The others fought on, keeping the monsters from getting too close to Seo’s work.

  Every so often, one would break through the line and rush toward them, only for Aseok’s iron rod to crack it in the skull with casual brutality before returning to his quiet observation.

  Little by little, the plan took shape. The pit widened, the monsters kept falling to the combined onslaught, and Seo MinHyun’s complaints got louder.

  “I swear,” Seo grunted between blasts, “when we get out of here, I’m charging you per square meter of dungeon I dig.”

  “Charge all you want,” Aseok said. “I won’t pay.”

  Seo nearly blasted him instead of the floor.

  Seo MinHyun planted his palms on the dungeon floor. This time, there was no hesitation, no complaints, no whispered curses.

  He had finally understood why Lee Aseok had insisted on digging straight down.

  The dungeon’s boss was at the bottom, and every floor in between was designed to grind hunters down with endless battles.

  So Seo MinHyun let his most destructive spell flow. Magic flared violently, a wave of energy splintering the stone beneath him.

  Every explosion was precise yet terrifying in scale, pulverizing the floor in moments. It was a dance of destruction, a symphony of mana and rock.

  Above him, Mu Yichen held his sword steady, not striking unnecessarily, but intercepting monsters that wandered too close, keeping their distance from Seo MinHyun’s work.

  Park Taegun became a living shield, using every defense skill in his arsenal to redirect attacks and minimize mana expenditure.

  Kang Juwon’s illusions created phantom duplicates that confused enemies, making them swing at empty air or charge into traps.

  None of them complained. Not vocally. But internally, they were all counting the seconds until this madness ended.

  Meanwhile, Lee Aseok leaned against a jagged wall, iron rod in hand, watching the spectacle with a bored expression. He didn’t fight.

  He didn’t shout instructions. He simply existed, observing. No one commented on it.

  They had learned long ago that trying to tell him what to do was as effective as arguing with a stone pillar.

  The floor finally gave way. Cracks raced outward, large chunks of stone collapsing in clouds of dust and debris.

  Seo MinHyun blinked, panting from the exertion, and stepped back. “There,” he muttered. “The floor is gone. Happy now?”

  Lee Aseok’s smirk was faint but present. Without a word, he moved first, jumping into the newly created chasm.

  Gravity pulled him down, but he landed lightly, as if falling were just another mundane task.

  Mu Yichen, Park Taegun, Kang Juwon, and even Seo MinHyun followed, one by one, into the darkness below.

  The sound of shattering stone echoed above as the gap sealed behind them, leaving only a faint shimmer of the silver circle above.

  They fell, deeper and deeper, until the world around them reformed.

  The first dungeon they landed in was fire-based. Lava rivers ran alongside jagged cliffs, molten geysers erupted without warning, and ash filled the air so thickly that even breathing felt like a challenge.

  Fire serpents slithered out of molten pools, their scales glowing bright orange. Flame elementals roared, throwing torrents of fire that melted the ground underfoot.

  “Of course,” Seo MinHyun muttered through gritted teeth, “fire dungeon. Couldn’t be anything simple.”

  Lee Aseok casually tapped his rod against the stone, as if testing its weight.

  The holy sword’s glow flooded beside him, but he made no move.

  Mu Yichen and the others readied themselves, instinctively moving in a defensive formation, protecting Seo from getting roasted mid-dig.

  Some time later, a sudden rumble shook the floor beneath them. They tumbled into a new area, ice-based this time.

  The ground was slick, jagged icicles hung from the ceiling, and frost elementals glimmered in the dim blue light, their cold aura slowing every movement.

  Snow leopards with crystalline fur prowled silently, eyes glowing with predatory intelligence.

  Kang Juwon’s illusions danced across the icy floor, confusing the beasts and drawing attacks away from Seo MinHyun.

  Park Taegun created frost-resistant shields, redirecting attacks back at enemies.

  Mu Yichen’s blade cut a path through the elemental foes with precise strikes.

  “Why does it always change?” Seo groaned. “One dungeon can’t be all Hell Gates, right?”

  Lee Aseok didn’t answer. He just pointed to a chunk of ice blocking their path.

  Seo MinHyun’s hands flared, shattering it. The others kept the monsters busy, and the party moved onward.

