Sigh.
My back's killing me.
Why the hell did I have to fend off monsters all night? This isn't what I signed up for.
At the front of the group, Hayoon Lee stood tall—her posture unshakable, her eyes burning with that relentless fire. Seriously, she's on a whole other level. I've got nothing on her. Her skillset's not a joke either.
[Skill: Observer's Insight activated.]
Name: Hayoon Lee
Class: Unawakened
Traits:
[Tactical Genius]
[Master of Warfare]
Stats:
Strength: 4.9
Agility: 6.9
Vitality: 5.7
Intelligence: 5.2
Luck: 5.0
Skills:
[VITAL VIGOR] – Lv.6
[COMMAND] – Lv.2
...Unfair doesn't even begin to describe this. Wasn't she supposed to be a newbie?
My Observer's Insight is revealing more now. Did my understanding of her increase?
Whatever it is, it's depressing.
"Status."
Name: Seolhwa Hyun
Class: Unawakened
Traits: None
Stats:
Strength: 3.3
Agility: 4.2
Vitality: 3.5
Intelligence: 4.7
Luck: 7.2
Skills: None
...Even with my stats slowly climbing, I'm still a toddler next to her.
"Seolhwa!"
My spine stiffens the moment she calls my name.
"Y-Yes?"
"Quit spacing out! More monsters will gather soon. Help the injured!"
"G-Got it!"
No choice but to obey. The injured are scattered along the base's edge, resting. I find myself helping a woman who used to be a nurse. She's sharp—dangerously sharp. Recruiting survivors, organizing resources, setting up base defenses. If this were a game, she'd be a faction leader.
A warlord.
"Boss!"
"What is it?"
"Th-there's something weird out there…"
"Weird how?"
"Rocks are floating… and there's this… portal thing…"
Wait. No way.
My eyes widen. Floating rocks?
For real?
"I see. You rest. I'll check it out myself. Let's move!" Hayoon rallies the others with crisp authority.
"Uhh… Hayoon-ssi! Can I come along?"
"Are you sure? It could be dangerous."
"Hehe. I'm… curious. And I want to get stronger, too."
She pauses—then smiles.
"That's the spirit. Alright, let's go."
Yes! Got in.
A ten-minute walk later, and we're standing in front of a scene straight out of a novel.
Floating rocks. A swirling rift in the air. It hums like it's alive.
A Dungeon.
This early in the apocalypse? Jackpot! Low-class dungeons are loot boxes if you've got numbers. One decent item and I'm set.
"What… is this?"
"Are monsters going to come out?"
"No way…"
Whispers ripple through the group.
"Silence!" Hayoon cuts them off, voice sharp.
"Um, can I say something…?" I raise my hand a little.
"Go on," she says, eyes narrowing.
"I-I think this is a dungeon portal. At least, in webnovels it is. You enter, defeat the boss, and clear it."
Too suspicious?
"I've read similar stuff."
"Yeah, me too."
Huh…? That worked?
"If that's the case, it might be dangerous," Hayoon says. "Should we leave it untouched?"
"Actually, dungeons usually have decent rewards," I suggest. "So maybe… it's worth the risk?"
"You seem to know quite a bit…"
"Ah—I just used to read a lot of webnovels…"
"..."
"You must've had a lot of free time."
...Damn. I thought she was on to me. Gotta stay sharp around her.
"Fine. Let's clear it."
Yes! Free loot, here I come.
"Here's the plan," Hayoon continues. "We send in a scout team first. Seolhwa, you're in charge."
"H-Huh?! M-Me?!"
"You seem to know the most about this, so it's only natural."
"Yeah, I agree."
"Same here."
Stop shoveling dirt into my grave, you idiots!
"Just observe. No combat. Retreat if it gets dangerous. I'm counting on you."
"You've got this, man!"
"Let's go, Seolhwa!"
"Y-Yeah…"
...I'd be grateful just to survive this.
But let's be real—if I pass up this chance to sneak some loot and get ahead… what's the point?
You dug my grave, huh?
Well, I'll climb out of it myself.
I'm fucked.
This isn't just a dungeon. This is the worst kind.
I've read about this in Apocalypse Survival Guide. Among all dungeon types, this one's the most damn annoying.
A Nest.
A massive breeding ground for monsters. Constant waves, never-ending spawn rates, and a boss that's basically a queen on steroids. You clear one room, five more fill up behind you.
Tsk. Nice luck, my ass.
And what do we have? A scouting party of six. Handpicked for being fast on their feet or good at sneaking around. Not a single tank. Not a single heavy hitter. Not even a goddamn support class. Great.
The air grew heavy as we stepped through the portal. The inside felt… wrong. Cold, damp, narrow — tunnels carved like a fever dream, twisting with no logic. Almost like something clawed its way out, not in.
"Hm… underground, tunnels dug roughly… an ant hive?" I murmured under my breath.
"What the heck is tha—"
I snapped my hand to the guy's mouth and whispered, low and sharp:
"Do you want to die, idiot? Keep your voice down. If we get surrounded, it's game over."
"Y-yeah, sorry…"
I squinted at the uneven walls. "From the looks of it… yeah, seems like an ant hive. But something's off. Let's move. Stay close. Eyes up. If we lose sight of the portal, we're as good as dead."
[Dungeon: Bronze — Type: Nest]
[Objective: Defeat the boss to clear the dungeon.]
[Time Remaining: 46:24:34]
"B-Bronze?" someone muttered.
"It's the lowest class. Don't panic."
Though honestly, Bronze just means we might survive. Not that we will.
"Don't stray too far," I said, scanning the path ahead. "Stick to a twenty-meter radius. We're here to gather intel, not win a war. If you get caught, we won't have time to play hero."
The tunnel sloped downward. The deeper we went, the wider it got — which made no sense. Typical ant hives narrow the deeper they go, until you hit chambers for eggs and soldiers. But this… this just kept opening up. Like it wanted us to go deeper.
Strange.
My eyes landed on the wall ahead.
Scratches.
Long, wide, unnatural.
Those definitely weren't made by ants. Ant-type monsters have sharp, uniform mandibles. This was ragged — like someone dragged a rusted saw across the stone. A mutated variant, maybe?
...No. I'm probably just overthinking.
Near the entrance, I spotted a cluster of glowing crystals — beginner loot. Nice.
I swiftly gathered some, of course, without proper equipment it was a small amount.
[Low-Tier Mana Stone ×3 Acquired!]
It's not element affiliated but for now this more than enough. It'll be helpful in making low rank potions and other equipments.
"I gathered some near the entrance," I said. "Nothing new. Just a standard ant hive. Let's head back and—"
"Excuse me…"
I turned. A girl stepped forward — slim frame, sharp eyes. Dahee, right?
"You got something to say?"
She hesitated, then nodded. "I don't know much about monsters… but my brother was obsessed with insects and biology. I've seen hundreds of ant colonies. This… this isn't right. The spacing's wrong. The proportions. Ants build with tight efficiency. These tunnels were made by something bigger. And stronger."
"Stronger?"
A sound echoed from behind.
Chiek…
It was low. Wet. Like flesh scraping stone.
My blood ran cold.
I turned.
And I got it.
This wasn't an ant hive.
This was a rat's nest.
[Slaughter Rat – Tier 8 – Encountered!]