#30: Chapter 30 — Better To Die Than Deal With This

They chose a spot for their house and split up, each heading off to gather resources. The most important were wood for the building and food for survival.

By combining the branches and stones they had collected, they crafted makeshift axes and pickaxes, then divided them up and hurried into action.

Theo went back into the forest to gather wood. Since they didn’t have a map, he made sure to glance back now and then to confirm the location of their home base so he wouldn’t lose his way.

He didn’t go too deep, sticking close to the entrance, and began chopping down trees. After a while, his inventory was completely full. Heading back toward the camp, Theo tilted his head back to check the sun. It was directly overhead—about noon.

There still seemed to be plenty of time, and that gave him a bit of relief. Daytime was peaceful, but when the sun set, all hell would break loose. That thought alone made his nerves tighten.

On the way back, he spotted Blaine walking from the other direction. Blaine, noticing him as well, broke into a wide smile and ran to his side. The two of them returned to the site together.

Once they had stockpiled enough wood, one person stayed behind to start building. That task naturally fell to Father.

Work went smoothly. Each time someone came back with materials, the house visibly took shape. It wasn’t just practical and safe—it even had a stylish design that made everyone gape in admiration.

If any of them had built it, it would’ve just been a plain square box. That thought was still lingering when Father shouted from the roof.

“Time to put in windows! Go bring some sand, and collect more stones—we’ll need them for a furnace.”

Everyone nodded and scattered. The sun above was already leaning toward the west.

Theo and Blaine headed to the coast to gather sand. Along the way they picked up more sticks and stones to craft shovels. Judging by the sun’s position, there wasn’t enough time to completely fill their inventories.

By the time the faint glow of sunset began to paint the sky, the two of them were leaving the beach. They ran into Noquia and Holanghee, who had been gathering stones, near the house.

The house was nearly complete, lacking only its windows. Together, they built the furnace, melted the sand into glass, and installed the finished panes. By the time they finished, the darkness had completely fallen.

Father used the leftover wood to burn in the furnace. The firelight dimly illuminated the pitch-black interior, allowing them to make charcoal. With that charcoal, they crafted torches and placed them around the house.

As the night deepened, eerie cries of unknown beasts began echoing outside. Shadows prowled past the windows, and the five of them crouched beneath the sills, holding their breath as they watched.

More and more silhouettes gathered outside. Hoarse cries, guttural growls, snarling warnings, throaty rumbles—it all blended into a chorus of menace.

They pressed against the walls, tracking the sounds with tense bodies, until—bang!—the wall shook. Then again, from several directions at once. The creatures were probing the structure, searching for a weakness.

Father’s eyes flicked toward the door, anxiety written across her face. Night Raid was essentially a game of “guard the door.” Only one door could be built, and if it fell, survival became near impossible. Father glanced around at the others and whispered.

“Better draw their aggro before too many gather.”

Everyone nodded. Father exchanged a look with Holanghee, and the two of them crouched low, slipping out through the opposite window.

Moments later, shouting rang out as the two sprinted outside. The monsters circling the house immediately shifted, chasing after the noise. The three who remained inside finally allowed themselves a small breath of relief and peered out the window.

By the faint torchlight spilling from inside, they confirmed that nothing lingered nearby.

Through the long night, the monsters returned again and again, but thanks to their rotation of drawing aggro, they survived until morning without incident.

When dawn broke, the creatures prowling outside gradually faded away. The group stretched stiff bodies, then stepped out of the house to begin preparing for the second night.

From the second night onward, the monsters could no longer be distracted by mere noise. After their reconnaissance on the first night, they would launch full-scale assaults starting on the second. That was why players had to fortify their defenses before then.

One of the most important preparations was reinforcing the door and walls. Walls could be strengthened by crafting stone blocks from gathered rock, or by making bricks from mud dug up at the bottoms of rivers and ponds. But the iron needed to reinforce doors only dropped—at a very low rate—from natural caves or abandoned mines.

Because of that, players these days preferred to stockpile wood instead and simply repair their doors nonstop through the night rather than chase rare iron.

They divided up the work. Food wasn’t split by task—whoever found some would just collect it. Theo went for mud, Blaine for stone, while Father, Holanghee, and Noquia focused on gathering the largest supply they needed: wood.

