Chapter 20: Dungeon Clear, Please Try Again

“That will absolutely not happen.”

Jin-yeop cut him off sharply, but he couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped him.

It was because he had heard Eun-ru mutter in a very small voice, ‘So mean…’.

“If you can’t acquire it, I’ll just buy one for you.”

“Then, that would… wouldn’t that defeat the purpose?”

“It’s not about some purpose.

Acquiring a spatial pouch yourself means you at least break even.

F-class dungeons have such low bid prices that worrying about breaking even is a bit silly, though…”

“…..”

“Buying one F-class pouch is nothing to me.”

Jin-yeop shrugged and stepped through the open door.

Immediately, another system message appeared before Eun-ru and Jin-yeop’s eyes.

System: Abandoned Doll Sorcerer’s Workshop Boss Appears
<< Corrupted Doll Sorcerer >>
Grade: F

As the message window shattered and disappeared, spatial deformation began.

The path they had entered from vanished, and a gate appeared in its place.

“It activates when you kill the boss.

Until then, even if you touch it, you can’t leave.”

Saying this, Jin-yeop lightly clenched his fists and started jumping in place, warming up his body.

“I thought this was a complete trash dungeon with no by-products worth collecting, but that’s not entirely true.”

“Huh?”

As Eun-ru asked what he meant, Jin-yeop, as if waiting for the question, pointed with his chin towards the dungeon boss that was appearing in mid-air and lightly descending to the ground.

“It’s humanoid.

That means its stomach is small.”

He seemed completely unfazed by the fact that it resembled a human form.

“It’s been so long, I’m a bit unsure about close combat…”

Muttering this, contrary to his words about being unsure, Jin-yeop immediately ignited blue flames over his fist.

Then, in an instant, he charged towards the boss.

His movements were powerful and so fast they were hard to follow with the eyes.

Seeing Jin-yeop rushing in a straight line towards him, the boss lightly waved the long staff it was holding.

The ground split open, and from the cracks, dolls of all shapes and forms began to crawl out.

Wooduduk!

Even on the ground splitting open with a roar, Jin-yeop showed no sign of faltering.

The dolls, as if protecting their master, blocked Jin-yeop’s path and attacked him.

At that, Jin-yeop pushed off the ground, leaping up, and with hands blazing with flames, precisely swiped at the heads of the dolls springing out from all directions.

Puck, Puck!

With a crisp sound, any head struck once shattered without mercy.

As if leaving no trace behind, after being hit, the flames spread, turning their entire bodies to ash in an instant.

Although not a close-combat type, an A-class was still an A-class.

With superior physical abilities, his limb movements were powerful and fluid.

With few unnecessary movements, his clean, unadorned motions were precise as if measured.

In the one-against-many combat situation, Jin-yeop’s experience shone brilliantly.

The battle was an undeniable testament to just how many dungeons he had cleared over time.

Eun-ru stood before the gate, drinking in the sight of Jin-yeop without missing a detail.

The image of him from memories still as vivid as yesterday overlapped with the Jin-yeop of now.

But the Jin-yeop in his remaining memories was completely different.

Seeing him so incomparably stronger, Eun-ru couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh.

Even though he had watched all of his clear videos without missing a single one, dozens of times, and had faithfully observed his growth, the feeling was extraordinary.

The summoned dolls, unable to mount a proper counterattack, were all taken down in an instant.

Whenever he lightly spun in the air, igniting flames not only on his hands but also on his feet, the flames left behind a blue afterimage.

In addition, the ash of the dolls burning in the unquenchable flames scattered in the air like flower petals.

And amidst it all, Jin-yeop seemed to be dancing.

“Cool.”

As Eun-ru whispered softly, Jin-yeop, who had immediately reached the boss, grabbed its head in an instant.

Holding the head of the boss, clad in black robes, he swung his other fist, wreathed in flames, and muttered inwardly.

‘I was worried I might have lost my touch after resting too long.’

The moment his fist connected with the head, the sensation of it shattering was vivid.

As the boss collapsed from the single blow, its robes fell away, revealing half its face bleeding, and the other half shattered like porcelain.

As if to hide it, Jin-yeop turned his back to Eun-ru and shot flames at the remains of the shattered head.

The head burned up instantly, leaving only the torso.

System: Abandoned Doll Sorcerer’s Workshop
Dungeon cleared.

Reward: Gate activation

“Sometimes, depending on the dungeon, a separate clear reward is given, but usually, activating the escape gate is the reward.”

Jin-yeop knelt on one knee and reached into his spatial pouch.

He pulled out a dagger and slit open the boss’s belly.

“…Guide Lee Eun-ru?”

“Ye-yes!”

“Come here.”

He had cut the belly open before calling Eun-ru, worried that blood might gush out, but not a single drop of blood flowed from the fully modified body.

