Chapter 86

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Justin eyed the monsters blocking their way.

“So, I guess the free ride ended after the first dungeon. From here on out, the spawn rate’s only going to get worse.”

“This isn’t the time to be making casual observations!” Rachel yelled, raising her shield to defend against the charging enemies.

His other teammates also braced themselves, their faces tense as they quickly sized up the horde.

It was obvious why their mood had soured.

“Only two orcs, but there are almost twenty hobgoblins!”
“The corridor’s narrow, but if they rush us all at once, we won’t be able to hold them off!”

If it had just been hobgoblins, twenty or even thirty wouldn’t have been much of a problem—they could’ve wiped them out without breaking a sweat.

The real danger came from the orcs, who would wait for the perfect moment to strike while the party was distracted by the weaker enemies.

And the entire swarm of hobgoblins was just there to buy the orcs a chance to attack.

Even if you’re only pricked by a toothpick, it’s fatal if you’re struck in the head by a flying axe at the same time.

“Hyung, this isn’t going to work! Forget the experience points—just hit them with lightning already!”
Derek shouted in panic.

But Justin ignored his warning and calmly closed his eyes.

Instead, he focused on the new skill he had just obtained and muttered silently to himself:

‘Intimidation.’

Whoosh—

The air around them changed instantly.

It felt like the temperature had risen by just a degree, but the oppressive heat was undeniable.

As Justin slowly opened his eyes again, the battlefield had transformed.

“What’s wrong with you? Attack them! Attack now!”

The orc commander bellowed in confusion, his face twisted with frustration.

But the hobgoblins didn’t move—they were paralyzed with fear.

Some were even starting to back away, trembling in terror.

One of them, shaking uncontrollably, dropped its crude club.

Clatter.

“K-Kiieeek!”
“Kyaaaah!”

The moment the club hit the ground, the hobgoblins turned and fled in unison.

The two orcs roared in shock at their sudden retreat.

“Kraaah!? Where are you going?! Get back here!”
“Come back! If you don’t, I’ll kill you myself! Kraaaagh!”

But none of the hobgoblins returned.

In fact, some of them were desperately clawing at the walls of the treasure vault, trying to escape.

They were too terrified to even register the orcs’ threats.

Watching the spectacle unfold, Ethan stared at Justin in disbelief.

“What… what did you just do?”

“Just testing a new skill,” Justin replied nonchalantly, shrugging as he turned his attention back to the remaining enemies.

“Well, the small fry are all dealt with now. That just leaves the two orcs.”

“…!”

His words reignited the fire in his teammates’ eyes.

Even the orcs seemed to sense the shift in energy, shuddering slightly under their gaze.

After a moment’s hesitation, the orcs clenched their teeth and charged forward.

“Kraaaagh! The two of us are enough to handle you!”

“Yeah, not really.”

Maybe before they had gained their new dungeon rewards, that might’ve been true.

But now? Two orcs were no threat at all.

Justin pointed at the orc’s head, and Sang-gu’s thunder hammer flashed toward the other.

Two hits. That was all it took to deal with both orcs.

The remaining hobgoblins, realizing they were now alone, turned to face them. But without the orcs, they posed no real threat.

The party wiped out the hobgoblins with ease and soon stood before the vault door.

“Hngh…!”

Clang.

With a heavy groan of metal, the door slowly creaked open.

Inside, just as before, they were greeted by mountains of gold coins—a dazzling, shimmering sea that could easily blind someone with its brilliance.

But none of them were interested in the gold.

“Search everything! There’s gotta be a hidden item somewhere!”

“Please, let it be my turn for new gear this time!”

The team dove into the treasure piles like madmen, tossing coins aside as they scoured every inch of the room.

Sure, the gold could help fund their territory’s development, but upgrading their combat strength was the priority.

A good piece of equipment could be the difference between victory and defeat in their next fight.

But no matter how hard they searched, nothing surfaced.

“This is weird. Normally, we’d have found at least one item by now.”
“Maybe it’s something small, like a ring or a necklace?”
“Even if it’s a ring, the glow should make it easy to spot.”
“No way we’re just getting gold as the reward, right?”

After nearly thirty minutes of searching, exhaustion began to creep into their voices.

Just as Justin was beginning to wonder if this dungeon would break their lucky streak, Rachel pointed toward a far corner.

“Oppa, is that… a staff over there?”

“What?”

Turning his head, Justin spotted it—an ominous, dark-brown staff lodged deep in a chunk of stone, like something out of a legend.

It was oddly reminiscent of a legendary sword trapped in stone… except instead of shining brightly, it was so dark and dull that it blended into the shadows.

You could walk right past it without even noticing.

Gripping the end of the staff, Justin muttered under his breath.

“Why would anyone jam a staff into a rock like this? If it were metal, maybe it’d make sense, but with wood, it should snap before—”

Click.

“…Or maybe it just comes out smoothly like that.”

Of course, he thought, swallowing his awkwardness. Gotta love game logic.

Just in case there were more hidden rewards, he and his teammates searched the room again, checking every nook and cranny.

But nothing else turned up.

“That seems to be it,” Ethan said, frustration creeping into his voice. “No matter how hard we look, there’s nothing else.”

“Only one item? That’s pretty stingy for a dungeon this tough.”

“It’s not unheard of for dungeons to give just one reward. That usually means the item’s ridiculously strong.”

That thought made Justin examine the staff more closely.

Almost immediately, a system message popped up.

〈Staff of Gluttony〉

• Type: Mage-exclusive equipment
• Grade: Unique
• Description: A wicked staff that howls with insatiable hunger. It voraciously devours the remaining energy from nearby corpses. Any corpse near the staff will instantly turn to dust, and the absorbed energy will replenish the wielder’s mana. Its hunger will never be satisfied.

“…”

Jackpot.