Chapter 45: White Bones and Dust

The long expedition had finally concluded, and they emerged from the dungeon.

“According to the Federation Headquarters’ analysis, it doesn’t appear to be a reset-type dungeon,” Lee Seonah said, putting away her smartphone after finishing her report.

A non-reset-type dungeon. This meant that once cleared, the entire dungeon would vanish completely.

Erosion-type dungeons left only their foundations in the real world, while non-erosion-type dungeons simply sealed off the Dimensional Gate leading to them after a certain period.

At least that’s a relief.

It was better for dungeons of this type to disappear cleanly.

It’s the perfect example of a dungeon with absurdly high difficulty and pitiful rewards.

There weren’t even any mineable minerals within the dungeon, and the monsters we encountered were all unremarkable undead types.

Perhaps because Duke Duas was a special boss treated like an NPC, he dropped nothing but essence stones. For a dungeon with a high-ranking vampire noble as its boss, the rewards were woefully inadequate.

Dungeons like this would inevitably be abandoned by Hunters and Guilds, ultimately leading to the disastrous phenomenon known as a “dungeon break,” where monsters spill into the mortal realm. They would become nothing more than liabilities, posing only the threat of this catastrophe.

“Too bad for you and the Guild,” I muttered.

Naturally, Shinwa, having spent a fortune to secure the first expedition rights to the dungeon, found themselves in a rather bitter situation. To put it bluntly, the losses far outweighed the gains.

However, Lee Seonah quietly shook her head.

“No. Considering the high-ranking vampire boss and the team we had, clearing the dungeon safely was a miracle in itself.”

I turned my gaze toward the expedition team members being treated by Shinwa’s medical team. They were mostly suffering from mental shock induced by the illusion magic. The only one with any serious injuries was Kim Jihoon, who had recklessly charged at a vampire and paid the price.

“Of course, I didn’t do anything,” I said. “You were the one who found most of the sealed artifacts, figured out the NPC was the boss, and drove off the vampire. You did it all yourself.”

“You helped hunt the vampire too,” I countered.

“If you can call that helping,” Lee Seonah said with a wry smile. Judging by her reaction, she clearly didn’t think so.

“Anyway, you can head back first. I still need to report to headquarters and thoroughly check on the team members’ conditions.”

But I didn’t move.

Lee Seonah stared at me with a puzzled expression before nodding in understanding.

“The essence stones? Don’t worry. The company responsible for collecting them and the byproducts will be here soon. I’ll make sure they separate and pack your share precisely.”

”…”

“Lee Taejun?”

But I remained silent, standing motionless. Truthfully, I hadn’t been fully listening to Lee Seonah’s words. All my attention was suddenly focused on a Status Window that had popped up before my eyes.

Parsley Navigation has downloaded the complete map of the Cursed Territory.

What?

There were still areas left to download?

Then, a perfect bird’s-eye view of the dungeon materialized.

Parsley Navigation is marking locations where special items are hidden within the Cursed Territory.

As that message appeared…

“Lee Seonah.”

“Hmm?”

I smirked and pointed at the Dimensional Gate.

“I left something behind. I’ll be right back.”

“Hmm.”

About an hour had passed since I re-entered the dungeon.

I was on the first floor of Lord’s Castle, deep within the archive where rows of faded bookshelves stretched endlessly.

“This should be the place.”

I crossed my arms and stared at the massive bookshelf blocking my path. According to Parsley Navigation, the dungeon’s hidden area lay behind this wall.

There had to be a mechanism somewhere in this archive that led to it. But even after carefully searching the surroundings, I couldn’t find anything.

There’s no special device in sight.

Thanks to this, I’d been stuck in the archive for over an hour.

Just then, the chat window above my head, which had been silent for a while, vibrated.

“No.”

“I’ve got enough headaches already. Don’t bother me, Manager Mi.”

But Manager Mi, ever the persistent one, paid no heed to my firm refusal. He shook the chat window up and down like a child throwing a tantrum.

“Why do you suddenly need the flash?”

The archive was indeed vast, with only occasional sunlight filtering through the few windows.

Even so, it wasn’t too difficult to make out my surroundings, so I hadn’t felt particularly inconvenienced.

”…”

I sighed and shook my head.

Manager Mi was supposed to be assisting me, but lately, it seemed I was spending more time taking care of her than the other way around.

“This is the last time. If you throw a tantrum like this again, I’m putting you on strike.”

Ignoring Manager Mi’s exaggerated antics, I continued forward.

Basic function, “Flash,” activated.

Fwoosh!

A beam of light erupted from the Status Window, illuminating the area in front of me like a smartphone flash. The surroundings instantly brightened.

[ Whew, now I can finally breathe! ] Manager Mi typed into the chat, relieved.

But I didn’t respond. Instead, I focused on the bookshelf illuminated by the flash, my gaze fixed on one particular section.

