The People Of Baengnyeong Forest (13)

The continued push through Basement Level 2 went smoothly. The monsters they encountered stayed within the C- and B-rank range, and the traps were about the same level as the one Hyeonseong had spotted on the ceiling earlier.

Just like before, every time they killed a B-rank ghost, a blood-jade fragment dropped. People still felt uneasy about it, but they diligently picked up each fragment and kept them gathered.

Either way, it was an item that might become the clue that finally let them finish the dungeon. They couldn’t just throw it away.

‘And it’s still quiet behind us—for now.’

Despite the worry she’d had when they first came down to Basement Level 2, not a single monster attacked them from the rear.

Of course, that didn’t mean they could relax completely. There was no way to know if her fear had simply been unfounded, or if it just wasn’t “time” for the dungeon to spring that on them yet.

“Let’s rest for a moment before we go down.”

When the door leading to Basement Level 3 appeared, Ivan said so. Just like when they entered Basement Level 2, they decided to take a breather.

‘And again, there really wasn’t a good moment to pull those out, was there?’

Once more, Hyeonseong checked the items she’d collected. The gemstones and coin items still had no obvious use.

‘If it’s not for trading… the only thing I can think of is, like… funeral money for ghosts to vent their grudges.’

That was as far as her imagination got. In real hunting tactics, you could sometimes lure monsters by throwing something they’d take special interest in.

‘If they were people who lived getting bled dry by that lord, they might react to money. Maybe I should test it later.’

They were the kind of items that made her skin crawl the longer she held onto them. If there was any way to use them, it would be better to spend them and be rid of them.

“Let’s move down.”

After a short while, Ivan rose and spoke. Once they’d caught their breath, the group stood and went down. They opened the door the same way as before and entered Basement Level 3.

‘The door didn’t close again.’

As the last one to step into Basement Level 3, Hyeonseong looked back. Again, the door remained open.

“It’s annoying how much it bothers me when it’s actually open.”

Anna muttered irritably as she glanced back.

“I’d rather something show up already. At least then we’d know for sure something’s coming and prepare for it.”

“And then something really shows up.”

“Just go in first.”

They couldn’t keep worrying endlessly about something that hadn’t happened yet. For now, they pushed forward.

“Uh—watch out!”

After only a few steps, Pablo shouted.

“That’s a trap section.”

Pablo pointed straight ahead. At a glance, it looked like an ordinary prison corridor.

“It’s built so attacks fly in from both sides. Rather than blocking—”

Grrr…

Dakadakadakadak

He was still explaining when monsters surged from beyond the trap zone.

‘Again, they’re all low-grade undead, but…’

Hyeonseong quickly checked their info. Compared to Basement Level 2, the ratio of B-ranks was much higher. It was almost the opposite now—mostly B-ranks, with the occasional C-rank mixed in.

‘So the deeper we go, the average monster level rises. Then from Floor 4, do A-ranks start showing up?’

Maybe even from this floor. Even if not immediately, there was no guarantee what would happen deeper inside.

“What do we do? You said that side’s trapped.”

“If it’s a trap, won’t those guys die when they step on it?”

A few people briefly clung to that hope.

Uuuuh…

Zombies and skeletons drew closer, groaning grotesquely. They stepped into the trap area Pablo had indicated.

But unlike what everyone had hoped, the trap didn’t activate. The monsters’ moans continued, but there was no sound of mechanisms engaging.

“Tch!”

“Looks like it only reacts to living people.”

“Don’t push too far forward—!”

“Wait.”

Hyeonseong called out and turned to Pablo.

“What’s the activation condition?”

Hyeonseong asked.

“The basic trigger is stepping into it, but…”

“Other than that?”

“Over there and over there!”

Pablo quickly pointed to both walls. There seemed to be hidden buttons there.

“Do you only need to press one? Or both?”

Hyeonseong pulled out two throwing spears she’d collected upstairs.

“Both! You don’t have to press them simultaneously—”

“So it’s fine as long as both get pressed?”

Hyeonseong immediately threw one spear at the first wall.

Dalk

With a click, a flood of arrows fired from the wall where the button had been pressed.

Then she threw a spear at the opposite wall. Another click—and another volley of arrows fired.

Uuuurgh…

Some of the zombies and skeletons crossing the trap section stopped in place to block the raining arrows.

“Looks like there are more that just ignore it and keep coming!”

“Still, if they took a few hits, they’ll be weakened.”

“If nothing else, the ones hit in the joints are definitely compromised.”

“The ghosts are untouched, so watch them!”

The party shifted into combat stance. The fight began the moment a streak of white light shot toward the ghosts that had crossed the trap zone first.

‘Ghosts really took zero damage.’

With a simple physical trap like this, ghosts weren’t harmed at all. They still moved quickly, trying to slip into the formation.

But it wasn’t some overwhelming threat. They’d expected it, and the ghosts themselves were still the same B-rank level they’d been dealing with upstairs.

‘The corporeal ones definitely got affected, though.’

The undead with bodies had been weakened across the board—limbs damaged, joints impaired, movement disrupted.

“Hah!”

“Careful!”

Uuu…

“Duck!”

Rapid attacks continued against the monsters in front. With the trap effectively “cleared,” the raid team had nothing else to worry about.

Each flash of white light and each burst of flame visibly thinned the enemy numbers.

“And that’s… it!”

When the last remaining zombie fell, the first battle on Basement Level 3 ended.

“So far, it doesn’t feel that different from the upper floors.”

