Chapter 10

Wisdom of Life

1

The second floor of the dungeon had far fewer players than the first floor. This was inevitable, as the second floor was more dangerous, and the structure offered few places for players to gather and hunt. Inside the dungeon, which was as dark as pitch and eerily quiet, Yohan and Chae-rin took careful steps.

‘Phew! I was prepared, but it’s much darker than I thought.’

Chae-rin shivered at the darkness of the dungeon, where she couldn’t see even an inch ahead. Despite adjusting the brightness, gamma, and contrast in the settings, she still couldn’t see clearly. It was only slightly better than before.

“Zig, do you see anything?”

“Shh! Monsters are sensitive to sound, so keep your voice down.”

Yohan was leading the way, holding Chae-rin’s hand. He took each step cautiously, his senses on high alert for any movement around them.

“Ugh, I can’t see anything, and it’s making me scared.”

Chae-rin not only held Yohan’s hand but also clung to his arm. The darkness, silence, and eerie feeling made it seem like they had entered a haunted house.

‘She’s weak in such places.’

Yohan never thought Chae-rin, who was always so lively, could be like this. In fact, anyone unfamiliar with the darkness would naturally fear it. The longer one stayed, the more intense the fear became, especially when alone.

Perhaps because of this, Chae-rin clung even tighter to Yohan.

Thump!

Chae-rin felt a soft, cushioned sensation on the arm she was hugging.

If the tactile and sensory options were increased, the feeling would be more vivid, but even at the maximum, it wouldn’t feel real.

‘Wow! Chae-rin is quite curvy.’

When they were younger, Chae-rin was skinny and had dark skin, making it hard to tell the difference in gender. In fact, until the first grade of elementary school, he thought she was a boy.

He only realized Chae-rin was a girl when they became desk partners in the second grade. She kicked him when he suggested they go to the bathroom together, and that’s when he found out.

‘Hehehe!’

While recalling memories of Chae-rin, Yohan suddenly stopped walking.

There was something ahead.

Though it wasn’t clear in the darkness, he heightened his senses and could detect something. The creaking of joints and a faint silhouette.

It was a wooden golem.

‘Are there any others around?’

Wooden golems don’t travel alone because their close-range attack power is weak. Sure enough, there were others not far away: skeleton soldiers and skeleton knights, which appear from the second floor of the dungeon.

Level 40 skeleton knights were more advanced monsters than skeleton soldiers and were difficult to handle.

If they attacked one, the others would surely join in.

When Yohan stopped, Chae-rin asked anxiously, “Why did you stop?”

“There are monsters ahead.”

“Really? I can’t see anything.”

“Listen carefully. You’ll hear something strange.”

Although she heard nothing, Chae-rin believed Yohan. It’s better to be cautious in the dungeon.

“Then should we go around?”

“No, we have to push through. There’s no other way.”

“What? How can we when we can’t see a thing?”

“Shh! Your voice is too loud!”

Yohan’s warning came too late. The moment Chae-rin spoke, the monsters reacted and started moving towards them.

“Damn! Run! Don’t let go of my hand!”

Yohan grabbed Chae-rin’s hand and ran forward. Despite her complaints of pain, he couldn’t afford to slow down. If they hesitated and were surrounded by monsters, they would both be in trouble.

“Squeak!”

“Creak!”

The monsters screamed and chased after them.

Yohan kept running. When they encountered blocking monsters, he either avoided them or slipped through the gaps.

The darkness didn’t seem to hinder him at all.

‘The second floor is a winding maze, so unlike the first floor, the monsters can’t keep chasing us.’

The second floor of the dungeon had forks and corners.

Because of this, the monsters often lost their target during the chase. Yohan was counting on this.

If you don’t know the way, you might wander in the darkness and be killed by monsters, but since he had mastered the geography of the Deborah dungeon in the past, he could find his way with his eyes closed.

‘The problem is that some monsters are still chasing us.’

Even if he managed to shake off the monsters, 3-4 more would soon appear, newly spawned.

On the first floor, such monsters could be avoided by hiding in a corner or against a wall, pretending to be dead.

However, the second floor was a narrow maze with few hiding spots, and the risk of being discovered was high.

In such a case, he had to resort to a last resort.

“Sorry, can you take care of these guys for me?”

“Ah! What are you doing!”

Yohan left the monsters to the parties he encountered along the way and fled.

This was a tactic he devised in the past.

When hunting, he would hand over the monsters to parties that were hindering or stealing his kills.

Of course, he didn’t do it often, as it could backfire if overused.

“We made it!”

Yohan brought Chae-rin to a small square in the center of the second floor of the dungeon. This bright area, similar to a lobby, had several parties resting.

“Pant, pant! I’m out of breath. But it seems no monsters come here, right?”

Looking around, Chae-rin asked, catching her breath.

“It’s called a ‘rest area’ or a safe zone.”

