/
Seo Dawon answered my question as if it were some trivial matter. Then, he asked, “But, did something happen today?”
“
..”
“Did something perturb you?” Concern filled his kind expression.
However, now that I thought about it, what I had just said wasn’t something Garam-ie would have said, so I just kept quiet. The Seo Dawon in front of me would probably respect my decision to keep quiet rather than doubt me.
As expected, Seo Dawon did not say anything to me even if I didn’t respond. He continued eating quietly without overwhelming me–as if he would be there any time I wanted to speak to him.
Near the end of our meal, Seo Dawon paid for the check and asked obliquely, “How are you and Kyung-sik these days?”
“
Not bad.”
“There’s no suspicious movements/stirrings?”
“Yes.”
Things were quiet when I had left this morning; Choi Kyung-sik also seemed quite placid from someone whose life was actively in danger. I easily answered the Mage’s question.
Blink blink–
However, as soon as I said that, the red light– the alert for the [Message Notification] window–suddenly flickered in the lower right corner of my field of view. It seemed like I wasn’t the only one that was sent a message; Seo Dawon, who had been relaxed so far, frowned.
[You’ve received an urgent message from the ‘Red Lotus’ channel.]
When I rushed to touch the bottom of the message, an alarm from Bang Eunji–accompanied by an [Emergency Message] alert-manifested before me.
[Bang Eunji: There’s been an ambush. I’ve sent the Dungeon coordinates below.]
[Bang Eunji: So far, five enemy personnel have been identified. Requesting support from all nearby guild members.]
When I read the incoming message, I looked at Seo Dawon in surprise. However, rather than being tense and anxious, he sighed in frustration. “It’s a good thing we ate early. Let’s go.”
Then, Seo Dawon firmly grabbed hold of my arm. Gold lines–the same that always appeared whenever the Mage used his skills–coiled around our bodies.
“[Warp].”
* * *
[Entering the dungeon, ‘ Lost in the Immortal Realm ‘.]
Using the coordinates sent by Bang Eunji, we arrived at a dungeon called [Lost in the Immortal Realm].
Choi Kyung-sik had mentioned that he needed to level up before the [Second Company] raid; it was probably for that reason he had arrived at this dungeon with Bang Eunji today.
The problem, though, was that this information had been leaked and they were ambushed as they were proceeding through the dungeon.
Dungeons were structured so that new Users could enter and exit at any time, even if someone had entered the raid instance first. To make matters more difficult, one’s resources were often slim if someone intentionally aimed for that time period and launched a surprise attack. After all, in a situation where monsters lied ahead and assassins chased from behind, unless one was a competent User it would be difficult to escape from that dilemma.
In particular, monsters would often chase the first target they saw until the bitter end. There would be a high probability of running into the dangerous scenario where the assassins and monsters worked in tandem.
“[Mapping].” Therefore, I used the [Mapping] skill to quickly find a path before Seo Dawon could urge me to do so.
A familiar holographic simulation manifested, displaying the complex structures and obstacles in the dungeon one after the other.
Seo Dawon tapped my shoulder as he watched the map fill in from my side. “There’re more than five assassins.”
“
What?”
“Look at the dungeon population count.”
Next to the value that indicated how many traps were in the dungeon, there was a number that indicated how many people were present. Subtracting me, Seo Dawon, Bang Eunji, and Choi Kyung-sik, there were more than 30 people here.
“Eunji also has skills similar to [Mapping]. She wouldn’t have called us for merely five assassins.”
“Ah.”
“The route to the boss room is futile. Eunji and Kyung-sik must be hiding in one of the trap rooms.”
Gloomily enough the issue was that there were a total of 78 traps in the [Lost in the Immortal Realm] dungeon.
The [Lost in the Immortal Realm] dungeon was roughly divided into two parts. One side–[Normal Mode]–was the path to the smaller Boss monster room, the other side was of course the [Hardcore] route. In short, that path led to the real master of this dungeon.
Of course, there were slightly more traps in the [Hardcore] side. Seo Dawon looked at the 80% completed map and immediately barked orders to me–without hesitation–when he saw the diverging path. “You should check the [Normal Mode] side. I’ll go to the [Hardcore] path.”
