I felt the painful reality of my own complacency
‘Josephine always said that.’
Doah drew her sword and cut off the flower of the carnivorous plant attached to the ceiling.
Slash
The plant trembled violently for a moment before disintegrating into powder and scattered away.
Sea King shook his body excitedly.
If he had been a real wolf, it would have caused some damage, but fortunately, as he was a water-type beast, it didn’t seem to be much of a problem.
“Sorry, Sea King. I was careless.”
Doah patted Sea King and dismounted from the saddle.
Luckily, her clothes weren’t made of ordinary fabric, so there weren’t any deteriorated parts.
There wasn’t much skin exposed, so it was fine. She then pinched her cheeks hard, just as Josephine had always done.
Tears welled up.
And just like Josephine would say next, she muttered to herself.
“Pull yourself together, Kim Doah. Otherwise, your complacency will get you killed. One step at a time, carefully. You can do this. You’re not dead yet, are you? That’s impressive. Good items are as important as life itself. But let’s not rely on luck twice.”
She scolded and encouraged herself.
‘Get a grip.’
Doah pulled out her star fragment lantern from her bag.
Turning it on would make her more visible, but leaving it off would increase her fatigue.
Doah chose to turn it on.
The star fragment lantern softly emitted a golden light, illuminating every corner of the cave.
Where there is bright light, there is also deep darkness.
The walls of the cave were uneven, creating many blind spots that were concealed in the thick darkness.
This star fragment lantern was designed to provide the softest and brightest light possible with minimal shadows.
Nevertheless, there could be optical illusions caused by the darkness and fatigue, so she had to proceed carefully.
If she didn’t want to be ambushed from behind, she had to clear all the beasts as she advanced.
“Shall we go then?”
With a pounding heart, Doah ventured deeper into the dungeon.
It was her first dungeon raid as an adventurer.
And it was an A-rank dungeon, no less.
This was her chance to prove how skilled she really was.
‘I can’t let Josephine be disappointed.’
First Day
“Should we camp here for the night? I don’t know how far down we’ve come.”
On the first day, excited, she spread out all her camping gear and set up camp as impressively as she could.
But in the early morning, she was jolted awake by the beasts.
Not just once, but three or four times.
At first, it had a certain thrill to it.
Week 1
“What the hell? Why are there so many beasts? And why are they all insect-type? Ugh, die! Just die already!”
The further she went into the cave, the more varied and troublesome the beasts became.
It felt as if everything in the dungeon was hostile towards her and rejecting her presence.
When the cave narrowed, it meant that sharp rocks and tiny insects would cling to Doah as if trying to crawl on her. When it widened, it meant that larger beasts were waiting for her.
Doah slathered herself in herbs that insects and insect-type beasts disliked.
Yet, she couldn’t avoid every malicious bug.
Imagine crawling through a space so tight that you could barely stretch out your limbs, only to come face-to-face with a gigantic centipede beast.
‘I’m screwed.’
Fortunately, her sword could adjust its length.
Holding her dagger in her hand, she extended it into a long sword, piercing the beast with the suddenly elongated blade.
The beast had no room to escape either.
Of course, it thrashed around, spewing venom and body fluids, making it a real struggle.
Not to mention, she had to push its corpse out of the way to move forward…
And that’s how it was.
Still, thanks to her headband, she avoided significant harm.
‘Helmets are really important.’
If she had been wearing a metal helmet, it would have been hard to get through that space. She might have even run out of breath.
But her headband was perfect.
More than anything, Doah felt grateful to the three people who made the headband for her.
Moreover, as the cave deepened, the paths started to look similar and branched out in multiple directions, so Doah had to carve an ‘X’ next to the entrance of each path as she went along.
At least she had Sea King.
If Sea King were just an ordinary mount, things might have been different, but he was a very old beast—Dinadam.
She didn’t know how he could navigate, but Sea King often led the way, and Doah followed gratefully behind him.
Just by doing that, she was able to significantly reduce the time.
Sometimes, there were tiny cracks that required her to crawl through.
“Sea King, are you okay?”
Doah glanced into her front pocket.
In these narrow gaps, Sea King would shrink down to the size of a puppy, about two to three weeks old.
He looked absolutely adorable.
“Yip yip.”
Sea King gave a tiny bark, reassuring her that he was fine.
‘Ah, this is so healing.’
Doah grinned and continued crawling forward.
She put Sea King in her front pocket, deciding it was the safest place for him.
Sea King was shrunken down, and she had tucked her saddle and other gear into her belt as she crawled along.
