CH.72 The Forest Covered by Snakes (6)
-There are more dungeons than stars in the sky.
This famous saying comes from the explorer Holder, who was once renowned as a dungeon excavator. The conflict between monsters and Holder had been ongoing until now. Numerous dungeons had been discovered and conquered, but… There were still many undiscovered ones, and at this very moment, someone was registering a new dungeon with the association. This was why adventurers like Holder, who were determined to find undiscovered dungeons, were thriving.
‘As there are many, there are also many different types.’
Dungeons come in all sorts of forms. Just like the underground academy dungeon I first conquered, they can take the shape of caves, but also forests, mountains, oceans, deserts, and even village-like forms…
As Holder said, there are truly diverse types of dungeons in the world. Furthermore, in the latter part of the original work, there were cases of different races communicating with humans within dungeons.
…Whether to consider them monsters was a secondary issue.
“Anyway, the Forest Covered by Snake should be relatively quick to conquer.”
Choi Dong-wook, leaning against a tree, said as he checked his equipment.
At my request for casual conversation, he was chatting with me easily.
“Even though it’s a forest-type dungeon?”
“As long as you don’t get lost, you’ll reach the boss room quickly. Forest-type dungeons have shorter paths than you might think. Well, even considering that, we conquered it too quickly.”
A B-grade expedition party within the hunting team 5. Except for Shin Yuna and me, it was a party made up of elite members. We completed the hunt at an astonishing ‘ultra-fast speed’.
The Inwangsan Field took about 1 hour. The Forest Covered by Snake took about 3 hours. A total of 4 hours. We started the mission in the afternoon at 2 o’clock, so we reached the boss room around 6 o’clock in the evening.
Even if it’s a dungeon with a short conquest time, considering that the average conquest time is 8 hours, it was undoubtedly an impressive conquest speed. Therefore, party leader Kwon Oh-jun declared a rest.
Before entering the boss room, it was a brief maintenance period.
“Last time, where was it? Was it Royal? There was a desert-type dungeon we conquered there, and it took more than a week.”
“It took that long?”
“The dungeon was too vast, and finding the boss room was difficult. When you go to a place like that, you have to prepare for a camp. Conquer it by dividing the time like a regular job.”
In fact, I knew all of this. I probably knew more about the types and forms of dungeons than Choi Dong-wook did. However, I was just making small talk to see if I could learn even a little about assassination rune usage, which I couldn’t utilize effectively outside of throwing skills.
“Isn’t it better to use a shortsword than a dagger?”
“A shortsword?”
“Yeah. The biggest drawback of dagger skills is that they have a short reach, but if you use a shortsword, that’s somewhat compensated. It’s about maintaining the advantage of the fast speed unique to dagger skills while reducing the disadvantage.”
“I see…”
“So, some people call this short swordsmanship. Of course, in terms of the system, it’s still a weapon skill related to daggers.”
In the academy, they taught dagger usage. And, just like Choi Dong-wook said, the short reach was a drawback that became evident, so I had shifted my focus towards two-handed or one-handed swordsmanship.
‘But the professor back then didn’t mention shortswords…’
Even though they were both B-grade Holders, there was a significant difference in skill level. The professor at the time and Choi Dong-wook were exactly like that. The reality of Korean assassination skills, which were evaluated as particularly weak, was evident. Even if Choi Dong-wook were to come as an instructor to the academy, it would be just right.
“Are there rune skills for short swordsmanship too?”
“Of course not. There may not be standard normal runes like the Three Strikes Swordsmanship, but there are decent derivative runes if you look at the rare runes. I have one as well.”
His words made my eyes light up.
In other words, defeating Choi Dong-wook in a duel means you can acquire that rune. The details of the rune information are kept secret among the Holders, so I didn’t know the specifics, but if I imagined his performance in battle, it was undoubtedly a useful rune.
‘To be honest, I’m not confident I can win…’
An assassin-class B-grade Holder, and among them, Choi Dong-wook seemed quite formidable. He was much stronger than other C-grade Holders, but I couldn’t be sure of victory against him. Nevertheless, once the ultimate skill restriction was lifted, I thought I might be able to win somehow.
This was the first time since joining <Judgment of Fire> that I had a clear goal in mind.
“I think everyone has had enough rest. Let’s get going. We should stop looking at those annoying snake bastards.”
Kwon Oh-jun said as he got up from his seat. The other party members finished their preparations and got up as well. It was time to enter the boss room.
***
ippotranslations
***
“…Trees?”
The first thing I noticed as we entered the cave was that the boss room had absolutely no resemblance to a cave. The firm earth that we had been walking on steadily in the dungeon covered the ground, and inside, various types of trees stretched up to the ceiling. It felt like an underground forest.
Moreover, the shapes of the trees were somewhat unusual. The trunks were much thicker than ordinary trees, and there were hardly any branches. Especially, there were no leaves at all where there should have been at the tips, and even if I looked closely, I couldn’t see any green. They were eerie-looking trees.
“Yeah, it feels like a brown forest.”
