Chapter 40
‘We can’t conclude that he died of old age.’
The last intruder was allowed through 400 years ago, but we couldn’t judge by Earth’s common sense.
In this world, there was no way to be certain of a living creature’s lifespan. This one was a monster, but it had lived for over 500 years.
And if that intruder had taken the gold coins lying on Floor 100 and used them to buy food and supplies from the Golden Carriage, they might still be alive even now, 400 years later.
I questioned it as though reprimanding it.
“Answer me. Who did you send up there?
It wilted immediately.
Apparently, it had reacted so strongly when it realized I was a superior because it was afraid I would call it out on this.
It had something to feel guilty about.
Soon, it began to confess in a guilty tone.
<It was…>
…
..
.
I listened to everything it had to say.
It was utterly horrifying.
“So… you’re saying you’ve died more than a hundred times?”
<Please punish me. It is the result of my weakness…>
Apparently, it had been breached day in and day out.
It had spoken with such a strong sense of responsibility that I’d thought it was a capable gatekeeper.
Then there was no way to know how many of them might have made it to Floor 101.
<But no one has come since 400 years ago, so I haven’t allowed a single one through.>
After that, it began explaining how much it had trained during that time.
It hadn’t spent those 400 years resting; it had grown stronger and would never lose again.
“You already said that.”
<I’m sorry… May I tell you one more thing?>
“What is it?”
<I may have died that many times, but there probably aren’t many who made it up to Floor 101.>
I understood what it meant as soon as I heard it.
It must have been because of all the things scattered around here.
“They only took the gold coins and went back?”
<Yes, that is so! Most of them were after the gold coins. In fact, most of them didn’t even duel me; they just filled a sack with gold coins at the door and left.>
That sounded about right.
You could get dozens of gold coins just by scooping up a handful at the entrance.
‘The intruders I met on Floor 60, too… They were after these gold coins…’
This place seemed to be the root of the whole problem.
I spoke cautiously.
“…Then you failed to protect that chest too?”
At that question, it spoke quietly, as though burdened by guilt.
<That golden chest has been opened exactly once…>
“Once?”
<That’s right… Believe me! It hasn’t been robbed since!>
I could glean two pieces of information from those words.
1. The contents of the golden chest are replenished.
2. Killing it alone won’t let me open the chest.
Without revealing my joy at learning that, I asked in a tone suggesting that I found its report suspicious.
“It really was only once, right? What was that intruder like?”
<…He was a man wearing a hood and carrying a curved sword. He had several subordinates with him.>
It was describing his appearance.
That was an answer to my question, but it wasn’t what I wanted to know.
I wanted to know how the hooded man had opened the chest.
But I couldn’t ask outright. I was playing the part of an inspector, after all.
So I had to probe once more, based on the information I’d gathered so far.
I threw out a slightly more daring question.
“That hooded man used up all your keys, didn’t he?”
It couldn’t answer right away.
An unnatural silence fell.
For a moment, I tensed, wondering if it had noticed I wasn’t an inspector, but fortunately that didn’t seem to be the case.
It answered.
<…That’s right.>
The prediction I’d had in my head had hit the mark.
‘Just as I thought…!’
The way to open the chest was to use up all of the Treasure Keeper’s keys.
The keys it was holding were the keys to that golden chest.
And as I’d seen earlier, whenever it used its waves, a key was consumed.
It was an incredible detection technique. It had accurately determined exactly how many of these countless gold coins had disappeared.
How could I make it use that technique one more time?
‘Maybe I should make it fight…’
Its ability to perceive the space around it would probably be important during combat.
“You said you’ve trained for 400 years?”
When I lowered my voice into a solemn register, the Treasure Keeper seemed to bow by lowering its body.
<Indeed. It was a grueling period of painstaking training.>
“Anyone can talk. As an inspector, I’ll personally verify your martial prowess.”
As I said that, I pointed to the Blood Knight standing beside me.
“Fight my subordinate, Blood Knight.”
<I shall obey! I’ll prove how much I’ve grown.>
I was curious how strong this thing really was, too.
The Treasure Keeper stood with its back to the chest.
Of its six arms, it stretched the one empty hand—the only one not holding a key—out in front of it.
