The circular staircase stretched so far down that I couldn’t see the end.
Pitch-black darkness spread out below.
Looks like a ghost could jump out at any moment.
I switched on the flashlight attached to my X-Band. The place I was heading to now was an underground cavern.
A kind of ruin.
‘The Rune is one thing, but discovering a ruin isn’t exactly easy either.’
Every Dungeon in this world is connected to another world. An otherworld filled with beings different from us—dragons, spirit beasts, knights, martial artists, mages, Daoists—and all kinds of realms such as empires, alliances, lordships, and religious orders.
The spellbooks used by Mage Soldiers all come from there too.
I shook off my stray thoughts and quickened my pace.
I had to hurry. I couldn’t be late for assembly later.
I didn’t know exactly what the underground cavern looked like.
But I’d heard there was a stone chest inside, and that the Rune was in it.
All I had to do was take it out, and it was game over.
How long had I been descending?
The end was finally starting to come into view. I’d spent the entire way staring at the ground in case I tripped, but now I finally raised my head.
A large chamber opened up before me on all sides.
The underground cavern.
“This is it.”
Murals depicting bizarrely shaped beasts covered both walls, while the ceiling was crowded with deep blue and bright yellow stalactites.
It was definitely nothing like an ordinary cavern.
It practically screamed otherworld ruin.
I slowly made my way forward. With the flashlight, I still had no trouble seeing.
But something was strange.
“Huh?”
There was no stone chest.
Forget a stone chest, there wasn’t even a single rock or stone lying around.
“…What the hell is that?”
That was when I spotted a stone statue standing silently against the right wall.
A sense of unease suddenly washed over me.
“Damn it. Don’t tell me it wasn’t a stone chest but a stone statue.”
No matter how much I looked around, there was still no sign of a stone chest.
It seemed that was probably the case.
The Rune appeared to be inside that statue.
You can open a stone chest, but what am I supposed to do with a statue? Smash it?
Just as I stepped toward the statue while seriously pondering the matter.
A chill.
An icy sensation crawled down my spine, and I instinctively stopped.
The statue’s closed eyes opened.
CLANK—!
A greatsword I hadn’t even noticed before appeared in its hands.
I recoiled in alarm.
“Damn it. This is insane.”
Statue monsters sometimes appeared in cavern-type Dungeons. Most were created through magic or Daoist arts like Golems, but there were occasional exceptions.
Cases where they gained life after the soul of the original being fused into them.
The statue before me was exactly that kind.
A gleam that only living creatures possessed shone from its eyes.
It was obvious what the original being had been.
A knight.
Its appearance, the greatsword in its hands, and even the effect of the Rune itself were all related to knights.
Right. I knew it was too easy to obtain for such a good ability.
Ha.
Another mistake on my part.
I should’ve gone over my memories more carefully.
There was no escape route. The statue’s massive body had already moved in front of the stairs and blocked them.
It didn’t take another step from there.
“You’re not planning to die quietly, are you?”
There was no need to ask.
The statue answered by swinging its greatsword through the air.
WHOOSH—!
The heavy sword strike was surprisingly fast as well.
I was fucked in more ways than one.
‘It’s not like I’m completely out of options.’
I drew my sword for the moment. Its blade was far narrower than the statue’s, though at least the length was similar.
But this sword had been specially made for the Hunter Corps to fight monsters.
Its durability was on a completely different level from yesterday’s training sword.
‘Whether a statue monster is a Golem-type or a semi-living type containing the soul of its original being, destroying its core kills it instantly.’
For the latter type, the core was located in the left side of the chest.
Because it followed the position of the original being’s heart.
I faced the statue.
If I carefully tested it out, defended against its attack with [Efficient Parry], then exploited the brief opening to land a [Thrust] in its heart, I would win in theory.
But could I actually pull it off?
Even at a glance, the difference in our physical capabilities was enormous.
I smirked and eased the tension from my rigid body.
