We had come to a stop right in the middle of the C-floor.
With the Disciplinary Committee members still patrolling, there was no benefit to lingering here.
I guess it’s time to go with Plan B.
I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but I had prepared just in case.
I leaned over and whispered to Dang Gyu-young.
– Could you make a few round trips?
– What, four times?
At C-rank, Shadow Leap could only transport two people at a time.
For Dang Gyu-young to move all five of us, she would have to make four round trips.
The risk would increase considerably, but—
“Two trips will be enough.”
“How?”
“I can use it too.”
If I copied Shadow Leap, we could transport everyone together which would make it far more efficient.
▷Copy – Skill [3/3]
1. Thief’s Step (B+)
2. Overheat (C)
3. Shadow Sanctuary (B)
[Overheat] was a skill I had copied from Hong Yeon-hwa,
And Shadow Sanctuary was essential for keeping the party hidden.
So, the best copy slot to overwrite was Thief’s Step.
After all, since Thief’s Step was originally Dang Gyu-young’s skill, I could just copy it again later.
Of course, even with this approach, Dang Gyu-young would still have to make two round trips, so the risk level would inevitably increase.
Chae Da-bin would likely wonder why our pace had suddenly slowed down as well.
Still, it’s better than getting caught.
Adding a bit of risk was definitely better than failing before we even reached our destination.
Just as I was about to start the copying process with these thoughts in mind—
“!”
One of the patrolling Disciplinary Committee members suddenly stopped in their tracks, as if they received some sort of message.
With a tense expression, they exchanged a few quick communications, then hurriedly pushed off the ground and headed upward.
Dang Gyu-young watched them disappear before turning back to me.
– ...Seems like it showed up. That thing?
– Seems that way.
Apparently, a party exploring a C-rank dungeon had encountered a Dark Oobleck and sent out a distress call.
Some of the Disciplinary Committee members were deployed for the rescue.
Although others still patrolled their assigned areas without deviation, from our perspective, it felt like a huge gap had opened in the once stiflingly dense security net.
Chae Da-bin was excited by the opportunity and led the way.
– This way!
Following her, we arrived at the depths.
With the Disciplinary Committee clustered on the C- and D-floors, I had hoped the security here might be more lax. Yet the depths were still the depths.
Guard posts stood at intervals, crystal balls were embedded everywhere, and the committee members continued their patrols.
But then again, look who we had with us.
The president and vice president of the thieves club, after all.
The two had already broken through this place once before, back when we had infiltrated the Black Death dungeon.
It seemed like this time would be no different.
Soon, Dang Gyu-young began gathering mana in large amounts, while Chae Da-bin furiously tapped away on her tablet at an incredible speed.
[Shadow Pouch]
A shadow emerged from Dang Gyu-young and turned into a giant pouch that quickly swallowed all the first-years, including me.
Go Hyeon-woo and I remained still since we experienced this before, and Jang Moo-geuk only briefly blinked his eyes as if he was amazed but kept his composure.
After a moment of letting ourselves be jostled around, the shadow pouch spat us out right at our destination.
[No.88] [Gathering of Villains]
Dang Gyu-young waved urgently in front of the teleportation portal.
– Go in, go in, quickly, quickly.
Without waiting for anyone to take the lead, we all rushed inside.
Our surroundings shifted abruptly, and we found ourselves standing at the edge of a forest outside the city.
Only then did the group finally relax.
Although we hadn’t even officially started the operation, everyone already looked exhausted.
Yet alongside the relief was a sense of achievement at overcoming a significant hurdle.
Especially for Dang Gyu-young and Chae Da-bin who wore expressions of pure satisfaction.
“Wow, this is truly a triumph of human determination.”
“It goes to show that if you put in the effort, there’s nothing you can’t achieve.”
Just the day before when we were planning this, we weren’t sure if success was even possible, but in a desperate search for a possible breakthrough, we had managed to penetrate the iron-clad defenses of the Disciplinary Committee.
Even accounting for a bit of luck toward the end, it was still an impressive feat.
However, the satisfaction was brief, as something suddenly seemed to dawn on Chae Da-bin and a look of concern appeared on her face.
[In the weedy area near the bamboo grove, you can find elixirs.]
Elixirs were never in enough supply.
And since this was a B-rank dungeon, any elixirs we found here would likely be of a decent rank. Without a word, everyone crouched down and started digging through the weeds.
Only Jang Moo-geuk seemed a bit skeptical.
“To think I’d live to do farmwork in a dungeon.”
“Haha, it’s an experience too, wouldn’t you say?”
“You certainly have a positive attitude.”
“I hear that often.”
Jang Moo-geuk who thought no one would agree with him kept silent and concentrated on his digging.
After a while, he seemed to find something, pulled it up by the roots, and showed it to me.
“Isn’t this a poisonous plant?”
[Blood-Coagulating Herb (D)]
This plant had the effect of congealing the blood. It was somewhere between a medicinal plant and a poison.
When refined it could be used as a medicine, but eaten raw it was deadly.
Mixed among the weeds were other poisonous plants ranging from C to E rank.
Roughly speaking, about 80% of what we found were weeds, 19% were poisonous plants, and maybe 1% were actual elixirs.
I answered him casually.
“Keep the poisonous ones too. They’re too valuable to toss.”
“Sure thing.”
Since I wasn’t wrong, Jang Moo-geuk nodded in agreement.
In reality, gathering poisonous plants was also a minor goal of mine.
The more I collected, the better prepared I’d be for the next step of my plan.
Meanwhile, Dang Gyu-young used her shadow hands to hold a hoe. She worked much more comfortably and quickly than the others.
After a while she snuck up close to me and tickled my cheek with a weed that looked like foxtail grass.
“Young monarch, be honest with me.”
“About what?”
“You know exactly where it is, don’t you?”
Dang Gyu-young had learned through countless experiences that my eye for detail was near supernatural.
The idea that I wouldn’t be able to spot an elixir hidden somewhere in the weeds and that the whole party would have to dig around for it didn’t make sense.
In the end, she concluded that I was pretending not to know.
I admitted it freely.
“You caught me.”
“Why pretend not to know?”
“Because I need the manpower.”
Out of the five of us, I was the only one who needed poisonous plants.
If I suddenly pulled out an elixir, there’d be no reason for anyone to keep digging around.
Even Jang Moo-geuk would immediately drop his hoe.
But if I let them search on their own, it might take a bit longer, but we’d end up with a bigger stockpile of poisonous plants.
Dang Gyu-young narrowed her eyes.
“Using your party members for personal gain. Don’t you feel a little guilty?”
“A little. But can you keep it a secret?”
“Another secret?”
“The more, the better, right?”
“That’s true, but... why are you so annoying.”
As Dang Gyu-young crept closer, I took a step back to keep our distance.
“Why are you coming closer?”
“Just one good pinch of those cheeks.”
“No, thank you.”
She kept moving toward me, and I kept backing away.
While we were half-crouched and playing this game of tag, Chae Da-bin’s voice was heard.
“I found something!”
We both turned to see Chae Da-bin holding a thick root of Tuber fleeceflower.
[300-Year Tuber fleeceflower (C+)]
“It actually showed up.”
Jang Moo-geuk remarked.
A C+-rank elixir would be quite effective even if we divided it five ways.
But it wasn’t over yet.
I casually added,
“There’s one more. A 500-year one.”
“......!”
“......!”
Go Hyeon-woo and Jang Moo-geuk’s eyes lit up.
And they began to turn over the field with burning enthusiasm.