“Should we go try a dungeon soon?”
As he ate the chicken salad served for dinner, Amon looked across the table at Sonia.
Sonia’s reaction was calm.
She had known this moment would come eventually.
In this world, there are two main ways to grow stronger.
One is through enhancement surgeries like magical tattoos, mechanization, or genetic modification.
However, Amon and Sonia had no intention of receiving any of these treatments.
Each type of enhancement comes with a critical drawback.
Magical tattoos continuously drain energy with every breath, leading to poor energy efficiency and significant inconvenience in daily life.
Mechanization is highly susceptible to hacking and EMP attacks.
Genetic modification distorts human appearance and creates specific allergies.
Each enhancement type carries a fatal flaw.
If Amon and Sonia were ordinary humans, they might accept these drawbacks and undergo the procedures, but they were blessed with divine power.
With their considerable potential, they saw no reason to take on such weaknesses.
So, only one option remained for growing stronger:
Obtaining essence from dungeons.
Of course, unlike enhancement surgeries, obtaining essence does not guarantee stable results, and the increase in power is far smaller.
Moreover, the mortality rate is much higher compared to enhancements.
Therefore, generally, undergoing enhancement procedures was the standard approach to gaining essence.
But Amon was different.
He had already proven his combat skills in the Hexen Group Dungeon.
So Sonia had anticipated that he would roam the dungeons in search of essence.
It was no surprise when he finally voiced it, so her reaction was calm.
However, there was one thing she wanted to clarify before he left.
“How long will you be gone? Don’t tell me you’re planning to stay overnight?”
Dungeons in this world aren’t that deep.
Since they’re abandoned research labs or company buildings that failed experiments blew up, it’s possible to go there and back within a day.
But that’s only true when they’re newly formed.
Over time, most dungeons become deeper, depending on the type of boss monster.
Would a boss monster stay near the surface forever, waiting to be defeated in a day?
Most bosses, like queen ants, gradually expand, complicate, and deepen their lairs.
“I heard it takes around four days to go there and back.”
Sonia’s golden eyes fixed on Amon, laced with disappointment.
Meeting her gaze, Amon smiled wryly.
“Don’t worry. It won’t be that long. I’ll only go to the entrance and come back for now.”
***
Amon certainly wanted to become stronger.
But he also wanted to live a long, happy life.
So he had no intention of recklessly charging at a dungeon boss and ending his life prematurely.
After all, there was no rush.
Safety first—that was his motto.
It was only after hearing Amon’s reassurance that Sonia let out a sigh of relief.
At the orphanage, she had always slept surrounded by her siblings.
Even though they didn’t share the same room after graduating, she had grown used to living under the same roof as Amon.
Being left alone at home… still felt a bit unfamiliar.
Maybe she just didn’t like the idea of Amon being away overnight.
Either way, she felt at ease with his answer.
“Take care of yourself. Don’t get hurt.”
Amon nodded.
If the mood had been right, they would have kissed, but even as lovers, kissing while eating was a bit much.
So they intertwined their fingers instead.
Sonia’s silver bracelet and Amon’s gold bracelet glimmered on their wrists.
Under the gentle lighting, they shared a quiet prayer for each other.
***
The next day.
Amon headed to the dungeon.
Cash didn’t come along.
Unlike a mercenary mission, Amon didn’t have the capacity to look after her this time.
They had agreed that Amon would go first to adapt to the dungeon, and then she would join him later.
For the time being, she planned to operate on her own.
Arriving at the street where the dungeon was located, Amon entered a building facing the dungeon.
<Explorers’ Guild>
It was a different place from the usual mercenary agency he frequented.
A mercenary agency connects mercenaries with clients, not a place for mercenaries to find party members.
A dungeon isn’t something you enter on a client’s request, but because you want to go in.
So, to find a party, he had to seek a space dedicated to explorers.
The automatic doors slide open, and Amon stepped inside.
People’s eyes turned to him.
They scanned Amon from head to toe.
Whether with mechanical eyes or magical vision, each person assessed him in their own way.
A good number of explorers quickly lost interest in Amon.
‘What’s this? Just a rookie without any enhancements?’
Good equipment didn’t matter.
It didn’t look like he could fully utilize that equipment.
Probably some rich kid playing adventurer, they thought, losing interest.
However, some hadn’t yet dismissed Amon entirely.
These people focused not on Amon’s physique but on his gear.
They believed that equipment often represented the user’s skill.
They examined the sword hanging from Amon’s hip and the attire he wore.
‘Could he be a former ninja or bodyguard?’
It was top-notch gear, the kind corporate soldiers would wear.
Anyone who appeared with gear like that couldn’t be incompetent.
Opinions on Amon split between these extremes.
Ignoring the contrasting judgments, Amon headed to the reception desk.
Approaching the receptionist, a woman with a warm and kind demeanor, he greeted her.
“Hello, Explorer. How may I assist you?”
