ATMCP 08

Chapter 8

The flames created by the mage faintly illuminated the figure of the unexpected intruder.

Crunch. Crunch.

At first glance, it looked similar to a bat, but even while crouching, its size easily surpassed the waist height of an adult.

“What kind of monster is that……?”

“That monster is called an Umbral Bat. Healer, lower your body.”

The leader and the tank raised their shields, hiding the party members behind them.

Flap. Flap.

Kyaaak!

The two made the right decision.

Suddenly, a group of bat monsters flew into the passage.

They immediately grabbed the last remaining Shadow Cat and began devouring it.

Just like their appearance suggested, they seemed to live in groups.

The leader raised his index finger to signal everyone to stay quiet and turned off the flashlight.

“Umbral Bats have poor eyesight. If we’re lucky, we might be able to get past them safely.”

I carefully peeked at the Umbral Bats through the gap between the overlapping shields.

Their wings looked like hard leather armor, and their feet were as tough as those of a bird of prey.

But there was something strange about their flawless appearance.

“Why do they have so many wounds?”

At my muttering, the party members looked at me in confusion.

I lowered myself further, giving them a better view, and pointed toward the Umbral Bats.

“The bats’ bodies are covered in injuries.”

If we hadn’t been overwhelmed by the sight of them eating the Shadow Cat, we would have noticed sooner.

None of the Umbral Bats were unharmed.

Most had torn wings or deep wounds across their bodies.

Half of the blood pooled on the ground probably belonged to those bats.

“They look like injuries caused by swords or spears.”

The tank quickly judged the situation.

The only problem with his judgment was that this dungeon was supposed to only contain beast-type monsters.

“Damn it. It’s a sudden change.”

The leader clenched his teeth and muttered.

I didn’t know what “sudden change” meant, but everyone else’s expressions became serious.

I followed them and made a serious expression as well.

And soon, something truly serious happened.

Clack. Clatter. Clack.

From the entrance, a sound like hard wooden pieces hitting each other began to echo.

Soon, they came close enough for us to see them.

“Skeletons.”

The mage muttered, his face turning pale.

Dozens of armed skeletons were blocking the entrance.

The sound I thought was wooden pieces hitting together was actually the sound of skeletons moving, their bones rubbing against each other.

Clack. Clack. Clack-clack.

Kiiik. Kiik.

When the skeletons appeared, the Umbral Bats spread their wings and entered a battle stance.

We were unfortunately trapped between the skeletons and the Umbral Bats.

The exact number of skeletons was impossible to determine, but among them, I could occasionally see ghost-like figures.

“Wraiths. They’re B-rank……”

When the leader muttered those words, one of the ghost-like monsters suddenly turned its head toward us.

The moment I thought we had made eye contact, the leader shouted so loudly that the cave shook.

“Run deeper inside!”

Kiiiiii!!

The leader’s shout seemed to become the signal.

The skeletons and Umbral Bats immediately collided.

The leader and tank blocked the incoming Umbral Bats with their shields and forced a path through.

“Healer, prepare to use buffs at any moment! Everyone else, don’t lower your attack stance! Since this is a sudden change dungeon with undead monsters, enemies can appear at any moment!”

“Yes!”

Even in that chaos, the leader continued giving precise orders while running straight ahead.

During that time, several arrows fired by the skeletons grazed me and the mage.

I probably had injuries somewhere, but I couldn’t even feel the pain right now.

The only good thing was that, thanks to my awakening, I wasn’t even out of breath despite running like this.

“What exactly is a sudden change?”

I asked the mage beside me.

The mage raised his eyebrows as if asking how I didn’t know something so basic.

His sharp gaze made me hurriedly add an excuse.

“This is my first time experiencing something like this……”

The mage sighed deeply at my explanation.

It must seem strange.

‘Sorry……’

Along with the apology I swallowed, my synchronization rate increased to 40%.

