Chapter 764: No.68 (1)

At her question-filled gaze, I grinned broadly.

“That’s right. I prepared it especially for you.”

“Especially……!”

“Now you can escape walking-only life.”

“Escape walking-only life……!”

“Of course, there are conditions—”

I continued explaining that the cooldown was long, that it had startup delay, and so on, but none of it seemed to enter Seo Ye-in’s ears.

Her eyes shining brightly, she approached and tugged at the hem of my clothes.

Then she pointed at a spot a short distance away.

“……★Blink★.”

When I cast [Shift Blink] as she wanted, Seo Ye-in appeared there with a whoosh.

Then she came back and tugged at my sleeve again.

“……★Blink★.”

“Again?”

“★Blink★.”

I felt like something similar had happened before.

In any case, every time the cooldown came back, I cast [Shblink] for her, and every time, Seo Ye-in came back and demanded another ★Blink★, then another ★Blink★.

As a result, notification messages kept appearing too.

[‘Shift Blink’ rank has increased. (F→E)]

[‘Shift Blink’ rank has increased. (E→D)]

[‘Shift Blink’ rank has……. (D→C)]

It’s a skill that lives and dies by proficiency, after all.

Just like [Blink], the faster and more accurately it was used, the more its growth accelerated.

And my proficiency had to be considered S-rank or higher.

As I kept using [Shift] like that, Fast-Luckless, who had been watching, seemed to grow interested too.

Like cats catching the scent of a treat, the two of them tugged at me, swish swish swish swish.

“Again.”

“Again.”

At that, I spoke in a solemn tone.

“In that case, I shall show you something else this time. You stand over there, and you stand waaaay over there.”

“?”

Though question marks seemed to pop up over their heads, the sloth and Fast-Luckless did as they were told.

I cast [Shift Blink] on them again.

Mana surged, and ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) then, with a whoosh, their positions switched.

“?”

The sloth and Fast-Luckless tilted their heads, looked down at their feet, looked at each other, tilted their heads the opposite way, and then—

At the same time, their eyes shot wide open.

“!”

Then, when they looked at me at the same time, I grinned broadly, just as I had when I first showed [Shift].

“It can swap you too.”

“Swap……!”

“How is it? I learned well, didn’t I?”

“Excellent choice.”

We held hands and danced merrily.

*****

The members participating in the <Rabbit War> clear were Lee Sudok, Seo Cheongyong, me, Dang Gyu-ri, and Seo Ye-in. Five people total.

It did feel a little flimsy for entering an A-rank dungeon, so the principal wanted to attach a few more faculty members.

But I politely refused.

Those two are enough.

Lee Sudok and Seo Cheongyong alone possessed considerable combat power, and they also had the walkthrough.

In this dungeon, I had something I could trust too.

Of course, variables will interfere.

It was a dungeon the Wall of Wisdom had pointed out, after all.

Still, with this lineup, it should be doable.

So we fixed the party at five members and began preparing.

We memorized the walkthrough, lightly coordinated teamwork, and stocked up on items.

A few days passed like that.

Then I headed to the dungeon wing with Dang Gyu-ri and Seo Ye-in.

The two instructors were already waiting at the meeting place. Among them, Seo Cheongyong spotted us first and waved.

“You’re here.”

“Hello, sir.”

“How’s your condition?”

“Couldn’t be better.”

“Good. Let’s do well.”

Seo Cheongyong smiled warmly.

Lee Sudok, on the other hand, was sending murderous looks at each of us in turn.

Rather than having some particular intent, maybe his personality was just that rotten.

Of course, even that human butcher had a natural enemy.

The human sloth.

“……”

“……”

Seo Ye-in acted as if she could not care less whether a murderous glare was flying at her or not.

Just as she did in class, she only wore a sleepy, hazy expression.

In the end, Lee Sudok gave up this time as well and said to me,

“……Keep them under control.”

“Understood.”

“Then we move.”

Soon, we entered the underground floors and used the teleportation magic circle to move to Floor A in one go.

FLASH!

After walking for a short while, we arrived in front of the dungeon.

[No.68] [Rabbit War]

Seo Cheongyong looked around at the party members one last time to confirm.

“You’re all ready, right?”

“……”

“……”

Everyone answered by nodding or giving him a look, and he smiled again.

Then he took the lead and walked into the portal.

As the rest of us followed him into the dungeon……

KWA-BOOOOM!

An ear-splitting explosion shook the ground beneath our feet.

What spread out before our eyes was a battlefield.

Around us, countless people were forming ranks.

Their scale was closer to an army than an expedition group.

However, their classes seemed all over the place, and there was no uniformity in their armor or equipment either.

For example, archers, mages, thieves, and others were mixed together.

One warrior wore leather armor and carried a long spear, while another wore plate armor and carried a greatsword.

Because they belong to the Guild Alliance.

They were free-spirited adventurer types, which was why they were this disorganized.

But one thing was certain: every single one of them was skilled.

The weakest are B-rank.

And there were also countless powerful figures at A-rank or above.

A few were even stronger than Lee Sudok and Seo Cheongyong.

Of course, if our allies are strong, that means the enemy is the same.

Across from us, rabbit-shaped robots were advancing in battle formation.

Seo Ye-in’s eyes sparkled when she saw them.

“……Earth Eater robots.”

There were machines like the one Earth Eater had used when facing us in <Rabbit Tower>.

