We were attacked not long after the passageway had widened again. I pushed Woo Yeon-Hee aside and grabbed the chin of a head that sprang from the ground. It had two sharp poisonous fangs and wasn’t able to struggle for long no matter how hard it resisted. As I pulled the head out, Woo Yeon-Hee stepped in quickly. She grasped its antenna with one hand and sliced it off with a dagger with the other hand twice in a row.

Swoosh, swoosh-

She tucked her arm deep inside the jaw I forcefully opened, and the dagger she held stabbed its nerve center.

[You have been distributed 2 points.]

[Total point: 2]

“They must have been the ones living up to the lair of the medium-sized Graf,” I muttered.

Woo Yeon-Hee looked at me with curiosity. The Grafs that swarmed us when we were poisoned were those living up to that point.

“I think we dealt with only half of the monsters in this dungeon,” I explained.

“I’ll keep an eye on them to make sure no one runs away this time.” She widened her eyes.

“That wasn’t your fault, so don’t take it to heart,” I said.

She asked to stop for a bit so she could replace her dagger and throw away the old one. However, her hand came out empty from her backpack.

“I should have brought more daggers.”

She now had to use the crossbow arrow as a weapon. Apparently, she was planning on using the arrows like a dagger and stab them into the Grafs’ eyes as there was insufficient time to aim and shoot an arrow when they popped out.

Her Agility was on the verge of an upgrade, and she needed time to become used to it. No one knew how long it would take, probably anywhere from days to weeks. Therefore, she had delayed opening boxes but now she had no choice. Even though it would take a long time, it was better to choose a safe option. She needed a proper weapon, not a fragile branch. I said when we arrived at a new pond, “Let’s open the box.”

We had originally agreed to open after conquering the dungeon, but Woo Yeon-Hee nodded without hesitation. She washed off the discomfort of putting her arm into a Graf’s mouth and returned after her ritual. She had a total of 2,082 points including 2 points from the previous one.

“Use points only on bronze boxes,” I said.

“What’s the goal?” she asked.

It was based on luck, but I explained, “A weapon you can use. It would be better if it’s similar to a dagger that you are familiar with.”

The first three gave points to increase her stats as the first one increased Strength by three, the second one increased Sense by one, and the third one increased Agility by six. She widened her eyes at remembering the precautions of upgrading Agility and immediately stopped opening the boxes.

She asked, “I only need six to upgrade the class of Agility. Should I continue?”

“Yes,” I responded.

Woo Yeon-Hee looked around quickly as she was conscious of Grafs even though it was quiet. Therefore, she finished her ritual faster than usual by washing her face and hands only. Her rituals had worked quite well so far.

“I’ll continue,” she said.

The fourth thing she got was…

[Woo Yeon-Hee has handed over the insignia ‘Reinforcement.’]

Nice! It was an F-class Reinforcement insignia. Although I didn’t explain the value of it, she was already aware of it. Her ritual worked again! Her smile told me this would be something she would keep doing in the future. She looked at me proudly with bright eyes, then turned her gaze to the air.

Her eyes stayed still for a long time, and I assumed she had opened another bronze box. She probably got a skill. She wouldn’t have known that I was being unusually considerate to explain everything to her. In fact, with my personality, this wasn’t something I would normally do.

“...I got a first place completion award,” she said.

I knew it!

The achievement of owning eight skills for the first time was called ‘Jack of All Trades.’ The trait a person earned for completing this achievement was usually worthless, and it was like this for easily completable achievements. It was just a thing that reminded me of the old days. However, the first and second place rewards were different as they were much better!

“You have completed the achievement ‘Jack of All Trades.’ You have obtained the trait ‘Fulfillment’ for being the first one to complete the quest. It lowers…”

Woo Yeon-Hee read the message, and according to her explanation, the trait was like this.

[Fulfillment (Trait)

Effect: It lowers a skill’s cooldown time by ten percent at a very low probability if you inflict severe damage on the target.

Class: F(0)

Cooldown time: 1 day]

It was a trait that could come out as a first-time completion reward.

“What’s the skill?” I asked.

She looked confused, and her expression was the same when she gained the skill ‘Hatred.’

“Confusion,” she said.

I could tell its effect by the title, and it was another mental attack skill. She now had eight skills.

Mary’s Hand: Physical Healing.

Physical Healing: Physical Healing.

