The Deep Swamp Bog (2)

Pajijik!

The unique magic within the dungeon fluctuated.

My cochlea buzzed, and I felt a slight dizziness hit me.

Soon, the vast magic that filled my entire body restored all symptoms.

While I was slowly catching my breath, Meowi, who was quickly surveying the surroundings, muttered softly.

“So this is the famous <The Deep Swamp Bog>.”

As I patted her head, I thought about this place.

<The Swamp of Deep Quagmire>.
A dungeon in the Mount Gwanak¹ field.

Mount Gwanak itself was a place where quite a variety of monsters gather, so hunters from D to B grade often come here to hunt.

The [Transparent Tail Monkey] I once caught, of course, and various subspecies of [Goblins] and [Gnolls] exist here.

Here, even [Orcs] that frequently drop equipment appear quite often, attracting many hunters to gather for the byproducts.

And now, this place was a dungeon located at the entrance, not even at the popular peak of Mount Gwanak.

For hunters, [Dungeons] were common knowledge to be more valuable than [Fields].

There could be Rare bosses appearing as jackpots.

Apart from the Trials, big hits like [Double Dungeons] where new dungeons emerge inside, could happen, making many target this place.

In short, this place was always a popular spot bustling with hunters.

“…That’s why I don’t understand.”

Mumbling from Moon Bora.
I also agreed with her words.

Why on earth would they close such a popular dungeon?

I asked Peng Jin-ah about this part, but I couldn’t get a useful answer.

―I understand your confusion. I’m sorry, Cadet Yu Seha. I also heard it from the Chairman. And the Chairman is just following the guidelines from the Association, or more precisely, from the government, so she doesn’t know the detailed reasons for it either.

It was an order that didn’t make sense when thought of logically.
However, whether we liked it or not, we were currently half trainees and half soldiers during the <Mandatory Training>.

‘…As long as we are soldiers…’

If they ordered from above, we had no choice but to follow.

“Yu Seha!”
“Hmm?”

While I was lost in thought, Ju Na-young, who had come in with me, was already standing in front of me.

With a broad smile, she held out her fist, saying, “Okay!”
Seeing that, I also smiled and gave her a fist bump.

“Do not let your guard down just because we won! Because we are going to turn the tables this time!”
“Come in tight. I will fight you with all my might.”

We both nodded to each other and turned away.

There were a total of five regular routes here, <Deep Swamp Bog>.

Each person chooses one by one and proceeds separately.

“Seha.”
“Mister Yu Seha.”
“…Yeah!”

Right away…

“Start.”

Gasp!
Gasp! Gasp!

The sound of rough breathing echoed.
I, Meowi and Moon Bora.
The three of us were moving ahead as if running.

Just a few weeks ago, maintaining this pace would have been impossible for us.

The first reason this was possible was because my basic physical strength had increased thanks to the intense training I was doing.

‘…And the second one.’

This was because the two abilities that increased movement speed interlocked and supported each other like well-oiled gears.

As expected, a skill that increases movement speed.
Just having it was worth its weight in gold.

Of course, I could increase the output here and run faster, but then Moon Bora wouldn’t be able to keep up, so I maintained it at a moderate level.

“Mister Seha.”
“Yeah?”

While advancing, Moon Bora, who was keeping up well without falling behind, spoke up.

She also seemed to have gained enough stamina from her recent training to be able to talk while running.

“As you might know, the victory condition here is to be the first to defeat the boss and close it.”

“In other words, it’s a time attack, right?”

“That’s correct.”

<The Deep Swamp Bog> was basically a mid-lower tier C-rank dungeon.

The appearing monsters included ‘Giant Mosquito’, ‘Swamp Caiman’, and so on.

There were numerous aquatic monsters that one might expect to see in jungle areas commonly thought of as swamps.

Here, it was famous for being incredibly profitable, to the point where it was hard to believe it was a C-rank dungeon.

The density of monsters was high, resulting in a large number.
The first reason was that the total amount of magic stones was high, and the value of by-products was decent.

The second reason was that it was a dungeon where a [Mid-boss] appeared unconditionally.

“Meow, meow, meow. I heard the mid-boss is a giant snake.”

“That’s right.”

The mid-boss was the [Granpell Anaconda].
As a boss monster of the [Snake] type, it boasted a C-rank.
It had an extremely slow speed but possessed high durability and strong physical strength.
In terms of position, it was close to a tank dealer.

Thus, in other words…

“It takes a long time to catch it.”
“Yes, as you mentioned, the team facing the <Granpell Anaconda> will most likely lose.”

Conversely, the team that does not encounter it could pass the mid-boss to the opponent and head straight to the dungeon boss, giving them a significant advantage.

This part honestly had to be left to luck.

You couldn’t avoid it with [Unprecedented Sense].

“…Seha!”

That was the moment.
A word from Meowi, who was running ahead, changed the atmosphere.

Her soft ears perked up, warning that something was approaching.

I also sensed something reddish swiftly approaching this place beyond the thick trees.

“Can you tell what kind of enemy it is?”
“Just a moment…”

Moon Bora asked, knowing that I had a considerably high level of [Detection] ability.

I closed my eyes and focused on the shapes and features of the creatures.

Elongated with a distinctively unpleasant appearance.

The rough flapping sound and the large size—at least as big as an adult’s torso.

