Chapter 141. The Third Explorer (5)
Immediately afterward, I headed to the guild house with Ludia. In the hall, I met Shuna for the first time in quite a long time.
"Ah, Crown Prince-nim, Ludia! H-Hello!"
"Hello, Miss Shuna."
"You can just call me Shuna. You don't have to be so formal! C-Can I also say Shin-nim?"
"You want me to stop being formal, but you want to address me so respectfully!?"
Shuna was hard to understand. However, since she was cute, it was pleasant talking to her. She was more cute, rather than beautiful.. She looked good with Ludia, who exuded a more noble and mature aura.
"Then, Shuna."
"Yes, Shin-nim! Kyaa, I called him by his name!"
I was surprised by how happy she was, but I didn't say anything as my instincts were warning me to not question it. More specifically, I had a feeling that Ludia might kill Shuna.
"You must have been surprised because the guild house suddenly moved. Can we still get to the Residential Area?"
"Yes! We can go to the First Dungeon's Residential Area just like before! Also…"
"Also?"
Shuna stretched her arms out to the side and shouted.
"We can also go to the Second, Third, and Fourth Dungeon's Residential Areas!"
"… What?"
"Ah, of course, it’s only the Residential Areas, not the dungeons themselves."
I was confused for a moment but I soon understood. I knew this place's affiliation changed to Beyond, but I didn't think it would let me go other dungeons' Residential Areas. Eh? Hold on, does that mean…
An absurd thought crossed my mind, and I was then shocked that it wasn't as absurd as I initially thought.
"Did this guild… transcend the First Dungeon?"
"What does that mean, Shin-nim?"
"… It means we might get some new members, Shuna."
Shuna clapped in response, but Ludia didn't look so happy.
"My dream of a newlywed's home…"
"I can hear you. And that's not it."
To be honest, I wanted to explore Beyond's Residential Area, but it was more important to confirm whether my conjecture was right. I pulled up my friend list and immediately took action.
As a result, in less than 20 minutes, a few people gathered at our guild house.
"Ooh, is this the first present my son is giving me!?"
"No, father. This is my mansion. I won't be giving it to you, so stop dreaming."
"Amazing. I can really enter…"
"Wow, this is Shin-nim's mansion? How cool!"
"Kang Shin, how did you climb the dungeon to be able to afford a mansion like this?"
"It's nice now that we're all here!"
Marianne's Garden became noisy. Shuna became flustered seeing them for the first time and hid behind my back, while Ludia linked her arm with mine and frowned.
"As you guys know, this is my friend Ludia. The pretty, pink haired girl is Shuna, Ludia's friend. They're both guild members."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Hwaya Mastiford."
"He… Hello!"
Shuna easily fell for Hwaya's charm and sociability. With Hwaya serving as the mediator, the awkwardness quickly disappeared and Shuna learned to talk with others. However, Ludia seemed unhappy for some reason and continued to stay by my side.
Of course, there was a reason I called them over. It was impossible before, but it was possible now. It was to create a guild that transcended the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Dungeons. Since they all wanted to join a guild, things went smoothly. Other than me, only Hwaya owned a residence. Since she adamantly said she wanted to join my guild, there was no problem whatsoever.
It felt like it was just yesterday that she said she wanted to make her own organization, but now she was acknowledging me as the guild master. It was the same for Sumire, who happily joined my guild. That said, a lot had changed since the first time the communication channel opened.
Of course, I had changed a lot too. Although I thought it wasn't necessary to form a group, after partying with Hwaya a couple times, I had changed my mind. I had created the guild on my own accord and invited others since I became a Beyond explorer, but even if it was Hwaya standing in my position, I would have happily joined her guild.
The biggest reason I refused her offer back then was that I couldn't trust her. Half a year had passed since then, and things were a bit different. I trusted Hwaya and I trusted Sumire. It was the same for Walker, who was tied by a contract. We were stronger together, and as dungeon explorers, we could trust each other. The guild would only bind us together more.
[Guild 'Revival' became D rank! When challenging Event Dungeons or Event Raids, when 5 or more guild members are present, all guild members' abilities will be increased by 5%!]
