Chapter 66

It was perhaps only natural that the Cha family's situation had ended up like this.

'Of all things, it had to be a Virtual Dungeon where you don't get a choice about participating.'

Cha Eun-hyuk, hiding under a desk while guarding the space in front of his two younger siblings, twisted his face in disillusionment with the world.

'I'm the closest thing to an adult left right now, but I'm not a Hunter, and it's obvious Cha A-ra, that flower pig, won't be any help. But it's not like we can ask the remaining prospective priests to save us...'

He did not know what the condition had been this time, but Virtual Dungeons forcibly dragged in everyone who met the applicable condition.

There were plenty of cases where all participants had been wiped out in situations like this, with no proper Hunters around.

"..."

"..."

Cha Eun-hyuk and Cha A-ra, both sweating cold, silently exchanged glances.

Cha Eun-hyuk nodded.

'You're the only Hunter here.'

'Ah, we're fucked.'

'That's how it is.'

But there was no helping it.

They were called "prospective" priests for a reason.

The young priests here were not Hunters, but no different from civilians.

In other words, the only Hunter in this cavern was Cha A-ra.

After confirming there were no monsters nearby, Cha Eun-hyuk whispered in a faint voice that could not be heard from afar.

"Hey, F-class porter."

"Fuck, go ahead."

"Isn't there some kind of response method for times like this? Something Hunters learn..."

"I think this is the best we can do right now."

At the center, they recommended not gathering in one place when the situation was extremely bad.

That way, even if something happened, they would not be wiped out so easily, and their survival rate would be higher if they were spread out here and there.

"... Isn't that just a decoy tactic..."

"Anyway, objectively speaking, it's the method with the highest return survival rate."

"You're right, but still."

It felt shitty as hell.

'They're telling us to scatter and pray someone other than me gets caught.'

It was a response method that did not sit well with the Cha family, who had the blood of suckers running thick in their veins, but that did not mean they moved recklessly.

If you had no ability, the only way to save someone was to become bait yourself.

"..."

Feeling anew just how fucked the situation was, Cha A-ra hid the youngest, who was hiding behind her back, even farther inside.

"Hey, Cha Yi-sol. Move in farther. Farther."

"There's nowhere farther to go..."

"You're small. Where do you get off whining? Hurry up and fold yourself in."

"Nnngh..."

"Don't make noise."

The place they were hiding was beneath stainless steel desks installed at regular intervals throughout the cavern.

Perhaps because there were quite a few of them, the prospective priests still alive seemed to be hiding beneath the desks as well, just like them.

Though even if they hid like that, there was no telling how long they could avoid being found by monsters that roamed freely in every direction...

'Still, while my brother and I cause a ruckus, at least Cha Yi-sol should be safe.'

The tiny youngest brat had no meat on him, and if he got bitten once, he would die on the spot.

It was a selfish thought, but she could not help wishing her own brother would live longer than the other children.

"Sis..."

"Ah, don't act cute, seriously."

"Wow, no, I wasn't acting cute. I feel wronged."

"Tsk."

Cha Eun-hyuk, stationed at the very outer edge of the desk, glanced at his younger siblings bickering like that as if he found it absurd.

'Look at these things with no sense of tension.'

In truth, he already knew it was not that they had no sense of tension, but that they were so tense they were actually pretending to be fine.

Cha Eun-hyuk, his face stiff, looked around while sweating cold.

One monster was approaching with a wet, squelching sound.

"..."

"Hu, hungry, hu-hu-hun, hun... gry... hungry..."

"..."

Was it possessed by a ghost that had starved to death?

'So this is why you're supposed to set out offerings for the dead. If we die here, it'll all be because the world has become so harsh it won't even set out one offering table...'

It was nonsense, but in any case, engraving the wisdom of their ancestors in his heart, Cha Eun-hyuk pressed his younger siblings firmly behind him.