Phobia Healing: Mental Healing.

Joy: Mental Healing.

Bravery: Mental Healing.

Hatred: Mental Healing[1].

Confusion: Mental Healing.

Night Eyes: General.

Although the skills were mostly for healers, having two attack skills meant a lot. Indeed, she was definitely stepping out of the box. Since her life was entirely up to me, I thought carefully.

“Remove Bravery,” I said.

The skill was actually harmful to me, and the points going into it were a waste.

“I did it. I’ll open the last box,” she replied.

Woo Yeon-Hee clenched her fist. Receiving a weapon from the last box was almost impossible, but there was hope. Her gaze turned down. Her right hand was open, and she started staring at the object placed there. There was a sharp dagger. This is why people got addicted to entering dungeons.

She covered her mouth with her left hand and jumped up and down. Her face turned red from stifling a shout. I reached out my hand toward her, and she showed the item to me with a trembling hand.

[Dagger of Erosion (item)

Effect: It slightly increases the damage the user causes.

Class: F(0)]

Boxes offered a variety of weapons. Even if it was an ordinary F-class dagger, it was nice since no one knew when she would get a weapon next time. I returned the dagger to her, and she spoke in excitement.

“I’ll use it well and give it back to you later,” she said.

“No, just don’t lose it. I’ll get you a sheath as a gift when we get back,” I replied.

Woo Yeon-Hee loved the dagger as she said it suited her movements better than the old one. It was a natural reaction since she had only used regular daggers tailored at Namdaemun market.

***

It was confirmed that choosing the right side at the crossroad had been a mistake. Although there was a dungeon box at the end of the passageway as if it was a reward for choosing the wrong path, Woo Yeon-Hee suffered from a fever for three days. On top of that, she had pain as if her flesh had been nibbled on by Grafs. My heart sank whenever she moaned since I had experienced it before.

Fortunately, there was no occasion when hundreds of monsters attacked us. There were two that tried to escape during the battle, but one was blocked by the Medal of Restraint and the other one by the Ruler’s Ring. Anyway, Woo Yeon-Hee couldn’t even drink water for three days. The trait Revival wasn’t activated in a poisoned state as it only worked when the user had serious external wounds like broken bones and lacerations.

“What about the dagger?”

Woo Yeon-Hee looked for it as soon as she could think straight.

“I have it. How do you feel?” I asked.

“I got better. How long has it been?” she questioned.

“Three days,” I replied.

“...I’ve been a burden to you.”

I said firmly, “I would’ve already abandoned you if that was the case. Don’t waste your energy on useless stuff. Let’s eat first.”

I realized the previous intersection was the last one we would encounter in the dungeon. I felt the left route would lead us to the boss fight.

[Your Health has increased by 6.]

I got that out of the dungeon box.

***

The Graf corpses we killed were all over the place when we headed back to the intersection. Woo Yeon-Hee kept her mouth shut by my order since we were more careful than ever. During the three days when Woo Yeon-Hee suffered from the poison, I had not seen a single reconnaissance Graf, and this didn’t make sense considering their natural habits. I had a feeling that they returned after seeing the dead.

This meant they were lying in ambush, but I had no idea where. It might happen at any time anywhere. They probably were waiting for us from the ceiling or deep in the ground, and the biggest problem was how many of them were hiding. This was why I had already activated Odin’s Wrath. The ceiling was far from us, but we were right on the ground. Blue flames sparked from my feet into the ground. Although the attack would be ineffective, it was better than nothing.

“Get ready, Woo Yeon-Hee,” I said.

We neared the intersection. If nothing showed up, I was planning to rest here.

Zzzzztttt!

The power that went down my entire body to the feet turned into blue sparks. As I focused on the ground and took big steps, a Graf sprang up in front of me as if it had been stabbed by pointed gimlets.

Thud!

Thud! Thud!

The whole ground shook, and giant centipedes popped out of the ground inconsistently, but not from the rear. The soil poured down from the ceiling, and I could see their antennae. I couldn’t tell the exact number, but there were many. All I could see were wriggling giant centipedes when the dust settled. Thankfully, we weren’t surrounded by them like their original plan.

[You have activated Gaia’s Will.]

All the antennae moved toward me. I activated the Ruler’s Ring and jumped into them while shooting Devi’s Sword toward them.

1. The author categorized both Hatred and Confusion under ‘healing’ for some reason ☜