“A phenomenon where the monsters inside the dungeon are replaced by different monsters than the ones normally found there. Usually, monsters about two ranks higher than the original dungeon monsters appear.”

“But skeletons are……”

“Skeletons are difficult because there are many of them and they use weapons. And the important thing is the Wraith mixed among them. Even just considering their rank, Wraiths are dangerous.”

The mage seemed to think that I, as the healer, needed to properly understand the situation, so he explained everything carefully.

Even while running, I listened closely.

“The problem when a sudden change happens isn’t just that stronger monsters appear. It’s that the monsters appear in difficult combinations. Undead and ghost-type monsters are basically among the most troublesome monsters even within the same rank.”

“Ah, I understand now. Thank you.”

“And don’t make it too obvious that you’re inexperienced. If you act that innocent, you’ll get stabbed in the back.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m saying don’t behave like that. You know this is an anonymous dungeon party, right? If someone betrays you in a dungeon, it’s not fraud. It’s murder. You can’t show that you don’t know anything just because this is your first dungeon.”

The mage muttered,

“Fortunately, everyone here seems like decent people.”

With those words, I glanced at my synchronization rate.

[Current Synchronization Rate]

45%

Wait.

Then could it be that my synchronization rate increased because I acted…… innocent?

To put it nicely, innocent.

To put it badly, stupid.

If that was the reason my synchronization increased, I felt strangely hurt.

While I was lost in those thoughts, we completely escaped the battlefield between the skeletons and Umbral Bats.

“Stop.”

At the leader’s command, everyone finally stopped running.

Only after stopping did the effects of the tension hit them.

Their hearts pounded loudly, and heavy breathing filled the area.

However, nobody sat down or lowered their guard.

They gripped their weapons tightly, watched their surroundings, and controlled their breathing.

“What rank were the monsters originally in this dungeon?”

“Most monsters are E-rank, like Shadow Cats. Umbral Bats are special D-rank monsters, and the boss is C-rank.”

The goal of this party was to defeat the boss and collect the reward.

Meaning the strongest monster they were prepared to fight was C-rank.

And sudden changes usually caused monsters two ranks higher to appear.

This was beyond what the party could handle.

“We should leave, Leader.”

The melee dealer touched his sword and looked at the leader.

The leader seemed to agree and slightly nodded.

“But the exit is blocked.”

They had moved deeper into the dungeon while avoiding the battle between the skeletons and Umbral Bats.

“Shadow Cave’s internal structure is complicated. There might be another route leading outside from deeper inside.”

The leader looked back at the path they had come from.

“Mage, can you collapse this passage?”

“I can, but I don’t recommend it. The cave might collapse and kill us. Also, my specialty is fire, so destroying rocks would be inefficient and make too much noise.”

The mage firmly rejected the request.

After hearing him, the leader seemed to give up on the idea.

I looked at the moss and small weeds growing around us.

“Then we have no choice but to leave quietly……”

“Leader.”

The leader widened his eyes and looked at me.

“Can I try blocking it once?”

“Do you have a skill like that?”

“No. But I think I can use it differently. I won’t know if it works until I try.”

The leader thought for a moment before nodding.

Permission.

I approached the weeds and placed my hand against the wall.

I took a breath and imagined what I wanted.

Then I whispered quietly.

I was sorry, but I couldn’t use a bright and energetic voice.

“Flowers, block this path.”

When I activated the skill, I felt a very faint movement inside the cave wall.

Soon, plants and vines began growing through the wall and blocking the passage.

However, they were strangely thin.

I could still faintly see the other side.

It looked like a skeleton could easily cut through them with one swing of its sword.

Perhaps he thought the same thing, because the mage approached from behind.

He lowered his voice and whispered.

“You’re just not used to the activation phrase because this is your first time?”

I turned around in surprise.

The mage continued even more quietly.

“At first, it feels awkward, but many magic skills have different efficiency depending on their activation phrases.”

The explanation window had said the same thing.