The youngest, already crammed into the very end, had nowhere else to go, but apparently Cha A-ra did, because he heard a suppressed rustling sound.

It was commendable that she somehow did not make a sound, perhaps because she had heard the monster approaching.

"Hungry? Hungry. Hun. Hun, hun, hungry. I'm hungry..."

"..."

The monster, whose shape he had not even properly seen yet, came close.

Thanks to that, Cha Eun-hyuk got to see as much of the monster's damp legs as he never wanted.

'Has the time come for me to die?'

At the very least, I will make sure our flower pig and the youngest survive.

Remember me, who used to bake the cheapest, tastiest fish-shaped bread in South Korea.

It was just as he steeled his resolve.

"—You vermin!!!"

WHOOOSH!

The monsters burned in the flames and turned to ash one by one.

"Uh, uh...?"

It happened so fast that it actually felt unreal.

Instead of the wet, squelching noises, he heard dry ash falling in clumps, and the cavern's chill was forcibly swallowed by the heat of fire.

"..."

"..."

The Cha family, flustered, looked back toward the entrance to the cavern, which they had not even known was there.

"Vermin...??"

"Vermin..."

"Ah, wait."

Cha Eun-hyuk belatedly realized who had been the owner of that booming "You vermin" that had echoed through the cavern.

"... Priest Kang Seo-dam?"

The priest, Kang Seo-dam, whose long, wavy blond hair and pale green eyes stood out especially sharply, was panting in a thoroughly disheveled state.

Cha Eun-hyuk, who had been quietly sweating cold, met the eyes of Kang Seo-dam, whose face was so angry that the veins were bulging.

It felt as if he had come face-to-face with a taboo he should never have seen.

"..."

"..."

Kang Seo-dam returned from the face of a demon to that of a priest and asked in a neat tone.

"Are you all right?"

"No, just now, you said vermin..."

"What else should I call vermin but vermin?"

"Wow."

"I apologize that you had to hear my profanity when you must have already been frightened."

With a response so kind that Cha Eun-hyuk would have been purely moved if he had not heard that unmistakably accented "You vermin," Priest Kang Seo-dam calmly continued.

"I, too, was dragged into a Virtual Dungeon out of nowhere and have been mentally occupied in many ways, but I am relieved to see that many survivors appear to remain."

Kang Seo-dam, whose once-clean priestly robes were in tatters as though he had been through quite a lot, looked around.

Only then did Cha Eun-hyuk also look around the cavern, but perhaps because of whatever Kang Seo-dam had just done, not a single monster remained.

"Hm."

With his characteristic cold, expressionless face, Kang Seo-dam quietly traced a holy sign.

"The Goddess must have watched over you."

"..."

You are the one who watched over us, though.

'As expected, among Hunters, if you exclude our flower pig, is there not a single sane person?'

If he was a priest capable of presiding over the induction ceremony, he had to be at least a B-class Hunter.

Judging by the skill with which he had burned every monster in the cavern to death in an instant, he was probably A-class or close to S-class, and thanks to that, Cha Eun-hyuk felt a little relieved.

It was relief at having found a strong person he could entrust his siblings' safety to even if he died, since he himself had no strong point aside from a sturdy body.

'... Thank goodness.'

Cha Eun-hyuk let out a long breath and wiped a hand down his face.

Only now could he breathe a little.

"P-Priest..."

"Waaah..."

"Priest Kang Seo-dam...!"

Only then did the prospective priests who had been hiding here and there crawl out.

"Yes, Priest Kang Seo-dam is here. If there are surviving brothers, gather by my side."

As if he was used to those tearful clinging pleas from survivors, Priest Kang Seo-dam skillfully organized the situation.

He turned to Cha Eun-hyuk and Cha A-ra and added,

"The same goes for the guardians of Priest Cha Yi-sol over there."

"Ah, yes..."

Drawn by the steady voice rarely found in a dungeon, all the survivors in the cavern gathered in front of Priest Kang Seo-dam, but there were not very many of them.

