Was Happy Being a Despised F-Rank Healer, You Know? - Chapter 77
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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11. For the Half-Human (3)
“…Then let’s go together.”
He said.
“I can’t leave you alone.”
“That sounds like something I should be saying?”
At my retort, Gong Seo-yun finally smiled.
“Well, I’ll be.”
The preparations didn’t take long.
This dungeon wasn’t an official raid.
It wasn’t guild-supported, nor under the school’s name.
It was a gray area, ambiguous for individuals to enter.
I reorganized my potion bag.
Recovery types.
Mental stabilization types.
And just in case, experimental mutation suppressants.
This time, variety was more important than quantity.
Gong Seo-yun checked his equipment.
His movements were without waste.
It was the way of someone who had fought alone for a long time.
“We’ll drive to the dungeon entrance.”
He said.
“It’s a time when there are no people around.”
The car was quiet.
The radio wasn’t turned on either.
Only the engine sound continued steadily.
I looked out the window and thought.
This dungeon had a high possibility of being different from what I knew.
Like the Final Dungeon.
Like there had been unexpected interference.
“Hali.”
Gong Seo-yun spoke without taking his eyes off the steering wheel.
“By any chance… are you certain?”
I took a breath for a moment.
“I’m not certain.”
And I added honestly.
“But there’s a possibility.”
He didn’t ask any more.
That was Gong Seo-yun’s way.
When the car stopped, the surroundings were already getting dark.
Below the low mountain ridge, there was a dungeon entrance that looked like an old structure.
The management markings were faint, and the sealing traces were about half broken.
“This is it.”
He said.
The air near the entrance was strangely humid.
Along with the cold energy, it felt like old mana had stagnated.
I tightened my potion bag once more.
“Once we go in, you don’t need to stand in front.”
Gong Seo-yun said.
“I’ll go first.”
“Then I’ll handle the information sharing.”
I replied.
“If I notice any strange reactions, I’ll tell you right away.”
He nodded briefly.
The moment we stepped into the dungeon, the air changed.
I felt completely different pressure from outside.
Breathing became a little heavier.
The passage was narrower than expected.
Old scratch marks remained on the walls.
They were traces that weren’t human.
“From here.”
Gong Seo-yun said quietly.
“This is where the kid first disappeared.”
I examined the floor.
The flow of mana was irregular.
Some parts were cut off, and some looked like they were forcibly connected.
“…The dungeon itself is unstable.”
I said.
“It’ll get worse the deeper we go.”
He gripped his sword a little tighter.
We slowly moved inward.
Small monsters popped out here and there, but they weren’t threatening.
Gong Seo-yun’s movements were precise, and I only handed him potions when necessary.
“This dungeon wasn’t originally structured like this.”
He said.
“Right.”
I answered briefly.
“Someone tampered with it.”
At those words, Gong Seo-yun’s shoulders stiffened.
He gritted his teeth.
The deeper we went, the heavier the air became.
Faint sounds came from the walls.
Sounds that seemed like breathing, or perhaps crying.
I stopped.
“Seo-yun.”
He immediately turned around.
“What is it.”
“Up ahead.”
I pointed at the floor.
“We need to be careful. The reactions change from here.”
He nodded and slowed down.
And then, a form began to appear at the end of the passage.
A silhouette caught between human and monster.
It was a familiar yet strange shape.
Gong Seo-yun’s breathing wavered for a moment.
“…There it is.”
He said.
Looking at that form, I made a resolution in my heart.
This time, I won’t run away.
This time, I won’t just calculate.
As much as I can solve, I’ll go to the end.
***
The deeper we went into the dungeon, the more noticeably the air density changed.
Every time I inhaled, I felt the inside of my lungs cool down.
It was the unique sensation of a space where mana was concentrated.
I slowed my steps and alternately examined the floor and walls.
The flow of mana wasn’t consistent.
Rather than a naturally generated dungeon, it felt strongly like something had forcibly shaped its framework.
“Here.”
I said in a low voice.
“From here on, we need to be careful.”
Gong Seo-yun nodded silently.
His gaze was fixed toward the end of the passage.
Though he was clearly tense, there was no wavering.
As we went a little further, the space suddenly widened.
