Level Up Machine

Chapter 86 The Grave of the Forgotten Ones (4)

– Thud! Thud! Thud!

The ground shook with every step of the gigantic something.

“Yeong-sik, this is…”

“Shh.”

As Tiria tried to say something, Yeong-sik raised a finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet.

– Thud! Thud!

‘It’s getting closer and closer.’

Yeong-sik frowned as he listened to the growing sound.

‘Scan.’

– Ssssh.

[Transmitting surrounding terrain information as visual data.]

With a faint noise, information about the surroundings flowed into Yeong-sik’s mind. The terrain around him and the image of the approaching guardian were depicted in 3D graphics in his head.

‘Three of them…’

There were a total of three guardians approaching. Although it was difficult to assess their strength with just a scan, he didn’t feel an overwhelming sense of pressure that they couldn’t handle them.

‘The problem is that if we start fighting those guys, others might come rushing in…’

The scan revealed that the approaching guardian was a massive creature, nearly 5 meters tall.

Hoping to fight such a giant without making noise was a sheer absurdity.

In the current situation, with only the two of them, if other guardians heard the noise and came rushing in, there would be no chance of winning.

Tiria and Yeong-sik possessed powers far beyond that of ordinary summoners. If Yeong-sik were to don his suit here, the two of them could handle even a monster like Lekras.

But having such power didn’t mean they could sweep away numerous enemies with just the two of them. Of course, if their opponents were around level 20-30 monsters, it might be somewhat possible.

However, the guardians approaching them now were elite monsters of at least level 90. If even a few more gathered, there would be no way to handle them.

‘Especially Tiria is the issue.’

Yeong-sik’s expression hardened as he looked at Tiria, who was holding her breath with a tense face.

At this moment, Tiria had much greater strength than he did. If he didn’t wear his suit, she could easily defeat him.

But aside from that, she was an ordinary human.

Unlike him, who felt fatigue relatively less, she would tire much more quickly. No matter how strong she was, even with the power to crush mountains, a single strong individual could not handle numerous enemies. This was why.

Humans get tired. It wasn’t just a human problem. No creature, not even a lifeless golem, could move indefinitely.

This was the reason why numbers were considered most important in war.

There was a limit to what could be blocked with just one hand.

– Thud. Thud.

Before long, the footsteps approached right in front of them. They could sense the guardian moving beyond the roughly cut wall made by the laser.

A tense look spread across Yeong-sik’s face.

■ – Thud.

‘It stopped.’

The guardian’s footsteps halted right in front of the place where Tiria and Yeong-sik were hiding. Yeong-sik used the scan to observe the guardian’s movements.

The guardian, which had stopped in the corridor, turned its head and stared directly at the spot where Yeong-sik and Tiria were hiding.

‘Damn it?!’

Thinking that they had been discovered by the guardian, Yeong-sik grimaced. He crouched slightly, ready to dash forward at any moment. In this situation, they had no choice but to quickly take down the three guardians and hide elsewhere.

An eternity of silence descended. Yeong-sik and Tiria held their breath, not making a sound, and stared at the spot where the guardian had stopped. A trickle of cold sweat ran down Tiria’s forehead.

– Thud. Thud. Thud.

The guardian’s footsteps resounded again. This time, they were not coming closer but moving away.

Yeong-sik and Tiria maintained their silence until the footsteps completely faded. They waited for about ten minutes, making sure no footsteps could be heard anymore.

“Phew…?”

“That was close.”

Yeong-sik nodded, exhaling a relieved sigh.

“I thought we would be discovered since this place was hastily made, but we’re lucky.”

“Will we be okay if we stay hidden here?”

At her words, Yeong-sik hummed and swallowed. Although they were lucky not to be discovered by the guardians this time, he couldn’t guarantee that this place was safe.

‘It did stop right in front of us.’

The guardian had definitely looked suspiciously in their direction beyond the thin wall. Staying hidden here was too risky.

“Let’s dig a bit deeper and go in. This place seems too dangerous.”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

Tiria nodded at Yeong-sik’s words. Generally, dungeon guardians had the tendency to patrol certain areas repeatedly.

If they stayed here, the guardians would pass by right in front of them several times.

“Then I’ll handle the digging…”

Tiria murmured, raising one hand. A bright white light emanated from her fingertips. If she willed it, creating a large passageway here would not be difficult for her.

“No, I’ll do the digging.”

“Yeong-sik, you?”

“Yes, it will be better this way.”

Yeong-sik activated the scan function as he spoke. With the scan, even if the ground beyond led to another wall of the dungeon, they could avoid it and dig safely.

‘As long as we don’t head toward the dungeon wall, it should be safe.’

As long as they avoided breaking through to another part of the dungeon and re-entering it, they could hide without being attacked by monsters.

“Just stay back for a moment.”

“Yes, Yeong-sik.”

Tiria separated her body, which was almost clinging to him. For a moment, she had a look of regret. Yeong-sik, not noticing her expression, turned around.

“Screw.”