‘How do other people carry so much stuff in a place like this? Maybe they tie it all up with a rope and drag it along? I guess that’s the way to do it. Now I understand why people don’t bring mounts to dungeon raids.’
There was no way she could leave Sea King behind in a place like this.
‘You don’t know the details unless you experience it yourself.’
Doah finally managed to squeeze out of the narrow cave.
“Finally!”
She raised her arms in triumph.
She could hear the sound of water flowing.
Water was trickling down the cave walls.
But it was probably not drinkable.
‘I guess I’ll have to use the purifying glass jug.’
But she was getting tired of doing that too.
On top of that, finding a place to sleep was becoming a hassle.
‘I think I need to change my approach.’
She had only been pulling out her cabin when it was time to sleep, but now she needed to find another method.
“Sea King, how much further to the dungeon core? Are we halfway there yet?”
“Yip yip.”
“Well, at least that’s good news. Ah, it’s so disorienting in here. I have no sense of day or night. I have no idea how much time has passed.”
When she got out of here, she definitely planned to buy a pocket watch.
“Anyway, let’s push forward as far as we can today.”
Doah clipped the emergency star fragment lantern back to her waist and held another lantern in her hand.
“The fact that four A-rank adventurers cleared this place is amazing. They must have worked together seamlessly. I guess with that much experience, they’d have earned a lot of XP too.”
Humans are truly amazing.
With that thought, Doah stepped deeper and deeper into the cave.
Week 2
“Mrs. Danvers, I’m done. I give up. I don’t know how to clear this. I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
Doah slumped over the table and began to cry.
Despite her complaints, she wasn’t battered or bruised. She was still clean and tidy.
Doah sighed and brushed her hand over the table.
“The cabin is seriously the best. I couldn’t have made it through this dungeon without it.”
The blessed cabin of the World Tree prevented any beasts from approaching.
Doah changed her strategy and used the cabin as her base camp.
She would explore the dungeon thoroughly, and whenever she was exhausted, she would return to the cabin.
That way, she was perfectly safe.
She peeled off her sticky, slime-covered clothes and shoes and took a shower.
After washing up, she treated her injuries.
As much as Doah wanted to, it was impossible to win every fight without sustaining any injuries.
She generously sprayed herself with potion mists and sprays.
The insect-type beasts especially sprayed acid or venom, leaving her skin in a horrible state.
‘Wow, this spray really works like magic.’
Watching her skin return to its smooth, scar-free state had a strange addictiveness to it.
Afterward, she soaked herself in a hot bath.
“Ah, oh my god, this is amazing.”
After luxuriating in the tub, she wrapped herself in a fluffy robe and stepped out. Mrs. Danvers brought her a warm meal.
Her clothes were also neatly mended and laid out for her.
For a brief moment, Doah indulged in the luxury of complaining to Mrs. Danvers at the table.
The soft rustle of silk from her dress and the gentle breeze caressing her hair made her feel at peace.
“Thank you, I didn’t mean it when I said I couldn’t do it. Somehow, I’ll make it through. I can do this.”
With those words, Doah stood up.
While Mrs. Danvers cleared the dishes, Doah meditated, reflecting on her battles.
Sea King, too, shook his body once and then came inside, curling up to sleep, snoring softly.
“Sea King!”
Feeling overwhelmed with affection for the sleeping Sea King, Doah hugged him and blew raspberries on his belly.
At first, Sea King barked in surprise, but now he just looked at her, licking her face a few times as if to say, “Are you doing this again?”
“Thank you. I’m really lucky to have a partner like you, Sea King.”
“Woof.”
Sea King, using senses completely different from hers, would always warn her of danger.
Ever since that embarrassing encounter with the carnivorous plant on the first day, Sea King, as if ashamed, would poke her with his cold nose whenever there was a hidden beast nearby.
Thanks to him, Doah could reduce the fatigue from constantly being on guard.
“I mean, most people raid dungeons without even having a cabin, right?”
There was no place in the dungeon to rest comfortably. It was an endless battle of attrition, constantly draining her stamina.
But Doah could fully recover her strength and sleep soundly in the cabin.
The food she ate was delicious and well-prepared, too.
Every day, she realized just how big of an advantage this was.
Looking out the window, she could see beasts lurking, but they seemed completely unaware of her presence.
Even when Doah opened the door and stepped onto the porch, they didn’t notice.
It was only when she fully left the cabin that they sensed her.
