The entrance to a building that had been closed for a long time.
There, Rohan’s kick — *THUD!* — slammed into it like a battering ram.
The rusted hinges shattered, revealing the interior.
Inside the building, where the lights were dead, the only light came from the sunlight passing through the windows.
Thorny vines, like tangled wires, covered the floors and walls.
But unlike the monsters they had encountered so far, these didn’t rush at them despite being within striking distance. They remained eerily quiet.
Sion raised an eyebrow at the mysterious scene.
“Are these vines unable to parasitize objects?”
“Who knows, maybe they’ve already parasitized something,” Rohan replied, racking his brain for clues.
He then pointed triumphantly at a poster stuck to the wall.
The faded poster had miraculously preserved a hint of what was to come:
**<Latest Central Management System Introduced!>**
The central management system mentioned here was on a completely different technological level from what Rohan remembered in his past life.
It wasn’t just a system that detected issues and notified the administrator. No, this was the ultimate system.
The central management system here aimed to manage the entire building autonomously, handling problems on its own.
“If that’s the case… this could be the worst scenario.”
“Ugh…”
Though Sion and Clara didn’t fully understand the technical details, the term itself gave them a bad feeling. They looked up at the towering building.
This building itself might be a giant monster.
“…”
Once that thought crossed their minds, it was hard to shake the feeling that they were willingly walking into the monster’s gaping maw.
Rohan could feel the tension radiating from the girls.
“Clara. Sion.”
“Huh…?”
“Don’t worry too much. I’ll find a way to get us out of here.”
“…”
It wasn’t just empty bravado. There was something oddly reassuring about Rohan’s words.
The vague feeling that Rohan would somehow figure it out made their hearts feel lighter.
“Since the only proper light inside is from the sun, we’ll stick to areas near the windows. When we need to search darker areas, we’ll use the flashlight on Clara’s phone.”
He planned to borrow Clara’s smartphone, which had a relatively full battery.
Clara nodded in agreement, and Rohan adjusted his dagger as a signal to move out.
He led the way, stepping into the building’s interior.
*THUD!*
Rohan set foot inside.
*Creak!* A security camera at the end of the hallway, covered in rust, moved with a grating sound. As expected, it recognized them as intruders the moment they entered.
The thorny vines on the floor writhed and lunged at them like snakes opening their jaws.
“Tsk…!”
Rohan clicked his tongue, lowered his stance, and swung his dagger, now glowing red with the *Blazing Blade* technique.
Sion and Clara also—
He swiftly cut through the vines rushing from multiple directions.
**Whack! Crunch!**
Thick, thorny vines swung like blind blades.
These vines wouldn’t be cut unless you put real force into it. They were tough and sturdy.
[+3P]
[+3P]
[+3P]
··
··
‘Just cutting vines gives 3 points each. The level’s definitely different.’
Rohan frowned at the thorny vines that spilled blood with just a graze.
The fact that it was the first injury in the dungeon wasn’t the issue.
Honestly, calling this a wound would be laughable.
The real problem was that the thorns tore through his sturdy Academy uniform and even his magically reinforced skin, leaving scratches.
‘I definitely need to stay alert from now on.’
Each of these vines is sharper and more dangerous than an average sword swing.
**Crunch! Crack!**
Ignoring the accumulating points, he focused.
How many times had he swung the red-hot dagger? The number of vines filling the corridor decreased, clearing his view.
Rohan fixed his gaze forward, moving his arm as he spoke.
“Sion.”
“Speak. I’m listening.”
Though not mentioned in the game, he had a vague guess that the security cameras moving upon entry might be the monsters’ line of sight.
It was possible to clear all the vines this way.
But this method was worth trying for what lay ahead.
“Can you take care of that camera at the end of the hallway?”
**Click! Bang!**
The moment Rohan finished speaking, a gunshot rang out.
“!”
And then, an unexpected reaction. The thorny vines twitched and stopped.
Rohan didn’t hesitate, plunging deep and swinging his heated dagger wide.
Sion and Clara also quickly dealt with the vines in their sight.
“Huff!”
He cut down the last vine standing like an angry snake.
**Whack!** A wet sound. The thick thorny vine tumbled to the ground.
[+3P]
A clear signal. Rohan finally let out a breath.
“Phew!”
“O-oppa! Your blood…!”
Rohan lightly reacted to Clara’s panicked voice, cutting off the mana flowing into his dagger.
“It’s just a scratch, so it’s fine. Anyway, they’re sharp, so both of you be careful.”