[Guild members: Kang Shin (Guild Master, First - Gold & Beyond), Kang Yungoong (First - Gold), Su Ye-Eun (First - Gold), Palludia Gren Ehuir (First - Silver), Shuna Aren Lihita (First - Silver), Hwaya Eleni Mastiford (Second - Gold), Minami Violet Sumire (Second - Gold), Edward Walker (Third - Gold). Total: 8]
Now, it was more like a guild. Seeing the list of guild members, I smiled. Walker had also broken through the 50th floor. With this, couldn't we be called elites? Plus, I liked their our abilities increased when 5 or more of us were together. Event Dungeons and Event Raids were on Earth as well. Together, our chance of survival would increase. I wish Loretta would have told me about this sooner!
"Ooh, when my vitality hits zero, is this where I'll come back to?"
"How nice. Shin, you'll prepare a room for me next to yours, right…? Huhu."
"Ah, I call the other side!"
"Hmph, I'm going to live in Shin's room!"
"As the guild master, I'm claiming an entire hallway to myself, so stop dreaming."
Ignoring the girls' complaints, I assigned them their rooms. When I did, keys were given to them, binding the rooms to them entirely. It was the feature of a guild house. Since the mansion had over 100 rooms, giving private rooms to the guild members wouldn't have any problems.
"Oi, Kang Shin. What's that?"
"What, it's just a Giant Iron Boar and a Flame Drake."
"You're using those precious things as decorations…? You're as amazing as always."
While everyone was focused on the inside of the mansion, Walker was looking at the garden. The Giant Iron Boar was now 7, 8 meters, making it awkward to even call it 'giant.' The Flame Drake corpse was also shrinking. It wasn't that mana was leaving the corpses. Now that I could better detect mana, I could clearly feel it. They were being compressed.
I didn't know what they were working so hard for even as corpses. I just knew that Marianne's Garden wasn't a normal space. Since it looked like they were making themselves more expensive, I decided to just let them be.
"Alright, there's something we need to do first."
Although everyone looked like they wanted to explore the mansion more, I gathered them together.
"We need to find out what's outside."
"Monsters?"
"Monsters can't appear in the Residential Area. But since Ludia said she felt a strange presence, there might be something else."
"Don't scare me."
Hwaya grabbed onto my sleeve as she said that. Thinking back to the time she was scared by the spiders, it seemed she was rather weak hearted. Ludia looked mad when she saw Hwaya, but she soon calmed down. You've improved, Ludia!
However, feeling my body getting heavier, I looked back. Ye-Eun and Shuna were also grabbing onto me. I smiled at them kindly and spoke.
"All of you, get off of me."
We left the garden. It was truly dark. Because of the thick fog, we couldn't see far ahead either. However, when we walked forward, the fog disappeared.
"Do you want to split up?"
"Yeah, let's split into two teams. Contact us periodically or if you find anything."
I went to the right with Minami, Ludia, and Walker. I dispersed my mana as far as I could to increase my detection range, when Minami asked me.
"Shin-nim, you just expanded your aura outward, right?"
"Yeah. By dispersing my mana, I can expand my senses."
"Wow, amazing… If it's okay, can you teach me how?"
"Sure. We're both guild members, so I can teach you later."
"Thank you! Ah, and you don't have to be formal! You can call me Sumire too."
"O-Okay."
Now that I thought about it, I had not talked to Minami, or rather, Sumire, much. When we met in Yeungdeungpo to clear the Event Dungeon, she seemed impressed by my strength and continued to address me with 'nim' in respect.
I had seen sparkling eyes like hers often. The martial artists, who respected father, often had such eyes. Considering her strength and attitude towards martial arts, she might be a martial artist herself.
"I heard you learned martial arts from Yungoon ajusshi, but you're stronger than him now, right?"
"No, I'm a step behind father in terms of the depth in martial arts, but overall… I should be stronger."
"I knew it…!"
Burdensome. Sumire's sparkling eyes and Ludia hugging my arm like she wanted to break it were burdensome!
Wait, hold on.
"Walker, did you feel that?'
"I did. It looks like a barrier of some sort."
I expanded my senses, but they were cut off like they collided into something. I dispersed my mana in all directions, checking where my senses were cut off and how far they could reach. The fog in the area my senses reached also disappeared. The ground revealed a stone floor, while a huge wall stood in the distance. Beyond it, I saw a medieval castle similar to my own mansion. After that, my mana was cut off completely.
"Amazing…! You're really amazing, Shin-nim!"
"Huhu."
Sumire complimented me and Ludia got happy in my place. I didn't know why.
