SCCP CH 08

Chapter 8: Medium-to-Large Monster

Everyone felt a chill down their spine.
The boss monster was already dead.

That meant only one thing:
Something even stronger had passed through here first.

“Look. The flesh is rotting, and the blood’s dry. It’s been dead a while.”
“Ugh. The armor’s no good either. The decay and poison have ruined it.”
“Could the thing that killed the boss still be nearby?”
“We’ll have to move deeper to find out.”

They looked at each other and nodded.
They had come too far to turn back now.
And they still had to pass the boss room to reach the Reward Chamber.

***

“It’s dark in here. Be careful not to trip.”

Boss rooms were always the lair of the dungeon’s ruler.
They were larger than normal areas and often had strange environments—
sometimes even breaking the laws of nature, like now.

“Huh? That’s weird. We’ve got plenty of oil, but the lantern’s so dim.”
“It’s this room’s special trait. The darkness swallows light.”

The lanterns barely lit anything. Beyond a short distance, it was pitch-black.
It made the atmosphere even more eerie and dangerous.

“Everyone, be careful and stay alert. Mr. Kranol, please prepare for battle.”
Kranol gave a silent nod.

They moved forward, guided only by weak lantern light, hearts pounding.
The space was huge—made of dirt—and felt endless.
Despite walking for what seemed like forever, they felt strangely trapped and short of breath.

“Wow… This is huge. I’ve never seen a boss room this big.”
“Well, ants live underground without light. Makes sense their boss’s room’s a dark burrow.”
“Imagine fighting a boss here… in this darkness. That’s terrifying.”

They kept searching for the Reward Chamber, knowing it had to be somewhere.

***

After nearly 30 minutes of wandering, the invisible baby dragon tapped Kranol’s leg.
It had night vision, allowing it to see clearly in the dark.

“Birg. Can you shine your lantern to the left?”

He did—and a door came into view.

“Huh? What’s that?”
“It’s the Reward Chamber!”
“How did you know, Mr. Kranol?”

Kranol played it off.

“Just a mage’s instinct.”

Everyone rushed in. It wasn’t made of dirt, but stone walls—
still dark, but finally safe.

And in that room, they saw it.

“The reward chest is still here!”
“We thought someone took it already… thank goodness!”

The baby dragon clung to Kranol’s arm, purring as if asking for praise.
Thanks to it, they’d avoided wandering endlessly.

They opened the chest.

Inside were two items:

• A pair of fancy black leather gloves
• A large, glowing purple egg

They checked the gloves first:

[Item: Gloves of Demonic Power]
[Grade: ★★]
[Effect: Equipment of a holy knight who once fought a demon. Absorbs evil energy and converts it into stats. Grants the unique skill ‘Demonic Absorption.’

• Part of a set. Using matching items changes bonus effects.
• Related items are hidden in temples somewhere on the continent.

Everyone’s eyes widened.
A 2-star gear item—way better than the 1-star stuff they’d seen before.
And it increased stats, which were notoriously hard to improve.

Most people chose to train skills instead of raising stats.
But these gloves could do it directly. Of course it would be insanely valuable.

“Gulp…”

They were all drooling at the prize.

Then they looked at the next item.

[Item: Egg of Calamity]
[Grade: ★★★★★]
[Effect: Extremely dangerous egg, far too powerful for this dungeon’s level. Was placed here by mistake during fairy delivery. Handle with extreme caution. If the creature inside matures, safety is not guaranteed.]

“W-What?! Are you serious?”
“Is this… really a five-star item?”
“We’re not hallucinating, right?”

A 5-star item—super rare, even across an entire kingdom.

“It’s huge. Bigger than a bird egg.”
“Shouldn’t we destroy it? It says it’s a calamity!”

People were scared by the warning message.
But Kranol shook his head.

That was a very human-centered view.
Calamities didn’t always target humans—
And this one likely didn’t.

“It’s a trick of wording. Calamity doesn’t always mean for humans.”

In this case, the “calamity” likely threatened heavenly beings—
like angels and demons who lived in higher planes.
The beast who tampered with ancient texts did it to trick people into destroying the egg—
Just to win favor with a demon.

“If Kranol says it’s okay, maybe we should try to hatch it?”
“Do we… warm it up or something?”

As they discussed how to handle the egg—

BANG!

The door to the Reward Room slammed shut.
No one had touched it.

And then, a strange voice echoed from nowhere.

—Why do you not destroy it?

