EFME 116

Despite the high tension it had caused, the monster was not difficult to handle. Of course, it might have been because this specific group of people had gathered together that it didn’t feel difficult.

The raid party hunted down the monsters smoothly and found the first doll. Picking up the doll, Jihyun expressed disgust.

“Isn’t this Chucky?”

“What’s Chucky?”

At Sunyul’s question, Jihyun lifted the doll in a dramatic posture.

“It’s a doll that kills people!”

“There’s such a thing?”

Hearing the explanation made it look truly eerie, so Sunyul shuddered.

“But this apartment building is seriously huge.”

Putting Chucky into the inventory, Song Jihyun sighed.

“Ah, I was really freaked out at first because we couldn’t find the doll.”

This apartment… wasn’t just a single building. It was a massive apartment complex. The dolls seemed to be hidden somewhere within this grand complex of buildings.

Jihyun’s skill had been completely unresponsive in the other buildings, but as soon as they entered this one, it located the doll with precision.

If so, it seemed they could just diligently wander around the complex, use Jihyun’s tracking skill, and bring back the dolls… but things didn’t work out that easily.

The ground was a toxic zone that would melt away anything thrown onto it in an instant. Of course, if that were all, it could have been resolved with the [Flight] skill, but this apartment complex thoroughly controlled movement with invisible paths.

Since all the doors and windows leading outside were firmly locked in a state where neither physical force nor skills worked, they had no choice but to find already open windows or doors to move to other buildings.

Even then, they could only move to adjacent buildings. If they tried to go further, there was a trap that returned them to their original position.

So in the end, they were quietly exploring one building at a time.

Entering a new building, Yoonjae glanced at his watch.

“It’s a relief there’s no time limit… but it’s going to take a long time.”

“Right…. Ah, I don’t think there are any dolls in this building. For now, there are monsters on the 3rd, 7th, and 11th floors.”

Adding the proviso “for now” was because monsters would suddenly pop out.

“Ah, this is so freaking annoying.”

Bada grumbled in irritation. It was understandable. Sunyul, too, was gradually growing weary of the atmosphere in this dungeon.

The atmosphere here also played a part in dragging down their spirits. Piles of trash scattered here and there, doors nearly falling off their hinges, toilets with dried-up filth….

Moreover, even though there was clearly no sign of monsters, footsteps and similar noises kept coming from above. Upon checking, it turned out to be the sound of things like mice, which couldn’t even really be called monsters since they lacked aggressiveness, scurrying across the ceiling.

Although they knew it was just mere noise, there was a one-in-a-million chance, so they couldn’t lower their guard.

In many ways, it was a space that drained people.

After exploring for a few more hours like that, what they finally discovered was:

“Ah, it’s a straw doll….”

“Seriously, all sorts of things are showing up.”

Everyone let out a deep sigh. The atmosphere was very heavy.

“Does this one kill people too?”

Sunyul suspiciously inspected the flimsy-looking straw doll. Jihyun, who had been drooping like a limp green onion until now, suddenly came alive and grinned.

“This is a curse doll. You put a person’s hair or fingernails inside this and drive a nail into it.”

“Why, why would anyone do such a thing?!”

“That’s why it’s a curse doll.”

Sunyul subtly slid over and clung to Muyoung.

“I want to get out of here.”

“Don’t rely on that guy. Either way, you’re on your own when you get dragged away by a ghost.”

At Yoonjae’s words, spoken while glaring at Muyoung, Sunyul’s face turned pale. Yoonjae, who hadn’t expected it to work this well, waved his hand.

“It’s a joke. Where is a ghost that can kidnap an EX-class in an instant?”

“There might be one. It’s a supernatural phenomenon, after all.”

Instead of reassuring him by saying ghosts didn’t exist, Muyoung wrapped one arm around Sunyul and patted him. Yoonjae’s gaze became extremely sharp.

“Ha, forget it all, I just hope we can get out of here by today.”

“Do you think the hospital will be any better?”

Everyone fell silent. The hospital didn’t seem like it would be fine at all either.

“…Let’s go for now.”

Encouraging the group, Yoonjae took the lead. And it was just as they finished one building and had just entered the next.

“Something big is coming!”

Jihyun shouted like a scream. Along with that, something like a huge pillar smashed through the wall and thrust inside.

[Using the skill ‘Sanctuary Declaration’.]

Sunyul used his skill reflexively.

Thud!

With a colossal sound, something was abruptly blocked. Looking closely, it was… a giant finger. It was much smoother than a human hand but unrefined… a doll’s hand.

The finger seemed to slowly pull back, then it thrust inward again. Sunyul used [Sanctuary Declaration] on a range slightly further outward than before.

“Block it appropriately while evading!”

Since the middle of the building had been pierced, its balance naturally had no choice but to become precarious. While it wasn’t to the extent of completely collapsing, debris from the building fell down precariously in sections.

Sunyul used [Sanctuary Declaration] over a wide area once more. He intended to hold out at least until the group settled into proper positions.

Sunyul flew up through the pierced hole and checked the appearance of the girl doll. The doll, with its brown curly hair neatly braided, had a smiling face, but the skin surface of its face was cracked here and there, giving it a grotesque appearance.

─Come here! Come here! Come here!

The doll threw a tantrum and slammed its body against the sanctuary. However, it wasn’t a skill fragile enough to break simply from a body slam. Of course, that doll surely wouldn’t possess only the talent of slamming its body either.