"What do you think that is? A new dungeon?"
"There are Event Dungeons in Residential Areas too."
"I don't know. I feel like that's…"
Sumire and Ludia thought the castle could be an Event Dungeon. However, after observing the outline of the castle walls, Walker proposed.
"Oi, Kang Shin. Isn't that a mansion like yours?"
Almost as if to prove that his conjecture was right, a voice rang in my ear. It was the voice of a beautiful, young man. I realized after I heard the voice. It was coming from Beyond's communication channel!
[Go back, Third Explorer. I have no intention of dealing with you.]
[You are… Excuse me. I just came here, so I was exploring the Residential Area with my companions.]
Perhaps interested in what I said, he became silent for a moment. Just when I thought he no longer wanted to talk, his voice rang out again.
[… A guild master, I see. I was once also interested in such childish games. In any case, go back. What you desire isn't here. Go west. You'll find some treasures there.]
[Thank you for telling me. We'll be off then.]
[Wait. You must have been acknowledged by an administrative guild master…. Who is it?]
[It's Fairy Garden's master, Loretta.]
[… Is that so…]
His silence continued. I sensed something from his silence. Could it be that he is…?
[She is… No.]
With that, I was certain.
[No, it's nothing. Second Explorer is also listening. It's fine, go back.]
Feeling strange, I turned back. He was my senior as he entered Beyond before me. Although he sounded young, he must have lived for much longer than me. Perhaps, he was Loretta's…
"I can't understand why I'm feeling so weird…"
"What's wrong? Did you use your mana too much? Are you okay?"
"Shin-nim?"
"N-No, I'm fine. Let's go. That was another explorer's house. He said there's something to the west, so let's go there."
"Okay!"
"How kind of him to tell us."
Sumire, Ludia, and Walker followed after me. I still felt weird. Loretta must have known, right? Then why didn't she tell me about it? No, it was probably me that was weird. There was no doubt about it. Whether Loretta's first love was here or not, it had nothing to do with me.
After 5 minutes, we got a report from the team that went the other way that they found something.
Author's note:
Translator's note:
The author refers to the guild as "Guild Revival" instead of "Revival" or "The guild, Revival,…" I thought of changing it to just Revival, but I decided to just go with Guild Revival (as it comes up often and seems to be a better fit). Basically just saying Revival loses the "guild" aspect (the readers know it's a guild, but people listening don't). Saying "The guild, Revival,…" is slightly inaccurate, and also has way too many commas (the author already has a billion clauses and whatnot).
Chapter 142. The Third Explorer (6)
"It looks like an Event Dungeon! Let's go!"
Pointing at the mansion surrounded by thorn-covered walls, father shouted. I retorted shortly.
"Let's go back."
"No, why!?"
Walker answered in my stead.
"Kang Yungoong, this is a mansion. It belongs to one of the two other explorers Kang Shin talked about."
"What, it isn't an Event Dungeon!?"
Father shouted in shock as he touched the tightly shut iron gate. Immediately afterward, the mana flowing through the iron gate bounced his hand off. Father really was an idiot! At the same time, a voice rang in our ear again. It was the Beyond communication channel.
[Don't. Come. In.]
The cold, snapping voice belonged to a woman. I couldn't help but sigh. To think the second explorer was also staying in the mansion…
[Sorry for my companion's rudeness. He thought it was an Event Dungeon. I'll take him back with me immediately. Sorry.]
[Don't ever, come back… don't, bother me…]
Just by talking for a bit, I immediately understood. The way this woman talked easily exhausted people. We'll be living together in the Residential Area, so how could I not come back!? Even so, I told her what she wanted to hear.
[Understood. We'll be going back now. Sorry for troubling you.]
After apologizing to her, I glared at father, then brought everyone away from the mansion. Before I was about to leave, however, she asked me.
[Did your world… fall?]
[No.]
[I see…]
She continued.
[If you think you'll die, tell me… I want to buy your corpse.]
[It's not for sale! And what do you mean, when I think I'll die!?]
All these seniors are annoying!
The treasure the first explorer talked about was indeed that. Located in the west were Event Dungeons. Right, there were more than just one. They were sprawled across the field in the form of gates. There was nothing beyond them, so gates of mysterious Event Dungeons were the only things that were here. This had to be the treasure he talked about.
