Chapter 24

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“This is an awkward situation…”

May murmured.

“If I had known this would happen, I would have brought a communication item.”

“Did you forget?”

“No. It’s such a precious and expensive item that I couldn’t buy it right away.”

“I see. Then I’ll go by myself. There’s no way out except for the entrance anyway, right? Don’t worry.”

“Ah…okay. We’ll be right back.”

“Yes.”

He wished they wouldn’t come back, but she answered so.

To enter the hidden dungeon, he made an excuse to get into the mine, but he was rather relieved that it was like this.

“But shouldn’t one person stay with you?”

Said May suddenly.

“What?”

Asked Yujun with a dumbfounded look.

“No, there’s no need for three people to go together.”

“May. What are you saying?”

“We can’t leave you alone.”

“Uh, I’m fine. It was Yodry’s order to go with Yujun anyway…”

“Are you sure that’s okay?”

Asked the elves with a concerned look.

They felt uneasy leaving her alone with a human who overpowered the dark elves in an instant.

Although his affinity with nature has improved, Yujun was a human being.

The elves did not trust him completely.

But May’s expression was firm.

“It’s alright. Hurry up and come back.”

“…Okay.”

“If that’s your wish.”

The two elves turned their backs and began running fast.

“…”

Yujun’s expression sank when he was left alone with May in the blink of an eye.

‘You’re not going to ask for my opinion?’

Well, he didn’t have anything to say because they were following him in the first place.

May was someone he could defeat easily anyway.

‘Wait…’

Yujun suddenly uttered a thought he had.

“What if the elves at the entrance are already surrounded?”

“It can’t be. Yodry is an elf of great ability in our tribe, and is the best among us. There’s no dark elf that can get through Yodry in the 10 minutes since we left. There are also dozens of my tribe members.”

“Well, then the question is how the dark elves came after us.”

“I don’t know about that…”

Yujun knows that there is not just one entrance to the mine.

However, much less a human, it was a very small place that only the wind could pass through.

‘Did they expand the space? They broke the wall or…’

It could have been done by digging up the ores, or it could have been deliberately made bigger.

So if it’s an entrance the dark elves know about but the elves don’t, then it’s understandable that they suddenly appeared.

“Let’s hurry. We don’t know when they’ll come.”

“Yes.”

Because of the dark elf who left first to report, there might be pursuers soon.

There was no time to waste.

Yujun’s steps quickened.

To the point where the nimblest elf of the tribe, May, lagged behind.

“Yujun! You’re too fast.”

“We’ll be arriving soon.”

“Do you know the way?”

“My master gave me the general idea of the place.”

“What?”

He knew the way like the back of his head.

When May’s expression sank, Yujun added.

“He explained the location’s features.”

In fact, he’s been there himself.

So he knew the geography here well.

Yujun chose the right path at the last fork.

The terrain is not completely distorted, so as long as he goes straight here, the hidden dungeon should appear.

While running, Yujun focused on his senses.

From the vibrations in the front and the back, to the vibration from the ground, to the fine blowing of the wind.

And at one point, new things were caught by his senses.

The extremely hidden and subtle breath of those moving fast and stealthily.

Yujun realized that the dark elves following them are already close by.

He sensed the dark elves from behind and not the front, so he told May to run forward first.

[Player Shin Yujun has requested a party.]

May was not flustered by the sudden party request message.

“Why?”

“There’s an ambush. The dark elves have been following us.”

“What? Then Marella and Julienne…”

Said May with a shocked face.

To ease her worries, Yujun spoke.

“They could be fine. There’s a high probability that there’s not just one entrance to this mine.”

“There’s not one entrance? There was only one when we explored it. There wasn’t a portal. Also, I’ve been on regular patrol every day, and that’s….”

“Wouldn’t magic be possible?  Or maybe they used some kind of item.”

Anything can happen In the Infinite Tower.

“Then do we have to fight the dark elves again?”

“No, I’m afraid I’ll lose if I fight now.”

“What? But you defeated Kerial earlier. Isn’t Yujun really strong?”

“I’m not strong. It worked a little bit earlier, but if there’s a lot of guys like Kerial, there’s no guarantee I’ll win.”

“…Then we…Isn’t this dangerous?”

May’s face paled.

“It’s naturally dangerous. Why did you follow me?”

May pouted when Yujun scolded her.

“Anyway, go ahead first.”

“What about Yujun?”

“I’m thinking of stalling them.”

“Is there a way?”

“There are a number of ways.”

May looked a little relieved when Yujun spoke confidently.

Then she was surprised inside.

‘I can’t believe I’m trusting a human I met for the first time today…’

It can be said that the relationship between the elves and humans is not on good terms.

But she somehow trusted the man in front of her.

‘Probably because he’s strong.’

The simpleminded May spoke.

“Be careful.”

“Hurry up. We’re running out of time.”

“…”

When Yujun saw May running with all her might, he opened his inventory.

‘Let me see…The Odorless Apple effect is not over yet…’

Having anticipated the dark elves pursuit for some time now, he has a few methods in mind.

