Chapter 28 - Chapter 28 (1/2)

His heart began beating faster and faster. Because, the size of the box was rather familiar to him. His hands ripping open the box became far more urgent.

'As I thought!'

Jin-Woo's eyes grew wider. There was a golden key inside the box.

Indeed, it was the key to an instant dungeon, the one he'd been anxiously waiting for.

The information on the key appeared soon afterwards.

Tti-ring!

[Item: Key of the Demon's Castle]

Rarity: S

Category: Key

A key that will let you enter the 'Dungeon: Demon's Castle'. Can be used at the Daesung Tower located in Songpa-gu, Seoul.

"It's an S?"

Jin-Woo raised his voice in surprise.

Of course, there was no guarantee that the rarity ranking had any bearings on the difficulty of the dungeon. But, he couldn't think of it any other way.

The rarity 'E' key opened a dungeon that was on par with a Gate ranked E, after all.

What would he do if the difficulty of the instant dungeon turned out to be 'S', then?

Even with a raid team consisting solely of S-ranked Hunters, there was no definite guarantee that such a dungeon would be cleared.

The odds were around 50:50?

The difficulty of a Gate exploded upwards past the rank B, and even when looking through the entire world, there had been too few cases of S-rank Gates opening up in the world.

'One of them appeared on Jeju Island, though.'

Afterwards, the island of Jeju became an abandoned hellhole where no humans could exist.

Jin-Woo stared at the key in his hand for a long while.

'This is what I really wanted?'

If there was one silver lining to be found here, then that would be the explanation saying he'd be able to 'enter' the dungeon with this key, unlike the previous one which said he'd be 'transferred' instead.

The implication being that he could escape at any time if he felt like it.

Even if the key suddenly vanished from him, he still had the return stone from the last dungeon waiting to be used inside his Inventory as well. He was no longer worried about getting trapped behind an invisible wall like the last time.

'I've worked hard to earn this chance, so I can't throw it away like that now, can I?'

He simply had to confirm right away with his own two eyes whether this was what he really wanted or not.

Part 2. Demon's Castle

In front of the Daesung Tower.

A super-tall skyscraper over a hundred floors tall was standing straight as if to pierce the heavens above. Indeed, this was what the modern skyscraper should look like. Just looking up at it made him feel extremely dizzy.

There were only a few people walking around as it was already late evening now. The streets with not one soul on it gave off an eerie vibe.

'Still, I can't be sure, so....'

Jin-Woo took a good look around him, before pulling up the hood attached to his top to hide his face.

If someone saw a person disappearing and appearing again in thin air without a Gate around, that might cause a bit of ruckus. Not only that, there were several CCTV cameras installed here and there in the near vicinity, so it wasn't such a bad idea to avoid being too conspicuous.

….Actually, there was someone busy eyeing Jin-Woo right at that moment.

'Who could that kid be?'

To think, there would be a straggler wearing a hoodie busy loitering around the building at this time of the night....

The security guard watching on from inside the building found Jin-Woo's behaviour rather suspicious and stood up from his chair.

However, as this guard walked towards the door, he couldn't help but come to an abrupt stop and his eyes opened up real wider.

"Wha-what the heck?!"

The security guard gasped out in a surprise and hurriedly ran outside.

The man was definitely walking towards here, yet he had vanished from the view, just like that. Utterly without a trace.

The security guard searched around his vicinity, but he couldn't even spot an ant here.

He tilted his head this way and that, before turning around.

"Well, I'll be.... What a baffling thing that was."

The security guard was about to go back inside the building, but then, caught something in the corner of his eyes, and turned his head to see what it could be without thinking.

"U-uwaaahhk?!"

He cried out in shock as he fell hard on his butt.

"What, what, what the heck is going on here?!"

The security guard cried out with a pale face.

A person's disembodied hand floating in the air then vanished once more.

*

Jin-Woo retracted his hand.

'It's connected to the outside world.'

Unlike the last time, there was no invisible wall blocking his exit. The key also didn't disappear and remained tucked inside his pocket. If he wanted to, he could get out of here at any time, in other words.

'Now that I'm finished with confirming the escape route...'

Since he didn't know whether the rarity of the key equated to the difficulty of the dungeon, he was far more cautious than usual.

Jin-Woo pulled the hood back and took a look behind him.

"..."

It was a sight shocking enough to make him groan. Just now, when he was taking a few steps towards the Daesung Tower, the world in front of his eyes transformed in an instant.

Could this place even be called a dungeon anymore?

A completely different world was waiting for him.

Instead of the vanished Daesung Tower, a massive tower-like structure stood there.

'Wait, is that really a tower, or should I call it a castle, instead?'

A tower rising up high into the air without an end, wrapped in reddish black flames. It was as if the tower wasn't burning, but it was spewing out billowing flames, instead.

"A burning tower, huh."

Rather than the name of 'Demon's Castle', maybe that nickname suited it better. Jin-Woo slowly walked towards this burning tower.

Crackle! Pop!

The closer he got, the louder the noises of flames rampaging around grew.

'Can I even enter this thing in the first place?'

However, even if he did, there was yet another problem to consider.

Just like the last instant dungeon that was based off on the subway station, there was a good chance that, since this dungeon was based off on the Daesung Tower, he'd have to climb up 100 floors to clear it completely.

He couldn't even begin to imagine just how long that would take.

'Mm?'

Jin-Woo's steps came to a halt. He sensed a strong aura near the entrance.

He slowly surveyed the surroundings and spotted a black lifeform the size of a bull huddled in slumber right in front of the doorway.

Jin-Woo carefully summoned the Poison Fang of Kasaka.

Tti-ring.

[Item: Poison Fang of Kasaka]

Rarity: C

Type: Dagger

Attack +25

A dagger fashioned from the poison fang of the Kasaka. There are traces of the Kasaka's poison on it, so when attacking, it will cause Paralysis and Bleeding status effects. Can be stored in the Inventory, or can be sold at the Store.

Status effect 'Paralysis': the target will be unable to move. Success rate is fixed.

Status effect 'Bleeding': the target's stamina will be reduced by 1% per second.

Its attack power wasn't all that high, but the greatness of its added effects was proven in real battles time and time again.

'It'd be nice if the Paralysis works and I get to kill it easily.'

Jin-Woo walked as quietly as possible while approaching that creature. However, it was impossible to fool the olfactory senses of a monster. Soon enough, the creature sniffed the air and raised its body up.

'Che.'

Jin-Woo clicked his tongue.

The creature stood up completely and all three of its heads turned in Jin-Woo's direction.

[Hell's Gatekeeper, Cerberus]

It was a huge dog possessing three heads. The name written in red letters floating on top of its heads immediately drew his attention. It was proof that the monster's 'level' was very high.