Chapter 19 - Ring of Vitality (3)

　　4.

　　[Clear Condition]

　　[☆ Defeat ’80’ monsters inhabiting the deserted island.]

　　[▷ This is a Unique-grade dungeon. Dungeon penalties will be applied.]

　　[1. Monster level and stats will increase.]

　　[2. 30 days after entering the dungeon, the island will begin to sink.]

　　[3. A hidden ☆ exists. Upon fulfilling the condition, the dungeon penalty will be lifted. An ‘Elite Monster’ will be generated. This penalty will not be lifted.]

　　[▷ Maximum dungeon entry capacity penalty will be applied.]

　　[1. The number of monsters will increase.]

　　[2. The probability of an ‘Elite Monster’ spawning will increase.]

　　Buja glanced at the hologram and then at Sijun, whose arrogant eyes were filled with contempt.

　　“Well,” Sijun began, his voice dripping with condescension, “if you want to get your hands on a pair of Special-grade items worth nearly forty million dollars, I guess you have to endure a few penalties, right?”

　　“You’ve suddenly dropped the formalities,” Buja noted.

　　“You can drop them too,” Sijun shot back.

　　Nine Users. In a ten-person dungeon, everyone but Buja was on Sijun’s side. He had no reason to hold back. The thin veneer of civility he’d maintained for Seora’s sake had vanished the instant they entered. His attitude screamed, If you don’t like it, fight me. It was a common mindset in dungeons, where strength was the only etiquette that mattered.

　　Buja wasn’t bothered.

　　“Alright, then.”

　　“What?”

　　“You told me to drop the formalities, so I will,” Buja said, his tone easy. “You look older than me, but age doesn’t matter in a dungeon. We’re all 1-star Users here. We should try to get along.”

　　He was more at home in this lawless world than any of them. Dungeons were nothing compared to the sheer anonymity of virtual reality. He’d encountered every type of scumbag imaginable—from trolls who greeted you with insults about your mother to fake party members who’d backstab you for the final hit on a boss. And yet, nine times out of ten, even those degenerates learned not to mess with him. There were no public records of it, but he was proud of his reputation.

　　“I can be a real piece of trash myself,” he said with a lazy grin.

　　He had to admit, he hadn’t expected them to use the max-capacity penalty to interfere. He’d never filled a dungeon’s entry limit before and had anticipated a more direct confrontation. He had to give them credit.

　　“Devious bastards.”

　　“This is just a precaution in case you try to sneak in reinforcements,” Sijun sneered. “If you’re scared, you can give up now.”

　　“And if I give up?” Buja countered. “Are you skilled enough to clear this place on your own with all these penalties?”

　　“This bastard’s been running his mouth from the start,” one of Sijun’s lackeys growled.

　　“Young Master!” another interjected, holding Sijun back as he tensed to lunge forward.

　　Buja just shrugged. “Anyway, since the dungeon’s full, you don’t have to worry about my friends showing up. That means it’s okay if I go my own way, right? It’s too risky for me to hunt with you guys watching.”

　　“Hmph. Do whatever you want,” Sijun spat, clearly thinking the penalty alone was enough to doom him.

　　With the situation unfolding just as he’d planned, Buja threw out one last piece of bait. “Ah, and I trust you wouldn’t do something pathetic like kill a single passing monster and then claim you helped clear the dungeon just to nullify our bet, right?”

　　“That will never happen,” Sijun snarled. “Now get lost.”

　　As Sijun’s party drew their weapons, Buja casually turned from the beach and headed toward the dense forest in the island’s center.

* * *

　　Once Buja was gone, Sijun’s party set up camp on the beach. While their official reason for being there was to monitor Buja’s solo clear, their team was a formidable force. Each of the nine members was Level 9, equipped with at least Epic-grade armor and Unique-grade items.

　　“If the dungeon isn’t cleared in two weeks, we’ll start the clear ourselves,” Sijun announced, his expression grimly determined. His party members nodded in agreement.

　　Despite his bravado, Sijun had only ever cleared one Unique Dungeon. And on that run, the clear condition had been simple survival; they had just held out. This was his first time actually fighting Unique-grade monsters. The sub-clear condition had better be survival, he prayed.

　　The biggest variable was that hidden condition. If they could clear it, they could remove the thirty-day time limit, though the penalty of an elite monster spawning would remain. The odds were stacked against them, but Sijun had entered with confidence for one simple reason.

　　“If he’s good enough to solo four Epic Dungeons, he should be able to kill a decent number of monsters,” he reasoned. “We just need to clean up the rest.”

　　The entire scenario was already mapped out in his head. He’ll die fighting the Elite Monster. Then, we’ll finish the remaining clear conditions, exit the dungeon, collect the ring and earring, and I’ll take that cunning vixen to a suite. Victory was the only possible outcome.

　　“For the next two weeks,” he commanded, “we don’t kill a single monster.”

　　“Yes, sir,” his party members chorused.

　　To ensure their safety, Sijun had spent a considerable amount of his own money. Several large incense sticks were lit around their camp, and a strange, pungent smoke began to rise.

　　[[Monster Repellent Incense]]

　　[▶ Grade: Unique]

　　[▶ Burns for 12 hours, emitting a scent that repels monsters in 1-star / Unique-grade dungeons or lower.]

　　[▷ This candle only emits a scent that monsters with a keen sense of smell dislike. If you provoke a monster, it may ignore the scent and attack. Recommended for use while in stealth or taking cover.]

