Before his words had ended, a skeleton with a fractured skull rushed forth from the darkness with its mouth wide open.

“Ooh-ahhhhk!”

The frightened Noguduk reflexively swung his steel club at the skull. The first skeleton staggered backward, but soon the rest of them filled the spot. The others, who had climbed up, let out a strange sound. At a conservative estimate, there were about dozen bodies. If they broke through the back, it was obvious that the ranks would be destroyed. With a desperate expression, Hwang-gijung raised his wand and he recited a spell.

“Shock Wave!”

After a short activation word, the empty air exploded! Accompanying the sound of a leather drum ripping, a strong gust swept ruthlessly through the line of skeletons. The skeletons tried to resist by moving their hands and feet. The skeletons had worked hard to crawl up the stairs, but they eventually rolled back down the stairs.

Noguduk, who was resolutely getting ready to battle against the skeletons, saw this surprising sight, and his two eyes became round.

“Huk, huk, huk!” (TLN: gasp, gasp, gasp!)

He succeeded in buying some time, but Hwang-gijong’s condition wasn’t optimal. He had used his wand mindlessly and it caused him to excessively consume his stamina and mental power. Fortunately, Lee-junghwan wasn’t late in backing them up. It seems he didn’t need to use his wand any more.

“Go to the middle and rest. I’ll take care of this place.”

“Hoo-ook. Hook… Ok.”

Hwang-gijung lowered his head towards Lee-junghan, who stiffly gestured with his hand. Before he headed towards Ha-taegyong, he asked Noguduk to bring Park-junghwan to a safer place. Noguduk slowly nodded his head, and he dragged Park-junghwan away from the entrance.

“The bastards will climb back up. Will the two of us be able to block them?”

“Two? I can do it myself. I just have to block the stairs, so it won’t be a problem.”

‘Damn bastard.’

Noguduk tried to be friendly towards Lee-junghwan, but Lee-junghwan didn’t care if he frowned or not. Lee-junghwan looked down the stairs with calm eyes. Instead of his usual hand-axe, he was holding a long spear. He had decided a longer weapon was more suited to fend off the skeletons, who were coming up from below.

“They are coming. Uncle should just stay by my side and watch.”

“Do whatever you want. I’ll go bring the lamp.”

There were only 2 lamps left. One was shedding light for the front group and the other one was in the possession of Ha-taegyong’s middle group. It would have been preferable to have the lamp in the middle group, but the lamp was needed in the rear group since enemies had shown up. Ha-taegyong was smart so he would probably give it up without a fuss. Maybe, he even wanted them to take the lamp.

As Noguduk had predicted, Ha-taegyong gave him the lamp as if he had waited for Noguduk. He also said if the rear was getting rough then he should send a message at the earliest possible moment. He stole a glance over his shoulder, and the heated battle in the front line was still continuing. Even the heaven piercing spirit of Kim-gyushik had lessened considerably, and he wasn’t fighting by recklessly swing his mace. Kim-jungin and Shinsoyool changed tactic by finding a gap between the skeletons, and they used a single strike to destroy the head.

After the initial phase, Kim-gyushik’s stamina consumption lessened and Kim-jungin continued his outstanding performance. It made one wonder if he was former special forces or a fighter. He used flashy movements to dodge the skeleton’s attack, and he had good enough sword skills to disable the enemy by accurately attacking the joints. He was fully pulling off tricks in real combat, which professional swordsman do in exhibition, against the skeletons. Occasionally, Kim-gyushik looked towards Kim-jungin with an uncomfortable expression. It seemed like he was conscious of the other’s brilliant exploit.

Shin-soyool couldn’t compare to Kim-jungin. However, she moved like a squirrel, and she nimbly dodged the skeleton’s attacks. Unfortunately, it felt like she was only concentrating on dodging, so she wasn’t able to counter-attack effectively. However, Kim-gyushik covered that deficiency very well. Once Shin-soyool lured the skeleton, Kim-gyushik took advantage of their exposed weaknesses. Their movements complemented each other, and they were able to become a great tag team. They seem to have a lot of talent for fighting.

Noguduk felt relieved when he saw the front group fight well. This in turn made him worry about how long the back line could last. The width of the stairway wasn’t that narrow, so if numerous enemies bum-rushed Lee-junghwan then he wouldn’t be able to block them by himself.

That was what he thought.

“…he’s blocking them pretty well.”

