As a result of exploring the nearby area for an entire day, Woohyuk learned several things.

First. Unlike Adventurer's Canyon, there was no hunting ground for growth and development.

Second. Instead of a hunting ground, there were cl.u.s.ters of powerful monsters all over the place, and items dropped at a steady probability when one killed them.

Third. Among the items dropped, there was a boss summoning piece, but one needed to collect a total of 100 pieces to convert the pieces into one summoning ticket.

Fourth. If one summoned and defeated the boss monster, one can obtain items that were useful within the dungeon.

However, one difficulty was that the type of boss summoning piece that appeared in each of the three paths were different.

“I think the Awakened Queen Star Snake would be better than the b.l.o.o.d.y Basilisk,” Woohyuk murmured.

“Hik… Do I have to deal with that disgusting snake again? How about a Golden Griffon instead?” Reina whined.

“Irene and Leifina can't attack the Golden Griffon, Reina. Think a little before giving your opinion,” he responded.

“Why can't they attack? You have that one thing… a white horse with wings and a horn on its head,” Reina said as she was chewing on an apple in front of a campfire.

After a sigh, Woohyuk turned over the venison that he was grilling on a frying pan.

“Leifina has acrophobia, so she won't be able to use it. Irene might be okay,” he muttered.

“What is acrophobia? A fear of heights? That's a funny concept,” Irene commented from the side as she tilted her head.

When Reina saw Irene's reaction, she blurted out in an exasperated voice, “You don't even know what acrophobia is? What hole were you living in your entire life?!”

“A hole where chimeras come out from? Aris made me by remodeling the body of a dead saint,” Irene answered truthfully.

“Hey… Why are you telling me that now?!”

“Because you never asked,” Irene answered.

She then looked down at the plate above her lap, holding a fork and knife in her hands with a casual look.

Reina looked at Irene with her mouth wide open, unable to reply.

Irene continued to elaborately cut her venison steak into manageable pieces.

“Why does a chimerlike monster look so pretty and sophisticated?” Reina asked Woohyuk in disbelief.

“Don't keep calling her a monster, Reina. Irene is one of my most trusted va.s.sals.”

“I-I had no intention of using a condescending term. I was just surprised to hear that she was a chimera,” Reina blabbered on, constantly sweeping her chest with her hands to calm herself down.

Then Allen, who was next to her, spoke up, “The fact is, humans and elves may have been created by the Creator by remodeling them like a chimera. It's likely that this is why humans and elves can mate and give birth to offspring.”

“No more, don't say anything dirty! Allen! It doesn't sound right when coming from a guy who has been castrated!” Reina screamed.

“Although I gave up my manhood voluntarily, breeding itself is by no means a dirty act. It is a divine union and a.s.sociated with creation…”

Like a university professor, Allen began giving her a lecture on the biological process of mating and reproduction.

When Reina was making a bored yet terrified look, Leifina couldn't help but laugh out loud.

“Hahaha…”

“W-Why are you laughing! You're a female knight who doesn't even know how to cook!” Reina yelled.

“Oh, sorry. The situation is so interesting…” Leifina said as she scratched her head with an embarra.s.sed face.

Looking upon the scene, Woohyuk remembered an old memory.

'She used to burst out laughing like that whenever we were about to eat. I guess some things didn't change from my previous life.'

Most of the time back then, she burst out laughing because she served them burnt black food.

This was why Woohyuk was in charge of cooking right now.

It was suicide for him to entrust this complicated task to the less socialized chimera or the elf, who was used to picking fruit and other edibles in the forest.

Of course, the same was true of Allen, whose cooking sense was not commensurate with his magic skill.

'Still, it's nice having Leifina next to me.'

Looking back on his past journeys, there were many times he couldn't be with her because of his busy schedule.

Now that he didn't know what would happen in the future due to the Creator's intervention, he promised himself to make a greater effort to make memories like this.

As Woohyuk gazed at Leifina, Reina noticed his stare and scootched next to him to whisper, “Oho! It turns out, Woohyuk, you're not like Allen, aye? Who's your favorite girl here?”

“… Don't mutter such useless things,” he answered in a tired tone.

“You haven't married Eleanora of the Holy Aperian Empire yet, right? Well, although she looks pretty, I don't think she's your type for some reason. Maybe an obedient knight like Leifina is?”

“W-Wh-What are you talking about…!” Leifina stuttered out with fright. Her face turned bright red as she swung her arms around to somehow stop the conversation from continuing.

Reina giggled and laughed as she found Leifina's reaction entertaining.

“Look at that, Leifina seems to be interested in Woohyuk too? She's honestly better looking than Eleanora,” Reina continued.

“You must be bored, Reina. An elf who is as active and playful as you also has its own charm,” he replied.

“… Oh, really? Thanks for the compliment. Anyway, so who is your choice?” Reina got up as she asked, trying to force Woohyuk to answer quickly.

Woohyuk frowned his brow for a while and then decided to answer honestly, “Leifina.”

“I knew it! I knew you liked that poison producing cook!”

“Why, are you jealous?” Woohyuk asked.

“Well, no, why would I be…”

At his unexpected counterattack, Reina was embarra.s.sed and momentarily lost.

After a sigh, Woohyuk transferred his fully cooked venison steak to a plate.

“Unintentionally, we've received four days of relative rest, but don't let your guards down. There's a possibility that someone may attack us in the middle of the night,” he warned.

