The Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices

The dungeon monsters keep offering sacrifices – 020

EP.20 Resentment, Growing Suspicion

The intimidating blaze that had been burning fiercely had now dimmed. The adventurer who had become a sacrifice disappeared, leaving only ashes behind. Celia watched this solemnly.

Denver, who had quietly approached her, was now standing beside Celia. He had fallen under Celia’s charm and, ever since he had become a ghoul, always stayed close to her.

Celia turned her head towards Denver as she watched the sacrifice.

“It’s a shame, Denver.”

“Cooer?”

What could be a shame?

Denver tilted his head slightly.

“If you hadn’t become a ghoul, you could have been in that glorious position as well.”

Celia gave a mischievous smile.

“Cooeree.”

Once her words were finished, Denver made a noise and started moving in a different direction.

Turning her gaze away from Denver, celia looked back at the altar.

“At last, we’ve offered a sacrifice worthy of our master.”

The adventurer sacrificed this time had some capabilities. Originally, she wanted to offer all the intruders in the dungeon, but all but one had already perished.

It was a sacred altar.

The ones who had been struck by lightning and had their hearts pierced by arrows couldn’t be offered as sacrifices to their master.

Their corpses were thrown to the goblins, who needed to consume meat anyway. It was an excellent way to dispose of the bodies.

“By the way, it seems my assumption was correct.”

Celia opened her mouth after gazing at the altar for a while. Sacrificing a victim had confirmed her previous speculations.

“The restrictions have been lifted.”

Their master had taken her to the dungeon for some reason. However, for whatever reason, she couldn’t leave the dungeon. Now that the restrictions had been removed, she could go beyond the dungeon’s borders. It wasn’t far, but it was still a significant improvement.

“Now I can finally show some results that will satisfy our master.”

Celia was feeling that herself. Their master couldn’t interfere fully in this world for some reason. And, by offering sacrifices, they had found that their master’s power grew stronger. Today, by offering a sacrifice, her speculations had been confirmed, and she could decide on her course of action for the future.

With this new development, various options opened up.

If necessary, she didn’t have to stay inside the dungeon anymore. She could go outside.

“Someday, we’ll be able to witness the noble appearance of our master, right?”

Celia turned her head with excitement.

Standing there were Death Knights and Goblin Lords.

“We need more sacrifices. Until our noble master regains his strength, we must pave the way.”

Since it was a mission as their master’s Administrators.

“Let’s welcome the day when our master descends.”

Celia was excited. On the day their master descended, this continent would find salvation. But until then, they would likely have a lot of work to do. The first plan was now set in motion.

“Search the area carefully in shifts,” Celia commanded.

They needed to reduce variables as much as possible right away.

“Start cleaning up the nearby dungeons. Spread our master’s will.”

At Celia’s command, Death Knights and Goblin Lords moved simultaneously.

====

***

====

“Kang-hyun, is something good happening today? You’ve been smiling all day.”

Have I been too obvious about my happiness? One of the workers who was working with me struck up a conversation.

“Oh, it’s nothing special. Haha.”

“You seem rather evasive.”

Awkwardly smiling in response, he left.

I was left alone, still wearing a smile.

Drawing Whiskey Street

The reason I’m smiling? Naturally, I have every reason to.

When I woke up in the morning, I had developed a new trait. Having a status screen was already a big deal, but this time it was a skill, and it was even an A-rank skill.

“Magic Sensitivity.”

It was a skill that significantly increased my affinity with mana. With high Magic Sensitivity, I could feel and read mana better than anyone else.

“So, this is what it feels like to sense mana.”

When I first woke up in the morning, I felt something strange. At first, I thought I was just tired, but I realized it was because of the mana present in the air.

I used to be called a half-baked Hunter because I didn’t have a status screen, and I had graduated from the Hunter Academy at the bottom of my class, earning the scorn of my peers. Now, I was a Hunter with an A-rank skill.

Of course, having an A-rank skill didn’t mean I had succeeded yet. It was all about sensing mana, and using it was a different matter.

Nevertheless, it was undeniable that I had a different starting point than others.

