Chapter 48
Chase recruited the 7th raiding party.
He gave up on bringing mercenaries along.
There must have been a fight inside the dungeon.
He decided to assume it was something like someone found out about the escape scroll.
There were too many variables when going with people he couldn't trust.
For a smooth raid, he had to go with dwarves no matter what.
That was Chase's thinking.
However, once again, the dwarves' reactions were cold.
......
It was only natural.
There was no longer any cause or justification for exploring Dreamland.
They got mana stones to revitalize the city.
And the dwarves who obtained the mana stones would gain honor.
That was all there was to it.
After sacrificing forty dwarves, all they had gotten was information related to the elevator.
At first they could still recruit people, but now they had already reached the 6th raid.
No matter how brave the dwarves were, they couldn't help turning away from a dungeon raid that yielded no results.
'Should I go in alone?'
Chase sighed as he nursed a drink in the tavern.
"Why the long face? Is the dungeon raid not going as planned?"
Chase turned his head.
There, his old friend Gronak was smiling casually.
"Why are you already here? You didn't get scared of goblins and run off, did you?"
"Isn't it about time you admitted this Gronak's hammer is amazing? I cleared them out and came back today, you bastard."
Gronak was a ranger.
He was assigned to deal with monsters around Fire Forge, and over more than ten years he had built up many subjugation records; he was regarded as a strong fighter even in the Forge.
"You look terrible. Where's that beard you always fuss over? Don't tell me it got cut off in the dungeon?"
"Hey, Gronak."
"What?"
"Rationally, I know quitting would be the sensible thing to do... but what are you supposed to do when you don't want to? If I stop now, it feels like it would stay with me as a lifelong regret."
Chase laid out his worries.
His face reflected in the cup trembled like choppy waves.
"You've always been that kind of guy."
"What?"
"You're a nutcase who can't rest until you somehow solve whatever you're curious about."
Chase snorted.
He didn't deny it.
"Want me to go with you?"
Gronak suddenly said.
"You could die."
"Or maybe I won't."
"I happen to have two escape scrolls left."
"Then that's fine."
"You and me, just the two of us, raiding the dungeon?"
"It's a combo of a former hotshot wizard and an active ranger—there's nothing to be afraid of. And it's a new dungeon, so we should be able to do anything."
Chase hesitated.
It wasn't a rational decision.
But.
This was the last chance his friend was giving him.
Maybe it would be better to go in with a small elite group.
The reason he had brought so many people along until now was to uncover even one more mystery.
Judging from the log, failure to solve it meant immediate death.
So he had thought the more people there were during the process of unraveling the mystery, the better.
But now that he thought about it.
If the situation couldn't be controlled for certain, having too many people could backfire instead.
Mutiny or division could be more deadly to the raiding party than the dungeon's mysteries.
In the end, Chase nodded.
He still hadn't given up.
If he could just achieve real results in this raid.
He might be able to change the minds of many dwarves, including the mayor.
Crisis is opportunity.
It was probably a saying meant for this kind of situation.
"Let's go. Even so, two does seem a little too few."
And so the two dwarves gathered supplies and equipment and began the 7th Dreamland raid.
***
Dungeon Exploration Day 1
The exploration from the entrance to the elevator went smoothly.
"Like you said, as long as I stayed still, they didn't attack."
"This time I'll go in. If anything happens, I'll contact you with communication magic."
Based on the information confirmed so far, Chase figured out the elevator's rules.
And it was true.
As long as you watch out for the unlit corridor, the party size, and the insect-men, the elevator won't kill you.
Once you knew this rule, there was no longer any reason to fear the elevator.
Chase linked up with Gronak and entered the elevator.
'I've definitely seen this machine before.'
It was a strange feeling.
Thinking that some forgotten past version of me had pressed this machine's buttons and headed to the next area made my heart pound.
'The password......'
Just like Julius and Yuven.
Chase also figured out why the elevator returned to the first floor.
An elevator that returned to its starting point after three moves.
The way to the next area wasn't to conquer the unlit corridor.
It was to press the correct numbers.
10 9 8, 10 9 7.
He pressed the buttons slowly, one after another, in order.
And then.
When he pressed 9 8 7, the elevator began to vibrate.
Kugoong-
It clearly felt like a fall.
He would have had every reason to scream, but Chase was certain this was the answer.
After all, if he'd died so meaninglessly here, he wouldn't have been able to escape the dungeon.
His vision changed.
The body that had been falling inside the elevator was suddenly standing on soil.
"......"
It all happened in an instant.
He got a slight chill from the bizarre phenomenon, but in any case, he had succeeded in moving on to the next area.
And quite easily, too.
"The password is 987. If you press them in order, you should be able to move on."
-Okay.
Gronak had also arrived.
Meanwhile, Chase had used detection magic and found something interesting.
Chase immediately opened his journal and drew a map.
.
.
.
│ Entrance │
│ Elev. │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
──────────
│ │
│ │
│ │
──────────
──────────
│ ◆Party │
│ │
│ │
│ │
───────────
│ Core Room │
───────────
.
.
.
The party had now arrived in the area right in front of the core room.
They had skipped the long corridor and the wide area, too.
Chase told Gronak about this.
