Chapter 142

In accordance with Blaine’s desperate wish, it was decided that Theo would step on Blaine’s shoulders. Even as he climbed up the man’s body, Theo constantly checked in, asking if he was okay or if he was too heavy, but Blaine’s mouth was simply hooked from ear to ear in a grin.

Standing on Blaine’s shoulders, Theo reached out a hand to help Noquia up. They stacked the human tower one by one until Father, standing at the very peak, was quite close to the door. When she reached out, the remaining distance was barely a meter.

“This is doable.”

Speaking as if to relay the message to the team bracing themselves below, Father bent her knees slightly to jump. On solid ground, she would have kicked off with all her might, but a precariously stacked human tower would collapse the moment it lost its balance.

At this distance, even a light hop should allow her hands to reach, and then she could simply grab the floor of the doorway and crawl up. Having made up her mind, Father jumped lightly.

Just as her fingertips were about to touch the floor, a square section of the wall beneath the doorway shot out instantly and struck her. Hit square in the solar plexus, Father swallowed a choked breath and was sent flying backward into a fall. Surprised by the sudden turn of events, everyone watched Father tumble to the ground and scrambled over to her, dissolving the human tower.

“Hey, are you okay?!”

At Theo’s question, Father—who was lying curled up and clutching her chest—opened her narrowed eyes. Through the gaps of the four faces looking down at her in worry, she saw the wall that had protruded from beneath the treasure room floor now extending all the way to the opposite side. So that was what hit her.

“Ah, seriously… I’m going to kill all those developer bastards….”

Muttering murderously in a strained voice, Father groaned as she braced her hands on the ground to push her upper body up. At that moment, she felt the ground she was touching sink inward, and a rain of arrows poured down.

By the time they regained their senses, they were back at the very beginning.

Returning to the starting point in the jungle, everyone sat down, clutching their heads and screaming. Bitter and violent words poured out: it was a garbage dungeon, a cursed dungeon, and they were going to assassinate the developers once they got out.

Having exhausted their remaining energy on curses and throwing a fit, they lay in the devastated jungle, staring blankly up at the sky. An unidentified bird flew over them, letting out a mocking cry.

Still lying down, Theo threw a stone he had grabbed at the bird with all his strength. There was no way it would hit, and the mocking cry only trailed on longer. Scowling deeply, Theo spoke as if lamenting.

“I’d rather do ‘The Unreturning Guest’ one more time.”

At Theo’s words, the others looked at him as if internally startled, but their feelings weren’t much different.

They lit a campfire to refill the stamina they had depleted while throwing their tantrum. After tossing a lit match onto the pile of branches they had gathered, Father said, “This is my last match.”

The match situation for the others was similar. Most had one; two at the most. They worried about what they would do if they ran out of matches as well.

Once their health was fully restored, they headed back into the ruins. They skillfully navigated the paths they had already traversed until they reached the spot beneath the last treasure room, but the door had already turned to stone.

The sounds of clicking tongues and smacking lips followed one after another. They had passed countless treasure rooms, yet they had only been able to enter one—and even then, only Blaine had gone inside.

“Are we really going to strike it rich?”

“At this rate, I think we’re just going to go broke.”

Father and Holanghee grumbled. Noquia looked at the two of them as if they were pathetic, clicked her tongue, and wagged a finger.

“The way I see it, I bet no one has ever made it out of this dungeon with a jackpot. I just want to kick the developers in the nuts.”

Blaine shivered at Noquia’s malice-filled words, but Theo patted his shoulder to reassure him before looking at the other three.

“Still, we have what Blaine brought back.”

Only then did Father’s annoyance soften as she nodded.

“True. What comes out of it is the key.”

Holanghee also smiled, cupping her face in her hands.

“Come on, it’s something Blaine got. Would anything weird really come out of it?”

But Noquia dampened the mood.

“Don’t overlook the facts. We also have Theo with us.”

The atmosphere sank instantly as if doused with cold water, and the three of them looked at Theo as if he were a traitor. Theo was indignant and dumbfounded.

What did I do? Why me?!

Leaving the petrified treasure room behind, they began to navigate the maze again and eventually faced a long flight of stairs. Climbing the stairs led to another maze. It was a repetitive cycle: clear a maze, find stairs, climb, and clear another maze.

It seemed they were making up the distance they had fallen when they first dropped through the trap.

“These stairs are strangely long.”

Father panted intermittently. Subjectively, the stairs they were on felt exceptionally long. The fact that she was losing her breath was proof. The others simply nodded instead of answering, equally winded.

