There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 567 - 561. What Should Be There

Chapter 567: Chapter 561. What Should Be There

Funnily enough, Han Shin did possess the highest IQ among them. After all, being Trinity’s chief researcher wasn’t just for the sake of title.

"Okay, okay; you’re the smartest," eventually, the pursing lips turned into a sheepish grin at the big brother’s compliment. "Should we just dive in?"

"Yeah, but let’s be vigilant still," Bassena said. "The reading is still black after all."

They nodded and Eleanor showered them with buffs before entering as usual. The Spirit Queen had also proactively provided a barrier in the last couple of dungeons. Within this protection, they saw what Han Hoon had witnessed before.

A cliffside and a forest; swarms of minions around a black core with swirls of miasma coiling around. It was like a cult waiting for a resurrection. But that wasn’t what intrigued Zein.

"This..."

His eyes widened slightly at the sight of the minions. They looked...familiar. He promptly turned his head toward Ashur, who had the same reaction as him. When their eyes caught, they realized they were thinking of the same thing.

"Is this...that dungeon?" Ashur voiced it out.

"Huh? You mean the anomaly one?" Han Shin blinked, and when both Ashur and Zein nodded, he clasped his cheeks. "Are you sure? It’s not just...similar?"

"Well, I remember these minions because I killed some of them," Zein said as he watched the flying squirrel with scythes as hands that had been ignoring them even though the distance was only twenty-five meters.

Ashur stretched his neck to check the forest path they should be taking if they came from the normal gate. "Yep, the landscape looks similar too."

"Wow..." Han Shin blinked. "Wow!"

After exclaiming, he proceeded to busily jot notes in his commlink, while the others observed the strange cult in front of them. "Well, let’s just clear this place and think about it later," Bassena shrugged.

By Han Shin’s request for further research, they deliberately let the cultist alone. Those minions did not even flinch when they came closer, so they decided to clear the rest of the dungeon. It didn’t take a lot of time since the terrain wasn’t big in the first place.

"This is exactly how I remember it," Ashur said. This narrow path that did not let us go anywhere but to the Specter."

"But this time, there’s an exit," Zein said, looking at the swirling gate at the end of the path.

Last time, they were thrown into the gate without any exit. Zein didn’t even think they got out because of the Spectre. It could be...

Zein held his thoughts for himself for now. They continued to search the dungeon more thoroughly, looking at every nook and cranny, even between the trees. In the end, they came back to the boss’s area with nothing, where Han Shin was busy taking pictures of the weird cult and making various measurements on the black orb from five meters away.

"Well, at least one of us is having fun," Bassena shrugged.

"Oh, you’re back!" Han Shin exclaimed and pointed to the minions. "Look, they don’t react even if I’m this close."

Of course, he was only that confident to get into the range of the scythe because the Queen cast a barrier around him. He stepped back then and gestured at the warriors. "Quick, quick--try attacking the core!"

The espers replied casually to the enthusiastic request; Ashur took a javelin from his astral arsenal and lightly threw it at the core. When the tip of the spear touched the wisp of miasma surrounding the orb, the flying squirrels suddenly moved as if programmed automatically. They hissed and snarled as they turned and raised their scythe at the espers, only to be cut down in three parts with one move of Han Joon’s hand.

"Huh," Han Joon nodded while recalling his wires back; the invisible string dyed in black liquid. "Their only role is to protect the core."

"Ah, the minion’s level is too low for the dungeon rank, right?" Han Shin raised his index fingers and pointed at the core. "The black dungeon reading is basically coming solely from that orb."

He showed them the measurement device, which showed that the miasma level of the orb was only slightly lower than the overall dungeon.

"Do you have any conjecture?" Bassena asked.

"Hmm...if I have to make a guess," Han Shin tapped his chin in pondering. "The orb seems to be a recovering Specter core. There--if you look closely, you can see an imperfection, like it was chipped by something."

"So?"

"So, it’s probably the same dungeon you went before," Han Shin shrugged. "But you weren’t exactly ejected from the dungeon normally, right? So you don’t really know if the dungeon was truly destroyed or not."

Ashur tilted his head to recall. It had been...what? Four years? It was rather hazy, but it seemed like they suddenly got thrown out before they could properly assess the situation.

