.

Constellation: None

Coins possessed: Unable to check.

Skills possessed: [Insidious Scheme]

He’s an Awakened, who doesn’t have a contracted Constellation.]

‘What’s with the name of that skill, Insidious Scheme?’

It sounds like a skill that hits people on the back of their heads.

“Listen. We’ve got one more person, but they don’t look very strong anyway, so we’ll just go along with it.” 

Baek Tae-beom glanced back at me, but I didn’t care and just looked ahead at the building that they were pointing at.

“You’ve heard that the government manages all dungeons, right? But right now, they are still busy. You don’t have to pay attention to those little things. So we sneak in here, grab the items, and get out. Understand?”

“Items will be split 7:3, just like I said. The same goes for the coins you receive as a reward.”

We’ve just been hit on the back of our heads, damn swindlers. My mouth twitched as I wanted to say something, but instead, I shot a message to Baek Tae-beom.

[The Constellation, ‘The One Who Knows The End,’ tells Baek Tae-beom that he wants to smack the heads of those bastards one by one.]

Baek Tae-beom still looked awkward with a notification window in front of him. Especially when you see him stiffen so noticeably. 

“Excuse me, I have a question.”

“What?”

“How do you know that this is a dungeon?”

I raised my hand to ask a question like a child. Then, Jin-woo’s face twitched. It was a face that didn’t know whether it should laugh or be angry.

However, this question and answer were necessary. Not for me, but for Baek Tae-beom.

We’ll get caught anyway, so we need to find out important information.

“It looks like a completely ordinary building.”

“That’s because… There’s a radar.”

“Radar?”

When Baek Tae-beom asked with a puzzled expression, Kim Yong-tae beside him sighed and took something out of his arms. It looked like a compass, with something floating on the screen continuously.

“It’s a radar you can buy for 2,000 coins at the store. We can explore the rifts where dungeons will form. It’s a little expensive, but….”

“Let’s just quickly get in there and make some noise. How long are you going to keep talking in front of me?”

Yoo Jin-woo hit Kim Yong-tae on the back of his head, as he was annoyed.

[The Constellation, ‘The One Who Knows The End’ encourages Baek Tae-beom to buy the item, saying that it looks useful.]

[The Constellation, ‘The One Who Knows The End’ tells Baek Tae-beom that he needs to look around him carefully.]

It was literally a dungeon radar available in the shop. Since it is a cheap item, only low-grade dungeons would be detected, but if you buy it at the right price, you could detect higher-grade dungeons, that is, field-type dungeons, and not scenario dungeons.

In addition, functions, such as whether only opened dungeons or the rift before the dungeon opens can be detected, and have it carefully changed depending on the grade.

Baek Tae-beom, you must buy that later.

Baek Tae-beom looked around again and made awkward gestures.

Anyway, what they just said earlier was that the government isn’t paying attention to the little things right now, so they are to clear the dungeon by taking advantage of that blind spot.

People were not properly controlled in this way, so the government wanted to set up an association to have many hunters under its control. There would also be guilds established independently by the hunters, who opposed it, but it was still too early at this point.

As soon as we entered the building, a strange sensation enveloped my body. A window flashed through my eyes just like when I entered the elevator back then.

[You have entered a dungeon that has just opened.]

[Dungeon <Invasion of the Red Mist>]

[Escape the Red Mist within the time limit.

Reward: 15,000 Coins

Penalty for Failure: Death

Time Limit: 13 hours and 50 minutes]

“The reward is 15,000 coins?”

“Isn’t this a total steal?!”

While watching my favorite Yoo Jin-woo and Kim Yong-tae, I had a complicated heart. Usually, the higher the difficulty, the greater the reward. Which also means you’re more likely to die.

Baek Tae-beom also didn’t have a good expression on his face after he had understood what was going on.

[You have entered channel #70jj5. Current number of spectators: 1]

The building was around 4 stories high, however everything changed the moment we came in. The ceiling rose without knowing the heights of the sky, and a circular staircase ran endlessly from the floor to the ceiling. At the same time, something like a red fog began to slowly form from the ground.

After briefly looking at each other, we started running towards the stairs without anyone being first.

I didn’t know the contents of this dungeon. That was because the dungeon was only briefly mentioned when Baek Tae-beom recalls it but ends just as quickly. Still, I could tell that something was unusual.