‘I blocked an attack from an HMA officer. You think I can’t block an attack from some lousy lump of stone?’
I licked my upper lip and slowly advanced toward it. I also pulled a dagger from my X-Band in advance.
That would be the blade that finished it off.
The statue remained rooted in place, refusing to give up the path.
That was good news for me.
It meant I could approach from whatever angle I wanted.
WHOOSH—!
The greatsword swung again.
It was fast, but not so fast that I couldn’t dodge it.
But its chained movements followed one after another without pause, making it impossible to recklessly look for a counterattack.
Not that I intended to.
SLAM—!
The instant its vertically raised greatsword came crashing down into the ground, I moved around to its side.
This time, it swept the greatsword horizontally.
Now was my chance.
Right now, while its body rotation was incomplete and the swing carried less power.
I raised my sword vertically in a straight line before my chest.
At the same time, a heavy impact surged through my entire body.
CLANG—!
It felt less like a sword had struck me and more like a bear had slammed straight into me.
I almost lost my grip on the hilt.
Meanwhile, the statue was already moving into its follow-up attack.
In that fleeting instant of barely a second, I drove the dagger I’d been gripping alongside my sword forward with all my strength.
Straight into its heart.
SHNK—!
Not leather, but stone.
The dagger pierced straight through the hard stone in one go.
There was a reason it was called a weak point.
FLASH!
The statue’s eyes blazed murderously as it tried to bring its greatsword down on me.
The blade reached right above my skull.
But that was as far as it got.
THUD.
The dagger was buried deep in its heart.
The light in its eyes died away in an instant, and the statue collapsed helplessly.
The mass of stone that had formed a human figure shattered into hundreds of pebbles.
Only then did I catch my breath.
“Whew.”
Blood was running from my palm.
The skin had torn because I couldn’t completely withstand the recoil.
I simply laughed.
A wound like this was a badge of honor.
I crouched down and rummaged through the pebbles.
Soon, I found a glittering fragment.
Its brilliant turquoise color made it look almost like a gemstone, but this was a Rune.
I roughly shook the blood from my hand and picked up the Rune.
Even including my life before the regression, this was the first time I’d ever held one in my own hand.
The seller could name any price.
A rare treasure you couldn’t buy simply because there were none to be had.
I could make a tidy fortune selling it, but in life, you had to look at the forest rather than the tree.
I took out my canteen and swallowed it immediately with some water.
GULP.
A mystery unearthed from an otherworld ruin entered my body.
A warm sensation spread from my heart all the way to the tips of my fingers and toes.
Would eating a hundred-year-old wild ginseng feel like this?
That was when a notification appeared.
《Baskal used his outstanding skill to restore his fallen house and reclaimed territory occupied by monsters with only a few dozen soldiers at his side.》
The life story of a knight named Baskal.
He was the original being behind the statue.
《Furthermore, he…》
Before I knew it, the notification had spread out like a sheet of parchment.
It was packed with writing.
It was actually pretty fun to read.
Like a novel.
《…and thus, Baskal achieved victory in countless battles.》
He was the quintessential iron-blooded knight.
Judging by the fact that no particular title or rank was mentioned, it seemed he’d never risen to a particularly high position, but from my perspective, this alone was more than enough.
Besides.
《Would you like Baskal’s story imprinted upon you?》
‘Imprinted upon me.’
《Baskal’s story has been imprinted upon you.》
This wasn’t an ordinary ability.
It was a special ability that could only be obtained by having a story imprinted upon you.
Those who couldn’t receive such an imprint could never obtain it.
《New Ability [Iron-Blooded Knight’s Soul] unlocked.》
《From now on, you will not be easily intimidated no matter what enemy you face. The Proficiency of all swordsmanship will increase faster.》
In short, its effects were composure and martial skill.
The former would help me remain calm even if I suddenly encountered an enemy like I had earlier, while the latter would literally increase my growth rate significantly.
In game terms, it was a Passive Skill, so there weren’t even any special conditions for activating it.