“I’ve heard that dungeons and hunting grounds have safe zones, but how did you know this place had one?”

Chae-rin’s question left Yohan momentarily speechless.

“I couldn’t see anything in the darkness, yet you managed to avoid the monsters and find the way.”

“That... that’s...”

“Something’s off. No, it’s suspicious! You didn’t come here before me, did you? Or did you play this game in advance?”

Cornered, Yohan desperately tried to explain.

“No, you can find all this information on strategy sites. If you dig through them, you can find tips from hidden experts. I’m a blacksmith, so I’m weak. I thought it was important to know these things to survive in the dungeon, so I did some research.”

“Ah, I see. I didn’t know that.”

Yohan managed to dispel Chae-rin’s suspicions.

If he hadn’t thought of the strategy site excuse, he might have had to reveal his past as Bartz.

“Then, did you also learn how to see in the dark from there?”

“Something like that.”

Yohan’s answer made Chae-rin’s eyes sparkle.

“So, if I just listen to the explanation, I can see in the dark too?”

“Well, that’s...”

It was possible because of the old experience and senses he had from the Bartz era. It wasn’t something anyone could easily learn.

Seeing Yohan’s troubled expression, Chae-rin asked him to teach her.

In the end, Yohan decided to teach her. They couldn’t keep holding hands in the dark dungeon...

‘If Chae-rin learns, it will be much easier.’

Thinking this, Yohan took Chae-rin to a dark corridor. It was close to the safe zone, so no monsters respawned there.

“Don’t be scared just because it’s dark. Focus and look carefully. They say that if you get used to the darkness, you can faintly make out the silhouette of your opponent.”

This method uses dark adaptation.

“And don’t just try to see with your eyes. You need to listen with your ears as well. Listen to the sounds, determine the direction, and calculate the distance based on the volume.”

Yohan explained how to estimate location and distance by sound, but he was unsure how much Chae-rin would understand.

It seemed Chae-rin also found it difficult.

“Complicated. Can’t we just ask one of those people resting for a lantern?”

“Sure, but walking through the dungeon with a bright light is like saying ‘catch me if you can’ to the monsters.”

It was frustrating to be a beginner archer and a beginner blacksmith.

“Got it. If you can do it, I can too.”

Chae-rin decided to learn with confidence.

In fact, they could have easily joined one of the parties resting there.

However, Yohan, and even Chae-rin, didn’t want to leech off others to explore the dungeon.

Moreover, if the others knew they were a beginner archer and a beginner blacksmith, they would likely be rejected. Instead of helping, they would be seen as a burden, only taking experience points.

Having already braced themselves for the challenge, they had to somehow clear Deborah’s dungeon together.

‘Hehe, if I teach her this, we can save the lantern...’

Lost in this thought, Chae-rin suddenly let out a scream. Something had stabbed her side.

It wasn’t a monster’s attack.

Yohan was picking up a stick from the dungeon floor.

“Stop daydreaming and focus.”

“Hey, you! What are you doing, stabbing me like that?”

Chae-rin swung her fist in the direction of Yohan’s voice, but it only hit the air. The next moment, the stick grazed her forehead.

“Ouch! Zig, you!”

“Focus and try to find me. Figure out which direction and how far I am from you.”

It wasn’t something that could be easily mastered. Yohan wanted Chae-rin to feel the difficulty deeply.

Of course, Chae-rin didn’t know Yohan was Bartz. She thought he had learned it quickly, but her confidence slightly irritated Yohan’s pride.

Even though Bartz was gone, his senses and knowledge had been passed on to Zig. He didn’t want to let her look down on him, even if she didn’t know.

Thud!

Yohan was momentarily startled.

He had been casually toying with Chae-rin, but the stick had just hit a dangerous spot.

Right on Chae-rin’s chest.

“What, Kang Yohan! You want to die!”

“Ah!”

Enraged, Chae-rin fired arrows at Yohan. He rolled to the side, but arrows continued to hit him.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

“It was planned, you bastard!”

The arrows kept coming. Thanks to Yohan touching a sensitive spot, Chae-rin’s senses were heightened to 100%, no, 200%. She could tell exactly where Yohan was and how far he was moving.

“Come out, damn it! Don’t think I can’t find you behind that rock!”

Thanks to Yohan’s “help,” Chae-rin learned how to see in the dark.

2

After Chae-rin successfully completed her training, Yohan started rummaging through his bag.

He quickly put on a set of scale armor and a round shield made by reinforcing wood with metal.

“What? You had equipment? Why did you hide it?”

“I didn’t hide it. It would have been a hindrance while running from monsters.”

Increased weight might improve defense, but it reduced agility.

These items were part of what he had gathered to frame Jers and Alden. He didn’t have the best ones because he had to dispose of them quickly, but he kept the usable ones.

“From now on, we need to be prepared. We can’t just run like before.”

“Are there monsters blocking the way?”