‘Although, I’m still way behind to say I’m early.’

Strictly speaking, I was much further behind.

But not anymore.

Now I had the potential to catch up. I had the ability to surpass those who had been ahead of me.

“Alright, today’s work ends here. Those who want to work overtime, gather here. Quickly!”

When I was lost in thought, one of the supervisors called out to the remaining workers.

‘It’s overtime, huh?’

I planned to settle my life as a porter soon. For now, I had some thoughts related to that, and I planned to stop by a nearby cafe.

‘Let’s go.’

I turned towards the exit.

“Huh?”

At the exit, I saw a bulletin board with wanted posters. They were called villains, which referred to Hunters with various criminal activities. Among the villains, one person in particular caught my eye.

“Kim Minjun…?”

I had heard that name somewhere before.

For a moment, I rummaged through my memory.

“Oh!”

It was a game. He was a player who had intruded into my dungeon in the game. I remembered it because in a game with a setting based on the El Dorad continent, a Korean name like Kim Minjun stood out.

“I never thought they would include a setting for being summoned…”

It was a game that paid attention to historical accuracy, with characters not only from the El Dorad continent but even Earthlings.

“Come to think of it, he mentioned being offered as a sacrifice in the game.”

In the game’s alert, Kim Minjun had mentioned being offered as a sacrifice.

Of course, the game was just a game, and the Kim Minjun on the bulletin board was just a villain.

“By the way, this villain also has the Magic Sensitivity skill.”

The bulletin board mentioned that the villain Kim Minjun also possessed Magic Sensitivity, just like me.

“Such coincidences do happen.”

At that moment, I felt something strange and couldn’t explain it.

“Huh?”

It was like… a feeling of unease?

My heart started pounding, and the surrounding mana trembled.

“Why is this suddenly happening?”

I felt strange, but decided to ignore it for now.

I turned and continued towards the nearby cafe.

====

***

====

Arriving at the cafe, I ordered a coffee and started thinking about a few things.

Why did these abilities suddenly appear in me?

The status screen was somewhat understandable, it could have appeared late. However, the skills were completely out of the blue, especially the A-rank skill.

A-rank skills were usually only obtained congenitally when awakening, and if not, they could be acquired through skill books.

This applied to skills and traits of all ranks. This aspect drove up the prices of skill books, and traits were so scarce that even if you paid a high price, you couldn’t obtain them.

“I can’t figure it out no matter how much I think about it.”

In fact, I hadn’t acquired any skill books yet.

“Well, no matter. As long as I have the traits.”

I pondered for a moment and then dismissed the thought. It was a problem that wouldn’t have a conclusion no matter how much I thought about it.

Then I reflexively started the game. I had noticed that things had been going well for me since I started playing this game.

“But what was this exactly?”

I checked the alarm that had rung in the early morning.

– Absorbed the ability of the offering ‘Kim Minjun’.

–

The alarm ended there. Just like the last time I absorbed someone’s ability, there was no apparent change this time either.

“Why on earth was this system created?”

Absorbing abilities didn’t seem to affect anything in the game.

Was there something I didn’t know?

I clicked on the screen several times, but nothing new appeared.

“…”

– Thump.

–

My heart raced again. The strange feeling I had earlier had returned.

“What should I call this feeling?”

Ah, yes. It was like… a strange feeling that I didn’t really own the Magic Sensitivity skill yet. Maybe it was just because it didn’t feel familiar yet.

“…”

Then, suddenly, I had a thought about one possibility.

“Could it be…?”

No, it couldn’t be. I shook my head immediately. It might have been a small and uninvited thought that had crossed my mind subconsciously.

“Why think about it on such a joyful day? Let’s play the game.”

Today was the day when I obtained a new trait. Moreover, it was an A-rank trait. It was the kind of trait any Hunter would want to have.

It was something to be happy about. It wasn’t right to be lost in other thoughts on such a happy day.

To shake off my unnecessary worries, I focused on the game.

I touched the screen and suddenly saw a new content.

[Dungeon Support & Dispatch]

It was about providing materials to other dungeons or dispatching monsters to help.