Lee Soo-mi’s comment was fitting. Despite having a similar appearance to the Inwangsan Field or the Forest Covered by Snake, it gave off a feeling similar to a ‘brown forest’ because of the leafless, bare trees.
We examined this unusual sight and continued further inward toward the center of the boss room.
“There seems to be… one more pit.”
Min Chae-hwan, who had been searching from the entrance, said. The large pit that we had descended when entering the boss room. There was another similar pit inside the boss room.
Even without Min Chae-hwan mentioning it, I could faintly see it between the large trees.
Sssss-
And then, at that moment.
The sound we had heard countless times before rang out once again. It was the movement of snake-type monsters within the dungeon, a sound often heard when they moved slowly.
Sssllluuurrrp-
Fwosh-
In response, the party members firmly assumed their combat stances. The support members at the rear were already preparing their magic for their respective attacks, and I held a one-handed sword and shield in my hands.
The faint sounds of the suspected boss monster and the footsteps of the party members overlapped completely.
When the sounds came together completely…
Min Chae-hwan widened his eyes and shouted.
“It’s coming!!”
Sss, sssss-!!
Roooaaarrr-!!
A gigantic snake-like creature revealed itself from the pit. Well, calling it a snake might not be accurate. From its large head to its rugged face… and even the scales adorning its neck. If you only looked at the upper body, you could almost call it a lizard.
But that wasn’t the important part.
‘What the…? Why is it so massive?’
I couldn’t help but curse as soon as I saw it. Setting aside everything else, its size was absolutely enormous. It had a similar shape to the A-grade monster Basilisk we encountered in the middle, but the difference in size was so significant that any comparison seemed meaningless.
The term lizard would be a disservice. At this point, could it be considered anything less than a dragon?
A snake monster of colossal size that covered an entire forest. It truly was the ‘Forest Covered by Snakes’.
“Choi Dong-wook!”
Kwon Oh-jun quickly called Choi Dong-wook’s name, meaning to ask for information about the monster. However, Choi Dong-wook’s expression wasn’t favorable.
“It’s a monster that’s not in the information!”
Even Choi Dong-wook, who was well-versed in monster information, didn’t know about this particular monster. While its appearance seemed quite familiar, its specific name remained unknown—a boss monster of an unidentifiable species.
In the original work, ‘Forest Covered by Snake’ was only mentioned briefly, so I also don’t have detailed information. We had to gather information by confronting it directly.
“I’ll go ahead alone! Shin Yuna and Do Jae-hyun, stay in the rear!”
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
Kwon Oh-jun’s urgent decision was correct. In a situation where we didn’t know whether the boss monster’s grade was A-grade or S-grade, blindly placing a warrior-type at the forefront would be suicidal. Shin Yuna, who was weak in defense compared to the others, could easily be killed with a single attack from the boss monster.
Roooaaar-!!
Sss, sssss!!
Kwon Oh-jun immediately charged at the boss monster, brandishing his spear. It was a preemptive attack to buy time for the spellcasters to prepare. Of course, he wasn’t charging in alone. Alongside him were the archer, who had a quick setup time compared to spellcasters, Min Chae-hwan’s covering fire and Choi Dong-wook, who was launching a flanking attack.
Shing- Paaa!!
Thunk, thunk-
“…What?”
However, something strange happened. Facing a boss monster of at least A-grade, possibly even S-grade, of an unknown species, it allowed itself to be attacked too easily.
Kwon Oh-jun’s spear, infused with magic, lightly pierced the boss monster’s gaping lower jaw, while Choi Dong-wook’s dual swords swiftly cut into the creature’s side, leaving a large gash. Min Chae-hwan’s arrow strikes were equally effective, piercing through the tail of the monster and dealing a powerful blow.
‘What is this…?’
An unusual phenomenon occurred. While the three of them had powerful attacks, the sound when their weapons struck was definitely not the sound of them inflicting damage on the monster’s body.
It sounded more like…
“…Chopping wood.”
“Do Jae-hyun! Behind us!”
Choi Dong-wook, who had sensed something, shouted urgently. It was a desperate cry directed at us, who were in the rear.
Ssssssss-
Roooaaarrr-!!
When I turned around…
The gigantic figure of the boss monster we had initially faced.
The enormous snake that had been easily defeated by three physical attacks.
It was now occupying our rear.
“Oh…!”
And I could immediately understand the reason.
The large tree that had been right behind us.
That tree had disappeared.
The boss monster had transformed into that tree.
‘Damn, it’s a gimmick.’
He was a gimmick boss.
Sure enough, the snake monster that had initially attacked us had turned into another tree. It changed its body to mimic the first attack, infiltrated another tree, and created a new body.
Our preemptive attack, filled with determination, had become meaningless.
And then, an information window appeared to explain it.
[An eerie energy is circulating in the dungeon, making the mysterious energy of the Mountain Serpent special.]
[The Mountain Serpent has transferred.]
A gimmick that allowed the boss to switch bodies at will during battle.
Just hearing about it was annoying.
Confronting it was truly infuriating.
Moreover, its name was ‘The Mountain Serpent.’
The name had a very traditional ring to it, which for some reason made me even angrier. Clearly, it sounded like a very weak name…
