I Awakened With My Dark History - Chapter 08

========== CHAPTER 8 ==========

The flames lit by the Mage dimly illuminated the uninvited guests.

Wadeuk wadeudeuk.

At a glance, they looked like bats, but even while hunched over, they were easily taller than an adult’s waist.

“What kind of monster is that…?”

“That monster is called an Amyeongbok. Healer-nim, keep your body low.”

The Leader and the Tanker raised their shields to hide the party members.

Peolleok. Peolleok.

Kyaaaak.

The two of them made an excellent call.

Suddenly, a swarm of bat monsters flew into the fork in the path.

They even snatched up the one remaining Shadow Cat and began to devour it.

True to their bat-like appearance, they seemed to live in packs.

The Leader held up an index finger to silence us all and turned off the flashlight.

“Amyeongbok have bad eyesight, so if we’re lucky, we might be able to pass by safely.”

I carefully peeked at the Amyeongbok through the gap in the overlapped shields.

Their wing membranes looked like sturdy leather armor, and the feet beneath them were as tough as any bird of prey’s.

A sense of incongruity struck me at their seamless appearance.

“Why do they have so many wounds?”

At my muttering, the party members looked up, puzzled.

I lowered my body further to clear their line of sight and pointed a finger toward the Amyeongbok.

“The bats have a lot of wounds on their bodies.”

If I hadn’t been so overwhelmed by the sight of them tearing apart the Shadow Cat, I would have noticed it sooner.

None of the Amyeongbok looked unscathed.

Most of them had torn wings or deep scars on their torsos.

Half of the blood pooling on the floor must have been from those bats.

“It looks like injuries caused by swords or spears.”

The Tanker made a quick judgment. The only problem with that assessment was the fact that this dungeon was a place where only beast-type monsters appeared.

“Damn it, it’s a Sudden Event.”

The Leader said, grinding his teeth.

I didn’t know what a Sudden Event meant, but the others’ faces hardened significantly.

I followed suit and put on a serious expression just like the others.

And soon, something truly serious happened.

Dalgak. Dalgeurak. Dalgak.

From the entrance, a clattering sound began to echo, like hard wood knocking against wood.

Before long, they were close enough to enter our field of vision.

“Skeleton.”

The Mage muttered, turning pale.

Dozens of armed Skeletons were blocking the entrance.

What I had thought was the sound of wood knocking together was actually the sound of bones rubbing against each other as the Skeletons moved.

Dagak, dalgak. Dalgakdalgak.

Kiiiik, kiik.

As the sound of the Skeletons reached them, the Amyeongbok spread their wings and took a defensive stance.

We were, unfortunately, caught right in the middle of the Skeletons and the Amyeongbok.

The number of Skeletons couldn’t be accurately gauged, but here and there, ghost-like monster forms were also visible.

“Wraith. It’s B-grade…”

As the Leader muttered that, one of the ghosts whipped its head around to look at us.

The moment I thought we made eye contact, the Leader shouted so loudly the cave echoed.

“Run inside!”

Kiiiiii!!

As if the Leader’s shout was the signal, the Skeletons and the Amyeongbok clashed.

The Leader and the Tanker cleared a path, swatting away the Amyeongbok flying at us from the front.

“Healer-nim, be ready to cast buffs at any moment, and the rest of you, don’t lower your guard! Since it’s a Sudden Event with undead, it wouldn’t be strange for enemies to appear at any time!”

“Yes!”

Even in the midst of that, the Leader gave precise instructions while running straight ahead.

During that chaos, a few arrows fired by the Skeletons grazed me and the Mage.

I must have been wounded somewhere, but right now, I couldn’t even feel the pain.

The only fortunate thing was that, perhaps thanks to the Awakening, I wasn’t even out of breath despite running like this.

“Sudden Event, what exactly is a Sudden Event?”

When I asked the Mage beside me, he raised an eyebrow as if asking if I didn’t even know that.

His gaze was so sharp that I stammered out an excuse.

“Since this is my first time doing something like this…”

The Mage let out a deep sigh at my excuse.

It must seem strange.

‘I’m sorry…’

Along with the swallowed apology, my Synchronization Rate rose to 40%.

“It’s a phenomenon where the monsters originally in the dungeon are replaced by other monsters. It’s often the case that monsters about two grades higher than the original dungeon monsters appear.”