Looking at the Event Dungeon gates scattered about, I wondered if the other dungeons' Residential Areas also initially had gates to Event Dungeons. It would be strange if only Beyond's Residential Area had Event Dungeons, and since I had entered an Event Dungeon in Fairy Garden, I thought it was a possibility.
"Alright, we've looked around, so let's go back."
"Yeah, let's go."
"I'm hungry."
"There were food ingredients in the mansion's storehouse. I can cook something up. I wanted to treat everyone to a meal, so this is the perfect opportunity."
"Hm, the new daughter from Japan has good manners. Shin, father recommends her as the new daughter."
"H-How could I be Shin-nim's… Rather than that, I want to be Shin-nim's disciple!"
"Don't marry a girl without her consent, father."
No one objected to my decision of going back. We exchanged small talk and turned away from the gates labeled SSS rank. Just like that, our exploration of Beyond's Residential Area ended.
First Explorer bastard, I'll get my revenge one day!
As I somewhat expected it when I saw trolls on the 51st floor, large humanoid monsters seemed to appear in 51st through 55th floors. Following trolls were minotaurs.
They didn't have insane regenerative power like the trolls, but the minotaurs' bone axes were huge and powerful. After I broke through the 52nd floor in 3 hours, I challenged the 52nd floor again. It was because the minotaurs' sharp bones were perfect to be used as crossbow bolts. Although Beyond's 2nd floor could be different than the 1st floor, it was better to restock on bolts than to regret not doing so later.
"Shin-nim, your eyes are slightly different now."
"My eyes?"
When I returned to the Floor Shop to rest after spending a whole day collecting minotaur bones, Loretta suddenly spoke after staring at me intently.
"Different how?"
"Hmm, they've gotten slightly more serious. They were always serious, but now they look like they're focused on one thing. Huhu, it seems Beyond wasn't easy."
"It took 2 weeks for a reason. There were many difficulties and a lot I had to think about."
"With Shin-nim's level, 2 weeks is a miracle."
"Loretta, um…"
"Yes?"
"No, it's nothing."
When I stopped in the middle, Loretta looked shocked.
"Shi, Shin-nim is hiding something from me…!"
"Things I'm hiding from Loretta? There are lots of them."
"Huk! W-What are they! Hurry, hurry up and tell me! I'll listen to them all, even if I have to stay up the entire night! Women? It's about women!"
"I won't tell you. I have to go back to collect more minotaur bones."
"Shin-niiiiiiim….!"
Maybe I didn't do such a good job of evading the answer, as Loretta clung to me with teary eyes, almost making me forget what I wanted to say.
Just because it was Beyond, it didn't mean that different monsters appeared on each floor. When I arrived at the 2nd floor, worrying that I might need to fight Wendigos on the 10th floor, I tilted my head when I saw more Orc Lords.
"Kuaaaang!"
"Kuaaaang!"
"Heh, their shouts are the same too."
Just like on the First Dungeon, the Orc Lords on the 2nd floor were stronger than the Orc Lords on the 1st floor. However, as the walls' amplification was also stronger, it didn't pose much of a problem. It was just annoying that Orc Lords began to throw their weapons.
Of course, as they were stronger, being hit by their weapons would instantly kill me. With their weapons' trajectories on top of the bolts' trajectories, there were more to calculate. However, once I got used to it in a couple of days, I thought of a way to kill them even quicker taking their glaives' trajectories into account. Since they threw their weapons in predictable trajectories, just by minding my position when they appeared, I could get their glaives to bounce three or four times and attack them! However, there were cases where their weapons continued to bounce around after all the Orc Lords died, threatening my life. I had to use Divine Speed to dodge these.
In the end, it only took 10 days to clear Beyond's 2nd floor. Like last time, Crimson Roar did most of the work towards the end.
"Maybe… I'm a genius…!"
[Master is talking like an arrogant young master.]
[Shin is cool!]
Around the time I cleared Beyond's 2nd floor, it was the time for college finals. After thinking for a bit, I decided to take a leave of absence. Once I got into Beyond, I wouldn't be able to leave for several days. Although I could still go to college while I was climbing the First Dungeon, it was impossible for Beyond.
Between school and dungeon, the latter was obviously more important. After all, going to college was only to satisfy mother's wishes and to give myself a proper outward identity. Even mother seemed to have changed her mind since I came back from America, as she said I could do whatever I wished about school.
However, when I told Ye-Eun about taking a leave, she pouted and took a leave as well.