"Is that really true?"
"But don't get too excited. The dungeon master isn't stupid; this probably means you're meant to break through it in reverse order. The elevator is probably for that purpose."
Chase looked up.
A beautiful night sky came into view.
It was a forest.
The wind was blowing, and the leaves and flowers danced so wildly he could hear them.
The scenery was so exquisite that, without detection magic, he might have mistaken it for the outdoors.
However, an unbearable stench was stabbing hard at his nose.
Where on earth was that smell coming from?
"What an amazing place."
"Dungeons are like that. It's said that dungeon masters, like the god of oblivion, can create not only followers who obey them, but even natural scenery like this. Anyway..."
Chase and Gronak looked ahead.
There was a giant cave there.
It looked as if a huge mountain had been carved away into that shape.
The cave was large enough to block out the sky and conceal the forest.
It was a place so vast they couldn't even begin to estimate its interior size.
"From now on, I'll arbitrarily designate this place as the 3rd area. Agreed?"
"Yeah."
"It looks like most of Area 3 is occupied by that cave."
As proof, Chase reached a hand behind him.
Then, as if an invisible barrier existed there, he couldn't stretch it any farther.
"The elevator is probably inside there. From now on, we have to explore that place. Think of it as a huge building about 80 stories tall."
"Hoo, that's nerve-racking."
"Yeah. You should be nervous. We don't know what'll happen ahead, so always be ready to use an escape scroll..."
Thud.
Before he could even finish speaking, Gronak's body toppled forward and collapsed.
"......"
For an instant, a chill ran down his spine.
Shouting "Who's there?" was meaningless in this dungeon.
It was proof that the bizarre phenomenon had already begun.
"Ugh..."
Chase's body also collapsed in turn.
Vertigo and weakness took over his entire body.
Am I going to die here?
No.
This dungeon didn't feel like that sort of place.
His body couldn't move, but his consciousness was clear.
His senses were alive.
Someone was walking this way.
Judging from the sound, it was probably a bipedal creature like them.
Rustle, rustle.
The creature rummaged over Chase's body.
What on earth was it doing?
The question didn't last long.
The reason he'd escaped the dungeon empty-handed last time.
It was probably...
'Because this thing took my stuff?'
The creature took the backpack.
His body felt lighter.
Rustling could also be heard from Gronak's side, and then the footsteps gradually faded away.
.
.
.
.
.
A little while later.
Chase and Gronak stood up.
"Fuck, the escape scroll is gone?"
"It's not just the escape scroll. All our water and food are gone too."
"And the equipment I bought with my paycheck too... Haa, then aren't we in big trouble?"
"......You could say that."
If worse came to worst, they could use escape scrolls.
That was exactly the kind of place Dreamland was—a place that made people complacent like that.
It was a serious situation, but.
Gronak chuckled.
That was his strength.
The reason he had been able to survive so long as a veteran ranger was probably his ability to keep a positive attitude in any situation.
"This is ridiculous. What kind of dungeon confiscates your scrolls right from the start?"
"I know."
"So does that mean they're just gone for good?"
"I don't think so."
Chase had definitely escaped from the dungeon.
If so, there had to be a way to get his belongings back.
'I thought this was a dungeon where you just had to get past instant-death traps like the elevator, but that wasn't it.'
He'd probably thought the exact same thing when he came in last time.
Chase made a bitter face.
'If only I'd come back with just the journal...'
Regret was pointless.
He had probably been in a situation where he couldn't bring it back.
Back then, Chase probably knew just as well that without the journal, the 6th raid itself would be meaningless.
"Stay sharp from here on out. One mistake and you'll cross the Black Gate for real."
"Ah, of course."
"Let's go."
And so the two dwarves entered the cave.
***
Rrrrip- Rrrrip- Rrrrip-
"Eek."
"Malangi, wait a little longer. I'm almost done."
I'm carefully tearing apart the intruder's journal.
I used a pen to erase the parts that were hard to rip out.
I can't just hand over information about Area 3 as is.
Why am I even bothering to tear up the journal?
Because I need to shake them up as much as possible.
Those bastards are rapists who came to rape the heart of my dungeon.
I have no intention of being picky about means or methods either.
I got word from the veterans that dwarf bros fight pretty well.
I wasn't really in a position to move personally.
NoMinionsForMe : Newbie, you're a real demon
ㄴKingJjangEvilSpirit : Not a demon, an evil spirit.
ㄴOrange★ : For real, lolㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴOrange★ : You should be the real demon...
Ant Queen : Newbie-nim is kind of like a boot camp instructor, yeah.
ㄴAnt Queen : A variable demon who can switch between an angel and a devil depending on the intruder.
ㄴShibganLoveDog : That's not right, yeah.
ㄴShibganLoveDog : Newbie is only an angel when they're in front of me.
ㄴAnt Queen : Shut up, shut up, shut up, please.
ㄴShibganLoveDog : 凸
"Done. Malangi, move out!"
I slapped Malangi's sturdy body.
That jiggly feeling is so satisfying.
"Eek."
And so Malangi headed toward Area 3.
I turned my gaze back to the monitor.
People often say humans repeat the same mistakes.
Dwarves were no different.