Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 16

EP.16 Don’t Think You’ll Die Easily Part 1

Jer’s eyes trembled as he watched Jeong-hyeon break through the walls in front of him. Everything Jeong-hyeon did was beyond astonishing—it was surreal.

‘… Breaking the wall?’

The walls of the dungeon were made of a complex mana organism. Even a renowned swordsman couldn’t easily cut through these walls, but Jeong-hyeon sliced through them effortlessly, as if such common sense didn’t apply to him.

‘And that’s not all.’

He wasn’t just breaking ordinary dungeon walls; these were walls in a berserk state. The berserk state made the walls twice as strong as usual, but Jeong-hyeon cut through them as if it was nothing.

‘… This guy is insane.’

It was shocking to the point of being terrifying. The most unsettling part was that Jeong-hyeon had hidden his strength all semester, pretending to be the weakest. Jer couldn’t fathom why Jeong-hyeon had deliberately concealed his power, and it made him frown deeply.

As he stared at Jeong-hyeon, a thought crossed his mind, causing him to stop in his tracks. Maybe the walls were easier to break than he thought. While the others moved ahead, Jer gathered his sword energy and swung at the wall.

Ping!

The sword bounced off without leaving a scratch on the wall.

“… This guy is a monster.”

Seeing it firsthand only intensified his fear. He had no idea what Jeong-hyeon’s true identity was. Remembering the odd feeling he had when he first sparred with him, he realized this was the reason and his hands trembled.

Jeong-hyeon calmly moving ahead, suddenly turned around with an angry expression after Miria whispered something to him.

‘… Damn.’

The murderous look in Jeong-hyeon’s eyes made Jer’s earlier thoughts of revenge vanish without a trace. He tried to back away, but Jeong-hyeon closed the distance faster than he could retreat.

“… Where is it?”

Jer didn’t even understand what Jeong-hyeon meant. With a blank expression, he stared at Jeong-hyeon, who, without hesitation, stabbed Jer’s thigh with his sword and spoke.

“Where is that bitch Erie?”

“Aaaaagh!”

The cold, alien sensation of the sword embedded deep in his thigh flesh caused excruciating pain. Tears welled up as he trembled, experiencing a pain unlike anything he had ever felt. Jeong-hyeon, without hesitation, pulled out the sword and spoke again.

“Not talking?”

“Guhhh…”

The pain was so intense that Jer couldn’t form any words. Jeong-hyeon looked at him expressionlessly and then plunged the sword back into his thigh, shouting.

“Where the hell is Erie?”

The searing pain made Jer desperate to survive, and he recalled the conversation he overheard that morning.

“N-near the dungeon core…”

Hearing this, Jeong-hyeon let out a hollow laugh and then, without warning, stabbed his thigh once more.

“I’m asking one last time. Where is Erie?”

“Really… near the core… ugh!”

“What, you were telling the truth? Just in case, Miria, grab this guy and follow me.”

“Uh… me?”

“You said you wanted to be friends, right?”

“Oh, right.”

Jer trembled as he listened to the conversation ahead. This demon-like guy intended to drag him along, sword still embedded in his thigh, to verify if he was telling the truth.

‘Damn… this guy is insane.’

For the first time in his life, Jer realized that when truly terrified, one could shiver like a skeleton. He was dragged by Miria, barely able to keep up.

***

Lucia held her breath as she observed the silent group. Normally, a group would share strategies or cautionary advice, so even those who didn’t get along would at least exchange a word or two. But these people walked forward in silence, resembling a procession to the underworld.

Lucia prayed that nothing would happen and that it would all end quickly, but then—

Rumble.

Suddenly, the entire area turned red, and violent mana began to crush everything around them. Realizing it was a dungeon berserk state, Lucia quickly shouted to her teammates.

“The dungeon is going berserk! We need to get out of here quickly!”

Despite Lucia’s urgent cries, her teammates merely stared at her indifferently. Their expressions seemed to suggest they had anticipated this event, filling her with an indescribable fear.

‘No… it can’t be, right?’

Even though she tried to deny it, the thought that they might have caused the dungeon’s berserk state wouldn’t leave her mind. She tried to convince herself that her biased thoughts were due to their usual animosity, but—

“We know.”

The emotionless voice of Erie confirmed Lucia’s worst fears. All her negative thoughts were true.

“Are you insane? No matter how much you hate me, causing a dungeon berserk state… during a joint exam… do you realize how many people could die or get hurt because of this?”

