Chapter 244: A Short Break (3)
“A rest phase?”
“Yes. He had entered the rest phase. Perhaps this is a side effect. I don’t know in detail either, but I can be sure that he will continue to be in the same state as it is now. If I express that he is sealing himself, it will be easier for you to understand.”
“That… is a relief.” Park Yeon-joo nodded.
Kim Hyunsung sighed, looking relieved.
All other members of the expedition looked happy. They must have thought that we would have to do something about the Ancient God’s Fragment.
Honestly, I didn’t want even to imagine the outcome. Everyone knew that it was simply because of luck that we survived. Hearing that he would be inactive made them all smile.
In the first place, classifying it as a ‘rest phase’ was not entirely a bad thing. Of course, the monster’s main body was fighting with the preliminary program, but at least the tentacles had settled in to begin and absorb the museum’s system, and with it, the entire continent.
If he wasn’t attacking us, then that meant he was resting. Right?
“There is also an arrangement of the Crack Guardians prepared by the museum, so things will soon get… fixed.”
“Things… worked really well. Kiyoung’s choice would have been right…”
“It was a fluke. It was actually dangerous. I was lucky. It’s a little late, but I apologize for causing trouble to the expedition. It was actually gambling. Not only us… Even the people in Lindel could’ve been in danger.”
“Apologize? It was unavoidable that a mythic-grade monster appeared randomly, and since Kiyoung-ssi took care of it well, everyone survived, so it’s only right for us to be thankful to you for the moment. It’s a little late, but… I want to personally show you my gratitude. If it hadn’t been for the base that you showed me, some of us would probably have died.”
“I’ll be ashamed if you praise me like that. In fact, at the time, survival was the only thing in my mind.”
If things were to go wrong, my position would have been quite awkward.
“By the way… What on earth is the Fragment of an Ancient God?”
“That’s what Dialugia will explain.”
“Ah… Yes. Actually, I don’t know anything in detail, because the time I have lived hasn’t been that long… I just heard it from both my mother and grandmother. I know nothing else but the fact that it has existed since the beginning and will put the continent at risk.”
“So, the manager, Max, was right. That’s really absurd. We already knew that this place is not an ordinary place, but an Ancient God’s… Fragment… Everything just seems so surreal.”
“Yes. I fully understand that. I have lived for more than 4,000 years, but such beings have only come through stories. Of course, I didn’t think it would be found in places like this… and even more so, while sealed.”
As Dialugia continued to talk, a loud voice cut her off.
“Why didn’t they just kill him instead of sealing him? I don’t know why this museum did such a nuisance.”
“It is impossible to kill the Fragments of an Ancient God. It’s because there is no shortage of being called God itself rather than a person who has earned the divine. Those called Crack Guardians would also have been best able to seal the Fragment. Of course, it was a mistake to be too overconfident of them. They probably never imagined that seal would break.”
“Well… I see…”
“If he has entered the rest phase, what about the tentacles that are reaching the museum now?”
At this point, I felt like it would be fine if I took this particular question, which Ahn Ki-mo had asked. The man himself looked uneasy for some reason.
Meanwhile, I already felt proud of Dialugia for being able to talk with a poker face. Although she seemed to try her best to rein in the guilt, only I was actually able to notice her struggle.
“The previous guess is correct. He’s probably trying to bring down the museum’s system because it was the seal that held him up until now… He has entered the rest phase, but the main body is fighting for strength with the museum’s preliminary program. Of course, that won’t even take long.”
“Ohhhh. I see…”
After coughing to catch everyone’s attention, I spoke once again, this time in a louder tone.
“To sum it up, there seems to be no big problem. The preliminary program will seal him during the rest phase and will probably succeed in sealing it with a high probability. Right, Dialugia?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“I think we’d better exit the museum after rescuing the isolated survivors before the seal is completed. The system also has a hole, so we can leave the dungeon without completing the museum tour. Although the quest is unfinished…”
“We can’t help it, right? If the seal is complete, the museum may be under the influence of the system again…”
I nodded at Park Yeon-joo’s answer.
I didn’t know if the manager Max would really succeed in sealing the Fragment, but I had no intention of going where his main body was, anyway.