"Why!?"
"I'm going to focus on the dungeon too! I'm going to obtain a god's true name and go to Beyond!"
"No, that's not something you can get so easily. You should think about it more carefully."
"I did! I carefully thought about my future and plans for making a family!"
"No, I'm certain you didn't think carefully after hearing that. There's no way we'll become family!"
"You can't say that for certain! So I'm going to do my best!"
Damn, where did the timid and unsociable girl go, and where did this straightforward and optimistic girl come from…!? Although her unyielding mindset was burdensome, it was an extremely effective mindset to have to quickly improve as an explorer.
Plus, no matter how much I tried to stop her, it was too late. Her leave had already been approved. Ye-Eun started to grind the 50th floor boss for Frozen Crystals, as elixirs finally began to drop for her.
She should have had difficulty resisting Wendigo's freezing energy, but using her uniquely high mana resistance and a bunch of anti-freezing energy items she bought from the Floor Shop, she managed to defeat the Wendigo three times every day. I would be lying if I said I wasn't proud of the effort she was putting in. If her decision to go all out in climbing the dungeon was to let me see her more favorably, it was an incredibly smart decision… No, I shouldn't fall for it!
As for Beyond, the 3rd floor was slightly different than the previous floors. The monster I had been expecting to eventually appear had appeared. It was the Wraith Queen, and of course, there were more than just one of them. These half-transparent apparitions wore dreary dresses, where spider seemed to dwell. Seeing them fly around and scream in groups was quite the spectacle. Here, I came to experience a very odd situation.
[Kyaaaaaa!]
[Human, living humaaaaan!]
[Wraith Queen used Vengeful Spirit's Wail! With high magic, charm, and luck stats, you resist the confusion and fear status effects!]
[Wraith Queen used Vengeful Spirit's Wail! With high magic, charm, and luck stats, you resist the confusion and fear status effects!]
[Wraith Queen used Vengeful Spirit's Wail! 'Succubus' Pupil' reflects the status effect.]
[Kyak! Humans, too many humans! There are too many humans! Save me, save me!]
"Wow…"
Once they fell and trembled, the Wraith Queens were rather cute… I mean, easy to take care of. As my magic, charm, and luck stats were high and I had raised my Soul Guard to level 5, I could easily cancel Wraith Queens' Vengeful Spirit's Wails.
Since I had also had an earring specializing in mental status effect defense, Beyond's 3rd floor became extremely easy for me. Although Wraith Queens could also summon wraiths and shoot ectoplasm arrows, the wraiths died from a single swing of my spear and ectoplasm arrows only helped me kill them quicker, as they bounced off the walls like the Orc Lords' glaives.
However, if I didn't have Soul Guard or if its level was low, I would have had to use Orc Lord's Warcry every day, running around for 5 minutes, then hiding for the other 23 hours and 55 minutes. Beyond's 3rd floor was undoubtedly a place to test one's mental or status effect defense. Though, since there were still sleeping gases, poisonous swamps, poisonous arrows, dark areas, and ice and lightning traps, it did a fine job tormenting the explorer in multiple other ways.
Considering the First Dungeon's structure, I expected Orc Lords to appear on the 3rd floor, but only Wraith Queens appeared on the 3rd floor.
I realized then. Even in the First Dungeon, there were multiple occasions where the monsters that appeared on the 1st and 2nd floors were separate from monsters that appeared on the 3rd floors. The 4th floors would then have a combination from both, and the 5th floors would have strengthened versions of them.
If Beyond worked similarly, I would have to fight both Orc Lords and Wraith Queens on the 4th floor, and 5th floor could have monsters that took the strengths of Orc Lords and Wraith Queens. Monsters that could use both mental and physical attacks… What kind of hellish monster would that be? Thankfully, my mental defense was extremely solid.
However… I couldn't keep following the dungeon. Now that I somewhat knew what I would have to face, I wanted to smack the dungeon on the back of its head.
As such, I sent a message using the guild communication channel.
[Everyone, I won't be able to see you for a while.]
[N-No, Shin, don't. It's my fault. I'm sorry, please come back. I won't be selfish anymore. I won't secretly crawl into your bed either.]
As expected, Ludia started by apologizing.
[Why? Did something happen? Can I help somehow? … Also, Palludia, who did you say crawled into Shin's bed?]