Using this to her advantage, Doah would sometimes shoot arrows at the beasts that wandered nearby.
She’d stand on the porch, draw her bow, and shoot. The beasts would be startled, but they couldn’t find her.
Once she cleared the area around her base camp, she’d move the cabin further inside the dungeon.
As she ventured deeper, the cave’s rough stone walls gave way to smooth, refined ones.
A subterranean prison.
It was the evolved form of the cave-like dungeon.
Doah chuckled briefly.
From here on, most of the enemies she’d encounter would be humanoid.
Week 3
Undead.
In Rencia, undead were created when the bodies of the dead became corrupted, turning into monsters.
The zombies we commonly know are one type of undead.
There are roughly three types of undead.
One, the kind that has decayed completely, leaving only bones.
Two, those that still have flesh, like zombies or mummies.
Three, those without a physical body, like ghosts.
In this A-rank dungeon, all three types appeared.
Skeletons, in particular, were the most common.
These skeletons were fully armed like humans, carrying different kinds of weapons, and they always moved in pairs.
‘Skeleton soldiers, huh.’
They fought with skill, just like humans, which made them annoying to deal with. And when attacked, they quickly called for reinforcements.
Some of them even wore quite sturdy armor, which made them even more frustrating.
There seemed to be ranks among them, with higher-level ones above the lower grunts.
‘Ugh, this is such a hassle.’
On top of that, she was losing the numbers game.
The wide and tall corridors allowed them to shoot arrows too.
With doors scattered around the hallways, they often employed flanking tactics, which made things even more exhausting.
‘But what’s interesting is that there are Thule skeletons here too.’
Not all of the skeletons were humanoid. There were small feline skeletons and even large wolf-like skeletons.
In the end, Sea King swallowed a few skeletons whole.
Parts of his body turned into the watery form seen before and engulfed the skeleton soldiers, dissolving them like slime.
Doah was startled.
Moments later, Sea King’s body trembled, and he quickly transformed into a wolf skeleton.
“S-Sea King…?”
Clack
Sea King made a clattering noise with his jaws, then awkwardly walked forward.
Doah, though flustered, kept her composure and skillfully countered the skeletons’ attacks.
Using a small shield, she deflected arrows and pierced the skeletons’ eye sockets, destroying the core inside.
Attacking anywhere else was pointless, as they didn’t feel pain. Precision was the most efficient way to conserve her strength.
She glanced over to see Sea King, now in skeleton form, swinging a sword, albeit clumsily.
It seemed like walking upright was difficult for him after spending so long on all fours.
‘Oh no…’
However, when the enemy beast attacked him, the other monsters appeared confused.
Their formation broke, and Doah swiftly took out the rest of the enemies.
Doah’s sword was blessed by the World Tree.
It was as effective against monsters as it was at slicing through the bones of skeletons.
She switched her sword into greatsword mode and spun it like a windmill, shattering the skeletons.
Clack clack
Skeleton Sea King seemed to be trying to say something but then reverted back into his wolf form, shaking off the dust.
“So, what did you think? Which is better—being a skeleton or a wolf?”
Doah chuckled and asked, while Sea King tilted his head in response.
“Aww, you’re so cute. Please stay in your fluffy form, Lord Sea King.”
Doah hugged him around his neck, rubbing her cheek against his fur before adding, “Thanks for the help. Now, shall we open that door?”
As they opened the door and moved down the hallway, the dungeon became more and more extravagant.
The stone walls transformed into smooth marble, and the stone pillars arched elegantly. Faded gold leaf and decorative paintings adorned the walls.
Suddenly, the ceiling soared higher.
‘This is incredible…’
She knew that the closer one got to a dungeon’s core, the stronger it was, and the grander the dungeon became.
Looking at this grand but decaying underground palace, she felt the sheer majesty of an A-rank dungeon.
“Ah…”
Doah stopped.
Before her stood a gigantic arched door.
On either side of the wide hallway stood suits of armor, and at the far end was an opulent arched door.
‘There’s no doubt—the boss monster is in there.’
Doah felt a sense of relief.
She had finally made it this far.
‘But first, I should return to the cabin and make final preparations. Or maybe… this isn’t the last fight.’
There could be a mid-boss or something similar.
To avoid disappointment, Doah reined in her excitement.
Yet, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of adrenaline.
She quickly mounted Sea King and returned to the cabin.
Thankfully, in areas she had already cleared of monsters, no new ones appeared.
She had heard that it would take quite some time for the monsters to respawn.
So, feeling safe, Doah easily made her way back.