It was a lucky break.
In this cyberpunk world, such kindness was rare.
“I need a party.”
“What’s your primary position?”
Her gaze shifted to Amon’s waist.
Sword and shotgun.
It looked like he was on the front line, but she asked to confirm.
“Frontline, swordsman.”
She nodded and entered Amon’s information.
It didn’t take long to find a match.
“Two parties are looking for a frontline attacker. One plans to stay only at the dungeon’s entrance, while the other aims to go as deep as they can. Which would you prefer?”
“Please, the entrance party.”
“Table 21. Wishing you a safe exploration.”
Amon tipped the receptionist in gratitude for her kindness and headed to Table 21.
Upon arriving, he was welcomed by a group of men with rather rough-looking faces.
Most were partially covered in mechanical parts, at least thirty percent of their upper bodies replaced.
“Hello, I’m Amon.”
The party members looked him up and down, exchanged glances, and nodded.
“Welcome. I’m Paul, the party leader. Pleased to have you with us, Frontliner.”
For someone whose neck was mechanical, his voice sounded surprisingly normal.
Paul introduced his party members right away.
“Evan. Yellow shaggy hair, rearguard, and a rifleman.”
“Hale. Huge guy with a blue buzzcut, firepower, uses a machine gun.”
“Tori. Long black hair, frontline. Thought he was a man, but she’s trans, and my partner. The only other frontliner in this party.”
“And lastly, I’m a mage. Don’t let the looks fool you; I’m a college-educated guy.”
“Pleasure to meet you.”
Amon bowed slightly.
There was no healer in the party.
Healers with divine power were only seen in high-ranking parties.
A party planning to turn back at the entrance wouldn’t have one.
They also didn’t have a hacker.
The dungeon they were heading into was created by a failed magi-tech experiment.
A hacker wouldn’t be of much use here.
With Amon’s addition, the party was complete and they set off toward the dungeon.
***
In front of the dungeon, the crowd was immense.
“Whew~ Looks like there are more explorers than monsters here.”
Evan, the guy with yellow shaggy hair, said, nodding toward his rifle.
Hale, the big guy with the blue buzzcut, moved his heavy frame and contradicted him.
“Do you even know how many monsters are in this dungeon? This place has been around for over twenty years, and the boss is a lich. From the outside, it looks like just a building, but if you add in the subspace underground, it’s the size of a city.”
“Yeah, yeah, take a joke, will you?”
“Sorry. I turned off my humor circuits since they interfere with ballistic calculations.”
“Nobody asked.”
“My apologies again—”
The two exchanged jabs with one another.
Yet they were smiling, clearly close friends.
Meanwhile, Paul and his partner were chatting affectionately.
Watching the slender mage and the muscular trans woman together gave Amon a real sense of this cyberpunk world.
Turning his gaze momentarily from his party, Amon looked at the endless line ahead.
The queue led to the entrance of what was once the headquarters of a company at the forefront of global magi-tech.
If you wanted to stay ahead, you couldn’t just follow others.
They always had to forge their own path.
Even if that path could turn into a dungeon.
<The Howling Darkness> Dungeon was one such place.
When they fell, no citizen felt sympathy, and the government made no rescue attempt.
As always, news spread that the place had become a dungeon, mercenaries flocked, and an explorer guild was established around it.
All they did was manage the entrance and charge a toll.
What was once someone’s grave was now just another job site in this world.
Amon offered a silent prayer for the victims.
Seeing him pray, party leader Paul placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Ah, a faithful one.”
He nodded toward the cross hanging around Amon’s neck.
Amon responded with a small smile.
“Don’t worry. I don’t impose my faith on others.”
“Haha. Still, if we need divine help in there, we’ll be counting on you.”
“Leave it to me.”
“Next group!”
Soon, their turn came as they conversed.
The party entered the dungeon.
At the entrance, it felt almost like a tourist cave due to the queue.
But as they moved further in, the atmosphere changed, and a forked path appeared.
“Did the lich create this too?”
“Yeah. Probably to disperse explorers as much as possible.”
Should they go up, down, or take the elevator?
Unlike a fantasy dungeon with a straightforward path, this setup was baffling.
The boss likely planned for that too.
But Amon and the party’s objective was clear.
“We’re going down. Let’s see if we can find a magic recipe there.”
Despite the crowds that had passed through, this place was still owned by a former mega-corporation.
There was a fair chance of good loot, even at the entrance.
There was no need to worry that everything had been looted.
While exploring or dealing with monsters, new recipes mysteriously kept appearing.
There were various theories about it, but the leading one was that the lich intentionally left them to delay dungeon exploration.
It didn’t matter either way—the goal for Paul’s party was a magic recipe.
“Let’s quickly clear up to the last checkpoint.”
“Yeah!!”
With a hearty shout, the party charged toward their objective.
“…Yeah.”
Amon’s soft, less-spirited cheer was an amusing addition.
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