[That's great. I won't have to see your face, how fortu… Kuhuk!]
Hwaya and Walker also responded as I expected. However, father's response was surprising.
[Are you training?]
[Father…]
He found out instantly.
[I knew you were troubled because your spearmanship wouldn't improve recently… Do you need father's help?]
[No, I'm trying to do it by myself, father.]
[Hmm, I see. Right, you are a proper martial artist now.]
[I want to help Shin-nim too… but my attainment in spearmanship is still too low …]
Whenever Sumire had time, she was learning spearmanship from me.
[Shin, did I do something wrong?]
[Like father said, I'm just going to train. It's not because of you, so don't worry.]
[How long will you be gone for?]
[I don't know. It might be a while though.]
[… Un, I'll be patient. But if it's too long…]
[Then I'll obtain a god's true name before you come back!]
[G-Good luck, Shin-nim!]
Ye-Eun interrupted Ludia and shouted with spirit. Shuna also chimed in to cheer me on. With a grin, I replied.
[I'll leave the communication channel open, so we can always talk. Don't worry too much.]
[If you obtain what you want, let's have a spar when you come back.]
[Sure, father.]
After responding confidently, I got up from the place I was resting. The Wraith Queens that were flying around screamed and charged toward me the moment they saw me. I raised my spear and aimed it towards them. I planned on only using my spear to fight the Wraith Queens. Ah, and Peruta Circuit as well.
The reason was simple. Against the Wraith queens, I could freely use my spear without worrying about dying, and in here… in here…!
Sorry father, but it seems skill experience goes up twice as much in here! I'll come visit with Peruta's spear techniques!
Author's note: N/A
Chapter 143. What We Can Do (1)
There were two skill experience calculations in Beyond. The first was when I used skills while fighting Beyond's monsters. I didn't know whether it was because they were Floor Master class, because there were so many of them, or because it was Beyond's special characteristic, but skill experience undoubtedly increased more compared to when I used skills in other places. For example, Crossbow Marksmanship had soared in levels, and by the time I cleared Beyond's 2nd floor, it became mid-rank level 6.
The second was when I cleared Beyond's floors. The skills I mainly used to clear the floors increased exponentially. Because of it, Elemental Control, Spirit Aura, and Elemental Contract had all risen to mid-rank level 8.
Although I wanted to raise their levels more, I wanted to increase my Spear Technique levels more.
Peruta said I would have the qualification to learn his spearmanship when my Peruta Circuit became level 7 and I mastered high-rank Spear Technique. His spear techniques were able to deal irrecoverable wounds to the Demon Army Commander, endlessly attack by continuously recovering mana, and both attack and defend at the same time. To me, who had lived three quarters of my life without knowing mana, he seemed like a martial god. I wanted to learn his skills. This desire was as strong as my desire to climb to the dungeon.
If there was another skill I wanted to raise using this opportunity, it was Soul Guard. The Wraith Queen's Vengeful Spirit's Wail was an extremely strong mental status effect magic. Just by blocking it, Soul Guard's skill experience would go up by a lot. Beyond's 3rd floor was full of such wailing noonims. After I used skill points to raise SoulGuard to level 5, I was having trouble training it, so I couldn't let go of this opportunity to easily train Soul Guard.
[Kyaaaaaak!]
[Wraith Queen used Vengeful Spirit's Wail! With high magic, charm, and luck stats, you resist the confusion and fear status effects!]
"Eat… this!"
Putting great care to direct the flow of mana from Peruta Circuit to my spear, I struck the Wraith Queen's face with my spear. The basis of the attack was Tempest, which used up 300 mana. However, Tempest was actually a technique to shoot out the uncontrollable rotational force. In other words, it was an incomplete technique. The true Tempest was different. The rotational force had to be brought out more naturally while being controlled perfectly. To be honest, I didn't know what it meant.
[Kiaaaaaaa!]
"Stop using ectoplasm arrows!"
One of Wraith Queen's specialty was shooting out dozens of ectoplasm arrows at once. Although I could just dodge them, because they bounced around, I had to move around to dodge them even when the Wraith Queen died. It was extremely annoying. Can't they stop using suicide attacks!?
"Ruyue, freeze only the Wraith Queens' mouths! Peika, when you see a Wraith Queen, first electrocute her!"
[T-That sounds fun!]
[I don't like this place. Those women's breasts are too big.]