He decided on the surest and most effective way to screw the dark elves.

‘One way or another, I’m going to show them what happens when they come after me.’

Tall, slim, and proportionate muscles.

And a ferocious looking man with sharp eyes.

It was Stellen, a dark elf and senior elder of the Karamtan tribe.

He was thinking while running fast and stealthily.

‘The seed of Yggdrasil is certain. Now all we have to do is retrieve it…”

There was a problem.

The traces of the dark elves have completely disappeared from their senses.

Stellen, who was not far away from the dark elves, suddenly felt strange that their presence had disappeared.

He ran together with six dark elves and then stopped.

They found the bodies of the dark elves.

Three people were killed nearby, and Kerial, an outstanding warrior of the Karamtan tribe, was also killed not far away.

“…”

“…”

Stellen and the other dark elves were shocked, stiffening their faces.

“W-what’s going on…”

“They were killed.”

“What?”

“To a human?”

Stellen nodded his head.

“But even if others were killed, Kerial..”

“Yes. Kerial is strong. But that’s it. Isn’t this the result?”

In a somber atmosphere, Stellen spoke again.

“Let’s do what we can for now. The bodies of the deceased will be collected and returned later.”

This was no time to grieve over the deaths of their tribesmen.

They had to find the person who did this.

After running again, Stellen soon stopped.

When the dark elves wondered why, Stellen quietly spoke.

“Wait. Traces…There are no signs of the human.”

“What?”

“Did he escape somewhere else? I can only feel the presence of an elf. There’s no point chasing it. Trap? Trick?”

Stellen put his hand on his chin.

After a moment of thought, he made his decision.

“Go straight.”

“Which way?”

“Isn’t there only one path? Chase the elf.”

“But the human has the seed of Yggdrasil…”

“Humans often resort to petty tricks. If he knew we were chasing him, he would have done something to trick us. Don’t believe everything you see.”

The dark elves no longer voiced their opinion after Stellen’s order.

Stellen was one of the three most influential members of the Karamtan tribe.

And they didn’t want to get on his bad side for no reason.

Stellen and the dark elves were chasing the elf’s traces when they were soon forced to stop.

A man, who they had been looking for so long, was waiting for them.

Stellen first doubted.

‘Is this a trap?’

The level measurement of the human with the seed of Yggdrasil had been completed.

With high level magic from the other great elders, the level of this human is about 100 to 120, or less.

At that level, to the Karamtan tribe, it was just average.

What is such a person waiting to face them thinking?

‘I can’t let my guard down. He defeated Kerial.’

Not only Stellen, but other dark elves seemed to be wary of Yujun, whether Yujun is aware of such a fact or not.

“Human. Did you kill our tribesmen?”

“Yes. They tried to kill me first.”

“We only wanted the seed of Yggdrasil.”

“I didn’t want to give it.”

“I won’t give you an easy death.”

“Didn’t you want the seed of Yggdrasil?”

“There’s not only one way to get an item.”

“What? What are you…No way.”

“Do you know?”

Stellen took out an item with a satisfactory smile.

A familiar appearance.

It was a scroll.

Target Item Scroll, to be exact.

[Target Item Scroll]

Grade: None

Option: You can get one item you specify from the target after killing the target.

If you rip that scroll and kill a player, you can get one of the player’s items.

Target Item Scroll was talked about a lot in War of Gods.

It was an item that players used to take away hard to find items after killing the target.

And, it was very difficult to find.

Even he only had 90 of it in his inventory.

Yujun smiled bitterly.

“You managed to get one.”

“I didn’t think a human player would know about this. Amazing. Then you know what I’m going to do, right?”

“You weren’t going to compromise in the first place, were you?”

“It wouldn’t have come to this if you followed our demand.”

“At least stop drooling when you lie.”

“…Heh. Talking is useless.”

Stellen ripped the Target Item Scroll.

[Player Stellen has targeted player Shin Yujun’s Seed of Yggdrasil.]

“Now I can kill you. The only thing I can trust is your inventory, and now it’s been verified.”

Stellen smiled menacingly.

Yujun also smiled, then spoke.

“Oh, how did you know? I only believe in my inventory too.”

Then Stellen’s face stiffened by Yujun’s action.

The ground on which Yujun stood sank and his body fell down.

Stellen quickly moved to check.

“A hole?”

It was a hole that was dark and not very large, but its depth was unknown.

It was too dark to see anything.

He could not find any traces of the human who was talking to them just now.

“Troublesome…”

Stellen threw himself into the hole without a moment’s hesitation.

But,

Bang!

Stellen’s body was thrown away by something unknown.

“Elder!”

“Are you okay?!”

At the moment when the dark elves came running in a panic, Stellen couldn’t help but to be mesmerized at the sight of a hologram window that floated in front of his eyes.

[Shin Yujun’s party has exclusive rights to the dungeon after using a dungeon monopoly item. Entry is denied to other parties for a week.]

“…”