Chapter 39: The Door to Heaven

Chaos was erupting across the ravine, but Yu Hee-ro paid it no mind. His thoughts were already on the next dungeon floor… and on Sung Ji-woo. The disaster unfolding on the other side might as well have been someone else’s bonfire show.

“Argh! f*ck! Don’t just watch—do something!”

Across the gap burned the massive corpse of the spider, and next to it Yoo Ho-bin thrashed wildly. Park Jun-soo was no longer visible—likely already dead.

The party members glanced nervously at Yu Hee-ro. No matter how desperately Yoo Ho-bin begged for help, there was nothing they themselves could do.

Yu Hee-ro was swatting away the baby spiders crawling up the cliff. Dozens poured out at once, yet the egg sac still held many that hadn’t hatched. That truth only drove the others further into despair.

Just a little more…

Hee-ro was waiting for the right moment—when half the eggs were empty and the monster core would be exposed.

Most people assumed the giant spider mother on the ceiling was the dungeon core. But the true core that had to be destroyed… was this egg sac.

In that sense, Yoo Ho-bin had saved them some trouble by yanking the whole thing up. If he hadn’t, they would have had to climb all the way down to the pit.

The ones across the ravine had no clue what was happening, and by burning the venomous spider, they ended up poisoning themselves. Exposure to the spider’s potent toxins for too long paralyzed the body piece by piece. When it reached the brain, hallucinations and delusions followed, turning the victim into a shell of a human.

Ho-bin was holding out unusually long—maybe his body was in good shape. But he too would soon collapse, following the same familiar steps.

What on earth did hyung see in that guy to spend two years with him?

Even Yu Hee-ro—who tried hard to understand everything from Sung Ji-woo’s point of view—couldn’t make sense of that.

Unless Yoo Ho-bin had fed Sung Ji-woo some strange drug and brainwashed him. And if that were actually true, Hee-ro would’ve slit Ho-bin’s throat on the spot.

“Um… how long…?”

At first, the others trembled and gagged. But eventually, they started asking how much longer they had to wait. Humans adapt quickly when forced to. Hee-ro answered without emotion:

“Now.”

Right on cue, the bright-red monster core embedded in the center of the egg sac revealed itself. Without hesitation, Hee-ro’s shadow branch sliced forward.

Kieeeeeek!

The baby spiders, which had been moving in perfect coordination, abruptly shifted direction. The monster wrestling with Yoo Ho-bin released him and scurried up the wall toward Hee-ro.

“What… what the f*ck now?”

Blood dripped from Yoo Ho-bin’s mouth. His body, poisoned, no longer responded properly. His right arm had gone numb, and his pinky twitched uncontrollably.

He staggered toward Park Jun-soo, dragging his half-mangled left leg—the baby spider had bitten most of the flesh off. With every step, a flap of flesh dangled grotesquely.

It was hell on earth—except for Yu Hee-ro.

His body bore not a single scratch. He hadn’t been splattered with monster fluids, blood, or flesh. He didn’t look like an intruder to the dungeon—he looked like its master.

His party silently watched him work. His shadow burrowed deep into the egg sac, trying to wrench out the core.

The baby spiders fought desperately. The egg sac clung stubbornly to the core, its webbing too densely knit to tear easily.

Hee-ro clicked his tongue, grabbed one of the baby spiders via his shadow, and lifted it high. Its eight legs flailed wildly. A spider raised on the flesh of its mother and siblings was far too big to be called a “baby.”

Hee-ro’s shadow clamped down on the spider’s venomous fangs.

Ggggghhhk!

It was the most agonizing scream they’d heard in this dungeon. The fangs’ deep roots—buried almost into the creature’s brain—were yanked free, trailing with them something no one wanted to identify.

Even at that gruesome sight, Hee-ro didn’t flinch. He plunged the fangs into the egg sac, stabbing repeatedly like they were knives, digging out the monster core.

When half of it was exposed, he simply tore it free by brute force. Egg sac remnants clung grotesquely to the core, but he didn’t care.

Kieeek!

The baby spiders shrieked and dropped dead one after another. The unhatched eggs turned pitch black, then shriveled with a hiss as though the air were sucked out of them.

“You want it?”

