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“That one’s A-rank!”
The person who checked first shouted. The information Ye Hyeonseong saw also displayed it as A-rank.
Dakdakdakdakdakdak
“Ah, yes—Lord ‘Human Specimen of the Laboratory’! Thank you ever so much for telling us!”
They could tell it was an insult even without the translation, but they could not completely ignore a Constellation that clearly wanted attention.
Kkadeudeudeuk
Next, with a bizarre noise, a dark crimson aura bloomed around the skeleton. It was the same phenomenon as when the A-rank ghost turned into a Wonhangwi.
Guhhh….
H-hic….
Kyahahahaha!
Once the skeleton changed first, the B-rank undead following behind it showed the same phenomenon.
With strange noises, every monster’s species shifted into something tied to resentment.
“Don’t panic! Their overall level is the same!”
Ivan shouted.
“Yeah, only their traits changed.”
“Let’s go!”
At Ivan’s call, everyone took up battle stances.
Dakdakdakdak
Kihihihihihi!
The monsters got close enough. The fight began at once.
Flames and white radiance surged between them. Monsters with mediocre durability took heavy damage from magic and holy power and were cleared in an instant.
Guhhhhhhh
Kirik-kirik-kirik
The ones that endured the flames—or were never hit in the first place—kept charging straight at the raid team.
Revenants and skeletons swung cursed limbs, while ghosts fired dark crimson energy.
‘They’re more persistent than before.’
Ye Hyeonseong observed the undead fighting the rest of the team.
They attacked with far more tenacity and viciousness than the undead they had faced earlier. They even accepted taking a few hits if it meant landing an attack.
It was behavior that fit the word “resentment.”
‘The problem is that resentment is aimed at us.’
Ye Hyeonseong swung her pickaxe to drive back a Wonhangwi that flew at her.
Another trait of resentment-fueled undead was that Ye Hyeonseong—who carried the holy relic—became their top priority target.
-H-hic……. Kihihihihihi!
As if it were not afraid of the pickaxe steeped in holy power, the Wonhangwi kept lunging only at Ye Hyeonseong.
“Ugh—just go away already.”
Grimacing, she kept swinging the pickaxe.
She tried to aim for a weak point indicated by Mad Gatherer’s Eye, but after becoming a Wonhangwi, the ghost had gotten too fast.
With her physical ability, it was hard to keep up with that speed.
‘That bastard’s still watching?’
Even now, the scammer did not miss a chance to pick a fight.
But Ye Hyeonseong had no room to respond—neither with her mouth nor her hands. She could only give the Constellation a middle finger in her heart.
“Miss Hyeonseong!”
Since Ye Hyeonseong kept whiffing, one of the archers fired an arrow at the Wonhangwi.
Kihihihi……. Uuu….
Hit in its weak point, the Wonhangwi dissipated at once. When it vanished, a blood jade fragment fell to the floor again.
“Whew, you saved me.”
Ye Hyeonseong thanked the person who shot the arrow.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“But it really seems like….”
Others who finished their fights came over to Ye Hyeonseong. Their eyes shifted to the pocket where she had stored the relic.
“It’s definitely targeting this first—the undead that turned into that ‘resentment’ something.”
Ye Hyeonseong tapped the pocket holding the relic with her fingertips.
“And if we keep it out, it looks like all undead go berserk regardless of rank.”
“More precisely, the A-rank reacted first, and then the rest followed, right?”
“Then only A-ranks can clearly sense the relic’s aura. The others seem to sense it late, only after an A-rank reacts first.”
“So what do we do?”
After summarizing what they learned from the fight, someone asked.
“If we keep carrying the relic like this, monsters will keep changing like before.”
“Some monsters changed even when the relic was in the subspace, but….”
“Still, back then only the A-rank monsters reacted.”
Soon, everyone fell into thought—whether it was better to fight normal undead, or these resentment-based variants.
“I-I think we should keep moving with it out like this.”
Before long, Kwon Seojin spoke first.
“Like this?”
“Yes.”
“Why? Isn’t it easier to deal with them before they change?”
People questioned his suggestion.
“Because the monsters that transform in response to the relic might become a clue. And we don’t know what kind of monster is waiting at the end as the dungeon’s master.
If we go down only fighting normal undead, and the dungeon master’s traits are closer to these resentment variants, wouldn’t that be a problem?”
Kwon Seojin answered smoothly.
‘That does make sense.’
It was something Ye Hyeonseong had also considered. But given that she had just failed to properly handle even a single Wonhangwi, it was also an awkward argument for her to push.
‘If they ask whether I can keep up with the resentment undead’s speed, I’ve got nothing to say.’
“Still, there’s no reason to leave the easier ones and deliberately call out the annoying ones….”
“And it didn’t look like any special item dropped, either….”
Even after Kwon Seojin’s explanation, the others looked reluctant.
“Ah—about that item.”
Ye Hyeonseong opened Infinite Corridor. She took out the blood jade fragment she had gotten from the Wonhangwi earlier, and one fragment collected on the upper floors.
“The descriptions are the same, but the color is subtly different.”
She showed the two fragments. Everyone examined them closely.
