Chapter 61
As soon as I entered the dungeon, Secha-ham welcomed me.
He was in Polymorph, transformed into a pretty little girl (?).
Haa.
Seriously, Oblivion gets more and more infuriating every time I see it.
My anger surged.
But it wasn't really Secha-ham's fault, so I decided to bear with it.
"Newbie, thanks to you I survived. You really went through a lot. I honestly don't know how I can repay this kindness."
"Hyung did most of the hard work. All I did was summon minions. That was nothing."
"What's with the humility between us...? At times like this, you can brag a little."
"Anomaly carry."
"Agreed!"
Secha-ham laughed.
It was really a relief that he was safe.
A little cringey to say, but...
Just protecting this smile was enough to make this trip worthwhile.
By the way, what I'm about to say may sound a little odd, so I'm saying it in advance.
I don't feel any romantic attraction to him at all; I'm just relieved that my friend is safe, so don't get the wrong idea.
"Still, isn't the damage a bit severe?"
"You could say it isn't nothing, but the minions that survived this time leveled up like crazy, so it's a gain. There are quite a few injuries, but almost no deaths. The EXP and points came in nicely too, and income will be coming in soon, so if we just retool things like this, we'll probably end up much better off than before?"
Anomaly minions can't be trained, but the other minions aren't like that.
The situation didn't seem nearly as ruined as I'd thought.
I was planning to leave the neck-snapping yandere behind in Dino World.
At this rate, there shouldn't be any problems going forward.
For Secha-ham, who was usually full of gloom, to talk that brightly, things must really be fine.
Still, it hadn't been confirmed whether the 'anomaly minions' would cause trouble for Secha-ham and the dinosaurs.
For now, it seemed necessary to isolate them.
Once my wave starts, those guys will move.
Whether they can tell friend from foe is hugely important.
"So I'm thinking of making a separate anomaly zone. If we create an 'Anomaly Zone' between Zone 9 and Zone 10 and set it up like a final bastion, I think that should work. Doing it this way is also the best way to keep the 'rules' from being exposed as much as possible."
I also thought it was reasonable.
Come to think of it, the neck-snapping yandere is shared.
Which means if the rules get exposed in Dino World...
it would mean their effect drops significantly in the other dungeons, including Dreamland.
And we didn't have Ink Rat or Dantto here, either.
Using it like a trump card would be better for both Secha-ham and me.
After all, anomalies seem to work best when the enemy is down to its last leg.
"Good idea. You're seriously amazing, hyung. No wonder you've survived this long."
"Hehe..."
After the head pats were over,
Secha-ham gave me a Drake Heart as a gift.
A Drake Heart is the heart of a drake; when a drake dies, it crystallizes into an item.
It seems you can obtain one when a minion above a certain rank dies.
It looked like a heart-shaped gemstone.
Its effect is to increase all stats when consumed.
It apparently blocks one fatal injury once.
It was extremely useful.
That meant one extra life.
My anomaly was invincible, but I wasn't.
"Sorry. I wanted to give you something better, but I didn't have anything suitable..."
"I didn't do it to get a reward or anything. I'll gratefully accept it."
I took the Drake Heart.
I'll crunch it up in the dungeon later.
"Eek."
Mallang, even if you stare at me like that, it won't work.
You have infinite lives, after all.
Give this one up for me.
"Are you leaving now?"
"Yeah. No matter how much of a freebie dungeon the anomaly is, I can't stay away for too long."
It's kind of like that.
When I lived alone, nothing really happened.
Like a thief, a robber, or suddenly a heart attack or a stroke.
I used to imagine those things happening to me a lot.
So maybe that's why.
Personally, I feel the difference between having someone beside you and not is huge.
Dungeons are the same.
I guess it's because I'm the kind of person who worries about pointless things.
During waves, all I really do is cause trouble and run auto, but...
Still, it's a lot more comforting when I'm there myself.
Secha-ham looked at me with a regretful expression.
"Hyung."
"Yeah?"
"Can I really just pat your head once??"
I'm really not gay.
But I'm weak to cats and dogs and the like, so I can't help it....