Hee-ro held out the massive monster core generously. But the two surviving party members recoiled, shaking their heads with terrified expressions. Considering the core’s size and quality, it was worth more than most gate cores. Their refusal confused him.

Aren’t hunters supposed to risk their lives for a core?

Hee-ro simply tossed the giant core over the cliff. Behind him, the dungeon exit opened with a whoosh. A cool breeze blew through.

“W-We’re alive…!”

The two party members pressed their palms together like they were praying and shouted in relief. Hee-ro turned to leave without a hint of emotion—but the two immediately grabbed his pant leg.

“Um… could you save the ones who were captured…?”

They pointed to the bodies still wrapped in webs across the chamber.

“Ah…”

Hee-ro made a face like he’d genuinely forgotten. The party members nearly shouted, How do you forget that!? but swallowed the words and instead looked as pitiful as possible.

With a wave of Hee-ro’s hand, three cocoons thudded to the ground beside them. The two rushed over, scratching frantically with their bare nails. They didn’t care if their nails broke—they just wanted to save their comrades.

A combination of someone with overwhelming power but no team spirit, and people with no ability but plenty of camaraderie.

Hee-ro tossed them a water bottle from his bag.

“Use that to cut it.”

“Th-thank you!”

They hadn’t had drinking water left, so they were waiting for resupply. The gesture moved them to tears. The party member with ice-type abilities froze the water and used the sharp ice to slice the cocoons open.

The rescued members were ghost-pale, but slowly regained color and consciousness. They couldn’t move well from the paralysis, but being alive and whole was miracle enough. They bowed deeply to thank him.

Now only Yoo Ho-bin and Park Jun-soo remained on the other side.

Watching the baby spiders die in a flash, Yoo Ho-bin collapsed. He tossed away the spider leg he’d been gripping. Then he slapped Park Jun-soo’s cheek, foam bubbling at the man’s lips. The fire had died down, leaving only thick, acrid smoke.

“You gonna die here? Huh? You gonna f*cking die here?”

Jun-soo’s body twitched violently at his words. He blinked slowly. His eyesight was ruined beyond repair. He could only sense something vaguely in front of him.

The center of his vision was a gaping void, like a black hole. Through the blurry right side, he could barely make out Ho-bin’s face.

Rrrrrumble—

From deep below came a sound, and the ground rose, forming a path they could walk.

Ho-bin staggered up, broke off the end of the spider leg, and tossed it to Jun-soo. Using it as a cane, Jun-soo felt his way forward. Ho-bin spat out a glob of bloody phlegm.

Let’s see what happens now.

He glared fiercely at Yu Hee-ro’s retreating back.

The moment they stepped out through the crack on the 32nd floor, the surviving party members bolted straight out of the gate. But Jun-soo and Ho-bin stayed. Despite their injuries being the worst, they remained.

They were in no condition to continue. But Ho-bin’s eyes were full of fury as he stared at the next dungeon entrance.

“It’s all fucked anyway. It’s do-or-die. We’re going to the end, f*ck.”

He looked at his useless right arm and mangled left ankle and smirked. Sanity was gone. He chewed a random herb torn from the gate wall—possibly poisonous—but the pain dulled, so he didn’t care.

Yu Hee-ro did not rest even for a second. He walked straight toward the door of the 33rd floor.

Rumble. The door vibrated.

“Guess someone’s in there?”

Hee-ro’s face lit up instantly. Ho-bin mocked him:

“Oh, now you want to rest? Look at your face lighting up. Pretended to be such a badass—guess even you get tired, huh?”

But Hee-ro didn’t hear a word. His eyes filled with hope—like a man who’d found an oasis in the desert.

Hyung… he might be in there…

His heart thumped. He had endured so much. And finally—

The 33rd floor… it’s the perfect place to reunite.

He imagined telling Sung Ji-woo how hard everything had been, exaggerating just a little like someone seeking comfort. Ji-woo would surely hug him, tell him he’d suffered enough, and promise they’d move forward together now.

The sealed dungeon door looked to Hee-ro like the gates of heaven.

So without hesitation—he tore it open.

“You crazy bastard! What are you doing!?”

Ho-bin’s horrified voice didn’t even reach him.

“At last…”

Like a man possessed, Yu Hee-ro stepped forward.