Most had died after being bitten by monsters, or had eaten one another afterward.

"..."

Priest Kang Seo-dam grimaced as if holding back a heavy sigh and opened his mouth.

"I apologize for allowing you to suffer such a thing at an event I was presiding over."

"Ah, no. It was an accident, and..."

"Preventing such accidents in advance is also my role. Formal damage compensation will be arranged as soon as the situation is settled."

The priest bowed his head to express his apology and continued.

"I will put up a barrier, so all survivors should enter it and rest. I will be recovering the remains of the others."

"... I will help as well."

At Cha Eun-hyuk's words, Cha A-ra raised her hand.

"Ah, then I will too..."

"If you insist, I will accept only Hunter Cha A-ra's help."

Priest Kang Seo-dam turned to Cha Eun-hyuk.

After hesitating briefly, he opened his mouth.

"I appreciate your feelings, Guardian Cha Eun-hyuk, but this is not work that should be entrusted to civilians, and above all, you are the only adult remaining."

"Ah..."

"Please soothe the young brothers so they do not become more frightened. For extending a helping hand even in such a difficult situation, you will be repaid later in the name of the sun."

As Cha A-ra approached the corpses that had turned into monsters and then ash under the light of the sun, she asked,

"B-But you know all our names...? Is that how it usually is?"

"This is an event I am presiding over, so I must not be negligent in my responsibility. I remember the names of everyone who formally participated after putting their names on the list."

"Waa..."

After meeting nothing but shitty Hunters for so long, it was unbelievable how unfamiliar such a responsible person felt.

'If I'd only met Hunters like this, I wouldn't have been abandoned in that shitty cave, fuck.'

Feeling reassured for no reason, Cha A-ra continued speaking even as she collected the light remains, as though they had gone through a crematorium.

"It feels like it's been quite a while since we were dragged into the dungeon and saw you again. Where were you until now?"

"I apologize."

"Ah, no, I wasn't criticizing you for not coming sooner..."

Fuck, words.

'Think before you speak.'

Cursing her own intelligence, Cha A-ra continued despite stammering.

"This cavern itself is quite wide, and a lot of people were dragged in, so we thought this was everyone who had been pulled in."

"... I was dropped alone in a different cavern from this one."

Priest Kang Seo-dam answered while tracing a holy sign toward the ash-covered remains and bestowing a blessing of repose.

"There were many monsters, and their skill was considerable, while the escape mechanics were also complicated, so it took time."

"Alone in a place like that...?"

"Thinking of it that way, it seems the people gathered at the induction ceremony were scattered at random."

"... What? Ah, then..."

"It did not seem entirely without a standard."

As if it was true he had faced a great many monsters, Priest Kang Seo-dam wiped away the blood flowing down his forehead and continued.

"In my case, as the combat force most threatening to the dungeon, I was dropped alone in a place swarming with monsters. On the other hand, all the prospective priests are gathered in this cavern."

"All? You already checked that in the meantime?"

"They are the brothers in my care, so I remembered their faces."

"... Huh? No, but as far as I remember, I'm sure..."

"Yes, I understand what you find strange."

Kang Seo-dam swung the wand, which was as long as he was tall, and bestowed a blessing over the entire cavern.

The remains that had taken the shape of ash soon changed back into the intact forms of people.

"..."

Priest Kang Seo-dam, who had shown a small miracle with the power of the sun, soon opened his mouth.

"... Brother Eunha is nowhere to be seen."

In this place where all the prospective priests were gathered, only that one boy could not be found.

"Since I have not found the corpse of a prospective priest here, I believe he is probably somewhere else."

"..."

"We can find out gradually why he alone was separated. Hunter Cha A-ra, do you still have stamina left? To the naked eye, you do not seem injured. Are there any abnormalities?"

"Ah, no, there aren't."

