Chapter 227: Chapter 227

As expected, Baal appeared.

Jeong-hoon met his gaze and smirked.

“So, where’s the dungeon I’m supposed to clear?”

With those words, a ticket fluttered down in front of Jeong-hoon.

It was a ticket bound for India.

“India?”

“I see.”

He thought he understood which dungeon Baal was referring to.

‘It must be Serpentid.’

Serpentid.

A monster reminiscent of a giant eel.

It was a dungeon where that creature lurked.

‘It’s a pretty troublesome one—it took nearly two years to subdue.’

It’s well-known as the dungeon that was finally cleared by an expedition led by James Marcus after 14 failed attempts.

That was the place Baal was pointing to.

Baal’s eyes curved into a crescent shape.

Jeong-hoon chuckled.

“Of course not. You’ve prepared a reward, haven’t you?”

Baal’s narrowed eyes returned to normal at Jeong-hoon’s relaxed tone.

Jeong-hoon’s soul would be offered to Baal.

“Of course.”

But, naturally, that wasn’t going to happen.

Jeong-hoon knew the strategy for tackling Serpentid.

* * *

Meanwhile.

The students who had fled from Golden Raccoon shivered at the thought of Jeong-hoon.

“Damn it!”

“Because of that bastard, look at this mess…”

“My stats… This is seriously screwed up.”

At the time, they had only focused on survival and hadn’t noticed, but somehow, their stats had drastically decreased.

The problem was that their level hadn’t changed.

“This will get restored, right…?”

“It’s… probably temporary.”

They had never heard of a case where stats decreased like this.

Assuming it was a temporary debuff, they bought Safeguard potions with the points they’d stolen.

If it was a debuff, the Safeguard would clear it up.

However, even after drinking the Safeguard potions, their reduced stats didn’t return.

“Damn it… What’s going on?”

“They’re not coming back…?”

“This is insane. Seriously!”

They were going out of their minds.

“If this keeps up, we won’t even be able to keep looting…”

“Damn it…”

They had barely survived, but the idea of stopping their thefts never crossed their minds.

Once they’d committed a crime, doing it a second time didn’t seem that hard.

Robbing others brought in much more than going through a dungeon themselves.

So, they planned to be more cautious next time to avoid getting caught.

But with their stats in this state, it was a different story.

No matter how flashy their skills were, everything was based on their stats.

With low stats, even powerful skills wouldn’t produce high damage.

“Damn it, what do we do?”

It was then, while the students were panicking.

“Hey.”

Someone was approaching them.

There were four of them, and one had a familiar face.

“…Isn’t that the guy we robbed?”

That’s right.

The man they had looted before was among them.

“That’s them, isn’t it?”

“Yes, the ones who poisoned me and robbed me.”

The man’s eyes were filled with rage.

“Damn…”

“We’re screwed, aren’t we?”

The students’ faces went pale.

—

Penalty-Imposing Dungeon.

These dungeons come in many forms, and once cleared, penalties no longer apply to that area.

However, in abnormal dungeons like the one where Baal previously appeared, failure to clear results in penalties across the entire Earth.

While there were usually multiple entrances, making access easy, this time was different.

‘One entrance. And the penalty affects the entire planet.’

There was a reason they’d formed an expedition team and struggled to clear that dungeon.

If it wasn’t cleared, a penalty would be applied periodically, with the intensity increasing each time.

In other words, they needed to close that dungeon quickly to avoid the penalties.

‘That’s the dungeon Baal pointed me toward.’

Baal had set one condition.

No assistance from others was allowed.

To prevent any tricks, Baal was blocking every loophole he could think of.

[Are you leaving right away?]

At Mukho’s question, Jeong-hoon shook his head.

“Not yet.”

‘Hmm? Do you still have other preparations?’

Anima asked perceptively.

Jeong-hoon grinned and nodded.

“Yes. I could clear it if I went in now, but it would take a while.”

Serpentid was a high-level, extremely difficult monster.

Without knowing its strategy, it was nearly impossible to defeat.

A cursed monster that had imposed a penalty no less than 22 times.

To swiftly eliminate that monster, a few key items were necessary.

—

The Indian Ocean.

One of the world’s five major oceans, it stretched beneath India.

Countless portals shimmered on its surface—a pathway leading directly into a dungeon.

“We’re clearing this dungeon today.”

Thirteen people stood in front of one of these portals, having anchored their ship temporarily to prepare for the dungeon entry.

This group was a pirate guild specializing in subduing dungeons on the ocean.

Dungeons in the ocean were less frequently tackled than those on land, so they were often packed with resources, including some rare items that could only be obtained from oceanic dungeons.

‘Unique-grade Mana Stones.’

Unique-grade Mana Stones, which never appeared on land, had been found over fifty times in ocean dungeons.

Each of these Unique Mana Stones was worth a staggering 100,000 points.

With reality itself now materialized, points had become incredibly valuable currency.

This was why so many adventurers set sail, including the pirate guild.

They had lived primarily at sea during the New World era, specializing in ocean dungeon raids.

Thus, they prided themselves on knowing ocean dungeons better than anyone else.

“Are we sure it’s safe here…? I don’t know…”

But today’s dungeon was unusual.

Massive waves of mana radiated from the portal.

