Chapter 15 (1/2)

Chapter 15 – Day 5, 5th Floor

It was fortunate that the 4th day was a weekend. I had skipped the study group without any explanation, so the only excuse I could give retroactively was that I was in too much pain to have gone. I had a simple dinner and went back home. As I was walking back, I heard a sound in the alleyway next to the house.

”&h.e.l.lip;!?” It was An Su-hyun–A person who I had seen die with my own eyes. But that wasn’t the reason for my surprise. It was because he was holding a broomstick that I never once saw him use before.

The building management had always been the responsibility of his parents. Yet now the front yard was immaculately swept and the garbage s.p.a.ce was neatly organized.

Even the empty bottles were arranged for the collectors. The boxes were tied up with strings. After finis.h.i.+ng the sweeping, An Su-hyun started spraying a bucket with water.

Then his eyes met mine.

”&h.e.l.lip;”

He gave me a small nod. His eyes were free of any of the hostility that was normally present when he saw me. That's why it was even more surprising. His original self wouldn't have done such minor work or even acknowledged me.

”Yes, Father. I have changed the rubber plug in the sink of Room 502&h.e.l.lip;” He picked up a call as I walked pa.s.sed him.

As Yang Su-jin had explained, a person who died and revived wouldn't remember anything about the dungeon. If so, did it also change people? Was it like a fairy tale, where leaving the dungeon converted them? If so, it was something to be glad about.

But why? Was it a dissonance that his mind had created from his selfish, spoiled self? This thought remained in the corner of my mind. I would soon find out the cause.

Eject.

I took out the cloth bag from my inventory and placed the things I had prepared inside of it. The bag had less capacity than I thought because there were many 'different types.'

This was likely to work properly. Hopefully everything would go as I speculated. I stepped onto the staircase.

[5th floor, entered.]

As soon as I arrived, I could see that it was different from the previous floors. It was bright and noisy. It was like an auditorium or a playground.It was a big s.p.a.ce that seemed twice as large. The high ceilings seemed at least 6~7 stories tall.

There were also more than 100 people visible. “Oppa!” Yang Su-jin was right in front of me.

“I knew waiting here was the right answer! I came down the same stairs as Oppa so I thought we would show up in the same place.” There were no staircases anywhere around me. New people just appeared out of thin air.

“When did you get here?”

“Not long ago. One minute? Two minutes?” She looked at the wide s.p.a.ce like she couldn't believe it.

”Now these people&h.e.l.lip;”

“Surely we won't be fighting all of them?”

”We won't. Take a look over there.” Not far away from us, there were men exchanging blows. Or rather, they were trying to.

Listening to their words, the two men had explored the fourth floor together. One of them had pushed the other down the stairs, forcefully outing them from the dungeon. The purpose was to monopolize the items and monsters. After that, the traitor came down another set of stairs but the two of them had ended up in the same place. The victim and perpetrator tried to hit each other, but in the end, they couldn't reach. It was like an invisible wall had been sprayed with oil as any attacks just slipped off.

This was the floor of relaxation and exchange. However, the atmosphere wasn't particularly friendly. There was no one else with two people sitting around calmly, like Yang Su-jin and I. All of the people not fighting seemed to be alone. Rather than conversing with someone else, they were looking at people with the eyes of a predator.

It was natural. What had I gone through from the first floor to the fourth floor? Lions. All the people gathered here had done things in order to survive.

Apart from that&h.e.l.lip; My attention moved to the centre of the s.p.a.ce.

[■■■ Statue. Type: Golem Rank SS.]

[■■■ is a vessel made by harmonizing various materials. Unlike other golems, there is no control center, but it contains a high level of technology.]

[It is impossible to know whose voice will speak from it. Beware, even if it is just a servant, it is likely a messenger of a G.o.d.]

[Currently in an inactive state.]

It was a stone statue thousands of times larger than a gargoyle. It was kneeling but the head was almost touching the ceiling.

“Well, it seems to be two S's. Oppa, do you also see it?”

”Yes.” Naturally, it wouldn't be the S in the normal alphabetical order. I nodded towards Yang Su-jin. We moved to one corner of the wide s.p.a.ce and were able to look at the bigger picture.

The frequency of people appearing out of thin air was decreasing. After 10 more minutes, there were approximately 200 people in the room and no new people were arriving.

Kuuong.

[■■■ Statue. Active.]

The statue had started to move. ”What the!?”

”T-This&h.e.l.lip;!” Many people screamed in surprise or tried to run as far as possible away from the stone statue. However, there were a few exceptions. Some were only interested in the movements of the statue, as if they predicted it would happen. There were also people who closely examined the statue like I did.

Ojeok.

There was a crus.h.i.+ng sound from the head of the stone statue. A mouth formed on the face that had been as bland as a ghost.

[Yes, h.e.l.lo.]

It was a far too polite and soft voice. ”&h.e.l.lip;” This time, I was sure that everyone was confused.

[Let’s see&h.e.l.lip; Wah, a lot more arrived than I thought.]

As it spoke, the stone statue started to look everywhere.

[Welcome to the 5th floor! I am called 'Iphos' and I'm the mentor of this V9 area.]

Everyone became quiet.

[I am the servant of the one who brought everyone into this dungeon.]

How the thing was possessing the statue wasn't an important issue. What mattered was that it was the one who could give them information on the G.o.d who caused this mysterious phenomenon.

“Lord.” A middle-aged woman cried out and broke the silence. She held the cross hanging around her neck and looked up with an expression of reverence.

[Um. Sorry, but the one who sent me isn't your G.o.d.]