In the Name of God - vanish into fiction

‘The Clan Master will bring information regarding the sanctuaries soon. Perhaps that information is linked to this message. …And to that child as well.’

<Your lifespan has been extended by 30 days as a reward.>

As the message appeared, I felt the fatigue in my body decrease significantly. The trembling in my hand holding the revolver subsided, and my ragged breath, which had been difficult to calm, improved rapidly.

<A fragment of the shadow wishes to synchronize with you.>

<Do you wish to accept?>

<A penalty will be imposed if not accepted within 10 hours.>

‘Ten hours?’

My eyes widened at the time limit, which had suddenly increased tenfold. Until now, the system had constantly demanded I accept within one hour, so why the sudden change? Using Hawkeye, I lowered my gaze. I pointed my phone’s light toward my legs.

‘Is it because of this?’

I saw a faint black energy coiling around one of my legs. It was such a dim aura that it would be invisible without Hawkeye, and no one else would ever notice it. Once the time limit expired or if I accepted within the window, that energy would be absorbed into my body. For some reason, it looked somewhat larger than usual today. Perhaps the 30 day extension and the generous time limit were due to the exceptional size of this energy.

‘That’s a relief.’

The dungeon was so deep that it was almost impossible for Lee Sunho and me to climb out on our own. I had noticed the walls were quite jagged when we fell, so we might be able to climb out if we used them well, but the height was a staggering 114m. It would be difficult for me, since I couldn’t put much strength into my left leg due to the ankle injury, and even for Lee Sunho, a rich young master who seemed to have no connection to rock climbing, to make it more than halfway up.

It was better to wait here for a rescue team, even if it took some time. In that sense, the generous time limit relieved me of one major worry. I put the revolver back into its holster and looked at Lee Sunho.

“Since the Boss is dead, let’s head toward the entrance for now. They’ll probably come to rescue us from the outside soon. …Lee Sunho?”

Lee Sunho was staring intently at something. I followed his gaze, but all I could see were the wretched ruins of the cathedral’s interior.

“What is it?”

“…No, it’s nothing.”

Smiling broadly, Lee Sunho strode toward me. Before I could even ask why he was coming so close, I was suddenly lifted off the ground. Carrying me as if it were the most natural thing in the world, Lee Sunho headed toward the Boss room entrance.

“Is your ankle okay?”

“I just stood still and fired my gun thanks to someone, so of course it’s okay.”

“It only looks okay because I’ve dampened your pain perception for now. Let’s go to the hospital as soon as we return.”

“Fine… sure.”

I nodded obediently. Lee Sunho’s gaze as he looked down at me became meaningful.

“I guess you don’t hate hospitals.”

“If you’re asking if I like or hate them, I definitely hate them… but I can handle getting my ankle treated.”

Surely I won’t end up getting a full health checkup while treating my ankle, right? If that happens, I’ll have to run away without looking back. As I made that vow to myself, Lee Sunho pointed out a specific detail.

“Why do you hate them so much?”

“That’s because…”

I almost answered naturally. It wasn’t because I was afraid the abnormalities of this physical body would be revealed. To me, the space of a hospital was…

I shut my mouth tight and held up my phone to light the way, acting as if nothing was wrong.

“I’ll light the way, so let’s hurry up.”

I blatantly changed the subject, but Lee Sunho didn’t push further. Though the only light came from my phone, we didn’t lose our way. Even though Echo was unsummoned, the scan information it had placed in my mind remained, so I could easily grasp the direction we had traveled. However, there was one thing I had overlooked.

“Wait a second.”

As we were about to pass a fork in the path, I felt a faint presence. It wasn’t just me; Lee Sunho also stopped and stared toward the direction of the presence. It was a direction we hadn’t explored yet. According to Echo’s scan, there were monsters in that direction as well.

Even if a Boss dies, a dungeon only stops producing new monsters; the beasts that haven’t died yet remain inside. Furthermore, when the Boss monster that acted as a deterrent vanishes, the monsters beneath it tend to lose control and run wild. Therefore, the general principle of clearing a dungeon was to clear out all internal monsters first and then deal with the Boss monster last.

However, this dungeon was strictly an area to be managed by the Black Tail clan and was a new asset. I already felt like I should be sorry for killing the Boss without permission, so I couldn’t exactly go around the area clearing out every single monster. Of course, the story changes when they come swarming at us like this.

‘Maybe I should have called Echo.’

If Echo, who runs scans frequently, were here, it would have caught the movement of the monsters in advance so we could avoid them.

“Put me down and get ready.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary.”

“Huh?”

The moment I looked up at him because of his calm reaction, I felt a presence quite different from the monsters rushing toward us. Someone was running toward us from the direction of the entrance we were trying to return to.