Yun-Jung's lips were tightly pressed together, but surprisingly, her face showed no immediate change. Or rather, a change was just beginning to emerge. The sudden shift in her expression that followed caught me off guard, startling me.
"…Lick."
Yun-Jung slightly stuck out her pink tongue and licked the blood smeared around her lips. Then, with a "smack, smack" as she savored it, her throat visibly swallowed. Seeing a dangerous glee fill her eyes after tasting the blood sent a chill down my spine, goosebumps prickling across my body.
"Yun-Jung!"
"Huh? Oh, sorry, oppa."
My urgent shout snapped her back to her usual self. But I didn't miss the subtle trembling in her right hand. Was it the thrill of bloodlust from tasting the blood, or was it the vibration of the Sculepf causing her hand to shake? I couldn't tell. Either way, the sight of it made a corner of my heart feel painfully constricted.
I wanted to take the Sculepf from her right then and there, but there were more pressing matters. Quietly, I raised my sword and aimed at the remaining golem. From Hyun's direction, relentless explosions, flashing lights, and guttural screams echoed without pause. My immediate priority was to finish off this last one and rejoin the main group to provide support.
Yun-Jung swept her long hair back and moved behind me. Blood and flesh fragments fell from her hair, and streaks of blood seeped into her locks, but she didn't seem to care at all. Using my Third Eye, I scanned the Blood Golem's information and identified that its mana core was embedded in its right chest—roughly where a human heart would be.
"Right chest area, like where a human's heart would be—that's where the mana core is. Just adjust the direction and strike. I'll keep it pinned, so time your move and go in."
"Roger that♪"
Yun-Jung's reply was cute, but it didn't feel cute at all. The initial signs she'd just shown reminded me uncomfortably of myself when I lost Hyung and So-Young long ago. I resolved that after this Cave Of Wailing expedition, I'd need to have a serious talk with her about the Sculepf.
Blood Golems lack a sense of kinship—at least based on the information I know. But the one that had just emerged from the swamp seemed particularly enraged. It was swinging its bone club wildly and occasionally slamming the ground, almost as if throwing a tantrum.
"Kraaaaang!"
I thought I heard Yun-Jung's voice from behind, urging, "Oppa, hurry," but it was drowned out by the golem's deafening roar. Tilting my head briefly, I charged forward.
Whoosh.
The sound of air being sliced rang out as I launched myself into a high leap. As my body rose into the air, I felt a cool breeze brush past my feet. I slightly tucked my legs in. In that fleeting moment, I let my foot graze the passing club, using its momentum to propel myself forward once more.
Though I'd told her to time it herself, I intended to give her an immediate opening. As the golem's head loomed close, I didn't hesitate and swung my sword with full force.
Boom!
The back of its head exploded, unleashing a torrent of blood. Just in case, I was about to shout, "Now, go in!" but stopped when I saw Yun-Jung already positioned behind it. She must have been waiting for the chance from the start. The moment its head burst, she let out her peculiar spirited cry, leapt high, and stabbed her dagger in with reckless abandon.
Her dagger, glowing with white light, and the Sculepf, stained with red blood, crossed paths. The dagger plunged into its back and effortlessly pierced through to the front of its chest. At that instant, the Blood Golem's head, which had begun regenerating, dissolved into a scattering of blood. Its mana core shattered, robbing it of its restoration ability.
"…"
Reading the data with my Third Eye, I saw the mana core cleanly split in half. Of all the times Yun-Jung had supported me in battle, this was by far the swiftest and most satisfying.
Soon, the Blood Golem's body began to tremble, showing signs of an imminent explosion. This time, I didn't tell her to retreat and instead watched her closely, curious to see how she'd react.
Yun-Jung was dangling from the dagger still embedded in its back. But before she could pull it out, the golem's body erupted with a loud blast.
Pop! Pop-pop! Ssssshh…
In that final moment, I clearly saw it. As the Blood Golem's body burst and another shower of blood rained down, Yun-Jung calmly closed her eyes. Like a woman standing under a showerhead, letting water cascade over her, she melted into the fountain of blood without hesitation.
In the end, we managed to take down the remaining three golems without significant casualties. Even after Feedback Control was applied, the lingering effects of Vivienne's magic made them easy to handle. Hyun even got lucky and brought down one himself—a notable achievement (though it seemed Yeon-Joo had subtly helped, I didn't bother asking).
"Hyung, good work… huh? Ack!"
Hyun, his face flushed from the battle, started to speak but let out a low scream when he saw Yun-Jung standing behind me. Hyun had some blood splattered on him too, but it was nowhere near as blatant as Yun-Jung's state, so it was tolerable. Yun-Jung, however, was a sight to behold.
"Hm? What?"
"N-Nothing."
Blood dripped steadily from Yun-Jung's long hair. It was as if she'd bathed in it—her entire body was soaked in blood. When she asked with a nonchalant expression, Hyun quickly turned his head, avoiding a response. Sol was no different.
"Sol, give me something to wipe with."
"Y-Yes? Oh, unnie! H-Hold on a sec!"
"Mm-hmm♬"
Yun-Jung snatched the cloth Sol hurriedly offered and began wiping her face and body with a cheerful expression. Hyun shot me a questioning look, as if asking what the hell had happened, but I just sighed in response. Why did these kids always give me such a headache? Anyway, since the battle itself was practically a success, I could only console myself with the fact that I'd bought her clothes with built-in self-repair and purification functions.
After some time passed, while Yun-Jung was recovering from her frenzy, the group quickly reorganized. Once the caravan regrouped, a brief discussion arose about whether to dispose of the Blood Golem corpses. Yun-Jung suggested dissecting them to extract their mana cores. However, her idea didn't gain any traction.
