S-Rank Corrosion Dungeon (3)

“Life really is beautiful.”

From the elongated snout that could have belonged to either an elephant or an anteater, and the metallic-looking hide, she had been able to guess to some extent. Still, confirming the information directly made her head hurt.

A monster that grew stronger by devouring metal, showing up in a metalworking blacksmith shop. A thoroughly satisfied smile naturally spread across Hyeonseong’s face.

‘Makes me want to quit everything.’

Even now, the Bulgasari was chewing up the metal inside the workshop and bulking up.

As if trying to stop it somehow, the blacksmiths’ craftsmen were clearing away materials and finished products, or attacking the Bulgasari with weapons that seemed to be in-progress crafts.

But it was largely useless resistance. The craftsmen lacked combat techniques capable of dealing meaningful damage, and the Bulgasari was devouring metal faster than they could move it.

‘First, I need to stop it from getting bigger.’

Having assessed the situation in an instant, Hyeonseong set several new compartments inside the Infinite Corridor.

While adjusting her skill settings, she moved further into the workshop. At the sound of someone running in, the craftsmen startled and turned around.

“Throw all of that over here!”

As Hyeonseong opened a door to the Infinite Corridor in midair, she shouted to the craftsmen. Someone who recognized Hyeonseong’s face immediately tossed the unfinished sword blade they were holding into the Infinite Corridor without hesitation. Seeing that, the other craftsmen did the same, throwing metal items toward the open doorway.

Once the craftsmen had thrown in everything they could in the moment, Hyeonseong shifted the entrance’s position. Her next target was the pile of iron ingots the Bulgasari was grabbing and eating at random.

‘Not sure if this’ll work. Well, if it doesn’t, I can just ask for permission, I guess.’

The moment she opened the entrance, she issued a command in her head to pull the iron ingots in. One by one, starting with the ingots the Bulgasari was reaching for, they were dragged into the Infinite Corridor’s opening.

‘Good. Looks like when I told them to throw things in earlier, the ownership setting changed unconsciously.’

An entire pile of iron ingots stacked in the workshop vanished into the Infinite Corridor in an instant.

When its meal disappeared right in front of it, the Bulgasari looked around. It was searching for other metal to use as food.

‘Doesn’t look like it intends to attack yet.’

Luckily, the way it stayed focused on eating meant she didn’t have to worry about it attacking immediately.

Without stopping, Hyeonseong kept relocating the Infinite Corridor’s entrance and swallowed up every metal object in the workshop. She devoured the items the Bulgasari tried to reach for first, preventing it from bulking up further.

She’d wondered if stealing only the metal it wanted to eat would tip it off and make it angry, but it still showed no such signs.

In any case, no one here could deal it meaningful damage. It seemed like the monster had realized that long ago and was concentrating solely on feasting.

‘But what about things like anvils?’

After swallowing up the materials and products, fixed metal equipment like anvils remained. She needed to check whether they could be detached first.

“Can those be detached?”

Hyeonseong asked the craftsmen who had clustered behind her.

“S-Some can, and some can’t…….”

“Detach the ones you can right now. That thing’s running out of food and it’s going after the equipment now.”

With the stockpiled metal gone, the Bulgasari now reached for an anvil. It had already torn one free from the floor and was chewing it up.

Seeing that, the craftsmen hurriedly began detaching equipment that could be removed. From behind Hyeonseong, it was obvious they didn’t want to leave.

But they had no choice. They couldn’t let the blacksmith shop’s livelihood get wrecked any further.

‘Right now it’s so absorbed in eating that it isn’t paying attention to us, but…….’

Hyeonseong frowned. The monster didn’t attack first unless the craftsmen shoved weapons at it.

Even when they did, it merely swished its tail as if batting away insects. A craftsman who’d mustered the courage to thrust a half-finished spear got nudged aside with a casual tail tap, and the Bulgasari went right back to taking a bite out of the anvil.

The craftsman who got hit rolled across the floor but didn’t die. Still, judging by how they writhed in pain, they seemed to have suffered serious internal injuries. Other craftsmen rushed to support the fallen man.

‘It’s focused on getting bigger. But…… what happens once we clear out even the equipment?’

While typing a message to send her siblings again on the hunter terminal, Hyeonseong swept the detached metal equipment into the Infinite Corridor.

With the equipment being removed one by one, the only metal left that the monster could eat was exposed piping outside.

