Betting (4)

“……You’re right? What is that? A sandstorm? A sandy wind? A sand tidal wave…… no, that’s not it, is it? It’s not water.”

“Run instead of talking. I’ll open the way in front, so follow right behind me. I’ll give you wings too.”

“Let’s go, first!”

Once the two grasped the situation, they began sprinting at full speed. For now, getting away from the sandy wind was the top priority.

Kang-hoo immediately entered maximum acceleration. He looked only straight ahead and ran like mad.

Since he did not know what variables might appear from the front, he ran while keeping as much distance from Takashi as possible.

Meanwhile, he attached Fallen Wings to Takashi.

It was true that Fallen Wings were mainly used for aerial maneuvering, but they were also extremely efficient for forward propulsion.

Takashi did have acceleration-type skills as well, but compared to Kang-hoo’s Acceleration, they were lacking in many ways.

So Kang-hoo supported Takashi with other auxiliary means and paid attention so that he would not fall behind.

‘Since there’s no prior information, improvisation is incredibly important in parts like this.’

Kang-hoo glanced back and breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, they could avoid being caught thanks to Acceleration. Otherwise, they would have been buried in the sandy wind.

If they were swept up in something like that, they would disappear without even a trace being found.

People who came in from outside would have no way of knowing where they were buried. Finding them would be impossible too.

‘As expected.’

As they continued running like that, he saw several skeletons. They seemed to have been buried in the sand before their bones were exposed for some reason.

The existence of skeletons meant that hunters had entered this place before. It seemed someone had found it.

However, since they had died without passing through the sandy wind section, they had failed to enjoy the dungeon’s “first-clear privilege.”

A first-clear privilege was a one-of-a-kind privilege granted to the hunter who first succeeded in clearing it.

It was a special reward given not to the first hunter who entered, but to the hunter who completed the clear.

So it was easy to guess that the hunters discovered as bones had died in the middle of the clear.

‘They must have died without even having time to inform the outside. Or someone may have learned that someone went in and died, then came in to save them and died too. Hmm…… there aren’t just one or two.’

The farther they moved from the starting point, the number of visible skeletons increased exponentially.

Then again, if they had faced such a sandy wind right from the entrance, there would have been no method except fleeing.

So they must have fled as far as possible and, in the end, been swallowed by the sandy wind and met their end.

At that moment.

Whoooosh!

Something suddenly rose from beneath the ground.

It was something he had kept in mind from the moment he started sprinting at full speed, but the timing of its appearance was extremely troublesome.

“Kang-hoo, danger!”

Takashi, who had confirmed the dangerous element from behind before Kang-hoo did, shouted.

Paaat!

Kang-hoo immediately used the Yin Demon constellation’s Yin Transformation ability to turn his body into gas, lightly avoiding the attack.

The Yin Demon, the constellation he had plundered after killing Vincent Meyer before. It was the best in situations where immediate evasion was needed.

“Ha, insane.”

Takashi let out a hollow laugh.

Even while warning him that it was dangerous, he had been certain that Kang-hoo would avoid the “thorn” rising from beneath the ground.

However, he had expected him to avoid it by leaping or using some kind of barrier, but an unexpected method had come out.

Just now, Kang-hoo had definitely become a kind of gas-like form rather than a human body and avoided the attack.

He had used a method of perfectly evading a physical attack. This was an option that even Takashi did not have.

The surprise did not end there.

Bang!

Kang-hoo pulled a mana-shot pistol from subspace and fired a mana shot, aiming beneath the spot where the thorn had risen.

Then, with a popping sound, blood surged up from beneath the ground, and the dead monster soon rose up.

A Thorn Worm.

It was quite a threatening creature that waited for an opportunity beneath the sand, then stabbed its thorn upward.

The thorn itself had a paralytic toxin, so if one was stabbed, the body would gradually stiffen.

In an environment like this, where they had to keep running, it was fatal. There was a high possibility that the victims had been caught by the thorns.

“So, an assassin can use a gun too, huh? Wow, just…… next time, why don’t you heal too?”

Takashi provoked Kang-hoo jokingly and, refusing to lose, focused mana into his own sword.

Always just admiring him and comfortably following from behind was something his pride would not allow.

Now that he knew there were sinister fellows beneath the ground, waiting for opportunities like Thorn Worms, it was time to exterminate them.

He brought out Impact Wave Slash, one of his main skills.

If he stabbed it into the underground and deployed Impact Wave Slash, the wave would spread in all directions and crush living bodies.

A while later.

Kweeeeek! Kkek!

Thorn Worms struck by Impact Wave Slash screamed from every direction and surged up to the surface.

It was not for the sake of attacking, but because they could not endure the pain and were dying while spilling blood.

“Good.”

Kang-hoo looked back and gave a thumbs-up. It was a strike worthy of Takashi. It was also what he had hoped for.

With this level of flow, they seemed able to flee while responding to variables without being devoured by the sandy wind.

Of course, since they did not know when the sandy wind would end, they could not let their guard down. It was not over until it ended.

They ran quite a long time after that too.

They had now gotten used to the Thorn Worms’ pattern, so even if they suddenly appeared, it was not a major problem.

Of course, before that, Takashi’s Impact Wave Slash removed them first, and Kang-hoo took care of the remaining ones second.

