Chapter 59
After safely completing ‘Protect the Faction from External Intruders – Stage 3’, I went on as if nothing had happened.
[DUNGEON GUIDE] Congratulations to all who survived and protected the faction up to Stage 3.
[DUNGEON GUIDE] Time remaining until the final boss battle 43:29:32
According to the dungeon guide, there was still plenty of time until the final boss battle, and nothing else was actually happening.
Well… if I had to find something that changed after Stage 3, it would be that I now have a sister I might never see.
‘Other than that, life is the same.’
Of course, there was a problem with it being too similar.
[Condition for rank increase: Become 1st place in this dungeon.]
I looked again at the system window I had kept open for 30 minutes.
That’s right, I still hadn’t become 1st place in this dungeon.
‘What? The faction is 1st place, and I took all the contribution in Stage 3 alone, but I’m still not 1st?’
I don’t know what I need to do to become 1st, and I don’t even know who is 1st in this dungeon.
‘Is it one of the S-ranks?’
If so, it’s terrifying just to imagine. Doesn’t that mean I have to kill the S-ranks or become stronger than them? It was obvious I wouldn’t be able to succeed in either way.
Then, knock knock.
A knocking sound came from beyond the door. I didn’t bother asking who it was and said,
“Come in.”
“I heard you were looking for me?”
As the door opened, Lee Cheong-sin entered with a big smile.
“Yeah. You came quickly.”
Seeing his smiling face, I smiled too, my mood lifting.
“When Noona called for me, I came running~”
“You sure know what to say.”
“So, what’s up?”
“Here.”
I handed him something wrapped in a white cloth.
Lee Cheong-sin tilted his head, so I told him to unwrap it. After hesitating for a moment, he unwrapped the white cloth…
“A gun…?”
A gun appeared from between the unfolded cloth.
“Why are you giving this to me…”
“Because it’s your weapon.”
“What?”
Lee Cheong-sin’s eyes widened.
“I wanted to bring a better one, but given the timing, I thought I should give it to you quickly.”
I urgently asked Shin Shawol. I heard they had quite a few leftover weapons from the former 2nd faction in their area, so I asked if they had guns too, and they did.
So I immediately thought of Lee Cheong-sin and brought it.
The final boss battle is coming soon, and Lee Cheong-sin can’t stay unable to use skills forever.
‘I should start thinking about rank increase too.’
I’m not sure how to increase rank, but it won’t increase if I just sit still.
While I was thinking about this and that, Lee Cheong-sin asked,
“How did you know I use guns?”
Of course, it was because your skill was obviously that of a gun user to anyone who saw it.
“I didn’t know. You use guns? That’s convenient.”
But I couldn’t say that, so I just shrugged.
“I thought guns would be the easiest weapon to handle, so I brought it. If you’ve used one before, that makes things easier.”
As I smoothly told a lie, Lee Cheong-sin nodded without a hint of doubt, murmuring, “I see.”
“This gun fires bullets using magic power. Can you do it?”
“I can’t…”
Hmm, is it because this weapon is A-rank that it’s hard to adapt to right away? I didn’t know anything but remembered firing the gun immediately, then just shrugged.
“Still, carry it around and practice. There will come a time when you can do it naturally.”
Just like Jin So-yul did.
Lee Cheong-sin listened to me quietly, then suddenly raised his head.
“By the way, noona. Didn’t you say you received a reward for completing Stage 3?”
Lee Cheong-sin asked casually.
“Can’t you just tell me what it is, just between us?”
Ah, right. I cleared the main quest thanks to becoming 1st place after finishing Stage 3.
[Reward: Hint about the next boss]
And I received that reward too.
“Hmm.”
I looked at the letters on the blue window and smiled slightly.
[SYSTEM] Revealing hint about the final boss.]
[There are three ways to defeat it:
1. Killing
2. Taming
3. Gain its acknowledgment]
“Utterly useless.”
💎
“Unnie!”
Jin So-yul turned around at the young child’s voice.
“Unnie, Unnie!”
As she habitually caught the child running towards her, the child raised both arms and giggled.
“Play with me!”
“You snuck out without mother knowing again, didn’t you?”
“Yes!”
Haahh, I told you she worries when you leave without saying anything.
Whether Jin So-yul sighed or not, the child urged her to play quickly.
“Okay, what do you want to do?”
“Braid my hair!”
So that’s what you came running for. Jin So-yul smiled and sat on the corridor floor, and the child sat in front of her.
“What kind of hairstyle would you like, customer?”
“A pretty one! A pretty one!”
As the child shouted like that, Jin So-yul habitually grabbed the hair and started braiding.
