Chapter 43

Not only Kim Myung-jun, but everyone in the Hwashin Clan was frozen by Yoo Ju’s words. They too had realized that the situation was taking a strange turn.

The attempted murder of Joo Seung-hwan’s trainee was clearly the fault of the Hwashin Clan.

Even if we had brought it up first, there would have been nothing to say, but since Kim Myung-jun mentioned it first, they must have realized that the situation was turning against them.

In the end, Park Da-rim firmly spoke to Kim Myung-jun.

“…I think it would be best to apologize, Myung-jun.”

“…Huh?”

Kim Myung-jun questioned as if he really needed to apologize.

‘Pride is such a useless thing.’

Bowing your head once would have been enough, but because of pride, the situation worsened.

Originally, I didn’t plan to escalate the situation this much. The best plan would have been for everyone to work together and conquer the dungeon.

However, Kim Myung-jun provoked us first, and the fact that he was close to Joo Seung-hwan got on my nerves.

‘If this continues during the expedition, it’ll be troublesome.’

In a way, he’s a potential enemy. If he’s really as stubborn as they come and doesn’t grasp the situation, things could get out of hand…

But I didn’t think he was that stubborn.

In the end, Kim Myung-jun seemed to realize that the situation was against him and bowed his head in apology.

“…I’m sorry, Lee Yun-seong. I must have misunderstood.”

Others might not see it, but I could see him biting his lip as he bowed his head.

Honestly, Kim Myung-jun did provoke me, but by my standards, he didn’t cross the line.

I wasn’t annoyed enough to completely cut ties, but I thought it was best to humble him now for the sake of the upcoming dungeon expedition.

Everyone probably knows that my left arm was shattered and then healed. At least, the rumor must have spread throughout Baronia.

Perhaps because of that, even some members of the Hwashin Clan looked at Kim Myung-jun as if he were trash.

Feeling his reputation drop in real-time, he began to apologize urgently in a serious tone.

“I-I’m really sorry. I-I didn’t mean for this to happen!”

‘Should I stop here?’

My original goal was just to find out if he was close to Joo Seung-hwan, not to create this kind of situation.

“Sigh… It’s fine. I know you didn’t mean it, senior. Thinking about it, I might have caused the misunderstanding by not speaking clearly.”

“That’s right! It was a misunderstanding on both sides. Hahaha…!”

Something about it felt off.

‘Well… he sure knows how to take the opportunity I gave him.’

******

With that little incident resolved, we continued with the dungeon raid.

“Hyeon-jin, Yoo Rim! To the left…! Uncle Ho-won and I will block the right. Yoon-seong, prepare some magic just in case!”

Yoo Ju gave orders as we steadily cleared the monsters and advanced deeper into the dungeon.

The Hwashin Clan was also progressing smoothly.

“Grrrrr—!”

In an instant, Yoo Rim was in danger of being attacked by an Evil Eye’s claw, but Yoo Hyun activated a shield.

“Shield of Protection!”

*Thud.*

The Hwashin Clan members, seeing the shield for the first time, looked surprised as the attack bounced off.

“…That’s the Priest of Protection.”

“Damn, it’s on a whole different level from healing…”

I could see them admiring the shield Yoo Hyun had activated.

One thing I noticed during the dungeon raid was that while no one made any major mistakes, Yoo Rim, who uses a dagger, was more vulnerable to attacks.

‘The weapon’s reach is too short.’

Honestly, among our party’s close combatants, Yoo Rim is the least talented. You might argue that Hyeon-jin is, but Hyeon-jin has a strong will, a hero-grade trait.

On the other hand, Yoo Rim has a rare-grade trait, and her weapon’s short reach makes it feel like she’s walking a tightrope.

I’m not saying Yoo Rim is below average in talent, but strictly speaking, she’s not in the top tier either.

It’s nerve-wracking to watch her fight. Yoo Hyun also always looks anxious whenever Yoo Rim joins the battle, often glancing her way.

After the battle ended safely, Yoo Rim let out a sigh.

“Phew…”

I approached her and asked how she was doing.

“…Are you okay?”

“Ah… Yes, oppa. I’m fine.”

“…If it’s too much, just say so. You can step back and take a break.”

She’s young, so I worry about her more than the others.

“I’m really fine, oppa. You don’t have to worry so much.”

“…That’s good to hear.”

As we were cleaning up and moving on, Lee Jae-hyo and Yoo Ju suddenly turned around sharply.

The two of them turned around with serious expressions, so I followed suit and looked back, only to see…

‘What the hell is that?’

A pale, ghostly figure appeared behind Yoo Hyun in mid-air and swung a knife-shaped blade in an instant.

– Heeheehee! Die!

Just as Yoo Ju was about to rush forward, Lee Jae-hyo quickly closed the distance and thrust his spear, infused with magic, causing the spirit to scream.

– Hieeeeeeeee—!

“Uh, uh?”