　　Each stick costs ten thousand dollars. This item had been the key to his easy clear of the last Unique Dungeon, and it was the source of his confidence now.

　　“Let’s just figure out what to do for the next two weeks,” Sijun said, settling in. All that was left was a two-week vacation.

　　One of his subordinates hesitated.

　　“But, Young Master… what if he actually clears the dungeon?”

　　“Are you insane? How could he possibly clear a Unique Dungeon alone?” Sijun scoffed. “If there’s even a one-in-a-million chance he could pull it off, I have to intervene. If I just hand over those two items to some no-name punk, my older brother might actually kill me.”

　　And so, their luxurious vacation began.

* * *

　　The first few days were surprisingly peaceful. There were few monsters on the beach aside from the marine types, and the fortune Sijun had spent on repellents kept them from so much as sniffing around their camp. They had more than enough food, including some instant meals that lent the air of a genuine holiday.

　　The days bled into one another—four, five, six—until a full week had passed without incident.

　　“Isn’t this too quiet?” Sijun muttered, a seed of anxiety taking root.

　　Sijun had anticipated Buja would try something clever, just as Buja had surely anticipated his interference. It was only natural. He was utterly convinced Buja couldn’t clear the dungeon alone. He had already closed the most obvious loophole—bringing in reinforcements—by accepting a penalty that made doing so a double-edged sword. The only strategy left was for Buja to somehow manipulate Sijun’s party into clearing the dungeon for him. That, Sijun figured, was the true meaning behind Buja’s parting words, and precisely why he’d poured so much money into fortifying their camp.

　　But his efforts appeared to be for naught. Nothing was happening.

　　“His monster kill count is still rising, sir, but it’s slow,” one of his men reported.

　　[Monsters Slain: 11]

　　It wasn’t as if Buja was doing nothing, but his pace was pathetic.

　　“At this rate, he’ll never clear it, will he?” Sijun asked.

　　“No, sir. The sub-quest isn’t a survival mission, so there’s no reason for him to speed up. At this pace, the island will be submerged before he’s done.”

　　“So he’s waiting for that to happen?”

　　“It’s possible.”

　　It didn’t feel like a deliberate stall, however. It felt more like Buja had chosen a third option, one Sijun hadn’t even considered. Kill the monsters yourself if you don’t want to die with me.

　　Sijun snorted in derision. Without knowing the sub-quest’s conditions, his party would be forced to act before the month was up. If they didn’t kill the remaining monsters, the entire island would sink, and they would all drown.

　　But there was one thing Buja had overlooked.

　　“He must not know why we brought nine people,” Sijun sneered. “The fool. The deadline was never a month. It’s two weeks.”

　　The penalty for entering with a full party was a burden, but Sijun had accepted it for one simple reason: he knew the easiest way to eliminate it.

　　“The penalty disappears once we’re down to eight.”

　　Eliminating one person was far easier than dealing with a horde of extra elite monsters.

　　“Idiot.”

　　Nothing was more satisfying than reading an opponent’s hand. A wave of triumph washed over him.

　　“We start hunting in one week,” Sijun announced. “Conserve your strength until then. You can eat half of the provisions.”

　　“Sir?” one of his men asked, startled.

　　The exhilaration, however, was short-lived. Sijun had just lain down in his tent for a nap when one of his men called out to him.

　　“What is it?” he snapped.

　　“You need to see this, sir.” The man’s terrified stammer was all the warning Sijun needed to draw his weapon. He knew something was wrong.

　　“What the hell…?”

　　A dozen monsters that should have been avoiding their camp like the plague were now emerging from the forest, their faces twisted in fury.

　　“Battle stations!” Sijun roared. It was all he could say.

* * *

　　5.

　　“Scree!”

　　A monkey-like monster, slightly smaller than a human, tumbled from a tree. On an island ruled by survival of the fittest, it was a rare sight: a monster, a territorial creature that had carved out its own domain, falling so clumsily from the trees.

　　“Kieee…”

　　Its mind grew hazy, its escape through the canopy impossible. Blood streamed from its neck as a chilling coldness seeped through its body. Its killer approached at a leisurely pace.

　　“Where do you think you’re going?” Buja asked. He had no interest in watching it die. He finished it off with a swift thrust of his dagger, then pulled an item from his backpack.

　　[You have acquired 1 gold.]

　　The holographic notification should have been welcome, but the item in his hand made him sigh. It was identical to the ones Sijun had scattered around his camp.

　　“How many of these eight-thousand-dollar sticks have I burned through already?”

　　[Monsters Slain: 12]

　　The updated count prompted another sigh. At $8,000 apiece, twelve of them amounted to $96,000. He had invested more than half the money he’d earned from the last Unique Dungeon into this one.

　　It’s an investment for a $28 million prize, he reminded himself. If not for that, he never would have attempted something so costly. He cast a final, longing glance at the Monster Repellent Incense before tossing it onto the monkey’s corpse. The fragrant smoke billowed out, its scent carrying far and wide.

　　“They should be reacting by now,” he muttered, his eyes fixed on the beach. At that moment, he saw a monster heading in that direction. A week of hard work was about to pay off.

　　“There we go.” He quickly scrambled up a tall tree and settled into a good vantage point. “You created the max-capacity penalty, so you can damn well deal with it.”

　　He propped his feet up and pulled out a bag of popcorn.

* * *