Chapter 5 – Closed Dungeon

He used the monster corpses around him to summon Skeleton Soldiers with [Strength 5, Agility 8, Health 5].

Consumed Magic Point : 1, Required Control : 1

Woojin had defeated an additional twenty-seven Drabbits in the hallway and had leveled up twice to reach level 3. Every time he’d leveled up, he’d received five Stat Points, which he’d split evenly between Magic and Control.

Magic : 15, Control : 14

If he summoned fifteen Skeleton Soldiers, he’d only be able to use fourteen of them. Once the number of Summons exceeded his Control stat, they’d turn into uncontrolled monsters.

“Wake up, my minions.”

On Alphen, Woojin had reached the pinnacle as a Necromancer. After being dimensionally transported, his level had been reset, but this was a path he was already intimately familiar with. He didn’t have to worry about using the correct activation command or Spell.

All he needed was a simple exertion of will to manifest his summons and master magic.

“Koo-roo-roo.”

Three nearby Drabbit corpses tore open as three Skeleton Soldiers rose to their feet. Woojin took a moment to look over his summons. They were very weak, so he’d rarely used them in his latter days on Alphen. Still, he felt extremely happy to see them again.

He commanded, “Let’s go.”

He didn’t have any support magic that he could cast, but it wouldn’t be a problem if he was only facing Drabbits. As Woojin and his three Skeleton Soldiers descended the stairs, they caught the attention of the Drabbits. Without hesitation, they charged him en masse.

Woojin wasn’t about to be outdone, “Charge!”

“Keehhhhhhk!”

In response, the Skeleton Soldiers howled as they counter charged the Drabbits, brandishing their bone knives.

Crash!

“Kee-ehk!”

The first Skeleton Soldier crumpled under a Drabbit’s headbutt, but the others only took bites to their limbs.

Biting attacks weren’t that much of a threat to Skeleton Soldiers, since they were made of bones. However, the Skeleton Soldiers were weak, and their bone knives weren’t particularly sharp, so they lacked the ability to seriously threaten any of the Drabbits.

Yet, they had done what Woojin wanted, and successfully blocked the Drabbit’s first charge.

Puh-uk, puk!

Taking advantage of their thwarted attack, Woojin sunk his hammer into the skulls of three Drabbits in a flash. Before their corpses could drop to the floor, he used them as fodder to summon another three Skeleton Soldiers.

“Kee-kee-keek.”

One had fallen to the Drabbits, but the Skeleton Soldiers had more than replenished their numbers. The five Skeleton Soldiers stood in front of Woojin, forming a makeshift blockade. Woojin advanced down the platform, using his will to keep the Skeleton Soldiers in formation.

“Kweeeehk!”

With a scream, Drabbits flooded out from the broken windows and doors of the train. The sheer number of Drabbits forced Woojin to come to a sudden halt.

“Block them!” He snapped at the skeletons.

The five Skeleton Soldiers formed a line, facing the incoming horde of Drabbits.

Thud!

The Drabbits leaped towards the Skeleton Soldiers like moths to flame, using their powerful headbutt to try and pulverize the Skeleton Soldiers.

Clatter!

One of the Skeleton Soldiers in the middle of the line collapsed under the fierce assault. A Drabbit took advantage of the broken formation and leaped over the crumbling skeleton to charge Woojin.

Unfazed, Woojin swung the clawed hammer like a clean-up hitter at bat.

“One more!”

The corpse of the Drabbit tumbled through the air and exploded as another Skeleton Soldier leaped down to join the fray.

Woojin waded into the melee between his Skeleton Soldiers and Drabbits and started reaping Drabbit lives like threshing corn.

“Die!”

Puh-puh-puk!

As the corpses started to accumulate around him, he used them to summon more Skeleton Soldiers.

Woojin had fifteen Magic Points.

His Magic Points would run empty if he used [Skeleton Soldier Summon] fifteen times. Of course, Magic Points recovered over time, but there were also Skills and items that could replenish them.

If he increased the Recovery stat, then his natural recovery of Magic Points would strengthen. For a Magician, the most important stats were Wisdom, Magic, and Recovery.

On the other hand, the Healing stat managed the natural recovery of his body. It increased the recovery speed of Vitality, which was consumed when one used Healing Skills or Combat Skills.

This was the most important Stat for Warriors.

Woojin possessed ten Stat Points in both Recovery and Healing. Recovery would restore Magic Points over time, but the more important one was the ten points in Healing.

Ten points meant that shallow wounds would heal over without a scar in just a day.

“All of you can die!”

