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Memorize - Episode 59
00059 Mage and Alchemist(Rare)
"Trap... escape..."
"Trapped. Escaped."
Despite saying each word separately, the male priest was speaking with great difficulty. However, when I understood the meaning to some extent and repeated after him, a look of relief flashed across his face. He seemed to be mistaking us for quite skilled users.
The user nodded weakly once, then stammered out his next words.
"Comrades... betrayal... kidnapped..."
"..."
"Help...!"
I could see his eyes trembling as they kept trying to close. Death was right in front of him, but he was desperately holding on. Eventually, the priest seemed to have exhausted all his strength, as after uttering the last word "Help", he rolled his eyes back. What little vitality he had been barely maintaining seemed to have been completely spent upon seeing us and speaking. I heard the kids sharply inhale as they saw the priest go limp on my lap.
I gently laid him down on the ground and raised my palm to close his eyes. A solemn and gloomy atmosphere settled around us. Sol in particular had turned pale. It was evidence that she still couldn't respond indifferently every time she saw death. However, there was no time to indulge in such sentimental feelings. For now, the priority was to combine the keywords the user had left and infer information. I slowly repeated the words he had uttered.
"Trap. Escape. Comrades. Betrayal. Kidnapped."
"Hyung. Could it perhaps be related to vagrants?"
Ahn Hyun also seemed to have heard what the user said and offered his own deduction, but I shook my head. While that was a possibility, for me who knew the future, it was not even close. After organizing my thoughts for a moment, I too was able to combine one possibility.
The kids looked uneasy. Seeing them constantly wetting their lips with saliva, I felt the need to explain at least something. Looking at the kids who were just waiting for my mouth to open, I spoke in a quiet voice.
"At the entrance of the Pitch-black Forest. I told you there were users who entered before us, right?"
"Yes. I remember... Ah. Then?"
Hyun, who had been nodding immediately, soon looked at me with a gleam in his eyes. I usually thought he was quite oblivious in everyday matters, but at times like this he showed a different side. Still, it was a hundred times more reassuring that his mind worked in urgent situations. I sent an affirmative signal and continued speaking.
"Yes. It seems that caravan discovered this dungeon before us. However... it looks like the caravan was wiped out or suffered an accident equivalent to that due to some circumstances."
"Th-then, oppa. What do the words that user just said mean? That..."
"Hmm..."
Trap. Escape. Comrades. Betrayal. Kidnapped. At Yoo-jung's question, I further concretized the vague pictures I had drawn in my head. Until now, I had been predicting that the caravan was wiped out due to the absence of a guide. But looking at it now, that prediction had completely missed the mark.
The answer comes when you recall in detail the corpse seen when first entering underground. Thinking carefully, there's no way they could have died right after entering. There was nothing dangerous visible around. That archer must have entered the dungeon interior alive. He must have also been mixed in with the caravan and acted as their dungeon guide.
After organizing my thoughts to some extent, I opened my mouth in a low voice.
"The caravan was probably going in the same direction as us now. But if you look at the direction the body of the user we just saw was fallen, his head was facing the direction we were going. Judging by his lower body being torn and the large hole in his back, it seems he was struck from behind while fleeing in the direction we came from. In other words, the words 'trap' and 'escape' mentioned first mean they entered the dungeon ahead of us, got caught in a trap, suffered a major accident, and were fleeing back the way they came."
"Then... what about 'comrades', 'betrayal', 'kidnapped'?"
"The user we saw when we first entered the dungeon was an archer. He was probably originally a comrade of the caravan. But it seems he betrayed them for some reason along the way. The word 'betrayal' can be used in various meanings, but if used within a dungeon... it's highly likely he fled alone to save only himself."
As the explanation for the keyword 'betrayal' ended, it was quite a sight to see negative emotions swirling on the kids' faces. However, since I had already told them to steel their minds at the beginning, there were no further warnings. Now it was time to explain the last word, 'kidnapped'.
"And the last word... it seems some of the caravan users were kidnapped by the dungeon master."
"Is that even possible?"
Looking at Hyun who was asking with round eyes, I answered with a face that said 'of course'.
"Of course. The Hollow Plane isn't a game, remember? It's a world that actually exists. I hear there are even cases of alchemists experimenting on human bodies. Have you forgotten where the dungeon we're in now is?"
As I finished speaking, all the kids' faces turned pale.
We walked for a while without speaking. If their dispositions had leaned towards Chaos, they probably would have said to return to the city immediately without looking back. However, since Sol and Yoo-jung's dispositions leaned towards Order, opinions converged on rescuing the kidnapped users. The word "Help" that the male priest had uttered with his last breath was effective. I had no particular complaints since I'd be satisfied as long as we just entered, even if we went sideways.
The underground passage was getting wider and wider as we went. While walking through the seemingly endless underground passage, I raised my hand to stop. Since I was maintaining detection more powerfully and widely than usual, things were being caught one by one in more detail. Since there were many things I couldn't guarantee about dungeon battles either, it seemed better to give a detailed explanation before entering combat.
"About 100 meters further ahead, there's an open space. And in that open space, there are several groups of monsters gathered. The number exceeds about twenty... and the type of monster is estimated to be Renga."
"Renga? Hmm... sounds familiar."
