NOVEL NEXT Chapter 332
The night of the dungeon comes without warning.
It’s not just a simple metaphor; in the Hwangwoo Valley dungeon, there is no process of the sun rising and setting. The dungeon, isolated from the outside world, raises doubts about the very existence of the sun.
The sky itself casts light in place of the sun, but suddenly, like flipping a photo, darkness descends at some moment.
And, naturally, a dungeon that has fallen into darkness is far more dangerous than during the day.
This applies even to S-grade Hunters.
No matter how strong one may be, human needs such as fatigue, hunger, and physical condition due to various other factors greatly affect survival. Therefore, all hunters follow the basic rule of taking minimal rest in as safe a place as possible once night falls.
Anyway, due to the darkness that arrived suddenly, the three decided to set up a temporary camp.
Fortunately, the drone of Yeonhwa, always prepared, was loaded with several emergency kits, so they easily obtained sleeping bags and a tent for the three of them. Olgania called upon nature spirits to bring forth vines, surrounding them as a makeshift fence for safety.
After that, they did nothing.
“………”
“………”
“………”
‘Hmm, it’s awkward~ I miss Yujin…’
‘Oh dear, I haven’t eaten anything, I’m going to be sick….’
‘I miss Shia unnie…’
– tap tap
The sparks popping from the campfire led them all to think similarly.
In reality, Lirisia, Yeonhwa, and Olgania knew each other well enough, but their connections weren’t particularly close.
Acquaintances of acquaintances.
Or friends of friends, but not particularly close.
People connected by a favor from a benefactor.
Still, Olgania and Lirisia had gotten acquainted through Daesanrim Terraforming.
As for Lirisia and Yeonhwa, even though things were a bit better now, there was a time when they tried to kill each other when they first met.
It would be unreasonable to expect them to get along harmoniously now.
From the start, none of them were particularly sociable individuals.
“Hehe, still, it’s nice to see you all like this~”
Of course, Olgania, feeling that remaining silent wasn’t really an option, decided to break the silence.
Although Olgania looked like a young woman, she was actually older than Lirisia, and she recognized that merely keeping silence wouldn’t be constructive for dungeon exploration.
“It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen you, Yeonhwa?”
“Ah, yes… I’m glad to see you too, Olgania.”
“You don’t have to be so formal. After all, it was you who gifted us a whole dungeon that can be our home, right?”
“Technically, it was my grandmother who gave it to us.”
“Then how about we say we are fellow beneficiaries blessed by Saint Shia? I’ve received great favor from Saint Shia as well, and I heard that you were saved by her, right?”
“Yeah, I guess that’s fine.”
After briefly greeting Yeonhwa, Olgania waved to Lirisia, who was sitting a bit farther away, and Lirisia responded with a slight nod.
“And it’s only been an hour since I last saw you, Lirisia. Have you eaten?”
“… No, I was eating when suddenly time got warped.”
“Oh my, oh my… That’s important! What a big deal.”
For reference, Lirisia discreetly boarded the Hunter Train with a civilian temporary ID.
The reason she braved the risk of drawing attention to herself and boarded the train was partly because Olgania had claimed she would keep an eye on her instead of Shia, but mainly because Lirisia voluntarily wanted to meet Teresa after a long time.
On the surface, it seemed like Lirisia still held a fierce temperament, yet the current Lirisia was quite esteemed among the elves of Daesanrim Terraforming.
Though she might not intend it, she would sometimes voice complaints or requests on behalf of the other elves to Olgania. Now, Lirisia also managed comprehensive reporting and oversight of the overall progress of Daesanrim Terraforming.
Even on inconsequential matters, when elves would whine about wanting meat for dinner or insisting on grilling pork belly with soju that day, Lirisia would shoulder the responsibility and approach Olgania or the Nut Tree House Elf in charge of meals.
Initially, elves were assigned to keep an eye on her, but now they genuinely followed her, calling her “Captain Unnie.”
For those elf siblings, if there was no meat, Lirisia would sneak out to a nearby dungeon to catch giant wild boars herself.
“By the way, Captain Lirisia, you’ve worked hard leading the Daesanrim Terraforming project. I heard we’re nearing completion.”
“…Well, they say it only needs minor adjustments now. If we distribute the spirits properly, and they build their homes on their own, it shouldn’t be much different from the original Daesanrim.”
“Thank goodness. To be honest, I was a bit worried at first…”
“Someone offered their last chance, and though it was a bit humiliating, I’m not foolish enough to turn that down.”
Although she still appeared quite cold, everyone had come to know that Lirisia, before becoming the Witch of the Dark Star, indeed had her share of humanity as well.
“Hehe, by the way, I’m quite curious about why meeting the witch named Teresa has made Captain Lirisia more human-like~”
“…..Shut up.”
Knowing it all while still saying that is rather sly.
Lirisia felt irritated and tossed firewood into the campfire.
“Hmm, this won’t do.”
Upon hearing Yeonhwa’s words, Olgania and Lirisia turned their gazes towards her.