“Manager Mi.”

“Do you notice anything different about some of the books?”

The flash shone on the bookshelf. Among the densely packed volumes, several were bathed in a soft, glowing light, as if highlighted as interactive objects in a video game.

Without hesitation, I stepped forward.

Flashlight in hand, I roamed the vast archive, selecting only the books that emitted a faint glow.

None of them appeared particularly special. Their edges were frayed, and their overall appearance was unremarkable.

Yet I persisted for another thirty minutes.

Just as I finished gathering fifty books and set them down on the floor,

Krrrrrrrrr!

The ground beneath my feet suddenly vibrated.

Simultaneously,

Kugugugugu!

The bookshelf blocking the hidden passage began to rotate with a deafening roar.

Just as I thought.

A smirk crept across my face as I watched the spectacle unfold.

My hunch had been right.

The faintly glowing books were the key to activating the hidden passage.

I couldn’t believe the Status Window Flash even had a feature that highlighted interactive objects.

“Manager Mi, were you trying to show me this?”

”…”

She didn’t even know about it.

And this was the person who used to handle the Status Window Q&A!

How could she not be aware of all the hidden features of the Status Window?

Thud!

The heavy bookshelf finally ground to a halt.

Beyond the shelf, now rotated ninety degrees, a long corridor reappeared.

Checking the navigation, I saw a golden star shining at the end of the corridor.

“Alright.”

Without hesitation, I began walking forward.

At that moment…

Whoosh…

A group of figures emerged through the Dimensional Gate into the cursed territory.

They weren’t wearing Hunter suits, but work jackets and protective gear. Instead of helmets, they wore caps made of a special material. This was the uniform of scavengers, tasked with collecting essence stones and byproducts from cleared dungeons.

”…”

But these weren’t ordinary essence stone collection teams. No, these three, who had entered the dungeon under the guise of subcontractors for the Shinwa Guild, immediately pulled something from their pockets as soon as they stepped through the Dimensional Gate.

It wasn’t equipment for processing byproducts, nor extractors for harvesting essence stones.

Shink.

Blades and polearms gleamed with an eerie light.

These men were the Red Hounds, a Hunter team formed by three brothers who had sworn an oath of brotherhood.

They specialized in assassinating and kidnapping Awakeners.

“Hyung-nim, we’ve resealed the Dimensional Gate.”

“Good. Let’s finish this quickly and get out of here before anyone outside notices.”

They had just installed a device to temporarily seal the dungeon’s Dimensional Gate.

“The target must be somewhere in this dungeon.”

The man at the rear spoke up. He held a short spear and had a tattoo on the side of his neck. Han Jongpil, leader and eldest brother of the Red Hounds, stared silently at the graveyard littered with Monster corpses and quietly added, “Capture him and bring him here.”

“If he resists, can we kill him?”

Han Jongpil scoffed at his second brother, Han Jongseo’s question. “Hah, resist?”

Their target had been a mere D-Rank porter until a month ago. Meanwhile, they were Hunters with extensive real-world combat experience in every way imaginable.

The preparations were flawless.

Failure was not an option for him and his brothers.

Hadn’t they already easily evaded Cheongyeon’s surveillance, deceived the Shinwa Guild’s Hunters, and effortlessly infiltrated the dungeon?

All thanks to the unique, awakened abilities each brother possessed.

This transformative Skill allowed them to perfectly mimic the appearance of any human they had killed.

They could flawlessly replicate facial features, height, skeletal structure, voice, and even body odor—a truly complete disguise.

Moreover, each brother’s individual abilities were formidable in their own right.

Han Jongseo, the second brother, was a master of Poison Craft, capable of wielding hundreds of Poisons derived from byproducts of parasitic monsters and various plants.

The third brother, Han Jongcheol, possessed a stealth technique so advanced that even most A-Rank Hunters couldn’t detect him.

Furthermore, he had an A-Rank Skill that allowed him to see through others’ disguises and concealment, making it possible for them to painstakingly track down Taejun, who was wearing a mysterious mask.

Lastly, there was Han Jongpil himself, the eldest brother, whose abilities were naturally beyond compare.

By fully utilizing their skills, they had successfully handled numerous commissions.

Finally, they had risen to become notorious villains, taking on high-stakes jobs like this one.

And they were certain they would tear their prey to shreds this time as well.

Their confidence was absolute.

“Well, if he dares to defy us, not knowing his place…” Han Jongpil said with a sinister grin.

“…we’ll drag him back here even if we have to kill him.”

I had been walking down the long corridor behind the bookshelves for at least thirty minutes when a new space finally opened up before me.

It was a perfectly square chamber, roughly the size of a school playground, sealed off on three sides. In the center stood a tall, slender obelisk.

Checking the dungeon map, I saw a golden star shimmering at that exact location.

I slowly stepped inside.

Kugugugugung!