Ddak! Ddak! Ddak! Ddak! (TLN: sound of stick hitting hard surface)

As if he was mocking Noguduk’s worries, Lee-junghwan was admirably carrying out his duty. Lee-junghwan stood proudly on top of the stairs. The skeletons were climbing up as if they were reaching for a finish line and he touched the skeleton’s skull in order of arrival as a reward.   Instead of his hands, he used his heavy spear.

If he hadn’t seen the fierce battle at the front line, he might have thought “is he trying to film a comedy?”

Ddak!

The skulls let out a heavy sound, and for awhile, he blankly stared at the skeletons roll busily down the stairs. Noguduk wore an expression of disbelief, while he mumbled.

“This isn’t a whack-a-mole… Do those things have any intelligence? Their action is so stupid… Ah, they don’t. Jeez.”

However, Lee-junghwan, who was easily deflecting the skeletons, had a rather poor expression.

“I won’t last long. Uncle. Tell Yoo-hweeji or Che-nayun to come here.”

“Huh? You are blocking them well, so what are you talking about? Just take care of them one by one.”

“No. I can’t take care of them. Moreover, there are too many of them.”

Noguduk couldn’t understand his words, so he carefully stuck his head out to see below the stairs. He saw a crowd of white bones below, and Noguduk stopped breathing. 30? 40? He couldn’t count them. He didn’t know where that many skeletons had popped up from the first floor. It would be impossible to block them. It was a matter of time before the rear was pierced. (tln: almost went with penetrated but the phrasing >.< )

“I’m buying time by hitting their heads, but most of them won’t die from a single blow. With my strength, it is hard for me to break the skull. They are harder than I thought. I don’t have Kim-gyushik’s idiotic power.”

Kim-gyushik had easily turned the hard skulls into powder, but it seemed like only he could do this. Noguduk quickly nodded his head. He ran and brought back Che-nayun. He wanted to bring Yoon-hweeji, but after Ha-taegyong heard his explanation, he said Che-nayun needed some combat experience. So he was forced to bring Che-nayun, who didn’t want to come.

“Heeeeeek! Mommy!”

After she saw the swarming group of skeletons, she had a fit and she reflexively leaned backwards. Her face had turned white, and there were unshed tears welling in her eyes. She seemed to have a very cowardly personality. Noguduk tried his best not to show his exasperation.

“Do you know how to use that wand? Just used it like Hwang-gijong. Can you use a fire ball? Over there~ Just aim for the middle and Boom! Just do that.”

“Sob! I, I can’t do it. I don’t have a wand that could do that. Moreover, what would I do if the other side rushed me? Is uncle going to take responsibility?”

For a moment, he was about to say ‘I guess so.’, but he held back. Then he started to gently coax her with his words.

“Didn’t you say this test is really important? Do you know how many there are over there? Just blow them away with a big hit. If so, the MVP will be in your bag.”

He didn’t know if there really was an MVP award. First, he had to convince her so he spoke something that might get through to her. Che-nayun’s eyes, which was about to shed water, suddenly changed.

“MVP… Yes… This might be my opportunity.”

“R, right?”

Are all women like this? She raised her eyes, which was filled with fire, then she slowly walked towards where Lee-junghwan was located at. Lee-junghwan didn’t notice the change within her, so he got irritated with her. He didn’t even turn to look at her.

“What? If you are going to cry then fuck off.”

“Hoong.(TLN: hmmph!) Who are you to tell me whether to fuck off or not? Just move.”

Lee-junghwan, who only moved at his own pace, was suppressed by Che-nayun. Her attitude had changed 180 degree in a brief amount of time. Lee-junghwan hesitated while he was at a loss for words. Che-nayun flinched and shook when she faced the skeletons swarming from behind, but soon her eyes were emitting a dignified malice. Then she shouted her unique spell with a high pitched voice.

“Magic cannon! Magic cannon! Magic cannon! Magic cannon! Magic cannon! Sweep them all away!”

Kwang! Kwang! Kwa-ahng! Kwa-kwa-kwang! (TLN: explosion sfx)

Purple colored spheres rose above Che-nayun’s head, and after a slight delay, they scored a direct hit on the swarm of skeletons. For a moment, the spectacular sight made one to be mesmerized. The dangerous spheres held magic, and every time it landed, five to six skeletons were destroyed into mush. The powdered bone rose up like dust, and the bones scattered in all directions. In midst of all of this, Che-nayun cackled like a crazy bitch.

“Huff! Huff! Hoho, huff! Ho… Yes, this is it! Hee! Hee! Pheww! I’m, I’m about to die.”

