Tuk.
In that moment, I returned to my original spot.
What?
‘Did I just have a dream or something?’
I was dumbfounded.
What was that just now?
But, it wasn’t a dream.
Tuk.
Tuk.
Tuk.
Tuk. Tuk. Tuk. Tutututuk.
I’m dizzy. I feel like I’m going to throw up. The background keeps changing without pause, and my position keeps changing too. I kept flipping between sky and ground in a daze, then the distance gradually narrowed.
Before I knew it, Massacre was outside the carriage.
Far off, from the place where I had been hiding, the armored figure appeared, and as our positions kept swapping, the distance was closing.
And finally, when it reached right in front of me.
“Uweeheeeek-!”
My insides twisted like crazy, and I retched out vomit.
That was the end.
Massacre flopped down right onto the warm vomit he had just thrown up.
The world spins. I can’t even resist.
“Pffft!”
That was the last voice Massacre heard while alive.
***
《You have executed the Kao state Massacre.》
《Honor increases by 30.》
《You have acquired ‘Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule (49h)’.》
‘Was he a player?’
I rubbed my chin while looking at the messages that popped up.
A Massacre who had become a Kao state PKer.
Given that he dropped a Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule for 49 hours, he was definitely a player.
Did someone place a level 10 assassin on my route?
Or was it a coincidence?
‘Massacre.’
I searched the hall of fame and confirmed that Massacre’s name was gone.
Among those at the top, the only one who disappeared now was Massacre.
‘That crazy bastard tried to target me and got killed by Serengeti.’
Massacre was notorious as a low-level-zone PK criminal.
The so-called “beginner Massacre” was him.
Looks like he tried to kill me quickly now that I’m a player, but he picked the wrong opponent.
Serengeti was a 1-star transcendent.
And even if she’s “only” 1-star, Serengeti is a monster who can more than hold her own against 2-star transcendent.
That’s why I kept her as my closest aide.
‘If Massacre was here, it means there are no other factions.’
Not surprising.
I’d already figured someone might target me around now.
If it was Massacre aiming for me, it’s actually a relief.
It means there aren’t any other player factions here.
“Can’t even warm up my body.”
Serengeti said it like she’d just taken a stroll.
Level 10 is an enormous powerhouse, but even so, there was an unbridgeable wall between that and a real transcendence.
“Yeah, you definitely look to be in good condition.”
“Just trust me. I’ll finish it quickly.”
Thump thump!
She smacked her armor, showing confidence.
I can only hope that confidence doesn’t turn into screaming later.
Passing through the forest, after running for a long while, a gigantic cave appeared.
“Dragon’s nest……?”
Serengeti stiffened as she looked at the cave and spoke.
A cave this large is rare.
If you find one, most of the time it’s a nest claimed by a dragon.
“It’s the nest of a dead ancient dragon.”
The nest of some nameless dead ancient dragon.
This place was the gateway to the demigod dungeon.
When we got off the carriage and approached the mouth of the cave.
Jiiiiiing!
The entrance rippled.
A barrier of an ancient dragon, set so that those without qualifications couldn’t enter.
《The barrier has checked your qualifications.》
《Number of entrants: 4.》
《By the will of the demigod, all entrants will be subject to the restrictions below.》
《1. All stats fixed (20)》
《2. Skills unusable》
《3. Tools carried before entry unusable》
《4. Equipment carried before entry unusable》
A trait dungeon.
This was a dungeon where you had to fight using only your innate talent and trait.
A place where everything except the authority gained by eating stars and transcending became unusable!
Because the strong and the weak stood on the same line, betrayal and schemes were bound to run rampant, moreover the dungeon’s nature encouraged betrayal, making it a true Pandemonium.
All tools including equipment could only be used if found inside the dungeon, and even those had “usage conditions” attached, making things extremely demanding.
《‘Main Quest 6: Clear a party dungeon’ has begun.》
《This quest ends the moment you clear your first ‘party dungeon’.》
《Reward: Varies depending on the party dungeon cleared.》
The notification that Main Quest 6 had begun.
