Chapter 154: This way!
Several minutes later...
The last Corrupted Goblin fell.
Thud.
Silence returned to the cave.
Only heavy breathing remained.
Leo collapsed onto the ground.
"Haa..."
"Haa..."
"...That hurt."
His entire body ached.
His clothes were torn.
His hair was a mess.
But...
The smile on his face couldn’t have been wider.
Off to the side, Kaizen glanced at his own status.
[Rank: E+]
[Level Points: 30/40]
His smile immediately disappeared.
"..."
"...Only thirty?"
He looked through the recent notifications.
Then...
His face darkened.
"...Wait."
"I was getting ten points before."
"Now I’m getting five?"
He read it again.
No mistake.
The rewards had been cut in half.
Kaizen’s eye twitched.
"...You stingy bastard."
He looked up at the cave ceiling.
"Whoever designed this System..."
"I hope both sides of your pillow stay warm forever."
No response.
Kaizen clicked his tongue.
"...Cheap."
Putting away his status screen, he walked over to Leo.
He was the first to extend a hand.
"Congratulations, buddy."
"You broke through."
Leo looked up.
Still breathing heavily.
A proud grin slowly spread across his face.
"Heh..."
"Thanks."
He grabbed Kaizen’s hand and pulled himself to his feet.
The others soon gathered around.
Hina smiled faintly.
"Congratulations."
"You’ve gotten much stronger."
Sera nodded.
"Yeah."
"That breakthrough probably saved us."
Even Kaito gave a small nod.
"...Well done."
Leo scratched the back of his head.
"Hehe..."
"It wasn’t that big of a deal."
Kaizen looked at the crater behind him.
Half the cave wall had collapsed.
"...Sure."
"Just a tiny breakthrough."
Hina hugged herself.
A chill ran down her spine as she looked deeper into the darkness.
"...If goblins at the entrance were already this troublesome..."
She swallowed.
"...what exactly is waiting deeper inside?"
Nobody answered.
Because...
They were all wondering the same thing.
The cave suddenly felt much colder.
Sera quietly nodded.
"...Let’s stay alert."
Then—
Leo suddenly straightened his back.
His eyes sparkled.
"No need to worry."
Everyone looked at him.
"As long as I’m here..."
He clenched his newly empowered fist.
"...nothing will happen."
His gaze, however...
Was fixed entirely on Sera.
Like there wasn’t another person in the cave.
Sera blinked.
Then...
A small smile appeared.
’...A real man should be like this.’
Reliable.
Protective.
Willing to stand in front of danger.
Her thoughts drifted for just a second.
’Unlike a certain shameless opportunist...’
She instinctively glanced behind her.
Only to see...
Kaizen.
Standing there.
Quietly rubbing his hands together.
Wearing the kind of grin that should legally require supervision.
"..."
"..."
Their eyes met.
Kaizen’s grin somehow became even wider.
Sera’s heartbeat skipped.
She immediately took one quick step away and folded her arms defensively.
"...H-Heok!"
Leo instantly turned around.
"Sera-chan?"
"What happened?"
Sera forced an awkward smile.
"N-Nothing."
"I..."
"...Thought I saw a bat."
Everyone instinctively looked up.
Nothing.
Not even a mosquito.
Kaizen innocently whistled.
Looking anywhere except Sera.
"..."
Sera narrowed her eyes.
’This trash...’
’He’s definitely plotting something.’
She couldn’t prove it.
But every instinct she had screamed that this man was dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Leo nodded seriously.
"If there’s a bat..."
"I’ll protect you."
Kaizen couldn’t help himself.
"...Brave."
Leo puffed out his chest.
"It’s what a man should do."
Kaizen slowly looked around the pitch-black cave.
"..."
"...Pretty sure the bat’s the one that needs protection from whatever’s deeper in here."
Nobody laughed.
The silence lasted exactly three seconds.
Then Kaito pointed deeper into the tunnel.
"...Should we continue?"
Everyone nodded.
No more jokes.
No more resting.
The real dungeon...
Had only just begun.
...
The party resumed their march.
This time...
Nobody volunteered to walk in front.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Five people silently looked at each other.
Leo coughed.
"As the strongest here now..."
"I’ll take point."
He stepped forward before anyone could object.
His chest puffed out another two centimeters.
Kaito quietly moved beside him.
"I’ll provide light."
A small flame bloomed above his palm once more.
Compared to before...
The flame was noticeably brighter.
The breakthrough wasn’t Leo’s alone.
Everyone had gained experience from the fight.
Even if not a full rank.
The atmosphere...
Had changed.
Sera walked behind the two frontliners.
Hina stayed beside her.
Kaizen naturally occupied the safest position.
The very back.
"..."
"...What?"
Kaizen looked at the strange gazes directed toward him.
"I’m protecting the rear."
Leo’s eyelid twitched.
"You mean hiding."
"I prefer the word surviving."
"..."
"...Fair enough."
Nobody could actually argue with that logic.
However...
The moment the phrase "protecting the rear" left Kaizen’s trash-filled mouth.
A violent, arctic chill instantly shot down both Hina’s and Sera’s spines.
Their eyes went wide in synchronized horror.
Snap!
Snap!
In absolute, split-second, high-tier athletic harmony.
Both girls violently slapped their own hands over their backsides.
Tightly covering their exposed glutes in total lockdown mode.
Sera glared back at him, her face flushing crimson as she took three fast paces forward.
