By gate forty, exhaustion had become routine. Seo dug. The others fought. Lee Aseok watched—and smiled.

  Seo MinHyun grumbled constantly, potion in one hand, spell in the other, tearing chunks of stone as if the dungeon itself were a personal enemy. His cursing had become almost ritualistic.

  Despite their complaints and exhaustion, the party pressed onward.

  Seo MinHyun continued digging like a machine, interrupted only by occasional potions to replenish his mana.

  Lee Aseok’s iron rod remained idle, his calm gaze a constant reminder of their plight.

  Every so often, Aseok would glance at them, a faint smirk returning to his face. “Keep moving."

  And every time, the party went silent, silently agreeing that the quickest path to survival was to obey. To dig. To fight. To endure the hero’s cruelty without question.

  Because they knew, deep down, that arguing would only slow them down, and slowing down could mean death.

  So they moved.

  Seo MinHyun destroyed. Mu Yichen struck. Park Taegun defended. Kang Juwon misled the monsters.

  And above it all, Lee Aseok observed, iron rod in hand, smirk intact, entirely unbothered.

  The dungeon gates passed, one by one, until counting them seemed irrelevant.

  They had reached a level where the only measure of progress was survival and endurance, and Lee Aseok’s cold, sadistic amusement.

  They were the first hero party in history to be subjected to such treatment, and they hated every second of it.

  Yet, strangely, with every crushed floor, defeated monster, and agonized shout, they knew they were advancing faster than anyone else ever could.

  And for Lee Aseok, that was exactly the point.

  Because sometimes, survival wasn’t about protecting the party. It was about making them better, whether they realized it or not, and having a little fun watching them suffer along the way.

  The dungeon stretched on below, endless and cruel, filled with monsters, traps, and impossible odds.

  The party’s bodies ached, their mana reserves dwindled, and their patience thinned.

  But they continued.

  And Lee Aseok, the hero who bullied his own party, continued to watch, iron rod in hand, smirk intact, and completely satisfied.

  The party, exhausted, cursing, and silently plotting revenge, had no choice but to follow.

  If anyone had told Mu Yichen, Park Taegun, Seo MinHyun, or Kang Juwon that being part of a hero party could feel like being ground under an iron rod, they might have laughed in disbelief.

  But after weeks, no, months, of following Lee Aseok’s bizarre strategies, they had learned to accept the truth: they were the first hero party in history to be bullied by their hero rather than protected by him.

  And yet, somehow, they were still alive.

  Somehow, they were still moving forward. Somehow, they had developed muscles they didn’t know existed, stamina that defied logic, and a growing sense that the universe had a cruel sense of humor.

  Now, the party had reached a massive chamber that stretched wider than any room they had seen so far.

  Shadows flickered across the walls, illuminated by the faint glow of torches embedded in the stone ceiling.

  From the darkness ahead, an army of undead poured into the chamber, their bones clattering, eyes glowing with an unnatural light.

  Seo MinHyun immediately rolled up his sleeves and started muttering incantations under his breath, preparing his destructive magic.

  The floor shook slightly as he focused his power on breaking through the dungeon floor beneath him, tearing at the stones like a child digging through a stubborn sandbox.

  “Come on! Move faster!” he shouted at the stones, throwing an annoyed glance toward Lee Aseok. “I’ve got enough enemies without—ugh!—you just standing there!”

  Lee Aseok tilted his head calmly, observing the undead army. His hand rested lazily on the iron rod strapped across his back, as though he were merely waiting for an invitation to dance.

  Before Mu Yichen or the others could take a step forward, Lee Aseok lifted the iron rod and swung.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  The effect was instantaneous. The army of undead shattered as if a gust of wind had hit them.

  Bones splintered, skulls cracked, and for a moment, the chamber was silent except for the faint echo of destruction.

  Dust rose like mist, and the remaining undead were reduced to piles of rubble.

  Mu Yichen blinked. Park Taegun’s jaw dropped slightly. Kang Juwon’s illusions wavered, as if startled by the sudden display of raw power. Seo MinHyun froze mid-spell, eyes wide in disbelief.

  “He… he actually helped?” Seo MinHyun whispered, barely believing it. “Is he… changing? Did the hero suddenly decide to protect us?”

  But the moment they dared to hope, the undead stirred again.

  From the broken bones and shattered corpses, skeletons reassembled, eyes glowing anew. The army was rising once more, groaning and clattering like a cursed machine.

  Lee Aseok’s expression remained perfectly calm. Without hesitation, he swung the iron rod again. The undead were obliterated once more, scattered like dust in the wind.

  Mu Yichen, Park Taegun, Kang Juwon, and even Seo MinHyun could hardly comprehend what they were witnessing.

  For once, the hero seemed willing to fight alongside them. Perhaps he had had a change of heart. Perhaps…

  “Too slow,” Lee Aseok said, glancing at Seo MinHyun with a calm but cutting gaze.

  The party’s hopes were immediately dashed. Any thought that Lee Aseok had suddenly become benevolent was crushed under the weight of that single sentence.

  Seo MinHyun let out a long, drawn-out groan of frustration, kicking at the dirt beneath him.

  “He’s still heartless!” Seo MinHyun muttered, rubbing his temples. “Still not helping… just… just throwing insults while killing things!”