There was no need to hesitate.
My goal was to completely conquer this place and set a record.
That was when it happened.
《‘Heart of the Eternal Monarch’ resists the demigod’s pressure.》
《‘Heart of the Eternal Monarch’ deletes one of the demigod’s conditions.》
《Condition ‘3. Tools carried before entry unusable’ has been deleted.》
A hidden trait that evolved from the Heart of the Iron-Blooded Monarch into the Heart of the Eternal Monarch.
Its effect appeared right before my eyes.
Beast Lord.
‘Deleting conditions, huh.’
The Heart of the Iron-Blooded Monarch was a trait that steadied emotions and protected me from mental-type skills or attacks.
It was undeniably a tremendous hidden trait that let me stay composed even before the White King, but it wasn’t the kind of trait that directly gave me an advantage.
Yet after evolving into the Eternal Monarch, it not only endured the demigod’s pressure, it deleted a condition.
I’ve never seen or even heard of condition deletion.
It was literally an act that leapt past the limits of “trait.”
Four absolute propositions laid down by the demigod.
Among them, it shattered one, the proposition that tools were unusable.
Not just here, but it would apply the same way in other “condition dungeons” or “towers” as well.
‘……That’s insane.’
Thinking of the advantages the Heart of the Eternal Monarch gave me, my shoulders lifted on their own.
Conditions that forced everyone to start at zero.
This turned 0 into 1 for me.
In a race where everyone runs one lap around the track, it wasn’t just standing one step ahead, it was like standing half a lap ahead.
‘Since tools are allowed now, I could prepare more before entering.’
We were still before entry.
If tool use was now possible, I just had to prepare first, then enter.
《The demigod’s will forcibly transfers the party.》
So no more tricks allowed?
A bit disappointing, but even so, it was more than enough.
***
“Hmm……”
After her interview with Gracia, Kim Hana began in earnest to cover Dimension Warriors around the world.
Who are they, and where did they come from?
What exactly is this “descent” they talk about?
“What are you making such a serious face for, Kim Won?”
The CK Broadcasting Station warrior-dedicated reporters’ room.
Kim Hana was holding her notebook and wearing a troubled expression.
When Seo Jung-ah in the seat beside her asked, Kim Hana let out a deep sigh.
“I just don’t know.”
“Our best career reporter Kim Won doesn’t know something?”
“It’s not Kim Won, it’s Kim Hana…… haa, forget it.”
Kim Hana shook her head.
Now it wasn’t just Seo Jung-ah, all the CK Broadcasting Station reporters were calling her Kim Won.
Gracia’s interview had been decisive.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s subtly different.”
“What’s different?”
“What the Dimension Warriors say. Like they’re hiding something…….”
“When I covered them, they all said the exact same things?”
Just like Seo Jung-ah said, all the coverage was largely the same.
The warriors repeated the same story as if they’d rehearsed it.
For example, that they were great warriors who crossed dimensions to protect Earth from another world, and that they descended by borrowing an Earthling’s body as a descent body from another dimension, and so on.
But Kim Hana felt a “hunch” that they were hiding something.
“Are those people really heroes?”
“Those ‘eight heroes of another dimension’ and all that? It’s a bit funny, but seeing other warriors revere them, it doesn’t seem completely wrong.”
“Do people usually fear heroes?”
“Fear them?”
What is a hero?
There are many kinds, but the heroes the warriors spoke of were the very model of “hero.”
A true hero’s story, protecting the world from threats and fulfilling responsibility.
Then why were they “afraid of” heroes?
Seo Jung-ah hadn’t noticed at all that other warriors were afraid of those called heroes.
Probably every reporter but Kim Hana was the same.
‘A fear and discomfort they don’t even recognize because they’ve lived with it so long.’
They fear heroes more than monsters.
Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
And that suspicion grew even stronger today.
When she carefully opened her notebook, there was a yellow memo sheet tucked in the middle.
