Former Ranker's Newbie Life

Chapter 115

Do-Jin stayed pressed to the ground, his body flat against the dirt. He worked through the plan in his head, accounting for the number of enemies, their positions, the layout of the ruins, and how they’d move once things kicked off. There was too much to keep track of and even more to calculate.

He also had to build contingencies, because nothing ever went the way it was supposed to. If he went in with just one plan, he might as well slit his own throat now. He needed backup plans for every scenario he could think of, with counters ready before the fight even began.

That should do it.

After running the simulations until his head hurt and sorting them out in order, Do-Jin finally began the operation, which started off at a crawl.

Goddamn it, why the fuck are there so many rocks?

He dragged himself forward inch by inch, grinding his chest and arms against the dirt, using the bundle of brown grass he had ripped up as half-assed camouflage. Every step forward felt like it took forever, but at least he was making progress.

The Orcs around the campfire were oblivious. They were too busy tearing chunks out of some disgusting slab of meat to pay attention to anything else. Living in a barren shithole like this must have dulled their instincts, because not one of them was watching the perimeter properly.

Still, I’d be a complete dumbass to push any closer.

The shadows offered some cover, and the Orcs’ laziness helped, but only to a point. If he crawled too close, they’d kill him before he could whisper a single spell. Do-Jin stopped once he judged the distance was close enough and prepared the next move.

Now that he was a Tier 5 mage and his analysis had improved, he could summon up to three specters with Summon Wraiths. Although summoning multiple at once did shorten the duration, it wasn’t like bait needed to stay alive for long anyway.

Go on. Do your job.

The wraiths screeched and charged into the ruins, right toward the spot he’d marked. Their hollow cries cut through the night, and every Orc nearby snapped to attention.

Perfect... Take the bait, you dumb brutes.

The Orcs dropped their food, grabbed their weapons off the ground, and rose to their feet in a frenzy. That was when Do-Jin struck with Flame Shell. He forced his mana down into a crimson sphere until it pulsed with dangerous pressure. The spell wasn’t meant for the Orcs, but for the crumbling wall above their only escape route.

What was once part of a three-story structure was now a ruin, barely holding itself together and waiting for the slightest excuse to collapse. The blast tore into the wall and the pressure wave ripped outward, followed immediately by the grinding crack of stone. The entire wall buckled and fell, smashing down into the ground below.

The Orcs barely had time to react. One of them turned toward the commotion, only to be hit full force by the heat and concussive blast, flung across the dirt, and then buried under slabs of broken masonry. Dust flooded the ruins, swallowing bodies that rolled and thrashed in the chaos. Some were already dead, others half-crushed and screaming.

Every Orc still standing was focused on the collapsing debris.

Now’s the time.

Do-Jin sprinted like a possessed man, closing the distance to the ruins while their eyes were still fixed on the wreckage. He unleashed Fireballs in rapid succession at the rotten bones of the ruins. Pillars already cracked to shit buckled under the impact, walls collapsed like wet paper, and the whole place roared as stone and dust came down in waves.

The Orcs froze for half a second, then lost their minds. They screamed, shoved, and trampled each other to escape the falling wreckage. But Do-Jin had already funneled them into a narrow choke point with his summoned wraiths. There was no room to run.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Creeping Flame snaked across the floor, cutting off escape, and Flame Pillar shot sky-high, roasting everything caught inside. The so-called ranged fighters never got their shots off. They dropped their weapons, sprinting for the opposite end like scared animals, too busy avoiding the scathing fire to fight back.

Damn it. There are still too many...

Do-Jin didn’t have the luxury of relaxing either. Even after burying them under stone and fire, more than half of the Orcs were still standing. Some broke off and circled wide, clearly trying to box him in. Others blasted their war horns, the noise echoing like a death sentence across the ruins. Reinforcements were soon coming.

Do-Jin clicked his tongue and smirked. “Doesn’t matter. I wasn’t planning on sticking around to play whack-a-mole with you green bastards anyway.”

The operation was already a success. After all, he hadn’t come here to wipe out the Orcs, but to break open the hidden dungeon beneath the well.

“Too bad the fireworks are done for tonight. Hope you guys enjoy choking on the rubble.”

He snickered under his breath and summoned Anemone. The Orcs crowding the well couldn’t push past the flames and debris anymore, and they were trapped on the wrong side.

“Anemone, bite!”

An Orc lunged forward with a spear, only to be met by a silver wolf, her jaws locking around its throat and ripping out a chunk of flesh. It didn’t die quietly, thrashing and clawing at her neck as it choked on its own blood.

“Just die already, will you?”

Do-Jin raised his hand and drove a Frozen Arrow straight into its eye, snuffing it out in an instant. More spears rained around him. Survivors had crawled out of the flames, hurling weapons in desperation. He didn’t have time for this circus. Do-Jin dismissed Anemone and vaulted onto the edge of the well. The rope trap he had rigged earlier snapped into place with Earth Spear anchoring it.