“But Skeletons are…”

“Skeletons are numerous and use weapons, so they’re tricky to deal with. And the important thing is the Wraith mixed in among them. Even just by grade, Wraiths are high enough.”

The Mage explained it thoroughly, as if he thought I, as the Healer, needed to understand the situation properly.

I listened intently to his words even while running.

“The problem when it changes to a Sudden Event isn’t just that higher-grade monsters appear, but that they appear in ways that are difficult to handle. Undead and ghosts are basically the most troublesome types even within the same grade.”

“Ah, I understand now. Thank you.”

“And please don’t look so naive. If you act that innocent, you’ll get backstabbed.”

“Yes…?”

“I said don’t act like that. You know this is an anonymous dungeon party, right? In a dungeon party, getting backstabbed isn’t just a scam, it’s murder. You shouldn’t let on that you’re new to dungeons and don’t know much.”

The Mage muttered, ‘It’s a relief that everyone here doesn’t seem like that kind of person, at least.’

With those words, I glanced to check my Synchronization Rate.

Wait, then, by any chance, the reason this Synchronization Rate went up… it couldn’t be because I acted naive, could it?

To put it nicely, it was naive; to put it badly, I acted like an idiot, and if that was the reason my Synchronization Rate went up, I felt a bit aggrieved.

While I was lost in my grievance, we completely escaped the battle zone between the Skeletons and the Amyeongbok.

“Stop.”

At the Leader’s instruction, the party members’ running finally came to a halt.

Only after they stopped did the aftermath of the tension hit the party members.

Their hearts were pounding, and the sound of their gasping for breath was loud.

But no one sat down or let their guard down.

They stood gripping their weapons tightly, scanning their surroundings and steadying their breathing.

“What grade were the monsters here originally?”

“Most monsters are E-grade like the Shadow Cats, the Amyeongbok are specially D-grade, and the boss is C-grade.”

The goal of this party was to take down the boss and leave with the boss raid rewards.

So that meant the limit of the monsters they could handle was C-grade.

And a Sudden Event usually features monsters about two grades higher.

This was not an opponent the party could handle.

“I think it would be better to leave, Leader.”

The Close-dealer touched his sword and looked back at the Leader.

The Leader moved his head slightly, as if agreeing with the Close-dealer’s words.

“But the way out is blocked.”

It was a point made about the situation where we had come inside to avoid the fight between the Skeletons and the Amyeongbok.

“The Shadow Cave has a complex internal terrain. Perhaps we can find a path that connects from the inside to the outside.”

The Leader said hopefully, looking back at the path we had come from.

“Mage-nim, can you block this path by collapsing it?”

“I could do it, but I don’t recommend it. The cave could collapse and we could die. Besides, my specialty is fire, so it’s inefficient for collapsing stone, and it’s loud.”

The Mage flatly refused the Leader’s request.

When the Leader heard the Mage’s words, his thoughts seemed to change, and he gave up with a look of regret.

I looked at the moss and the weakly growing weeds around us.

“Then we have no choice but to leave. As stealthily as possible…”

“Excuse me, Leader-nim.”

The Leader opened his eyes wide and looked at me.

“Would it be alright if I tried to block it?”

“Do you have a skill like that?”

“No, I think I can apply it. I’ll have to try to see if the application works well or not, though.”

The Leader thought for a moment before nodding. It was permission.

I approached the weeds, reached out, and touched the wall.

I steadied my breathing and brought what I wanted to mind.

Then, I lowered my voice and whispered. I’m sorry, but I can’t do a bright and energetic voice.

“Flower Spirits, block this path.”

As I activated the skill, I felt a very faint movement within the cave wall.

Soon, grass and vines grew, piercing through the wall one by one to block the path.

But they were strangely thin. The thicket was so sparse that the other side was faintly visible.

It looked like it would be helplessly cut down if a Skeleton swung its sword once.

It wasn’t just my impression, as the Mage approached from behind.

And he whispered to me, lowering his voice.

“You’re not used to the incantation because you’re new, right?”

I was startled and turned to look at him.

The Mage lowered his voice even further and continued.

“You won’t be able to adapt at first, but magic skills often have different efficiencies depending on the incantation.”