To reach the third floor of the dungeon, they had to pass through three narrow corridors. In these narrow corridors, monsters were lined up in a row.

Because the corridors were narrow, they wouldn’t all come at once, but anyone passing through had to face the monsters.

If the player was in a party or a warrior class, they could easily break through. They could defeat the monsters one by one as they appeared.

The game developers made this area a bonus zone where players could rest after wandering the maze and fighting monsters, allowing them to easily gain experience.

However, for the beginner blacksmith Yohan and the beginner archer Chae-rin, it was a challenging course.

“I’ll take the lead. You cover me with arrows from behind.”

Saying this, Yohan handed Chae-rin something. It was a charm of Tike that he always wore around his neck. It was a special item with weak options: +2 defense and +10% magic defense.

“What’s this?”

“I won it in an event. It’s not great, but archers can’t wear shields or heavy armor, so you’ll need it.”

“What a funny item. If it’s supposed to bring luck, why doesn’t it increase defense?”

“I don’t know. Anyway, let’s go.”

With his equipment ready, Yohan and Chae-rin moved forward. After a while, they reached the first narrow corridor, where a skeleton soldier with an axe stood.

“Do you see something pale ahead? Is it a monster?”

“Yes, it hasn’t detected us yet.”

Chae-rin loaded an arrow into her bow. There was no reason to miss the opportunity for a surprise attack.

“Take this! Triple Shot!”

Three arrows flew through the darkness. For a moment, the charm of Tike around Chae-rin’s neck glowed faintly, but neither she nor Yohan noticed, as they were focused on the front.

Thud! Thud!

“Wow! All three hit!”

Chae-rin cheered. She hit all three shots just by hearing the footsteps.

“Yah!”

The moment the arrows flew, Yohan was already in motion. His job was to finish off the monster weakened by the arrow attack.

The weak point of the skeleton series was the waist, supported by a single spine, and the neck.

One-hit kill!

Yohan swung his sword horizontally. A cracking sound echoed, followed by a familiar sound.

-Critical hit.

You gained 110 experience points.

-You obtained 98 gold.

-You obtained a lantern.

“There’s another one!”

Without time to celebrate the defeat of the skeleton soldier, they immediately attacked the next monster in front of them.

“Power Shot!”

The arrow, whistling through the air, hit the wooden golem’s abdomen. It damaged the monster, but it wasn’t enough. Yohan charged forward, swinging his sword wildly.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Chae-rin initiated the attack with her bow, and Yohan finished off the remaining health.

They repeated this process, taking down other monsters one by one. Stealthily approaching and ambushing the stationary monsters in the dark proved effective, and their experience points increased rapidly.

-You gained 115 experience points.

-You obtained 130 gold and 20 arrows.

-You reached level 40.

Agility increased by 1.

Stamina increased by 1.

It was a bit disappointing that leveling up took time when fighting one by one, but there was no choice. Yohan was now the blacksmith Zig, not the warrior Bartz.

‘Still, it’s easier than I thought.’

He had expected them to struggle due to their weak attack and defense.

The key was how much health Chae-rin could reduce at the start. Yohan’s job was to finish off the monster, and the process was smoother than he had anticipated. This was thanks to Chae-rin’s high shooting accuracy and the high critical hit rate of her skills like Triple Shot and Power Shot. About 6 out of 10 shots were critical hits.

‘Archers have a higher critical hit rate than other classes, but 60% is almost the level of a master...’

Yohan briefly wondered what the secret was to Chae-rin’s high critical hit rate and stumbled for a moment.

It wasn’t due to a monster’s attack.

Yohan was pushing a skeleton soldier with low HP to the brink, but suddenly his body felt heavy, and his attack power dropped to less than half.

‘Oh no, I forgot!’

Yohan realized what he had forgotten and what mistake he had made. He had been paying attention to his HP but neglected his stamina.

The aggressive skeleton soldier immediately counterattacked. Yohan blocked the skeleton’s attack and fell backward. His stamina was depleted, but he fell intentionally this time.

“Chae-rin, one more shot!”

“Got it!”

Realizing Yohan was in danger, Chae-rin immediately fired an arrow at the skeleton. The sound of the arrow cutting through the air was followed by the sound of bones breaking.

-You gained 110 experience points.

-You obtained 113 gold.

“Phew, that was close.”

Yohan scratched his head as he got up from the ground.

“Sigh, you idiot. You didn’t even notice your stamina was at zero?”

This was a status that could be seen in the party window. However, Chae-rin didn’t know Yohan’s stamina was depleted, as they were both deeply engrossed in the battle.

‘To have my stamina drop to zero just from swinging a sword...’

Each sword swing drained 1 stamina, but it recovered quickly.

There was a reason Yohan didn’t pay much attention to his stamina. Unlike warriors who used various attack skills and consumed a lot of stamina, blacksmiths rarely needed to use