To think the plan would be twisted like this. Lee Manbok’s face twisted mercilessly as he looked out at the vast desert spread before him. “What kind of mess is this?! You should have been more careful!”
“S-sorry! We never imagined a Dungeon Break would occur…”
“This was completely beyond our expectations…!”
Lee Manbok swallowed the surge of anger rising within him as he glared at the guards, who were busy making excuses. After all, he had only told them to drag Choi Miyeon and Lee Arin to the laboratory. He hadn’t given them any detailed information about soul cores, so even if they’d wanted to prepare, they couldn’t have.
I rushed things and only managed to bring B-ranks at best, and this is what I get.
Since he was technically under confinement, and had hurried out under the pretext of a branch event to gather soul cores, he hadn’t been able to assemble a proper force. As a result, the plan went awry and they were caught up in a Dungeon Break. Lee Manbok clicked his tongue.
Still, one fortunate thing was that despite the dungeon’s desert environment, the place where Lee Manbok and his guards had landed was an oasis; water and lush greenery in abundance.
I truly am under the protection of God.
That alone was satisfying.
The age of myth was something he often proclaimed in his sermons, but Lee Manbok genuinely believed it. In this chaotic era, where ancient monsters straight out of scripture roamed freely, he believed that he alone was the one destined to lead humanity forward.
Which was precisely why he could not die in a place like this.
“…Enough excuses. First, we need to get out of here. You can clear it, right?” He softened the voice with which he had been scolding the Hunters—his followers and guards—because now that they were inside a dungeon, he had to coax them into helping him escape. If he treated them too harshly and they betrayed him or turned on him inside the dungeon, the situation would only worsen.
“O-of course! No matter the dungeon, once we find the clear conditions, we’ll be out in no time!”
“We’ll resolve something like this quickly. Please don’t worry, Father.”
“It’s an honor to serve you!”
At least their loyalty was commendable. They forgot being scolded over something absurd and started wagging their tails the moment he treated them a bit more gently.
Heh. Like puppies. Lee Manbok stroked his beard as he watched the Hunters bustle about, preparing a seat for him, fetching water, making a fuss.
It wasn’t particularly surprising. Raised from childhood as members of the Truelight Church and the Truelight Guild, they had grown up in an environment where they had no choice but to revere Lee Manbok like a god. And since he had fed, clothed, and raised them, Lee Manbok truly believed he was their god.
Sitting comfortably, he observed the dungeon as his guards moved about. Although Lee Manbok was an awakened Hunter himself thanks to his use of soul cores, he had never properly cleared a dungeon before, so the scenery felt novel to him. He watched with interest as heat shimmered up from the endlessly stretching desert. It felt like a leisurely stroll through paradise.
Aside from the guards, there was one more person who had been dragged into the dungeon. One of the Truelight Church executives who had commendably blocked the blade flying toward him earlier.
“Father, please have some water first!”
“Thank you. I was just getting thirsty.”
Accepting the water offered by the sycophantic person, who had somehow found leaves to scoop it up, Lee Manbok felt his mood soften slightly.
Yes, this too is a trial I am meant to overcome.
It would even make for another good story to tell in his New Year’s address. Seen that way, it was bearable. Though he noticed unease flicker across the faces of the Hunters guarding him, Lee Manbok remained at ease.
System Guide: The current dungeon’s rank is B-rank.
This dungeon does not appear to be appropriate for the user’s current level.
Given that it was a B-rank dungeon, their anxiety was only natural. A B-rank dungeon usually required a party of around fifteen B-rank Hunters, well-prepared, with one or two A-rank Hunters included. But the escort that had been dragged into the dungeon with Lee Manbok numbered only five. Attempting to clear a dungeon of this scale with such poor preparation offered no real guarantee of success.
But Lee Manbok remained relaxed. He had something to rely on.
If things go south, I can just use the item that person gave me.
Having led the cult for a long time, he was keenly sensitive about his own safety. He hadn’t gone to meet Choi Miyeon without preparation, especially after hearing that a member of the cult had betrayed him and fled.
Wrapped around his wrist was a bracelet shaped like a snake. A chrysoberyl gem was embedded in the snake’s eye, gleaming faintly. It was an item he had received as a gift from someone not long ago.
“May you become the protagonist of the age of myth.”
It really is fascinating. Lee Manbok stroked his beard.
Of course, he was accustomed to receiving gifts, but that person was special. Just as they had taught him the method of creating soul cores, they acted as though they knew exactly what Lee Manbok needed, as if reading his mind. This time as well, they had handed this over, claiming it was an item for self-defense. Almost as if they had known Lee Manbok would be caught up in a Dungeon Break.
In the past, Lee Manbok had suspected their intentions, but lately he had even begun to wonder whether God had sent that person as His apostle for his sake.
Heh, well… this is an opportunity too.
Although his plan had gone awry and he had been dragged into a Dungeon Break, perhaps he could use this as a pretext to extend his special leave or even reduce the remainder of his sentence altogether. Even if he spent most of his time in a luxury hospital room rather than a prison cell, the restrictions on his movement were still inconvenient.
Thinking of it that way, this might actually be for the best.
Of course, it was regrettable to have missed out on the soul cores of those A-rank Hunters who had been right within his grasp, but that was something he could deal with by finding suitable replacements later…
Kyuik?
“Eek!”