Sunyul withdrew the sanctuary. Although the sanctuary was good because it was powerful, it couldn’t be helped since they couldn’t attack the outside from within the sanctuary either.

As the obstacle blocking it vanished, the doll blinked its eyelids, which were adorned with dense eyelashes.

─Let’s play, let’s play together!

The doll clapped its hands. At that exact moment, giant stuffed animals materialized in midair and dropped down with thuds. They were various dolls resembling all kinds of animals: rabbits, bears, dogs, deer, cats, foxes.

And on the belly area of every single one of those dolls, there remained marks of being ripped open and sewn back together, and that vicinity was heavily stained with blood. As if something bleeding had been stuffed inside through that opening.

─What kind should we make you into?

“…Ugh.”

Sunyul, who understood every word, shuddered in disgust.

And as if those words were a signal, the stuffed dolls began to attack the group all at once.

Although not as much as the giant girl doll, the stuffed dolls were also considerably strong. Of course, there was also someone with great compatibility against dolls.

[Using the skill ‘Falling Fire’.]

With the simple formula that cloth burns, Yoonjae was showing a fairly strong performance against the stuffed dolls. Granted, they were more resistant to fire than ordinary stuffed dolls, but they showed a much weaker vulnerability to fire than to other attacks.

While Yoonjae dealt with the large number of stuffed dolls, the other members of the group began to attack the girl doll.

[Using the skill ‘Stigma of Ruin’.]

[Using the skill ‘Touch of the Abyss’.]

Because of the possibility of the building collapsing, [Call of the Abyss] could not be used, but the two were sufficiently powerful skills.

─Let go! Let go of this!

Caught by the [Touch of the Abyss], the doll despondently struggled to move somehow. It couldn’t keep it bound for long, but holding it fixed for a brief moment was enough.

[Using the skill ‘Irresistible Force’.]

Bada’s sword, swung grandly, created a massive shockwave. The shockwave slammed squarely into the doll’s face, and the surface of the doll’s face split wide open down the middle.

[Using the skill ‘Der Freischütz’.]

Sunyul poured a barrage of skills into the opened crevice. Hundreds of shots, then hundreds more. Pouring down firepower all at once without sparing mana.

Brilliant sparks decorated the doll’s head.

Of course, the result was not very beautiful. The girl doll’s head split wide open and then melted away into a mushy state.

Yet even so, the doll did not stop. Rather, it broke through Muyoung’s [Call of the Abyss] skill, and using the recoil, the doll threw a punch. It was toward none other than where Sunyul was.

[Stop.]

Muyoung used a word command skill. Controlling the movement of a monster that size was an extremely difficult task, but that brief effect was excellent.

Seeing the hand stop right before his eyes by a hair’s breadth, Sunyul hastily escaped the spot. Since he had [Blessing of Protection], he wouldn’t have died from getting hit once, but he would have taken substantial damage.

Sunyul glanced at Muyoung and focused his mind back on the doll.

[Using the skill ‘Touch of the Abyss’.]

The girl doll’s resistance was fierce. Since the attacking power of the other party members was sufficient anyway, Muyoung stopped doing everything else and concentrated solely on suppressing the doll.

And Yoonjae, who had defeated all the stuffed dolls before anyone noticed, joined in and poured skills onto the girl doll.

[Using the skill ‘Der Freischütz’.]

[Using the skill ‘Rat Fire Game’.]

[Using the skill ‘Cutting in Two with a Single Stroke’.]

With the skills exploding brilliantly, the girl doll ultimately could not hold out either and collapsed. The fallen doll melted limply into the toxic zone on the ground and vanished.

Confirming that with his eyes, Sunyul landed below in a floppy manner.

“That was hard….”

“Is it very hard?”

Muyoung approached and supported Sunyul. Sunyul swiftly hugged Muyoung.

“Not to that extent.”

“If it’s not, you should stand up straight, Sunyul.”

Yoonjae, who had approached their side before anyone noticed, interfered. Interfering despite being a friend. Sunyul had no choice but to stand up straight. Saebyeok approached and cast a healing skill on Sunyul.

“If you’re tired, say the word. I’ll restore you anytime.”

“You should save your mana.”

Yoonjae advised seriously.

“Of course I am saving it. There’s still plenty.”

“You seem to be the type with a lot of mana?”

“Yes, well.”

Saebyeok smiled leisurely. Since he was a constellation… his mana would be overflowing. Of course, as long as he was in a human body, there would be limitations, though.

“Let’s cross over to that building and rest for a bit before going. It seems like that creature from earlier was the mid-boss of this area.”

Everyone agreed with Muyoung’s suggestion. Since the wall of this building was almost completely smashed and wide open, finding where the open door was turned out to be easy.

Sunyul and the group moved straight to the next building. That place was decently clean, as if showing consideration for those who had finished a difficult battle.

“Ah, this place is a bit nice.”

“Sunyul, sit here.”

Bada brought a single-person sofa from somewhere. When a waterproof tarp was laid over it, a pretty plausible look was completed. Sunyul hesitated.

“Shouldn’t an elder sit on something like this?”

“Right? Our old Guild Master should sit on something like this. Please sit down, Guild Master.”

Bada jeered snidely. Muyoung sighed.

“Forget it and sit down, Lim Sunyul.”

Sunyul rolled his eyes, pointlessly scanning the room to read the mood.