“Are you talking about a monster? We've installed defensive barriers, so if they approach us, we'll know…” she said confidently before her voice trailed. She raised her pointed ears and paused her speech.

Woohyuk also stopped cutting the steak and narrowed his eyes.

“There's one. Its physique is about the size of an adult male, and he's holding a sword with both hands,” Woohyuk quietly stated.

“Is it a survivor of the epic dungeon? Why would it be spying on us?” Reina asked.

“It looks like whatever it is has gone through some tough times. We'll have to ask him directly after we get ahold of him,” Woohyuk calmly stated before he disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Before long, someone's scream rang out from afar.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”

First observation, it was definitely not a monster.

When Woohyuk brought the intruder to the camp, the party members were taken aback.

“So young?”

“… He can't be over 12 years old…”

“His height is similar to Song Anna…”

He was a short boy armed with a sword.

He was a martial artist from the Lioness Kingdom.

Woohyuk tied him up with some rope and started asking questions, “Where are the other survivors?”

“T-There are none! Everyone is dead except me!”

“Your name is?”

“Ajin. I live in a small village under Jeon-Ryun Mountain.”

According to Ajin's words, one day, after a group of bandits attacked his village, he fled to this place.

He knew the geography of Jeon-Ryun Mountain well because he often spent time in the mountains digging up herbs.

However, he was saying that everyone else perished while only he managed to escape and survive.

“Do you expect me to believe that?” Woohyuk asked incredulously.

“D-Do you think I had some pipedream of striking it rich? I never wanted to enter this terrifying place! I haven't even learned martial arts properly!” Ajin screamed as he struggled back and forth under the restrictions of the rope.

Leifina looked down at him with a sad expression.

“What he says seems to be true, my Lord. How about freeing him now?”

“No, I'll leave him that way for now.”

Woohyuk intuitively sensed that Ajin was lying about something through his super senses.

But he didn't know exactly what Ajin was lying about.

He needed to find out while doing some more face-to-face interrogation.

As Woohyuk sat back down to finish his venison steak, Ajin yelled out with an exasperated expression, “Do you really think you have time to eat a leisurely meal like that? The nights here are far worse than you think!”

“What do you mean? Do monsters come out?” Leifina asked.

“Eve told you to survive here for three days, right? Do you think she gave you guys that a.s.signment to spend time leisurely like this? You over there, you may have already noticed a little because you're an elf,” Ajin replied with a hint of condescending anger in his voice.

Reina tilted her head once he pointed her out. She had no idea what he was talking about.

Ajin sighed as if the people in front of him were pathetic losers.

“Listen, the Wind G.o.d's followers are hiding in these ruins. They are quiet during the day, but at night, when it's dark, they appear out of nowhere and cut your throat with a sharp blade,” he said with a serious face.

“Looks like you're talking about the Night Fairies,” Woohyuk murmured.

Night Fairies.

They were fairies who ruthlessly punished adventurers who tried to steal the treasure of the Wind G.o.d.

Often referred to as black fairies, as they only appeared in the dark, they were an annoying opponent because of their quick movements and magic ability.

… At least, this was the case for the average adventurer…

Slice!

When Woohyuk swung Verserios, a black fairy was cleanly sliced in half and fell to the floor silently.

Woohyuk picked up the two little body parts and threw them right into the campfire.

“The black fairy has a habit of flocking to where their people die through scent. So, burn them right away,” he instructed.

“They're hiding in the shadows… we have to be alert,” Reina commented nervously.

“I didn't even know in my dreams that there was such a thing. It would be really dangerous when one sleeps, right?” Leifina asked, also nervous.

When Ajin saw this scene unfolding, he opened his mouth to speak, “If you release me, I'll give you more useful information! Remember, I've survived here for a week!”

“How can an ordinary boy survive a week alone in such a dangerous place? Who the h.e.l.l are you?” Woohyuk said as he looked down at Ajin with menacing eyes.

Having practiced and developed his martial skills in the Lioness Kingdom in his previous life, he had in mind the possibility that Ajin could be a martial master who changed forms.

'A form-changer can make even an old man with a white beard become a naïve looking youth.'

In the first place, it didn't make sense that the martial artists who entered this s.p.a.ce would bring a young child to help them navigate the ruins.

If the group was divided into competing groups and fought for survival, having a child in one's group would be useless.

When Woohyuk showed an unyielding expression, Ajin relaxed his expression.

“Hah… I haven't seen other people in such a long time… I wanted to play with you guys a little, but I guess that won't work,” Ajin stated in a mature, adult male voice.

“So, what's your true ident.i.ty?”

“Me? If I told you I was the head of the Heavenly Magic Cult, would you know? Well, it seems like all of you are outsiders, so you may not know.”

“… I do know.”

Woohyuk nodded as if he finally realized the other person's ident.i.ty.

Heavenly Magic Cult.

As the name implied, he was a person who reached heights beyond the limits of magic.

In a way, he possessed a similar positioning to Woohyuk, but he was surely an enemy.

He was a tragic person who rampaged at will because he knew he was a little strong.

“Oh, you noticed who I am. If so, it'll be easier to talk, right? First off, admit your negligence and sin in front of me. Depending on the degree of your repentance…”

“You're pretty noisy. If you're going to attack, just do it quickly,” Woohyuk replied. He then stood up and took out Verserios.

With an expression of regret, Ajin cut off the rope that was restraining him by using his magic power.

“Such a waste. You seem like a pretty useful guy, so I tried to keep you alive. You seem to really have a death wish.”