  Next, the floor became water-based. Submerged corridors, whirlpools of magical energy, and water elementals that twisted and struck like serpentine predators.

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  Hunter skills were hampered, movements slowed, and each step became a calculated effort.

  Seo MinHyun’s spells sparked underwater, exploding in bursts of steam and light.

  Mu Yichen slashed through rushing currents, Park Taegun blocked incoming blasts, and Kang Juwon’s illusions distorted the water, creating phantom monsters to divert the attackers.

  By the time they fell through the next few floors, the scenarios became stranger and stranger.

  There were puzzle-based chambers where the walls shifted depending on the hunters’ movements.

  Monsters weren’t the only threat; one wrong step could trigger spikes, crushing walls, or teleport traps. Each room was a test, requiring intelligence and instinct combined.

  Then came swamp-based areas. Foul gases, quicksand traps, and creatures with elongated limbs that could snatch hunters from afar.

  Each step was treacherous, and a single miscalculation could leave one completely stuck.

  Forest-based chambers came next, thick with carnivorous plants and treants that could move and strike with terrifying speed.

  The dense canopy blocked light, making illusions and defensive formations even more critical.

  Maze-based floors twisted endlessly, the corridors looping back unpredictably.

  Spectral monsters lurked in shadowed corners, attacks appearing from blind spots, forcing the group to stay hyper-aware.

  Yet, through it all, Lee Aseok remained calm. A bored observer with an iron rod and a glowing holy sword at his side.

  The others continued their roles, defending, confusing, intercepting, and, in Seo MinHyun’s case, demolishing the floor after floor.

  Throughout each dungeon type, one thing became clear: the monsters were all exceptionally strong.

  Many were S-rank or A-rank. Fire demons with molten claws, ice wraiths that could freeze flesh instantly, water serpents that lashed like whips, sentient plants that could manipulate the terrain, illusion-spawning treants, and puzzle-monsters that could anticipate attacks.

  And yet, each time, Lee Aseok’s calm logic guided their path.

  He knew the quickest way through each floor, exploiting weaknesses, finding gaps, and, most importantly, skipping unnecessary combat whenever possible.

  The others, despite their skill and power, had to admit that his insane methods, while nerve-wracking, worked.

  Every floor they fell through, every dungeon scenario, they got closer to the bottom faster than anyone would have expected.

  Seo MinHyun, exhausted and covered in dust and mana sweat, finally muttered, “I swear… if I survive this, I’m taking a long vacation… on an island with no dungeons, no bosses, and absolutely no Lee Aseok.”

  Lee Aseok didn’t respond. He merely smirked faintly, turning his attention to the next section of floor, the next challenge, already thinking three steps ahead.

  Mu Yichen, Park Taegun, Kang Juwon, and even Seo MinHyun understood, deep down, that following Lee Aseok was not only exhausting, it was humiliating. It was a test of patience, endurance, and sanity.

  But it was also the fastest way through Hell Gate.

  And, strangely, that made the ridiculousness of it all somehow… effective.

  By the time they hit yet another floor, the monsters were attacking simultaneously from multiple environmental angles, lava monsters spitting fire across icy patches, swamp beasts dragging water creatures into pits, forest predators ambushing from hidden corridors, puzzle traps activating mid-battle.

  But Lee Aseok, ever calm, just adjusted his stance, lightly tapping his iron rod against the ground, as if to remind the monsters that no matter their tricks, the hunters’ path would continue.

  They fell through fire, ice, and water in brutal succession—lava rivers giving way to frozen halls, then to flooded corridors where mana burned uselessly underwater.

  Every floor was different. Every floor was hostile. And every floor ended the same way: Seo blasted downward while the others fought to keep him alive.

  Because in the end, Hell.

  The first fifteen floors had passed with a strange rhythm. Seo MinHyun had accepted, more or less, his role as the dedicated digger.

  His destructive magic tore through floors and walls with frightening precision, and, for once, no one argued over his workload.

  He grumbled occasionally, but it was faint enough that it didn’t disturb the pace of their descent.

  But by the time they reached the twentieth gate, the smiles had disappeared.

