[Noun] A person, typically a woman, who is employed to look after a child at home or at facilities like nurseries and daycare centres.
âŠI donât need to ask her if she means ânannyâ as in that kind of dictionary meaning right?
Instead, Iâd like to ask,
ââŠMom, Iâm not a child though?â
Forget being a child. Iâm a fully-functioning adult of the Republic of Korea who has aged and grown enough.
In fact, besides this, there are a lot of things I want to ask, complain and argue about.
âAnd what do you mean by a nanny is in the wayâŠ? Like from where? How? A guardian can do something like that too?â
My desperate voice echoed in the silent cave and sounded pitiful.
I canât believe a mother ignores her son like thisâŠ
[âSung Hyun-sookâ urges and says âJust break through the dungeon first!â]
âYou always change the topic at times like this, Isnât that too petty?!â
Swoosh-!
The hologram message disappeared like a powered-out monitor screen.
Whoosh~
I could feel a cold wind blowing from somewhere.
This was probably a signal which meant that she didnât have even have 1g of intention to answer my questions.
[11 hours 58 minutes 34 seconds until the nanny arrives.]
First of all, clearing the dungeon quest is an urgent priority but Iâm so bothered by the nanny issue that I canât stand it.
Iâm so anxious I canât stand it thinking about what is coming to me after 11 hours 58 minutes 34 secondsâŠ!
Rattle! Rattle!
[GeughhâŠ]
The skeletons, who came back after enjoying a time of intense friendliness, patted my drooping shoulders.
âŠI canât believe Iâm getting comforted by bones. My life is reallyâŠ
***
To clear the dungeon, I need to find the âLord of deathâ who has fallen into eternal sleep somewhere in the resting place and make him surrender.
Somewhere in the resting place.
In other words, the exact place where the lord of death is sleeping is a secret.
That is quite an unfriendly convention, where the invaders have to find their own destination.
Is this place designed in a linear structure where you would reach your destination if you kept walking straight along the path like a ânormal dungeonâ, you ask?
âItâs twisted as hell.â
The answer is no.
It was a perfect maze, so much that there was no room for a disagreement.
In less than 5 minutes of walking, I was met with a forked path as many as three times.
In the meantime, if I was bored the skeletons would surprise me by their appearance.
In addition, thereâs the demon-like time limit!
This has to be a dungeon that has the highest level of difficulty.
However.
âLu-lu-lu~ âŹâ
I walked peacefully like letâs say citizen âAâ taking a stroll in the garden.
A forked path?
Not an issue because the skeletons, who mistook me for their king, kindly became my guides.
[Geughh-!]
[Geuahh-!]
âHaha. Got it, ladies. Iâm not going anywhere so you donât have to pull me so hard.â
They even held my hands and urged me to come quickly.
This doesnât feel like a dungeon quest but more like going on a date with my lover?
The reality was far from it though.
And like that, thanks to the sincere guidance of the very cute guides, I was able to arrive at my destination in just five minutes.
âLooks like this is it.â
The open road ended and a dead-end finally appeared.
Was the navigation wrong?
No, these smart bones did a great job.
The proof of that was a half-dragon half-human several times larger than the height of an adult man stood in my way.
Lee Chan-hyuk said,
-After a while, a strange stone statue appeared before me. It was a dragon-shaped statue that looked like it was made for a Hollywood movie. For a moment, I was wondering if I took the wrong way but suddenly a light came out of the statueâs dragon head.
Shaaa-!
A bright light was emitted from the eyelids, which were dented like a pit, of the stone statue.
From one to ten, things keep happening exactly how Lee Chan-hyuk testified.
âDo I need to go visit Lee Chan-hyuk sometime and convey my regards to him?â
And what happens next is?
[The âkingâs signâ under your possession opens the restricted area.]
[âKingâs statusâ will be activated.]
[Transitioning to âFafnirâs bedroomâ.]
Whoosh-!
The half-dragon, which was fiercely glaring through its eyes, began to burn the whole area with shooting flames through its mouth wide open this time.
Every time it burnt the wall, floor and ceiling, a hidden space would gradually emerge.
