Chapter 61
"I told you it's nothing special."
"All of that fits in there?"
"Yes."
"The inside of your pockets must be bigger than they look… Where did you get clothes like that?"
"I'll tell you where to buy them once we leave the dungeon."
"Uh, no. I mean. Never mind…."
Are you asking or not? Yoon Seo furrowed his brows.
"It's not anything I really need. I thought you might have something like a family photo. For reference, I always carry a picture of my sweet apple pie with me."
"Baby, I sewed a sexy picture of you into my underwear too."
"Honey…."
"Darling…."
The sound of smooching followed.
[The God of Death is going wild, wanting to gift death to them.]
For once, Yoon Seo agreed.
Should I just push them off right here?
As he seriously considered it, Kwon Jihan, completely unfazed by whatever the couple was doing, asked Yoon Seo.
"But hyung, why do you carry all that instead of putting it in your inventory?"
"I don't have any combat experience. My inventory is small."
"What's the point of saving up that experience? Hyung should at least be VVIP by now."
"VVIP?"
Yoon Seo checked his system window. The shop category was only unlocked up to VIP.
[Unused Experience: 13,283,191,000]
Now that he thought about it, something was strange. He had gained a lot of experience from the Great Dungeon, yet even with this much, he wasn't VVIP?
Yoon Seo started feeling a bit annoyed with the Gaia System.
"Exactly how much experience do I need to unlock the VVIP tab?"
"It won't ever unlock if you just hold onto it. You have to spend a certain amount in the shop to become VVIP."
"Oh, so that's how it works."
"If you reach VVIP, why not buy more inventory space? You'll have to keep going into dungeons, and that capacity will be inconvenient."
Yoon Seo didn't particularly feel like he was lacking space. With the guild's subspace holding a camper van, would he really ever run out of personal inventory?
Besides, he only had 18 wills left now. If he excluded the two that were about to finish, there were 16. He didn't have much time left, so he saw no need to expand his inventory.
"Hunter Kwon Jihan, did you use your experience on inventory?"
"Yeah, I probably have the biggest inventory out of all Awakened."
Kwon Jihan flashed a bright smile. Yoon Seo had a gut feeling that smile was hiding something.
"Everyone, get ready for battle!"
While they were talking, the monsters had come close enough to be visible. Alec, who was leading at the front, raised his voice and called for everyone to prepare for combat.
"Let's continue talking later."
Kwon Jihan flapped his wings and flew away. Once he gained some distance, the small, adorable black wings instantly expanded into massive, majestic wings that sent feathers fluttering.
Kraaak!
Kraaah!
The monsters seemed to have spotted the humans, letting out savage cries as they flew toward them at high speed.
After checking Hwashim's position, Yoon Seo reinforced the shields of the hunters heading into battle.
['Red Balloon'
Grade: A
Sometimes, take a break from battle and look down at the dungeon. The view from the hot air balloon is truly beautiful.
Durability: 40/100]
It was only the second day, yet its durability had already dropped below half. The others' items were probably in a similar state. Even if they had recovery items to repair durability, their limited quantity made the situation quite serious.
***
[You have entered the Dungeon. Number of Hunters: 33 | Time Until Explosion: 354 Hours]
It had been a week since they entered the dungeon.
At first, the guild members had laughed and chatted, but now their conversations had dwindled, and an uneasy atmosphere hung over them.
Yoon Seo's shield was sturdy, and the hunters were skilled, so no one had been seriously injured.
Still, they were growing anxious due to the harsh environment. In the past week, they had only set foot on land for two days. The rest of the time, they had been flying continuously.
If they had been sailing on the sea instead of flying, it might have been better. Their flying items' durability was decreasing, but there was no land in sight, only the scorching lava below. Even when sleeping, they had to be careful not to fall, which was stressing everyone out.
The most pressing issue was the durability of their items. The 'Red Balloon' that Yoon Seo and the couple were using had only 3% durability left. The couple was constantly on edge.
As Yoon Seo overheard their tearful whispers about wanting to be each other's "forever soulmate in the next life," he peeked out of the balloon. Park Soobin and the leader of Team 2 had stopped the group momentarily to redistribute their mounts.
"We have no choice. We'll have to use the emergency items. Bring out the 'Apprentice Angel's Wings,' 'Singing Carpet,' and 'Ghost Ship.' That should cover five people."
"But that's all the flying items we had in the spatial inventory. Are you sure? If the Guild Master finds out, he might—"
"You think he'd scold us when we're about to plummet to our deaths? Besides, we've collected a ton of lava stones. Once we get out, we'll make a fortune, so this much is fine."
