Once his soldiers had fully recovered, Taehyun began exploring the left corridor of the first floor.

[1st Floor, 1st Room]

"Graaaaaah."

Inside the first room, a frozen corpse was dragging itself across the floor.

[You have discovered a Frozen Ghoul.]

[The Frozen Ghoul is watching you.]

"There's a monster in there, but the door's locked. Think we can break it down?" Taehyun wondered.

"Is that really necessary?" Riel countered. "It seems we would only be wasting our strength."

"Hmm. You're right. Let's move on." This time, Taehyun had to agree. A quick look through a crack in the door revealed nothing but the single ghoul. He proceeded to check the other rooms.

"Gahhhh."

"Graaaah."

"Grrr. Grr."

Each room in the left corridor held a single Frozen Ghoul, locked away. 'Is there nothing to find here?' Disappointed, he led his troops to the right corridor. It had the same number of rooms, all of them locked. 'More ghouls. Was this floor some kind of prison?'

He was about to give up when he reached the final room on the right.

'Creak.'

"Huh. This doorknob looks like it's about to fall off," he noticed. Unlike the others, this one was severely damaged. He immediately ordered a minotaur to smash the door.

"Graaaah!" The ghoul inside shrieked with hostility and charged.

"Not a chance. Moo!"

"Gahh!"

The lone creature was instantly cleaved in two by the minotaur's axe.

[You have saved the Frozen Ghoul.]

[Movement speed within the Ice Palace has slightly increased.]

'What's this?' Taehyun stared at the bisected corpse, surprised by the unexpected buff. He had only killed it because it was a monster. If this was the result, then the other ghouls were surely the same.

Acting on a hunch, he returned to the other rooms. "Archers," he commanded, "fire your arrows through the cracks in the doors. Kill every ghoul."

"Kieek!"

The goblins fanned out, taking aim. Many of their arrows missed or glanced off the doors, but through sheer persistence, the ghouls began to fall.

[Evasion within the Ice Palace has slightly increased.]

[Dexterity within the Ice Palace has slightly increased.]

[Jumping ability within the Ice Palace has slightly increased.]

A cascade of buffs followed. By the time he was done, Taehyun had killed every ghoul on the first floor and acquired nine minor buffs. 'I can't believe I almost missed this. It's a hidden event. It would have been foolish to ignore it.' While none of the buffs were game-changing on their own, they were certainly better than nothing.

With the first floor fully cleared, he led his soldiers up the central staircase.

[You have reached the 2nd floor of the Ice Palace.]

[The spirits guarding the 2nd floor of the Ice Palace have been summoned.]

As expected, a new wave of spirits materialized. Now more comfortable in his role, Taehyun quickly coordinated his troops to meet them.

---

"Phew. This is exhausting," Taehyun gasped. The relentless fighting was taking a toll.

"We've cleared the 4th floor," Riel reported. "It took nearly five hours. We should rest."

"Agreed." They had finally reached the fourth level. Taehyun sorted through the loot from the spirits they had just defeated.

[D-rank Mana Stone × 12]

[D-rank Spirit Stone Fragment × 6]

[Chilling Robe]

[8,000 Zen]

'Oh, a piece of equipment dropped.' Among the decent rewards was a new robe. He inspected it.

[Chilling Robe]

[Rank: D]

[Restriction: Level 10 or higher, Cleric or Mage type classes]

[Description: A Mana-grade item. Slightly increases resistance to cold. Made of blue crystals, it emits a faint azure light.]

'This is perfect for Riel.' She was even more critical to his success than his minotaurs. He handed it to her.

"Thank you, Master."

[The B-rank Named Supporter, Riel of Healing, feels grateful to the Master for the new equipment.]

[Favorability increases by 1.]

As her favorability rose, Riel immediately donned the robe. Adorned with shimmering blue crystals, it fit her perfectly, making her look like a beautiful ice fairy. Taehyun felt his face flush.

"Does it suit me?" she asked.

"Y-Yeah."

"Then I am glad." She smiled softly and bowed her head.