-Don’t trust those who call themselves heroes.
-There are no Dimension Warriors. Only addicts.
Only three sentences were written on it, but someone had precisely picked her notebook and slipped it in.
The warrior-dedicated reporters’ room had strict security.
Even checking the CCTV, there was no sign of anyone breaking in.
There was no way someone inside would bother to play a prank like this.
And on top of that.
“Can you see what this says?”
“What is this, some worm scribble?”
To other people, the writing on the memo looked like random doodles.
Only to her did it look like actual letters.
The only ones capable of this were Dimension Warriors.
‘Those who call themselves heroes are only the eight heroes.’
Gracia and Master, and the other eight.
Strictly speaking, seven. They said they were still searching for Wilhelm.
Either way, it was telling her not to trust those seven.
‘There are no Dimension Warriors. What does it mean there are none? Is that whole thing a lie? And what are ‘addicts’?’
There are countless kinds of addicts.
Drug addicts?
Gambling addicts?
Alcohol? Games?
It wouldn’t be something like work or exercise addiction.
-What relationship do you have with the owner of ‘Hydragon’? Do you know where he is?
Something Gracia suddenly asked during the interview.
About the man who handled the huge monster called Hydragon, she said this.
The man who first protected her from the Giant Mantis.
Later, at a steakhouse in Cheongdam, he saved Kim Hana again.
There was no relationship at all, but feeling an inexplicable chill, Kim Hana immediately denied Gracia’s question.
‘Could it be connected to Park Hyun-myung……?’
The thought that he might be the “warrior,” the owner of Hydragon, briefly crossed her mind, but she shook her head.
It had to be coincidence.
But, what if it wasn’t?
If this slim chance were true?
Should she tell him?
That inexplicable chill, it didn’t feel like Gracia was looking for him out of simple goodwill.
Moreover, not long ago Gracia appeared in Eunpyeong District.
A pillar of Light filled the sky and caused a huge uproar, and Kim Hana knew the culprit was Gracia.
Because she also lived in Eunpyeong District.
She saw that pillar of Light with her own eyes.
‘Why did Gracia go to Eunpyeong District?’
Eunpyeong District.
Besides being where she lived, it was also where she first met Park Hyun-myung.
And the warrior, the owner of Hydragon who executed the Giant Mantis, also appeared there.
So it wasn’t strange for Gracia to search Eunpyeong District.
Still, the intent bothered her.
‘Trying to erase all of Eunpyeong District was…….’
She didn’t believe it, but she couldn’t erase that chill she felt from Gracia.
Maybe they weren’t heroes in the true sense after all, that doubt began to sprout.
***
I felt a little dizzy when I was warped into the dungeon.
All stats were fixed at 20, and the equipment we’d worn had neatly vanished.
Thanks to the demigod’s “consideration,” at least we were still dressed in shirts, pants, and underwear, should I call that lucky?
“Ugh.”
Serengeti, Isaac, and Isabella all felt dizzy and staggered a bit.
Their stats had suddenly dropped, so it was natural.
The first to regain her senses was Serengeti.
She scanned ahead and said.
“There are weapons and armor.”
Just like she said, equipment was lined up before us.
It meant to choose what to use before proceeding in earnest.
However, a signboard had conditions carved into it.
《Choose only one each.》
《Each time you choose more than two, a random stat of other party members will decrease.》
In other words, pick only one each.
Serengeti tilted her head.
“What does it mean that other party members’ stats will decrease?”
“It means the three others besides the chooser will have their stats reduced.”
“So that demigod is quite evil.”
Serengeti’s brows twisted the moment she understood the intent.
This was only a taste.
A warning of how things would go.
“If it says one each, shouldn’t we pick weapons first?”
Let’s each take a weapon and fight.
With our party being attack-oriented, it wasn’t wrong.
But I shook my head.
“One weapon is enough.”
“Only one?”
“The rest should be shield, armor, and helm.”
Hearing me, Serengeti nodded.