Since I couldn't slack off on my Elementalist skills, I had my elementals summoned and on guard against the Wraith Queens. Without the Orc Lords, I could leisurely raise my skills' experience! I doubt another chance like this would come, so I had to do my best now. Mmm, maybe the Giant Wolf and Wendigo floors might be easy too…
[Too many humans, humans are scary, the living are scary…!]
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry. I'll let you rest soon."
[Human, a handsome human! There wasn't a human like that when I was alive!]
"Yeah, I'll send you off too."
Time flew when you were focused on something.
After grasping the 3rd floor's structure completely, I always turned back a step before so that the final pathway wouldn't appear. Although the crafty traps would sometimes change their locations, I always detected them with my mana and destroyed them.
Ludia was fine for the first three weeks, but after that, she began to call me once a day, sobbing and calling my name. Other than that, everything was progressing smoothly.
Then, a month passed since I entered Beyond's 3rd floor. It was the end of June. Meanwhile, a huge trouble occurred in the outside world. Hundreds of Event Dungeons had appeared on Earth. It was what Ciara prophesied.
[There are 18 just in Korea! I don't understand why there are so many in this tiny country!]
[Although there's no guarantee that Event Raids would break out, if we were to leave them alone because we're afraid, they would only come back as bigger dangers. Maybe, Earth will come to have a similar human to monster ratio as other worlds.]
[We'll have to trust Guardian and Freedom Wing. Everyone is well aware of Event Dungeons' danger now.]
[Shin, shouldn't we clear as many Event Dungeons as we can?]
[R-Right! Once Japan's Event Dungeons are taken care of, I want to join everyone too!]
At this time, my Spear Technique was at high-rank level 8. Swinging my spear and killing three Wraith Queens at once, I murmured.
[Several countries probably want to let low-ranked Event Dungeons turn into Field Dungeons.]
[… You're exactly right. They most likely want a source of Mana Stones that they can regulate and control. As for the high-ranked Event Dungeons, or what they call Gates, most say that they should be destroyed first.]
[They aren't wrong, but they're probably using that as an excuse to buy time. That way, the low-ranked Event Dungeons would turn into Field Dungeons for them to control.]
The reason was simple. It was lucrative.
In truth, high-ranked dungeons had much more value. Just look at Britain's Windermere Lake and America's Antelope Canyon. After I subjugated the bosses, their monster reproduction rate greatly decreased, giving them a safe and steady source of income. Each melting tuna was 150 million won and each wyvern was 250 million won.
However, as valuable as these two dungeons were, they were the most troublesome to clear. A countless number of rankers stepped in to clear them, and in Wyvern's Nest, many rankers died. Countries should have realized that high-ranked dungeons will be more disastrous when they become Field Dungeons.
[Yeah. A lot of the high ranking ability users were sent to A or A+ ranked dungeons. For Event Dungeons ranked S or above, the Guardian plans on clearing them one by one in order. They're sending all of their rankers. Freedom Wing and rogues are also being called to prepare for Event Raids.]
[That sounds like it's going to take a long time… It's perfect for glancing over Event Dungeons ranked B or below.]
[A lot of people are saying that low-ranked dungeons should also be cleared. But… they're all being ignored.]
It seemed humans were still only thinking about how to benefit from the change brought by Two Moon. I couldn't blame them. A year and a half passed since the world transformed into fantasy. Civilization remained unhurt by what seemed like a calamity, and monster remains and Mana Stones even improved the advancement in science and technology. It made sense that some called emergence of monsters the 'blessing of God shifting the world's paradigm.' To them, ability users killed by monsters would only be 'pain necessary for change.'
It was only obvious. As long as they didn't know about the dungeon, as long as they didn't know about other worlds heading to ruin, it was only natural. As long as their lives weren't in danger, all humans, including me, would rather satisfy their hungry stomach than to worry about the future. The reason we were making a fuss over it was that we were dungeon explorers before we were Earth's ability users.
To make them understand, the number of dungeon explorers just had to increase over hundreds of years. During that time, countless Event Dungeons would appear and transform into Field Dungeons. Countless Event Raids would also break out and destroy Earth's civilization.
Humanity will then understand. That the emergence of monsters wasn't a blessing.
[Even if Field Dungeons don't appear, humanity already lost too much land to monsters.]