"Well, Blood Golems are still a type of undead, aren't they? If the mana cores embedded in them are overflowing with miasma, is it really worth the effort to take them—especially when it means going through the trouble of dissecting them ourselves?"
"And before that, what are you even going to do with mana cores that are already split in half? You're the one who wrecked two of them."
At Yeon-Joo's and my persuasion, Yun-Jung let out a reluctant sigh. If this had been before the battle, I might have thought, 'She's starting to offer ideas for the caravan's sake—how commendable.' But once unease sets in, everything starts to look unsettling—that's human psychology. The same girl who was spitting in disgust earlier now wanted to get up close and dissect them herself? The thought alone was disturbing.
With the discussion concluded, we decided to resume our march. Passing the blood-soaked ground littered with Blood Golem corpses, we entered a long, open passage ahead. The dark, cavernous interior of the cave greeted us once more. The three mages chanted their Light spells again, pushing back the pitch-black darkness, if only slightly.
"Hey, hyung. Yun-Jung's comment got me thinking," Hyun said, sidling up to me.
When I turned to look, his face was visibly cautious. Nodding for him to continue, Hyun spoke slowly.
"The Cave Of Wailing is mostly filled with undead, right? But if, like you said earlier, there's nothing worth taking, doesn't that mean there's hardly any reward to be gained from this dungeon?"
"Hm. That's not true. In fact, a cave like this might have even more to offer."
I shook my head firmly, and Hyun tilted his curiously. The quiet passage amplified his low voice, making it resonate softly around us. Some of the others behind us must have overheard, as a gentle voice soon chimed in.
"Think about it from the beginning of the cave. The Wraith statues and the magic circle in the clearing. Do you still think this Cave Of Wailing is a naturally formed dungeon?"
"Exactly. Even if we give it the benefit of the doubt, while the cave itself might be natural, the undead inside and the mechanisms we've encountered so far undeniably bear the touch of human hands. It feels like this place was used as some kind of secret facility. If that's the case, the deeper we go, the more likely we are to find rooms with traces of its inhabitants."
Whose daughters are these, being so sharp? They're practically sparkling with intelligence. Of course, I kept that thought to myself. But between them, they'd said exactly what I wanted to convey. As Ha-Yeong elaborated further, Hyun finally seemed to understand, nodding vigorously.
I mentally estimated the distance we'd covered so far. If we assumed the cave's exploration was a scale of 10, the clearing with the magic circle was about a 2. We'd progressed roughly another 2 since then. Though we'd taken an unplanned rest at the clearing, our original first rest point, that place, was at a distance of 5. And there…
"Hehe."
"Whoa, hyung, what's with you all of a sudden? You startled me."
"Oh, it's nothing."
The thought made me chuckle unwittingly. This was something I'd only recently pieced together. At distance point 5, the item I was aiming for was none other than a Chaos Mimic. In Hall Plain, a Chaos Mimic could be considered the ultimate treasure chest. Of course, it was a case-by-case situation, but the anticipation of prying open its tightly shut lid and shaking out its contents was thrilling. It was like the excitement before pulling a rare draw. In my first life, I lacked the ability to capture it and could only watch helplessly as it escaped through its chaos portal. But now, I can finally resolve that regret.
In truth, cases of successfully capturing a Chaos Mimic are exceedingly rare. Not only is finding one incredibly difficult, but capturing and opening it is even harder. If you're not careful, it can escape through a passage connected to its interior, and trying to force it open risks getting sucked into the chaos itself. But I had Hwajung. I'd vowed not to overuse it, but a Chaos Mimic was a monster worth using Hwajung for—its value overflowed beyond measure.
Moreover, if my memory serves me right, there were three Chaos Mimics slumbering in that room. Honestly, when I chose my perks or set Mule as our first destination, I hadn't been thinking about this. It hadn't crossed my mind back then.
But now, with the ability to capture them, I wouldn't let them slip away meaninglessly like before. Passing up a guaranteed treasure chest just because it was a bit dangerous was something only a fool would do.
That said, I didn't rush the march. While I was indeed excited, I was thoroughly exploring the cave from the perspective of a Year 0 user. I was also reviewing backup plans in case the path was wrong or the room didn't exist.
During the remaining distance equivalent to 1, we had to engage in another battle with a group of undead. This time, however, we faced Bone Knights and Bone Soldiers, so the fight was relatively manageable.
After defeating them, we arrived at another fork in the path. There were two routes: one veered sharply to the left, and the other curved gently to the right. To reach the point equivalent to 5, we needed to take the right-curving path. After scanning the area with detection for a moment, I called out to Sol, who was busy chanting a spell.
"Yes, Orabeoni? You called?"
Sol, who had been healing a cut on Hyun from a Bone Knight's sword, hurried over at my call.
She speaks so politely now, but she said those things back then, huh? Clearing my throat a couple of times, I scooped her up and set her down in front of the fork. Startled by the sudden action, her eyes widened, but she quickly understood my intent and closed her eyes.
After a brief moment, Sol opened her eyes with an ambiguous expression. As she reached out to grab my collar, I instinctively stepped back and spoke.
"Do you really have to grab my collar?"
"Hnng! Don't dodge! Why are you dodging? When I think alone, I don't want to go down either path. But if I hold onto Orabeoni, I can think from your perspective too…"
"Hm?"
I couldn't brush off her words. Letting her grab my collar, I realized she wasn't wrong. Given how timid Sol was, her actions—guided by her luck stat—had sometimes seemed inconsistent. This meant she'd been acting with me in mind all along. Setting aside my pride in her for now, I noted her words as a valuable clue for researching her luck stat in the future.
With my collar in her grip, Sol now pointed confidently toward the right-curving path.
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