There were also combined Earth Eater robots like the ones the elite Earth Eaters had ridden in <Rabbit Center>.

There were also the work robots the worker Earth Eaters had ridden.

The difference from the previous dungeons was that there were an absurd number of them.

Previously, there had been only one combined robot, while here, even by a rough glance, there were double digits.

The work robots seemed to be serving as infantry, because they were swarming everywhere.

And most decisively, in the middle of the enemy formation, one machine stood out in particular.

It was similarly rabbit-shaped, but it was equipped with sleek armor and weapons, and a large pocket watch was attached to its chest.

A general-class.

It was the strongest enemy in this dungeon, and also an enemy that absolutely had to be defeated.

Soon after, the general Earth Eater robot slammed its weapon against the ground and shouted,

“Gyu-it! Defeat the humans! We will flatten this place and turn it into a carrot field!”

Of course, it did not literally mean planting carrots.

It was closer to an expression meaning they would build a kind of power plant.

The rabbits, their courage soaring, continued their offensive.

Large and small missiles and mana rounds poured down wildly.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

TUDUDUDUDU!

While the adventurers at the front defended against them, the commander on our side also shouted thunderously.

“Do not fall back—! This land belongs to humanity!”

Hearing only this much, it was hard to tell who the good guys were and who the bad guys were.

In reality, both sides were about the same.

It’s a fight over interests.

Anyway, we had to side with the humans and clear the dungeon.

The objective itself was very simple.

Win the war.

We just had to sweep away all the rabbits.

Of course, since this was A-rank, the process would never be easy.

RUMBLE……

A roar and commotion were rising from the far distance too.

Because we’re not only fighting here.

Battles were breaking out sporadically across multiple fronts.

General-class rabbits were deployed on every front.

We had to defeat every single one of them to win the battle.

Naturally, that won’t be easy.

Soon, the Guild Alliance side targeted the general and poured attacks onto it.

FWIP-FWIP-FWIP-FWIP—!

RUMBLE!

Thick mana arrows, lightning, and all sorts of diverse spells swept over the place where it stood.

Dozens of people had poured firepower onto it, so the area around it was nearly devastated.

“Gyu-iiit……!”

Even so, the general-class rabbit robot did not seem to have taken much damage.

Perhaps because its defense was so high to begin with, all it had were scratches and shallow dents here and there.

And to make matters worse—

FWAAAAASH!

A thick pillar of light fell, cleanly repairing even the little damage it had taken.

It was like that in <Rabbit Center> too.

Because the rabbit building kept supporting the combined Earth Eater robot, taking it down had been extremely troublesome.

So I had sent Song Cheonhye and Hong Yeonhwa inside first, and only after they smashed the entire building did we defeat the Earth Eater robot.

It’s the same this time too.

The rabbits had hidden secret bases all across the battlefield.

Neutralizing those bases was the core of the dungeon clear.

As for one more thing to watch out for—

Perfect timing. They’re using it.

We fixed our gazes on another battlefield in the far distance.

The next moment, a black-and-white space formed there, then expanded at a terrifying speed.

If it was visible even from this far away, it must have been enough to cover the entire battlefield and more.

And if one went closer, one would probably hear the sound of a clock’s second hand.

Tick—tock—tick—tock—

[Time Freeze].

Every general-class could use it.

And the rabbit robots could move without being affected by it.

In other words—

They can attack one-sidedly.

For nearly ten seconds.

On a battlefield, that was an eternity.

Sure enough, when [Time Freeze] ended and the black-and-white zone disappeared, the commotion in the far distance seemed to have quieted considerably.

The tide of battle there must have tilted sharply toward the rabbits.

Soon, while watching the general across from us, I said to the party members,

“They’ll probably use it here soon too. Let’s get ready.”

“……!”

Everyone’s expression stiffened, and they prepared for battle.

Sure enough, the general rabbit robot seemed to sweep its gaze across the battlefield, then crouched low.

Then it leaped high and dropped into the middle of the allied formation.

KUUUUUUUNG!

“Gyu-iiit! You insignificant humans! Taste the power of technology!”

The next moment, a black-and-white space exploded outward from the rabbit robot.

From somewhere, the sound of a clock’s second hand could also be heard.

Tick—tock—tick—tock—

This is exactly where my “thing to trust” comes in.

[Using ‘Octopus Arms.’]

[Using ‘Grant.’]

[‘Time Resistance(S)’ has been granted to the target.]

[‘Time Resistance(S)’ has been granted to the target…….]

[To the target…….]

[Duration 00:44:59]

[Cooldown 02:39:59]

I had a way to nullify the rabbits’ strongest attack method.

“……!”

“……!”

The next moment, the bodies of my party members, which had been frozen stiff, loosened.

Lee Sudok, Seo Cheongyong, and Dang Gyu-ri kicked off the ground and charged at the general.

FWIP-FWIP-FWIP—!

PAPAPAT!

Saber energy and blue palm force rained down, and the shadow undead swarmed in.

At that, the general rabbit robot seemed shocked enough to faint.

“Gyu-gyu-gyut!? What the hell are these guys!? How can they move?”

“Hold on a second.”

Be shocked after I do just this much more.

Answering like that, I covered one eye with a hand. A blue curve drew itself in the sky and took the shape of an eye.

Then it shone down on the rabbit robots that had just begun swarming in.

[Diamond Mutual-Destruction Sky Vision]

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!

Roughly half the battlefield froze solid in an instant.