Corporal Lee Gongu handed me
[Legion Protective Suit Completed Model No.1].
I took the piece and
activated [Ingredient Appraisal] to check its specs.
[High-Grade Miasma Resistance]
The result...
was pretty astonishing.
“Holy—... High-grade?”
“I’m sorry. For us, this is the limit...”
“Sorry? For what!”
They seemed apologetic that further development wasn’t possible.
But this was genuinely huge.
High-grade meant... clearly
between Intermediate and Advanced.
‘This is exactly the power of a pure Production unit—no split focus into combat—unlike me.’
I’m proud of the buffs my cooking provides,
but they have downsides—needing to be eaten, no stacking,
and so on.
That underground mine is the prime example.
Given how the environment contaminates food with poison, we couldn’t bring much combat rations.
‘These pieces are different.’
Considering advanced traits only unlock past level 30,
they’d made a monster of an item that, with nothing but a suit to wear,
grants you a trait just shy of Advanced.
“To be honest, we thought this was pretty good work. By our original estimates, this alone would let you break through the miasma to the 20-kilometer mark.”
Not anymore.
The miasma’s quality had spiked too hard.
“This one will probably hit its limit sooner than that.”
A film of gloom crossed the Production soldiers’ faces.
“We’re sorry, Sergeant Shin.”
“We really thought, at this pace, we’d craft an item that would guarantee a breakthrough down there. That was our arrogance.”
“Arrogance, my ass. You made this. Have some pride.”
They weren’t arrogant at all.
They’d proved they had the chops.
“But.”
“You know it isn’t that you came up short.”
I
looked down into that bottomless hole and said,
“That underground mine is... impossibly deep. That’s the problem.”
Even thinking it over again was absurd.
No, really—think about it.
Where we’d reached was already 15 kilometers underground.
‘And that’s 15 kilometers as a straight-line measure, not via the outer spiral we rode down!’
Riding the outer passage meant we had to traverse a much longer path.
Since everyone’s a high-level Awakened and the cleared corridors let us move at car speed,
travel time wasn’t the big issue.
Even so, each sortie was a gut-churning long haul.
“What were those Dwarven people even trying to do, digging that deep?”
“Right? Learn to stop at ‘enough.’”
By digging that deep,
they woke something sleeping down there.
‘...Hnh.’
I’d suspected it already,
but yeah—
the cause of this miasma...
‘It has to be that “something” the Dwarven people woke.’
Judging by how the Production troops marveled,
their civilization’s tech was obviously extraordinary.
Something that wiped a civilization like that off the map overnight.
To resolve this miasma,
we’d have to approach that thing too.
‘Can we?’
Normally I wouldn’t have hesitated this much.
Whatever happened, I was confident I could overcome it using my cooking.
That confidence is why, not long ago, I openly picked a fight with that so-called demon.
But this time is different.
‘An environment where using my cooking is brutally hard.’
Unless the world’s “game” pushed a balance patch and massively extended dish durations overnight,
there is no way to cook new dishes down in that miasma-soaked hell.
At best, stuffing some combat rations into a pouch is the limit.
Combat rations whose performance falls far short of a proper dish.
“Haa...”
Part of me wanted to just give up,
but I wanted to crack that place no matter what.
Time to decide.
In times like this,
there’s only one thing to do.
[Shaman: Hm.]
I decided to ping our unit’s Shaman.
‘He’s neck-deep in extracting intel needed for territorial occupation, so I didn’t want to make him spend time on this, but...’
Honestly, this was a target we could’ve dropped if it came to it.
But right now I had the itch to clear it somehow,
so I could go to the Shaman.
Except—
[Shaman: ...I don’t know either.]
[Chef: Huh?]
The Shaman’s reply
was maddeningly vague.
[Chef: “Don’t know”? What’s that supposed to mean. If you’re going to make me solve riddles like last time, just say so. I’m used to it now—I can manage some...]
[Shaman: That’s not it. Did you forget? This power doesn’t trigger just because I want it to.]
[Chef: ...]
Right—there was that.
But
ever since he boosted his power by eating my cooking,
that hadn’t happened.
Whenever I had a question, he’d give me answers, like clockwork.
At least within Gangwon, I figured that much would hold.
