5.
The Fifth Labyrinth City was a nightmare for the User Management Team.
Unlike other regions, this one had a notoriously high mortality rate.
For most players, it was where they experienced death for the first time.
Even Assistant Manager Lee Won-sang had secretly looked forward to it.
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Seong had insane stats, abilities, and skills—
but even so...
"If he lets his guard down, maybe he’ll finally die?"
At some point, he had hoped for it.
But now—
— "Wow. He’s really good at this."
— "..."
Lee Won-sang barely resisted the urge to nod at Junior Associate Oh Jin-hyuk’s comment.
As much as he hated to admit it—
Seong was really good at this.
Right now, he was tearing through Homunculi and Chimeras like CGI from a high-budget movie.
It was ridiculous.
"How the hell does he fight like that?"
At this point,
even Lee Won-sang no longer cared how Seong had found the dungeon.
It was already discovered—
what was the point in questioning it?
Dwelling on it would just make him lose more hair.
"Forget it. It’s just not worth it."
With a resigned sigh,
he turned back to analyzing The Mad Alchemist’s Laboratory.
"Hmm."
Nothing stood out.
Even the dungeon rewards weren’t particularly useful to Seong.
"Wait, what?"
That was... unexpected.
Maybe he missed something?
Just to be sure,
he double-checked the rewards.
Then he noticed it.
— "Huh? This dungeon has a secret passage?"
— "Oh... yeah?"
— "Come on, there’s no way he finds that, right?"
Lee wanted to agree with Oh Jin-hyuk.
But something stopped him.
"Hasn’t he already found secret dungeons with even less information?"
At this point, he had no reason to doubt it.
Still, for the first time in a while,
Lee grinned.
— "Wait, these are the only rewards?"
— "Yeah."
— "Oh? Even if he finds the hidden passage, it won’t be worth it?"
— "Heh. That’s right."
For once, things weren’t in Seong’s favor.
And both Lee and Oh Jin-hyuk were enjoying it.
The rewards were practically useless for someone like Seong.
Even the Chimeras—
which could have been useful as undead minions—
weren’t worth much.
The biggest reward of this dungeon?
The ‘Homunculus Creation’ skill.
A Legendary-tier skill, sure.
But completely useless for Seong.
— "Even if he gets it, what’s he gonna do with it?"
— "Exactly. Crafting skills have ridiculous requirements."
Seong had never shown any interest in crafting.
Hell, he didn’t even bother using most of the materials he collected.
So Lee and Oh Jin-hyuk were sure of one thing—
"This is finally a dungeon where Seong won’t benefit."
For once, they could relax.
Then, suddenly—
— "Oh? But, Senior..."
— "...What?"
Lee felt a sinking sense of dread.
Why was Oh Jin-hyuk bringing something up now?
"What is it this time?"
— "Would ‘Transcendent Death’ work on a Homunculus?"
— "Huh?"
Transcendent Death was a skill that removed the physical limitations of his undead.
But Homunculi weren’t undead.
They were artificial life forms.
So, strictly speaking...
"No, it wouldn’t work."
But what if Seong created a Homunculus...
and then turned it into an undead?
Then—
It would work.
Lee’s heart dropped.
— "Uh... no, it shouldn’t?"
— "Ah, okay! That’s a relief."
— "Yeah. Even if it did, Homunculi have low intelligence. No matter how strong they are, they’d still be worse than a proper summon. They basically run on simple AI."
— "Ahh. So unless he can somehow give them souls or something, there’s no issue?"
— "Hahaha, exactly. Like that’s even possible."
So why...
did Lee feel so uneasy?
He tried to ignore it.
He triple-checked everything.
His conclusion was correct.
Seong could turn a Homunculus into an undead, and Transcendent Death would work on it.
But...
Homunculi had no intelligence.
So even if he somehow created a Mythic-tier Homunculus,
it would still be worse than a proper high-tier summon.
There was no way even Seong could get around that.
And yet—
"Why do I feel like I’m going to regret this?"
Lee bit his lip.
Even as he forced himself to look away from the screen,
he kept sneaking glances back at it.
As if begging fate not to prove him wrong.
6.
The Chimeras came at him from all directions.
Seong dodged effortlessly, weaving through them like a ghost.
Whenever he attacked,
his minions followed up,
finishing off the weakened Chimeras.