“The mana density in this dungeon is too high, and the AI drone’s positioning sensors aren’t functioning properly. As a result, we can’t even tell where the other hunters or the Hunter Train are.”
“Oh my, is that so…”
At Yeonhwa’s statement, Olgania lowered her eyes, looking disappointed.
It was sheer luck that Olgania was drawn to this place because of Yeonhwa’s large ice.
Given the dungeon’s size, which was comparable to merging two or three metropolitan areas, unless something on the scale of a nuclear explosion occurred, it would be hard for other hunters to spot it.
“First, let’s plan for tomorrow while camping here today.”
“A plan?”
“Since the mana density is high and the radar is down, it will be difficult to locate other hunters. We need to start exploring while AI drones do mapping.”
The reason for her somewhat disappointed expression was likely tied to how uncertain she was about when she would see Yujin again.
Although the separation wasn’t exceedingly long, merely taking a break from the Hwangwoo Valley would nonetheless cause Olgania enough heartache.
“Well, so what should we do in this case? Should we take down a dungeon boss?”
At Lirisia’s remark, Yeonhwa shook her head.
“It would be nice if defeating the boss caused the dungeon to collapse, like with the Blood Swamp, but in the case of such giant dungeons, usually, defeating the dungeon boss doesn’t make it disappear. The Kurtala Mountains, where Saint Shia frequently gathers stones, still maintains its gate.”
“Ah, I see… So, I won’t be meeting Yujin… or the elf sisters who came with me, for a while?”
“According to the AI drone’s analysis, the dungeon’s gimmick has been determined to be ‘transference.’ It’s likely a mechanism that randomly teleports higher-than-average strength intruders to various locations. Depending on the circumstances, even if the boss is defeated, the dungeon might remain. Thus, the basic hunter protocol would be to continue exploring while mapping the internal layout rather than going for a hunt.”
“Oh dear…”
Olgania sighed with a saddened expression.
“So, basically, we’ll camp here for today and start our exploration tomorrow?”
“That sounds right?”
“No objections from Queen Ganpf?”
“Um, no…”
Olgania hoped fervently for Yujin’s safety, but in reality, she wasn’t genuinely worried about that.
Yujin, regardless of appearances, was a hero who returned to Earth during the First Great Rift, and before Shia, he was the strongest among the returnees, known as the False Hero.
There was no need to worry about his strength, and even if Yujin got into some strange situation, she believed he had the power to take care of himself.
What truly concerned Olgania was…
‘What if Yujin can’t resist the interim and gets distracted, or finds a dalliance, or forgets me and runs away…? Surely he wouldn’t, right…? Hehe…’
– pitter patter!
As these thoughts raced through her mind, Olgania unknowingly gritted her teeth. Meanwhile, Lirisia, who had a fair amount of experience and insight, seemed to notice what Olgania was thinking and furrowed her brows.
‘Ugh, that Ganpf really takes the cake…’
Well, Lirisia hadn’t intended to get involved in someone else’s love story, but she found herself somewhat accustomed to it now.
In fact, Lirisia also wanted to return to see Teresa.
“Anyway, then it means we have to camp here until this darkness clears.”
“That seems to be the case?”
Camping… camping…
Lirisia looked around for a moment.
Though they might be attacked at any moment, with Olgania having set up a sort of fence using spirits, and with the tent surrounded by a campfire where they were sitting, Lirisia felt a nostalgia for memories she could hardly remember anymore.
‘Speaking of which, I didn’t get to eat, did I?’
Not compared to Isia, but Lirisia still was quite the glutton.
There was no need for excessive feasting, yet maintaining her massive physical weight required substantial eating.
“Let’s eat.”
“Excuse me?”
“Food? I have some protein blocks…”
As a professional hunter, Yeonhwa’s AI drone was equipped with emergency protein blocks, but they tasted pretty awful, so she was saving them as a last resort.
“No, over there.”
“Over there? What… Aah.”
Where Lirisia pointed, Yeonhwa had left the Minotaurs frozen.
After the battle ended, Yeonhwa had collected all the magic stones, but their bodies hadn’t disintegrated even after being drained of those stones.
“Well, let down your expectations… I swear they’re tastier than that cursed saint.”
“Don’t call my sister cursed!”
“Yup, that’s what I’ll do.”
And surprisingly enough, the best cook among them at this very location was Lirisia.
While most of her previous eating habits involved living catches, Lirisia had indeed attempted cooking often enough that she could manage.
Even with her sanity half-lost, the primal instinct for delicious food was strong, and her arduous journey to create delicious meals with scant ingredients in a crumbling world had yielded some fruit.
Lirisia knew how many minutes a giant cockroach needed to be grilled to taste the best, and she could dismember beasts and drain blood with her eyes closed.
‘Let’s see. Yep, this one’s the most intact. Aside from the severed ankle, the body is pretty intact and the meat’s fresh…’
sniff sniff
“Wait, why does it keep smelling like chocolate?”