A wide open space was created instantly, followed by the entire floor beginning to shake violently.
This subtle vibration was rising from none other than deep beneath the ground.
“Here it comes.”
I could barely lift my head because I was so dizzy.
I wished I could help with the situation that was about to unfold, but it was hard for me to even stand still right now.
Paseuk.
What soon burst through the floor and revealed themselves were countless mummies that looked like they belonged in a movie.
From the tightly wound bandages on their faces to their contorted movements, they were utterly grotesque.
Of course, they weren’t actual mummies as we know them, but A-rank monsters.
One by one, the creatures emerged onto the ground and began to rush toward us literally like a swarm of ants.
Since these things would continuously regenerate no matter how many we eliminated, the situation required us to find and kill the main body, the mid-boss.
I naturally knew the location of the creature, but if I told them right away, there would be no way to avoid suspicion this time.
I needed to stall for some time, but honestly, in my current state, I couldn’t guarantee how long I could last.
In the movie, Cha Rui thought the statue was the main body, just like the first boss hidden in the mural.
So he would smash it first, but that was just a plausible decoy, not the main body.
As the monsters continuously surged, Cha Rui frantically tore them apart, and it inevitably took him a long time to find the true main body.
To put it briefly, the mid-boss was hidden deep underground.
The precise location was right beneath the stone slab that had absorbed the blood.
I had to tell them by pretending to realize it by chance, but that was easier said than done.
However, it wouldn’t be easy for Cha Rui to fight off the surging monsters while protecting me, so I had to make a decision.
There’s no other choice, is there?
“Cha Rui.”
I was just about to reluctantly open my mouth, deciding to worry about the aftermath later.
Cha Rui slowly knelt down on one knee and carefully sat me down on the floor.
Why is he doing that?
Before I could understand what he was thinking, his hand suddenly dug deeply into the solid stone floor.
And without giving me a moment to recognize it, he roughly pulled it up.
Kwah-aang—!
A loud roar followed, as if a landslide was engulfing us.
When I opened my tightly closed eyes again, the ground in front of us had unbelievably disappeared.
That included the statue of Osiris and the stone slab.
Deep underground, in that hollowed-out spot, the mid-boss—resembling a giant tick—was hiding. Countless legs were constantly wriggling on its overturned body.
Sasasak—!
Despite its enormous body, the mid-boss had short legs and just thrashed about in place, unable to escape.
How much blood must it have sucked up and grown to the point where it couldn’t even manage its own body properly?
In this way, it had prolonged its life by hiding in a corner and manipulating the A-rank monsters.
I couldn’t even begin to guess how many people had been sacrificed for it to reach this state.
It had, in a sense, trapped itself in a mire due to its own greed.
To think an S-rank mid-boss could act like a god in such a pathetic state.
I let out a small sigh that I couldn’t hold back.
Just then, Cha Rui lunged quickly toward the mid-boss before I could stop him.
“W-Wait!”
I urgently cried out, reaching out my hand, but Cha Rui had already thrown himself into the hole in the ground.
I could tell how enraged he was just by looking at his distorted, demon-like face.
In the end, with the hand he unleashed, the mid-boss’s body was instantly ripped apart.
Since it was already bloated to its limit, it was only natural that it burst open like a water balloon.
If only it were just water, but when I finally regained my senses after being hit by the downpour-like liquid, the surroundings were literally a sea of blood.
And the same was true for Cha Rui and me. This is why I had tried to stop him.
“……”
“Sorry, I didn’t know it would explode…”
The now-powerless monsters immediately collapsed like puppets with their strings cut.
We had unexpectedly ended up covered in blood.
When I unconsciously grimaced at the foul smell, Cha Rui quickly approached, crouching down.
In the rush, worried that the blood might get into my mouth, he urgently wiped my lips with the back of his hand.
His hands were also soaked in blood, so naturally, it didn’t wipe off.
I felt like sighing, so I bit my lip and forced a gesture to show I was fine.
“But how did you know the boss was there?”
“I followed your blood scent.”
“My blood scent?”
Concerned by my reaction, Cha Rui roughly wiped his hands on his pants and turned his head sideways.
Following his gaze, the blood that had pooled on the detached stone slab had been absorbed and disappeared.
However, the Cha Rui in the movie was no different.
The blood was absorbed into the slab like now, but from what I remembered, he hadn’t noticed for quite a long time.
Why?
I tilted my head in confusion.
He bled first, so why didn’t he realize it sooner?
“But your blood was absorbed first.”
“……”
“You didn’t notice then?”
“Ah…”
At my words, Cha Rui made an uncharacteristically blank expression and quietly swallowed.
