Chapter 11 : Endless Gold, Endless Sin

Thumpㅡ

[ Title effect <Falling has Wings?> reduces fall impact damage.]

Since the drop wasn’t very high, and with the fall impact reduction effect, Jaeho’s stamina barely decreased.

Beneath where the golem had circled and climbed, there was a man-made corridor.

After following that path step by step, Jaeho arrived at a colossal door, even more lavishly decorated than the hall above ground.

[You have discovered Brejal’s Secret Vault.]

Thunk ㅡ thud thud ㅡ

And the undead soldiers guarding the area!

“Gahhhh…”

[Lv.85 Spiritless Fallen Kingdom Knight]

These monsters were significantly stronger compared to Jaeho’s current level (31).

But looking back at the path Jaeho had taken so far, such a level difference was nothing challenging.

Moreover, Jaeho’s stats were heavily invested in strength, agility, and stamina, and combined with his innate skill, this fight was even easier than when he faced the bear.

Bang! Thwack ㅡ bang bang!!!

He swiftly threw a preemptive strike, holding the Seed and the Rapier, at the nearest undead, causing it to stagger back.

[The divine power of <Seed of the Divine Tree> inflicts additional damage.]

Because this wasn’t an ordinary seed, the sacred power contained within it was especially effective against the undead.

“Uooooh!!!”

After about five minutes of exposure to the sacred power, the undead finally collapsed, writhing in agony.

Thwack ㅡ

Only then did Jaeho neatly sever the undead’s head with the Rapier, which had been sufficiently sanctified.

[Level up.]

“Grrrrr—”

But that was not the end.

Dragging his sluggish body, the other undead in the room advanced toward him.

“Guess you’ll be leveling up a lot.”

Though not particularly fond of fighting, there was no reason to avoid leveling up.

***

Prime Guild’s junior ranker Samantha.

She had been searching the Fermasa Desert for a whole month, aiming for a class upgrade.

Yet, in this barren place full of nothing but sand, she had yet to find anything special.

Recently, at the guild master’s request to keep watch over Luxi Forest, she had even temporarily paused her quest.

But now, having come all the way to this desert, her quest hadn’t progressed one bit, and she was thoroughly annoyed.

“Damn them. If they wanted to come this far, shouldn’t they at least have helped a fellow guildmate with their quest?”

“Right? They were too selfish. How could they just take care of their own business and leave?”

“Got so annoyed I blocked the road. And that Usster guy losing the quest item? Thought he was the best in the world, but now look at him.”

She was venting with her close guildmates, Kruwa and Sang.

Suddenly, the sand shifted, and a Sand Golem appeared.

“Ah, wait. The golem’s back.”

“Did you find anything?”

She asked the golem.

“Nothing was discovered.”

Surprisingly, that answered Samantha’s question.

But that wasn’t all.

Ssshhh ㅡ

About ten more Sand Golems appeared in succession, reporting the same.

This was her rare-grade class skill.

She was searching the desert for a clue to advance to the unique class, “Sandglass Guardian.”

“Suspicious human detected.”

“Wha?!”

At the last golem’s words, Samantha’s heart skipped a beat.

“!”

Whir—

The sand-based Sand Golems began to transform into the shape of a young woman.

“This is insane… and what’s more, if you get sucked into the sand, there’s no breathing…”

“Not telling!!!”

Just hearing that was enough to make her furious.

Being sucked into the sand could only mean one thing — she had found a secret dungeon.

***

“Thunk— Bang! Boom— Crash!!”

The dull sounds of blows and shattering continued.

For Jaeho, who was naturally athletic, the slow movements of the undead were almost boring.

ㅡ St…oo…p it…

“Hm?”

When he had become completely accustomed to cries like “Graaah” and “Ugh,” a raspy human voice was heard.

Boom ㅡ

A muscle zombie twice Jaeho’s size appeared.

[Lv.135 Alert Muscle Captain]

Clearly giving off strong boss vibes.

“C-can I win this?”

The level gap was huge compared to before.

But the worry didn’t come true.

ㅡ They have no fault… Only their instincts remain after being possessed by the curse…

“And you?”

ㅡ I’m the same… but not anymore.

Boom ㅡ

The Muscle Captain threw his sword to the ground.

ㅡ Tyrant Brejal… blinded by greed, committed an unforgivable sin as a human…

The expression was strangely out of place, but sadness lingered in his rotting face.

ㅡ For his eternal soul and fortune… he sacrificed countless lives…

“Then what about the people fighting up there?”

ㅡ They are trapped in frozen time… all the people… forced to fight endlessly in this cursed time loop to escape…

“…Then why did they suddenly stop fighting?”

ㅡ Until just recently… I was also trapped by the instinct to protect this place… but the vitality I sensed from you awakened me.

[ <The Spirit of Vitality> is proud.]

The power of life energy Jaeho accumulated in Luxi Forest, combined with the Spirit of Vitality, could even awaken the instincts of these cursed fallen.

“So there’s no need to keep fighting anymore, right?”

ㅡ Yes, but there’s a request…

[*Linked Quest*]

[The Muscle Captain guarding Bréjal’s Treasure Vault wishes to end this endless curse.

Accompany him to the dungeon core.]

ㅡ This way.

Turning around, he guided Jaeho toward the vault.

Boom—

The door to the treasure vault opened by the Muscle Captain’s hand.

“Huh?!”

The vault was far larger than expected.

Piles of gold ingots like mountains and all kinds of jewels.

And weapons that looked valuable even at a glance!

According to the Muscle Captain, Brejal ruled over Cofei, an ancient kingdom whose underground held almost infinite gold mines.

Cofei flourished greatly because of this.

But Brejal, who was merely human, did not want to leave all this to his descendants.