That is because, every time I climbed the stairs, I saw corpses in my sight.

Perhaps the reason the time remained indefinite was because there were people who had entered the dungeon ahead of us.

“Damn, they’re getting in my way…!”

Yoo Jin-woo nervously climbed the stairs, kicking a dehydrated body among several corpses. The red mist was slowly rising from the bottom, but it wasn’t that fast, so we didn’t have to rush. Every time Baek Tae-beom looked at a corpse, his face became noticeably pale.

He had a sword in his hand, the same sword, that I had bought in a hurry from the shop the other day and gave to him.

[Sword of the Lowly E]

[It may be a bit chipped, but its shape is of a proper sword. New skills may be acquired when used. (Cannot use duplicates)]

As I glanced at the sword, Baek Tae-beom looked at me and said. 

“In the elevator… It suddenly appeared from the air.”

“That sword?”

“Yes. So, a Constellation said they were sponsoring me all of a sudden… Thanks to the appearance of this sword, I was able to save Ga-hyun-ssi.”

“Do you think you can use it?”

“I don’t know, but I think so.”

Baek Tae-beom nodded.

Well, I knew his future. In the future, Baek Tae-beom was an Awakened who mainly used the sword. So, I seemed to have bought the sword instinctively without realizing it. Of course, I thought that Baek Tae-beom would use a sword.

“I have to say that something just suddenly appeared out of nowhere… It’s kind of funny to say something like this.”

“It’s not funny at all. However, I feel reassured that Tae-beom-ssi is by my side.”

I kept my mouth shut and continued climbing the staircase. My first reason for being so kind to a guy who might destroy the world was because he had an ulterior motive of somehow increasing my survival rate. And the second reason was that Baek Tae-beom had already signed a contract with me. 

I didn’t know how to unilaterally terminate the contract, and I even questioned whether it was possible to terminate it in the first place. Above all, I could not act hastily because I do not know how Baek Tae-beom would act if the contract is terminated.

“Thank you. Well, I don’t really know what a Constellation is… But anyway, I feel at ease because they seem to be trying to help me, just like Ga-hyun-ssi.”

You are already giving your heart to your Constellation like this, but what would you think if they were to suddenly terminate the contract?

“But why are you talking about me?”

“Me?”

“I don’t know how you suddenly appeared out of nowhere, but you’re here to help me, aren’t you?”

“…Ah, that’s right.”

Baek Tae-beom smiled brightly and came a little closer to me. Would it be an illusion to say that if for a moment, those beautifully glimmering golden eyes looked like those of a predator?

“Is it like Ga-hyun-ssi’s skill?”

“It’s something… similar to that.”

“I’m glad you’re here to help me, but I don’t think these people are bad people. Please be kind.”

I really want to say that you are having some misunderstandings. Those people aren’t good people by any means. Aside from the ugly face, their skill name is even ‘Insidious Scheme’.

[Your contractor expresses his affection towards you.]

Don’t show your affection!

“What are you two muttering about?”

“We were talking about how far we had to go to reach the end of the stairs.”

“Huu… I know. Why does it feel like there’s no end to these staircases?”

Kim Yong-tae wondered as he sweated. The ceiling was blocked, and the stairs were endless. We were at least half the way up, but we still had a long way to go.

And then I had a strange feeling and stopped.

“Wait a minute….”

“What?”

“Isn’t something weird?”

I looked down at the corpse beneath my feet. The corpse, which looked like it had dried up and died while climbing the stairs, was lying on the floor.

And I’ve seen this corpse before.

Isn’t this the body that Yoo Jin-woo kicked?

Not only me, but the complexions of the other three also turned pale. In particular, Yoo Jin-woo, who kicked the body, freaked out. He kicked the body thoroughly and made it fall down the stairs.

I’m definitely sure it was….

“What, hyeuk…!”

A corpse that suddenly appeared in the air fell behind Yoo Jin-woo. After he was startled, Yoo Jin-woo grabbed the railings of the staircase and jumped. Baek Tae-beom sighed and took a step back.

“Don’t tell me, it goes on forever…?”

Kim Yong-tae muttered in a bleak voice. No one questioned this.

“Wait a minute, then what about the fog that keeps rising from below?”

Everyone turned their heads at my words, pointing over the railing. The red mist was rising up at a faster pace than before, slowly eroding the stairs.