The problem was that the time spent fleeing from the sandy wind was far longer than they had thought.

It was long enough that an ordinary hunter lacking basic stamina would have been devoured long ago.

Even if there had been no problem with stamina, if the Thorn Worms had stolen time from them, they would not have escaped death.

How much longer had they run like that?

Just as he thought that the downward curve of his stamina was starting to accelerate,

Shiyuuuuuu…….

The sandy wind that had been following them with fierce momentum until just now died down. It was a dramatic change.

“Is it over?”

Takashi looked around.

Because it might seem to be over, only for the sandy wind to start again.

Kang-hoo had a similar thought and waited a little longer, but there was no change. Instead, the sky only became clearer.

Then Takashi sighed several times and continued speaking.

“Wow…… my pad is full of sweat. What is this, not even simple labor? What the hell was that? We just ran like crazy.”

“Yeah. I think we saw more than fifty skeletons on the way here. Looks like everyone who came in died.”

“How could they not die? It’s not a place where just avoiding the sand is enough. Even the Thorn Worms we killed must be over a hundred by now, right?”

“It’s a shame all the loot got buried in the sand.”

Kang-hoo looked back at the path they had come through.

Mana stones had appeared in the middle too, and there had also been an object that he could not tell was a skill book or something else, but they had not been able to take them.

That was because the distance kept narrowing, to the point that stopping for even a moment felt like the sandy wind would catch up with them.

If they had picked up even one thing, that would probably have become their travel money to the afterlife. It had been that close.

“Kang-hoo. The wings you gave me really made a huge difference. Whenever my strength drained, I caught my breath thanks to the wings. This thing really is something.”

Takashi poured out praise for Fallen Wings. In truth, Kang-hoo also used them very valuably.

Thanks to Fallen Wings, aerial maneuvering had become possible, and he could also support companions in this way.

“I nearly put you in danger because of me.”

“What danger? And you told me everything, didn’t you? That this was your first time coming here. Then naturally, I came in while keeping this kind of situation in mind.”

“Anyway, it does look like the sandy wind has disappeared…….”

He surveyed the surroundings.

An ordinary dungeon was designed so that one moved straight along a path, and faced the boss monster at the end of that path.

However, this dungeon had nothing that continued further. Even when he looked toward the end of the horizon, it was only the same sandy terrain as now.

At that moment.

Thud.

A stone about half the size of a palm fell from the air in front of Kang-hoo and Takashi.

At the same time, a message activated.

‘Stone of Readjustment?’

Since he was not yet holding the stone, he could not even slightly guess what function it had.

What did it adjust?

Kang-hoo immediately grasped the stone.

‘This is…….’

Without needing a long explanation, it was a stone that could effectively make someone’s dungeon his own.

Because it changed the entrance and exit so that he could monopolize them.

As long as the secret was strictly kept, the original owner of the dungeon would have no way of knowing the entrance’s location. They would not know the means either.

‘It’s the realization of the unconscious.’

The concept itself was not unfamiliar.

That was because it had been content he had conceived as a setting within the novel.

Content that he had not used in the original work. Yet it had been implemented into reality like this, and he was now seeing it with his own two eyes.

“I’ll yield this.”

Takashi casually tossed the Stone of Readjustment to Kang-hoo. He had already checked the tooltip too, but he did not keep it.

“Why?”

“I have a ton of dungeons. Use it where you need it. There isn’t really any other dungeon I’m interested in either.”

“Then I won’t refuse.”

“Yeah. I really don’t need it!”

“Thanks.”

It was obvious that it was not truly because he had many dungeons and had no interest in the Stone of Readjustment.

However, since he felt Takashi’s heart, wanting to add even one more thing to him, Kang-hoo also accepted it without complaint.

Unconditionally refusing a concession was not a virtue.

Accepting it pleasantly and clearly expressing gratitude for the concession was itself courtesy toward the other person.

“By the way, if that’s the case, won’t this dungeon naturally become known to the outside once an exit portal appears? Is that all right?”

“Yeah, it was a place I only planned to come to once. It has no meaning now. I can’t claim ownership either.”

“How fascinating. How did you know about a dungeon like this? Maybe you really do have an ability to find dungeons. If so, tell me too. I’m not asking you to give me dungeons, but if we can clear them together like this, it seems like it would be really fun.”

It had been a short clear, but Takashi was already greatly satisfied.

That was because the deadly trial called the sandy wind and the variable appearance of the Thorn Worms had kept his palms sweating throughout the clear.

Yes.

It felt as though adrenaline had been surging endlessly.

Since he had to think of the most rational and efficient response at every single moment, he could not loosen his tension.

If he could continue challenges like this, it seemed like it would be truly enjoyable. It was as exciting as pattern analysis.

Meanwhile,

Kang-hoo fell into thought as he looked at the two Stones of Readjustment, including the one Takashi had yielded to him.

If he used these stones, he thought he could take away two dungeons that were most meaningful to Jang Si-hwan.

Just as he had previously used the Twisted Contract to plunder the Seeker of Pure Darkness constellation, he seemed able to use the stones to inflict meaningful damage on Jang Si-hwan.

In other words, it also became a calculation that Kang-hoo’s gains would increase by the amount of damage Jang Si-hwan suffered.

It was a gain of more than double in total, dragging the enemy down one step while he himself took one step closer.