Once the soldiers had recovered, they resumed their exploration. 'The second and third floors were empty. Maybe there's something on the fourth.' He scouted the corridors. Like the first floor, this one had rooms, but they were all empty. All except one. At the end of the left corridor, he sensed a presence.

"Hmm. And who might you be?" a voice called out from within.

Peering through a crack in the door, Taehyun saw a young man reading a book.

"I am…" Taehyun began, but hesitated.

"Wouldn't it be proper to state your own identity before asking for ours?" Riel interjected smoothly.

The young man let out a dry, humorless laugh. "Amusing. Still, you are the first guest I've had in thousands of years, so I shall indulge you. I am Larkan Yngwe, First Prince of the Brynhart Kingdom. Now, who are you?"

"I am Taehyun Yoo, the Dungeon Master of Balak."

"A Dungeon Master," Larkan scoffed, his interest instantly vanishing. "A demon, then. Be gone. I do not deal with your kind." He returned to his book, dismissing them completely.

Taehyun, momentarily taken aback, quickly inspected Larkan's status.

[Larkan Yngwe]

[Rank: C (Named)]

[Level: 19]

[Class: Alchemist]

[Title: The Unfortunate Prince]

[Affiliation: None]

[Skills: Synthesis, Potion Crafting]

[Special Ability: Transmutation Circle]

[Strength: 1] [Endurance: 1] [Agility: 1] [Stamina: 1]

[Mana: 9] [Divinity: 1] [Affinity: 7] [Luck: 5]

[Status: Cursed by Yuslan, he does not age and is trapped for eternity within this Ice Palace.]

'A royal NPC, trapped by a curse,' Taehyun analyzed. 'I don't know what an Alchemist does, but he might be a recruitable character.' If he could somehow break the curse or free him, he might gain a powerful ally. But for now, he had no idea how. 'I'll retreat. He's clearly hostile toward Dungeon Masters, so there's no point in talking to him now.'

Committing the name Larkan to memory, Taehyun decided to press onward to the higher floors.

---

Day 3

"I will execute you all!" the spirit shrieked.

[The Mid-rank Ice Spirit Shivera has used Chilling Crystals.]

[An area-of-effect skill spreads throughout the 6th floor.]

A hailstorm of razor-sharp ice crystals rained down. Taehyun ducked behind a minotaur. "Riel, Sublime Will!"

"Who are the targets?"

"The two minotaurs, you, me, and one of the goblin warriors!"

"Understood!" Riel's buff enveloped them. The enhanced minotaurs charged forward, carving a path through the storm.

"You insolent beast!" Shivera roared, swinging a massive arm of ice, but the blow glanced harmlessly off the minotaur's shield. The beast responded with a deafening roar of its own.

"Mooooooooo!"

It was going berserk.

[The two Mid-rank Shield Minotaurs are beginning to go berserk.]

[They are on the verge of losing their minds.]

"Not again! Those damn cow-headed bastards are going crazy!" Taehyun swore, his patience finally snapping. It was the third time this had happened. He ordered Riel to focus her healing on the minotaurs while the rest of the army fell back. They had to wait out the crystal storm.

"At least their health is more stable this time, thanks to Sublime Will," Riel noted.

"I'd hope so," Taehyun grumbled. "They've got Berserk, Sublime Will, and your Light of Healing all stacked."

Slowly, the storm of ice began to subside.

[The Mid-rank Ice Spirit Shivera's Chilling Crystals have ended.]

[The chilling crystals on the 6th floor disappear.]

The moment the last crystal vanished, Taehyun's command skill flared.

[The Command skill has been activated.]

[The soldiers' reaction speed has slightly increased.]

[The proficiency of the Command skill has reached its limit.]

[The level of the Command skill has risen to 2.]

With his newly leveled skill, his commands felt sharper, more intuitive. The goblin warriors and wild dogs shot forward like arrows, followed by a volley of support fire from the imps and archers. Taehyun pressed the advantage, relentlessly cornering Shivera.

[The Elite Low-rank Warrior Goblin has naturally learned the Wind Slicer skill.]