It remained active twenty-four hours a day, every single day.
That didn’t mean it had no limits.
I’d probably still get scared against an overwhelmingly stronger enemy.
And the growth rate probably wouldn’t accelerate beyond a certain percentage either.
But even that was more than enough.
I’m a Private Second Class right now, aren’t I?
There’s no reason I’d be fighting or training at a level where I’d hit those limits.
‘With this, the foundation is in place.’
The process had turned out a little differently, but I got the result I wanted.
Still, I needed to reflect on what had happened.
I’d nearly died alone in this pitch-dark place.
My corpse could’ve simply rotted away here too.
Because this place wouldn’t be discovered until several years from now.
My family wouldn’t even find me.
‘Wait, come to think of it, I haven’t seen my family yet.’
I’d kept seeing them right up until my regression, but seeing them now would be different.
Not my elderly parents.
My parents in the prime of their lives.
I’d been such a lousy son that I’d done nothing but bend their backs under the burden.
This time, I ought to repay them properly.
I decided to take a day pass or an overnight pass this coming weekend and left the cavern.
My legs felt a little heavy after climbing back up several hundred stairs, but my heart felt lighter than ever.
***
16:45, assembly point beside the exit.
“I knew this would happen. What the hell is Piss-beom so hung up on that we’re back here again?”
“Even the Search Platoon Leader was grumbling earlier. Said all those so-called anomalous energies turn out to be monster byproducts in the end. And most of those are chunks of shit.”
“Come to think of it, I think the sole of my boot smells like shit.”
“Why?”
“I stepped in some earlier.”
“Ugh, get lost. Stay away from me.”
They had spent more than three hours searching, yet nothing had been discovered.
All that staring around until their eyes nearly popped out had done was leave them exhausted.
But the rule around here was simple.
If you were told to do something, you did it.
Even the Search Platoon Leader couldn’t utter a peep in front of Captain Oh Jun-beom.
“We haven’t discovered anything, Company Commander. That’s unfortunate.”
“Is that so? I had a feeling about this place.”
Corporal Byeon Ji-tak, who was listening to their conversation from the back, scowled and muttered, “A feeling, my ass. The only feeling I got is that you’re going to get your ass kicked by me later.”
I could understand if one of the other soldiers who’d actually worked hard said that.
But you slept on your ass all day.
You’re the one who should get your ass kicked.
“What the fuck are you looking at, you bastard?”
And Captain Oh Jun-beom had been right in the first place.
If a Rune counted as a Relic, this Dungeon was definitely worth investigating again.
So this is why being a pioneer is always hard.
“Hey, why are you cussing Yun-ho out?”
“So what, bitch?”
“Crazy bastard.”
While I was distracted by my thoughts, Corporal Jeong Ye-som and Corporal Byeon Ji-tak had started snarling at each other.
I couldn’t let Corporal Jeong Ye-som suffer because of me for no reason.
“Private Second Class Gu Yun-ho. I apologize.”
At my apology, Corporal Byeon Ji-tak turned his head forward.
But a moment later, he turned back toward me, a dagger now in his hand.
SWISH—!
A razor-sharp dagger appeared right in front of my nose in an instant.
A vicious little trick.
Corporal Byeon Ji-tak used to scare me like this.
He would burst into laughter at the sight of me drenched in cold sweat.
Only now did those forgotten days come back to me.
But not this time.
Even with the blade hovering just short of my skin, it felt like nothing more than child’s play.
“?!”
It was the power of [Iron-Blooded Knight’s Soul].
Not being easily intimidated no matter what enemy I faced.
Thanks to that, I didn’t even blink.
Instead, I leaned my face closer.
“If you want to scare me, shouldn’t you bring it a little closer than that?”
“Y-you bastard…!”
Now Corporal Byeon Ji-tak was the one flustered.
His hand trembled.
Not me, but him.
Cold sweat was pouring down both of his temples.