[Philippines, Madagascar, Republic of South Africa, Dominican Republic…]
There were already several ruined countries, and ten times as many countries relinquished entire regions to monsters. Even so, humans weren't considering taking back the lands claimed by monsters and were thinking about increasing monsters' territories just because they would be able to control them. This couldn't continue. Like this, Earth would only be coming closer to ruin.
[Hwaya, if you have something you want to say, say it.]
I thrust out my spear. A whirlpool instantly formed on its tip, which then shot toward the Wraith Queen's head.
[… But I'm not the guild master, Shin.]
[I'm ordering you with full confidence. Do as you'd like.]
[I want to burn all the thoughtless idiots into cinders.]
[What you want to do before that.]
[I want to get rid of all the Event Dungeons…]
At Hwaya's words, I became silent for a moment. It wasn't just because 12 Wraith Queens were flying toward me while shooting ectoplasm arrows. I could simply use Divine Speed once and take care of them all.
It was because I thought of Ciara. I was displeased and annoyed that what we were about to do was exactly what she wanted. However, since it was unavoidable for me to achieve my goals, I would have to bear with it. If I gave up my goals just because of a slight annoyance in the process, I would only regret it later.
Besides, Ciara wasn't completely wrong either. I would be safer if there were more people helping, and if I was safe, Earth would be safe as well.
Just look at the current situation. Instead of helping Earth become safer, humans were doing foolish things for their own greed. Since Guardian nor Freedom Wing couldn't get out of their selfishness, Ciara's suggestion for me to lead Earth's ability users wasn't entirely wrong.
That said, I wasn't wrong either.
[… There should be countries that don't have the necessary defensive capabilities against monsters. They should be allowing other countries' ability users to enter their gates.]
[Shin!]
[I think you know what I'm trying to say, but… 'for now,' let's try to do it 'lawfully.']
[Th…. Thank you!]
[I know what's important, Hwaya. I also know what's best for the future. If it's something we can do, we should probably do it. I doubt it'll be dangerous with our guild members' strength, but don't force them to come. Only take volunteers. I don't want to use my position as the guild master to order them around.]
[I'll help! If that's what Hwaya unni wants and what Shin-nim recommends, I'll help gladly!]
[I want to help too! I want to take this opportunity to go to Earth!]
[Clearing Event Dungeons give achievements right? I'll help too!]
[If it's what Shin wants, I'll do anything.]
[I'll help, but I want to do it alone. I want to test my improved spearmanship.]
[I probably have to help too… How annoying.]
[No, Walker. Considering the current state of affairs, you stay home and focus on protecting Yua.]
[Damn it. While you guys accomplish cool things, why do I have to stay home and be a bodyguard… Kuk!]
Wraith Queens were gathering. Traps exploded, spreading poisonous mist, frost crystals, and sleeping gas. Using Tempest, I blew them all away, then gathered my aura in my spear. White aura. It was the Heroic Aura, only allowed for Heroes.
[As for the 'others,' I'll take care of them when I get out. Just wait for one month.]
[Okay!]
[I'll wait for you, Shin-nim!]
[I love you, I want to see you.]
[Wait, who was the girl that just confessed her love to Kang Shin? She used the Floor Shop's voice changing item! I couldn't even think about buying it because it cost 1.5 million gold!]
[How can you be certain it was a girl, Walker? There are men in this guild, too… Could it be… you?]
[Do you want to fight, you old… Kuk!]
It was impossible to avoid getting attention. We were strong. We would inevitably obtain a special position compared to other ability users. In that case, I would rather do things my way.
'I don't like your methods, Ciara. People should sacrifice themselves to protect the Hero? That's wrong. That would only be a never-ending vicious cycle. Furthermore, I hate the idea that people should live or die for others. As humans, we have a right to die for our sake.'
I didn't want to restrict others. For that to be possible, the Hero had to be stronger than anyone else. He had to be so strong that they didn't need to worry about me. Thankfully, the Hero in question was an excellent man of extreme talent. Furthermore, he still had 20 years left to grow.
20 years. It was enough time for humanity to grow and come to take care of itself. Coincidentally, I had the appropriate identity to influence them toward that direction.
"Huaaaaaaaaaap!"
[Kyaaaaaaaak!]
[Kiaaaaaaaa!]
I thrust out the aura imbued in my spear. The spiraling aura instantly swallowed all the Wraith Queens and exploded. Perfect.
One month. I couldn't wait.
Author’s note: N/A