As if the curtains in a play that slowly lift to reveal whatâs behind.
âItâs shocking even if I knew about it beforehand huhâŠâ
Soon the dark cave disappeared and what appeared before me was,
-A red world. Everything was as red as bloodâŠ
âWow.â
If the whole earth is submerged in fire, will it look like this?
Fiery flames were engulfing the whole area.
ââŠSeems quite spicy to be used as a bedroom.â
Somewhere in this burning world the owner called Fafnir or whatever must be sleeping soundly but that wasnât important.
What is important is the thing behind me right now.
[âSung Hyun-sookâ frowns and says âIâve witnessed all sorts of things in my life but this is the first time Iâm seeing such a disgusting looking lake!â]
It looked so bad that mom started to exercise the right to remain silent to express her disgust.
âYeah, it does look pretty bad.â
A dark, murky stream of water flowed as if it were a shadow but can this really be called a lake?
If I were to judge it based on universal human aesthetic then it would be more appropriate to call it a âdeep pit.â
Though the real problem came after this.
âEughâŠâ
Splosh-
I tried to ignore the physiological disgust that was slowly rising from the pit of my stomach and dipped my feet into the pit.
Just then.
Geuohh-!
Geuahh-!
âEuaaahâŠ.What the fuâŠâ
I almost swore and chills ran down my spine.
I mean, how can I not swear when hands that have been decomposed till the elbow suddenly burst the surface of the water and grabbed me?
Lee Chan-hyuk that bastard, what was he thinking when he decided to put his legs inside this?
He seems braver than the first human in history to think of drinking cowâs milk.
Amidst my thoughts, the rotten hands crawled up like earthworms and covered my whole body.
Then, I could see a message pop up while I was desperately enduring the urge to throw up.
Di-ring!
[âLake of destinyâ detects the âkingâs statusâ]
[The king who has entered the lake will be given an offering.]
âEureka-!â
I clenched my hand that was holding the sword without even realizing it.
Disgust? Thatâs just a fleeting emotion compared to a thrilling sense of accomplishment!
[âLake of destinyâ is preparing for the offering.]
[While the offering is being prepared, do not let go of the kingâs mark.]
[Time left until the offering is presented 60 secondsâŠ59 secondsâŠ58 secondsâŠ]
I donât know what this âlake of destinyâ is about.
Iâm sure the visionary Lee Chan-hyuk doesnât know about it either.
But Iâm sure about two things.
One, the lake recognizes me, who holds an old rusty sword, as a âkingâ and presents me with an offering.
And that offering is a Holy sword that put Lee Chan-hyuk, who was once a nobody on the road of success at once!
âIt was really something else.â
I still clearly remember the video where the qi of the sword was swirling around it and it killed the monsters like falling leaves.
While the owner of the sword stood in a daze, the sword showed a single-handed rampage on its own.
Ironically it can be said, it wasnât Lee Chan-hyuk who was wielding the sword but the sword was wielding Lee Chan-hyuk.
âWell, itâs my turn to enjoy that benefit now.â
I kind of feel sorry though. Mr. Lee Chan-hyuk, Iâll at least gift you a fruit basket later, haha.
â10 seconds remaining!â
Mr. Lee Chan-hyuk said that when he wielded the holy sword, the ground and sky split in half and the exit of the dungeon appeared.
Letâs see if itâs really true or if he was simply sprinkling sugar on his words.
âShall we begin the countdown now? TenâŠâ
Crash-!
âTenâŠ?!â
At that moment, the sky crashed down.
Like literally.
***
5 minutes ago.
âThat damn guild leader bastard! Does he think his life is so precious but treats the life of others like bugs?! Why did he tell us to go in? Ugh, Iâll literally slash his head with an axe!â
âOnce weâre safely out of here, letâs all hand in our resignation, hyung*.â
*T/n: honorific used by younger males to refer to males older than them.
âCount me in! Iâll definitely throw my resignation letter on that jerkâs face!â
<Bolt>âs sub-leader and his underlings vented out their anger after being pushed to their extremes.
The reason why theyâre thinking of this dungeon where there isnât even a single monster as a âdeadly placeâ is no surprise..
