Chapter 52
“All right, we’ve got six more Smiles to go. Our gear’s in order, and we’ve leveled up. I’d like to hunt them down quickly.”
“So Cry gets counted separately...”
Ruche said with a wry smile.
After taking a break, Ruche and I continued through the 〈Dungeon〉.
At least we’d managed to get the basic equipment suited to our current level range.
But if possible, I’d like to be ready to buy equipment one tier higher, too.
Blacksteel gear was an affordable, cost-effective way to get strong weapons, but it was hard to call it the best available at our current level range.
When it came to weapons, stronger was always better.
That was why we couldn’t afford to slack off when it came to making money.
I didn’t want to find myself unable to do something or get something I wanted just because I was short on money.
In particular, you never knew when you might get the chance to buy a specific rare 〈Skill Book〉.
I had to make sure we had enough money on hand in case we came across the 〈Skill Book〉 for 〈Reaper’s Cruel Hand〉.
If I missed the chance to buy it in this world, who knew how many years it might be before I could get another one?
As Ruche and I made our way through the cave, we heard a distant thud.
“W-What could that be...? Maybe a giant Smile?”
“There’s no such monster...”
I didn’t think it could be a 〈King’s Wandering〉, either.
This 〈Dungeon〉 had appeared only recently, and no bounty had been placed on its 〈Dream Lord〉 yet.
So there shouldn’t be any adventurers rushing around for the bounty and triggering a 〈King’s Wandering〉.
Besides, the 〈Dream Lord〉 here shouldn’t make a sound like that.
“A Mithril Golem?! I can’t believe such a rare monster would show up...”
As if to confirm it, the thuds echoed again.
There was no doubt.
That sound... it was the footsteps of the mithril giant, the Mithril Golem.
We couldn’t have gotten luckier.
Mithril Golems were ultra-rare monsters in the 〈Centipede Tunnel〉.
The Cry that appeared among Smiles didn’t even compare.
If defeated, it dropped Mithril, a material used to make powerful weapons.
But it was incomparably stronger than a Cry.
Most of the enemies in the 〈Centipede Tunnel〉 were easy to read, but the Mithril Golem hit far too hard.
In 〈Magic World〉, players lured in by the low spawn rate and rare drops often challenged monsters like this and got wiped out—a common joke among players. But dying over something like that in this world was no laughing matter.
If we were going to run, we’d be better off abandoning the exploration and fleeing now.
If it caught up to us while we were fighting another monster, we’d be done for.
“High risk, high reward. If I had to choose, retreating would probably be the wiser move, but...”
Honestly, I really wanted that Mithril.
It was one of the classic powerful metals in fantasy, and its reputation was just as impressive in this world.
Mithril equipment was incomparably stronger than Blacksteel gear.
“If you’re having trouble deciding, then let’s go! I may be a coward, but if that were all I was, I’d have quit being an adventurer ages ago!”
“Are you sure?”
“If you’re hesitating, that means you think we have a chance! If it were reckless, you wouldn’t even be weighing it, so I trust your judgment!”
Ruche gave a determined little fist pump.
“Ruche...!”
When we first met, I’d thought Ruche was timid and kind-hearted, but she was brave when it mattered most.
“Besides, when I think it probably showed up because of my luck, I feel kind of bad about leaving it alone. The Mithril Golem probably appeared because of my 〈Great Luck〉, right...?”
Ruche fidgeted, touching her fingertips together as she spoke hesitantly.
“W-Well... probably, yeah...”
A 〈Dungeon〉 was the nightmare dreamed by the sleeping god Alzaros.
It wasn’t unusual for new monsters to appear in response to the adventurers who entered one.
There was no doubt the Mithril Golem had appeared because of Ruche’s incredible luck.
Normally, it wasn’t the kind of monster you could encounter so easily.
“In any case... if you’re willing to do it, Ruche, then I can take it on without holding back. Let’s go hunt a mithril giant.”
I smacked my fist into my palm.
The Mithril Golem was a high-level monster with formidable stats.
It was tough, and its attacks were powerful.
We couldn’t afford to attack it recklessly.
“All right... first, let’s pick the terrain where we’ll fight it.”
“The terrain?”
“Yeah. Remember how important the width of the passage was when we fought the Gilded Rana in 〈Angel’s Toy Box〉?”
If the passage had been too wide, the Gilded Rana would have escaped.
But if it had been too narrow, we wouldn’t have been able to get behind it without provoking it.
Even in the fight against Embryo, Ruche had been able to brace herself against the ceiling and finish it off precisely because the ceiling was at the same height as it was.
If Embryo had been in a boss room, the ceiling would’ve been too high for her to pull that off. And if it had been flying around a spacious boss room, it would’ve been much harder to land a hit in the first place.
When fighting a powerful enemy, the terrain of the battlefield mattered.
“This is a cave-type 〈Dungeon〉, so the conditions vary a lot depending on where we are. The cave’s width and height, the footing, too... It should be easy to lure it over by making some noise nearby, so first we’ll draw it out to a place that’s easier to fight in.”