GBAS 23

Upon completing the registration, a small flag-shaped icon appeared in the bottom left corner of the screen. By placing a hand over it or looking at the icon for more than three seconds, one could check the registered respawn point.

Just then, Camellia’s voice came from behind.

[General] Camellia : Have you checked that?

[General] Jeonguk-noye-jarang : Ah

Hyunwoo nodded with a face full of composure.

👾🎮

[General] Jinyoung-kun : Huzzah-!

The one who landed the final blow was the nimble assassin, Jinyoung-kun. The moment the shuriken embedded in the core exploded, the green light emanating from the pattern engraved on the golem’s torso vanished along with the health bar floating on the screen.

Rumble rumble-!

A terrifying roar echoed as the massive golem crumbled down. Perhaps because it was twice as large as it had looked from the outside, the cave vibrated as if it would collapse every time a chunk of rock fell.

Unlike the humans who stood still waiting for the earthquake to stop, the four-legged animal, Frost, was circling the outer edge of the map until the very end, cleaning up the golem’s minions, the mole crickets. Just as he was anxiously watching the creature’s movements, an ominous cracking sound came from above his head.

Chatter chatter.

Is it really collapsing? The eyes of those who heard the sound widened. Hyunwoo, who witnessed rock fragments falling from a noticeably widening crack in the ceiling, blew a sharp whistle towards Frost.

Fortunately, the earthquake stopped just before Frost returned, and the people who had been crouching down, practically squatting, straightened their backs one by one with groans of “Oh no.”

Wiping away the beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead in the meantime, Hyunwoo muttered.

[General] Jeonguk-noye-jarang : Looks like there are random events too

Some dungeons had hidden events that would trigger when certain conditions were met. A random event was one of the mechanisms that allowed for varied enjoyment of limited dungeons, and it was a good route to obtain rare items or quests.

Seeing that even the party members with experience as a vanguard team were flustered, the earthquake just now seemed to be a situation that hadn’t been discovered during the past three trials. It appeared they had unknowingly met the activation condition during the battle.

Hyunwoo scanned the neatly cleared space, checking for any differences from before.

‘Hmm.’

Seeing as there were no special changes like a new path opening up, it seemed to have been a failed attempt this time. He decided to check the exact activation condition later…

Hyunwoo checked the timer floating at the top center of his screen.

[General] JuJuGeneralAssembly : Okay, still, that was good

[General] Camellia : It’s definitely faster than before, isn’t it?

This was the 9th basement floor. It had taken 27 minutes to reach this point. They said that with the previous combination, it had taken them a little over 35 minutes to arrive here. Considering it had taken over an hour on the first try, it was remarkable growth.

[General] Aqua : The next one was the mantis, right??

[General] JuJuGeneralAssembly : Yes, the giant praying mantis, let’s dig in

[General] FlatDumpling : I hate insectsㅠㅠㅠ

[General] poPlatoonLeaderwer : fr, I think I’ve seen a lifetime’s worth of them today lol;;

The next floor was the 10th basement floor, so it was time for a mid-boss to appear.

‘It should be about time now.’

Ting-a-ling-a-ling.

The clear sound of a chime bell rang ceaselessly in Hyunwoo’s ears. It was a notification that item crafting was complete.

When he looked at the flask-shaped icon for a long time, a light brown window popped up.

As a result of making and using a simple potion with the materials he brought as soon as he entered the dungeon, he was able to confirm that his guess—that potions crafted inside would be usable—was correct.

Also, his guess that items for which the ‘Use’ tab was not activated would not have usage restrictions within the dungeon also turned out to be right. Thanks to this, Hyunwoo was able to make potions by appropriately mixing the materials he brought from the outside, items obtained from monsters, and items gathered from the herb garden near the 5th floor of the dungeon.

He didn’t craft a large amount at once since he didn’t know when they might fail the clear and be kicked out, but because the process was so complex, Hyunwoo had to open the window from time to time even during battle to check on the progress.

In Hyunwoo’s potion crafting window, a total of six brewing kits were running. After several steps, multiple transparent potions, with moonlight crystals dissolved into the base solution, piled up in his inventory. Just before entering the 9th-floor battle, Hyunwoo had started the work of dissolving the necessary buffs into them, considering each party member’s characteristics.