âWh-when I think of the bodies of our members we saw at the entrance, I still feel nauseated. I donât have a good feeling about this, hyung.â
âYou punk, stop speaking so ominously! If youâre going to keep whining like that then why donât you wait here all by yourself!â
The first scene they saw after entering the dungeon was the horrifying corpses of the first team lying like dog poop on a road.
The torn flesh was as if they were attacked by dozens of hunting dogs.
Just thinking about it again gave me goosebumps.
âDamn it. That dude named Hwang Jae-min or whatever. What is he up to? Earlier he didnât look strong enough to be able to defeat our membersâŠâ
âMore than that, the fact that there really was a dungeon inside the hole is more surprising to me. How do you think bastard knew about it?â
âYou think I would know? Letâs just catch him and torture him later. Iâm sure he came here because heâs after something.â
Is it because they were trying to put aside their fear? The bulky guys took reluctant steps while chatting with each other.
The inside of the dungeon was an abnormally twisted maze, but it wasnât that hard to follow the target.
Because of the tracking skill, <Search the target> made the faint footsteps on the ground shine brightly like lanterns.
They just had to follow it. It was a piece of cake.
âIf it wasnât for that bastard, Hwang Jae-min then we wouldnât have to enter this place in the first place. Just wait. After Iâve tortured him, Iâll peel off his skin alive.â
They werenât sure what tricks Jae-min, the target used to destroy the first team butâŠ
They didnât have any intentions to be beaten down so easily!
The guild sub-leader and his underlings moved forward and walked courageously.
[Geughh�]
[Geuohh..?]
âŠFor about 5 minutes.
What did they see after putting their footsteps to a halt, you ask?
âF*ck. What theâŠ?!â
âOh my god! Why are all the skeletons coming this way?!â
âAnd that too they are half-human half-dragon skeletons!â
The dragon-headed skeletons started uniting in front of an unidentified stone statue.
Blood dripped from beneath their blackish skulls as if to say,
Weâre the ones who killed your first team members.
âWhere is that bastard Hwang Jae-min?!â
âH-his footsteps definitely end here and ahead of us seems like a different path!â
Now, this was a situation that you would call a bolt from the blue.
Here, the guild sub-leader made a very unwise decision.
âEveryone get ready for batt-!â
âWouldnât it be better to run away?!â
âRun away my ass, after how far weâve come! Fight like youâre ready to die, you punks!â
The henchmen who had no choice but to listen to the order started to arm themselves on the verge of tears.
[Geuohh-!]
[Geuahh-!]
The skeletons who discovered the intruders came rushing like beasts.
Rattle-!
âThis son of a boneâŠ!â
The sub-leader who was standing on the forefront quickly threw a fireball towards the skeletons.
The fireball ball filled with the incredible man-power of the sub-leader flew through the air with great force andâŠ
Tilt!
The skeletons avoided it easily just by tilting their head sideways.
But to be precise, it was actually a plain mistake.
[Geuohh�!]
âHuhâŠ?!â
On both the partiesâ sides.
When the skeleton who just dodged the fireball looked behind.
Baang-!
The fireball that was shot out like a shotgun exploded right in the middle of the statue.
The dragon-headed statue burnt and broke at the same time due to the violent explosion.
If it had been an ordinary statue, then it could simply be seen as an accidental aim from the sub-leaderâs side, however,
[Fafnir wakes up again after hearing the commotion!]
The reality is always harsh.
Crash-!
âWh-whatâŠ?!â
âUwaaahh-~â
Thud thud thud-!
Like a demolished building, the whole area suddenly began to collapse.
The ceiling filled with stalactites collapsed creating dents in the ground which was a huge mess.
ââŠâŠâŠ?!â
The skeletons fell along with the gravity under their empty feet after suddenly losing a place to stand.
Ablaze-! Ablaze-!
The world of bright red fire greeted them.
âBe prepared for the fall-!â
Just before they collided with the ground, the bulky men hurriedly wrapped themselves around their bodies.
Thanks to this, most of them landed safely without major injuries.
Splash-!
Some failed to do so.
