Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Ham Jiyeon - (3)

A little while later.

Sanghyun and Ham Jiyeon were standing atop a large rock, where they had a wider view of the area ahead.

The rock was about the size of a three-story hanok, making it easy for them to sit down and settle in.

While Sanghyun was scanning the potential paths he could take next—

Crunch. Munch. Nom nom.

Ham Jiyeon was completely focused on stuffing food into her mouth from the oversized backpack she had taken out.

If anyone wanted to know what it meant to eat aggressively, they only had to look at her.

Snap. Tap.

In stark contrast, Sanghyun was slowly nibbling on a chocolate bar, letting it melt slightly in his mouth.

Watching Ham Jiyeon eat so enthusiastically while maintaining a happy expression, Sanghyun asked,

"How much do you eat?"

"To what extent?"

"What do you mean, to what extent?"

"There are different levels of fullness, right? Like ‘I can’t eat another bite!’ or ‘I’m just full enough.’"

"So you actually differentiate between those levels? Hmm, let’s go with ‘I’m just full enough’ for now."

"For sushi, about 200 pieces."

"Two… hundred?"

"Yes, two hundred. Last time, I ordered twenty sets of ten pieces each, and that was just the right amount to feel satisfied."

"That actually fits in your stomach?"

"Yep! It fits just fine."

Seeing Ham Jiyeon nod so naturally, Sanghyun felt a deep sense of disconnect.

For the first time, he felt like he was experiencing the kind of disbelief others must have when they saw his unique abilities.

That’s possible? Does that even make sense?

That was exactly his reaction to her words.

"What about other foods?"

"Fifteen bowls of jajangmyeon? For pizza, about eight large ones with extra cheese toppings? That’s no problem."

"At that level, you might as well become a Player-slash-mukbang BJ."

"Actually, I’ve been seriously considering it lately. Hehe."

Before she even finished speaking, Ham Jiyeon popped a fist-sized handmade chocolate truffle into her mouth.

It didn’t even seem like she chewed much before swallowing it down in one gulp.

"Ah, so sweet. Sweet things really are the best."

"Your stomach is okay with this, right?"

"I get a full stomach and colonoscopy every six months, and they say everything’s fine. I just need to be careful with spicy food."

"I genuinely respect that."

"Sanghyun."

"Yeah?"

"Do you want some ice cream? I made it with chocolate syrup, and it should taste really good."

"Wait, was that a cooling pack?"

"Nope, not exactly. Hold on a sec."

Ham Jiyeon pulled out a bottle of chocolate syrup from her backpack.

Then, she grabbed an empty wooden stick she had prepared in advance and tilted the syrup bottle to pour it on.

Anyone could tell that if she did that, the syrup would just turn her hands and the stick into a sticky mess, but!

Crrrk. Crack. Crack.

The moment the syrup touched the wooden stick, it started freezing rapidly.

"Ah."

Sanghyun suddenly remembered that Ham Jiyeon was a Player specialized in ice abilities.

"It’s a one-of-a-kind, Ham Jiyeon-style chocolate ice cream! 100% pure."

Indeed, it was.

The chocolate syrup had frozen solidly around the stick, forming a sweet and rich ice cream bar.

"Hahaha. Thanks, I’ll enjoy it."

Thanks to her, the tension that had been lingering ever since they entered the Gate eased up a bit.

Even if only for a brief moment, it was a much-needed break, and it lifted his mood.

‘I’ve got a rough understanding of the internal structure now. It’s a rare volcanic-type terrain, but it follows the same layout as the ones I know.’

He had completed his assessment of the Gate’s interior.

Having a wealth of past experiences he could draw from made it easy to identify similar patterns.

‘This isn’t just a Gate where we fight monsters. The terrain itself is an enemy. There are a lot of hazards to watch out for.’

He planned to avoid the routes he classified as danger zones as much as possible.

If they had no choice but to pass through, they would prioritize getting through as quickly as possible.

After a solid thirty minutes of uninterrupted eating, Ham Jiyeon finally finished her meal.

Sanghyun and Ham Jiyeon resumed their journey.

There was one important thing he made sure to warn her about.

"Over there. Do you see the spots where smoke is rising, like a puff of cigarette smoke?"

"Yes! I see them."

"That means an eruption isn’t far off. It’s a precursor. At the latest, we have five minutes… at the earliest—"

Fwoosh!

Before Sanghyun could even finish his explanation, a crimson pillar of magma shot up into the sky from the spot.

"If we had gone there…"

"Instant death. No question about it."

Ham Jiyeon had initially thought that since smoke was rising from so many places, any route would be the same.

But to Sanghyun, it was clear there was a specific pattern to it.

"Then where’s the safe zone?"

"Areas where the smoke is continuously rising are relatively safe. That means the magma underneath isn’t being compressed dangerously."

As he spoke, two more spots emitted puffs of smoke exactly as he had described.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

Moments later, magma erupted from those spots.

Then, Sanghyun pointed at a rock about three meters away from Ham Jiyeon.

"And one more thing."

“Hmm?”

Paaat!

Sanghyun immediately dashed forward and thrust his greatsword into the gap between the rocks.

Kieeek!

At that moment, an unexpected scream rang out. Soon after, something was impaled on Sanghyun's greatsword as he pulled it out.

“A red scorpion?”

Only now did the name appear.

Sanghyun had already detected its location using his detection skill, but for Ham Jiyeon, it was her first time seeing this creature.