"I think the core is continuously healing by receiving miasma from the cult--as you called it--and attempting to reform itself," Han Shin concluded. "It’s not an eternal dungeon, but it persisted without breaking because the boss is not in a condition to break through the gate."

"I see..." Bassena nodded at first, but then frowned. "But...how did it manage to heal, though? Specter doesn’t form just from miasma..."

They paused; Bassena looked at Zein, and in the next second, the guide ran toward the exit. Bassena quickly followed, and Cohen moved in reflex to catch up to Zein. The rest looked at them in bewilderment, before heading to the exit too, leaving the Queen fuming behind them.

Bassena caught Zein quickly, but he did not stop the guide. He just moved in front of the man and made a quiet signal to be careful right in front of the dungeon gate. Zein, who was moving by instinctive call earlier, promptly stopped and took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"I don’t know what happened, but let me check the situation first," Han Joon said and suddenly disappeared behind the gate.

"Breathe," Bassena rubbed the guide’s shoulder. "The fact that the core is steal healing means it’s still there."

"Yeah," Zein took another deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry."

"Don’t be," Bassena shook his head. He knew Zein wasn’t usually like this. It was just a triggering memory of failing to reach something in the last seconds. "Ah, here’s Joon."

Han Joon came back quicker than usual, bringing unexpected news. "It was a cliff--actually, it was the exact same place as this dungeon, as if they are mirroring each other," he told them with a calm but fascinated tone. "And there are two fragments roaming around as if they are searching for something."

Zein raised his brow, and then frowned, before tilting his head on confusion. All in a span of two seconds; the most Zein had changed his expression.

"At any rate, I’ll go and get rid of the fragments with Ashur. Wait here for now," Bassena said, and this time, Zein nodded obediently.

Bassena and Ashur quickly dispatched the fragments since they were only the weakest ones. Zein didn’t even have the time to feel anxiety from waiting before Bassena came back to pick him up. He stepped out with anticipation, but quickly deflated after seeing the terrain.

Just as Han Joon said, it was the exact same setting as the dungeon; the forest path leading to a wide cliff. The miasma from the dungeon obscured the surroundings, but it was enough confirmation that the dungeon’s interior was a copy of the real thing. The only difference was that in the Deathzone, the gate was located on the cliff, not at the end of the forest path.

"This is the location of the core, right?" Han Shin tilted his head at the gate’s location, feeling confused at the discrepancy.

Zein, however, only cared about one thing.

It’s not here! Why is it not here?!

His anticipation started to turn into anxiety, and he swiftly gripped Bassena’s hand as an anchor. "It’s not here..." he whispered.

Bassena looked around; indeed, there was nothing else there after they took down the fragments. Actually, the fact that the fragments were still loitering around as if they were searching for something meant they also didn’t find anything.

"If it’s here...where do you think it should be?" Bassena asked in return, and Zein immediately closed his eyes to recall the last thing he saw before being forcefully ejected from the dungeon at that time.

"There," Zein pointed somewhere, and Bassena furrowed his brows even more.

Because Zein was pointing at the dungeon gate.

"You mean...where the dungeon is?"

Zein merely nodded; his mind was too clustered to sound any words. Bassena stroked his lips in contemplation for a while, before finally coming to a decision.

"Alright, we’ll destroy the gate from this side this time," Bassena announced.

"What?" Han Shin widened his eyes. "You mean...cutting ourselves off of the star corridor?!"

"We just need to find another dungeon," Bassena shrugged. Before anyone could make more protests, he already moved toward the gate. "Just stay here. I’ll take the orb and tell the Queen to wait for us in the star corridor."

"Huh? Hey, wait--" Bassena already disappeared inside the gate before he could finish talking. "Huh...?"

He turned to look at his brother, but Han Joon just patted his shoulder lightly. "He’s the commander," the man said. "He must have thought about it deeply before taking action, so just trust him."

"Uhh...I guess?" Han Shin purses his lips. "I’m not exactly against it, just...confused?"

Han Joon smiled and patted the healer’s head, but his eyes were kept on Zein, who had been staring intensely at the dungeon gate.

Or to be precise; at the boulder beneath the dungeon gate.