They both burst out of the fountain area almost immediately, running for their lives as a horde of vengeful spirits was right behind their tail.
"Shit! What do we do Minjae?! Are we just gonna run forever?" Jiwon questioned in between breaths.
"Commence Operation: Grave Robbery!" Minjae answered while running, pulling up the map and sharing it with Jiwon.
Various different paths ran down the Crypt, some long and windy while others were short and narrow.
"What the hell is that?!"
"We split up!" Minjae yelled, pointing at two separate paths on the map. "I take right, you take left! Loot as many treasures as you can before coming back here in two minutes!"
"What? How do I know where each treasure is? Can't you just follow me—?!"
"Can't! Paths are too narrow for both of us to fit without slowing and getting caught!" Minjae cut her off.
"Figure it out!" he said, already running to the right path. Half of the spirits split off and chased after him.
He cut through a narrow corridor, boots sliding against the uneven stone as he turned another corner. His eyes scanned the shelves, mostly full of skulls but not finding anything he wanted.
Minjae stopped at a particularly decrepit place filled with coffins. Immediately, he opened one of them, expecting a treasure to be there, but still finding nothing.
"…You've gotta be kidding me."
One glance, two—move. That was how it worked.
In Battle Arena dungeons, treasure spawns followed patterns, predictable enough that experienced players knew where to check.
Corner coffins, cracked skulls, and wall recesses near intersections…still nothing.
"…RNG is absolute trash today," he muttered under his breath, vaulting over a collapsed slab of stone.
Minjae darted into another branching path, sweeping his gaze across the area before he finally landed on something—a small necklace with a shiny emerald embedded right in the middle.
"There you are," he reached for it before pocketing the item immediately.
Minjae pushed off almost as fast as he came, retracing his steps as the map updated the more he moved.
By the time he looped back toward the rendezvous point, Minjae had pretty much combed the entire right side of the Crypt and only came out with one treasure.
Well, whatever. Jiwon probably did better.
But not even a few seconds after his thought, she emerged. Jiwon was standing there, slightly out of breath…holding exactly one relic in her hand.
"…No way," Minjae said flatly.
Jiwon looked at him, then at the single item in his hand.
"…You too?"
But they didn't have time to lament, as the distant wails behind them grew ever louder…the spirits were coming back. Minjae's eyes flicked toward the fountain behind them for half a second, then back to Jiwon.
"Hide, quickly!"
Jiwon didn't have to be told twice, as she was pretty much already behind one of the trees as soon as he told her to. Minjae exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulders once as the first of the spirits came pouring into view.
Dozens of them.
"…Alright," he muttered. "Come get me."
The moment their hollow gazes locked onto him, a large wail resounded through the Crypt before they all surged forward. Minjae turned and ran, cutting straight through the grass and making his way right toward the fountain in the center.
He put both of his hands in the water, scooping it up before turning around to look at the spirits.
Closer…
They continued chasing, wailing all types of curses Minjae'd probably heard a few dozen times by now. They weren't directed to him specifically…just the dungeon's curse.
"I TRUSTED YOU!
Closer…just a bit more…
"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE OUR HOPE! YOU LIED!"
A tinyyyy bit more…!
"WHAT MAKES HER DIFFERENT FROM US?"
NOW!
With a big swinging motion, Minjae scattered the water into the air, droplets catching the light as they splashed directly into the incoming horde.
The moment it touched them—
SCREEEEEEEEEEEE!
The entire space erupted into shrieks. The spirits convulsed violently as their forms unraveled, as if something was tearing them apart from the inside.
One by one, they vanished into a puff of black air, never to be seen again.
Silence crashed down just as quickly as the noise had come. Minjae shook off the last of the water from his hand, watching the remnants of mist fade into nothing.
"Phew…" he exhaled slowly. "Mission successful."
From behind the trees, Jiwon slowly peeked out. As soon as she saw the space was empty, she immediately ran over to him.
"What the hell were those things?! And how did they disappear when you did that?"
Minjae dried the last of the water on his pants before looking over to her. "Vengeful spirits, mostly all of Amon's victims."
"They're bound to the tomb," he continued, nodding toward the now-empty space. "They didn't pass on. Just stayed here…rotting."
Minjae glanced back at the fountain. "Holy water purifies them. So I did just that. It's one of the easier mechanics to memorize in this dungeon."
Jiwon stared at him, then slowly looked at the fountain, then back at him again.
"…Okay but—" she pointed at it. "How does a fountain of holy water just…conveniently exist here?"
Minjae crouched beside the base of the fountain, brushing his hand across the stone. Dust peeled away in thin layers, revealing the faint scratches beneath…like they'd been carved in a hurry.
"…Because someone put it here," he said finally.
Jiwon stepped closer. "…Someone?"
"Yeah. I'm not sure who it is to be honest."
"The actual Dungeon is lost to time," Minjae continued. "So even if we ponder over it now, there's no point. This is just a recreation."
His fingers ran along the grooves, tracing it before Jiwon reached out and stopped his hand. "…Minjae, hold on."
"What?"
"The thing your hand is tracing looks kind of like a language?" she said curiously, leaning in to inspect it further.
He paused for half a second. "…Yeah?"
Jiwon studied the line more closely, lips parting slightly as recognition followed. "…It's Welsh."
Minjae blinked once. "…You can read that?"
"A little," she muttered, eyes scanning across the carving. Her expression shifted as she pieced it together, the words settling in.
"Os mai dy law di… mae'r dŵr yn aros i ti."
"Which means…"
She hesitated.
"…'If it must be by your hand… the water waits for you.'"
Minjae stared at the text for a bit before speaking. "I never would've guessed it was a language we know."
"But there's no point trying to understand it."
Jiwon glanced at the carving once more, frowning faintly,but didn't say anything else.
Minjae finally traced the rest of the saying before a sound filled the room. Gears grinded as something moved underneath. The steady trickle of water from above suddenly stopped altogether.
And from the center of the fountain, the surface parted just enough for something to rise…
A small ring, with a dark metallic band, embedded with a bright pearl. It hovered for a moment before settling at the surface, waiting to be taken.
Jiwon blinked. "…That was in there?"
Minjae reached forward and picked it up without hesitation.
"Yeah."
He turned it once between his fingers, a small, satisfied look crossing his face. "It's a hidden item not many know about unless you obsessively research Dungeons like I do."
"Not exactly something you should be bragging about," Jiwon frowned before continuing on. "So what exactly is it?"
Minjae slipped the ring into his pocket.
"It's an item that allows us to stun-lock the boss for five seconds," he said. "More than enough time for someone to go for the killing blow."
Jiwon narrowed her eyes. "…And its name?"
"Ring of Gentle Requiem."