‘If it tears that up, it won’t end well.’

Damage caused by corrosion would be restored when the dungeon was cleared—but not what had ended up inside a monster’s belly. What got restored was only the parts that were smashed and ruptured.

‘If it tears it up wrong, the moment the corrosion clears it’ll go boom… or open a superheated hell.’

So she needed to pick a fight before it finished devouring the anvil it was holding, or at the very least before it took interest in the pipes.

‘I need to grab its attention somehow so it can’t keep eating…….’

As she deliberated, the Constellations started sending messages. Since Hyeonseong was keeping her mouth shut and thinking only in her head, they seemed to be getting bored.

‘Ha…….’

She was already busy enough trying to figure out how to provoke the Bulgasari, and now she had to cater to those Constellation bastards too. She barely managed to swallow the sigh that almost slipped out.

“Yes, yes. I confiscated its buffet, so now I’m planning to teach it some table manners.”

“Huh?”

A craftsman beside her asked in a bewildered voice, clearly reacting to what Hyeonseong said for the Constellations’ benefit.

“What could you possibly do, of all people…….”

An Awakened who’d seemed annoyed with Hyeonseong from earlier sniped loudly, making sure everyone heard.

“Oh, yeah? Then do you have a plan?”

Hyeonseong shot back in a mocking tone. When she turned toward the voice, she saw that the other two Awakened customers had also come over.

“W-Well…….”

Flustered by the question being thrown back at him, the Awakened stammered.

“F-Fine! We could just burn it! If it’s a Bulgasari, the weakness is obvious!”

He raised his voice and pointed at the Bulgasari.

It was the textbook solution. In related legends, there were plenty of stories where it was driven off by fire, and records showed that most Bulgasari that appeared as monsters had traits that made them weak to fire.

“What a great answer. So you can do that ‘burning’ yourself, right?”

“That’s…….”

The Awakened’s eyes shifted to the other two Awakened customers. It seemed neither had fire-element skills, or only very weak ones.

“We don’t.”

“I’m not a combat job…….”

Unfortunately, both were far from fire. One wasn’t even combat-type.

‘Tch. What a waste.’

Hyeonseong couldn’t help feeling disappointed—she’d been secretly hoping at least one of them could use fire.

“……Then what, you’ve got a plan?”

“I was trying to think of one when you started picking a pointless fight.”

Hyeonseong didn’t bother hiding her irritation as she dug at her ear.

‘I can’t exactly tell them to shut up.’

Forcing a smile, Hyeonseong opened her mouth.

“Oh wow, yeah, that wasn’t a very pretty sight, was it? Thanks for the helpful feedback, Golden Apple, Seed of Discord.”

Turning her eyes back to the Bulgasari, she spoke as if addressing the Constellations.

‘……Ignore those idiots for now.’

She’d already confirmed several times that ‘Hands Faster Than Eyes’ wasn’t some high-ranking Constellation. What mattered was finding a way to deal meaningful damage to the Bulgasari.

‘First, I need to confirm whether fire really works.’

Bulgasari were generally weak to fire. But sometimes there were individuals that, conversely, had an elemental advantage against fire.

That happened when they drew from exceptional legends, or originated from legends in other worlds, or were born from a twisted motif.

‘The best fire I can get right now would be…….’

Hyeonseong’s eyes went to the work furnace in the workshop. A furnace where fire was stoked to melt metal.

‘But it doesn’t look easy to use it right now.’

Next, her gaze shifted behind her. The craftsmen all wore confused or frightened expressions.

Only one craftsman—someone who looked like the owner of the blacksmith shop, or the foreman—seemed relatively calm.

‘I need to settle the panic a bit before I can operate that thing.’

Hyeonseong opened the item list inside the Infinite Corridor.

“It’s almost done eating everything—shouldn’t we do something now?”

Just as she was about to scan the list, one of the Awakened customers spoke in a somewhat anxious voice. It was the one who’d said they didn’t have fire abilities.

“Your name and ability?”

Hyeonseong asked while scanning the item list.

“Shin Jeongha. I mainly use a bow…….”

The Awakened introduced as Shin Jeongha answered awkwardly.

“Would it be rude to ask your rank?”

“B. Compared to that monster…….”

“You’re fine. You brought your weapon, right?”

Generally, even C-rank was considered a decent, usable talent. B-rank was more than enough to be called capable.