She was having a hard time breathing as if she had run a full marathon, but the light of pleasure still shown through. She deserved to feel that way since only about 4 skeletons were left moving after the cloud of bone dust had settled down. Che-nayun had shot the magical bullets and usually it was powerful enough to easily pierce through one or two enemies. However, they were densely packed in a single location, so she was able to sweep them away with a single stroke.

It was like blasting a shotgun at a cluster of balloons.

Lee-junghwan and Noguduk looked at Che-nayun again with new eyes. Her actions were somewhat unreliable, so they hadn’t expected much from her. However, she was able to show her surprising skill with the small wand. Noguduk expected her power to be similar to Hwang-gijung, so he couldn’t close his gaping mouth.

“This, this is magic? It is too different from Hwang-gijong!”

“I guess it’s the difference in talent.”

In a word, the dish is different.(TLN: it’s a figure of speech-regular dish vs quality dish) Hwang-gijung was exhausted after releasing merely one charged magic. Che-nayun had used five consecutive spells. The difference between the two was clear. When the draft ends, talent will greatly sway the social standing. He didn’t even need to say who will have a higher standing. From the outset, the starting line differed. (TLN: if you are more talented, you have a head start)

Still, Lee-junghwan didn’t expect the immature Che-nayun to have this kind of strength. The phrase you can’t judge a book by its cover was made exactly for Che-nayun.

Lee-junghwan clicked his tongue briefly, and he rushed towards the leftover skeletons with his hand axes raised high.

The last skeleton finally crumbled, and the 2nd floor exploration came to an end. Ha-taegyong looked at the out of breath party members with a slightly tired eyes. He carefully took stock of the damage.

“One dead. Two exhausted… No, one. Two with minor injuries.”

Hwang-gijung waved his hand in an exaggerated manner to indicate he could still fight, so Ha-taegyong changed his words, while nodding his head. Che-nayun still couldn’t stand up so she sat down while leaning against Yoo-hweeji’s body. They had earned their first victory in battle, but they didn’t show any signs of being happy.

After losing consciousness, Park-junghwan was exempt from the battle, but he eventually succumbed to his death. Hwang-gijung looked at the corpse that had changed to blue.    He belatedly learned that poison was applied to the trap. Maybe, it they had immediately cut off the limb, which was stuck in the trap, then maybe he would have survived. However, it was pointless to think about it now since he was dead.

He was a comrade who had walked and moved not too long ago. Now he was a stinking corpse lying on the floor, so everyone was shaken by this. However, they had all come here after forming some resolve, so there weren’t anyone who was too shocked by this. Even Che-nayun, who wasn’t immune to these kind of situations, breathed quietly, and she didn’t freak out. She must still be running on fumes.

Instead, the one who looked the saddest was Yoon-hweeji. She was the one who wanted to stay back with Park-junghwan.

“…I didn’t think things through. I dropped out, while only thinking of myself. I want to give a sincere apology to everyone.”

If even one person was unable to perform their duty, anyone was liable to become like Park-junghwan. She had come to realize this. Even Noguduk, who she secretly thought of as a non-combatant, ran around busily. Yoon-hweeji was honest in acknowledging her error. Even Ha-taegyong, who had argued with her, accepted her apology with a calm expression.

“I’m sure everyone had felt this, but we came here prepared.  He had enough information. However, once the the battle started, everyone basically became a rag-tag group. You were all careless and afraid. You weren’t in control.”

He didn’t point anyone out, but several people flinched like a thief caught in the act. Park-junghwan had died because of his appalling carelessness. Hwang-gijong ignored their battle formation, and he ran towards the patient, who became injured. Yoon-hweeji acted however she wanted, and Che-nayun fell into a panicked state. Even if they had ten mouths, they had nothing to say.

“It isn’t too late. Let us all renew our resolve. We really might die here. You all don’t want to die in a place like this, right?”

Someone sighed, and the sound of a breath leaking was heard. Ha-taegyon stealthily turned toward where the breath was leaked, and he continued speaking.

“Let’s talk about the draft. My thoughts on the skeleton is… I think hey were buried in the walls. Look at this.”

Everyone’s gaze turned toward Ha-taegyong’s right hand, which was bobbing up and down. His hand was holding a broken piece of bone.

“There are calcium powder and dirt on the piece of bone. The builder of the tower probably encased people inside and he buried them with dirt. Then he probably whitewashed the wall. I’m not sure if they were buried alive.”