It was puzzling. Did it mean one hand was enough? Was it reluctant to get its keys dirty?
Or was that simply its normal stance?
I dipped my chin.
“Blood Knight. Don’t kill it; just give it a proper fight.”
<…At once…!>
Boom!
The pile of gold coins beneath it caved in, and the Blood Knight sprang out.
The Blood Knight leaped into the air and brought its greatsword straight down in a vertical chop.
Whoooosh-!
The Blood Knight’s blood-red sword came hurtling down over the Treasure Keeper’s head.
The Treasure Keeper didn’t move an inch.
It merely held its gray arm stretched out in front of it.
The next moment.
The Treasure Keeper casually swept its hand forward, as if shooing away a fly.
At that,
Craaack-!
The Blood Knight’s armor crumpled, and…
Shuaaak-!
It was sent flying violently.
Bang!! Bang! Bang!
After bouncing three times, it rolled dozens of meters across the sea of gold coins.
Shraaaaaaattle!!!
Bang!!
The Blood Knight, plowing through a distant pile of gold coins, crashed into the marble wall.
Click, screeeech.
The Blood Knight barely managed to get back up, but its armor had been horribly mangled.
The armor on its right shoulder, the point of impact, had been crushed beyond recognition, and blood mist was leaking out feebly.
‘Insane…’
Astonishment surged up to my throat.
It was the first time I’d ever seen the Blood Knight beaten so thoroughly.
But I gave no sign of panic as I walked toward the Blood Knight.
I rotated the Circle in my dantian.
“Blood Command.”
I quickly sent mana flowing through it, restoring the Blood Knight’s crushed armor and frame.
At the same time, I pulled up the corners of my lips, pretending to remain unruffled.
“It really looks like you’ve gotten much stronger!”
<Thank you!>
The Treasure Keeper gathered its remaining arms together and bowed politely at the waist.
It was grotesque, to say the least.
<If I had been my former self, I might have struggled quite a bit against that knight’s attack just now… but my 400 years of training have not been in vain!>
“That’s great to hear. Now we won’t have to worry at all, even if an intruder comes!” <Of course! I shall defend this place even at the cost of my life.>
It answered boldly.
Confidence seemed to radiate from it through the curtain of disheveled hair.
I nodded, then thought.
‘I can’t get a read on this.’
I had no idea how to get rid of as many as five keys.
I had a way to use up one or two, but I had no idea how to exhaust all five of the remaining keys.
And this might not even be a matter of whether I got the reward in that chest.
‘Will Death Mark actually kill it?’
I wasn’t sure of that, either.
Death Mark was a derivative form of second-stage instant-death dark magic, and I’d been told it had its limits.
‘Let’s open the gallery.’
A consultation seemed like a good idea.
Before that.
“Could you look this way?”
<Yes!>
Click!
I turned on the hologram and took a picture of it.
I stepped back slightly behind Barang and opened the gallery.
At the same time, I said to the Treasure Keeper:
“I need to write a report for my superiors, so wait there for a moment.”
<I shall obey!>
It stiffened again like a statue, guarding the front of the golden chest.
‘There must still be information I need to find out before I kill it.’
I decided to borrow the collective intelligence of the gallery.
I wrote a post about everything that had happened so far.
______
Title: Guys, I met the Floor 100 mob. I need some advice…
Author: ㅇㅇ(99F)
{A gray giant with six arms holding five keys}
I’ve got a lot to say, so hear me out.
First of all, you can tell from my nickname and the title that I still haven’t cleared it…
……
……
……
……
……
______
I pressed the button to register the post.
Then I refreshed the page.
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ(321F) : ???
ㅇㅇ(456F) : Holy shit, what’s with this sea of gold coins?
ㅇㅇ(167F) : You’re on the same floor as the monster right now? lol
ㅇㅇ(643F) : Pretending to be a high-ranking officer< What the fuck does this even mean?
ㅇㅇ(244F) : Fuck, what the hell are you doing?
ㅇㅇ(643F) : What do you mean, you broke through Floor 100;;;;;;;
Confusion was practically pouring out of them.
‘I need to get some advice quickly…’
I found it a little absurd.
I’d posted because I wanted advice, but apparently they needed some time to process their shock.