People lowered their weapons as they spoke.

“It is different. We ran into a fully functional trap right away.”

“That’s true. Before, traps only showed up after we’d gone deeper.”

“If it stayed exactly the same, that’d be worse. It’d mean it was trying to lull us into complacency.”

“Come on, that’s a bit much.”

“Either way, don’t let your guard down. Maybe it’s just in my head, but the ghosts rushing us felt more aggressive than before.”

Someone brought up the ghosts, and the briefly lightened mood sank again.

“That’s definitely true. The level itself wasn’t much different, but… it felt more desperate.”

‘That’s right.’

Hyeonseong agreed. The ghosts were still B-rank, but they moved differently than the ones above.

‘Desperate… or maybe more consumed by hatred.’

She still didn’t know why. She didn’t even know why the ghosts kept trying to latch onto living people in the first place.

“We’ll only find out if we go deeper.”

Someone else said it plainly. There was no way to solve it here. They’d need to see more ghosts to learn anything.

“Then let’s move.”

They continued down the corridor. Not long after, they reached a fork—unlike Basement Level 1 and 2, which had been straight paths.

“So Floors 1 and 2 were ‘practice,’ is that it?”

The group glared at the fork with annoyed expressions.

“What do you think? Can you find the right path at a glance?”

Someone asked Pablo. Pablo shook his head.

“Not from here. Right now, Yana or Danilo would be better than me.”

After a short wait, a spirit returned from the right path first—Yana’s spirit bird.

“It says the right path is a dead end. But…”

“Monsters?”

Someone asked immediately as Yana trailed off. Yana nodded.

“So even if we know it’s blocked, we still have to go.”

“What an annoying rule. A dungeon where you can’t leave unless you kill every single monster…”

A few people voiced their complaints.

“So we still have to check the right path first, then come back?”

“Then we should call back the spirit we sent left—”

“Quiet.”

In the middle of the chatter, Milena spoke sharply. At her silencing gesture, everyone shut their mouths.

“…Looks like we have a visitor from behind.”

Milena said, turning around. Hyeonseong whipped her gaze back as well.

‘It really spawned something new?’

It wasn’t common, but it wasn’t impossible for monsters to respawn in an area that had already been cleared.

When it did happen, it was usually in dungeons dominated by undead or machine-type monsters.

Those two types shared one key trait: compared to other species, they were far more capable of summoning new units—or reviving the dead.

‘If there’s a leader unit or a production facility, it happens sometimes. But right now….’

Staring into the empty corridor, Hyeonseong tried to recall if there had been any “source” for regeneration.

‘…If they’re ghosts, then they could regenerate even without something like a lich. If there’s even scraps left, they can recover—or clump together and revive.’

Uuu…

Hh-hhk…

Faint ghostly sobs drifted in from down the corridor. The ghosts were close enough now that even Hyeonseong’s dull senses could register them.

“…We should deal with that first before going in.”

As the ghosts approached, the group re-prepared for battle. They flipped their formation and readied their skills.

‘Yep. Those are monsters.’

When the ghosts were close enough to see clearly, Hyeonseong checked their info first. C-ranks and B-ranks mixed together.

“Hah!”

As in the earlier fights, Ivan charged first.

The battle ended quickly. It couldn’t have gone any other way—the ghosts that came this time were lower on average and few in number.

“Even this feels like they’re sending practice drills at us. It’s annoying.”

“But anyway, it means the open doors really were a warning that monsters could keep coming from behind.”

People said, glaring at the space where the ghosts had vanished.

“But if it’s like this, isn’t killing every monster impossible? If new ones keep being born every time we kill them, it’ll never end.”

Someone said with a deep frown.

“Don’t worry. There’s always a way to solve that.”

Seo-jin spoke in a calming tone.

“One of two things. Either we remove whatever is causing monsters to keep being born, then deal with what remains—”

“—or we find a way to wipe out every monster in the dungeon in one sweep.”

“Hm. Like finding and killing the lich that controls undead?”

“Then that means…”

People turned their gaze back to the fork, as if imagining a lich waiting deeper in the dungeon.

‘Well… it’s not impossible.’

The ghosts that just appeared looked like they’d regenerated naturally to Hyeonseong.

But that didn’t prove the dungeon boss wasn’t a lich.

‘If outlying areas can “reform from scraps,” then nearer the boss, the boss could directly summon higher-rank monsters.’

They wouldn’t know which was true until they reached the end.

“Wait—if that’s the case, do we even need to go to the dead-end right path?”

Someone raised a new doubt.

“Huh… does it work out that way?”

“Yeah. If monsters can reappear behind us, then it means there’s something that enables respawning…”

“Oh, right. If we remove that thing, then we might clear out the monsters in the dungeon too?”

Because it was an appealing idea, many people latched onto it. But not everyone agreed.

“But there’s no guarantee that removing the source will make monsters that already spawned disappear, is there?”

Another person countered.

“That’s true. The summoner and the summoned are often separate entities.”

Several people nodded.

“Even so, I think it’s better to ignore the monsters in the dead-end for now and keep moving forward.”

Hyeonseong spoke up.

“Either way, the fact that something is enabling respawns is real. So shouldn’t we find and deal with that first?”

“Yeah. And if any are still left after that, we can deal with them then.”

The conclusion quickly settled on Hyeonseong’s suggestion. Given the situation and constraints, it was the most reasonable plan.

“Then we go left, like originally planned.”

Ivan said as they rebuilt their formation. Once everything was set, the party resumed their advance.