As Yoo Hyun’s legs gave out and he collapsed, Yoo Rim immediately rushed to his side to check on him.

“Y-Yoo Hyun! Are you okay?!”

“Y-Yeah…”

Before the rest of our party, except Yoo Ju, could ask Lee Jae-hyo what had just appeared, he answered our curiosity first.

“…It’s a Wraith. Also known as an evil spirit or a vengeful ghost.”

I asked about the monster’s name, which I was hearing for the first time.

“Is that the name of the monster that just appeared behind Yoo Hyun?”

“Correct.”

Immediately, Park Da-rim approached Lee Jae-hyo and spoke.

“Lee Jae-hyo… This is…”

“…It seems the dungeon’s rating was miscalculated.”



It seems so. From now on, I will consider this dungeon as a rare-grade dungeon.

‘Is it because of the monster that just appeared?’

What kind of monster is this that the dungeon’s grade suddenly increased just because of it?

Out of curiosity, I asked Lee Jae-hyo.

“….Could you please explain in detail about the Wraith?”

“Of course. The Wraith is a monster that is extremely difficult to detect before it reveals its form. Even top-tier players struggle to sense it.”

‘Is it that hard?’

It felt strange. A dungeon with such a hard-to-detect monster is only a rare-grade dungeon?

Excluding the myth-grade dungeons that have never been discovered before, considering that dungeons have grades like normal, rare, hero, and legend, a rare-grade dungeon should be of average or slightly lower difficulty.

Perhaps noticing my doubt, Lee Jae-hyo continued.

“However, it’s not impossible to detect. Since it’s a ghost-type monster with malice or evil intent, if you anticipate and focus, the difficulty of detection decreases.”

“I see.”

“Also, dealing with it is simple. Magic-based players can use magic or purification spells, and close-range fighters like me can imbue weapons with magic to strike it.”

In short, detecting it is tricky, but dealing with it isn’t that difficult.

“Still, for newcomers like you, facing a ghost-type monster for the first time can be overwhelming, so dungeons with Wraiths are usually rated as rare-grade or higher.”

‘So, it’s not for complete beginners, huh?’

Suddenly, after hearing about the Wraith, a brilliant idea came to mind. I had a question for Lee Jae-hyo.

“This is just out of curiosity, but if a Wraith doesn’t harbor malice or evil intent and doesn’t reveal its form, can players still detect it?”

Lee Jae-hyo seemed to be deep in thought, as if he had never been asked such a question before.

“….Honestly, I haven’t encountered such a situation, so I can’t say for sure, but it seems almost impossible. Are you assuming a scenario where the Wraith is just watching us?”

“Yes, that’s right. For example, imagine a ghost that doesn’t intend to harm us. It just follows us around without revealing itself, only listening to what we say.”

To utilize the idea I had, I absolutely needed an answer to this question. If I could use this idea, it would become the most powerful weapon for me.

After hearing my words, Lee Jae-hyo spoke.

“….In my opinion, except for a very few people, most wouldn’t notice. Usually, in this world, like me, top-tier or high-tier players detect monsters by sensing their presence or malice.”

“By a very few people, you mean…?”

“Hmm… For example, on Earth, it would be like shamans. There must be a very small number of people on this continent who can see or sense spirits.”

That’s enough. This time, I asked something else.

“….As far as I know, most monsters drop materials or catalysts with a certain probability when defeated. Is it the same for Wraiths?”

“Ah… Yes. Wraiths also occasionally drop materials or catalysts.”

That’s sufficient. This is worth experimenting with. After this expedition, I’ll have something to test when I return to the city.

“My questions might have been a bit odd, but thank you for answering them.”

Lee Jae-hyo couldn’t deny that the questions were strange and answered with a laugh.

“Haha… It’s nothing. It’s fine.”

Our party members seemed curious about why I asked such questions. Even Yoo Ju looked very curious about why I asked them.

‘It’s a secret.’

The fewer people who know about my experiment, the better. I don’t need to go around blabbing about it.

As we ventured further into the dungeon, Wraiths began to appear.

I had anticipated their appearance, so I had already cast a spell in advance.

“Wall of Fire.”

As they materialized and tried to attack, I activated the spell, and they started burning.

Whoosh—

– Eeeeeeeeeeeek—!

The problem was that my mana pool is so poor that my mana was halved in an instant.

‘Damn it, mana capacity is always the issue…!’

Looking over at the Hwashin Clan, Kim Myung-jun, being a light mage, started taking down Wraiths with light-attribute magic.

‘….He’s skilled.’

Definitely worth the hero-grade performance.

In the previous situation, since it was our first time facing Wraiths, Lee Jae-hyo stepped in. Now, he’s standing by, observing how we handle them.

‘Probably, reports on how we responded in battle are being sent to the Clan Master.’

They wouldn’t just assign a player like him solely as a protector.

As we gradually cleared the Wraiths that appeared, collecting the occasional materials and catalysts, we reached a room that looked like an altar.