Bit by bit,
the horde of fifty began to thin out.
Eventually,
the entire room was cleared.
Even after all that fighting,
Seong wasn’t even out of breath.
"Not bad for a warm-up."
Looking around—
"Yeah... this place is a mess."
The entire laboratory was in shambles.
It was so chaotic that it was impossible to tell what was what.
"Nothing useful left here."
Deciding there was nothing worth taking,
he moved on to the next room.
Since Melisia specialized in Chimera and Homunculus research,
her laboratory was far larger than a typical alchemist’s.
As he continued clearing out rooms,
more Chimeras and Homunculi appeared—
but none of them lasted long.
[You have gained EXP.]
[Level Up!]
Seong shook his head as he finally leveled up.
Despite the bonus experience from the Hidden Dungeon,
he had only now gained one level.
"This is getting ridiculous."
He checked the next room—
but nothing valuable stood out.
Even though the drop rate had increased,
all he got were crafting materials.
Any production-based player would have gone crazy over them.
But to Seong?
They were useless.
"At least for now."
Right now, he had something more important in mind.
And it hadn’t dropped yet.
If he didn’t get it...
Should he just buy it?
As he was debating,
a system message popped up—
[Title ‘Treasure Explorer’ activates.]
[A hidden door has been discovered!]
"Huh?"
Seong raised an eyebrow at the notification.
Then, he saw it—
A section of the wall where he had defeated the final boss was glowing white.
It was shaped like a door.
A secret passage.
"So it was here."
Something had been bothering him.
"Where’s Melisia’s private quarters?"
They hadn’t shown up anywhere in the dungeon.
But now,
he had found them.
"Maybe what I’m looking for is in there."
With renewed hope,
he stepped toward the glowing door.
The moment he stood in front of it—
[A hidden passage has been unlocked.]
With a deep rumble,
a heavy stone door began to slide open.
— "Oh-ho. A personal chamber?"
— "I-It looks like it."
— "Hmm... no Chimeras got in here."
Unlike the rest of the dungeon,
this room was clean and well-organized.
It looked like a private study.
As Seong and his minions stepped inside,
another system message appeared—
[You have entered the Hidden Room: ‘The Mad Alchemist’s Private Quarters.’]
[This area contains no monsters.]
[You have obtained: ‘The Mad Alchemist’s Research Notes.’]
[You may select ONE item from this room.]
"There it is!"
Seong immediately searched the bookshelves.
He had Melisia’s memories,
so he knew where it should be.
Even so,
it took a bit of searching—
but eventually,
he found it.
A thick book.
One that looked exactly like a Skill Book.
As soon as he grabbed it,
a new message popped up—
[You have obtained the Legendary Skill Book: ‘Melisia’s Homunculus Alchemy.’]
"Found it!"
To most players,
this skill would seem pointless.
Even Seong should have had no reason to want it.
“Homunculi? Aren’t they useless?”
He had fought them firsthand—
and they were terrible.
Their bodies were incredibly durable and well-crafted.
But their combat instincts?
Absolute trash.
Even Melisia had admitted it.
She had tried every possible way to fix their lack of intelligence,
but failed.
"That’s why she wanted to use the Dragon Heart Fragment."
Her goal had been to create the ultimate Homunculus.
But in the end,
she had been killed by Lint before she could finish it.
Even so,
the key issue remained—
Homunculi weren’t good fighters.
But for Seong?
"That’s not what I need them for."
Homunculi weren’t just artificial bodies.
They were empty vessels.
And now?
"I can finally give my undead their own bodies."
Using Homunculus bodies,
he could turn them into undead,
and then enhance them with Transcendent Death.
The synergy was insane.
It was exactly what he needed.
Of course,
there was one problem—
"Making a Homunculus isn’t easy."
But for Seong?
"I already have Melisia’s memories."
He knew how to do it.
Perfectly.
Now, the real question was—
"Who do I bring back first?"
The answer was obvious.
"Silvanor, the Elf Swordsman."
But as soon as he thought that—
he felt something tap his cheek.
Twice.
A soft touch,
but definitely there.
"...?"
Seong turned his head—
and saw her.
A girl with flowing crimson hair.
A mischievous smile on her lips.
Her golden eyes gleaming playfully.
— "I think I should be first."
Seong blinked.
— "Helena?"
Helena grinned, sitting comfortably on his shoulder.