"They're monsters similar to puppies with bodies 80cm to 1 meter in size. I think I heard they move quite quickly and have sharp hook-shaped claws on their fingertips."
"Correct. One more thing to add is that the Renga's tail can also be a powerful weapon. It doesn't have the flexibility of scorpions, but its destructive power is no less than their claws."
I laughed inwardly at Sol expressing Renga as puppies or dogs. If the Renga could understand emotions and express themselves intelligently, those might be words that would make them riot immediately. Anyway, looking at Sol answering carefully, I nodded. But before that, there was one point to go over.
"The problem is that the Renga caught in our detection now seem a bit different from regular Renga. Everything else matches the appearance you described, but... some of them are caught walking on two legs?"
"Eeh? That can't be! I heard Renga basically walk on four legs. Could you perhaps be confusing them with another monster? Ah! No, that's not it. There's no way Su-hyun oppa could be wrong, so I must definitely be mistaken."
If it weren't for that last sentence, I might have seen Sol in a new light. Watching Sol play both sides by herself, I sighed.
"The hooks, the tails, the body shape, everything matches. Anyway, let's judge after we go see. We have to pass through there to go further anyway."
Ahn Hyun and Yoo-jung were just blankly watching the conversation between me and Sol. Then they caught each other's eyes and I could see them shrugging their shoulders. Well, they'd need to know something to join the conversation. That's why I told them to study a bit usually.
The relaxed atmosphere only lasted that long. As the distance to the open space decreased, a fierce tension was rising again among the group. I gradually quickened my pace until eventually I was walking quite fast towards the open space.
Renga are monsters I've faced in my first run. They're quick-witted but hot-tempered, and can't employ tactical movements. If so, it would be better to deal with them as much as possible with a quick charge first, then switch to defense while luring the enraged ones.
The kids were also drawing their weapons while starting to run behind me. If we had an archer or mage at times like this, we could deal a big hit first and then follow up with a linked attack to inflict more damage. I felt a bit regretful, but it was something I could cover that much more.
"Hyung! Is your body really okay!"
Hyun, who had been showing the odd behavior of taking deep breaths while running, soon shouted towards me in a strong voice. Seeing him tightly gripping his spear, it seemed his characteristic belligerence was coming out as we entered combat. I raised my hand to signal I was fine, then explained more detailed tactics.
"It's fine as long as I don't use mana beyond my limit. Don't worry about me and everyone maintain formation. After entering the open space, quickly charge into the first visible group, deal with them, then gradually retreat to the wall. Renga have a habit of cherishing their own kind terribly, so if you kill even one, they'll come charging with fire in their eyes. Their defense is weak, but they move just as quickly and their hooks are sharp, so be careful. And..."
"Yes."
"Keep in mind they might be different from regular Renga. We're about to engage. As soon as you see them, don't consider the situation and deal with the ones visible in front first."
Normally I would have thoroughly verified the tactics and entered calmly, but this time speed was of the essence. Given their developed sense of smell, if we dawdled, there was a possibility we might be ambushed instead.
As we ran hard, a square passage came into view as I had predicted. And beyond that passage, an open space with black soil as its ground was visible. I entered the open space through the passage without a hint of hesitation. Soon after, I could see numerous Renga, easily over twenty, wandering around inside the open space.
As expected, they were quite sharp. The moment we entered the open space, all the Renga turned their heads towards me at once. Looking at them making whining sounds like air escaping from balloons, I decided where to charge in 1 second and kicked off the ground.
"Skit! Skit!"
Just as I was about to swing my sword towards the ones right in front of me, a spear crossed in front of me at lightning speed. The spear that powerfully cut through the air soon smashed the faces of the Renga who were just turning their heads. Seeing the Renga's face not being pierced but caving in and shattering, I felt something off. However, seeing its body crumble soon after, it seemed there wasn't much difference in death.
"That's one down!"
The owner of the spear was Ahn Hyun. Seeing me enter as the vanguard, he followed right behind and used his characteristically long range to launch a preemptive attack. A shimmering energy flickered at the spear tip, suggesting he had infused it with plenty of mana.
With the leeway created by Ahn Hyun's first strike, I immediately changed direction towards the Renga around it and slashed in fiercely. Although it was a surprise attack catching them off guard, there was no way they could avoid my sword path honed through years of experience.
The moment I beheaded two with one swing, I could tell the identity of the strange feeling I had earlier. First, no blood came out. And when cutting the necks, instead of the feeling of cutting soft flesh, the sensation of cutting a hard shell came through the sword. This was... a chimera.
"Keeeeee!"
The Renga who suffered the surprise attack seemed to have fallen into great confusion. Although they had recognized us, seeing them still in disarray, I felt the urge to deal with a few more. In those few seconds of contemplation, I saw Yoo-jung quickly running to my side.
"Wait..."
Yoo-jung was entering with her body bent forward as much as possible, heading towards one Renga slightly separated from the first three we dealt with. There was no time for me to stop her. She was also boldly lowering her dagger.
Yoo-jung's charge was good, but there was a sense that she went in a beat too slow. Unlike at first, seeing the Renga gradually coming to their senses, I felt dismayed. Just looking at the Renga Yoo-jung was targeting, it was already swishing the tail attached to its bottom.
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