"What do you take your senior for? Absolutely not."
"What a shame..."
"......Are you seriously, honestly wanting it?"
"The way you say that makes it awkward. I'm fine now."
Anyway.
Lastly.
Secha-ham said he'd keep his promise.
He transformed into a dinosaur and did a forward roll.
Wow.
A Tyrannosaurus doing a forward roll.
This is more precious than the Drake Heart.
.
.
.
.
.
And so, I rode Mallang back to Dreamland.
WorldIsCold: Newbie, seriously, thank you so much. You're the best...
ㄴGolemKing: So what does this guy look like?? Is it a dragon like we guessed??
ㄴGolemKing: Newbie, please tell me what you saw...
ㄴDIP: Seriously asking, but is it a girl?
ㄴDIP: Fuck, I'm seriously, seriously curious!!
ㄴNewbie: If there's a chance later, please see it yourselves, seniors;;
ㄴSibganLoveDog: I'm jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous.
ㄴSibganLoveDog: Newbie, please come to my dungeon too...
ㄴSibganLoveDog: I really feel like I'm going to die from loneliness
ㄴSibganLoveDog: Are you planning to let me die like this because I'm lonely for my age??
ㄴNewbie: The distance is way too far, so it's a no-go right now...
MagicHero: N-n-n-newbie...
ㄴNewbie: Yep?
ㄴMagicHero: So did you retrieve the minion?
ㄴNewbie: Nah, I just left it there as a gift.
ㄴMagicHero: Hmm...
ㄴMagicHero: This is very interesting...
Since I had nothing to do besides browse the gallery, I kept my fingers busy.
Time melts away sweetly.
.
.
.
.
.
Haa, fuck.
I'm finally back.
I missed you.
My gloomy, bizarre Dreamland.
Looks like I'm a homebody after all.
It's a strange corridor filled with white, but somehow, just looking at it makes my fatigue melt away.
I took the elevator to the core room.
"......"
"Hello."
On the way, I also gave the bug-man a greeting.
I sat in front of the monitor and scrubbed the Drake Heart squeaky clean.
This thing looks insanely hard.
I hope I don't crack a tooth biting into it.
Fortunately, it wasn't that hard.
Should I say it felt like eating a huge piece of candy?
I bit into it and let the pieces inside my mouth dissolve.
Sweet.
All stats rose by 7,
and the trait 【Fatal Wound Immunity (One-time Use)】 was added.
I stretched.
And no intruders were coming in.
So there was nothing else to do.
Time to get back to browsing the gallery.
Orange★: Newbie. I have something to ask you.
Huh?
What is this about all of a sudden.
ㄴNewbie: Yep?
ㄴOrange★: You said Secha gave you a Drake Heart, right? Do you still have it now?
ㄴNewbie: Yep, I'm eating it now. Why?
ㄴOrange★: I've been talking this over a lot with MagicHero.
ㄴOrange★: If you ever have the chance later, could you also take on the role of a 'deliveryman'?
A deliveryman.
A deliveryman, all of a sudden?
ㄴOrange★: For one thing, the fact that you brought a Drake Heart outside proves that 'items from other dungeons' can be circulated externally.
ㄴOrange★: Unlike your anomaly, minions and traps bought with points can't be taken outside, but items directly crafted by the dungeon master through traits can. For example, Drake Hearts or useful items like DIP's 'Lion Resurrection Stone'.
ㄴOrange★: Through you as the medium... I was thinking maybe we could support dungeons that are relatively weaker than the others—like Secha, King-Jjang Evil Spirit, Bongcheol, or Bongjeong—even if only a little.
Ah.
Come to think of it, that makes sense.
ㄴNewbie: If I deliver things like that, it helps the other seniors' waves too.
ㄴNewbie: So the difficulty of the other dungeons would go up overall, right?
ㄴOrange★: Yep.
ㄴOrange★: Your anomaly is weak to information, after all.
ㄴOrange★: Most of them can only be installed one at a time, and they take up slots too.
ㄴOrange★: If you use anomalies every time you go help.
ㄴOrange★: It'll probably end up putting you at a disadvantage.