“See ya!”

Without hesitation, he grabbed hold of the rope and hurled himself into the black throat of the well, leaving the Orcs howling in rage above.

***

The well leading to the hidden dungeon almost seemed bottomless. It wasn’t “break a leg” deep, but “turn into a puddle of blood” deep, so dropping straight down would’ve been suicide.

Ah... the good ol’ random junk in the inventory. Always comes in handy.

That habit of hoarding everything had followed him from his past life, and once again, it was paying off. But there was no time for a victory lap. Do-Jin braced his feet against the well’s slick wall and rappelled down fast, half-expecting the Orcs up top to get smart and cut the rope.

A sudden roar echoed above. Orcs leaned out over the edge, pointing straight down at him.

Shit. They’re faster than I thought.

Still, he was far enough down that even if the rope snapped, it wouldn’t kill him. With a little Psychokinesis, he could soften the fall. At least, that was what he thought.

However, the Orcs didn’t cut the rope. They did something worse. They started climbing down after him, snarling like rabid beasts. Their howls carried a clear threat that they’d tear him to pieces once they caught him.

“Goddamn psychos.” Do-Jin gritted his teeth, but then he relaxed. “Okay, this’ll work too.”

He looked down and kept moving, boots scraping the stone until he hit bottom first. Do-Jin knocked on the wall, listening to the echo. A hollow note answered back.

There it is. He tilted his head back and grimaced. Would’ve been nice to see something better than a row of Orc asses.

As the first brute’s hairy rear swung into view, he raised his hand and fired a Frozen Arrow right into it. The beast shrieked and slipped, plummeting like a loose sack of meat. Do-Jin stepped aside, letting it slam into the ground. Before it could even twitch, he rammed another Frozen Arrow into its skull.

“Wow, still alive? You’re a tough bastard.”

The thing twitched a few more times before finally going limp. Do-Jin looked up again. The rest of the Orcs had frozen mid-climb. Their eyes were wide with raw terror.

“What’s wrong? Keep climbing. Who knows? Maybe one of you lucky shits will actually make it out.”

Whether they understood or not, panic took over. They clawed over each other to get away, squealing and shoving like pigs.

Do-Jin didn’t give them the chance. “Frozen Arrow.”

He picked them off from below, one by one, until shrieks and curses echoed through the shaft.

Thank god they’re dumb as rocks. If those monsters had any brains to go with all that muscle, it’d be so unfair.

Satisfied, he turned away and pressed his palm against the wall. He poured Psychokinetic force into the stone, causing the wall to rumble a few times. Eventually, rocks broke loose and collapsed, revealing a jagged tunnel cut into the earth.

[Hidden Dungeon, Secret Base of the Abandoned Land, has been discovered.]

Do-Jin grinned. “Now we’re talking.”

***

Even after discovering the hidden dungeon, no bonus message popped up. This wasn’t the kind of place that handed out extra rewards. One shot at a clear and it would vanish. There were no respawns or second tries. That was why, even in his past life, only one person had ever cleared this place, and that one person was Do-Jin himself.

Back then, I was way higher level, though.

He stepped out of the well and into the dungeon, which began with a long corridor. It looked ordinary enough at first glance, but there was no such thing as a safe hallway here. This place was a death trap from start to finish.

Right... I died here once.

He’d let his level make him cocky, dropped his guard, and got himself killed like an idiot. However, that wouldn’t happen this time.

A dungeon built entirely on traps isn’t a problem when the blueprints were already stolen. And I’ve got the blueprints burned into my body.

Do-Jin loaded mana into his circuits and stepped forward. It wasn’t to walk, but just to trigger the first “welcome gift” this place had waiting. Metal shrieked from every direction, but Do-Jin had already retreated toward the well before the ringing even died down.

This place is still brutal, even now.

The spot he’d stepped on, along with the entire visible corridor, was shredded by a storm of jagged blades that stabbed out of hidden slots. As far as greetings went, this one screamed overkill, and that wasn’t even the end of it.

Hundreds of tiny blades twitched all at once. A high, eerie whine filled the air as their edges started spinning, and then they rose off the floor. Each one was a small metal golem, a drone-like monster that could actually fly, armed with a rotating saw blade. It was a vicious setup, the kind of trap that waited for the exact moment someone relaxed after surviving the first wave.

The moment the little bastards took flight, his preloaded Gale filled the corridor with violent air currents. Their flimsy designs, lightweight for the sake of flying, turned into their greatest weakness. The gusts sent them spiraling out of control, their rotors stalling midair.

Do-Jin didn’t waste the opportunity. He used Whirlwind to twist the air into a violent vortex. The buzzsaws slammed into each other like shrapnel in a blender, tearing themselves apart. The fragments scythed through their neighbors, triggering a chain reaction of destruction until the whole swarm collapsed in pieces.They were small, fast, tough, and deadly with a single hit, but Do-Jin had twisted every one of those strengths into a weakness and crushed them with their own design.