As soon as I entered the chamber, a deafening roar erupted, and a bookshelf shot out from the side, blocking my only exit.

The room had transformed into a perfectly sealed chamber, all escape routes gone.

[ Ugh… something feels creepy, Taejun-nim. Let’s just grab the item and get out of here! ] Manager Mi bounced anxiously, her voice trembling with unease.

However, I didn’t move immediately.

Suddenly, the basic functions of my Status Window activated.

Turning around, I saw otherworldly characters scrawled in jet-black charcoal on the back of the bookshelf blocking my retreat.

A moment later, the translated message appeared:

Only then did I notice something odd.

“Come to think of it, the floor looks strange.”

The floor, including the spot where I stood, was divided into uniform square tiles.

The space was barely large enough to stand in.

The shape of the secret chamber suggested only one thing.

“It’s a trap room,” I said. “One wrong step and we’re done for.”

This hidden place certainly lived up to its name. Solving the riddle wouldn’t simply grant us the item on a silver platter.

If the Status Window hadn’t automatically translated the warning etched behind the bookshelf…

I would have taken a careless step and met a gruesome fate.

Manager Mi panicked, her voice trembling and flailing about in distress.

Right, just as he said, I didn’t have any skills to disarm traps.

Now that the entrance was blocked, there was no turning back until I retrieved the item.

But…

“It’s okay,” I said.

Even if I couldn’t disarm the trap, I could still scout for a way out.

I immediately activated a skill:

Click!

A Dimensional Gate materialized, and a skeleton with glowing blue eyes appeared before me, summoned exactly one tile ahead of where I stood.

“Master, you’ve finally summoned me! My bones were itching for action! What task awaits me…?”

But before the skeleton could finish its sentence—

With the whirring of machinery, a massive harpoon shot out from one wall of the secret chamber, piercing straight through Iratu’s skull.

The “Trap Activator” had barely crumbled into a handful of ashes that scattered in the air.

I nodded in satisfaction. “So it seems they really are recognized as objects, not summons.”

Originally, dungeon traps wouldn’t trigger on summons. Normally, it would be impossible to activate a trap with a skeleton like this.

Thanks to this description, Iratu had been able to fulfill its purpose perfectly in this situation.

I stared at the tile where Iratu had vanished, muttering, “Well, this one’s a bust.”

Next, the northwest tile.

“M-Master? I think something just happened to me, but it must have been my imagination, right…?”

Boom!

This time, a massive boulder crashed down from the ceiling.

The northwest tile was a bust.

What about the northeast tile?

“Master?”

“Oh.”

This time, no trap was triggered.

Bingo.

“Iratu, take one step forward.”

“One step forward? Understood…”

Whoosh!

The moment Iratu stepped onto the tile ahead, crimson flames erupted, reducing him to a pile of ashes.

After disposing of Iratu and confirming the northeast tile was safe, I took a step forward.

Then, I measured the distance between the distant obelisk and the tile I was standing on.

Let’s see… if I roughly calculate the possibilities…

“I just need to kill Iratu about 300 more times.”

Of course, even with the Mimic Crystal’s mana amplification aura, relying solely on natural mana regeneration to resummon Iratu nearly 300 times would take far too long.

I needed a way to temporarily reduce Iratu’s summoning mana cost.

Fortunately, I had just the right item for this situation.

Whoosh.

I opened the Parsley Market and retrieved an item from a temporary sale post.

Manager Mi recognized the item instantly and opened a chat window.

“That’s right.”

It was the bone from Iratu’s right arm, which he had sacrificed during his time as a Lich.

I immediately gripped both ends of the bone and slammed my knee down hard on its center.

Crunch!

With a crack, the Lich’s bone snapped in two.

A chilling, pitch-black energy surged forth, permeating my entire body.

I immediately checked my status.

Current Active Effect: Unholy Summoning Aura (Buff)

A grin spread across my face.

The Unholy Summoning Aura, granted by consuming a Lich’s hand bone, was a buff that reduced the mana cost for summoning low-tier undead creatures to zero for 24 hours.

Whoosh.

The moment I confirmed the buff’s activation, the broken bone in my hand crumbled into a handful of ashes and scattered into the air.

I could probably get more use out of it by processing it into jewelry or a staff.

However, Lich hand bones weren’t particularly rare, often appearing as dungeon clear rewards even without hunting Liches themselves.

Besides, I wasn’t the kind of Hunter who’d throw everything into necromancy to the point of needing a staff.

“So, it’s best to make the most of it here and now.”

With a satisfied grin, I checked that the mana cost for “Summon Growing Skeleton” was zero and nodded.

This meant I could resurrect Iratu not just a hundred times, but three hundred, grinding him into bone dust without any consequences.

The chat window trembled violently.

I smiled brightly at Manager Mi and said, “I told you.”

I, Lee Taejun, can coolly brush off past grievances.

“But I don’t let it slide when someone tries to take my life.”