The brighter and more energetic the voice, the stronger the ability became.

But the mage continued.

“Especially with activation phrases, the more poetic or old-fashioned they are, and the louder you shout them, the more effective they become. Your life depends on it, so try to pay attention.”

A little embarrassment was nothing compared to my life.

The mage looked at me as if saying that.

Only then did I realize that entering a dungeon was not something casual.

I wasn’t just testing my ability.

We had entered this dungeon while risking our lives.

I opened my mouth again.

My clearer mind naturally created an activation phrase, almost like song lyrics.

“Flowers, rise. Create a forest so those who wish to harm us cannot approach.”

A different movement came from the plants.

Was it only something I could feel?

I didn’t know.

But one thing was certain.

That movement grew larger and larger.

Crack.

Rustle.

The moss spread across the ground, and weeds rose upward.

From the floor to the ceiling.

From the ceiling back to the floor.

From wall to wall.

“Huh……”

Soon, all the plants around us grew densely and completely blocked the path.

“It worked!”

I smiled brightly and removed my hand from the wall.

“Leader! It worked!”

“To grow this thickly…… impressive.”

The party members were all surprised.

I tried to force down the corners of my mouth to hide my pride.

“They’re just normal plants grown with my skill. They can block the path because they’re dense, but if enemies try cutting through, they probably can. We should leave quickly.”

The leader accepted my suggestion.

“We’ll increase the distance from the enemies. Melee dealer, mark the path whenever we pass a fork.”

“Yes.”

The melee dealer tapped the dagger attached to his waist.

Our goal had changed from defeating the boss to escaping the sudden-change dungeon.

But nobody lost their composure.

We moved carefully while judging the number of monsters.

If there were too many, we avoided them.

If there were only a few, we killed them.

How many times did we repeat this?

At the end of the cave, a light appeared.

“Is that the exit?”

“Since we haven’t encountered any other undead monsters on the way here, it’s probably closer to the exit than the boss area.”

The melee dealer muttered.

Until now, the only undead we had encountered were armed skeletons.

The monsters of Shadow Cave had almost disappeared.

Without saying anything, everyone suddenly began running toward the light.

If we just passed that light……!

Just that light!

The moment I thought the light was right in front of us, a terrifying chill ran down my back.

“Everyone, stop! Stop!!”

The leader slammed his shield into the ground and shouted.

The mage and I crashed into the leader’s back and stopped, but the melee dealer and tank couldn’t stop in time.

CRAAAACK!

“AAAH!”

“Guh!”

The melee dealer’s scream echoed through the cave.

The tank seemed to have barely blocked the attack with his shield, but the arm and shoulder sections of his heavy armor were destroyed.

Clank—

Then the opponent who created that scream slowly approached the exit.

Armed skeletons followed behind it, surrounding us.

I got up awkwardly with the mage and checked the melee dealer first.

The tank, who was still in better condition, had brought the melee dealer over, making it easier to check his condition.

Because he wore lighter armor, he had been cut completely from his shoulder to just above his thigh.

Blood poured from the wound.

I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from screaming at the sight of the exposed red injury.

“Dullahan…… the boss was a Dullahan.”

“If it’s a Dullahan……”

A headless death knight.

The highest-ranked monster among physical-attacking ghost types.

While I searched my memories, the mage tapped my shoulder.

“Treat the melee dealer first.”

“Ah, yes!”

I turned my attention to my synchronization rate.

[Current Synchronization Rate]

48%

Fortunately, I could now use Honey Liquor, which provided buffs and healing.

I took a breath and clasped both hands together.

Then I called out the skill name.

“Honey Liquor.”

A soft golden light rose from the ground.

The round-shaped light was truly the color and shape of honey.

The skill floated around us like droplets before sinking into the wounds.

“This skill……”

I heard the leader’s surprised voice, but I couldn’t answer.

A notification window was flashing brightly in front of my eyes.

[Cooldown]

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