“This one is definitely darker.”
They spotted the difference quickly.
“Couldn’t that just be coincidence?”
“But didn’t we just kill a Wonhangwi?”
A few people pulled out blood jade fragments they had picked up from defeating a Wonhangwi a moment ago. They compared the newly collected fragment with the one in Ye Hyeonseong’s palm.
“It really is….”
“Looks like Wonhangwi definitely drop darker ones.”
After comparing, they reached a decision quickly.
“For now, it’s better to keep the relic out.”
“But it would be better if someone else carried it. It seems to be drawing the undead in.”
The moment they suggested handing the relic to someone else, a flood of messages flew in.
‘These bastards?’
Ye Hyeonseong’s eyebrow twitched at the transparently motivated messages.
“Huh? But….”
A few others sounded flustered. Judging by the mood, they had received similar Constellation messages.
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
Once someone asked openly, the Constellations openly revealed their intent.
“What do you mean ‘important,’ exactly….”
“Don’t waste too much effort trying to persuade them.”
Ye Hyeonseong spoke to those who were about to keep talking to the Constellations.
“Right now, they’ve already decided what they want to see, so they won’t listen no matter what we say.”
“Isn’t that kind of a stretch?”
An incredulous response came back. Seeing how unfamiliar they were with Constellations’ tantrums, it really did seem like their world had not been connected to the Interstellar Network for long.
The scammer who looked like it was about to start another fight fell silent at the other Constellation’s words.
“…Anyway, I’ll carry it.”
Ye Hyeonseong pointed at the pocket with the relic.
“Are you sure?”
Anna asked with a furrowed brow.
“Well… I’ll trust your skills, everyone.”
“Hmph. Obviously.”
At Ye Hyeonseong’s answer, Anna snorted. She did not seem particularly displeased.
“Then let’s keep going. We still have a long way to go.”
As the mood settled, Ye Hyeonseong spoke. After they gathered every small item from the recent battle, they moved deeper into Basement Level 4.
Deeper inside Basement Level 4, forks and traps began appearing again. They chose routes the same way as above, and dealt with traps similarly—blocking or avoiding them.
The fighting also continued. Every time they encountered monsters on Basement Level 4, all of them reacted to the relic the raid team carried and transformed into variant undead.
Resentment-laden undead were universally aggressive, and their movement speed was fast. Because of that, Ye Hyeonseong always had to deal with one or two Wonhangwi. They flew to the rear too quickly before anyone else could kill them.
‘Still, fighting them over and over… it feels like I’m adapting to their speed.’
Watching a Wonhangwi vanish under someone else’s attack, Ye Hyeonseong thought.
She failed again to finish one herself, but her eyes were gradually adjusting to their movement.
At this rate, even if she could not kill them, she could at least reduce the risk of taking a stupid hit.
“Behind you! Watch out!”
After they finished off a group of resentment undead, someone shouted loudly—meaning there were ghosts that had come down from the rear again.
The ghosts that appeared suddenly from behind were still a constant. While advancing through Basement Level 4, every ghost that appeared from behind was at the same level as the monsters on the floor directly above—Basement Level 3.
In other words, the deeper they went, the stronger the rear-spawning ghosts would become.
‘So far, at least they haven’t appeared at the same time as the monsters here….’
Whether by luck or not, no ghost from above had appeared while they were in the middle of fighting resentment undead—yet. But there was no guarantee that luck would last.
‘If we go lower, the monsters will get stronger…. If we get sandwiched front and back then, it’ll be a headache.’
“Cleanup’s done!”
The rear-spawned ghost monsters were dealt with quickly. Without hesitation, they kept moving.
“The fifth floor is the last one, right?”
Someone asked as they walked.
“Yes. We only have one key left.”
Pablo took out the last remaining key to show them.
“If the pattern holds, then on the final floor….”
“Even at minimum, half of them will be A-rank.”
“How much time do we have left?”
At the question, Ye Hyeonseong checked the remaining time. There were just under ten hours left.
“That’s still a lot.”
“We came down while ignoring all the monsters trapped in dead ends.”
“Strictly speaking, it’s not that much. If we can’t finish the dungeon on the final floor, we might have to come back and clear every remaining monster.”
“And we don’t even know what the fifth floor looks like.”
“Either way, it’s not the time to get careless.”
“Let’s recover a little and go straight down.”
Ivan, who had been leading at the front, threw his gaze forward—meaning there was a door leading down in the distance. At his words, the group picked up the pace.
Once they reached the door, everyone checked their condition at once. Those who needed it received healing skills, and those low on stamina or mana downed a potion each.
‘The fragments I separated are still like that.’
With a brief moment to spare, Ye Hyeonseong checked the blood jade fragments she had stored in separate sections inside Infinite Corridor.
Contrary to what she feared, the fragments were still separate. That also held true for the ones dropped by Wonhangwi.
‘Is it because I kept them apart from the main blood jade? Or was there never any automatic merging in the first place?’
Checking their state raised a new question. But given what the items were, she could not experiment carelessly.
Just as Ye Hyeonseong was about to close the item list, a Constellation message arrived.
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