After climbing and climbing, a massive door appeared. It wasn’t a treasure room door. It was a giant stone door with ornate embossed pillars and elegant, antique patterns. They had a premonition that the location was about to change.

All five of them placed their hands on the door and pushed with all their might. With the sound of grinding stone, the door began to open, and a cacophony of noise along with a cool, moisture-laden breeze rushed in through the wide-open entrance.

Stepping through the door, they found themselves outside. It looked like the very top of the ruins. Weathered suspension bridges were connected in all directions, and a torrential rapid flowed far below. That was the source of the noise and the damp breeze.

After being trapped in the basement where the air felt stagnant, coming out to the cool exterior made them feel like they could finally breathe. Their admiration for the unobstructed view was short-lived, however, as the chaotic web of suspension bridges late caught their eyes.

Everything other than the small, ten-square-meter platform they were standing on was connected by suspension bridges. They couldn’t even see where they were supposed to go or where the destination was.

“Which way are we supposed to go?”

“At least there was a path before, but this is….”

Holanghee and Father looked around, unable to hide their bewilderment. Theo felt the same. Thinking there might be a clue, he approached a suspension bridge and looked down, but all he could see was the black, churning water of the fierce rapids.

“Let’s just pick any path and go. If it’s wrong, we can just come back. Like we’ve been doing all along.”

For once, Noquia actually made sense.

Since overthinking would only waste time, they decided to pick a suspension bridge at random and give it a shot. Noquia took the lead.

The moment she stepped onto the bridge, the ropes securing it unraveled, and the entire structure gave way.

“Whoa!”

Noquia almost plummeted helplessly along with the bridge, but Theo, standing right behind her, grabbed her just in time to prevent the fall.

“D-dammit… I almost went to meet my maker.”

Noquia sat down, clutching the wooden pillar the bridge had been anchored to, and pressed firmly on her chest to calm her racing heart. Beside her, Theo stared at the bridge as it vanished into the rapids.

“I guess the traps are hidden like this too.”

Father, who was also looking down at the torrent, smoothed back her wind-blown hair.

“We’ll have to be even more careful here.”

One bridge had snapped and disappeared, but there were still countless others remaining. Just in case, they chose the sturdiest-looking one to cross. This time, Father led the way.

Despite picking the bridge that looked the most solid, the wooden planks beneath their feet creaked ominously with every single step. It was nerve-wracking. To make matters worse, the wind was so strong it was difficult to maintain their balance.

As they moved forward precariously, swaying with the gusts, a plank beneath Theo’s feet shattered, and his body suddenly lurched downward. He instinctively reached out to grab a rope, but something solid wrapped around his waist and held him tight.

“Hyung, are you okay?!”

It was Blaine. Following directly behind, Blaine had seen Theo starting to fall and, startled, had caught him. Theo gripped Blaine’s arm—which was wrapped around his waist—like a literal lifeline and tried to calm his pounding heart.

“U-uh, yeah. Thanks.”

As Theo thanked him, a sigh of relief brushed against his ear. Theo hunched his shoulders at the unfamiliar breath. While the two were stuck together, Father, who had turned back at the minor commotion behind her, shouted, “You guys okay? Be careful!”

The two of them finally pulled apart and shouted back that they understood.

The rickety suspension bridge soon branched off into three paths. Standing at the junction, Father surveyed the surroundings. She needed to know where each path led, so she could pick the safest and most plausible route.

However, no matter where she looked, it all looked the same. Every suspension bridge was interconnected with others, spreading out like a giant spiderweb. She couldn’t make a reckless decision. With a solemn expression, Father turned back to look at Blaine.

“Blaine, which way?!”

Startled by the sudden question, Blaine blinked his wide eyes, thought for a moment, and then pointed straight ahead.

“Straight, please.”

“Okay.”

Father gave a thumbs-up and headed straight. Backed by the reliable choices of Blaine, they moved forward with newfound confidence.

Everyone was thinking, Man, what would we do without our Blaine? feeling proud of their resident lucky charm, when the rapids flowing beneath them grew even more violent and began to whirlpool.

As waterspouts rising from the vortex began to lash out wildly, the group buzzed with panic. The recoil caused the suspension bridge to thrash violently.

Everyone gripped the ropes and lowered their bodies. If they fell, it was back to the very beginning. They couldn’t afford to fall. While everyone was desperately clinging to the ropes, something surged out of the whirlpool.

A massive pillar of water shot up like a cannon, and screams erupted amidst a rain-like deluge. As the rising water column swept away like a waterfall, something hidden inside it approached with its maw wide open. A giant mouth filled with spiral-patterned rows of teeth. That was the last thing they saw.

By the time they regained their senses, they were back at the very beginning.