Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 12

Dungeon Expedition Log – Part 13

The first to react was Lee Jun-yeong. She astutely spotted the hidden enemy and struck out with her sword.

A grating noise echoed, and a massive spider materialized in the open space.

“Camouflage!”

The grotesque spider, its carapace ruptured, spewed green fluid and thrashed its many legs.

*Kyak!*

Instantly, spiders erupted from seemingly nowhere. As if they had been there all along, the spiders swarmed, their mandibles clicking menacingly.

“Bunker!”

Lee Jun-yeong shouted as she cleanly severed the first spider’s abdomen. The explorers, awkwardly clutching spears and blades, dropped their weapons.

They then pulled out rectangular shields, about two meters long, from their backpacks. In an instant, a wall of shields, a ‘body bunker,’ rose in the middle of the passage.

“Hee-joon! Kang-tae! Young-ho!”

Seeing the explorers quickly take cover behind the shields, Lee Jun-yeong called out the Dungeon Babies’ names. Gripping their blades, they scattered and plunged into the swarm of spiders.

Kim Jin-woo also swung his sword at the nearest spider.

The hideous carapace shattered, and flesh splattered. The spider, instantly losing two of its legs, bared its fangs and roared, but Kim Jin-woo’s attack was merciless.

The spider’s entire body was torn apart by the blade.

‘Weak. These are just hatchlings.’

Kim Jin-woo frowned as he watched the spider being so easily dispatched. The other Dungeon Babies were also effortlessly clearing out the surrounding spiders.

Standing in the middle of the battlefield, he scanned his surroundings and spotted a spider approaching the defensive line. He leaped forward.

The spider, attempting to drag an explorer from behind the shield with its sharp forelegs, was instantly cut in half by Kim Jin-woo’s attack.

“T-thank you.”

The explorer, narrowly escaping death, expressed his gratitude. Without replying, Kim Jin-woo leaped again, smashing four more spiders. Meanwhile, the other Dungeon Babies successfully dealt with the remaining spiders.

“Check for injuries!”

Lee Jun-yeong, her once pristine appearance ruined, her body covered in green fluid, gritted her teeth and shouted.

Kim Jin-woo approached her and said,

“It’s not over yet.”

At his words, she narrowed her eyes and looked around. All she saw were the mangled remains of spiders scattered everywhere.

As she looked at him, puzzled, Kim Jin-woo stated firmly once more,

“There are others hiding nearby. And these ones are just underdeveloped hatchlings.”

The Hell Spiders he knew were not this weak. There was no way they would be defeated so easily.

Moreover, the message indicating the end of the battle had not yet appeared.

Perhaps because he was the first to notice the spiders, Lee Jun-yeong didn’t question him. Instead, she positioned the explorers in the center and placed the Dungeon Babies at the front line.

“Do you see anything?”

Lee Jun-yeong, straining her eyes, asked Kim Jin-woo. She seemed to think he was a Dungeon Baby specialized in detecting enemies.

Instead of answering, Kim Jin-woo threw several flares he had been carrying at his waist. The red flames illuminated the dim surroundings once more.

‘Where are they?’

Kim Jin-woo, his eyes glowing blue, surveyed the area and slightly stiffened. He retreated very slowly and whispered,

“11 o’clock, 30 meters. Ceiling.”

At his words, Lee Jun-yeong gestured. Kim Jung-tae, who had been passively participating in the battle, took out a bomb he had prepared for emergencies from his waist.

It seemed he was planning to use the bomb, which was meant to clear paths or collapse tunnels during escapes, now.

Since this area was already the Hell Spiders’ territory, there was no need to worry about attracting other creatures with the noise.

Kim Jung-tae attached the bomb to the end of a crossbow bolt and immediately pulled the trigger.

A sharp whistling sound was heard, followed by an explosion. Red flames erupted, and shrapnel flew. Then, a horrifying scream echoed.