“Unnie, Unnie.”
“Yes?”
“I wish sister would be on the same team with us again.”
Jin So-yul smiled slightly.
“You have someone to protect you. If I go there, it would be hard for me to survive on my own.”
“Why? Unnie is strong.”
To be honest, I’ve gotten much stronger since I became able to use weapons. The reason for that is…
‘I received four A-rank skills in a row.’
After activating the title, three A-rank skills appeared as a reward, and even the D-rank skill changed to an A-rank skill.
I was dumbfounded by the skills that seemed to have been waiting to appear.
Of course, this is a fact I haven’t told anyone yet. At first, I couldn’t believe it, thinking I had seen it wrong myself.
But after a day or two, not even a week, I finally acknowledged the skills that didn’t disappear.
“Still, I think I might be able to protect you when you’re in danger.”
I’ve gotten stronger.
“We might not be on the same team, but I’m not your enemy either.”
Jin So-yul, who had taken her hands off the child’s hair, smiled playfully.
“Done!”
“Is it finished? Am I pretty?”
“Yes. You’re pretty.”
As the child turned to look at herself, Jin So-yul nodded, and the child smiled brightly, apparently pleased.
“Do you like it?”
“Yes! Oh, right. By the way, how did you end up here, Unnie?”
“Huh?”
“I heard Mom wondering about that!”
The child shouted, having apparently overheard her mother discussing Jin So-yul with someone else.
‘Well, I was the youngest after this child, so everyone was curious.’
But given the circumstances of the people who came here, no one really asked. Just like how Jin So-yul refrained from asking why they brought this young child into the dungeon.
Jin So-yul didn’t seem particularly uncomfortable, so she answered willingly.
“I came here because they said they’d give me money.”
After all, the initial reason for coming wasn’t that grand.
“My parents tried to stop me, but whether I die being chased by loan sharks or die here, it’s all the same.”
As Jin So-yul shrugged lightly while speaking, the child tilted her head.
“Loan sharks? What’s that?”
“It’s a thing, kid.”
“I’m not a kid!”
The child pouted.
“Yes, you are.”
“No! I’m already a big three!”
“Oh really? Let’s see about that.”
As Jin So-yul raised her finger pointedly, the child screamed “Kyaak!” and started running away as if she had been waiting for this.
Jin So-yul was chasing after the child, maintaining a proper distance, when she suddenly stopped.
“Wait! There are stairs there!”
She saw stairs right in front. The child, excited, didn’t seem to hear the voice and just kept running forward, squealing.
Realizing the danger, Jin So-yul rushed forward, just before the child was about to fall down the stairs.
“Got you—!”
Bang! Boom! She rolled down the stairs while holding the child.
With a loud noise, Jin So-yul fell onto the last step and frowned at the pain she felt.
“Ow, my back…”
“U-unnie, are you okay? I’m sorry…!”
The startled child looked at Jin So-yul, who was in pain, with a tearful face.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
After confirming that the child wasn’t hurt, Jin So-yul quickly pushed her away, telling her to go to her mom. She realized she couldn’t get up right away.
After waving to the child, Jin So-yul lay helplessly on the stair floor and muttered.
But…
“Didn’t I hit something when I fell earlier?”
It felt like something huge had caught her, but looking around, there was nothing like that.
‘Must be my imagination.’
She was about to dismiss it despite feeling uneasy, when suddenly.
Rumble rumble—
“What’s that?”
The ground suddenly started shaking.
And then, ding! An anxious voice filled her ears.
[DUNGEON GUIDE] Someone has forcibly awakened the Golden Dragon!
[DUNGEON GUIDE] The final boss battle, ‘Fight with the Golden Dragon’, begins!
💎
Jolt!
Yoo Yi-joo, who had risen from her bed, hurriedly looked around.
What could this be?
[DUNGEON GUIDE] The battle with the dungeon’s owner, <Fight with the Golden Dragon (BOSS)>, begins!
▸The dungeon’s owner, ‘Golden Dragon’, has awakened early. Even though it’s an unexpected battle, do your best to win against the final boss.
After waking up from sleep, suddenly the ground was shaking and two strange system windows popped up.
‘Is the castle shaking?’
What is it? What on earth is happening?
The confused Yoo Yi-joo was about to rush out of the room when she stopped.
‘No, this is…’
And she immediately ran to the window next to the bed and stuck her head out.
As she hurriedly looked outside, something huge was occupying the end of her view. Yes, something she had only seen in pictures…
“What? That’s not a Golden Dragon.”
A black dragon was right before her eyes.
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