It was content that was definitely in the guide window as well.

That the ability grows stronger the brighter and more energetically you speak.

But the Mage added an explanation as if there were other rules besides that.

“Especially, the more poetic or archaic the incantation is, and the louder you shout it, the greater the efficiency. Since lives are on the line, try to pay attention to that.”

A moment of embarrassment is nothing compared to one’s life.

The Mage looked at me with that kind of gaze.

I realized belatedly that entering a dungeon was not a light matter.

It’s not just testing abilities.

We entered to raid the dungeon, risking our lives.

I opened my mouth again. My cleared head brought up an incantation like song lyrics.

“Flower Spirits, arise. Let’s form a forest so that those who wish to harm us cannot approach.”

I felt a different movement than before.

Is it just me feeling it, or is everyone feeling it?

I couldn’t tell, but what was clear was that the movement grew massive afterward.

Kwadudeuk. Tudeuk.

Moss covered the floor, and weeds sprouted, growing from floor to ceiling, from ceiling to floor, and from wall to wall.

“Gasp.”

Before long, all the grass around us densely blocked the path.

“It worked!”

I smiled brightly and took my hand off the wall.

“It’s done, Leader-nim!”

“To make it grow this thick… that’s amazing.”

The party members seemed very surprised, all of them with their mouths agape.

I forcibly pulled down the corners of my mouth to hide my pride.

“It’s just ordinary plants that I grew with a skill. Since it grew densely, it can block the path, but if they try to cut it and come through, they might be able to. It’s better to escape quickly.”

The Leader accepted my opinion.

“We will increase the distance from the enemy. Close-dealer, please mark the path whenever we pass a fork.”

“Yes.”

The Close-dealer tapped the dagger tied to his waist.

Although our goal had changed from clearing the boss to escaping the Sudden Event dungeon, no one wavered.

We moved carefully, gauging the number of monsters.

How many times did we repeat passing by if there were many, and killing them if there were few?

Light shimmered at the end of the cave.

“Is that the exit?”

“We haven’t encountered any other undead on the way here, so it’s likely closer to the exit than the boss area.”

The Close-dealer muttered.

Everything we had encountered so far was just armed Skeletons.

The monsters of the Shadow Cave had become almost invisible at some point.

Even without words being exchanged, we all ran toward the exit in unison.

If we just cross that light…!

Just that light!

The moment I thought the light was right in front of us, a chilling coldness ran down my back.

“Everyone, stop! Stop!!”

The Leader shouted loudly as he slammed his shield into the ground.

The Mage and I stumbled backward, crashing into the Leader’s back, and stopped, but the Close-dealer and the Tanker couldn’t stop in time.

Kwadudeudeuk!

“Aaaagh!”

“Ugh!”

The Close-dealer’s scream rang out through the cave.

The Tanker seemed to have barely managed to defend by raising his shield, but the arm and shoulder parts of his heavy armor were blown away.

Clack―

And the opponent that caused that scream slowly approached the exit.

The armed Skeletons followed behind the opponent, clattering as they surrounded us.

I stood up unsteadily with the Mage and checked the Close-dealer’s condition first.

Since the Tanker, who was in relatively better condition, had brought the Close-dealer and joined us, it was easy to check the Close-dealer’s state.

As he had been lightly armored, he was completely slashed from his shoulder to just above his thigh, and blood was gushing out.

I had to cover my mouth with my hand to keep from screaming at the sight of the red, exposed wound.

“Dullahan… The Dullahan was the boss.”

“If it’s a Dullahan…”

A headless death knight.

It is a monster considered the best among the ghost-type monsters that use physical attacks.

While I was retracing my memory, the Mage tapped my shoulder.

“First, treat the Close-dealer.”

“Ah, right!”

I turned my gaze and checked my Synchronization Rate first.

Fortunately, I could use Honey Brew, which could provide buffs and healing.

I steadied my breath, clasped my two hands together, and called out the skill name.

“Honey Brew.”

Golden light welled up from the floor, soft and round.

It rose up in a circle, and it was truly the color and shape of honey.

The skill hovered around us like water droplets, and then the droplets soaked into the wounds.

“This skill…”

I heard the Leader’s surprised voice, but I couldn’t answer him in time.

In front of my eyes, the guide window was flickering and shining.