[An intruder has appeared in the ‘Gerad 1st Dungeon’.]

The time between the warning message and the result was unusually short.

[The Gerad 1st Dungeon’s first zone has been completely destroyed!]

[The Gerad 1st Dungeon’s second zone has been completely destroyed...]

[The Gerad 1st Dungeon’s third zone...]

[The Gerad 1st Dungeon has been completely destroyed!]

“What?”

There were a total of six dungeons installed in Gerad Mountain to defend the Princess. They were thoroughly designed to keep out invaders. Yet a single dungeon had been attacked in a few minutes and was now completely destroyed. 

“Who...?”

It couldn’t be a player when even Grid hadn’t been able to break a dungeon so quickly. Particularly, the difficulty of the Gerad Dungeon was much higher than that of the Beware Dogs dungeon that Grid had hit in the past. How could a player beat the Gerad Dungeon in minutes? According to common sense, it was impossible.

“A dragon has appeared!”

The image of the dragon that appeared in the National Competition was still vivid in Eat Spicy Jokbal’s mind. Perhaps a dragon had landed on top of Gerad Mountain, destroying some of the dungeons.

[An intruder has appeared in the ‘Gerad 2nd Dungeon’.]

“It can’t be a dragon!”

The attacker was targeting the dungeons sequentially. Eat Spicy Jokbal hurriedly prepared various potions and rushed to Gerad Mountain.

***

[You have entered the Gerad Dungeon (4).]

[The traps have been activated.]

It happened when he entered the fourth dungeon. Sharp spears appeared from the ground and walls on both sides, while a huge iron ball that was a few hundred kilograms heavy fell from the ceiling. This was a trap which would’ve killed hundreds of troops.

“Bah.” Yet Agnus just scoffed while Lich Mumud used a spell. He floated himself and Agnus into the air and covered them with a shield of shimmering light. The blades which hit the shield were crushed and cracked, while the ball which fell from the ceiling failed to penetrate the shield and rolled onto the ground. Agnus stepped onto the iron ball and looked down the long corridor of the dungeon. “It’s a structure that only one person can pass through. Kik!”

The difficulty of the dungeon was rising rapidly. Unlike the first and second dungeons where he pushed through by summoning a large number of undead, the third dungeon became very narrow and the number of traps increased. Agnus had experienced all types of adventures, but he still found the Gerad Mountain dungeons considerably hard.

‘I can’t overuse Mumud.’ 

Agnus thought about it for a moment before waving his fingers. Then a skeleton emerged from the ground. It acted according to Agnus’ will and stepped on the small path in front of his eyes. The moment the skeleton entered the path, flames burned the skeleton. However, the skeleton kept stepping forward like it wasn’t in pain. It took four steps before more flames emerged and the skeleton’s body of bones was burned to ashes.

‘It is a fire trap that deals 5,000 fixed damage every fourth block.'

Agnus waved his fingers again, and a new skeleton popped up at the fourth block. This was Death Chain, a unique skill of Baal’s Contractor which created a new undead at the spot where the old one was destroyed. The second skeleton disappeared as soon as it reached the eighth block, and a new skeleton was born, reaching the 12th and final block. The 12th block exploded without emitting any flames.

[Your skeleton has received 20,000 damage and has been destroyed.]

The entire path was destroyed in the aftermath of the explosion, and the fire traps which had been installed up to the 11th block exploded in a chain, shaking the entire dungeon. Agnus was far away, so he didn’t receive a single bit of damage.

“Kilkik!” Agnus laughed and walked leisurely through the damaged path. New skeletons were created at the next trap and the one after that.

***

At the top of the Gerad Mountain, there was a young girl—no, woman alone in a small dungeon. Her two dark eyes under her bangs were very large, while her face was small and looked like a doll’s.

-Eat Spicy Jokbal: There is an enemy! Log out right now!

“...” The woman ignored Eat Spicy Jokbal’s whisper. This place was her workshop. All the items and equipment she needed to make accessories were here. She couldn’t leave this place.

-Eat Spicy Jokbal: Hey! Bokja!

Blood suddenly rose to the temples of the woman who was listening to Eat Spicy Jokbal’s urging, and anger suddenly filled her eyes.

-Elizabeth: Stupid uncle! I told you not to call me by my real name!

-Eat Spicy Jokbal: It is because you didn’t answer! Why are you chewing my ears off?!

There was a sense of urgency in Eat Spicy Jokbal’s words.

-Eat Spicy Jokbal: The fifth dungeon is about to be breached! Log out right now!

He urged her again, but it was useless.

-Elizabeth: I don’t want to!!

Bokja—no, Elizabeth had a certain sense of pride and responsibility as a jewelry maker. She was different from someone who made high-rated items easily because of their legendary class. Elizabeth was only able to make a few rare-rated ornaments with every few thousand normal-rated ornaments, and she had built up her current skills by making thousands of rare-rated and epic-rated ornaments.

She wanted to show confidence to the people who believed in her and requested for commissions, and this workshop was necessary for that.

-Elizabeth: I don’t know who it is, but didn’t the guest come because they need my skills? They might be an illegal trespasser, but it is only right for me to respond. Yet you want me to flee from my workshop?