’Not a chance, you lawless pervert!’
Her brain screamed in total panic.
’You are NOT getting anywhere near my rear again today!’
Hina’s glowing Ghost Eyes narrowed into two razor-sharp slits, her hands firmly guarding her own skirt.
’He said "rear" with way too much experience...’
Hina thought, her teeth grinding together so hard they nearly sparked.
’If that trash tries to measure my "elasticity metrics" back here, I’m blowing up the entire cave!’
The cave narrowed as they advanced.
The walls became smoother.
Less natural.
Almost...
Artificial.
Hina ran her fingers along the stone.
"...These weren’t made by monsters."
"They’re carved."
Kaito nodded.
"Someone lived here."
Kaizen looked around.
Ancient pillars.
Broken statues.
Cracked murals.
"This wasn’t just a dungeon."
"It used to be a temple."
The orange glow from Kaito’s flame swept across one of the walls.
A faded mural appeared.
Rows of monks sat cross-legged.
Peaceful.
Calm.
Praying toward a massive figure whose face had long since crumbled away.
Sera frowned.
"...Creepy."
Leo wasn’t impressed.
"They’re dead."
"They can’t do anything."
The moment those words left his mouth...
Crack.
Everyone froze.
"..."
"...Did anyone else hear that?"
Crack.
It came again.
This time...
From above.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
Everyone lifted their heads.
The ceiling was covered in statues.
Hundreds of them.
Small monk statues.
Each one sitting peacefully with folded hands.
"..."
Leo blinked.
"I don’t remember those being there."
"They weren’t," Hina answered quietly.
A bead of sweat rolled down her cheek.
Kaizen’s Ghost Eyes activated instantly.
His pupils narrowed.
"...They’re not statues."
The words had barely left his mouth—
Click.
One tiny stone head...
Turned.
Then another.
And another.
The sound echoed throughout the tunnel.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Hundreds of stone necks rotated in perfect sync.
Every pair of hollow eyes...
Locked onto the party.
Silence.
Complete silence.
Then Kaizen slowly raised a finger.
"..."
"I have..."
He paused dramatically.
"...an incredible idea."
Leo groaned.
"...Why do I suddenly feel like I won’t like it?"
Kaizen smiled.
"We run."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Nobody argued.
"RUN!"
Five people spun around at the exact same time.
The peaceful temple instantly erupted into chaos as hundreds of stone monks dropped from the ceiling behind them.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Leo screamed while sprinting.
"I THOUGHT THEY WERE DECORATIONS!"
Kaizen didn’t even look back.
"THEY WERE!"
"THEY JUST CHOSE A NEW CAREER!"
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The stone monks chased them with terrifying, ungodly speed.
These weren’t ordinary, dusty museum statues.
They were jacked, bald, stone ascetics built like absolute brick shithouses.
And they were sprinting down the corridor like Olympic athletes high on pre-workout.
"WHY ARE THEY SO FAST?!"
Leo screamed at the top of his lungs, his legs blurring as he pushed past his limits.
"Weren’t they just sitting there meditating a second ago?!"
"Enlightenment makes you cardio-efficient!"
Kaizen shouted back, not looking back once as a massive stone fist punched a crater into the wall right where his head had been a microsecond earlier.
[Time Remaining: 43 Minutes, 12 Seconds.]
Kaizen’s soul briefly detached from his physical body and hovered above him.
’Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.’
If he didn’t trigger or complete this quest right now, he was going to be shopping for thigh-high striped socks on Amazon by midnight.
Ahead of them, the cavern tunnel suddenly split.
Left.
Right.
And a narrow, dead-dark side corridor choked in thick, spooky cobwebs.
"Which way?!"
Hina yelled, her voice cracking as she narrowly dodged a flying stone knee.
"Left!" Leo pointed heroically.
"Right!" Kaito muttered from the shadows.
Kaizen didn’t hesitate for a fraction of a second. His eyes locked onto the dark, hidden side alley.
’Absolute perfection.’
"Sera-chan! Look out, heavy attack coming from your blind spot!"
Kaizen bellowed with Oscar-winning, life-or-death acting.
"Wha—?!"
Before Sera could even turn her head, Kaizen lunged sideways with the force of a desperate man staring down the barrel of a femboy transformation.
He wrapped his arms around her waist.
And violently tackled her straight off the main path, plunging both of them deep into the dark, cramped side corridor.
CRASH!
Leo, Hina, and Kaito bolted right past the opening, screaming bloody murder down the main tunnel as an entire army of stone monks trampled right after them, their heavy footsteps shaking the dust from the ceiling.
Inside the pitch-black, hidden side alley...
Absolute silence dropped.
Except for the sound of heavy, panicked breathing.
And Sera’s absolute, unadulterated fury.
"LET. GO. OF. ME. YOU. LUNATIC!"
Kaizen was face-down.
Directly.
Deeply.
Mercilessly buried right into the soft, trembling, high-density valley of Sera’s sports-bra-clad bosom.
The impact had slammed them both onto the cold stone floor, with Kaizen heavily pinning her down from above.
His nose was squished against the warm, cleavage-scented fabric of her top, his mouth literally muffled against her firm chest.
"Mmmph—! Mm-mmph!"
Kaizen made muffled, struggling noises, but his head didn’t move back an inch.
In fact, he instinctively breathed in a lungful of her sweat-and-perfume-scented heat.
’Smooth... soft... incredibly high-tier chest density...’