*Kieeeek!*

The massive spider that fell to the ground with the scream was incomparably larger than the spiders that had appeared earlier.

Its body, filling the passage that was about 5 meters wide, was tattered from the explosion.

However, that was not enough to silence it. Despite having lost three of its legs, the spider screamed ferociously and charged at the group.

“Bunker, back in position! Flash forward!”

Lee Jun-yeong quickly issued commands and struck Kim Jin-woo’s shoulder, propelling him forward.

Understanding her intention immediately, he sprinted forward with her. At that moment, a flash of light erupted behind them.

The giant spider, blinded by the light, screamed in agony and staggered. Meanwhile, Kim Jin-woo and Lee Jun-yeong arrived right in front of the spider.

***

[The battle is over. The insidious spiders have been defeated, and all their traps have been destroyed. Your bravery in crushing a strong enemy deserves praise. Kim Jin-woo’s charisma slightly increases.]

Seeing the message appear before his eyes, Kim Jin-woo finally breathed a sigh of relief. He shook off the green fluid from his blade and turned around to see Lee Jun-yeong staring at him with a somewhat surprised expression.

“It’s over.”

“Your… level?”

It seemed he had failed to control his strength. Although level was not an absolute measure, it was generally proportional.

However, excited by the first real battle in a while, he had shown more strength than necessary.

“It’s 7.”

He said it shamelessly, but Lee Jun-yeong, at least, would know the difference. However, he deliberately ignored her.

She also did not bother to pry into his identity.

A large Down Gem [a valuable crystal dropped by monsters in dungeons], befitting its reputation, was found in the Hell Spider’s corpse. It was somewhat insufficient to be considered high-grade, but it was excessively large and of good quality for a mid-grade gem.

However, nothing was found in the corpses of the smaller spiders they had dealt with earlier.

Nevertheless, no one present cared about that. The immediate task was more important to them.

“It seems the advance team split into two. There’s no way the advance team would have been defeated by something like this.”

“But the number of explorers left here is a third of the advance team’s total. They wouldn’t have been left behind like this unless something happened.”

The group’s opinions were divided. They had set out with the intention of making a fortune by catching Hell Spiders, but in a situation where their lives were at stake, they couldn’t afford to be greedy.

The Dungeon Babies, who had been following Lee Jun-yeong’s commands well, all spoke up at once.

“I think the Dungeon Babies in the advance team, having found the Hell Spiders, left the slower explorers behind.”

At Kim Jin-woo’s words, everyone turned to look at him. Having contributed to the victory, the way they looked at him was completely different from before.

“That’s possible. It’s not uncommon for that to happen in the underground. If I found prey like Hell Spiders, I would leave behind anyone with low mobility.”

It was a statement that showed no consideration for the ordinary explorers, but no one pointed it out.

Ordinary explorers could be found and rescued by the hundreds if one wanted to. On the other hand, Hell Spiders were rare prey that was hard to come by.

“Then the surviving Dungeon Babies are probably chasing the Hell Spiders now.”

“If they survived, that is.”

Kim Jin-woo said, looking at the completely dismembered Hell Spider corpse.

In the end, the group decided to follow the traces of the surviving Dungeon Babies instead of turning back. Many of the explorers caught in the spiderwebs were beyond saving and had to be abandoned.

Because of this, the explorers’ morale was terrible.

With the advance team’s main force abandoning the explorers, and now leaving behind their still-living comrades, it was natural for them to feel uneasy.

However, none of the Dungeon Babies, who were the core of the team, comforted them.

So the explorers, fearing they too would be abandoned, lightened their loads and made themselves more agile.

Naturally, the marching speed increased even further.

How long had they been following the traces? Kim Jung-tae, who was guiding them, said with a face as hard as stone,

“It seems the advance team has been annihilated.”

Red blood was on his outstretched hand. Seeing the still-wet, dark red liquid, the group stopped again.

