Chapter 36

2 Its yellow eyes locked on to us, and an ear-splitting roar filled the air. [Level-7 Land Dragon Species Tyrannosaurus Rex has detected your presence.] [Tyrannosaurus Rex has activated the skill “Carnivorous Fear.”] [Exclusive skill “The Fourth Wall” negates the effects of “Carnivorous Fear.”] I was fine thanks to “The Fourth Wall,” but I still got goosebumps. I guessed this was the fear prey felt in the face of an apex predator. “Everyone, move!” My shout jolted Huiwon and Jihye out of their stupor. I picked up Gilyeong and turned to run in the other direction. Stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp! The monster’s enormous tail swung toward us, leveling the dense foliage in a huge arc. “Arrrrrgh!” The men who had been running from the T. rex were sent flying by the impact, coughing up blood. Luckily, Huiwon and Jihye had managed to get out of the way. I yelled as I put Gilyeong down on the ground. “Gilyeong, stand back! Huiwon and Jihye, spread out on either side!” Just then, a message came up. [Character Gilyeong Lee has activated the skill “Dinosaur Encyclopedia.”] …Eh? “The Tyrannosaurus rex is agile for its size but has a narrow field of vision, so it’s weak to attacks from a blind spot.” “What?” “I read that in the encyclopedia when I was young.” “When you were young?” “…Younger than now.” I had some things to say about that, but now wasn’t the time for idle chitchat. [Exclusive skill “White Star Weapon Aura” has been activated!] I swung my gleaming sword back and forth to draw the T. rex’s attention. Neither Jihye nor Huiwon was suited for the vanguard role. Gilyeong, even less so. That left only me to take the risk. “I’ll draw its attention, so get behind it and—” Before I’d even finished my sentence, Jihye and Huiwon were already running toward the back of the dinosaur. Good thing they were quick on the uptake. [Level-7 Land Dragon Species Tyrannosaurus Rex has chosen you as its target.] I had barely escaped its fangs when its hind leg kicked out at me. Before I could even swing my Unbreakable Faith, its tail swung right over my head. Chills ran up my spine. Since my stamina was over twenty, a single hit wouldn’t kill me, but nevertheless, it was too close for comfort. Perhaps I was the one who had been lucky. The real “sunfish” who died at the slightest touch might’ve been me, not Junghyeok. Shunk! Meanwhile, Huiwon and Jihye continued to land blows on the dinosaur from behind. A combination of “Blade Proficiency” and “Kendo.” Their dazzling swordplay left large wounds on the T. rex’s leg. If they activated “Demon Slaying,” we’d be able to take it down without much trouble, if a bit slowly. “Dokja, I’ll draw its attention.” This kid! I told him to stay back…! “No, Gilyeong, you should just—” “I can do it.” He suddenly stepped forward and began making some kind of signal with his hands. I was puzzled by what he was doing, until I saw a huge mantis fly in out of nowhere and poke the T. rex in the eye before flying away. It was the insect from earlier called Titano-something. Graaaah! T. rex’s eyes darted about wildly, trying to track the mantis’s dizzying movements. Judging by Gilyeong’s rapid hand motions, he was controlling the insect. I was amazed as I watched him at work. There was that encyclopedia skill from earlier too… Maybe Gilyeong is the real ace here? No wonder Junghyeok had his eye on this kid. Grah! Roar! Thanks to Gilyeong’s incredible feat, we suddenly had the advantage. The T. rex’s movements had grown noticeably slower. Meanwhile, Huiwon’s and Jihye’s eyes were beginning to gleam a deadly shade of crimson. Demon Slaying. Although this skill had the drawback of making the user weak against mental attacks, it was a great skill that increased one’s combat power the more they were immersed in battle. Two women with fiery eyes darting through the forest at dizzying speeds… It was truly a sight to behold. It reminded me all over again how sore I was about losing Jihye Lee to Junghyeok. Still, in terms of raw potential, Jihye had nothing on Huiwon. Judge of Evil really was that great of an attribute, and Huiwon didn’t even have a sponsoring constellation yet. Looks like the T. rex is on its last legs. Shall I go in for the killing blow? [Unbreakable Faith has been activated!] I concentrated all my remaining magic power on the blade. I didn’t have a sponsoring constellation, and I wasn’t fast like Huiwon or Jihye. But I was by no means weak. After all, I had a crazy powerful item that more than made up for all that. [Unbreakable