The Distortion Dungeon Awakens
Last night, the Distortion Dungeon had revealed itself, leaving everyone in a frenzy.
Wilhelmina did not miss her chance.
Her words rang out louder than anyone else could hear, deliberately so.
“I’ve never seen anything so terrifying! Once the Eye of Exploration scans the inside, it’ll be even clearer—just imagine how many horrifying things are lurking there! How can we possibly enter a place like that with such a ragtag bunch of people?”
Reina, one of the ragtag members, stared at Wilhelmina with wide, incredulous eyes.
But Wilhelmina paid her no mind and kept shouting at the top of her lungs.
“This is a matter of life and death, so everyone needs to think clearly. If we get carried away by a whim and run around aimlessly, what’s left for us?”
Her words struck the purifying knights even harder than before, echoing through their fear.
“I might just go back to the princess.”
“But even if we leave now, she probably won’t take us back.”
Wilhelmina quickly jumped into their conversation.
“Is the princess really so petty? Besides, she even said that if anyone looks afraid of this awful sight, they should be brought along.”
The words made the purifying knights’ eyes widen.
Then, one by one, they slipped away, heading toward the princess.
If only that had been the end of it.
But Wilhelmina hurled an unforgivable insult straight at Reina.
“Reina, right? I heard you paired up with a knight whose purification power is far weaker than his. If you go see the princess, you’ll get something much better than your current partner… Argh! Hey! Let go! Let go!”
Before Wilhelmina could finish speaking, Reina lunged forward and grabbed her by the hair.
Reina, who usually smiled brightly and acted so sweetly.
But there was one thing she never let anyone get away with: insulting her partner, Felix.
“Reina, stop it!”
“Let go! I’ll tear out every strand of your hair! Who do you think you are to insult Felix!”
Finally, the other purifying knights and maids rushed in to separate them.
Naturally, a clump of Wilhelmina’s brown hair lay scattered on the ground where she had been yanked out.
By the time they returned to the calming room, Reina’s eyes had changed.
“That woman… I won’t forgive her. The princess won’t be spared either…”
Then, suddenly, a burning fighting spirit exploded inside her, turning the situation upside down.
Irene looked at Wilhelmina with a smirk.
“There’s still some hair left, huh?”
“You—!”
Wilhelmina, who had been in pain from the hair yanked out yesterday, snapped and shouted.
“Let’s see how long you can keep that arrogant act! Or are you too scared to beg for your life in the dungeon?”
After that, Wilhelmina made some cutting remarks that just skirted the fortress laws, then stepped outside.
The central square of the fortress was already bustling with those who had arrived early.
‘Yesterday they were all so shaken…’
Irene stared at the paper in her hands.
This morning, the Eye of Exploration had scanned the inside of the dungeon and reported the results.
The Distortion Dungeon’s difficulty was ranked as mid-to-high grade.
It was far too vast and filled with varied monsters to be called just mid-grade, yet it wasn’t strong enough to be called high-grade.
Of course, that didn’t mean it was safe.
No matter how weak the monsters were, the more there were, the more dangerous they became than a single strong one.
Luckily, the Distortion Dungeon hadn’t changed much from what Irene remembered.
But it wasn’t exactly the same either.
“Exploration prohibited in certain areas. Exercise extreme caution for safety…”
In short, it basically meant they should avoid approaching those spots as much as possible.
‘It’s an unstable dungeon anyway, so even if we don’t kill every monster, they’ll disappear on their own.’
Normally, it would have been the perfect time to scout, but with the princess involved, just glancing around wasn’t an option.
“We’re leaving!”
Cecilia’s clear voice rang out across the square, and the horses began to stamp the ground and gallop forward.
All members of her group mounted the horses she had provided and headed toward the Distortion Dungeon.
Those who couldn’t ride rode in the grand carriages reserved for royalty and left the square.
Of course, the princess had done it on purpose.
‘They never treated us like this before.’
The princess would probably keep this up until Irene’s group was completely destroyed.
* * *
Four hours later, the entire group reached the entrance of the assigned dungeon, including Irene.
There, standing at the entrance, was Michael, who had left at dawn.
“Michael!”
The moment she saw him, Irene waved and ran over.
“Please be careful. There are many wet leaves, so it’s slippery.”
As she stepped forward, her body swayed with every move, exactly as he had warned.
Worried it looked dangerous, Michael reached out quickly and pulled her close to his side.
“Are you feeling all right?”
“There’s some muscle soreness, but it’s not serious.”
As she spoke, Irene deliberately turned her shoulders.
She had no idea how many times she had swung her neck in the past week.
The two hours she spent with him weren’t even the full extent of her training.
Even after returning to the lodging, she had kept practicing alone in front of the mirror.
‘I can’t slack off.’
It would be a huge help, yet she hadn’t wanted to ignore Michael’s sincerity in teaching her.
Besides, there was no harm in learning, and more than anything, she didn’t want to disappoint him.
The first two days, her entire body ached so badly from just moving that she could barely hold back screams.
But what was truly horrifying was something else.
“Can I touch you for a moment?”
It was a polite request, and she had thought he was just poking a few spots to check for damage.
But then—
“Uaaaaaaaah!”
His large hands mercilessly kneaded her neck, shoulders, and arms.
The nearby priests were so startled they rushed over.
They were helpless with embarrassment and shock at Michael daring to lay hands on a member of the opposite sex.
But Michael spoke confidently.
“I’ve been training to improve survival chances in the dungeon, but with no movement on their side, my entire body is in severe pain. If I leave it like this, my training ahead will suffer…”
While explaining, he spoke names of muscles she had never heard of and described in detail why each one needed to be loosened.
Honestly, Irene and the priests had just listened in silence back then, none the wiser.
They thought, ‘If Michael says so, then that’s that.’
The pain had been so bad she thought her muscles were tearing apart when receiving the treatment, but once he finished, the ache eased and her movements became much lighter.
Before she knew it, after training ended, Irene had naturally leaned her body against him.
“I’m glad you’re all right. How are the others?”
“Everyone seems fine physically…”
“Their numbers have decreased a lot.”
“Yes. That’s the problem.”
Irene sighed and turned around.
Compared to the first report she gave the alliance staff, the number of pairs participating in this raid had been cut in half.
“Still, while we were scouting the area, we ran into the other raid group’s people. They even made a proposal.”
Hearing that, Irene felt even guiltier.
She had dragged Michael into this childish rivalry.
The moment Irene’s head lowered out of habit, he spoke.
“You don’t need to apologize. I was actually grateful for their proposal, because it made me more serious about this raid.”
“Really? What proposal?”
Instead of answering, he gave a faint smile and headed toward the alliance staff waiting at the entrance.
Irene, who hadn’t received an answer, called out to the people behind her.
By now they had gathered quite a few members, but many who had first reported to the princess had since returned, so only about fifteen pairs remained here.
‘Including me and Michael, that’s thirty-two.’
Irene looked at the paper in her hands.
This entrance was where their group would enter, while the other three entrances were all taken by the princess’s group.
The princess’s raid consisted of over three hundred people.
‘Ten to one. Still, our side isn’t giving up.’
Irene recalled the maximum reward box information from her memories as much as she could.
In the end, the winner of this childish fight would be whoever got the most rewards from the box.
‘I have to pick only the valuable things and take them.’
Irene prayed that the location of the reward box hadn’t changed.
No matter what, today they had to win.