So he bartered the souls of the people to demons, and Cofei was covered by endless sandstorms and transformed into a desert.

ㅡ But demons aren’t just demons… Even Brejal had to suffer when dealing with demons… always threatened and uneasy about his authority… enduring constant pain.

Leading Jaeho deeper into the vault, the Muscle Captain spoke.

“Pitiful.”

ㅡ But… now it can be ended… Here we are.

Arriving in front of a cave, far from the lavish decorations seen so far.

ㅡ This is as far as I can go… From here, it’s up to you.

Jaeho reached out to the door blocking the cave.

Creak—

As the door opened, what met his eyes were cracked inner walls dried and hardened, the floor covered with magic circles, and in the middle, floating in midair, a red sandglass.

[You have discovered <The Stopped Desert Hourglass> .]

[Due to a powerful curse, access is impossible!]

“Is that the core?”

At Jaeho’s question, the Muscle Captain shook his head.

ㅡ The core is to the left on the surface…

“Gasp?”

Jaeho flinched.

He had been tasked with dealing with the core, after all.

ㅡ Killing the core is meaningless… Once this sandglass collapses… everything will return to normal.

His rotten finger pointed at the sandglass.

ㅡ That is the root of everything… it must be taken.

A space filled with curses.

Step ㅡ

Cautiously, Jaeho put one foot forward.

[The curse of the dead attempts direct interference with your soul.]

[Divine blessing reduced by 90%.]

[Stamina will steadily decrease.]

“Guh?!”

An unbelievable debuff!

But another notification appeared, calming his heart.

[Resisted by <Spirit of Vitality> .]

The Spirit of Vitality, which he always found a bit underwhelming, was showing its first truly effective performance.

[ <The Spirit of Vitality> also made the Curse Commander regain alertness, proudly declaring ‘It’s me.’]

“Yeah, yeah. Good job.”

It was definitely praise-worthy.

[Class passive <Vitality Recharge> acquired.]

[Class passive <Curse Resistance> acquired.]

Moreover, at the moment of curse exposure, he also gained new class passives.

[< Vitality Recharge ( Passive ) >]

[The Spirit Realm exists between death and resurrection! Your vitality is constantly restored.]

[Effect: When HP drops below 10%, restores 20% max HP per second for 10 seconds. (Cooldown: 20 minutes)]

[<Curse Resistance ( Passive )>]

[Beloved by nature! Protected from impure forces not of the natural element.]

[Effect 1: All curse effects related to demons reduced by 80%.]

[Effect 2: Immunity to status ailments caused by curses.]

Trusting the passives, Jaeho pressed forward step by step.

ㅡ Oooh!!

The Muscle Captain let out a sound of admiration from behind.

He never imagined a human could endure a demon’s curse barehanded…

Munch munch ㅡ yum ㅡ

ㅡ ???

[You used <Apples covered in morning dew> .]

[You used <Elf spinach pie> .]

[You used <Blue makgeolli brewed by spirits>.]

Suddenly, Jaeho began pulling out and consuming all sorts of foods.

“Ugh… this hurts like hell!”

After all, this dungeon was far beyond his appropriate level.

Even with rapid recovery from passives, his current HP couldn’t sustain much.

So he decided to rely on the inventory full of gifts from the elves.

“Better to just eat first!”

Though an impulsive decision, it turned out to be the best choice.

These were no ordinary healing items.

Their names shone with dazzling gold!

In other words, these were legendary-grade healing items.

Not just simple healing items, but rare treasures so hard to find that even rankers would shed tears to see them.

Jaeho devoured them in a frenzy.

[Healing power increased by 150%.]

[Curse resistance increased by 200%.]

[50% of incoming damage is returned to nature.]

[Upon taking death-level damage, fully restore stamina once.]

[…]

Such overwhelming options!

At this moment, Jaeho was more zombie than the Muscle Captain.

[You have acquired the title <zombie>.]

[Damage received reduced by 1%.]

Finally reaching the sandglass, Jaeho stretched out his hand.

[ <The Stopped Desert Hourglass> activated.]

[Stopped time has started flowing again.]

[The seal of Cofei has been lifted.]

“The seal’s broken? What does this mean now?”

Jaeho quickly turned to ask the Muscle Captain.

ㅡ It’s over.

Without further words, the Muscle Captain nonchalantly said his goodbyes.

Then vanished like sand.

“No, it’s not thanks… dang it!”

Jaeho couldn’t finish his sentence.

Suddenly, underground water poured in from beyond the corridor they had passed.

“Eh?”

Suddenly, Jaeho realized what the winding underground corridors used to be.

“It was a canal…”

Sploosh aaaaak ㅡ!!!

Swept up by the strong current, Jaeho rolled helplessly.

Rumble ㅡ

The space where Jaeho had been was instantly filled, and the water poured down in torrents.

With it, Jaeho was dragged along.

“Gurgle!!!”

[Stamina decreasing due to lack of oxygen.]

[Stamina decreasing due to lack of oxygen.]

[Stamina decreasing due to lack of oxygen…]

The only reason he didn’t die was thanks to the legendary food he had consumed!

[You have acquired the title <Dragon Palace is visible>.]

[Underwater ability increased.]

[You have acquired the title <Bottle Bear>.]

[Underwater agility increased.]

Sploosh aaaaak ㅡ!!!

Swept away by the current, Jaeho was tossed into midair.

Thump -!!

“Ugh!!!”

[ Title effect <Falling has Wings?> reduces fall impact damage.]

“Phew— I survived!”

But there was no time to sit back and relax.

ㅡ This noo-oom! The furious invasion of Brejal snapped Jaeho’s mind back.

“Where is this?”

It was none other than the hall where the battle had taken place earlier.