I Picked Up the Greatest Villain in the Story

81.

‘That must be the portal.’

In the original story, each floor of the Tower had a variety of dungeons. Consequently, the types of monsters that appeared were also diverse.

The first floor was essentially the starting point and a safe zone. Although everyone was tense and looking around, Jian knew that no monsters would pop out here.

When they stepped onto that portal, the true first floor and the first dungeon of the Tower would appear. However, since he couldn’t pretend to know this, Jian also acted cautious like the others.

“Let’s pair up and look around. If anything happens, contact me immediately through the communication artifact. Does anyone not know how to use it?”

Everyone shook their heads at Yongho’s words. Jian glanced up at Sehun. The smiling face that seemed to say ‘don’t worry’ only increased his tension.

Would it have been better if Sehun was like others, scared and cautious? Seeing his calm face as if he was just out for a walk in a nearby park made Jian anxious about him doing something rash.

“Just in case, shouldn’t we look around other places first without touching that portal?”

Jungsu raised his right hand and suggested. As Yongho nodded in agreement, others also agreed.

“Let’s go this way.”

Jian pulled Sehun’s arm towards the right corridor of the first floor. Everyone moved in an orderly fashion to avoid overlapping routes.

With each step, dust that had accumulated on the floor rose. Jian sneezed, covering his nose with his sleeve.

“Achoo.”

“Hyung, wait a moment.”

Sehun grabbed Jian’s hand, stopping him. A moment later, Jian received a head mask covering below his eyes. Sehun, wearing an identical black mask, smiled with his eyes.

“No more coughing now, right?”

“…Yeah.”

While it suited him incredibly well, Jian wondered why on earth he was carrying around such a suspicious-looking mask.

For a brief moment, Jian imagined Sehun committing crimes wearing this mask, but he shook his head to dismiss the thought.

After the coughing subsided, they began exploring in earnest. Firmly closed doors were placed on both sides like stepping stones, with a long corridor in between.

Jian swallowed dryly and summoned his skill window. In the novel, it was only described that when you opened the doors in the Tower, a portal leading to the real first floor would appear.

There was no mention of monsters appearing, but you never know. When they reached the first door, Sehun stopped briefly and lightly knocked with his finger.

“Shall we open it? I don’t hear any movement inside.”

“Okay.”

Jian prepared to use his defense skill at any moment and nodded to Sehun. Without hesitation, Sehun twisted the doorknob.

Click.

“It’s locked.”

However, the door didn’t easily allow the intruders’ visit.

“Hmm. Should I break it?”

“No!”

Jian hurriedly stopped Sehun, who was clenching his fist without hesitation.

“Why with your bare hands? You have telekinesis. Use your ability.”

“Ah, right.”

Sehun smiled brightly as if he had forgotten. Jian wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and took a step back.

Crunch.

Sehun, who easily tore off the door, moved his long legs to enter. Jian quickly followed behind Sehun.

“Looks like it was some kind of reception room.”

“Yeah.”

There wasn’t much inside the door. As Sehun said, luxurious sofas with embroidered patterns, tables, and things like silver trays were left abandoned.

The other rooms were the same. Every time Sehun tore off a door with his telekinesis, they looked inside, but there was no sign of life or anything unusual.

At the end of the corridor, only a portrait of a middle-aged man with a mustache was hanging.

“You know in movies, sometimes the eyes in paintings move. Do you think this one will too?”

“…Don’t say things like that.”

Jian, who wouldn’t even glance at horror movies, spoke with a sour voice. He didn’t even look towards the portrait, really afraid that, just maybe, the man’s eyes might move if they met his gaze.

—Are you still far?

“Ah. We’re coming back now.”

At Yongho’s voice coming from the communication artifact, Jian tapped Sehun’s arm.

They took off their masks and hurried back to the first floor hall. It seemed Jian and Sehun were the last, as everyone else had already returned and gathered.

“Did you find anything?”

To Jihwan’s question, Jian talked about what they had discovered.

“No. There were several doors, but nothing inside. It’s similar to here. Just dusty furniture left, and at the end of the corridor, there was a portrait of a middle-aged man hanging.”