  The novelty had worn off. The second wave of exhaustion settled over the party like a damp blanket.

  Lee Aseok’s eyes, still calm and calculating, scanned the floor ahead.

  He had the same bored expression as always, iron rod in hand, the holy sword beside him gleaming faintly in the dungeon’s dim light.

  The others, however, looked at him with a mixture of disbelief and quiet horror.

  “You’ve got to be joking,” Park Taegun muttered under his breath, arms aching, shield barely holding up against the constant pressure of monsters that never stopped coming.

  Kang Juwon’s illusions flickered around him, energy draining steadily. “This is… inhuman.”

  Mu Yichen, normally calm and composed, only shook his head slowly. “And he’s still… watching.”

  Seo MinHyun, however, had gone past disbelief and into frustration. His hair stuck to his forehead with sweat and mana residue, eyes slightly bloodshot. “This guy… he doesn’t even move. He just, he just makes us do everything!”

  Lee Aseok tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over the party.

  There was no sympathy. No reassurance. Just that faint smirk, the kind that made the stomach churn and the mind question life choices.

  “I’m enjoying watching humans suffer,” he said calmly, almost conversationally, as if admitting to a small guilty pleasure rather than declaring war on the sanity of his companions.

  There was a pause. Then the party’s eyes widened in unison.

  Seo MinHyun cursed under his breath, muttering words that would have made a veteran hunter flinch. “Are you kidding me? Enjoying it?! You’re supposed to—ah, forget it. Just shut up and keep digging!”

  Mu Yichen, Park Taegun, and Kang Juwon exchanged a glance that perfectly captured mutual resignation.

  By the time they reached the thirtieth gate, counting floors had ceased entirely.

  Numbers had lost all meaning, replaced by a haze of exhaustion, mana depletion, and constant destruction.

  Each floor was more brutal than the last: fire pits, ice storms, collapsing corridors, illusionary traps, and monsters that seemed to grow more aggressive with each passing gate.

  Seo MinHyun’s hands were trembling slightly as he poured mana potions into his system.

  His destructive spells became more automatic, more machine-like, like a tired blacksmith pounding endlessly at an unbreakable anvil.

  “Move faster! Don’t slack!” Lee Aseok said, tapping his iron rod lazily against the wall, as if the sound itself could prod Seo MinHyun into working harder.

  Seo MinHyun groaned loudly, “I’m—working! I’m working, damn it! And you—you’re just standing there like some overgrown statue, throwing all the work on me!”

  Lee Aseok’s smirk widened slightly. “You’re exaggerating. Just a little. I’m simply… supervising.”

  Mu Yichen raised an eyebrow at this. “Supervising by… not doing anything?”

  “Precisely,” Aseok replied with unshakable calm.

  Kang Juwon, his illusions flickering with exhaustion, muttered, “I’ve been in many battles. I’ve seen heroes act recklessly. I’ve seen them underestimate enemies. But I’ve never seen a hero make his own party suffer for his amusement.”

  Park Taegun just grunted, defending against a relentless swarm of A-rank monsters with tired precision. “This is… next-level… torture.”

  The party moved in a grim, efficient pattern. Seo MinHyun destroyed the floor with an almost robotic rhythm.

  Mu Yichen struck monsters with sharp, economical strikes.

  Park Taegun defended relentlessly, and Kang Juwon’s illusions redirected attacks that would have broken through even their best formations.

  Lee Aseok did not fight. He did not complain. He did not interfere.

  He merely existed as a cold, calculating eye in the storm, occasionally tapping his iron rod against the ground or flicking his gaze toward the group.

  Whenever Seo MinHyun hesitated or took a breath, Lee Aseok’s cold stare cut through him like ice, forcing him to resume his work despite muttered curses.

  “Stop looking at me like that!” Seo MinHyun shouted once, voice cracking. “I know I’m digging! You’re not helping! You’re making me suffer!”

  A faint chuckle escaped Lee Aseok. “Good. That’s part of the process.”

  Author Note:

  Every “OH MY GOD ASEOK STOP” gives me the strength to write the next disaster.

  Mon ? Wed ? Fri

  (Yes, I too question my life choices.)

  https://www.patreon.com/c/LithutheBloom

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