Chapter 76
I left my teammates behind and stepped into the cave.
Unlike the outside, the cave was pitch-black, allowing not even a speck of light.
I didn’t bother to turn on any light.
Lighting a fire here would’ve been no different from suicide.
After descending a long flight of stairs for quite a while, I eventually sensed that the steps had come to an end.
It was definitely uncomfortable not being able to see anything.
Even after about five minutes of walking down, my eyes didn’t adjust to the darkness.
It must’ve been some kind of rule applied to the dungeon itself.
When I operated the Asura Divine Art and unfolded my domain, only then did I begin to grasp the things around me.
The inside of the Hidden Dungeon wasn’t much different from the structure outside.
A long corridor stretched endlessly ahead.
As I slowly walked through it, I recalled the information about this Hidden Dungeon.
This place was The Chamber of Gu Poison.
In the game, it was a massive dungeon created by a certain dark sorcerer to give birth to the strongest living creature.
I had no idea why such a place existed inside the Academy’s mock dungeon, though.
Maybe that dark sorcerer had once belonged to the Academy?
The basic principle was no different from the gu poison we commonly knew.
Countless species and monsters were thrown together into the pitch darkness, and you waited until only one remained.
That was why the method to clear this dungeon was simple and straightforward.
Kill every monster that existed here—and be the only one left alive.
The difficulty was similar to The Nameless One’s Mansion.
Tap.
At that moment, I sensed movement from somewhere.
Instinctively, I turned my head toward the source of the sound.
But within a radius of about three meters, I could sense nothing.
Judging from the sound, it seemed to be some distance away.
I released my domain and spread my sensory perception.
Soon, something was caught within the waves of mana spreading out.
Not a monster— a person?
My first thought was of the teammates I had left outside the entrance of the Hidden Dungeon, but it wasn’t them.
Because only one person was being detected.
Then who could it be?
In the game, no one else ever appeared in this dungeon.
Don’t tell me... the clear conditions had changed again?
Could it be that the dark sorcerer was actually still hiding somewhere in here?
Tch. This was about to get troublesome.
Silently, I concealed my presence and moved toward the source of the sound.
The other person remained motionless, simply waiting for me in place.
Once I got close enough, I expanded my domain and struck at the target.
Tak, papat, puk!
The attacks I unleashed to suppress the opponent bounced off as if deflected.
At the same time, a counterattack came flying in.
A sharp killing intent aimed right at my neck.
But the opponent was already within my domain!
Following the flow, I caught the incoming strike, seized the wrist, and drove my fist forward.
However, instead of resisting, the opponent threw their body toward me, dodging the attack and using that momentum to tackle me.
“Hup!”
I instantly leapt backward, gathering mana in my hand and firing it to block the flurry of incoming blows.
Kang!
With the sharp clang of metal, the dagger in the opponent’s hand flew off into the distance.
Good. The weapon’s gone—this should end it—
That was when a thin voice rang out.
“I surrender!”
My hand froze at the sound.
The voice felt strangely familiar, and I frowned.
Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t noticed during the fight, but the wrist I’d grabbed felt slender.
“Joo Sarang…?”
“Hi!”
“Why are you here?”
“I followed my leader.”
Her unnecessarily confident tone made me sigh automatically.
Of all places to follow me, it had to be here.
I wanted to scold her, but suddenly, an indescribable rush of emotions welled up from within me, making my chest ache.
Emotions that weren’t mine.
Damn it.
My body was reacting to feelings that didn’t belong to me.
This was seriously unpleasant—
It felt as if I were being mind-controlled.
“Do you have any idea where you’ve followed me to!?”
My voice came out harsher than I intended, stiff with irritation born from the situation.
Her body flinched.
I hadn’t meant to sound that angry.
An awkward silence fell between us.
Then, breaking it, Joo Sarang suddenly shouted at me.
“You’re the one who kept avoiding me, you bastard!”
…Wait, wasn’t I the one who was supposed to be angry right now?
“That’s…”
“Every time I try to talk, you ignore me or run away! I come to your class and you hide in the bathroom! And when I try to contact you, you block me! Are you kidding me right now?!”
Fuming, she grabbed me by the collar.
Her eyes turned red, glowing faintly.
Even in the pitch-black dungeon, that crimson light shone vividly.
It was a light that reflected her fury.
Uh… yeah. I guess I was in the wrong.
Honestly, she was right—I had been avoiding her.
But I couldn’t help it.
Just like how my heart had reacted the instant I saw her just now, whenever I met Joo Sarang, emotions that weren’t mine would surge up uncontrollably.
I was already exhausted dealing with Berid and the others; I didn’t have the mental strength to manage this on top of everything else.
Even earlier, when I’d lashed out at her—it wasn’t really her fault.
Sure, meeting Joo Sarang here had been shocking, but it wasn’t something to get angry over.
Yet when I realized she had entered The Chamber of Gu Poison, rage had boiled up inside me.
And the reason for that anger—was worry for her.
Because this dungeon could only be cleared when one person remained alive.
So, before I knew it, my voice had risen without control.
Ha… what a mess.
Joo Sarang still didn’t seem to have calmed down.
The energy surrounding her was growing violent.