There was no reason to support putting the seal if the monster itself didn’t seem to possess any threat to us. The only sealing we would do was to seal our expedition.
It was the perfect plan—no additional troubles included.
“Anyway, to conclude… At least, it seems that we are completely free from the influence of the Ancient God’s Fragment. Of course… Yes. The continent is also safe. You can rest assured. Right, Dialugia?”
“Yes…”
“…”
“The continent… The continent is…”
“…”
“T-The continent… is safe!”
As Dialugia struggled to conclude this, cheering burst out within the group.
Park Deokgu expressed his joy by hugging the female teams. Seeing their spirits rising up once more, even I felt relieved.
“Of course, it is too early to be happy. The dungeon attack itself has not been completed yet. As I said, shouldn’t we save the isolated survivors?”
“Yes, absolutely!”
“In fact, because I think it may be a little difficult to find isolated people in this large area… I think the party should go to the museum’s administration room.”
At my suggestion, Kim Hyunsung spoke. Since he had more experience than I did, he for sure knew how we could get there.
“If we follow the tentacles of the Fragment, we can find the place where the museum manager is.”
“Yes.”
Though the plan was vague, it was better than having none at all.
‘First, we should follow the tentacles and find Max, the museum manager…’
And with this, we could identify the location of the survivors. With this, I had to consider the possibility of making Max the villain of this whole situation.
I’d appreciate it if he informed me of the location, but he probably didn’t like us anymore because we had screwed him up.
Of course, how he treated us didn’t matter. I bet he had no way of stopping this mess.
Seeing that he didn’t show up right now meant that he couldn’t afford to pay attention to other places while trying to clear things up.
If we were to find the manager’s room—and, by default, him—it was clear that I would be the de facto leader in trying to handle him.
‘Or I can just kill him…’
In fact, I could disguise him as a named monster hidden in this dungeon.
As I mulled this over, Kim Hyunsung continued to lead the way.
At this point, I felt glad that I cared about Hyunsung. As he noticed the path I had opened up, I had to admit his skills were good.
“It should be safe right now, but everyone should still stay alert. Even if the Fragment has entered the rest phase, this dungeon is still dangerous. There may be other programs that protect the museum in the direction of the manager’s room… There is a chance that other monsters affected by the Fragments will also be awakened.”
“…”
“Even if we go to the manager’s room, not everything will be solved. We don’t know anything about the museum, we just took a break, and we haven’t finished our attack yet.”
As I wondered if Hyunsung was being too firm on us, he continued speaking.
“And…”
“…”
“Taking a break is also one of the essential missions during an attack. We will leave in 4 hours. Everyone, please recover as much as you can. I really want no one to die so we can all return to Lindel.”
At his words, all the other members nodded, acutely aware of the potential severity of our situation.
‘Good.’
If it had been I who had spoken this, it would be difficult for them to place their trust in me. I hated to admit it, but Kim Hyunsung’s dashing appearance was a prerequisite to garner this kind of crowd effect.
Even now, Park Yeon-joo, Cho Hyejin, and some Black Swan members had begun to swoon.
‘They’ve really fallen for him, haven’t they?’
Seeing them staring at him with such admiration made me feel perplexed.
Anyway, as Kim Hyunsung said, everyone tried to recuperate as much as they could. Though I had expected to be given a lesser time frame, it appeared that he thought we could still spare some more time. This meant that Hyunsung could make a full recovery in just four hours.
Since I had been suppressing my urge to sleep, I found this fortunate.
‘I think I can sleep…’
Like me, those in desperate need of recovery set up camp, settled in a suitable place, and began to sleep.
When I entered the simple tent, a pretty comfortable space greeted me. My anxiety gradually began to melt.
Of course, Dialugia, who had since been wallowing in her guilt, found it hard to loosen up.
‘Tsk…’
She sat further away, muttering to herself.
“It was for Dialuria…”
“…”
“It was for my dear son. Mother… Grandma, I’m sorry.”
Seeing her like this, the familiar feeling of guilt flared up within me.
“It was for Dialuria… Ugh…”
Whether or not I felt guilty had nothing to do with my exhaustion. However, I soon fell into a deep sleep.
‘Ah, I really am a piece of shit.’
Once again, I was reminded of how trashy my personality was. However…
Sleep was indeed a sweet escape.