The three wood-gatherers headed for the forest. Blaine made for a rocky hill nearby, while Theo walked along the river.

He followed the riverbanks, searching for a shallow spot. Working in deep water wasn’t efficient—his breath gauge would force him to surface too often.

But no matter how far he went, the river never seemed to shallow out. Growing impatient, Theo frowned at the endlessly flowing water, then finally gave up and turned back, heading toward the rocky hill where Blaine was working.

“Blaine!”

Blaine jerked upright from his pickaxing, startled. Blinking like he couldn’t believe his eyes, he saw Theo approaching, and his face lit up. He tossed aside his pickaxe and rushed over.

“Hyung!”

“Have you collected much?”

“Yes! But what about you, hyung? I thought you went to the river.”

“There weren’t any shallow spots. Bricks are tougher than stone blocks, sure, but it’d waste too much time. Mining stone’s better for now.”

Blaine nodded eagerly, his face flushed with excitement.

Theo joined him in chipping at the rocks. As their inventories filled, Theo thought it might be time to haul a load back to camp. On the way, maybe they’d run into animals—he could use the leather for a bag upgrade.

Just as their packs were nearly full, they stumbled across something unexpected. Embedded in the stone was a dark lump. Coal.

“Oh? Looks like there’s coal here too.”

“Really?”

Blaine lifted his head, eyes wide. Theo nodded and scanned the area. Spotting loose stones scattered around, his eyes gleamed.

“Perfect. Let’s set up a furnace right here and smelt the rocks as we mine. Four stones make one block, so it’ll save a ton of inventory space.”

Blaine stared at him like the thought had never occurred to him, then scrambled to gather stones. Together, they built a furnace, mined the coal, and started smelting the rocks.

Just as Theo had said, smelting the stones as they mined made their inventories far easier to manage. They didn’t need to waste time hauling loads back and forth nearly as often.

By the time they realized it, their packs were full again. Deciding to return home, Theo and Blaine climbed down the rocky hill. Even from a distance, they could see the house had changed.

When they hurried closer, Father was busy reinforcing the outer walls with stone. She noticed them approaching and waved.

“Back already?”

At Theo’s question, Father gave a little shrug.

“I came back early since I needed to smelt stone into blocks. Didn’t expect you’d already have some ready.”

“There was coal, so we set up a furnace right there and smelted while mining.”

“Smart move. But what about bricks?”

“I couldn’t find a shallow spot in the river. So I just mined stone.”

“Good call.”

Theo and Blaine laid down their stone blocks. Father eyed the pile, gauging the amount, then nodded in satisfaction.

“This should be plenty. We’ll reinforce the outer wall and start building a second floor. Go fetch more wood.”

“A second floor too?”

“Thanks to you two, we’ve got time to spare. And the more layers, the better the fortress.”

“Got it.”

Theo nodded. Together with Blaine, he headed for the forest again. From behind them, Father called out cheerfully, “I’ll leave it to you~!”

But when they reached the nearest forest, Theo sighed. There wasn’t a single tree left standing—only rows of stumps. Clearly, the other three had already cleaned it out.

“This place won’t do.”

“Yeah…”

They quickly moved on in search of another area. Along the way, they came across a large cave. Since light spilled faintly through the far end, it looked like a tunnel passing straight through the mountain. Without hesitation, they stepped inside.

Halfway through, they spotted something unusual: a small iron cage with a round, red object sealed inside.

“What’s this?”

Theo tried to take it out, but it wouldn’t budge. The whole cage itself could be carried, but not the object inside. Holding the cage awkwardly, Theo frowned. Blaine spoke up.

“Could it be a treasure?”

“Treasure?!”

“Yes, Survival Dungeons sometimes drop bonus treasures with extra experience, though the odds are low.”

“Whoa… is this really one? This is my first time seeing one.”

“Mine too.”

“Huh? Yours too?”

“Yes.”

Blaine’s words didn’t sound like a lie. His eyes stayed glued to the cage in Theo’s hands, wonder written across his face.

“Crazy. First time here and we get this lucky.”

“I haven’t had many chances to come to Survival Dungeons.”

“Oh? Really?”

“Yes. I guess I got lucky since I came with you, hyung.”