Chapter 64

“What’s this? Why such a reaction to a bell?”

The two people who turned around seemed truly engulfed in despair.

“What is it? Is there something?”

“That…”

Lee Chaewon sighed. Seriously, what is it? Why start speaking and then stop?

“Go-woon, I told you the boss is random.”

“Yes.”

“Random means the grade is random too.”

“But?”

“That bell is the highest grade. S+ grade.”

I frowned.

The grades here were definitely S grade. But why is there an S+ grade boss?

“Pegasus won’t come out, but a rattle does. I don’t know whether to call this good or bad luck.”

Lee Chaewon, who looked like a light warrior earlier, now groaned in pain.

“It can’t be helped. But it’s not just the two of us catching it, Go-woon will help too.”

“Go-woon?”

Lee Chaewon looked at me with surprised eyes.

It was a look full of doubt, wondering how I, a mere D grade, could help.

“Go-woon caught most of the monsters earlier.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I gave Go-woon an attack bracelet.”

Michael grabbed my wrist and showed it to Lee Chaewon.

Lee Chaewon checked the number of bracelets and nodded.

“With that many, the attack power must be significant.”

It’s not just significant, but I didn’t feel like explaining and just nodded.

“Then I’ll just explain about the bell. The bell mostly does physical attacks.”

“Physical attacks?”

“Like striking down.”

Lee Chaewon mimicked a punching motion.

“Aha.”

“And that round ball part connected to the rod up there will roll around and then stop as one.”

“Stop. Stop. Don’t explain more, it’ll spoil the fun. Let’s have Go-woon find out the rest through experience. That’s more fun.”

“What? Fun? Catching monsters for fun? Our lives are at stake here!”

Ignoring the fun-loving Michael, I was about to ask for more explanation when Lee Chaewon nodded.

“That’s true. Diving headfirst into the ground is fun.”

Lee Chaewon winked and laughed.

In that moment, I realized why these two were friends. They were friends because of their crazy mentality that didn’t consider their lives as lives.

Both burst out laughing.

Seeing them laugh, I realized it was just a joke. I was needlessly alarmed.

“Then, I’ll attack first!”

Crazy. Was he serious, not just joking?

Lee Chaewon rushed out with her sword and attacked the bell.

The giant bell, possibly made of diamond, remained unscathed despite Lee Chaewon’s sword strikes.

‘Feels like an ant attacking an elephant, doesn’t it?’

“Our attacks aren’t working?”

“Hmm. It’s okay. It’s aggro time now.”

“Aggro time?”

That’s when the bell started to make a shaking sound.

“It’s starting now. Go-woon!”

“Yes?!”

“We’re moles now! Dodge well! Got it? Here it comes!”

Moles? Dodge?

I quickly looked at the bell. It seemed poised to slam down onto the ground.

“I’ll dodge this way!”

Michael ran to the left.

Only then did I realize the situation and start running to the right.

The slowly tilting bell suddenly accelerated and slammed down onto the ground.

The ground cracked loudly under the force of the impact.

Then, there was a continuous sound of it slamming into the ground.

“Go-woon! It’s coming your way!”

‘What?’

Before Michael’s words finished, a dark shadow loomed over my head.

“Crazy.”

How did both of them dodge that? It’s too fast. I don’t think I can dodge it.

‘We’re moles now!’

Right. If we’re moles, we should just hide like moles!

I placed my palm on the ground.

“[Transmute]!”

The remains of toys scattered on the ground transformed into a glove shape.

I quickly jumped to the outermost part of the glove.

-Bang!

The glove collided with the bell.

“Chaewon, look at that! Isn’t it amazing?!”

“Indeed. So that’s what you were talking about.”

When were those two together? Don’t tell me they deliberately sent the bell my way?

The glove slammed down again.

‘It’s going to break.’

I escaped from the bell’s range before the glove could shatter.

“How did you do that just now?”

“Alchemy, right?”

Michael and Lee Chaewon hurried over to ask me. These people, who were nowhere to be seen when I was being attacked, are now here.

“Let’s focus on catching it now that fever time is approaching.”

Seeing the seriousness in my eyes, Lee Chaewon pointed at the bell, which was still smashing the glove.

“Fever time?”

“Now it’s my turn to work hard.”

“Work?”

Michael pulled me and Lee Chaewon close to him.

“Watch. This is fever time. [Svalin].”

Kaboom.

The bell, acting like it was furious even though it was inanimate, stood upright with its large body and started spinning its head-like ball rapidly.

Ding ding ding ding.

As the bell spun faster and faster, the ringing sound gradually slowed down as the ball came to a stop.

“What do you hope comes out?”

“I want fire.”

“I’m hoping for a laser. What about you, Go-woon?”

“Could you please explain what’s happening before asking?”

The two burst into laughter again. What’s so funny? Shouldn’t they be explaining what the bell is doing right now?

“Oh! It’s fire!”

“Fire?”

I quickly looked at the bell’s ball, which was now red instead of its previous color.

‘Could it be that the color indicates the type of attack?’

Michael patted my shoulder.