[The level of the Elite Low-rank Mage Imp has risen.]

[The berserk state of the Elite Mid-rank Shield Minotaur has ended.]

The tide had turned completely. A final, crushing blow from a minotaur's axe split Shivera's torso, ending the fight.

[The Mid-rank Ice Spirit Shivera has returned to the embrace of nature.]

[You have cleared the 6th floor of the Ice Palace.]

[You have obtained 10,000 Zen as a reward.]

[The experience of Balak's soldiers increases by 150.]

[The wild dogs' combat experience has slightly increased.]

[The Named B-rank Supporter, Riel of Healing, has leveled up.]

"Whew… it's over." The battle on the 6th floor had been far more brutal than the previous levels. Taehyun let out a long sigh of relief and examined his haul.

[D-rank Mana Stone × 14]

[D-rank Spirit Stone Fragment × 8]

[C-rank Mana Stone × 1]

[Chilling Axe]

[Chilling Longsword]

[Chilling Plate Armor]

[Bow that Holds the Cold]

[15,000 Zen]

'This is a jackpot!' The reward for his struggle was immense. He distributed the new equipment among his soldiers and inspected the bow.

[Bow that Holds the Cold]

[Rank: C]

[Restriction: Level 20 or higher, Archer or Scout type classes]

[Description: A Mana-grade item. Slightly increases resistance to cold. Made of blue crystals, it constantly emits a chilling aura.]

'My first C-rank item. This goes to my highest-level archer.' He immediately bestowed the bow upon the designated goblin.

"Kiek! Kiek!" the goblin chittered excitedly.

"This is yours now. Take good care of it."

"Kiek!" The goblin bowed deeply in gratitude.

Riding the momentum from their hard-won victory, Taehyun pushed his forces onward, aiming for the 10th floor.

---

"Oh my, your glass is empty," a woman purred, her revealing dress barely containing her as she refilled the cup of a man in a dark tavern.

He tilted the glass back, his eyes fixed on her. "Hey. How long did you say you've been working here?"

"I just told you, sweetie. Two years."

"Hmph. Is that so?" He smirked, draining the glass. She pressed herself against his side, her questions becoming more insistent.

"You're a C-rank raider, right?"

"What guild are you with?"

"What's your name?"

He remained silent, simply drinking. Annoyed by his dismissive attitude, the woman pouted and set the bottle down with a thud. "Are you going to be like this all night? If you keep sulking, I won't pour you any more!"

In an instant, the man's eyes turned sharp as ice. The woman, trying to play coy, turned her head away in a mock huff. It was a fatal mistake.

"Hey. Pour the drink."

"Hmph. Not until you tell me your name."

"I'm asking you nicely."

"I said n—!"

He smashed the heavy bottle against the side of her head with a loud crack. The woman crumpled, blood matting her hair as her body began to tremble.

"What are you doing? Let go of me!"

"I told you to listen when I was being nice, you fucking bitch."

"P-please, someone help me! Manager! Manager!"

Consumed by fear, she cried out for the tavern's owner. The manager, finally grasping the severity of the situation, approached the table with two burly men in tow. A hush fell over the tavern as patrons scrambled to get out of the way. The man at the table, however, simply watched them approach with an air of detached amusement.

"What do you want?"

"Sir, we can't have this kind of behavior in my establishment. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Behavior? I was just teaching a lesson to a bitch who wouldn't listen."

"…Get him out of here."

Seeing that words were useless, the manager gestured to his men. Their faces hardening into grim masks, they moved to drag the man from his seat.

"Well, this is a problem."

At that moment, a predatory grin stretched across Sebastian's lips as he drew his sword.

"You bastard!"

"Get him!"

The manager's men lunged, but Sebastian's blade was a blur. In the next instant, two heads thudded to the floorboards.

"Ahhh…!"

"Aghhh!"

The manager and the woman shrieked in terror. Sebastian glanced down at the corpses, a cold sneer on his face.

"I forgot to ask their names. Oh well. It doesn't matter."

Despite having just committed murder in a public tavern, Sebastian turned and strode out as if nothing had happened.

---

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