Chapter 304, Tower of a Hundred People (2)
[In this space, your vertical and horizontal vision will appear inverted.]
I'm tired. I haven't even properly started working yet, but that's just how I feel. Isn't that how workers everywhere feel? You get up in the morning and all you do is go to work, but by the morning, you're already drained. Your stamina fee is like that of soone who's been working for nearly ten days straight. Then you glance at the calendar and realize it's only Tuesday, with your day off still a distant, vague point on the horizon.
"These Gaimche..."
No matter how you think about it, going to work really is inhuman. I rolled the eyes of this body to check the direction of the companion who ca with .
"Seriously, he's got a real talent for getting on people's nerves!"
But even after checking again, the result was the sa. The S-rank hunter who would normally be a reassuring presence just by standing nearby had now beco a full-blown ticking ti bomb.
"Jung Haseong. Jung Haseong?"
Thirty seconds after entering the dungeon, the Tower of a Hundred People granted the challengers a vision-reversal effect with the start of the first floor's trial.
"How confusing. Why do Earthlings use the sa word for Esther's awakened ability and the na of this special magic?"
This kind of phenonon seed to be referred to by Korean Hunters as sothing like a "Dungeon Curse".
"Well, creatures capable of creating fake lifeforms wouldn't have any trouble pulling off this kind of trick for difficulty balancing."
I spoke cautiously to the top-ranked hunter. Just in case, I wanted to let him know beforehand—could you try manifesting a small spell roughly to your upper right, according to your perspective?
Swoosh.
And right after that suggestion, the fla-type primal caster ignited a fla right in front of my nose. For the record, I was standing to Jung Haseong's left.
"Uh, yeah. I got it. I understand your condition, so just cancel the skill for now."
A cold sweat instantly ran down my back. It seed the opponent had completely lost their sense of space as their vision beca unstable. In such conditions, if the primitive mage moved recklessly, it was obvious that only innocent aliens would explode.
"Since coming to Earth, just how many life-threatening situations have I gone through?"
But avoiding battle wasn't an option. With the activation of the dungeon curse, the Tower of a Hundred People's entrance guardian had already appeared.
"Cough."
"Damn it..."
There are certain gate creatures that like. Blind and deaf, they mindlessly pursue anything as if mana were their only source of sustenance—devolved predators from another realm.
[Iron Toad]
The monster that appeared on the first floor of this gate was a perfect example of that.
Roll, roll.
Before our eyes, a creature presud to be a frog-like species appeared, its eyeballs the size of a human head.
"One."
What's more, just as ntioned earlier, it was highly sensitive to mana and relentlessly targeted a single challenger.
Even compared to the representatives of the world's major powers, he was near the very top. In terms of sheer mana capacity alone, he was like an ocean standing among shallow streams.
And that very person was right here.
Because, of all people, I had to enter alongside this country's hero.
"Ack!"
Thud!
In that instant, sothing shot past at trendous speed. The [Iron Toad], which Jeon Haseong managed to identify with the analyzer while drenched in cold sweat, was no ordinary amphibian of this planet.
Its gray skin glead as if forged from tal. Opaque liquid, shimring like rcury in a nictitating mbrane, periodically filled its eyes.
Monsters that Earthlings prefix with "Iron-" usually have exceptional defense. So based on the information I'd gathered, I had a rough idea of what its exterior would look like. But surprisingly, the beast seed to have a soft interior—every ti it opened its mouth, it revealed a pink tongue that looked tender and flexible.
Slap!
That was the sound made when Jung Haseong was whipped by the creature's tongue.
"Ugh!"
A mont later, unable to watch my apprentice get thoroughly beaten by that tongue any longer, I shouted a command. In that case, just close your eyes and cast a wide-area fire spell. I said it because the temporary teammate who ca in with us clearly wasn't thinking straight.
However, Jung Haseong was barely able to move his body.
"No, why are you just taking the hits!"
"Ugh, t, that's...!"