Also, there was no indication of the dungeon’s level at its entrance.

Yet, the pirate guild leader, Vikram, felt confident about this dungeon.

[No threats detected.]

He possessed a detection skill specifically attuned to dungeons.

‘It’s even a Legendary-grade skill. Heh.’

This Legendary-grade detection skill was specialized in dungeon hazards.

As a result, Vikram could choose dungeons with minimal risk and had obtained Unique Mana Stones no fewer than six times.

“It’s fine. This place isn’t that dangerous.”

Vikram reassured his guild members.

Knowing he had a Legendary-grade detection skill, they nodded in relief.

“Still… no matter what…”

Yet, Aditya, a guild member, remained uneasy.

As a mage with highly sensitive instincts, Aditya felt something unsettling.

‘If we enter, we’ll die.’

That feeling prevented him from being reassured by Vikram’s words.

“Come on, rookie, act like a rookie.”

“You’re doubting the guild leader’s detection skill?”

“What, ignoring a Legendary-grade skill now?”

The others mocked Aditya.

Aditya had only joined the guild about a year ago, making him the youngest.

As the rookie, he was expected to follow orders diligently, so his reluctance to agree with the guild leader naturally rubbed them the wrong way.

But Vikram raised a hand to silence the mocking guild members.

“You idiots! Are you looking down on Aditya just because he’s the rookie?”

“No, that’s not what we meant…”

“Quiet. That’s enough.”

At Vikram’s command, the guild members fell silent.

Vikram then approached Aditya, who waved his hands with a flustered expression.

“I wasn’t trying to disrespect you, guild leader! I just have a bad feeling about going in there…”

“I understand.”

Vikram patted his shoulder reassuringly.

“Guild leader…”

“It’s fine. It’s normal to feel that way sometimes. But I want you to trust me this once. That’s definitely a trap.”

“A trap…?”

“Yeah. I’ve seen similar traps before. And with this detection skill, I’ve managed to break through every single one.”

“I see…”

Aditya was a few levels below Vikram, and with Vikram’s Legendary detection skill, he slowly began to feel reassured.

“Alright, let’s go in.”

With Vikram leading, the raid commenced.

—

Using a ticket to cross over to India, Jeong-hoon immediately drank a Fly Potion.

[Fly Potion]

– Type: Consumable

– Grade: Epic

– Effect: Allows the user to use flight skill for approximately one hour.

– Side Effects: Unknown adverse effects may occur upon consumption.

Although it would have been safer to rent a boat, the dungeon wasn’t far, so he opted to fly.

‘Hmm? There’s a ship here?’

After flying for some time, Jeong-hoon arrived at the dungeon where the serpent lurked, only to find a ship anchored in front of it.

He landed lightly on the ship.

Suddenly, a man burst out from the cabin with a sword in hand, ready to defend the vessel.

“Who are you?”

Thanks to the dismantling of language barriers, he understood perfectly.

“Someone here to clear this dungeon.”

“Ha! What a joke! This dungeon is claimed by our pirate guild. If you understand, get lost.”

“What if I refuse?”

Jeong-hoon smirked.

“You little…!”

The man’s forehead veins bulged in anger.

He was Level 220, a Crusader who had undergone his third class advancement.

With his sword drawn, he lunged at Jeong-hoon.

“Sigh, what a bother.”

Jeong-hoon scratched his head, easily sidestepping the attack, and then struck the man’s solar plexus with his fist.

“Guh!”

The man, struck in a vital point, crouched down, unable to move for a while, panting heavily from the pain.

“Stop whining. Just guard the ship while I’m in there.”

Jeong-hoon had barely hit him. Had he put in any real effort, the crusader would’ve not only lost consciousness but probably his life as well.

Leaving the Crusader behind, Jeong-hoon entered the portal.

[Do you wish to enter Serpentid’s Lair?]

[*Upon entering, underwater breathing will be enabled.]

A dungeon without even a level indicator.

‘What were they thinking, coming in here?’

Jeong-hoon couldn’t understand the fools who entered before him. Anyone with half a brain would recognize this place was dangerous.

‘I’m going in.’

As Jeong-hoon accepted the prompt, his body was pulled into the portal.

The sight that greeted him left him momentarily speechless.

“A massacre…?”

There wasn’t a single uninjured person in sight.

Bodies lay everywhere, some with their necks torn out, others ripped in half, leaving only the torso or limbs.

And in front of him, a giant serpent-like creature, the Serpentid, was gnawing on something—likely one of the unfortunate guild members.

“S-save me…”

A faint voice reached Jeong-hoon’s ears.

With underwater breathing enabled, communication was possible as well.

Turning his head, Jeong-hoon noticed someone clinging to life.

‘A survivor.’

The man had lost one arm, yet he was still conscious.

Jeong-hoon swam swiftly toward him.

[Casting Advanced Healing.]

As the Advanced Healing spell took effect, the torn area closed up rapidly.

“A-are you a priest…?”

The man’s face clouded with despair, assuming a priest would be helpless against the monster.

“Just stay back.”

But Jeong-hoon, expressionless, replied calmly.

“Huh…?”

“You’d just get in the way of dealing with it.”

Right on cue, the Serpentid lunged toward them.

———-