Something suddenly poked its head out of the sand in front of Lee Manbok, who had been lost in his own fantasies. As he stumbled backward in surprise, text announcing a monster appeared before the Hunters’ eyes.
A monster has appeared.
Monster: Sand Mole (Rank E)
“What is that?!”
Something plump tilted its head. It was a mole-like monster, colored the same yellowish hue as the sand.
Lee Manbok cried out in shock, “Guards! Guards! What is that thing?!”
“Father! Please calm yourself!”
One of the guards who had been scouting the area hurried back to Lee Manbok’s side, checked the monster, and let out a sigh of relief. “Ah, it’s nothing serious. It’s a sand mole, very docile. Since this is an oasis, monsters tend to come by to drink water and rest—urk!”
Smack! Lee Manbok slapped the guard across the face, cutting his words short.
The struck guard reflexively fell to the ground. For an instant, injustice and doubt flickered in his eyes, but Lee Manbok didn’t see it.
“S-sorry! I’m sorry!”
“You’re supposed to protect me properly! Can’t you even handle something this simple?!” Lee Manbok fumed with rage.
Within the cult, he had always postured as a master of all magic, a true archmage, but that had merely been a performance made possible through soul cores. In reality, he was a Hunter who barely even reached D-rank. This was the first real monster he had ever seen, and his heart was pounding wildly.
“How utterly useless!” Forgetting his earlier resolve to treat the guards kindly, Lee Manbok shouted angrily, “Get that monster out of my sight, right now!”
“Y-yes! Understood!”
“What are you waiting for? Move!”
The guards who had been scouting rushed in at once, swinging their swords at the sand mole that had popped up in front of Lee Manbok.
But as if playing a game, the sand mole watched them rush over, dove back into the sand, and then popped its head up again far away.
Kyuik?
Its bright, beady eyes stared eerily at Lee Manbok and the others.
One of the Hunters, panting after chasing the sand mole, suddenly frowned as he caught his breath. “Huh… wait, why is there a sand mole here?”
“What do you mean? This is a desert, of course—”
“That’s true, but sand moles are timid. They don’t come near people.”
As that knowledge surfaced, the guard’s expression turned serious.
“They dig burrows deep underground and live hidden away… so why would one come all the way up to the surface like this…?”
That was when the ground began to tremble. Thud-thud-thud-thud!
The guards tensed all at once, each readying their weapons. Lee Manbok, too, wore a strained expression as he stared beyond the horizon.
The far side of the desert, which until moments ago had seemed impossible to measure the end of, began to blur. It didn’t take long to realize that it was a massive sandstorm.
"Something's coming!"
“I-I think it’s a monster!”
“Everyone, don’t panic. Cast shields first! It’s still only a B-rank dungeon. If we stay calm, we can clear it!” As they said this, the executive pointed at Lee Manbok. “And behind us stands the Father!”
"Ahem." Lee Manbok cleared his throat and straightened his back. “That’s right. If things truly become dangerous, I’ll step in myself, so don’t worry and face it head-on. You are the very heroes standing proudly in this age of myth!”
"Yes!"
“Yes, Father!”
At the resounding declaration of Father Lee Manbok, the guards puffed out their chests and prepared to face the monster.
Thud! Thud! Thud! The ground shook more and more violently.
Then, from far away, it sounded as though a human scream could be heard, “Aaaah!” It was a scream as if the speaker was being torn apart.
And that sound was drawing closer.
The executive who had been standing right beside Lee Manbok tilted their head. “Uh… this voice is—”
It didn’t take long to learn its source.
“S-save me, please!”
The sight of the woman shouting like that was extremely bizarre. She was half-floating in the air, rushing toward them as if swimming through the air. She looked as though she were flying, or like a doll suspended in midair, bound by something invisible.
The executive, recognizing her face, cried out in shock, “Jeong Suyeon!”
Just as they got close enough to clearly see Jeong Suyeon’s face, smeared with tears and sand— Rumble! Something burst up from beneath the sand.
It was like a mountain erupting upward. Something of an enormous size, so vast it could block out the sun the moment it leapt into the air above the sand, rose beyond the limits of human imagination.
Boooooo! A cry that human ears could barely perceive spread across the entire desert.
A boss monster has appeared.
Boss Monster: Desert Whale (Rank A)
System Guide: This monster appears to be beyond the user’s current capacity to defeat.
Screams burst from the guards first.
“I-it’s a desert whale!”
“Are you insane?! Why is an A-rank monster here?!”
“Was this not a B-rank dungeon?!”
The gigantic whale that had soared high into the sky slowly descended back toward the ground. The distance that had seemed so vast was nothing at all to such a massive creature. The shields the guards had noisily prepared had long since shattered. In an instant, like a raging gale, the desert whale surged into the oasis and opened its enormous jaws wide.
As he watched that sight, Lee Manbok recalled a verse from the Bible he had long since forgotten.
“Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”
Faith that even he himself hadn’t known he still possessed, buried deep beneath his desires, surged forth. Overwhelmed with awe, Lee Manbok unconsciously clasped his hands together. O God.
But then, as he watched the whale’s jaws gape open, Lee Manbok spotted something atop the whale’s back, under the sunlight.
It was the shape of a person. Eyes of a human being, not a god, blazing with horrific hatred.
Spitting blood, Choi Miyeon shouted, “Drop dead!”