With his current Healing stat, Woojin had no fear about charging deeper into the fray, swinging his hammer.

Thud! Thunk! Squelch!

With a physical capacity that exceeded the limits of a human, every time Woojin brought his hammer down, a Drabbit died.

It only took a few minutes of pitched battle to exterminate the couple dozen Drabbits that had filled the subway platform.

Woojin’s Magic Points instantly refilled as he reached level 4.

“Ha, I’m really thirsty.” Woojin looked around the platform, which had turned into a field of Drabbit corpses, and headed towards a broken down vending machine.

Screeek.

Woojin pried open the door of the broken vending machine and reached in to grab a can of cola. He blew on its lid, clearing off the dust that’d accumulated on top of it.

Thankfully, it looked relatively intact, so he didn’t have any qualms about opening it.

Sstack. Hissss

He raised the can to his mouth and started gulping down the warm cola.

“Kooahhh. Ggguhoooo.” The cola’s carbonation was enough for him to let out a satisfied burp.

Defeating the monsters inside the subway station turned dungeon had transported him back to his days on Alphen. Yet, the refreshing carbonated drink he hadn’t had in twenty years made his return to Earth feel all the more real to him.

Woojin grinned, “I really have to head home.”

Woojin’s Magic Points had been filled, so he used [Search].

“Mmm.”

A soft, sparkling green light shone from the broken subway’s first car. As Woojin walked towards it, he saw its source, a gem the size of a finger.

When Woojin picked up the sparkling gem, the light faded away.

Woojin made his way back to the entrance of the dungeon holding the gem. As he approached the barrier, the Return Stone started to brighten. When the Return Stone made contact with the barrier, both of them scattered into flecks of light.

Che-che-choot.

After the barrier completely dissipated, Woojin strode up the stairs of [Gwachun Station’s 1st Exit].

***

“Ooh ooh. I thought I was going to shit my pants.”

Oh Joonhwan was a rank 9 public servant. After completing the assault, he had been assigned to the conquered [Gwachun Station 1st Exit] dungeon as its designated Access Control Personnel. It had been one month since he had been assigned the job.

He’d managed to fulfil his job without any accidents right up until today, his last day.

Thankfully, he’d be able to return to headquarters tomorrow. But when he returned from the restroom, the sight that greeted him was as earthshaking as the sky falling.

“What, what is this?”

The locked dungeon entrance door was wide open.

For a moment, it felt like the earth had dropped out from underneath him.

“D-did a civilian go in? Oh, I am so fucked.”

It was unlikely that an Awakened would enter a conquered dungeon. In the first place, [Gwachun Station’s 1st Exit] wasn’t known for any special ingredient items. It was just a dungeon infested by low ranked Drabbits.

Unless a beginner Awakened was looking to train, he couldn’t think of a reason one would enter a dungeon that held nothing of significance. It was hard to imagine an Awakened who would enter a dungeon that had no benefits.

Moreover, an Awakened could just apply to enter the dungeon. It was the whole reason he was assigned to the dungeon in the first place.

He peeked through the door, and saw a barrier already in place, informing him of someone still inside the dungeon.

“Ha, fuck. I’ll have to quickly call for help.”

For Awakened, the Drabbits were classified as a low ranked monster, but it was a guaranteed death for civilians. Joonhwan had just fished out his phone when the barrier scattered, and a man walked out.

“Uh?” Before he could press the send button, Joonhwan’s body froze.

Woojin calmly walked out, but was surprised when he saw Joonhwan staring at him. “Ah, I opened the door and entered out of curiosit-”

“Are-are you an Awakened?”

Woojin cocked his head, puzzling through Joonhwan’s question. But before he could formulate a reply, Joonhwan spoke again.

“Whew. You almost took ten years off my life. In the future, please leave a record of your entrance. Whew. It’s quite fortunate. Why did you go into a dungeon with nothing to gain? Clearing it solo, you must be quite strong.”

He grabbed the Dungeon Entrance Record Log and passed it to Woojin, who half-assedly wrote down his name and position. He decided to say as little as possible.

Why do you think I went in? I wanted to ride the subway home.

He didn’t have an explanation, so he thought it was best to stay silent. The other man was already making excuses for him.

After signing everything, Woojin confidently asked a question. “May I go now?”

Joonhwan absentmindedly replied, “Ah, you can go now.”

After a few steps, Woojin turned around to ask a question. Five years had changed Earth more than he’d thought if dungeons and Awakened had come into existence.

“How much is the bus fare these days?”

“What?”

What the heck? Joonhwan thought almost all Awakened were filthy rich.