[Shaman: Probably... because a Gate is another world.]
When I asked why, Taejun
offered the best answer he had.
[Shaman: The stars I read are the ones hanging over Earth. Not stars of some other world.]
A “dungeon” that terraforms Earth is still, however warped, attached to Earth.
But a Gate is a completely different world.
Even Sergeant Park Taejun, who can read the stars of this universe—
when it comes to a totally different world,
he can’t see what will happen inside that Gate.
‘So in the end, we’ve got nothing.’
Was it time to sink back into deliberation?
Right as the headache set in—
[Shaman: But.]
[Chef: Hm?]
Taejun’s messages continued.
[Shaman: I said it before, right? You need to rack up your achievements—even if you have to steal some of mine.]
[Chef: You did. And I’ve been following that.]
[Shaman: I still don’t know the exact reason why you have to... but there’s exactly one thing I can tell.]
When he told me to pile up achievements—even bluffing it—
I’d assumed
he meant what I’d felt during the ex-contractor purge.
‘Be the pole our people can believe in, in an unstable world.’
But—
[Shaman: The moment you need those achievements hasn’t come yet.]
[Chef: ...!]
[Shaman: But it will, someday.]
According to Sergeant Park Taejun,
that “reason”
hasn’t reached me yet.
[Shaman: This isn’t certain, but...]
His prophecies hit nine times out of ten.
And
if the prophecy hasn’t happened yet—
[Shaman: Whatever you try to do, you won’t die before that happens. That’s what it implies.]
[Chef: ...!]
At least until that prophecy is fulfilled,
no matter what kind of hell I go through,
I won’t die.
[Chef: Holy hell.]
[Shaman: Like I said, it’s not certain. Maybe it’s something that’ll help you after you die and go to the afterlife. Don’t put too much stock in me, Youngjun.]
He didn’t sound fully confident in his own conjecture,
but—
[Chef: No.]
[Shaman: ?]
[Chef: You’re right it isn’t certain. But it’s enough.]
[Shaman: ...Is that so.]
It was only a question of whether I could or couldn’t.
If you ask whether I want to or not—
‘I want to drive this dungeon clear, one way or another.’
Why is [Divine power] pulling me there.
Why are the monsters down there like that.
What is the cause of the miasma.
There was too much I needed to confirm.
My only problem was a lack of confidence about whether it was possible—
‘But that just now filled the tank.’
Even if it isn’t certain,
Taejun’s prophecy that my odds of not dying are high—
that’s enough.
I nodded
and stood.
Compared to the day I first opened that Gate,
it’s true my confidence had taken some dents.
But—
‘As long as I don’t die, whatever!’
No matter how bad it gets,
even if I accomplish nothing but suffering—
‘It’s still worth a try, right?’
My job hasn’t changed.
Down there,
creatures who couldn’t die properly still swarm.
So I’ll
keep burrowing into that mine
and bring them death.
****
“There won’t be monsters up to the farthest point we already reached. Move as fast as possible!”
“Sir, yes sir!”
Decision made,
I drove straight for the depths as fast as I could.
The Protective Suit the Production folks made—
that first “completed model”—was a monster.
“Sergeant Shin, this suit isn’t just miasma resistance...”
“Yeah. As equipment, its performance is about on par with the uniforms we wore before.”
That change came from reading the Dwarven manuals.
Which, flipped around, means—
“The uniforms we wore before are likely to get a huge overhaul too, right?”
“Looks that way. Looking forward to it.”
Anyway—
we reached the deepest point we’d hit so far at speed.
“From here, monsters will probably start appearing.”
“Yes, Sergeant!”
“And this is probably the final push I can make with you at my side.”
“...”
I gave my gear a last check
and told the soldiers,
“Let’s hope this suit gets us to the objective.”
“Yes, Sergeant!”
And then—
the assault resumed.
“Grrk— what is that machine!”
“Careful! Looks like there are multiple types of excavation restraints!”
We fought several times.
Fights more dangerous than anything so far.
Naturally, there were several crisis moments.
Some had their suits torn and had to evac topside at once.
Even so,
the assault progressed smoothly.
Right—
my people are strong enough.
With their ability, they could manage even the slave monsters waiting in the deepest zones.