And finally, it was complete. Hyunwoo collected all the items gathered in the crafting completion slot and then called the party members over.

[General] Jeonguk-noye-jarang : Crafting’s done

[General] Jeonguk-noye-jarang : I’ll distribute them

[General] JuJuGeneralAssembly : Yay lol

As the line in front of Hyunwoo shortened, his once-full inventory gradually emptied.

[General] Camellia : Thank you~!

The line dispersed after Camellia, but five potion bottles and a few healing bandages that had yet to find their way to Jooin remained in Hyunwoo’s bag.

When he took one out and held it in his hand, the liquid in the bottle sloshed. As if to prove the potion was a Bard-exclusive item, black musical notes floated around in the purple liquid.

‘To think I went through all the trouble to make it.’

Hyunwoo, looking down at what was in his hand, lifted his head and looked towards the path leading to the 10th basement floor. There, Jooin, who had finished his preparations early, and Frost were spending time in their own little world.

When did he even get over there? Seeing the creature sitting in front of Baek Jooin and readily offering its front paws as requested, a disbelieving laugh escaped him. The way it was acting cute even without a treat in hand, and how the creature who hated having its snout touched so much was staying still even as its cheeks were being squished and its whiskers touched, was quite impressive.

‘Just like a species that’s picky about who they like.’

Then again.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand. Objectively speaking, Baek Jooin was handsome. To be precise, rather than a handsome feeling, what was it… right, the expression ‘pretty’ would be more fitting.

Hyunwoo’s gaze naturally went to Jooin’s face.

Thanks to the short hairstyle, which was different from his real-life one, Jooin’s side profile was clearly visible.

Since his major was his major, Hyunwoo had always been interested in beautiful things. From that perspective, Jooin’s face was a pleasure to look at. If Baek Jooin’s face from the front gave the feeling of having delicate features well-arranged, his side profile was simply gorgeous. How could someone look like that? It was a kind of three-dimensionality that made one think three generations could live off just looking at that face and still be full.

Just as he was tracing the line from the tip of the nose down to the upper lip over and over again, Jooin’s head moved.

Gasp.

Aqua, who witnessed Hyunwoo spinning around in place, tilted his head as if something was strange.

[General] Aqua : What the, what’s with himㅇ,ㅇ;;

[General] JuJuGeneralAssembly : Dunno

[General] JuJuGeneralAssembly : Let’s just leave the fool and goㅋ

The path to the 10th basement floor was extremely narrow, just enough for one person to pass. To the right, at his feet, the moisture that had dripped down from the upper floor gathered and flowed into a small stream.

[General] FlatDumpling : Ooh I can see the end

After going down the cold, damp path for a good while, a space four times wider than the floor above appeared. At the surprising sight, the mouths of FlatDumpling and the Platoon Leader dropped open.

[General] FlatDumpling : Wow

[General] FlatDumpling : This is amazing

The appearance of the cave was extremely surreal.

On the bumpy walls, which looked as if the rock had been carved away, dry tree roots were exposed. On top of the tree roots, which hugged the rocks tightly instead of soil, were ancient trees that looked to be hundreds of years old, and also seemed to have been dead for hundreds of years. These tangled trees seemed to be acting as pillars supporting the space. To think that trees could grow this deep underground. It was truly a visual that could only be seen in a virtual world.

Hyunwoo’s brow furrowed deeply as he took in the tree branches spreading out like a neuron structure.

It might be beautiful to look at, but this kind of map structure was not good for combat. What was the point of the tank, who had drawn aggro, working hard to show its back? If the angle changed, a new angle for dealing damage had to be found, but since the map structure made it inconvenient to move, the tank would accumulate damage while running.

In that case, rather than tanking and showing its back, it would be more advantageous to gather the mobs in one place and inflict meaningful hits quickly and numerously, but… ah, that thing is a flying mob, right.

What on earth was the solution? Hyunwoo, pondering, looked at this team’s main tank, Camellia. Since she must have passed through here several times already, she would have found a way to solve it. Thinking that, his mind became much more at ease.

‘That side is taken care of, now the healer is the problem.’

A sigh escaped him on its own at the endless worries.