I hadn’t paid much attention to it last time because I didn’t have many monsters, but now it was different.

In the dungeon, I had at least two monsters of 5 stars or higher, even if I excluded one. I clicked on [Dungeon Support & Dispatch].

Once I clicked, a map of the El Dorad continent appeared, and a list of dungeons requesting assistance started appearing in red letters.

“Should I take a look at this one first?”

I clicked on the dungeon at the very top, as it was at the top and had the biggest reward. However…

“??”

When I clicked on the dungeon, I saw a name that seemed familiar.

‘Baalzerith…??’

5 stars and a vampire. It was an unforgettable combination and name.

“Oh, that guy!”

It was when I first started the game and was setting up my Administrator. I was happy when I got a 5-star character from the Administrator draw, but that guy rejected me. Thanks to her, I didn’t start with a 5-star, but with a 3-star character.

– Do you want to support this dungeon? –

Are you crazy? I immediately pressed ‘No.’ No matter how good my mood was today, I couldn’t help you.

After rejecting it, I started looking for another dungeon. This time, I selected a nearby area with at least some rewards from my dungeon.

“Goblin Dungeon?”

Is this place okay?

I checked the details about the dungeon owner, who was a goblin shaman. Since the owner was a 2-star monster, it shouldn’t be too difficult.

– Do you want to support this dungeon? –

This time, I pressed ‘Yes.’

“Maybe it’s better to send troops than resources.”

The dungeon owner was 2-star, so sending resources wouldn’t be very useful. Who should I send?

After some consideration, I turned my gaze to one side.

“Since they are both goblins, I should send this guy.”

I chose Goblin Lord.

But suddenly, a warning alert appeared.

– Goblin Lord has a penalty when performing solo.

–

– If Goblin Lord doesn’t have a group to lead, a 3-rank drop penalty will be applied.

–

The alert was about penalties for Goblin Lord.

‘What? drop 3 stars?’

Goblin Lord’s current rank was 5 stars. But if I deducted 3 stars, it would be almost the same as a 2-star monster.

“Sigh…”

Goblin Lord, you little…

Why did this setting exist? It had lower performance than I thought.

“Removing the surrounding goblins was Goblin Lord’s weakness.”

I blurted out my thoughts in disbelief. In practice, if the group disappeared, Goblin Lord was a worthless existence.

I had no choice but to put Goblin Lord back.

“Hmm.”

After a brief moment of contemplation…

Yes, I have no one else to trust but you. I selected Celia.

Celia was a Administrator, but she was a 6-star monster. I was a bit concerned about her leaving the dungeon empty, but there shouldn’t be a major problem.

“If anything happens, Death Knight and Goblin Lord will take care of it.”

I dispatched Celia to the dungeon that requested support.

====

***

====

Celia was working in the Administrators’ room, thinking about her future plans. Then, she suddenly felt something strange. Her body felt as if it were floating in thin air, and at the same time, the surrounding space distorted.

“This is….”

It was spatial teleportation magic.

“You always manage to surprise me.”

Celia had felt this power when she was sealed underground in the organization’s base. Therefore, she entrusted her body to the space.

A moment ago, it had been the room for Administrators, but it had instantly transformed into a different dungeon from her owner’s dungeon. At the same time, she knew what she had to do.

“I will carry out my master’s command,” her master ordered her. The command was to support this dungeon.

Celia slowly looked around. In the center of the dungeon, she saw a goblin sitting there. This goblin was different from the others; he held a wooden staff with a skull attached to it. It was clear that he was the owner of the dungeon.

The goblin, the owner of the dungeon, noticed Celia as well.

“Kekem, you’ve come to help us, kekem. I am the goblin shaman, the owner of this dungeon… huh?”

The goblin shaman stopped speaking. Something was amiss.

“Rum?”

This couldn’t be. The goblin shaman had clearly requested reinforcements through the demon realm. Since they had limited funds, he had assumed cheap undead like skeletons would be sent.

He had definitely thought that way, but…

“An incredible presence has arrived! Kekem.”

The goblin shaman was thrown into confusion.