Dungeon Predator

Asu swung downwards.

Swish.

Her sword passed through the Crying, resulting in an ice flower blooming on its body. 

'Ice?'

Kang Oh's eyes glinted.

He'd never seen her use that technique before.

'Did she just learn it?'

Kang Oh thought back to all of the Knight skills that he knew, but he couldn’t think of any skills that created ice. 

'I'll ask her about it later. For now...'

Kang Oh attacked a Crying like a mad beast.

"Yahp!"

Asu swung her sword diagonally.

Crack.

Once her blade made contact with the ice 'flower', the ice crumbled and shards of ice pierced through the Crying's body.

Laaa!

The Crying shrieked in pain.

At that moment...

Vital Thrust!

A mark, which indicated a vital spot, appeared in the middle of the Crying’s forehead. Asu moved like lightning and quickly attacked the area. 

Whack!

Orange shards burst forth, and then Asu attacked with even greater ferocity. 

Whenever her attack hit, the Crying's movements slowed down. 

It was because of this that she was able to contend with a level 110 monster, even though she herself was only level 70.

Not only that, but her successful attacks occasionally created ice as well. Whenever that happened, she would strike the ice, causing shards of ice to pierce the monster’s body and cause a significant amount of damage.

Ultimately, Asu was able to defeat the higher leveled enemy all by herself. In the midst of that however, Kang Oh had killed the rest of the Cryings.

"When you attacked, I saw ice form out of nowhere," Kang Oh said.

"Ah. When I reached level 70, a friend of mine (Unni) gave this to me."

Asu showed him her necklace. 

There was a blue gem embedded at the center, and the rest of the necklace showed an exquisite level of craftsmanship. It was quite the fancy necklace. At first glance, it was clearly a masterpiece!

"The abilities are good?"

"Yes. Whenever I attack, it chills my enemies, slowing their movement. Also, it occasionally creates ice, and when I attack it, it inflicts additional damage," Asu explained thoroughly.

"Oh, it's nice. What rank is it?"

"S-rank!"

"I see."

Kang Oh nodded his head.

The greater the dungeon, the more difficult it would be for Asu to make an impact. However, having that piece of equipment would be a huge help to her.

"Alright. We're done warming up now, so let's get to clearing this dungeon for real."

They had 55 minutes left. The two of them had to reach the other end of the tunnel by then.

"Let's go!"

Asu enthusiastically advanced forward. Kang Oh was right behind her. 

* * *

There were mainly four monsters that resided in the Worm Body Tunnel. 

The Soulless Miner, Najim!

The Shrieking Crying!

Bugs that popped out of the ground and attacked, Trap Earwigs!

Rocks that were stuck to the ceiling and fell whenever players passed by, Falling Rocks!

In order to progress through the Worm Body Tunnel, Kang Oh and Asu had to deal with these monsters.

"Above!" Kang Oh shouted.

Asu glanced at the ceiling and quickly rolled onto the floor.

Rat-a-tat-tat.

Falling Rocks descended from the ceiling.

They were ball-shaped, and rough and uneven on the outside; they also possessed wicked faces as well. 

"The floor!" Kang Oh yelled once more.

Asu quickly retreated.

Whoosh!

A Trap Earwig with lengthy pincers popped out of the ground.

Ku-lal-lal-la!

A group of Cryings shrieked from behind and rushed at them.

'They grouped up, just how I like it.'

Kang Oh assumed an iaido stance and swung his sword.

Tempest Tiger!

The golden tiger dashed through the tunnel filled with orange light.

Kuaaang!

The aura swept through the Falling Rocks, the Cryings, and the Trap Earwigs.

Whoosh.

The aura was followed by powerful winds, but they were mediocre, perhaps because of his limited abilities.

Then again, the golden aura was so inherently powerful that the follow-up wind wasn't really necessary.

Kang Oh then killed any monsters that had survived his Tempest Tiger. 

However...!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

He heard a heavy ‘thud’ coming from the far end of the tunnel. 

"A named monster is coming," Kang Oh said.

"You said the named monster roams across either end of the tunnel, right?"

"Yeah."

A boss monster didn't exist in the Worm Body Tunnel; there was a named monster here instead.

A short while later...

The named monster appeared, illuminated by the orange light overhead.

[You have discovered Stongeny.]

[It is a named monster.]

Stongeny was about 3 meters tall and possessed a face, a body, and four extremities like a human being. 

However, its entire body was made up of coarse Falling Rocks.

Thud.

With every step, a weighty ‘thud’ resounded throughout the tunnel. It might be small, but its weight was undeniable.

"Once the fight begins, it'll periodically shoot Falling Rocks everywhere, and then fuse back together."

"Ok."

"Evade when it shoots the rocks and attack when it's fusing together."

The Stongeny had a simple attack pattern so it was easy to deal with.

However, shooting the Falling Rocks was a formidable attack, so one had to maintain their focus throughout the entire fight.

"Shooting the Falling Rocks is a powerful move, so you have to dodge it no matter what."

"Understood."

"Let's go."

Kang Oh dashed towards Stongeny first.

Stongeny suddenly stopped.

Boom!

Its body exploded.

"It's coming! Get out of the way!"

Whoosh!

Falling Rocks flew through the sky.

They were barraged by rocks, as if they were facing several catapults flinging rocks at them simultaneously.

Kang Oh evaded the rocks as if he were playing a shooting game.

Dodging them was a piece of cake with the combination of his Hyper Intuition and his superb evasion. 

On the other hand, Asu was having some trouble. Not only was she low leveled, but she didn't possess Hyper Intuition either.