Faith’s special effect has been activated.] [The aether’s element has changed to fire.] The blade instantly grew to over a meter long and was covered in flames. A great deal of my magic power was drained out of me at once, and I felt exhausted. I charged straight toward the rear of the T. rex. “Everyone, move aside!” The T. rex, which had grown visibly sluggish, stopped for a moment. That was enough time for me to climb up its tail toward its back. I almost slipped a couple of times because I didn’t have the “Sense of Balance” skill, but I avoided falling by stabbing my sword into the dinosaur’s thick hide. Graaah! Wounded and gushing blood from all over, the T.rex crashed to the ground and writhed in pain. I stabbed it indiscriminately, and each time, the wound burst into flames. The monster gasped in pain and glared at me with its yellow eyes one last time before flopping down belly-up. [You are the first to hunt the Level-7 Land Dragon Species Tyrannosaurus Rex!] [You have received 1,000 coins as a reward.] “Ah…… We actually did it.” “I told you we could.” Huiwon was panting as she looked at me proudly. A T. rex was a strong foe, even among level-7 monsters, so she had every reason to feel proud. A moment later, Jihye ran up to us, grumbling nonstop. “Come on. I almost killed it.” “No way. I needed to attack it a lot more,” I emphatically played up my contribution as I wiped my sword. “By the way, do they ever kill the T. rex in the movie?” Huiwon asked. “No, but wasn’t this more entertaining?” “…What?” “I mean, it’s an action-adventure flick. I say we lived up to that.” At that moment, a system message popped up. [The Cinema Master is satisfied with the altered ending.] “Whaaat?” Huiwon exclaimed in surprise. That was how this place worked. The key to clearing this dungeon was not to recreate the real ending but to come up with one that’d please the Cinema Master. And he happened to be an extreme enjoyer of fast-paced action and satisfying payoffs. “Do you get it now? Just destroy everything, and it’ll work out.” In other words, each movie would naturally end when all the obstacles to the ending were removed. [You can now move on to the next floor.] [Make your way to the lab with the helicopter on the roof.] “Let’s hold off a bit. We need to grab some rewards.” I then began searching near the T. rex’s body. Soon, we came across one of the men who had arrived before us. The rest of his comrades must’ve been devoured or mauled to death by the T. rex. “Hey. Wake up.” “Ugh…” Blood ran down the man’s back from a wound made by the T. rex’s claws. Judging from his exposed spine, there was nothing we could do for him. “Take a deep breath.” “Cough! H-help…!” I gave him a bottle of water we’d brought. He drank some, then coughed out more blood. As pitiful as he was, I couldn’t hold off questioning him any longer. There were things I needed to ask him urgently. “How did you find out about this place?” “Th-the Orac—” “Who are the Oracles?” The man’s breathing was growing ragged. “Th-the ones who received a revelation…” A revelation? “I…don’t want…to die…” He coughed up more blood, then stopped breathing, and his body went limp. Huiwon and the others came up behind me. “Is he…?” I looked down at the man and shook my head. A “revelation,” huh? What fancy-sounding nonsense. The only person in TWSA with such an ability was Anna Croft, who had the “Future Sight” skill. Then this could only mean one thing. …So I’m not the only one. But they don’t know as much as I do. The fact that they tested the waters by sending someone instead of coming here themselves proved it. “Dokja?” “Let’s take a break.” We covered the man’s dead body with large leaves and gathered around the T. rex’s corpse. We needed to hurry if we wanted to catch up with Junghyeok. But if we rushed off without proper rest, we could all die before we even reached him. I searched the T. rex’s corpse. I checked its head and inside its heart, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find its nucleus. But that didn’t mean there was no reward. Huiwon was drooling as she stared at T. rex’s body, which was had been seared in spots by my fire-imbued Blade of Faith. “…Can we eat this, by any chance?” “Yes, since it’s been cooked by magical flame. You can use a mana brazier to grill the parts that aren’t cooked.” We sat around the T. rex’s leg. Steam came from the well-done meat as I cut it. Gilyeong shouted excitedly, “New meat!” The impatient Jihye took the first bite while the rest of us each grabbed a chunk. It was a lot of