“Don’t worry. I can block fire.” 

‘He must think I’m worried.’

I know Michael’s defensive barrier better than anyone else, having read about it in novels.

That’s precisely why I had to find Blue Cloud and save Michael to bring him to the cradle because of his barrier that can block anything.

“Wow~ It’s a fire show!”

Flames shot out from the ball like a flamethrower. The heat was so intense that the toy fragments on the ground melted instantly.

However, inside Michael’s barrier, we couldn’t even feel the heat.

The column of fire disappeared, and the ball started spinning again.

A column of fire, restored to its original form, struck down towards us.

With a loud bang, sparks flew against the barrier.

“Go-woon.”

“Yes?”

“Can you possibly pull down that upper part and fix it to the ground?”

“Yes. I can’t hold it for long, but I can do it.”

Lee Chaewon smiled slyly.

“Why?”

“Its weakness is the bottom part. We have to wait until it falls over, which takes a long time.”

“It falls over?”

“Yes. After about 5 shots of fire, water, lasers, or such, it falls over.”

Wow. Five times.

Just one time is exhausting enough, and the thought of doing it four more times already drained me.

“Let’s do it quickly.”

I hurriedly touched the ground.

‘What can I use to knock it down and hold it in place?’

While I pondered, the bell struck the barrier again.

‘Making something like a rope out of plastic seems useless. Since plastic is made from petroleum, maybe an adhesive won’t work?’

“Ugh.”

“You look so cute when you’re thinking.”

Cute my foot. Why don’t you drop the mischief from your eyes and talk?

As I was contemplating what to make, the barrier shook with a thud.

“I’ll only hold it for a moment.”

“That’s enough.”

I might be lacking imagination, a remnant of the old K-education system that focused on rote memorization, but it’s not my fault.

I stared intently at the bell.

‘Now!’

“[Transmute]!”

The plastic began to move and stick to the bell.

“It’s so amazing!”

The plastics adhering to the bell started to take shape, forming into a giant hand.

The plastics sticking to the bell gradually formed a shape, becoming a large hand.

Then, the hand grabbed the bell and firmly landed it on the ground with a thud.

“Wow, not bad, huh?”

As the bell struggled to break free, cracks formed in the plastic hand.

“[Transmute]! Stop watching and do something, quick!”

“Ah, right. Just a second.”

Lee Chaewon stepped out of the barrier and leisurely walked towards the lower part of the bell.

‘That woman!’

As the bell thrashed, causing the plastic to crack, I shouted “[Transmute]” a few more times.

“Hurry up!”

“Hmm. I can’t reach it.”

Lee Chaewon, holding a sword, hopped up and down trying to reach.

“Damn.”

It seemed the bell wasn’t completely touching the ground, making it hard to reach its weak spot.

“Damn it.”

“[Transmute]!”

Feeling no other choice, I created a staircase of stone in front of Lee Chaewon.

“Ah! Perfect! Just what I needed!”

“Cool! You’re amazing, Go-woon!”

Michael clapped in admiration.

I’ll not let these two off easy after we catch this boss.

Grinding my teeth, I used the transmute skill again to stabilize the plastic.

“Then, I’ll finish it off now!!”

Lee Chaewon, shouting triumphantly, thrust her sword into the bell’s ball.

As soon as a cracking sound resonated through the space, the bell’s thrashing stopped abruptly.

[You have gained experience points.]

Messages related to experience points and levels popped up, but I hardly noticed them.

“Wow. It’s over!”

As the bell fell to the ground with a thud, I slumped to the ground.

“Damn it.”

As I let out the curse I had been holding back, Michael burst out laughing.

‘Crazy. They’re laughing now?’

I was exasperated. They only stand around when I tell them to, but use me like this. I seriously wanted to quit this dispatch exchange.

“It’s totally fun, right?”

Lee Chaewon, who had leisurely ascended the stairs earlier, now jumped down to the ground and asked with a laugh.

“Fun? You call this fun? I was risking my life here!”

“Ah, come on. Chaewon and I are SS grade, what’s there to worry about?”

Michael waved his hand dismissively with a smile.

I clenched my eyes shut, feeling a surge of anger. Even as a detective, I couldn’t just hit someone. I took deep breaths to calm myself, trying to ignore their carefree conversation.

“Ah, it was really fun. Haven’t had such a thrilling dungeon in a long time.”

“Yeah, yeah. Maybe it’s because we were with Go-woon.”

“Go-woon, you had fun too, right?”

Fun. I felt like if I hit these jerks, I’d have some fun. Deciding to seek Taeju’s help to cancel the dispatch exchange, I opened my eyes and was about to speak.

“By the way, how much did your level increase? You must have gained a lot of experience points from the S+ grade boss.”

Level? Oh, right. There were notifications and messages about leveling up.

Cancelling the dispatch exchange wasn’t urgent, so I first checked the notification messages.

But the message window had disappeared over time, so I checked my status.