ㄴOrange★: I figured it might help ease the burden a little.
ㄴNewbie: It can't be called a pure disadvantage, because...
ㄴNewbie: If I install my anomalies?
ㄴNewbie: When other dungeon waves share a certain amount of their rewards with me, I get them too, you know?
ㄴNewbie: I think I can probably get them even if 'Commencement' doesn't activate.
ㄴNewbie: I'll have to check that first, though.
ㄴNewbie: If I end up taking on the deliveryman role later, can I try installing one each?
ㄴNewbie: Like giving your dungeons a nice little source of income, hehe...
ㄴNewbie: Besides, once I reach level 100, my minion and trap slots increase by 10 each anyway.
ㄴNewbie: There are plenty of anomalies in Dreamland that I don't use, yeah.
This is seriously a huge win.
It's a structure where we can all help each other out through me.
ㄴSibganLoveDog: I'm seriously, seriously all for it!!!
ㄴSibganLoveDog: You can install 100 of them, so please come to Wallachia ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
ㄴSealedPhilosopher: Please donate some anomalies...
ㄴSealedConqueror: Seriously, please donate...
ㄴKingSlayer: What, are you guys rice-beggar monkeys or something?? I want some too...
So far, the old hands had only used the gallery to communicate.
Because they couldn't go out at all.
But now, I existed.
And I was the only one who could go outside the dungeon.
Something that had existed only in the imaginations of gallery users until now.
I could make the Dungeon Master Alliance a reality.
Of course, the world is vast.
There are obvious spatial and physical limits.
It couldn't be a system of exchanging things in real time as needed, or anything like that.
Even so.
Was there any more hopeful news for dungeon masters than this?
ㄴWhaleWhaleYeah: Seriously, Newbie, what on earth are you?
ㄴWhaleWhaleYeah: Ever since you showed up, so many things really changed.
ㄴPsychWardChiefPatient: This is what we technically call a game changer.
ㄴWorldIsCold: Newbie isn't a game changer or anything; he's just a 'god' lol.
ㄴTVHead: Just how many people's worth of work are you doing by yourself, fuck lol.
ㄴKingJjangEvilSpirit: Mom, when I grow up I want to be Newbie!!
ㄴNightRaven: This might change the way waves work from here on out, damn....
ㄴCowHead: I'm really glad Newbie is in the dungeon gallery.
ㄴAntQueen: Ha, yeah.
ㄴAntQueen: At long last, I can finally hand my babies over to dungeon gallery users, hehe.
ㄴI'mTheOnlyOneWithNoMinions: Your babies still can't come out of the dungeon, though lol.
ㄴAntQueen: Wouldn't it work if you removed the minion setting, then had Newbie set them again and take them out!!!#@!#$#@!@!#$?????
ㄴI'mTheOnlyOneWithNoMinions: Would that even work? Didn't you know themed minions can't have their minion settings removed?
ㄴAntQueen: No ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
ㄴAntQueen: Then that wouldn't mean anything...
ㄴAntQueen: Then I'll give you the eggs I laid, at least...
ㄴI'mTheOnlyOneWithNoMinions: Ugh, I fucking hate that, lol.
ㄴMagicHero: If we only fix the chronic mobility problem, we'll have a lot more options we can take in all sorts of ways...
ㄴMagicHero: Of course, the burden on Newbie would also grow a lot...
ㄴMagicHero: Aaaanyway, that's how it is...
ㄴOrange★: Of course, I'm not asking you to do that right now.
ㄴOrange★: Ultimately, you're the priority, and your limits are still clear, ㅇㅇ
ㄴOrange★: MagicHero and I will keep discussing this.
ㄴOrange★: For now, focus on your own dungeon first.
ㄴOrange★: And.
ㄴOrange★: I'm really glad you're Newbie, and that you're our comrade.
ㄴOrange★: Thank you so much for saving Secha.
ㄴNewbie: Ugh...
ㄴNewbie: (/////)
That's kind of embarrassing.
I scratched my head.
The gallery feels especially lively today.
Hope is what gets people excited.
So, without a doubt.
Right now, a new wind is blowing.