Rolling up his sleeves to avoid tearing his clothes, Yeong-sik extended his right arm and activated the ‘screw’ effect, a skill he had acquired for enhancement.

Normally, this effect was used to spin his right arm at high speed and launch it forward when using Rocket Punch. However, by adapting it this way, he could use it while keeping his right arm attached.

Siiiiiing!

Yeong-sik’s right arm began to spin rapidly. With his fingers straightened, Yeong-sik placed his right hand against the earthen wall.

Crrck, crrck.

The soil touching his right hand scattered in all directions. Ignoring the dirt splattering on his face, Yeong-sik slowly moved forward.

Tiria watched Yeong-sik’s right arm, which seemed hardly human, with a slightly stunned expression. She had forgotten how different his body was from a typical human due to their ordinary life together so far.

Ziiiiing.

Yeong-sik shot lasers from his eyes as he advanced quickly. He wanted to clear the path by using an energy blast at full charge, but doing so would likely cause the ground to collapse.

“…Is this far enough?”

Yeong-sik murmured, scanning the surroundings. They were about 20 meters away from their original spot and not close to any other walls.

‘I feel like an ant.’

Yeong-sik thought this as he looked around the spacious area they had cleared to live in for the next three days. Their current situation was indeed similar to ants building a home underground.

“Yes. We should be safe now that we’ve come this far.”

Tiria answered, using her power to light up the surroundings. She brushed the dirt off her clothes and sat down.

“Hold on a moment.”

Yeong-sik opened his inventory as if he had more work to do.

“Manufacture.”

Taking out metal materials from his inventory, Yeong-sik created support pillars to prevent the ground from collapsing. After setting up the pillars in the tunnel he had dug, he checked his inventory.

‘It’s almost full of dirt.’

His inventory was nearly full of the soil he had dug up. Turning to Tiria, he spoke.

“Tiria, can you store some of this dirt in your inventory? Mine is almost full.”

“Oh, yes. I understand, Yeong-sik.”

In this world, the natives could use inventories just like summoners, so it wasn’t difficult to ask for Tiria’s help.

After Tiria stored all the remaining dirt in her inventory, she leaned against the wall with a slightly tired expression.

“Alright. Let’s wait here until the others arrive.”

“Yes, Yeong-sik. Ah, I’ll let them know we’re hiding well.”

Tiria explained their hiding spot through a communication crystal. The guild members who heard their location let out relieved laughs.

—

– “If you try anything funny while alone in a small space with the Guild Master, you won’t be left alone later.”

Through the communication crystal, they heard Ara’s angry voice. Yeong-sik chuckled and nodded.

“Don’t worry and come over here. How’s it over there? No problems?”

– “Guardians attacked a few times, but we handled it without any issues.”

“Keep in touch every hour.”

Yeong-sik said this before ending the communication through the crystal.

“Let’s eat something.”

“Yes, I was getting hungry anyway.”

Tiria and Yeong-sik took out jerky and water from their inventories and started eating.

For Yeong-sik, he just had a small piece of jerky and a sip of water, but Tiria, who seemed quite hungry, finished three pieces of jerky and a whole bottle of water.

“Phew…”

After finishing her meal, Tiria leaned against the earthen wall with a relieved expression.

An awkward silence settled between Yeong-sik and Tiria. After a while, Tiria, trembling slightly, spoke.

“Ye-Yeong-sik.”

“What is it?”

“It’s just…”

She looked around with a pitiful voice as if she was about to burst into tears. Yeong-sik tilted his head at her suspicious behavior.

“What’s wrong?”

“Th-that’s…”

Tiria, crossing her legs, trailed off. Seeing her, Yeong-sik let out a short gasp.

“Don’t tell me you need to…”

“Kyah! Don’t say anything!”

Tiria hung her head in embarrassment.

Yeong-sik chuckled. Unlike him, who hardly ever needed to relieve himself, she had an ordinary human body.

“Go to the passage ahead and take care of it.”

“N-no! You’ll hear everything!”

“Then what are you going to do? We have to stay hidden here for three days.”

Tiria glared at Yeong-sik with a face flushed bright red. A powerful white light began to gather in her hand.

“What… what are you planning?”

“Hehe, hehehe… Don’t worry, Yeong-sik. It won’t hurt. You just need to be unconscious for a short while.”

Tiria, overwhelmed by the need to relieve herself and her embarrassment, approached Yeong-sik with a crazed look in her eyes.

“W-wait, what nonsense are you spouting?”

Yeong-sik tried to stop her with a panicked expression.

But Tiria, almost having lost her sanity, didn’t hear him.

“Ho, hohot… It’s okay, Yeong-sik. It might hurt at first, but you’ll feel better soon.”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

Yeong-sik, rarely flustered, reached out to stop Tiria from approaching him.

“Hoho, your defiant attitude is pitiful, Yeong-sik.”

“The only pitiful thing here is your head.”

Yeong-sik looked at her, out of breath, with an incredulous expression.

“Come on, give up, Yeong-sik!”

Tiria, with her legs awkwardly crossed, lunged at him in a peculiar posture.