“Why did you disappear without a word back then? Do you even know what we went through?”
At some point, Joo Sarang retrieved the dagger that had fallen to the ground and swung it at me.
The dagger sliced through the air.
It wasn’t an attack meant to kill, but one intended to subdue.
I slightly tilted my body to avoid the blade grazing my nose bridge—and in that fleeting moment, Joo Sarang swept my leg out from under me.
Although I could clearly perceive her movements within my domain, I didn’t block or dodge.
To be exact, my body simply didn’t move as I intended.
She pinned me down and glared at me from above.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
“After you abandoned us… I—no, we waited for you. All this time…!”
Seeing her tears brought back a flood of old, worn-out memories.
Memories that weren’t mine.
Cruel training and torture carried out in a room where not a sliver of light reached.
Human experimentation so brutal it was unspeakable.
Children who leaned on one another to survive in that hellish environment…
Even as tears streamed down her cheeks, Joo Sarang continued speaking.
“After you left, so much happened. Jiwoo… she couldn’t endure the training and died. Dongwook was beaten to death by a Demon, just like that…”
“Stop.”
“Do you know? Of all the kids who were there, I’m the only one who survived. Do you know why?”
“Stop.”
“They made us do it on the last day… told us to kill each other. Said only the last one standing could become a true Demon.”
Once again, emotions that weren’t mine surged up violently.
My face twisted from the disgust of it.
“So I killed them all. The kids who were like family to me, with my own hands…”
“I said stop!”
With a burst of rage, the Infernal Flame of Asura Divine Art ignited.
The explosion of mana sent Joo Sarang flying off me.
Bang!
Gritting my teeth, I glared at her.
Damn it.
Yeah, I knew. I knew how pitiful you all were.
But in the end, you were still Demons—nothing more than Berid’s pawns.
I had no desire to hear about your past.
I knew well enough that the feelings she held for me weren’t mere affection.
Not when she looked at me with those eyes.
I would’ve been an idiot not to notice.
They were children who had endured all kinds of torture and human experimentation to become elite Demons.
There was no way their minds could’ve remained intact after that.
I took a slow, deep breath.
The cold, damp air helped cool the heat that had risen in my chest.
“So what do you want me to do? You didn’t come all the way here just to tell me how miserable you are.”
“Bastard…”
She cursed at me.
Her voice was thick with a tangle of emotions.
“Fine, miserable. Then what—an interrogation? Or do you want to vent your resentment? I was curious, you know. That’s why I wanted to hear it. So answer me. Why did you abandon us? Why didn’t you come back for us?”
“……”
“You really want to know? Why I disappeared?”
You already know—because you pried into Yoo Seongwoo’s memories.
Joo Sarang met my gaze and nodded without hesitation.
“Fine, I’ll tell you. The reason I had to leave you all?”
I summoned the Power of the Demon.
Darkness rose from my shadow, covering my body before transforming into black armor.
When I extended my hand, demonic energy formed into a longsword, and as I poured more power into it, the pitch-black blade began to burn with crimson light.
Joo Sarang’s eyes widened in shock.
“This damn body was chosen to become the vessel for the descent of the Lord of the Archdemons! That’s why I left! To offer my soul and body to some demon bastard I didn’t even know!”
As I spoke, the emotions within me boiled over.
For once, I didn’t suppress them.
Fine—let it all out.
Maybe if I expelled these feelings, I could finally regain my composure.
After all, the person she wanted to talk to wasn’t me, but Yoo Seongwoo.
“Why did I disappear without a word? Why didn’t I come find you even after becoming the Devil Knight? Because I couldn’t! Those damn watchers and the cursed Demons kept me from doing anything! You think I didn’t want to see you again?!”
“Then why did you avoid me at the Academy?!”
“Do you think pretending to know you at the Academy would change anything? Berid’s been watching me like a hawk! Don’t act spoiled! I’m still a vessel meant to offer everything to the Demon, and…!”
At some point, I stopped shouting.
Joo Sarang said nothing, only letting tears stream down her sorrowful face.
As a Demon herself, she surely understood better than anyone what this situation meant.
Seeing her like that made the pain in my chest worse.
Then, something entered the range of my perception.
Not one—many.
Multiple presences were converging through the labyrinth’s corridors.
That was when I remembered the Infernal Flame that had erupted earlier.
“Damn it all.”
This was exactly why I hated this.
Getting swept up in emotions that weren’t even mine, and ending up trolling like this.
“Stop crying and pull yourself together. This isn’t the time.”
“What now?!”
Joo Sarang snapped back irritably, but soon her expression shifted as she realized the seriousness of the situation.
“What’s happening all of a sudden?”
“The explosion from earlier drew aggro. Big time.”
“Wasn’t this supposed to be an Academy mock exam zone?”
“You seriously came here without a single thought, didn’t you?”
No light of any kind could be used in this dungeon.
Just like its name—The Chamber of Gu Poison—the monsters here had been deprived of light and left to starve for ages.
In such conditions, any trace of light would be mistaken for the exit, drawing them in droves.
When I’d played this part in the game, I’d thought the detail was impressive—
but facing it in reality, it was nothing short of grim.
Soon, the presence of the beasts approached right before our eyes.
We stood back to back, drawing up our power.