“I always carry my weapon.”

“Good. Get it out and be ready. And…… the one who said they’re non-combat type?”

“Huh? Me?”

The Awakened flinched at being singled out.

“Yes. Being non-combat doesn’t mean you’re forbidden from fighting, does it?”

Right now, even one more Awakened mattered. Even if their trait wasn’t combat, she had to find something usable within the skills they did have.

“W-Well, that’s true, but…….”

“Then quickly tell me your rank and trait. You see what it’s holding, right?”

Hyeonseong pointed at the Bulgasari’s hand. The anvil it had been tearing apart was down to just a small chunk at the edge—no longer something you could even call an anvil.

“First, we need to draw its attention. Mr. Shin Jeongha!”

Hyeonseong called Shin Jeongha loudly.

“Shoot an arrow at its eyes, or between its scales.”

Even for a monster covered in steel scales, the gaps between scales, the eyeballs, and the inside of the mouth were usually weak points.

She was uneasy because it was S-rank, but she couldn’t exactly attack elsewhere. For now, she needed to test whether its weak points were the usual kind.

“Got it!”

At Hyeonseong’s request, Shin Jeongha drew the bowstring toward the Bulgasari. An arrow flew at the monster as it crunched on the remaining metal.

Pak!

The arrow lodged in a gap between the Bulgasari’s scales.

From the sound, it felt quite tough. But it didn’t make a metallic clang.

‘That was a basic shot without a reinforcement skill. Which means…… under the scales, it isn’t solid metal at least.’

That much was good news.

“There’s barely any reaction!”

But ordinary people didn’t seem to grasp what that meant. One craftsman spoke in a worried voice.

“Either way, now we know arrows can stick. Let’s start probing for real.”

After asking Shin Jeongha to attack with skill-applied arrows, Hyeonseong opened the Infinite Corridor’s item list.

Checking the compartment list she’d created to store skill cards separately, Hyeonseong immediately pulled out a Wind Arrow card. It was a leftover card from the last evolved dungeon.

Wind-element attacks tended to create stronger airflow when fired compared to other elements. That was why Hyeonseong needed to pay attention to the angle so she wouldn’t interfere with Shin Jeongha’s shots when firing wind arrows.

‘I need to gather other elements too, somehow.’

Wind wasn’t a particularly good element against a Bulgasari. But among the mid-tier ranged attack skills she had, there was almost nothing usable right now.

‘Most of Hyeonyeong’s useful skills are A-rank or higher.’

To provoke something, you could usually do it just by landing repeated C-rank attacks. There was no need to waste A-rank skills on mere taunting.

Five arrows, five wind arrows. That was the number of hits needed to draw the Bulgasari’s attention. When they fired a rapid series of attacks at the gaps between its scales, the Bulgasari finally turned its head.

‘Good, then……!’

The moment it turned, Hyeonseong took out an EX-rank Mana Pierce card.

“Keep it from turning its head away!”

Hyeonseong yelled to Shin Jeongha as she consumed all remaining uses on the Wind Arrow card and summoned wind arrows. With an item-destruction message, the Wind Arrow card vanished from her hand.

As soon as Shin Jeongha nocked an arrow, the pre-cast wind arrows shot in unison toward the Bulgasari.

The Bulgasari raised its hand and swatted several wind arrows away. It couldn’t knock them all aside, and a few managed to pierce gaps in its torso.

Pak!

Swae-aek—!

The instant the wind arrows hit, seven arrows were fired in succession. Only one was a physical arrow; the rest were arrows formed from mana.

Seeing that the mana arrows were white and colorless, it seemed Shin Jeongha was using attribute-less aura among his aura types.

As the seven arrows flew, the Bulgasari again raised its hand. It looked like it intended to swat them away. At that timing, Hyeonseong thrust her hand forward, gripping the EX-rank Mana Pierce card.

‘Even if it’s hiding some reinforcement skill, this should make it meaningless.’

The card’s aim was exactly the Bulgasari’s left eye. The moment the Bulgasari brought its hand down toward the arrows, Hyeonseong consumed 1 use and activated Mana Pierce.

KWAANG—!

At the instant the skill activated, a deafening sound filled the workshop. Hyeonseong staggered and was shoved backward, and the Bulgasari was also driven back. The source of the racket was the Bulgasari’s body slamming into the workshop wall.

Blood burst from its left eye.