“So that is why there weren’t anything on the first floor. They were hiding within the walls. After we went up to the second floor, did the bastards feint an attack?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t think they have that much intelligence.”

At those words, Noguduk agreed with him, while disingenuously saying “Ok. Ok. They are retarded.”

“This is only my opinion, but… These bastards seem to be sensitive toward sound. During the battle at the front line, they seem to gather around Mr. Kim-gyushik, who was the only one making loud noises.”

“Mmm. Did that happen? Now that you say it, it did seem like that.”

“It should be correct. The skeletons on the first floor woke up when Mr. Kim-gyushik stamped his mace on the floor. The sound that rang out might be culprit? The bastards that woke up probably wanted to find the source of the sound, so they rushed towards the second floor.”

“So it was my fault they attacked like a pack of dogs?”

Kim-gyushik’s face became red, and steam started coming out of his nose.

“I’m not saying that. It is a characteristic of mid-sized weapons, so we can’t do anything about it. (TLN: heavier weapons = more noise) To resume my story, the 2nd floor enemies probably reacted to Mr. Park-junghwan’s scream when he got caught in the trap. To summarize, these bastards react to sounds, but they won’t react to the level of noise like footsteps. Moreover, they move tenaciously, but they could be stopped if their skull is destroyed. Lastly… They were buried in a soft wall since they weren’t able to break out with their own efforts. They were asleep. ”

Ha-taegyong finished his explanation with a meaningful smile. There were 3 reactions. Most of them thought, “So what?” or they agreed without any thoughts on it. However, there were those who sensed there was a hidden meaning to his words, and they had enough sense to wonder about it. When they understood his meaning, their eyes widened in surprise. These were the smart minority.

Clap!

As if she had understood something, Yoon-hweeji clapped her hand then she stood up. She was part of the small minority.

“So that’s it! If we are able to find out which wall the skeletons are buried in….!”

“Yes. We’ll be able to destroy every one of them before the bastards wake up. We won’t have any losses.”

In short, the skeletons do not react to small sounds. He wanted to pierce each skull of the skeletons buried within the wall. The people who had finally understood Ha-taegyong’s plan repeatedly admired him, and they propped up Ha-taegyong.

“Ooh-waaaa! There is such a method! We won’t have to fight like before if we use this method!”

“Of course, he is the leader. People should always use their heads!”

Ha-taegyong ignored the jubilation, and he turned his gaze towards Kim-jungin. Kim-jungin continuously had his eyes on Ha-taegyong, so their eyes met. Ha-taegyong had a peculiar smile, and Kim-jungin maintained his cool demeanor. It lasted for a brief moment, but something surged between the two. Eventually, Ha-taegyon opened his mouth, and he still had a hint of a smile on his lip.

“If you look closely at the walls, you will probably be able to find where the bastards are buried. I think Mr. Kim-jungin should catch them. We have to get rid of them, while making the least amount of noise. It’ll be hard to find someone more suited for this task than Mr. Kim-jungin. Miss Shin-soyool is lacking in strength, and I don’t think Mr. Kim-gyushik could easily control his strength.”

“I understand. I’ll do it.”

“No! I can also do it! We just have to put a hole through their forehead?”

Since Kim-jungin was given an important mission, Kim-gyushik felt a competitive spirit towards him. This was why Kim-gyushik quickly volunteered himself. However, Ha-teagyong shook his head from side to side.

“Strength is not the only requirement. One has to be able to accurately pierce the plaster and the skull in one pass. Also, the deeply embedded sword needs to be extracted without making any sound. If the aim is a little bit off, then they’ll wake up and raise hell. Mr Kim-gyushik’s style doesn’t emphasize technique. Even if you could do it, Mr. Kim-gyushik should prepare for unexpected events. You should stay ready in the back.”

His words were logical, but it oddly felt like there was a overtone of him trying to pigeon-hole Kim-jungin as a guy that only ‘uses technique.’ (TLN: ex. in sports you get labeled as a finesse player) Kim-jungin, the person directly involved, didn’t seem to have noticed it. He listened indifferently, but Yoon-hweeji, who was quietly listening from the side, couldn’t do the same. She had clearly witnessed his brilliant exploit, so she felt a bit of reverence towards him.

‘If it wasn’t for his exploits, we wouldn’t have ended with only this much loss. However, that man, Ha-taegyong….!’ (TLN: She thinks Ha-taegyong is trying to downplay Kim-jungin’s accomplishments)

Yoon-hweeji was about to express her dissatisfaction, but someone else spoke first.

“I think I can handle doing that.”