Geuohh-!
âEuaaghâŠ?! Mmph-?!â
Unfortunately, the ones who fell into a pit that canât be differentiated whether itâs a lake or a swamp had to go through a rough time.
Geuohh-!
The rotten hands started to tear the bodies of the intruders.
The guild sub-leader who heard the desperate screams of his dying members looked towards the pit in horror.
And,
âWhy, Why are you here?!â
âIâd like to ask you the same thing, you jerks! Things were almost done and you come and rain on my parade?!â
Jae-min, who shouted unfairly while trying to hold on to the old sword again, was there.
***
âDamn it!â
The sky suddenly collapsed and people fell through it, so I let go of the sword without realizing it.
If I didnât do that then I would be crushed under the butt of an unknown dude and be bleeding by now.
After how I regressed, I can die like that, itâs not even something to laugh about.
âFufuâŠWell whatever it is, things have turned out great. Hwang Jae-min, you bastard, good that we meet. You better-â
âCan you please shut your goddamn mouth? Canât you see Iâm about this close to losing my shit?â
You shouldâve come at least 10 seconds later, you freaking potato-heads!
I, I hope I wonât be sent something like âYou cannot try againââŠ
Iâve grabbed onto the sword handle again but why is there no message popping up?
Please, mom, godâŠ!
[âLake of destinyâ is preparing for the offering again.]
[While the offering is being prepared, do not let go of the kingâs mark.]
[Time left until the offering is presented 60 secondsâŠ59 secondsâŠ58 secondsâŠ]
âPhewâŠ!â
For now, my destiny hasnât abandoned me.
My heart almost stopped beating.
The issue is the fact that it canât be continued.
I canât believe I need to wait all over againâŠ
Ah, those freakingâŠMy blood pressure is rising.
But there was another bigger problem.
âYou still donât understand the situation youâre in? Iâll rip that mouth of yours. Come here this instant!â
It was these potato heads.
Will I be able to withstand 60 seconds without any distractions from those guys?
I want to fight back somehow, but Iâm in a situation where I canât let go of the sword in my hand, so I canât do anythingâŠ
Itâs driving me crazy, damn it.
âLook at this bastard ignoring what I just said? You donât wanna come? Then stand there still. Because Iâll have to grab that arrogant head of yours myself.â
Ablaze-!
Flames burned in both the hands of the potato-head.
Looks like heâs planning to attack me from a distance without coming into the lake.
[Guardian deity, âSung Hyun-sookâ is nervous about âMy son âĄâsâ situation!]
[Guardian deity, âSung Hyun-sookâ sends sponsorship to âMy son âĄâ!]
[Sponsorship list: Skill Ball -<Active: âAdvanced Force Shield (C-level)>â]
âMomâŠ!â
Just then, a skill ball fell from the sky like a rope.
As expected of my mom!
âIf itâs a C-level protection skill, I can withstand for a minute!â
And itâs not even a minute now.
The countdown in front of me was past 40 seconds.
I gulped down the skill ball and deployed the force shield without any delay.
Bzzz-!
At the same time, a translucent wall started to block me,
âDie-!â
The potato head screamed with a loud voice and threw the fireball in his hand.
More like, try to throw it.
Ba-ng!
Because suddenly a red lightning strike fell behind his henchmen.
A shock wave started to erupt around the area where the lightning struck.
Crash-!
âEekâŠ?!â
However, that alone was enough to shatter the C-level protection shield.
The potato head who was about to throw a fireball also paused for a while and looked back in the direction in which the lightning struck.
And,
<Do you know what I hate the most?>
It was an eerie voice that made my heart tight.
At the place where everyoneâs attention was focused, there was a giant who slowly stood up by removing the thick soil from the ground.
<Do you know what I despise as much as the approaching doomsday?>
The flames that filled the sky and ground intensified as if they had been met with the wind to make them stronger.
To me, it seemed as if the flames were trembling in fear.
The trembling of the flames soon led to the trembling of the sky and ground.
The whole world was shuddering.
By a giant with the head of a dragon.
<Itâs to be woken up from sleep.>
The Lord of death, who is recognized by the system.