Erie responded with a laugh.

“Yes, I’m aware.”

Lucia felt something was terribly wrong. Despite Erie’s bad personality, she wasn’t someone who would lead many students to their deaths. Regardless of her personal judgment, the problem had already occurred, and someone had to be held accountable.

“Then… why would you do such a thing?”

Erie met her gaze and spoke as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

“Because it makes killing easier.”

The cold, alien nature of her words made Lucia take a step back, realizing that this Erie was fundamentally different from the one she knew.

“… You’re not yourself.”

“What do you mean? I’ve always been like this.”

“No, from what you’re doing now, it’s like you’ve been through countless battles…”

Smack!

Before Lucia could finish, Erie slapped her hard across the face.

“That’s not important right now, is it? What’s important is finding Jeong-hyeon.”

Lucia clutched her stinging cheek, staring at Erie in shock. She never expected her to resort to violence.

“So, tell me. Where that bastard Jeong-hyeon is? You would know, right?”

Filled with overwhelming fear and terror, Lucia closed her eyes tightly and shouted.

“And how would I know where Jeong-hyeon is? What makes you think I would know…!”

“Bishop Lea.”

Just one word. That single word silenced Lucia completely. Bishop Lea was one of the few who knew she was a saintess. Realizing that denying it any further was pointless, she clenched her fists and responded.

“… No matter what you say, I will never tell you.”

Erie scoffed and replied shortly.

“… Oh, really? Suit yourself.”

With that, Erie began to slap Lucia’s face repeatedly.

Smack! Slap! Smack!

The sound of slaps echoed around them. Along with it, mocking laughter surrounded her, as if everyone thought she deserved this.

“Why are you trying to protect Jeong-hyeon when he’s going to die anyway, Priestess? Is it because you both come from the same commoner backgrounds?”

The pain was unbearable, but the humiliation was even worse, crushing all of her pride. She knew that if she gave in, Jeong-hyeon would also suffer. Clenching her teeth, she managed to shout out.

“I… I will never tell you… never.”

Erie continued to slap her, as if to show that her defiance meant nothing.

“Sure, sure. Don’t tell us.”

The continuous violence made her right cheek swell, and her vision blurred. Realizing she might collapse without doing anything, Lucia pushed Erie away and started running forward using every ounce of strength she had left to seek help.

But her hope was short-lived as two figures blocked her path.

“Hey, Erie, you’re not doing it right. If you don’t hit hard enough, this bitch tries to run.”

“Exactly. You can’t do anything properly, can you?”

The two men, who had been mocking Erie, kicked Lucia hard in the stomach, sending her crashing to the ground.

“Ugh!”

The pain was incomparable to the slaps. Lucia vomited from the agony, and the two men laughed, exchanging jokes.

“Hey, you’re pretty good at this.”

“I practiced for this. If the instructors saw this, they’d probably applaud with tears in their eyes.”

“Yeah, right.”

Lucia trembled and cried from the extreme violence she had never experienced before. The cruelty of human malice was too much for her to bear.

“Hey, is your name Lucia? Whatever. Just stop this nonsense and tell us where he is. We’re getting bored.”

“… I will never tell you.”

“Fine. Then take some more.”

With that, they continued to kick her, forcing Lucia to curl up in pain.

The overwhelming violence was unlike anything Lucia had ever experienced, turning her mind blank. Trembling on the ground, she heard them sigh and speak to her.

“Damn, this is pathetic. Should we just kill her? Jeong-hyeon will come here anyway.”

“He’ll come, but it might take a while. What if we get caught by the instructors?”

“With the berserk state, they’re probably too busy to notice. And even if they do, what can they do? They’re just salarymen.”

“True.”

With that, they drew their swords and approached her. Overcome with indescribable fear, Lucia squeezed her eyes shut and trembled. Suddenly, a loud explosion echoed from afar.

“What was that?”

The sound was so loud that everyone turned to look, but the light magic didn’t reach that far, leaving them unable to see anything in the darkness. Just as they were about to resume their cruel task, a sword shot out swiftly, embedding itself in the shoulder of the man standing on Lucia.

“Shit! What the hell is this?”

He screamed in pain as the sword pierced his shoulder. Along with his screams, a man approached with a furious expression.

“You bastards really piss me off.”

Cursing under his breath, he came closer. Seeing Lucia’s state, his face twisted in anger.

“Don’t think you’ll die easily.”