The leader of Team 2 made the decision and retrieved the emergency items from the guild's spatial inventory. The five hunters, who had been trembling at the thought of falling, gratefully accepted them.
"And for the next eight people, they can go with Jaehee's fairies. Jaehee, can I count on you?"
"Of course! As long as I have mana potions, I can keep them summoned forever!"
Soo Jaehee chugged a mana potion confidently. Fairies, three times the size of a human, cradled the hunters in their arms.
Jaehee also used
"I could make Chichi fly if I fed him a special fruit, but I can't summon any more. I'm short on total mana capacity."
"You just covered twelve people on your own. That's more than enough. You're an incredible summoner."
"Hehe."
While Jaehee grinned proudly, the fairies and demons carrying people looked visibly displeased.
"Hunter Kwon Jihan, Hunter Alec, Hunter Hong Euiyoon, and five others have flying skills. That still leaves eight people…"
"Team Leader, how much durability does your item have left?"
"I only have 4% left."
Park Soobin let out a sigh.
"When we get out of here, we need to tell the guild master to buy plenty of flying items with experience points."
"If we get out, that is…."
"There's a flying item available in the VVIP shop right now. If anyone has spare experience points, please purchase it."
Park Soobin looked around at the hunters as he spoke.
"I'm not a VVIP. If I were, I would've bought it already."
"I don't have enough experience points to buy something from the VVIP tab."
"I'll buy it."
Kwon Jihan said. He immediately purchased a flying item and transferred ownership to the leader of Team 2. That solved the problem for one more person, but there were still too many left.
"This is really bad."
Park Soobin's expression turned grim. The same went for the other guild members.
"Baby, I don't want to be separated from you."
"Me too, baby. You and I are one."
The couple in the hot air balloon with only 3% durability left were on the verge of losing their minds. They actually had flying skills, so they could keep flying if they chugged mana potions. However, their flying skills were also their main attack skills, so they were saving them in case monsters appeared.
"Hey, Yoon Seo."
Hong Euiyoon, who was relatively at ease thanks to his bound items and skills, fluttered near the hot air balloon.
"You really don't have flying skill?"
"No, I don't."
"Damn it, there's no choice then. How much do you weigh?"
"What?"
"I'll carry you."
Hong Euiyoon spread his arms. Yoon Seo glanced at the slightly taller red-haired man with a dumbfounded expression, then pointed to his right.
"I'm fine, so you should take care of Hunter Hwashim instead."
"Hwashim? That bastard, why…. Wait, what the hell is he doing?"
Hwashim was lying on top of an 'Old Cushion' with only 2% durability left, scribbling something on a piece of paper.
"Looks like he's writing his will."
"Crazy bastard."
Hong Euiyoon cursed and flew over to him. When he offered to carry him, Hwashim silently tucked the paper into his chest and let himself be lifted. Hong Euiyoon easily carried the man, who was at least 10 cm taller than him. It was quite a sight to behold.
"Even if we each carry someone, there's still a problem. We can't fight like this."
"Damn it, the monsters aren't hard to deal with, but since this is a Yellow Dungeon, this is the real issue."
Just then, a notification popped up. The durability of the 'Red Balloon' had dropped to 2%. Yoon Seo was starting to get seriously concerned.
"Sorry to interrupt, but."
Alec, who was standing at the front, keeping watch, spoke up.
"Monsters are approaching."
"What? Of all times… How many?"
"Dozens. All A-rank."
"This is insane. Alright, the monsters will be handled by the S-rank hunters in the Team 1. The Team 2 will stay put."
Right now, only eight people, including Kwon Jihan and Alec, could move freely. If they all went into battle, this place would be left defenseless, so it was best to leave it to Team 1's S-rank hunters.
Kwon Jihan, Alec, Soo Jaehee, the couple.
A total of five people. Alec was a bit nervous. Facing dozens of A-rank monsters with such a small team, especially after a grueling week, was risky even for S-rank hunters. Cooldown times were also a concern. Only Kwon Jihan maintained his usual indifferent expression.
"We'll go too. If our durability runs out, we'll die anyway, so we might as well die fighting monsters."
"The durability running out doesn't mean instant death. The protection-type hunters here will use shield skills, so don't be so dramatic and just wait quietly."
The leader of Team 2 was also staying behind.
"I'll go first."
Alec, who was riding a
[Lava heat is decreasing the durability of the 'Red Balloon.' Durability 1/100]
[The God of Death is waiting for your death.]
"Yoon Seo hyung."
Just as Yoon Seo was frowning at the message that popped up, Kwon Jihan approached him.