The problem was—
No matter how strong they are—
“Khf.”
“Corporal Jeon Gwangil!”
In the end,
there’s inevitably a line where the miasma stops you.
“Heh. So this is miasma. Quite a bitter taste.”
“Only you would describe that as ‘bitter,’ man.”
Corporal Jeon Gwangil, invaded by the miasma, spoke like nothing was wrong.
I bantered back lightly,
but inside, bit by bit, I was burning too.
I pulled out something like a pocket watch.
Back when we learned the mine runs straight down, the engineers handed this over.
[Legion Depth Gauge (Intermediate Engineer’s Craft)]
A depth gauge.
A device that tells you how deep you’ve gone.
Since it’s an Awakened-made item, it doesn’t have the depth ceiling of a normal gauge—that’s the charm.
And
the number on its face read—
[18 km]
‘Tch.’
From where we’d previously reached,
we’d advanced only three kilometers.
Judging by Ingredient Appraisal, this suit’s performance was a massive jump even compared to Mark 8.
And still only this much.
The deeper we go, the more savagely the miasma’s potency ramps up—beyond imagination.
“At this point, we’ve done well, Sergeant.”
Seeing me sink into thought,
the assault troopers came up to talk.
“Even just the massive boost in Production’s capability is huge. Upgrading the suits is the prime example.”
“Agreed. If soldiers wearing these extract Mana Stones... it’ll take time, but the fill rate for Vimana’s mana will climb.”
They were
right.
We could now obtain Mana Stones.
We’d snagged several manuals from a magi-tech civilization.
‘If Minjae wakes up from his crash, he might come up with something else too.’
But even so—
‘Mana isn’t the point right now.’
The reason I want to clear this Gate
isn’t what they’re talking about.
‘It’s a purely personal greed.’
[Divine power: 8]
A strong conviction kept telling me—
I have to clear this place.
“Yeah. You’re right.”
“Sergeant Shin?”
“About face, everyone. We’re all heading back topside.”
“...Yes, Sergeant!”
At my words—
maybe they’d been worried I’d insist on keeping the push going—
their faces brightened a touch as they turned their backs.
“Except.”
And then—
the instant the soldiers turned their backs...
“Leave me out of that.”
“Sir?”
I
took one step past the line
where Gwangil had been invaded by the miasma.
“...Are you insane!”
“Eun-gong! Are you trying to get yourself killed!?”
The startled troops moved to rush me, but—
Hssssss...
“Kh.”
“The miasma...!”
Even if the suit dulled the pain to an extent,
that colossal density kept them from coming any closer.
Unlike them,
I took no damage from the miasma.
Even if the suit’s defense was pierced,
‘the miasma itself is weakened enough.’
And—
if the miasma is weakened by the suit,
[Nepenthes that Melts Souls]
this flower from a friend—
there’s no way it’s stronger than Nepenthes’ poison.
“...We know you’re freer from this miasma, Eun-gong!”
The soldiers
knew I was relatively free of the miasma.
Even so, they had other reasons to stop me going solo.
I know.
“The monsters in there... aren’t something you can handle alone!”
As Seohwan said,
we’d succeeded in digging pretty deep—
but still, down below—
—Kreeeeh...
—Gruruk...
We could hear the strong ones.
Powerful monsters wearing [excavation restraints] or the like.
Culling them solo without the assault team?
I’m not a combat class built for soloing.
If I [N O V E L I G H T] could do that, would I be a support?
“Seo Suhyeok.”
But—
“Yes, Corporal Seo Suhyeok.”
“That ‘I can see something’ you mentioned—still seeing it?”
“...”
At my question,
Corporal Seo Suhyeok widened his eyes and peered into the depths.
“Yes. It’s still too dark to make out what it is, but it’s definitely clearer than last time.”
“Good. That’s enough.”
“...Haa. I know we can’t stop you, but you really don’t get tired of this, do you.”
According to Suhyeok, either way,
we were basically at the objective.
“You guys wait up top.”
“What are you—!”
“We’re almost there.”
I smirked,
slipped my body into the sea of miasma,
and said to the soldiers,
“I’ll be right back.”
There wasn’t much left to the objective.
The underground mine assault’s—
final phase.
‘Quitting here?’
What a waste.