+++

[Seo Go-woon]

Level: 60

Occupation: Alchemist

Rank: D

Age: 27

Health: 500 / Mana: 2,200

Attributes: Strength B- / Stamina B- / Agility C- / Magical Power A- / Dexterity S+

Attack Power A(E-) / Defense E-

Unique Abilities: [Disassemble] / [Transmute] / [Understand]

+++

“60? That’s insane.”

Last time I checked, I was level 54. I’ve gained 6 levels in just one dungeon???

“How much did you level up?”

“Six.”

As I answered absentmindedly, Lee Chaewon frowned.

“Hmm. That’s a bit less than I expected.”

“What?”

I was momentarily confused. He thinks gaining 6 levels is ‘a bit’? Considering that after level 50, even running A-grade dungeons 10 times hardly resulted in a level up, and I was planning to run more shared dungeons.

How could this not be considered a significant increase?

“Level 60 must have improved your stats a lot too.”

Meanwhile, distracted by the level up, I hadn’t checked my stats, but as they mentioned, my abilities had also increased.

My Stamina and Strength went from C+ to B-, Agility from D+ to C-, and my previously failing Attack Power and Defense finally reached E-. Plus, I had gained new skills.

For a moment, I felt a surge of emptiness thinking about all the effort I had put into improving Seo Go-woon’s stats, almost to the point of tears.

“It’s a pity we won’t get more bells, but S-grade bosses will keep appearing.”

Michael comforted me, patting my shoulder.

“Then let’s aim for level 70 before we gather the ingredients for the potion.”

“What?”

In the novel, the level 60 phase was called the ‘demon phase’ because it was notoriously difficult to level up.

But now they’re talking about reaching level 70.

However, considering the stats I had just increased, it seemed possible and not just a lie to placate me.

“Alright, let’s go out and then come back in.”

“Now? So soon?”

I was bewildered at the suggestion of leaving and re-entering the dungeon so soon after defeating an S+ grade boss.

Unlike my perplexed reaction, Michael looked at me oddly and asked.

“Go-woon, did you want to rest?”

“Of course, I did.”

“There’s nothing certain in this world. And Go-woon, you can’t afford to rest.”

“Why not?”

Michael pointed to the watch on his wrist.

“This dungeon is time-limited. It’s open for about 10 hours, so we have to work hard until 9 pm.”

“Time-limited?”

“Yes. Once it’s open, you can continuously run it for only 10 hours.”

Hearing Lee Chaewon’s explanation, I understood why only the top three guilds had access to this dungeon. There was no better dungeon for leveling up hunters. This place allowed for rapid leveling and experiencing a variety of monsters.

‘It’s a high-end training ground that enhances abilities and decision-making.’

“But what items did Go-woon get?”

“Oh, the items.”

I put my hand into the Infinite Pouch, then looked at Michael.

When taking items out of the Infinite Pouch, whatever I think of appears in my hand.

So, I needed to think of the items dropped by the boss monster, but since I didn’t know what they were, I couldn’t retrieve them.

“I don’t know what dropped.”

“Oh. Just think of it as the last item that entered your inventory, and it will appear in your hand.”

Following Michael’s advice, I thought of the last item that came in, and something squishy was automatically held in my hand.

“This.”

As I pulled my hand out of the Infinite Pouch, a round jelly that seemed to bounce at my touch appeared.

“Ah, it’s a dud.”

“What is this?”

“That’s a jelly bandage. It’s an S-grade item that speeds up healing when applied to wounds. However, hunters prefer potions because it feels weird. It’s not very popular.”

Despite its squishy feel, Lee Chaewon shivered, saying it felt like leeches when actually applied.

“Since it can’t be sold, just keep it as a souvenir, Go-woon.”

“Okay.”

Believing that everything comes in handy eventually, I nodded and put the jelly bandage item back into the Infinite Pouch.

“The bracelet suits you well, though. Hm. Michael wouldn’t give me one when I asked, but he gave you one. That’s discrimination.”

Lee Chaewon glanced at Michael teasingly.

“No, I gave it to Go-woon as a thank you for the potion.”

“Well, I can’t say anything about that. But Go-woon, how does it feel wearing something worth a hundred billion?”

“A hundred billion?”

I looked down at the bracelet on my wrist. A hundred billion. Surely this one bracelet isn’t worth that much.

“It’s worth about twenty billion each.”

I hurriedly tried to remove the bracelet, but Michael stopped me.

“If you take it off after wearing it, it disappears. It’s a drop item.”

“Was it from that rare boss in Poland?”

“Yes. That boss hasn’t appeared since then.”

A drop item from a rare boss.

I was bewildered. Even though he kept referring to me as a friend, we hadn’t known each other for very long. Why would he give me something so valuable, especially in such a place?

“Alright, let’s not make the person who gave the gift feel bad, and let’s work hard to gain more experience in the remaining time.”

Meanwhile, as my eyes were still shaking from the revelation, Lee Chaewon clapped her hands to draw attention to herself.

“Chaewon. We’re not here just to gain experience. We came to find Pegasus.”

“We can do both. Anyway, Go-woon. Let’s work even harder now.”

With a sense of duty to make the most out of wearing the bracelet, I nodded.

‘Today, I’m definitely hitting level 70.’