The scorpion was about the length of an adult woman's forearm, and what stood out was its thick carapace, about a handspan wide.

It was as if a normal desert scorpion had been enlarged dozens of times.

“Even though I pierced its core with my greatsword, it remains unscathed. Its carapace is so tough that dealing damage would take forever.”

“Then?”

“This is the way.”

Sanghyun activated Demon Bash.

With the red scorpion still impaled on his greatsword, he unleashed Demon Bash, instantly inflicting the stiffness status effect.

Kkeudeudeudeuk!

The red scorpion, which had not lost its vigor despite being pierced, suddenly dropped its head and stopped breathing.

It had died due to stiffness.

“This gate isn’t about overpowering enemies with raw damage but rather utilizing status effects and countering them accordingly.”

“That… really seems to be the case.”

“Alright, let’s go. Now that we understand the gate’s concept, we just need to follow the guide steadily.”

Sanghyun took the lead.

“A creature with such a thick exoskeleton and carapace being neutralized by a single status effect…”

Ham Jiyeon looked at the dead red scorpion with fascination.

It was a creature that seemed impervious to her magic, whether she burned it all day or froze it solid.

Yet, the moment it was afflicted with Demon Bash’s stiffness effect, it died as if an instant-death trigger had been activated.

One thing was certain.

Sanghyun did not seem to feel any sense of unfamiliarity with any new environment or situation.

As if he had already experienced everything and knew exactly how to interpret and react to it.

The proof was that he had never once shown any signs of being flustered.

“Let’s move quickly before the safe routes become dangerous. Let’s go!”

Sanghyun, now fully warmed up, increased his speed.

The journey ahead was still long.

Black volcanic snakes. Scorpions. Blood-sucking centipedes.

Various monsters lay hidden along their path, but they were all slain by Sanghyun, who detected them in advance with his detection skill.

Aside from the black volcanic snakes, all of them were small monsters, yet they provided surprisingly good experience points.

As a result, Sanghyun’s level had already reached 111. This was accomplished within just two hours of entering the gate.

However, there was a problem.

Kuuung!

A scorching wind had been tormenting Sanghyun’s party as they continued moving north.

It was clearly being generated and sent their way by someone, and its intensity was beyond imagination.

The moment it swept over the ground, everything heated up as if placed on a scorching griddle.

If Ham Jiyeon had not been able to use her Cold Storm skill, Sanghyun would have had to consider taking a detour.

Before long, they encountered the mid-boss monster, standing imposingly on the vast lava plains.

Unlike a Flame Mage, this creature closely resembled a human wizard, appearing as if it had stepped straight out of a fantasy movie.

“Grrrat. Shutrasrat.”

The wizard locked eyes with Sanghyun and muttered something, but the language was completely incomprehensible.

However—

“He says if we don’t want to die, we should leave.”

Was Ham Jiyeon translating it?

Sanghyun tilted his head in curiosity.

“Are you just guessing?”

“No. It’s language knowledge I’ve steadily picked up while raiding gates and dungeons.”

“What language is it?”

“I don’t know where it originates from, but I categorize it as a Type-C language in my own classification.”

A completely unexpected revelation.

Ham Jiyeon had an unforeseen talent.

With that level of understanding, she might have even tortured some monsters to extract language information.

Sanghyun had heard plenty of languages himself, but he had no interest in analyzing them.

But it seemed that Ham Jiyeon had significantly expanded her understanding and analytical skills in that direction.

An old mage with ashen-colored hair and a long beard of the same hue. His name was Nekas.

It was the first time facing a powerful named monster that was perfectly specialized in magic.

If he had the title of a mid-boss monster, his skills were certainly not ordinary.

A Flame Mage? That level was just an appetizer.

"Maintain distance."

"Got it."

Sanghyun gave a clear warning to Ham Jiyeon.

She was a competent mage player, but she lacked adaptability in unexpected situations more than expected.

That’s why he intended to stand firmly at the front and block any variables.

Right at that moment.

"……!"

Sanghyun instinctively felt the flow of air around him shift.

It was a primal, almost animalistic intuition. A heightened sixth sense honed through countless experiences.

Whish!

At the same time, a force activated, pulling Sanghyun toward it.

It was nearly simultaneous.

Something, similar to the Dark Grasp skill Shin Taeri had used, had activated to pull Sanghyun in.

If he hadn’t used Recovery immediately, his body would have been dragged helplessly—a dangerous situation.

Siiing!

Sanghyun was safe.

However, had his greatsword also been targeted? It was flying toward Nekas.

Without panic, he used telekinesis to retrieve his greatsword. Such variables were not even worth being surprised about.

"Seturislath. Terath. Negur Retorath Zarigrislath."

Watching Sanghyun’s adept counteraction, Nekas muttered something with an expression full of intrigue.

It seemed to be a mix of embarrassment and astonishment at how easily his attack had been neutralized.

"Impressive. Excellent. It would be quite entertaining to make someone like you my toy to fill the loneliness of the night."

"……."

Ham Jiyeon promptly translated his words. The disgusting remark at the end was deeply unpleasant to hear.

"Oh my, how indecent."

Ham Jiyeon repeated Nekas’ words while blushing. It was not just indecent but an outright provocative insult.

Meanwhile, Sanghyun, who had already taken a charging stance, smirked and spoke forcefully to Nekas.

"Sorry, but I don’t respect the elderly."

A clear declaration of war!

The hunt for the old mage had begun.