The Korean hero's overwhelming embarrassnt caused the initial problem to resurface.
"It's not working. I'm sorry. The skill... the skill isn't activating properly...!"
Haseong, if you're going to use your body like that, just give it to . Seriously, how can a mage who can't even cast with their eyes closed actually exist?
"Ugh!"
If I'd known it would turn out like this, I wouldn't have bothered coming in with him out of generosity.
"Lemming, you really did lose your mind after dumping a hundred billion into gear."
But really, what's the point of regretting past mistakes? The mont I opened my eyes, that massive tal toad was already going wild, pounding on Jung Haseong. Even for an S-rank hunter, taking repeated hits from an enemy just one tier below would definitely hurt. If damage starts piling up from the very first floor, it'll beco a serious headache.
So I made up my mind firmly to stick to the calculation I made before entering the gate.
"I have to neutralize that amphibian sohow. I need to buy Jung Haseong enough ti to adjust to his vision... no matter what it takes!"
Let's take down the [Iron Toad].
But to blindly activate the surprise box would be quite concerning, given Jung Haseong is right next to . What if, by so slim chance, that true S-rank were to faint? What would happen then?
"Of course, that'd be a disaster for us and Gaimche too. Jung Haseong is the only one capable of challenging this gate."
Heuph.
As my mind raced, I suddenly let out a sharp breath and hurled sothing with force. It was a piece of gear I had prepared in advance before entering the gate—an epic-grade [Hydra], which I threw straight at the beast.
Ting!
A re attack imbued with F-rank mana. Naturally, it didn't yield much effect.
"What a sha. I hit the eye pretty accurately, but of course, it just bounced right off."
Swish swish swish.
By the ti the longsword that struck the monster's gleaming body had spun a few tis through the air...
"...But what if I add [Telekinesis] to the mix here?"
As if it'd been waiting for this mont, I caught the longsword's center of mass with a faint, colorless force. After all, a spell that rely moves an object can be cast with minimal mana consumption.
Originally, I planned to use the telekinesis to move the sword around erratically and divert the monster's attention. But it seed the mana contained in the high-grade weapon was far more stimulating than I'd anticipated—because the toad reacted almost imdiately.
Shreek!
The creature shot out its long tongue and snatched the sword away.
"Hydra!"
Ack!
I hurried to activate telekinesis, afraid I might lose my prized possession—my number one treasure, the epic artifact. But then, thinking it over for a mont... I wasn't so sure this was really a situation where I needed to rescue the weapon.
"Huh."
Co to think of it, wasn't that the exact spot I was aiming for anyway?
"Greuk."
Teuph.
The [Iron Toad] eventually swallowed the object it had snatched. It shut its mouth tightly, as if stubbornly declaring it had no intention of returning the weapon it had devoured.
The amphibian changed in an instant.
Roll, roll, roll.
Just monts ago, its eyes had been relatively still—but now they darted about nonstop. And if you listened closely, you could even hear an unfamiliar vibration resonating from sowhere within.
Greuk...
With its massive tal-like body, it almost felt like sound echoed through it—like the Bosangk Bell. But apparently, it still had flesh and organs inside, because the creature from another realm soon widened its eyes in shock and reacted in the following way.
“…………!”
Bubble bubble.
A deadly poison spread through its body, causing the immortal creature to writhe in agony, perhaps even choosing death.
[Hydra] was an epic-grade weapon. Naturally, its magical conductivity—a trait unique to high-grade artifacts—was exceptionally high. And yet the A-rank creature had foolishly wrapped its tongue around it just like that.
"Is it stupid or sothing?"
Of course that would injure its tongue and spread the poison. That is—assuming the one who did it was just a mindless beast.
"Hmm."
But even after going through a battle where I barely had to lift a finger, I couldn't bring myself to feel happy so easily.
"Anyway, for now, I've successfully put out the urgent fire!"