-Eat Spicy Jokbal: It is fine if the opponent is a player! But...!

Who was it? What if it was a monster or a named NPC? It was hard to come to a conclusion, but he knew one thing for sure. Non-players wouldn’t be able to accurately determine the value of his niece, and there was a high possibility that it was a malevolent person who would not hesitate to harm her.

-Eat Spicy Jokbal: Bokja...!

Either way, Eat Spicy Jokbal didn’t want his niece to suffer. He knew how hard his niece had struggled in order to raise her production class. Even that was just a secondary problem. Most importantly, as her uncle, he didn’t want her to go through terrible experiences like death threats. Eat Spicy Jokbal shouted her name as he headed for the Gerad Mountains.

-Elizabeth: The illegal intruder seems to be a player.

He received an unexpected whisper from his niece.

-Eat Spicy Jokbal: What? A player? Are there hundreds of them?

He was convinced that his dungeon couldn’t be taken in such a short amount of time unless 10,000 of the top rankers had joined together. Elizabeth gave a reply to the confused Eat Spicy Jokbal.

-Elizabeth: No, just one.

-Eat Spicy Jokbal: This isn’t the time to joke around!

-Elizabeth: His ID is Agnus.

-Eat Spicy Jokbal: What?

Eat Spicy Jokbal got goosebumps. Now, it wasn’t surprising that the attacker who broke through the dungeons at the speed of light was just one player, and Eat Spicy Jokbal definitely didn’t want his niece to face such a madman.

-Eat Spicy Jokbal: Close your eyes and block your ears! Don’t interact with that crazy guy!

Eat Spicy Jokbal shouted with a pale face, but it was useless. It might be due to a late round of puberty or because she had just started university, but his niece’s rebelliousness caused Eat Spicy Jokbal to feel dumbfounded every time.

[The target has blocked your whispers.]

“Dammit! That Agnus, I will kill him if he touches my niece!”

Eat Spicy Jokbal’s face distorted like a demon’s as his anger burst out. It was a great rage comparable to what he’d felt the day he lost Blood Carnival and the dragon egg.

***

“You are invading illegally without going through the proper procedures. Can a famous person act in such a violent manner?” Elizabeth’s hands were sweaty. It would be a lie if she said she wasn’t nervous, but Elizabeth tried to act unconcerned. After all, this place was her workshop. She needed it to be an accessories maker.

“It takes too long to go through those procedures.” Agnus approached her slowly. Unlike the rumors, he didn’t show any signs of madness. He looked at Elizabeth with a purely fierce expression like that of a bird of prey.

“W-What?” Elizabeth could no longer endure her nervousness as Agnus got closer. She took a few steps back.

“This.” Agnus handed her a red stone. It was a stone that was more beautiful than a ruby.

However, Elizabeth recognized the stone with a single glance and couldn’t appreciate its beauty. “The Stone of Life...!”

The Stone of Life—its name sounded good, but the truth was the opposite. This stone had a terrible identity. It was a symbol of death which could only be created by killing a young virgin and sealing 666 souls in her deceased heart.

“You recognize it. You can work on it, right?” There were expectations and hopes in Agnus’ eyes. This was the opposite of Agnus’ image.

Elizabeth asked cautiously, “What do you want to do with this? Do you intend to use it with the Amethyst Shield and Red Mirror to summon a high-ranking great demon?”

“No. I didn’t struggle so much for something like that,” Agnus denied it immediately. 

Elizabeth didn’t believe him though. “What else could you use it for?” 

It was her mistake to pry as Agnus reached the limits of his patience. Snap! He was filled with anger and grabbed Elizabeth by the collar. “You just have to do what I say. You have no right to reject. I will chase you for the rest of your life until you accept my commission.”

“You have no manners!” In the midst of being angry at Agnus’ wild words, Elizabeth suddenly stopped when she noticed there wasn’t any great force in the hands grabbing her collar. “You...”

Was a human capable of making such a sad expression? Alas, the moment that Elizabeth wanted to question Agnus this...

“You bastard!!” There came a roar from the entrance of the dungeon. It was Eat Spicy Jokbal. “Get your hands off that child right now!”

[You have become stronger in a dungeon!]

Eat Spicy Jokbal pulled out his sword and rushed madly at Agnus.

At the same time, Grid was following Bullet. Then there came a moment when Grid couldn’t stand it anymore, and he opened his mouth, “Hey.” 

He had been seeing the same place for several hours already, yet there didn’t seem to be a ward.

“Are you sure this is the way?”

“...I’m sorry.”

“...”

“Don’t worry. We will arrive soon. Probably.”

“...” Grid was inwardly surprised.

He admired the fact that Bullet had managed to maintain his 2nd ranking despite being incapable of finding hunting grounds easily due to his terrible sense of direction. If it wasn’t for this, wouldn’t Bullet be the first ranked necromancer by now? Grid thought about this seriously as he continued walking with Bullet.

Then after a while, they arrived at the same place again.

“...”

The good news was that Grid wasn’t simply wasting time. He continued to make underwear while walking.