Level Up Machine

Chapter 83 Grave of the Forgotten Ones (1)

“Is everyone ready?”

Tiria spoke in a firm voice, unlike her usual kind and gentle tone. At her words, the prepared guild members nodded.

It had been three weeks since the duel between Yeong-sik and Cheon Tae-hwang, and now, the members of the Salvator Guild had completed their preparations for the ‘Grave of the Forgotten Ones,’ proposed by the Leviathan Guild.

“Before we move to the Leviathan Guild’s headquarters, I have something to say to you all.”

Tiria spoke softly as she looked at the eleven guild members lined up before her.

“As you all know, I recently lost my entire family.”

At her calm words, a few guild members’ expressions hardened. She continued speaking in as peaceful a voice as possible.

“I don’t want to go through such a heartbreaking experience again.”

She placed her trembling hand over her chest.

“So, no one get hurt. Don’t die. This is an order from the guild master of the Salvator Guild.”

She finished speaking with her characteristic gentle smile. Her heartfelt words brought gentle smiles to the guild members’ faces as well.

“Oh, Yu-na! Something terrible happened!”

At that moment, a girl’s voice shattered the warm atmosphere. It was Lee Chae-rin, the youngest member of the guild.

She clutched Yu-na’s sleeve and cried out urgently, as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

“What? What’s wrong?”

Yu-na looked around in confusion at Chae-rin’s sudden outburst. Chae-rin buried her face in Yu-na’s clothes and pointed at Tiria with her finger.

“Tiria unnie set up a huge death flag!”

At Chae-rin’s words, Yu-na’s expression stiffened slightly. Tiria, hearing this, spoke with a flustered look.

“D-death flag? Is that some kind of curse magic?”

“Yes! And it’s as bad as saying ‘I’ll marry her after this battle is over!’ How could you say something so cruel without a second thought?!”

“I-I don’t really understand what you’re saying…”

“You’re the type to ask ‘Is it over?’ after we defeat the boss… Thwack!”

Before Chae-rin could continue, Yu-na’s fist moved swiftly, producing a crisp sound as it struck.

“Ow! Why did you hit me, Yu-na unnie?!”

“…Because you were talking absolute nonsense.”

Laughter spread among the guild members at her pointed remark.

“What on earth are you talking about? Please explain it to me too.”

Tiria, who didn’t understand the situation, looked around anxiously. Seeing her, Han-seong grabbed his forehead as if he had a headache.

“What a mess on the day of our solemn departure ceremony…”

Particular about manners and formality, he sighed deeply at how the atmosphere of the departure ceremony, ahead of tackling the dungeon in collaboration with the Leviathan Guild—one of the largest guilds in the East—had turned into chaos in an instant.

“…Well, this certainly matches the atmosphere of the Salvator Guild.”

“Tsk, that brat is always the problem.”

Yeong-sik, who had been chuckling next to Han-seong, shrugged his shoulders and spoke. Yoo Jin, standing behind him, clicked his tongue and glared at Chae-rin.

“Alright then, let’s get going, Guild Master.”

“Yeong-sik? What kind of magic is this ‘death flag’ that everyone is laughing about?”

“I’ll explain it to you slowly on the way.”

Yeong-sik moved to stand next to Tiria as he spoke.

* * *

When Yeong-sik and the members of the Salvator Guild arrived in front of the Leviathan Guild’s headquarters, a woman with blue hair approached them.

“Thank you once again for joining us in this dungeon raid.”

Park Si-a spoke in her characteristic cold voice and extended her hand courteously. Behind her stood about 30 members of the Leviathan Guild in formation.

“We are the ones who should be grateful for the excellent accommodations. We’ve been able to stay in peace for the past three weeks.”

Tiria grasped Park Si-a’s hand with a gentle smile. As she shook hands, Tiria glanced at the guild members lined up behind Park Si-a with a curious expression.

“Are all the Leviathan Guild members participating in this expedition present here?”

The Leviathan Guild was known to have over a thousand members. However, with only thirty members behind Park Si-a, it was natural for Tiria to look puzzled.

“Yes. Since the route to the Grave of the Forgotten Ones has already been secured from the previous expedition, we didn’t see the need to send an unnecessarily large number of people into the dungeon.”

“I see.”

Tiria nodded in understanding.

Having had several experiences with large-scale dungeon explorations in the past, Tiria easily understood the reason behind this decision.

Unlike fields, it was impossible to manage a large number of people in a dungeon. If too many entered the confined space of a dungeon, the hidden traps and monster ambushes often caused chaos.

In such a narrow space, such chaos frequently led to situations where allies would end up attacking each other. This made control difficult and severely impacted the morale of the guild members.

Control and morale were crucial elements in leading a group. Losing both simultaneously could even lead to rebellion.

In fact, one of the most common reasons mid-to-large-scale guilds collapsed was due to dungeon explorations. The strength of numbers often became a detrimental factor.

“All the members here are elite, above level 80, so we won’t be lacking in strength.”

Park Si-a spoke with a voice full of pride.

“Fufufu. That’s reassuring.”

Tiria laughed lightly and looked back at her own guild members.

Though still relatively lacking compared to the Leviathan Guild, the summoners of the Salvator Guild were powerful enough to outshine most of the top six guilds.