“It seems this hunt was a failure. It’s fortunate that we at least got a mid-to-high-grade Down Gem.”

Lee Jun-yeong, also judging that further exploration was impossible, quickly turned back. But nothing in life ever goes as planned.

The Hell Spiders, which they couldn’t find when they were looking for them, ambushed the group. If that was all, the hunting team might have been able to fulfill their original mission, even if belatedly, but they couldn’t welcome the appearance of the Hell Spiders.

“Damn it! Run straight back the way we came!”

Screams were heard from behind. But the Dungeon Babies didn’t stop.

This was the underground, the labyrinth. Even if you heard the screams of your comrades, you couldn’t look back. That was the hell they were in.

“H-heek!”

One of the ordinary explorers, weak of heart, looked back at the screams of his comrades and lost strength in his legs, collapsing to the ground. The sight of dozens of adult Hell Spiders chasing after them, gnashing their teeth, was that ferocious.

Another scream erupted.

As they ran, they arrived back at the place where they had fought the spiders. One of the Dungeon Babies running with them quickly moved forward and leaped towards the explorers of the advance team, who had been left on the spiderwebs because they were beyond saving.

The tip of the blade flashed, and the explorers hanging on the spiderwebs fell to the ground.

“T-thank you……”

The explorers of the advance team, who hadn’t even grasped the situation until then, widened their eyes as they saw the group rushing past them.

And the Hell Spiders following behind devoured them.

That’s how the group barely managed to shake off the Hell Spiders.

“Damn it.”

Lee Jun-yeong cursed roughly. The other Dungeon Babies also had grim faces.

After barely escaping, the number of survivors was barely ten. Only two ordinary explorers survived.

“Damn spider bastards. Let’s go back.”

But this expedition was cursed through and through.

No sooner had her declaration fallen than the ceiling rippled, and dozens of baby spiders rushed towards them.

And the presence of adult Hell Spiders running from afar was felt.

The battle was chaotic. The Dungeon Babies, as well as the surviving ordinary explorers, fought well.

But the number of enemies was too great. In the end, one of the Dungeon Babies was sacrificed.

“Damn it.”

Kim Jin-woo’s face twisted horribly.

It wasn’t just any creature. The tragedy caused by the Hell Spiders, of all things, brought back old nightmares.

“If we survive, let’s meet above.”

“What are you going to do……”

Kim Jin-woo looked back at the group as the spiders momentarily hesitated due to the explosives Kim Jung-tae had set off haphazardly.

“Give me those explosives. All of them.”

At those words, Kim Jung-tae handed over all the remaining explosives. It seemed that Kim Jin-woo’s actions had given them some faith in him.

“Fall back!”

He took the explosives and rushed towards the spiders. At the same time, he threw the explosives, which hit the ceiling and caused stone dust to fall.

“Goddamn it!”

It seemed he was planning to collapse the ceiling to block the path. When things didn’t go as planned, he cursed nervously and kicked off the wall, flying upwards. After kicking off the wall several times, he finally reached the ceiling, and the sword he was holding struck the wall.

“Jin-woo!”

Lee Jun-yeong and the Dungeon Babies screamed, belatedly realizing what he was trying to do. And at that moment, the ceiling collapsed.

Looking at the group staring at him with horrified faces, he said,

“Let’s meet alive.”

The collapsing pile of stones fell between them and blocked their view.

***

As the dust settled, the spiders that had retreated far away could be seen approaching quickly.

There might be spiders beyond that, but he had done all he could. Now, surviving was their responsibility.

Now, he could only hope that they would survive.

The Dungeon Babies, who belonged neither to the surface nor to the underground, were another version of himself.

However, it wasn’t that he had remained in the face of death to save the other Dungeon Babies. He was confident in his survival.

Rather, he couldn’t properly exert his strength because of them.

*Kieeeek!*

As he watched a Hell Spider running towards him, he slightly moved his lips.

“Portal.”