The enemy was boss-class, so it had survived even that deadly poison. And honestly, who am I to call sothing dumb when I've made my own fair share of mistakes? Just look at —I ca into a gate I didn't even need to enter, and now I'm stuck here suffering for no good reason...
***
– Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding... Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding...
A few minutes earlier—to be exact, around 30 seconds after they entered the dungeon.
"The sound of drums."
As a strange lody echoed from the air, Jung Haseong had a thought.
Drums in a dungeon, out of nowhere?
"I'm sure I've heard a sound like this while raiding a gate before..."
He sensed it precisely. This was a sound that served as a harbinger of disaster—like the trumpet of an angel from the apocalypse.
[In this space, your field of vision is reversed—up, down, left, and right appear flipped.]
And sure enough, just a few seconds later, the dungeon triggered a bizarre calamity—just as he had expected...
"Yeah, it's exactly like what I experienced before. This is the sound that plays right before a dungeon curse activates!"
Could it be that, as so doomsday theorists claim, the gates really are this planet's form of self-purification? Is that why humanity, like beasts before a natural disaster, ends up helplessly suffering over and over again?
The black-haired young man let those thoughts briefly pass through his mind. What followed was the strange sensation of the scenery unfolding before his eyes suddenly turning upside down.
"Damn it!"
Jung Haseong had far more dungeon raids under his belt than most others. So this wasn't his first ti going through sothing like this. But dungeon curses—no matter how many tis he experienced them—were sothing he just couldn't get used to.
"I already feel like throwing up..."
It wasn't just the motion sickness from the inversion of up, down, left, and right in his vision...
First of all, the very fact that his own senses had been distorted by an unknown disaster was deeply unsettling.
"Ugh."
Jung Haseong staggered, overwheld by the bizarre phenonon he hadn't experienced in a long ti. He wasn't the only one in this gate, so he tried to pull himself together as quickly as possible—but that was easier said than done.
"Jung Haseong, Jung Haseong!"
"Ugh..."
Using a skill is basically like moving so muscles.
A slight sense of purpose—and the will to move the energy within the body. Without those, an awakened ability could easily fail to activate.
However, the current Jung Haseong was floundering in waves of confusion to the point where he couldn't even move one of his legs—the one he'd controlled for 26 years—properly.
"Eyes."
The hero clenched his eyes shut. He could now fully understand why this phenonon was called a dungeon curse.
"No, why are you just taking the hits!"
Kim Giryeo, who was right beside him, couldn't stand the sight and shouted in frustration.
When he opened his eyes, the view was a chaotic ss, like so warped abstract painting. And yet, closing his eyes and wrapping himself in a thin layer of defense didn't seem like an option either—the opponent was an A-rank boss, and the space felt as cramped as a four-sided arena. How was he supposed to fight blind under these conditions?
"I don't think I can control the range... At this rate, I might end up burning down the whole house just to kill that one monster!"
But then it happened. While Jung Haseong was still floundering, unable to adjust to the altered sensations, soone beside him took action. A certain blond hunter—who had shown this very weapon once before, back in the Grass Nest—threw it toward the monster.
Ting!
With that sound, Jung Haseong rembered the na of the object that had just been thrown [Hydra].
If even a sword thrown by an S-rank hunter like himself hadn't left much of a mark, then that blond hunter had probably tossed the Hydra very gently.
And yet, that light action led to an efficient success. The monster, struck by the blade, seed drawn to it—its attention clearly captured. Monts later, it gulped down the human's intriguing object in one swift motion.
[Hydra] was a venomous weapon. So the ruler of the first floor, who had foolishly touched it with its tongue, would soon find itself standing at the edge of the River Jordan.
The landscape, appearing upside down and with left and right reversed, ca as a significant shock to Jung Haseong.
"Huh...?"
For reference, his master—whose very soul operated on a different level—was, of course, completely unaffected by the status abnormality.
"How... did he manage to already throw sothing and hit the target?!"
Because Jung Haseong had no way of knowing.
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