CHAPTER THREE !
─── choice.

THE THREE PERSON WHO IS WALKING while having a good conversation. They suddenly stopped because a sudden commotion arose at the front of the party. "We're here!"

"It's the boss's lair!"

Jinwoo, Hyeon and Joohee turned toward the hubbub.

Two giant doors blocked their path. The other hunters were milling around in front of it.

"Why are there doors at the back of a cave?"

"Have you ever seen a lair with doors?"

"This is a first......"

"Is this going to be......dangerous?"

The hunters were muttering among themselves. Their apprehension was clear. They were risking their lives, so they had to be careful. At the same time, they wouldn't be able to get the job done if they were too cautious.

Song assessed that the latter was the bigger concern. "Who wants to go back empty-handed?"

He put his hand on a door. "If you do, then be my guest. I'm going in, though, even if it's alone."

Song was a C-rank hunter with ten years of experience. If he hadn't been getting on in years, with his level of power, he could've worked for a major guild. The confidence exuding from such a figure put the others more at ease.

"Now that I think about it..."

Some of the hunters recalled certain rumors they'd heard about double dungeons.

"Apparently, double dungeons have amazing treasures."

"I heard that a midsize guild got huge in one fell swoop after they found a double dungeon."

"All the beasts in the same dungeon have a similar power level no matter where they are, so it shouldn't be hard to beat the ones in there......"

What if the rumors of amazing treasure were true and the magic beasts waiting inside were only D or E rank like the ones the party's dealt with earlier?

'Can't let the old geezer take all the treasure. No way in hell.'

'Postnatal care for the wife, tuition fees for our elder kid, and the rent's increasing soon, too......'

They were all on the same page.

Jinwoo also strengthened his resolve. 'I can't go home with only one E- rank essence stone. I have to get at least a D-rank beast or even just another E-rank one.'

It didn't have to be a magic beast, either.

'Or if there's a treasure of some kind......'

It was customary to equally divide treasure or rare items found in a dungeon among all party members. This was different from battling magic beasts, because with magic beasts, they could harvest essence stones from only the ones they defeated themselves.

'I might be able to take it easy for a while if things go well.' He gulped.

Joohee and Hyeon caught sight of the determination on Jinwoo's face. Hyeon clenched his fist and his face turned into worry. What if something happened to him and Jinwoo?

"Is that the expression of someone who says hunting is just a hobby?" Joohee said, making Jinwoo shrug.

"Who risks their life to make money these days? You only do that as a hobby."

"What......?" Right as Joohee and Hyeon gave Jinwoo an incredulous look, Song started pushing the doors, and they swung back.

KRRRRRK!

They opened easily, even with a light shove, like he'd triggered some sort of mechanism.

THUD—!

The open doors revealed a spacious interior. The hunters rushed in.

"We should go." Not wanting to fall behind, Jinwoo gently grabbed Hyeon by the wrist and pulled him along.

"Oh......!" he followed him, his face flushed. Hyeon looked at Joohee who is following them who is giving him a smirk, making Hyeon's face reder.

TORCHES THAT LINED THE WALLS flared to life as the party entered the lair.

Fwshhh!

They illuminated the entire room. "What? Who lit the torches?"

"I've never seen a dungeon like this."

"Something's......different."

They surveyed their surroundings.

The room was reminiscent of an ancient temple. It brought to mind an old, damp sanctuary hidden underground. Moss grow between cracks in the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling.

Some of the hunters shrank back and shivered. "Why'd I just get the chills?"

"Doesn't it feel like someone's watching us?"

A few of the stronger hunters broke off from their more frightened colleagues to explore deeper inside the room.

"Tsk! Stop talking nonsense."

"Let's finish this and get out of here."

The lair was unbelievably huge. The ceiling curved to make an enormous dome-shaped enclosure. It was as big as several Seoul Olympic Stadiums combined, or possibly even larger than that.

Despite the size, the space also felt confining. The reason why soon became obvious. "Is......that......?"

"N-no way. That can't be the boss."

At the far side of the room sat a statue of an unimaginable size on a throne even bigger than it.

That is, it looked like a statue of a god! "Oh, hell no."

"Whoa!"

Exclamations could be heard from everyone.

An image of the Statue of Liberty popped into Jinwoo's head. Would the Statue of Liberty be around the same size if she were seated on the same throne? Even though Lady Liberty was modeled after a female figure and this looked to be modeled after a male, the sheer size of this stone monolith brought the Statue of Liberty to mind.