meat—the kind of feast I could only dream of when I was an ordinary office worker. “Ah, this has to be the tastiest thing in the world…,” mumbled Jihye, savoring every bite with her eyes closed. The meat was delicious indeed. There was just the right amount of fat in between the muscle, so the texture was on another level compared to the meat from a ground rat. With every bite, my mouth was filled with the juicy, chewy taste of heaven… If Sangah were here, she would’ve wept with joy. As we ate in silence, I could feel my stamina recovering. The meat of a high-level monster species provided special effects, though we had to be careful since certain species weren’t edible. “Whew… That was amazing. It’s so good, but I can’t eat any more. I’m gonna cry,” Huiwon said, looking genuinely sad. After resting a bit, we headed directly to the lab located in the middle of the island. We encountered a few raptors, but having already killed a T. rex, we were hardly bothered by those small fries. Scattered throughout the lab were flasks and ampoules. There were also small incubators containing dinosaur embryos, as well as pieces of amber with insects embedded within, ready for extraction of blood samples. The only thing missing was people. Stepping into an inner chamber, I spotted some noteworthy items. [Stamina Amplification Ampoule] [Magic Power Amplification Ampoule] [Agility Amplification Ampoule] [Strength Amplification Ampoule] There they are. I quickly picked up the ampoules while the others were distracted. Just like the Angler Dragon’s Nucleus, these items were one of the few ways to increase overall stats in the early scenarios. Plus, it wasn’t just one or two ampoules here. I counted almost twenty bottles, enough to give me an enormous boost in power. This was why I’d saved up my coins instead of dumping them on stat upgrades. I was expecting this hidden scenario. After all, these ampoules could only be used on stats under level 30. “Hey, did you just pocket something?” …Damn, she caught me. “Huh? ‘Stamina Amplification Ampoule’?” Jihye snatched an ampoule from me. Her eyes went wide. “You weren’t trying to take them all for yourself, were you?” “O-of course not. I was gonna share.” “Huiwon, look! This guy’s trying to…!” The others came closer. Huiwon read the item’s information and was taken aback. “What in the…? There are items like this too?” “Well, this is a hidden scenario, so…” I couldn’t help but sound a bit annoyed. Damn it, this is not what I had in mind. Since I didn’t defeat the T. rex all by myself, I did feel a bit guilty about taking all the items. But I didn’t want to share them like this, either. [A few constellations who are fond of monopolies are displeased with the situation.] Jihye was staring at the Strength Amplification Ampoules as she spoke up. “Can I have the strength ampoules? My strength stat’s really low.” [Exclusive skill “Character Profile” has been activated!] Show the summarized view. <Character Profile> Name: Jihye Lee Exclusive Attribute: Scarred Sword Demon (Rare) Exclusive Skills: [Blade Proficiency Lv.4], [Demon Slaying Lv.1], [Perfect Senses Lv.2], [Ghost Steps Lv.2] Stigma: [Naval Warfare Lv.1], [Command Army Lv.1] Total Stats: [Stamina Lv.13], [Strength Lv.17], [Agility Lv.13], [Magic Power Lv.10] You sneaky little…! Lying with a straight face… “Huh? Huiwon, can I have it? Pleeease?” “Hmm, I think Dokja should decide since he found them…” To be honest, I didn’t mind sharing the ampoules with my group, but I didn’t want a single one to go to Jihye. She’s with Junghyeok, so why should I care…? [Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire hopes you will do what is fair.] “What’s fair,” huh…? Right, I know just the game for that. “How about rock-paper-scissors?” I asked with a smile. “Rock-paper-scissors?” “The winner of each round gets an ampoule.” An expression of pure greed flashed across Jihye’s face. “I’m in!” “Well…okay, if that’s what you want, Dokja. But are you sure? One person could end up taking them all.” “Then they must be very lucky.” Jihye was jumping up and down in excitement. You’re thinking you’ll nab a few for yourself, aren’t you? Well, it won’t go the way you expect. “Let’s start with the strength ones.” I took out those ampoules and turned to Jihye. “You and me first.” “Are you sure? I’m really good rock-paper-scissors.” “Are you now?” I gave Jihye a radiant smile. [Exclusive skill “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint” Lv. 1 has been activated.] [Character Jihye Lee is about to play scissors.]