They were unmistakably those creatures.

“[Giant Mosquitoes]. The number is probably… around five?”
“At least they seem manageable.”

Weeeeng!

Before she could even finish her words, an irritating sound spread.

A dark reddish body about the size of an adult’s thigh.
With a thick blood pouch hanging.
It was a typical mosquito shape, just enlarged.

‘As expected, there are five of them.’

The creatures, flying with a Rare skill called [Swift Flight], soon stretched their elongated bodies and aimed their proboscises this way.

The proboscises glistened like black, shiny spearheads.
At their tips, greenish magic began to condense and gather.
And then, swoosh! Like a thrown spear, they flew towards us.

The main tactic of the [Giant Mosquitoes], and in fact, their only means of attack.
An Uncommon grade attack skill.
It was [Black Needle Scatter].

“Moon Bora!”
“I know, even if you don’t say it.”

Moon Bora had already been preparing her magic long before I spoke.

She aimed her wand gun, which she pulled out from her chest, not at the Giant Mosquitoes but at the ground.

“[Ice Wall]!”

Rumble!

As she shouted, the moisture in the air froze, and a huge ice wall spread out.

The Giant Mosquitoes that were flying towards us flinched, but it was already too late.

Crash!

The Giant Mosquitoes stuck their snouts into the unfortunate ice wall.
Soon, they panicked as their snouts got stuck and flapped their wings.
Their snouts had frozen, rendering them completely immobile.

“[Ice Hand]!”

Moon Bora followed up with additional casting.
The ice barrier, which solidly blocked the attack of the giant mosquito, twisted and transformed as if it were the grip of an ice giant.

It was the derived skill, [Ice Hand], from the Hero grade [Frozen Tundra].

Although it had the disadvantage of having a short range despite its high power, it was linked to a trap that drew enemies in and disposed of them.

Bang!

The Ice Giant’s hand literally crushed five Giant Mosquitoes.

‘As expected…’

Mosquitoes were best killed by smashing them.

“Bora bora, well done!”
“…Ha, it’s not Bora bora!”

Thanks to Moon Bora, it didn’t take much time, and the enemies were cleanly taken care of.

“Let’s keep going!”
“Okay!”
“Yes.”

We hurriedly ran for about 20 minutes.
I raised my hand like lightning at the tingling sensation.

“Stop.”

The world revealed through [Unprecedented Sense] was telling me.
There were quite a few unavoidable crises ahead.

“…Sniff, sniff, Seha. It seems like a swamp.”

Listening to Meowi’s words as she sniffed, I cut through the obstructing bush with a knife.

The revealed landscape was, as she said, a wide swamp.

On the surface, it appeared quiet, but with [Unprecedented Sense] constantly active, I could sense quite a few creatures writhing inside it.

“I’ll step forward.”

With those words, Moon Bora stepped ahead.

Perhaps intending to freeze the entire swamp, the blue glow of her magic began to intensify.

I raised my hand to stop her.

“Stop, Moon Bora. This isn’t just an ordinary swamp; it’s imbued with the monsters’ magic. It won’t freeze easily, and it will consume a lot of your power.”

“…Then what? Crossing as is would be suicidal.”

Of course, it was dangerous.

“Quickly, let’s deal with them and move on.”
“…It will take quite a while…”

It was okay.
Because someone who would perform brilliantly here was right next to me.

I quickly glanced at our cute Meowi.

Then, as if it had been waiting, Meowi clenched her fists with a ‘Meow.’

Now was the time for her to step forward.

“Meowi, please.”
“Okay!”

Moon Bora tilted her head at that action.

“…What?”

Ah, come to think of it, Moon Bora didn’t know that Meowi had the [Provocative Roar] skill, right?
Since it had come to this, we should surprise her.

“Just watch.”
“…?”

Soon, Meowi stepped forward.
Holding the shield forward, she advanced cautiously, step by step.
How far had she walked?

Judging that she was within range, the creatures hiding in the swamp began to wriggle.

Meowi also quickly assessed the situation using [Cat’s Instinct].

“…Seha, they’re coming! I’ll use it at the last possible moment!”
“I’ll leave it to your judgment!”

Bubbling.

Ten seconds later.
From the sticky swamp emerged crocodiles the size of an adult man’s thigh.

At first glance, they looked like ordinary crocodiles, but the distinct violent green magic proved they were monsters.

[Swamp Caiman].
These were D-rank creatures, not particularly strong.
However, their tendency to always form groups made them dangerous enough to bite you to death if you were not careful.

And they weren’t the only ones.

Next to the Caiman, snakes the size of a human forearm, in camouflage colors, emerged.

Strangely, their bodies were green, but their heads were purple.

[Venomous Neiki], like the Caiman, were D-rank monsters.
Their attack power wasn’t even E-rank, but as their name suggested, they were poisonous.
Possessing the derivative skill [Venom], they were extremely troublesome once poisoned.

‘…A total of 36.’

Though they were D-rank, it was not a small number.
As they approached scattered, it wasn’t easy to concentrate firepower.

But it was okay.

Calmly gauging the distance to the slowly approaching enemies, Meowi raised her shield high as if now were the moment.

Bang!

With a powerful voice, she slammed down her shield.
Matching her cry, the cute-looking cat imbued with magic let out a ‘Meow!’

“Meowww! [Provocative Roar]!!!”