“We’re splitting up?”
“It’s faster that way.”
I was momentarily nervous, but, when I remembered that I was currently possessing Jung Garam’s body, my mind began to calm down. “Alright.”
“The other guys will be arriving soon.”
“Ah
 yes.”
“Keep on checking your messages. Also, constantly update on the already checked traps.”
“Yes!”
After speaking, Seo Dawon strode ahead with his long legs and disappeared into the [Hardcore] route. Staring blankly at the darkness that had swallowed the Mage’s back, I rushed to the beginning of the [Normal Mode] route entrance while trying to shake off my anxious thoughts.
* * *
Regardless of my worries, the entrance of the [Normal Mode] route was empty.
Even when I first entered, no monsters approached me nor were there any scenario alarms; all that unfolded before me was the dark and spacious cave passageway and a faraway dim light.
There were no full-scale traps here–they were placed after this long passage.
“Where are
my useful skills
” So, to make this boring road pass by a bit faster, I called up Jung Garam’s [Equipped Skill List] without stopping in my run.
Even though I was running incomparably fast–incomparable to my speed when I was in my own body–I wracked my brain for something similar to a Mage’s [Warp] skill.
However, unlike my poor skill list that had less than 10 skills, Jung Garam’s skill list was so extensive that I couldn’t see its end no matter how diligently I scrolled down. Still, I picked out a few skills that had caught my eye; the problem, though, was that all the skill descriptions sounded similar. I had no idea which skill was better than the other.
–Swift: Increase movement speed by 100% for 30 seconds.
–Prompt Action: Ignore the distance from you to the target–approach your target quickly (Cooldown time 10 minutes)
–High Speed: Move quickly while hugging the wall.
–Sprint: You can run faster by consuming a portion of your HP.
I couldn’t understand even when I read the descriptions. The time was running out so I decided to first use them all–in order from [Swift] to [Sprint].
“[Swift]
. Uwaaaaahhhhgh!”
As soon as I uttered [Swift], my speed increased, almost bowling my body forward.
It felt like someone was pushing me from behind? My body felt buffeted by strong tailwinds; my speed suddenly increased so fast that I could not control my body and almost staggered.
“A-Ahhhhgh!” Screaming, I regretted my decisions, but there was no way to stop my legs that had already sprung out, one after the other. “W-Wait a minute!!!”
And, just 30 seconds after [Swift] had been activated, I was approaching the light that had seemed so far away at a tremendous speed. Screaming once more, I closed my eyes; I felt, forebodingly, like my body was floating.
[You’ve entered the Normal mode route of ‘Lost in the Immortal Realm’]
[Scenario ‘Sumptuous Feast (酒池肉林)’ has begun.] 1
And, as soon as I was flung into the light, the [System Message] automatically read itself, as if the system was taunting me.
It’s like
 It was informing me that I was screwed. Still, I quickly adapted to the blinding, dazzling light; I quickly opened my eyes in order to see what kind of monster had appeared before me.
However, contrary to what I expected, I was faced with beautiful, foggy mountain peaks and cliffs, flowing blue rivers–a picturesque home for the gods.
“Ah–Aaaaaahhhh!”
Unfortunately, though, I was currently being flung into that magnificent landscape. Because I couldn’t control my speed while running, I would plummet off a cliff into a river with deep and strong rapids.
Furthermore, the cliff had a smooth stone face with no handholds
 Eventually, I desperately screamed one last time as I watched the river get closer.
TL: Hi guys, Really quick update before I gotta go! My dissertation is due soon so I’ve been super duper busy >.<
Footnotes
ìŁŒì§€ìœĄëŠŒ(酒池肉林) (Ju Ji Yong Rim) means banquet or sumptuous feast–to make a pond with alcohol, and forest with meat. The term comes from the tale that Emperor Zhou of the Yin Dynasty was said to have filled moats with alcohol and nailed meat to the forest while feasting. This, ofc, is another idiom for how wealthy that emperor was.