"Then let us move. I came here because this was the cavern closest to the place where I fell, but there are probably survivors elsewhere as well. There were not many Hunters attending this event, so if we fail to respond in time, they will be in danger."

"What about the other kids and my brother..."

At Cha A-ra's words, Kang Seo-dam checked the survivors by the barrier and nodded.

"We cannot leave them here, so I think they must come with us. If the distance is too great, it is difficult to maintain, and there is also a time limit. It would have been better if there were a more skilled priest present, but I am not a specialist in wards."

"It certainly did seem like protection wasn't your specialty..."

The expression of Priest Kang Seo-dam, who had turned every monster to ash with a single swing of his wand, was truly no different from a demon that had crawled up from hell.

With that impression, it would actually have sounded strange if protection or healing were his specialty.

Without adding anything else, Kang Seo-dam nodded.

"As for the bodies, they have been recovered and blessed, so they should not be disturbed further or rot."

"Then what now..."

"Fortunately, I have a subspace skill. I will store them in there, so I believe there should be no major issue with the recovery afterward."

"Y-Yes."

"We do not know what will happen if we delay any longer, so Hunter Cha A-ra, please help the prospective priests move."

"U-Understood."

"Hoo..."

Kang Seo-dam wiped a hand down his blood-smeared face and looked around.

'... Could this be the mischief of that black god I saw at the induction ceremony?'

That man who had pulled a black cloak low over himself.

He had certainly felt divinity from him, and even if something was not a monster of the relevant dungeon, a god should be able to open dungeons at will.

If so, that would mean his authority was quite strong even for an evil god, and the aura he had felt had been close to death, so suspicion briefly rose in him.

'... No. But he was a being upon whom the Goddess had cast such a favorable gaze. A god like that, who had a high understanding of humans and seemed moderate in building relationships, would not suddenly carry out a slaughter like this.'

Rather, the suspicious one was Eunha, that blue-haired prospective priest.

"..."

Even when he had felt the cold energy from him, he had merely thought, "Is he a child who wishes to serve a god that holds cold?" but now that the situation had come this far, he had no choice but to suspect him.

'The cold I felt from Eunha and this cold full of the aura of the deep sea are quite similar. If even I could recognize it at a glance, that means Eunha did not intend to hide his identity even after causing the incident.'

Either he had planned to kill them all here anyway, or he had only planned to stop by Earth once before leaving.

'In this case, it may be both. It is a considerably dangerous dungeon...'

It was when he looked around, worrying about what would unfold next.

"...?"

The air changed.

'... In a positive direction.'

Unlike the previous air, which had seemed desperate to kill anyone and everyone, a strangely warm heat subtly filled the entire dungeon.

"One moment."

Kang Seo-dam left the survivors to Cha A-ra and came out into the corridor.

Not long after he began looking around, he saw something beyond the corridor that resembled a temple submerged in the deep sea.

"..."

"..."

The man covered in a pitch-black cloak took off his hood.

'... Ah.'

From within the deep shadow that had seemed to contain nothing, platinum-blond hair resembling sunlight was revealed.

"..."

"Brother Kang Seo-dam."

It was the god presumed to be favorable to humans, "Seo Jio."

"The temple is wider than I imagined, so I was wandering, but I am glad to meet a child of the sun like this."

"..."

"Do you happen to know where the other survivors are? You seem injured, so I can help you."

"..."

"Brother Kang Seo-dam?"

"Forgive my rudeness."

He had been curious what line of god he was, and now he had learned it like this.

'So there was indeed a reason the Goddess cast her gaze upon him. They were of the same line...'

Judging by the strangely quiet atmosphere, they did not seem to be of a completely identical line, but in any case, reassured by the familiar light of the sun, Kang Seo-dam thought,

'It was an awkward situation to ask for help, but before I even requested it, he seems to have worked some miracle or other.'

Seo Jio's role was surely great in making the dungeon gentler.

In truth, calling that a miracle was somewhat questionable, but in any case, it was not a wrong guess.