Inside the opened cavity were only cheap cotton wadding and unknown clockwork springs tangled messily.

Judging it was fine for Eun-ru to see, he called him over.

He also needed to know how to acquire it.

As Eun-ru came to his side, Jin-yeop pushed aside the cotton wadding, revealing something like a yarn pouch.

“This is the stomach—the spatial pouch.

Regardless of the form, a boss’s internal organs consist only of the stomach.”

Jin-yeop tore out the stomach, stood up, and reached his hand inside.

The pouch didn’t sag, and without the shape of his hand showing, his arm went in without obstruction up to the elbow.

“The agency will pay the reprocessing fee, and when it’s finished, they’ll give it to Guide Lee Eun-ru.”

The yarn pouch, along with the dagger, went straight into Jin-yeop’s spatial pouch.

“Now, let’s go.

The training is over with this…”

Just as he was about to step towards the activated gate with Eun-ru, the gate, which had been blue, suddenly darkened and vanished in an instant.

At the same time, the dungeon shook violently, and space began to distort.

“What the…!”

Startled, Jin-yeop immediately pressed close in front of Eun-ru, and the interior of the dungeon began to change rapidly.

The old bookshelves, the books that had fallen and rolled around like wastepaper, transformed into pristine condition as if time had been rewound, flying back to their places on the shelves.

The ash that had been floating in the air was carried by a gust of wind, gathered at one point, and began to form something.

Bang, bang! 

Then, suddenly, desks, chairs, and sofas fell from the air with explosive sounds, landing on the floor perfectly clean without a single scratch.

It was as if they had returned to their rightful places.

“This is…”

The dungeon’s inner core looked the same as when they entered, yet completely different.

Unlike before, when it was collapsed and damaged as if attacked, it had been restored to a pristine state.

It could no longer be called an ‘abandoned workshop.’

Frowning, unable to understand what was happening, Jin-yeop looked around and saw the pile of ash taking shape and settling onto the floor.

It sat before a desk lined with various tools, books, and documents that had just fallen from the air, and slowly raised its head.

“Step back.”

Jin-yeop spoke to Eun-ru behind him, and at that, Eun-ru naturally wrapped one arm around Jin-yeop’s shoulder and stepped back.

At that sensation, Jin-yeop tried to turn his head to look at Eun-ru, but he couldn’t.

His body, tense from the unexpected situation, was stiff.

He absolutely couldn’t tear his gaze away from the thing in front of the desk.

Just then, a red system window flashed before Eun-ru and Jin-yeop’s eyes.

System: Dreamweaver Doll Sorcerer Alice’s Workshop
Number of entrants: 2
Grade: A

“This is crazy, A-class?”

Jin-yeop’s face instantly turned white.

An F-class dungeon had suddenly re-awakened into an A-class dungeon.

At the absurd situation, Jin-yeop’s mind momentarily went blank.

But that wasn’t the important thing right now.

The bigger problem was that only he and a Guide with absolutely no field experience were alone in this space.

Jin-yeop took a deep breath and exhaled, keeping his gaze fixed on the thing presumed to be the dungeon boss.

Taking on an A-class dungeon boss with just the two of them was impossible.

“Guide Lee Eun-ru, listen carefully.”

“…..”

“This is something I didn’t anticipate either, so there’s nothing I can tell you.

But there is something you absolutely must do right now.”

Jin-yeop pushed away Eun-ru’s arm wrapped around his shoulder and spoke, turning his head slightly.

“Use the gate stone.”

“…..”

“We can’t call for help from inside here.

You need to get out quickly and call the support team.

By myself… honestly, it’s impossible.”

“…..”

“But I’ll try to buy some time somehow…”

With those words, Jin-yeop ignited flames in his hand.

In times like this, it was fortunate that area attacks were his specialty.

If he avoided close combat as much as possible and attacked from a distance, he could probably hold out until the support team arrived.

If he fought desperately, prepared to sacrifice a limb or two, he might even land a critical hit.

Anyway, the re-awakened dungeon was A-class, and Jin-yeop was also A-class.

To continuously use his abilities, proper guiding needed to happen simultaneously, but expecting that from a rookie like Eun-ru was difficult.

In that case, it was far better for one of them to escape and call for help.

In such a special case, state-affiliated Espers and Guides would surely be dispatched.

If he could just hold on until they arrived, there was a chance.

“Are you telling me to escape alone?”

At the sound of Eun-ru’s voice from behind, Jin-yeop sighed.

“Isn’t it obvious?

There’s no time to be leisurely like this.

We can’t die just because we came for training.”

“You’re going to hold out against an A-class dungeon boss without a Guide?

Do you know how long it will take for the support team to arrive?”

“That’s exactly why Guide Lee Eun-ru needs to escape quickly.

What can you do right now?”