“…”
Rohan turned his head from the two, who were silently making complicated expressions, and looked toward the end of the hallway.
“I thought the camera might be securing their line of sight. Glad it worked.”
“Good insight.”
“I’d love to just set it on fire, but regular fire probably won’t work on these plants.”
“Yeah…! They’re super tough…!”
Plus, these things would trigger the building’s internal fire suppression system.
The building itself…
To bring down the building, it’s already a giant plant itself.
Even when thinking of ways to take shortcuts, finding the Monolith is the ultimate goal, so you’re forced to take the honest path.
“Let’s leave the basement for now. Let’s go up together.”
“No objections. Splitting up to search would be suicidal.”
Rohan strides forward confidently. Clara nods at Sion’s words and follows behind.
Rohan’s group didn’t even glance at the elevator they passed by.
It probably wouldn’t work anyway, and even if it did, using it here would be insane.
First, they tried opening the emergency exit slightly, but it was a place with no light.
Since it was narrow and filled with thorny vines that could choke you, Rohan’s group chose the wide central staircase instead.
‘It’s going to take some time to get to the 35th floor.’
Only Rohan knew that fact.
This building has 40 floors, including 5 underground levels. The boss is stationed on the 35th floor at the top. The Monolith is also in its possession.
…
…
With each floor they climbed, thorny vines poured down.
There were some easier sections since Sion used her pistol to smash every security camera in sight.
But in areas where the plants were so dense they blocked their vision, they were forced to keep fighting.
Sion and Clara remained unharmed, but Rohan’s wounds kept piling up.
His status screen showed bleeding, and the girls were giving him worried looks. Rohan drank a 100-point health potion and bought another one.
Fighting inside the building made time fly by quickly.
The timer showed it had already been 50 hours.
They filled their stomachs with combat rations in a corner of the 20th floor and took turns napping.
59 hours in.
It started taking longer and longer to climb each floor.
It wasn’t that Rohan’s group was having trouble. The thorny vines were becoming more aggressive and starting to react to Sion’s gunfire.
Despite their desperate resistance, Sion’s bullets pierced through the cameras with perfect accuracy whenever there was an opening.
62 hours had passed.
<30th Floor>
The building, having lost its eyes observing the intruders, seemed to send out other eyes in anger.
This time, they were on a different level than the security cameras.
*Clank! Clank!*
The heavy sound of machinery with a sense of weight.
Robots, recognizing the trio who had entered the 30th floor, rose from their positions.
“Must be the security robots stored inside.”
They were monsters in a parasitic state, something they’d seen countless times outside but for the first time inside the building.
This was also a signal that they were about to face real enemies from now on.
*─ Chi, chi, chi, intruder de…tected?*
*─ In…formation needed? Gui…de, gui…de, gui…ding in progress.*
Of course, there were no intact robots. Their heads with displays were spinning chaotically.
Going back, the voice is mixed with a horrifying noise.
The parasitic thorns inside give a completely ruined feeling.
Rohan, with his dagger stained red, warned the two.
“Did you notice that those thorns are tougher than the ones we saw outside?”
“Yeah…!”
“Felt it painfully. So, the monster itself might have high durability too.”
Just as Sion guessed.
The monster species with parasitic thorns is the same as the one we saw outside.
But to put it simply, those are like elites or named ones among Parasitic Ivies.
Even at the same level, they have superior stamina and attack power.
Stronger than regular monsters but weaker than bosses.
“Let’s deal with them before more come from the other side.”
“Alright.”
“Got it…!”
No need to say more now.
The two girls moved in their respective directions, and Rohan charged straight ahead.
─ Se, sentry…! Cl, cl, cl, cleaning… begins.
With a bizarre voice, the spinning display fixed itself.
Then, the robot’s arm assembled into a firearm.
Even before it fully formed, Rohan guessed what kind of weapon it was.
‘Minigun?’
With Rohan’s magic, he could probably handle a pistol with just a scratch.
But that’s a different story.
Tak tak tak tak──!
Rohan increased his running speed, quickly closing the distance.
As if to block his approach, thorns poured out like waves from the robot’s body.
Rohan knew he had to break through anyway.
Covering his face with both arms, he kicked off the ground and threw himself forward.
──Kwoong! The floor tiles shattered as Rohan’s body shot like an arrow, passing through before the thorns could fill the gap.
Arriving right in front of the robot, his body was torn and bleeding profusely.
Seeing the minigun assembly just completed, Rohan reached out and grabbed the robot.
‘Weakness Infliction.’
[Inflicts a physical attribute weakness on the target.]