The hunters jumped, drawing their weapons.

—Can you not read? Why haven’t you smashed the egg?

“L-Look over there!”

A hunter named Burnet pointed his lantern toward the ceiling.

A massive creature was hanging upside down, like a dead bat.
But it was more than that.

When the light touched it, the monster spread its wings.

FWOOOOOSH!

“Ugh!”
“Aaaah!!”

It unleashed a massive gust of wind, like a mini-storm.
Their formation collapsed, and everyone was thrown off balance.

Someone recognized the feeling.

“Wait! That wind… It’s the same as the storm near the dungeon entrance!”
“You mean this thing caused the disaster earlier?!”

The monster slowly approached.
Its body was rotting, flesh falling off, and bones poking out.
But its form was clear—

It was a dragon.

“A D-Dragon… a rotting dragon!”
“Why is that thing in this dungeon?!”

A Rotten Dragon. Medium-to-large size, like three bulls.
It had probably died before it could fully grow—
But a dragon was still a dragon.

Even with dozens of hunters, it would be hard to defeat.

—So, humans have grown wiser. You used to blindly trust what the screen told you.
And now you’re thinking of hatching that egg. How amusing.

It wasn’t just strong—it could speak in full sentences.
An intelligent, mutated monster.
The mastermind who used ancient texts to lure them here.

Kranol understood why.

‘Monsters can’t open treasure chests. So it needed humans to do it.’

The Rotten Dragon couldn’t break the chest itself—
So it tricked them into doing it for him.

—To me, you’re no better than ants. Little insects don’t need to act so clever.

Its glowing blue eyes flashed ominously.

“My name is Girognal. I will deliver divine punishment upon you!”

The monster hunters were shocked into silence.

It wasn’t just any monster—it had a name.
A “named” beast meant it had an identity and power far beyond normal.
This thing didn’t belong in a dungeon of this level.
It could easily be a regional boss somewhere on the continent.

But among the confused and terrified group, one person remained calm:
Kranol.

“First, I’ll turn invisible. Then I’ll use all my hidden tools and the baby dragon.”

Kranol was already strategizing in his mind.
He had some secret weapons left from his past mercenary jobs.
He’d used up the holy water to save the baby dragon.
but still had things like the Silver Cross and Angel’s Tear Rod.

Still, this wouldn’t be an easy fight.

“Kryaang.”
The baby dragon growled by his side, ready for battle too.

Just as Kranol was about to activate his invisibility—
Something happened that even he didn’t expect.

“Huh?”

The Rotten Dragon, Girognal, spread its skeletal wings.
It opened its rotting jaws and let out a massive roar:

―KRRRRAAAAAAARGH!!―

The entire boss room shook with the sound.
Even covering your ears didn’t help—it was painfully loud.

Everyone was overwhelmed with fear, their will to fight crumbling.

But one person took it especially hard:

“…!”
“M-Mr. Kranol is bleeding!”

Aria, right next to him, cried out.
Blood was pouring from Kranol’s nose—so much that his whole face was soaked.

“Mr. Kranol?! Are you okay?!”
Birg shouted, too shocked to even look directly at him.

They all thought this was some kind of attack from the dragon.

But it wasn’t.

This was Kranol’s own madness—a condition only he had.

His trembling hands frantically searched his coat.
“Ugh… urgh… agh…”

With bloodshot eyes, he began shoving herbs into his mouth.
desperately trying to stop the bleeding.
He looked completely unstable—like an addict needing a fix.

Meanwhile, the dragon was still roaring:

―KRRRRAAAA!! Be honored to meet me! I’ll keep a few of you alive in my torture room! You’ll break the egg for me while I enjoy myself! KRRRRAAAAA!!

Even after downing the herbs, the roar didn’t stop.
Kranol’s head felt like it would split open.

His face twisted in pain, dripping blood—
And then he looked up at the clueless, roaring dragon…

And made a simple hand gesture.

“…Shut the fuck up.”

―Huh?!

The Rotten Dragon froze.

Its jaw twitched…

Then its entire skeleton cracked and shattered.

CRACK!
PFFF―!

It exploded into dust—just like that.

Not even a dramatic battle.
Just one little hand wave from Kranol.

It was over.

“Huh?”

Silence fell.

The monster hunters stared blankly at the pile of bones.
They’d seen it with their own eyes… but still couldn’t believe it.

The terrifying, high-level undead monster had been instantly destroyed.

With just a flick of Kranol’s hand.