'This one might actually be bigger......'

The hunters swallowed nervously as they stood before the graven image's feet. They were all fearful of the possibility that this might be the boss.

"......"

However, the statue didn't move. There was a moment of huge relief.

"Phew..." Song also breathed a sigh. "Come on—let's split up."

Now much more relaxed, the group scattered and started searching the area.

"I don't see anything that could be considered a beast."

"Right?"

"Never mind a beast, I don't even see a single bug."

Despite its huge scale, the room had a simple layout. Countless torches hung on the walls, and in front of them, various stone sentries slightly taller than the average human lined the perimeter.

"These are beautiful."

"They look like art pieces."

Each statue held a different object. Some had weapons while the others had books, musical instruments, and even torches.

"They're like......"

Song finished Kim's sentence. "They're like statues you'd find in a temple."

He then noticed something beneath his feet. "Hmm, is this......a divination circle?"

There, in the center of the temple, was a divination circle, the likes of which he'd never seen before. Just then...

"Uh, Mr. Song! There's something written here. Could you take a look at this, sir?" One of the hunters had found a unique specimen in a corner of the room.

Song looked up from the divination circle and headed over. The other hunters also gathered around the statue of interest.

This particular sculpture was the only one with wings and holding a slate. Everyone focused on the characters chiseled on the slate itself.

After a close inspection, Song muttered, "It's a runic inscription."

Runes... Such writings didn't exist anywhere on Earth and could be found solely in dungeons, so only hunters awoken with magic powers could understand them.

Song read the first sentence aloud.

"The commandments of the Cartenon Temple."

Jinwoo was nervously listening to Song when someone suddenly grabbed his arm.

He looked behind him to see Joohee standing there, the blood drained from her cheeks. He was shocked at how ashen-faced she looked.

"What's the matter? Are you feeling sick?" Hyeon asked her, Jinwoo was also concerned about Joohee like Hyeon.

"O......over there."

The two boys turned to look in the direction she was pointing. It was a giant statue. Joohee was pointing right at its face. Jinwoo cocked his head in confusion. The statue looked exactly the same as before.

"......?"

Joohee couldn't help stuttering. "I-its eyes...... It just looked this way."

"What?" No matter how many times Jinwoo stared back at the statue, he couldn't detect any changes.

"Ummm......you're probably just seeing things."

"Jinwoo is right Joohee, I have medecine inside my bag. Do you want one?"

Whether or not she registered their words, Joohee kept her head bowed and gripped Jinwoo arm tightly, trembling with fear.

'Wait.'

Suddenly, Jinwoo was also filled with dread. It was strangely quiet.

'Why can't I hear......?' He realized that, at some point, he could no longer hear the crackling of the torches.

"First." Song had continued reading the slate throughout all this.

"Thou shall worship God. Second, thou shall praise God. Third, thou shall prove thy faith. Those who fail to obey these commandments shall not be spared."

Right at that moment...

SLAM!

Everyone startled at the sudden noise. "Wh-what?"

"What was that sound?"

Jinwoo was the first to realize what had happened. Because he had already been listening intently to his surroundings, he was able to quickly pinpoint where the noise had originated.

"The doors! The doors are closed!"

Everyone spun around at Jinwoo's cry. The doors they'd left open were now shut tight.

"Dammit! I can't take this anymore!" The man who'd first voted against exploring the double dungeon strode toward the exit, cursing on his way.

"I'm out of here, so whatever the boss or the treasure is, it's all yours!" He glared at Song as if to issue a formal complaint. He then turned to face the door and forcefully grabbed the knob.

As he did...

Song's eyes widened.

"NO!"

WHOMP!

The man disappeared from the neck up. His headless body toppled to the floor.

THUD!

"Eek!"

"Aaargh!"

The hunters screamed. The bloody stone statue carrying a mace calmly returned to its post beside the door as if it hadn't just smashed in the man's head.

"I-it just moved!"

"The hell? Does that mean all the figures here can move, too?"

"You expect to fight something like that?"

"I couldn't even see it swinging the mace!" But Jinwoo knew the reality of the situation. He knew this wasn't the end of the tragedy.

Joohee had just said it.

"I-its eyes...... It just looked this way." 

'If she's right......' A chill ran down the length of his spine. His neck was frozen stiff with fear, but he forced himself to look back.

"Oh, shi......" The enormous statue was glaring straight down at him.