It was a hall-like section with a high ceiling.
On the floor, blackened traces remained in a circular pattern.
They looked like dried bloodstains, but the color was too dark.
“Here.”
Gong Seo-yun stopped.
“The child disappeared here.”
I looked down at my feet.
The grain of mana was gathered as if being sucked into one point.
It was a trace of absorption.
It was similar to the reaction left when a person was dragged in whole.
“This dungeon.”
I said, catching my breath.
“It’s a devouring structure. The type that feeds on living beings to sustain itself.”
Gong Seo-yun’s hands stiffened a bit more.
“Then still…”
“Yeah.”
I nodded.
“There’s a high possibility it’s not completely over.”
Before I could even finish those words, the air trembled.
The dark traces remaining on the floor began to move slowly.
As if shadows were taking shape on their own.
“It’s coming.”
Gong Seo-yun said briefly.
At the same time as his words, a form rose from the center.
It looked like a mixture of a human’s upper body and a monster’s lower body.
The face was distorted beyond recognition, and where the mouth should have been, only a black crack remained.
“It’s the first boss.”
I muttered.
Gong Seo-yun didn’t answer.
He was already moving.
His sword cut through the air, aiming for the monster’s side.
There was no sensation of metal cutting flesh.
Instead, a gel-like stretching resistance was transmitted along the blade.
“Physical resistance.”
Gong Seo-yun gritted his teeth.
The monster reacted.
Its arm stretched out and swung toward Gong Seo-yun.
The speed was fast.
It was at a level that was barely manageable with human reflexes.
I immediately took out a bottle from my bag.
“Seo-yun, back!”
When I threw the bottle on the floor, a transparent liquid spread and dispersed through the air.
‘Grain Fixing Potion’.
It was meant to temporarily solidify the flow of mana.
The monster’s arm movement momentarily slowed down.
Gong Seo-yun didn’t miss that opportunity.
He stepped back and created distance.
“It’s effective.”
He said briefly.
“It won’t last long.”
I immediately added.
“We need to find the core.”
I carefully observed the monster’s movements.
The attack pattern was simple.
However, the regeneration speed was abnormally fast.
It was continuously drawing energy from somewhere.
“The floor.”
I shouted.
“The center of the floor, that pattern!”
Gong Seo-yun shifted his gaze.
At the center of the floor, the circular trace that had remained dark was faintly glowing.
The monster’s body and the floor were connected like threads.
“It’s being sustained from there.”
I said.
Gong Seo-yun nodded.
“Then I’ll cut it.”
He changed direction and leaped toward the floor.
The monster immediately reacted to block him, but I was already preparing the next potion.
“Now!”
I threw the bottle.
This time, instead of an explosion, a compressed shock spread out.
The monster’s body momentarily stiffened.
It wasn’t completely stopped, but it was enough.
Gong Seo-yun’s sword struck the floor pattern precisely.
The sharp sound of metal cutting stone rang out.
At that moment, the entire space shook.
The monster made a strange noise as if screaming.
The darkness that formed its body cracked and scattered into the air.
“Got it.”
Gong Seo-yun said, breathing heavily.
The monster’s form rapidly collapsed.
The dark traces that had remained on the floor also gradually faded.
However, I knew it was still too early to feel relieved.
This dungeon was a staged type.
It had a structure that created multiple layers of cores based on the life forms it devoured.
“It’s not over, is it?”
Gong Seo-yun asked.
“Yeah.”
I shook my head.
“This is just the beginning.”
Inside the hall, I could see a passage where darkness still remained.
From beyond it, I felt the resonance of even deeper mana.
I shouldered my bag again and exhaled steadily.
Gong Seo-yun also readjusted his stance.
“The next one will be stronger.”
I said.
He smiled briefly.
“But we’ve made it this far.”
I nodded at those words.
There was no turning back now.
Even after the first boss collapsed, the dungeon’s atmosphere didn’t lighten.
Rather, the deeper we went, the stronger the strangely suffocating feeling became.
It wasn’t the density of mana, but a pressure that weighed down on our senses themselves.
“From here on, the nature changes.”
I said cautiously.
“It’s not the same type as before.”
Gong Seo-yun nodded silently.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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