  The truth, of course, was far stranger than any party member could have imagined.

  Lee Aseok’s actions were not driven by sudden heroism or compassion.

  In his previous life, he had suffered on this very floor. The undead never stopped coming back, forcing him to fight endlessly in a cycle of frustration and pain.

  Each swing of the iron rod was not about helping the party, it was about revenge. Cold, silent, meticulous revenge.

  Mu Yichen and the others had no idea.

  They only saw the results: undead crushed, floor trembling, Aseok standing there with his iron rod, calm as a statue, smirking faintly as if this were all perfectly normal.

  Seo MinHyun cursed under his breath. “Unbelievable… he’s enjoying this, isn’t he?”

  A faint smirk touched Lee Aseok’s lips, confirming Seo MinHyun’s suspicion. “Maybe a little,” he said quietly, almost conversationally.

  Mu Yichen, Park Taegun, and Kang Juwon exchanged looks that blended disbelief, exhaustion, and the faintest hint of exasperation.

  They had long since stopped asking why Lee Aseok did things. They only accepted that whatever he did, it was never normal, never predictable, and always… effective.

  “Should we… help?” Park Taegun asked cautiously, stepping forward, shield raised.

  Mu Yichen shook his head. “No point. He’ll handle it. We just need to survive long enough for him to finish.”

  Even Kang Juwon’s illusions flickered in reluctant agreement. “Fine. But next time, we’re bringing snacks. Or maybe sedatives.”

  The undead army seemed endless. As soon as one group fell, another rose, as if the dungeon itself had conspired to punish intruders.

  Yet, for the first time, the party began to understand a pattern: Lee Aseok’s swings were precise, targeted, and systematic.

  He wasn’t merely attacking, he was clearing a path, one calculated motion at a time.

  Meanwhile, Seo MinHyun continued his destructive magic, grumbling constantly, tearing through the dungeon floor like a man possessed.

  Potions were consumed at an alarming rate, but the mana flowed, the work continued, and the floor slowly gave way beneath them.“Faster! Faster, damn it!”

  Lee Aseok’s cold gaze followed each motion, cutting through the air like a knife.

  Seo MinHyun muttered curses but increased his output, sweat dripping down his face, energy draining like a river in flood.

  Soon, the chamber beneath them collapsed. The floor cracked, chunks of stone falling into the darkness below.

  The party leapt in unison, following the path Lee Aseok had forged, their bodies hitting the next dungeon floor with a heavy, echoing thud.

  And immediately, the monsters attacked again. The fight continued.

  The floor beneath their feet gave a loud, ominous crack before crumbling away completely.

  No one screamed this time, they were far too used to falling into darkness to waste breath on theatrics.

  The party plunged downward, landing in yet another unfamiliar space, the stench of monsters thick in the air.

  And then… chaos.

  Beast after beast lunged from the shadows. Some had too many teeth. Some had no teeth but an unreasonable number of eyes.

  Others made noises that sounded suspiciously like Seo MinHyun’s complaining.

  They fought. They dodged. They cursed. And before anyone realized it, the cycle repeated, floor collapse, darkness, new monsters, more destruction.

  After what felt like days, though it could have been hours or weeks, Mu Yichen, Park Taegun, Seo MinHyun, and Kang Juwon stopped even trying to keep track of how many floors they’d cleared.

  Seo MinHyun in particular had lost all sense of numbers. He had no idea how many dungeon floors he’d destroyed, how many times he’d shouted at the ground, or how many mana potions he’d chugged in desperation.

  All he knew was that he had officially consumed enough magical elixir to bankrupt a mid-sized guild.

  Meanwhile, Lee Aseok strolled behind them like a tourist on vacation.

  He occasionally stepped in to help—if “help” meant casually swinging his iron rod once and obliterating a threat that had been giving them trouble for five straight minutes.

  But most of the time, he stood back, chewing on energy bars like this was a scenic picnic.

  The audacity.

  It was on the seventy-somethingth floor, possibly eighty-something, but who could be sure, that Seo MinHyun finally broke.

  In the middle of a battle with a large, slavering beast that had the personality of a tax collector and the face of a disgruntled cow, Seo MinHyun stopped, sat down, and refused to move.

  “I’m done,” he declared, dropping his staff onto the floor like he was resigning from life itself.

  “I don’t care if the monsters come. I don’t care if the floor collapses. I’m done digging, I’m done fighting, and I’m definitely done drinking another mana potion. My insides are 80% mana liquid at this point. I’m basically a walking potion bottle.”

  The monster blinked at him, mildly confused.

  The monsters, sensing the complete lack of urgency, prowled closer. A skeletal wolf growled low, its bones clicking ominously. Seo MinHyun stared right back at it, expression dead.

  “Go ahead,” he told the wolf. “Bite me. I’ll just sit here and bleed. Maybe then I’ll get a real vacation.”

  Lee Aseok didn’t say anything and calmly looked at others with a cold gaze.

  Mu yichen smiled and the speed of his sword moving was noticeably faster.

  Lee Aseok then turned and looked at Seo MinHyun and grinned.

  Seo MinHyun dared not to say anything and started digging.

  Park Taegun only sighed and Kang Juwon smiled as usual for no reason.

  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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