Despite that, Asu didn't lose her focus. She rolled onto the floor and moved continuously without rest. Ultimately, she was able to dodge all of the attacks by a hair's breadth.

"Attack all of the Falling Rocks nearby," Kang Oh yelled as soon as its barrage had ended.

The Falling Rocks were gathering in a single area. Kang Oh and Asu swung their swords at a nearby Falling Rock.

Slash!

Honorable Strike1

Whack!

Their hands tingled when their swords made contact. 

Spit!

The Falling Rock pursed its lips as if it were spitting out a watermelon seed, and spat out a sharp rock shard.

They were used to this already, so Kang Oh and Asu maintained their composure and continued their attack.

At some point, the Falling Rocks had gathered together, forming into a lump of rock.

"It's coming!"

The Stongeny exploded once more.

Bang!

Kang Oh and Asu managed to dodge their rocks by flinging themselves out of the way. 

However...!

"Ugh."

Asu's movements weren't like normal. Her movements had slowed, as if she were weighed down.

'She doesn't have enough Stamina!'

He knew what was happening right away. Stamina increased as one leveled, so she, as a low-leveled Knight, wouldn't have much in the first place.

Despite that, she had continued to attack and evade repeatedly, causing her Stamina to bottom out.

At that moment...

A Falling Rock came flying straight at her. Asu had no way of dodging it.

"No!"

Kang Oh threw his body towards her.

He was barely able to make it, and shielded her with his body.

'I'm counting on you, Baramut!'

The Falling Rock struck Kang Oh.

Whoosh.

A refreshing breeze blew. At the same time, the Baramut set shined.

[The Baramut set's special ability, Wind Shield has activated.]

[The attack has been nullified.]

As expected, the Baramut set didn't disappoint him.

The Baramut set had activated right when he was about to take fatal damage, nullifying it.

Kang Oh, who'd barely made it, quickly dragged Asu away. After all, the Falling Rocks were still flying towards them.

A short while later...

The bombardment had finally ended.

"Are you ok?"

Kang Oh looked her over.

"That's my line. Are you ok?" Asu asked concernedly.

"Yeah. My item kept me safe."

Kang Oh grinned.

"I was too excited, so I didn't manage my Stamina well. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. It happens."

If Eder had made this mistake, then he'd be pissed, but Asu was pretty, so he could let it go.

"In any case, keep a close eye on your Stamina, ok?"

"Ok. I won't make this mistake again!"

"Good."

Kang Oh and Asu repeatedly attacked a Falling Rock that was gathering with the others.

After that, Kang Oh and Asu would dodge whenever the rocks came flying at them, and attack when they attempted to combine once more.

Asu kept her promise. She wasn't put in danger due to her Stamina.

Ultimately...

Stogeny's HP dropped to 0 and the Falling Rocks that made up its body broke into pieces.

[You have defeated Stongeny.]

"Oppa, thank you for saving me again."

Asu bowed.

"Don't mention it."

Kang Oh grinned and checked the time.

'We have... 30 minutes left. That's plenty of time.'

It had been 30 minutes since they'd entered the Worm Body Tunnel.

They'd traversed through more than half of the tunnel now, as well as defeating the named monster, so they could easily clear the mission.

Asu picked up the item that Stongeny had dropped. It was a star-shaped rock like a piece of star candy that came with a bag of hardtack.

"It's a material, a Falling Rock Core," she said.

"What's its rank?"

"B-rank."

"You can have it."

Kang Oh lost all interest when he heard ‘B-rank’ and ‘material’. 

She placed the item into her inventory, and the two traversed through the tunnel once more. 

Sometime later...

45 minutes later, the two confidently exited the Worm Body Tunnel.

They'd obviously completed their mission as well.

* * *

Jae Woo and Soo Ah, who'd left the capsule room, had come back to the studio to complete the shoot.

"Please give the teams a round of applause for completing their missions," Kang Seol Hee said.

Clap, clap, clap.

The staff and the participants clapped mechanically.

"Indeed. Good work everyone. Did it go as you wanted?" Jeon Seong Gook asked.

"Yes!" Park Bae Shik yelled.

His sudden response caused the other participants to burst out laughing.

"Man, Mr. Bae Shik. It looks like you completed your mission," Seon Gook said.

"Hoo, hoo. Of course."

His face was full of confidence.

"Now then, let's see whether the other teams have completed their mission or not. Ms. Seol Hee."

At his call, Kang Seol Hee took over.

"Please take a look at the big screen."

Once she pointed at the screen, the screen showed a list with the participants' names.

'As expected, everyone completed their mission.'

None of the teams had failed, perhaps because they were still at the easier dungeons.

"All of the teams completed their missions."

Kang Seol Hee raised her voice.

"Shall we see how much money you've earned?"

Three million won ($3,000 USD) replaced the 'success' next to each of their names.

"Oh dear. It's still only three million won?" Jeon Seong Gook said.

"Hoo, hoo. We've only just gotten through the level 2 dungeons."

"Which means they still have a lot more chances to make money."

"Exactly. But please don't forget that you'll receive a punishment should you fail!"

Seol Hee smiled impishly.

"Shall we hear what the teams have to say?"

Seong Gook chatted with the participants like last time following their dungeon conquests.

Jae Woo replied curtly like always.

After that, the MC's, Kang Seol Hee and Jeon Seong Gook, gave their closing statements.

"It's unfortunate, but it's time to say goodbye."

Kang Seol Hee waved her hands.

"Please look forward to the performance of our Dungeon Conquering Men/Girls."

Jeon Seong Gook smiled and softly waved with one hand.

"Cut!"

"Good job."

"Thank you for all your hard work everyone."

"Good work!"

The second shoot had ended.