That look clearly belonged to someone who had just realized the truth.
What, he just wasn’t interested?
I was so incredulous that my own expression turned dumbfounded.
Now I understood why he only noticed my blood scent like a ghost.
He hadn’t cared about his own blood to begin with, only realizing the abnormality when my blood was absorbed.
I was speechless, just keeping my mouth open, when Cha Rui took out a handkerchief and began carefully wiping my face.
It seemed he realized his hands weren’t going to solve the mess.
But that wasn’t the important thing right now.
“…You’ll get it dirty. You can just use my handkerchief.”
“It’s okay. It’s already stained.”
It looked familiar, and it was a handkerchief I had seen before.
It was the old, checkered handkerchief I had washed and returned to him.
I had noticed it back then, too, but judging by the perfectly ironed shape, he seemed to take great care of it.
Yet, despite valuing it, he hadn’t hesitated to use it to wipe blood, just like on the deserted island.
“Where did you get this handkerchief? It looks a little old.”
Did someone give it to him as a gift?
Given his scumbag personality, the ‘real Seo Inho’ wouldn’t have given it.
As I was speculating to myself, Cha Rui hesitated for a moment, then spoke.
“It’s yours.”
“What?”
But the answer that came back completely overturned my expectations.
The real Seo Inho gave it?
That Seo Inho? Unable to comprehend it, I was about to ask if he was serious.
At that very moment, the surrounding walls shook ominously and began to crack.
I instinctively looked up, and the number on the ceiling had already become [4/4].
Do Soohyuk and Woo Jaehyun had defeated the last mid-boss.
It was too fast.
Originally, the moment they defeated the last mid-boss should have been later than when the original Cha Rui defeated the third mid-boss.
The current early finish wasn’t much different from the original timing.
That meant the two of them had also hurried considerably.
Pasusuu—
With only the final boss remaining, the walls and ceiling slowly crumbled, and fragments floated up into the air.
The sight, as if gravity had vanished, was hard to believe was real.
It somewhat resembled Woo Jaehyun’s ability, but this was closer to corrosion and disintegration.
In no time, when the walls had all vanished, a vast expanse of land was revealed, and Do Soohyuk and Woo Jaehyun could be seen far in the distance.
“Hyung!”
The two, who happened to be looking our way, spotted me and began to run toward us simultaneously.
With no obstacles blocking them, their speed was even faster.
However, Woo Jaehyun’s brightly shining face visibly darkened as they got closer.
It seemed he had seen me sprawled out weakly, covered in blood.
The situation became awkward.
I had only blinked once, but the guy was already right in front of me and quickly gripped my shoulder.
“Are you hurt?”
“It’s not my blood, this is just…”
Before I could finish my sentence, Do Soohyuk cut in.
His usually expressionless face was also chillingly hardened.
He glared at Cha Rui, who was supporting me, as if he wanted to kill him, and pressed him sharply.
“Is it you again? What on earth were you doing while you were next to him?”
“No, that’s not it…”
I tried to defend Cha Rui by saying it wasn’t like that, but my words were cut off again as Woo Jaehyun yanked my arm.
I was swaying back and forth like a paper doll, being pulled from both sides.
“How dare you let Hyung end up like this in just this pathetic dungeon?”
Hey, will you two listen to me?
I was grateful for their concern, but I wasn’t even given a chance to explain.
Caught in the middle, I kept opening and closing my mouth, looking back and forth between the three of them.
Since I was being held variously by the shoulder, arm, and wrist, escaping was a pipe dream.
Cha Rui ignored the two of them and simply focused on wiping my blood.
At his continued disregard, the aura around Do Soohyuk and Woo Jaehyun gradually grew sharper.
At this rate, the three of them would fight before we could even finish the raid.
I had to step in and stop them.
Kkeu-e-ee-ek—!
Fortunately, with a huge roar, the ground on one side began to break apart.
The final boss appeared at the most opportune moment.
Never since setting foot here had I been so happy about its appearance.
As a massive, sinkhole-like pit opened in the ground, a hand of cracked, sandy light shot out from within.
The final boss, which fully emerged with a loud noise, had rough, arid skin.
Its appearance resembled an ancient phantom.
Every time it opened its mouth wide and roared, its skin cracked, and sand dust poured down.
It was an overwhelmingly powerful sight, but thinking about what was about to happen made me feel a little sorry for it.
“……”
The three people surrounding me vanished in the blink of an eye without even pausing to acknowledge each other.
Since they were already in a foul mood, they all charged at the final boss without anyone taking the lead.
A low-level S-rank monster could hardly handle them.