“Our guild won’t just be along for the ride.”

Tiria spoke with confidence. Her proud words brought a faint smile to Park Si-a’s face.

She spoke with a sense of confidence, and Park Si-a gave a faint smile.

“If it were that kind of guild, we would have only asked for Tiria’s help.”

Even though Salvator Guild had only a few members, each one of them was so powerful that they could easily secure executive positions in any guild.

Considering that dungeon exploration was generally conducted by an elite few, there wouldn’t be a guild among the top six that could match the strength of the Salvator Guild.

“Huh? Is that strange guy participating too?”

Kang Ha-rin looked at Yeong-sik, who was standing right behind Tiria, with a displeased expression. Given her extraordinary pride in Cheon Tae-hwang, there was no way she could view Yeong-sik, who had defeated him with unconventional weapons and skills, in a good light.

“…Ha-rin, stop it. You’re making a scene.”

“Ugh…”

Kang Ha-rin glared at Yeong-sik, clearly unhappy.

“You! Don’t get cocky, next time our Tae-hwang will win!”

She shouted at Yeong-sik in a sharp voice. Yeong-sik twisted his lips into a smile and replied calmly.

“That’s such a typical loser’s comment that I don’t even feel like responding.”

“What did you say?!”

Kang Ha-rin flared up at Yeong-sik’s irritating remark and tried to approach him.

“Ha-rin, you’re not planning to disgrace me before the expedition even begins, are you?”

Park Si-a’s cold voice restrained her. Kang Ha-rin bit her lip harshly and turned away from Yeong-sik.

An awkward silence fell between the members of Salvator Guild and Leviathan Guild.

In the midst of the peculiar silence, Yeong-sik felt the intense gazes directed at him. Among the stares from both sides, one of them belonged to a familiar person.

‘Cheon Tae-hwang.’

After using the ‘Unity of Sword and Mind’ skill and collapsing, Cheon Tae-hwang was now glaring at him with burning eyes.

The look in his eyes didn’t convey the frustration of defeat. It was a gaze filled with a fierce determination to defeat him somehow.

Seeing him, Yeong-sik made a weary expression. Looking into Cheon Tae-hwang’s pure eyes, shining solely with the desire to fight a strong opponent, Yeong-sik even felt a sense of emptiness.

‘Is he some kind of warrior race from outer space?’

Like the warrior race from a certain manga that collected seven orbs, it seemed Cheon Tae-hwang thought of nothing but fighting. Yeong-sik felt a hollow expression spread across his face as he looked at him.

‘Well, it must be nice not to live a complicated life.’

Thinking that having no interest other than fighting strong opponents might be the most carefree way to live, Yeong-sik turned his head to where the second intense gaze was coming from.

“Hey, are you the new recruit from Salvator Guild?”

The owner of that intense gaze was an alluring woman with wavy black hair.

Exuding a seductive aura, the woman approached Yeong-sik, dressed in highly revealing clothes.

“Jeong Da-yeon……”

Her name slipped out of Han-seong’s mouth.

Jeong Da-yeon.

Although not as famous as Kang Ha-rin of the White Sword Guild or Warlock Park Sang-jun, she was quite a renowned summoner within Leviathan Guild. She was famous not only for her powerful strength, which was close to a ranker’s, but also for another reason.

“Hehe. I saw you had a very impressive thing last time……”

Like a predator eyeing its prey, she licked her lips and stroked Yeong-sik’s cheek. Her voluptuous figure was provocatively exposed through her high-revealing clothes.

“How about it? Want to have some fun with this older sister?”

Smack.

Before Yeong-sik could say anything, Ara suddenly appeared beside him and smacked away Jeong Da-yeon’s hand from his cheek.

“I don’t know who you are, but you seem quite rude.”

“Hm? Who are you? Are you his girlfriend or something?”

“Whether I am or not, what business is it of yours?”

Ara glared at her with sharp eyes. A deep smile spread across Jeong Da-yeon’s lips.

“Hehe. Why so serious? It’s not like it’s going to wear out from one time……”

“Ms. Jeong Da-yeon, I find it difficult to tolerate any more rudeness as the Salvator Guildmaster.”

Tiria, who appeared next to Ara, spoke in an unusually cold voice, unlike her usual self.

“Oh dear, I apologize, Salvator Guildmaster. I didn’t expect the new recruit to be so popular.”

Jeong Da-yeon burst into laughter as she looked at the two women standing in front of Yeong-sik, as if to protect him. After laughing for a while, she turned and walked back to where Leviathan Guild was assembled.

“…It seems Yeong-sik’s popularity is no joke.”

Watching the scene, Gil-soo nudged Hwang-hyeon beside him and remarked.

“Ha ha. Even the Guildmaster has joined… I’m curious what the secret is.”

“Isn’t it probably that?”

“…Hmm. Indeed, that must be the most important thing.”

The two men looked Yeong-sik up and down, swallowing nervously.

“Considering it’s as big as his arm…”

“Guys. Stop being ridiculous and let’s get going, okay?”

Yu-na, who had been listening to their conversation, squinted her eyes in disdain as she spoke.

Hwang-hyeon and Gil-soo’s bodies flinched in response.