“Similar to us. They say the second floor is the same. The peculiar thing is that there are windows, but they’re blocked by walls so you can’t see outside. Plus, the second floor is the end. There are no stairs to go up further.”

Everyone’s gaze naturally fell on the portal showcasing a blue light.

“Then let’s move to the portal.”

Yongho took the lead. Hunter police followed behind him. Two hunters from the Hanbaraum Guild also moved, then Jihwan and Jungsu also stepped onto the stairs.

“Let’s go too.”

Jian didn’t force himself to take the lead. With Yongho’s ability and the others’ experience, they should be able to clear up to the fourth floor without much trouble.

When Jian and Sehun had climbed about halfway up the stairs side by side, Yongho, who had arrived first, signaled to the hunter police.

“I’ll go in first. Please come one by one with a time gap. That way I can protect you in case of unexpected situations.”

Although his voice was low, no one failed to hear Yongho’s words. The moment he stepped onto the portal, the blue light intensified for a moment. Soon after, only light illuminating the air floated like dust above the portal.

“I, I’ll go too.”

The moment a hunter police officer, visibly nervous, stepped onto the portal as Yongho had done, the situation that had just occurred repeated itself.

In this way, four hunter police including Yongho entered the portal.

“We’ll go next.”

This time, Jian stepped forward. Since they had introduced themselves and revealed Sehun’s hunter rank earlier, no one stopped them.

“I’ll go in first.”

“No. Follow me.”

Sehun tried to enter the portal before Jian, but Jian was a step faster. Seeing Jian disappear in an instant, Sehun gritted his teeth and also threw himself into the portal.

* * *

Jian wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand. The high temperature made his chest feel tight with every breath.

Finally, Jihwan and Jungsu entered the dungeon. One of the hunter police who had arrived earlier took out a mana measuring device that looked like a walkie-talkie.

Soon after, numbers appeared on the square screen. He showed the measured values to his companions.

“The mana level is similar to a B-rank dungeon.”

“The portal is like a dungeon entrance. This is completely a desert.”

Jihwan grabbed the front of his top and fluttered it. The castle earlier had a slightly cool temperature, but now it felt close to 40 degrees Celsius.

“I’ll set up the safety stone first.”

Yongho took out an artifact that looked like a gravestone from his inventory. He planted the stone in the sandy ground next to the portal and activated it, causing blue waves to spread out in a circle.

A translucent membrane rose within a 5-meter radius around the stone.

“The fact that this can be used too means it’s similar to other dungeons, right? Then there’s a high chance that B-rank monsters will appear here.”

Jian nodded inwardly at Jihwan’s deduction. As he said, the monsters appearing here were well-known types to hunters.

Everyone seemed relieved at the appearance of a familiar dungeon. Unlike their worries, if it was a B-rank dungeon, they could all clear it alone.

‘Is this why there were many casualties when they entered the 5th floor?’

They were still maintaining a state of tension, but it was highly likely that their vigilance would have dulled after clearing the 1st floor and passing through the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors.

“I feel vibrations from that direction.”

Jungsu, who detected a suspicious presence, pointed to the 11 o’clock direction. As he said, something was quickly approaching, cutting through the sandy desert.

“Using detection skill. It’s a B-rank Sand Worm!”

One of the hunter police who had introduced himself as Jeong Jinwoo revealed the identity of the monster.

“If it’s a Sand Worm, it’s good for a warm-up. What should we do? Should we just wipe them out first?”

“…Yes.”

After pondering for a moment at Jihwan’s question, Yongho nodded. Jihwan and Jungsu teamed up and were the first to leave the safe zone.

Kraaaa!

The Sand Worm that was hit by an arrow revealed its enormous body with a horrific scream.

The jagged teeth hidden inside the cylindrical body rotated like a whirlpool. The sand that had been concealing the Sand Worm scattered in all directions.

Feeling the tension of a raid after a long time, Jian let out a small breath and looked at Sehun.

Since it only becomes dangerous from the 5th floor onwards, it was good to use skills as much as possible and get familiar with them until then.

“Have you ever used skills on monsters before?”