Chapter 63
"Hello, Blessed One Aboralis. I heard you came looking for me."
"Nice to meet you. And you're...?"
"I'm Gronak. The sole survivor of the 7th Dreamland raid... and a friend of Tors and Chase."
Aboralis headed to Fireforge.
To learn more about Dreamland.
There was Gronak in Fireforge.
Unlike Chase, he had survived the final raid.
She'd already heard about him from her aide, Tors.
Still, she thought it would be better to meet him and speak in person.
"I really don't remember what happened in the dungeon. The other dwarves who survived are the same."
"I heard you can check the logs to confirm information. Of course I know the information can be tampered with, but you can still get a rough idea, right?"
At the very least, Dreamland can't completely fabricate information about certain minions and traps.
The elevator is the prime example.
1. You have to use the elevator to reach the next area. (True)
2. The elevator can carry multiple people, so to make exploration go smoothly, you should explore with as many people as possible. (False)
3. You must never go out into a corridor without lights. (True)
4. Sometimes bug-men board it, and you have to fight and beat them. (False)
Gronak nodded.
Because the information Dreamland can tamper with is limited, it can't turn every recorded detail into a fake.
Chase said you can tell truth from lies by 'losing items.'
"Do you have any information besides this elevator?"
"That's right."
"Weren't you up to the 7th raid already?"
"Well...."
I don't know what happened in the dungeon during the 6th raid, but Chase came out having left all his belongings, including the log, so he didn't get anything out of it.
「Never come」
In the 7th raid, he only came back with Chase's suicide note, apparently left behind after he gave up on life.
"Honestly, I want to know how and why my friend died. But that smart bastard wrote in his suicide note that I must absolutely not go in, so, whew...."
Gronak's expression looked conflicted.
Aboralis stood and offered him words of comfort.
"Thanks for the info. Someone will avenge your friend someday, myself included. So live out the rest of your life in peace."
.
.
.
.
.
Aboralis thought.
The reason she was so obsessed with Dreamland was that she'd witnessed the possibility that Dreamland's 'Dungeon Master' could come outside.
It was worth discussing.
Rather than leaving a variable as a variable, it was more rational to turn it into something controllable.
Before uploading information about Dreamland to the Blessed One Gallery, there was one last thing she had to do.
That was to go to Dreamland herself.
"Hmm...."
Blessed Ones revive even if they die.
That is the established truth.
We definitely have infinite lives.
Death can never make us afraid.
But.
There are penalties.
Level down, point loss.
If you have no points, random traits get removed.
When you die, part of what you've built up so far disappears.
You said there were tons of instant-death traps.
Better be careful.
If a Blessed One had nothing to lose,
they wouldn't care that much, but Aboralis, who had set out to clear the dungeon, had something to lose.
Quite a lot, now that all her points were spent.
She brought her log and an escape scroll.
Information tampering and memory erasure mean they can't interfere with the system, so the Dungeon Master is definitely going to have turned off the 'community' function.
'If a corpse is left behind, I should be able to use clairvoyance.'
Clairvoyance belonged only to Aboralis.
It was a fairly unique trait.
Honestly, she didn't think it was all that necessary, so it stayed at 1 star.
If she resolved to clear this dungeon for sure, it would be worth considering training it once.
If it can be expanded to include 'objects,' it'll be useful in this dungeon.
'It doesn't feel great to think I'm feeding points and experience to the Dungeon Master for free.'
Still, I need to make an estimate, so let's think of it as a necessary investment.
Dreamland is dangerous.
The Dungeon Master can come outside.
That fact alone is far too unusual.
I didn't know what kind of threat it might turn into.
If I can eliminate it easily, I'd better do it.
If not, I'll have to discuss it with the other Blessed Ones.
This is something we have to decide together, no matter how much we're rivals.
For now, let's make this wave an exploration run.
Aboralis entered the dungeon.
***
【The wave is starting.】
【An intruder has entered.】
【The confirmed number of intruders is one entity.】
【One Blessed One.】
"Huh?"
"Whoa."
"Fuck."
"Holy shit, we're fucked."
I got up from Squishy and sat down in front of the monitor.
I was instantly wide awake.
What the hell is going on?
A Blessed One, all of a sudden?
Newbie : Breaking news, breaking news, holy fucking emergency bulletin
ㄴNewbie : This isn't clickbait, please everyone look at this post!!
ㄴNewbie : Guys, holy shit, a Blessed One came in?
ㄴGolemKing : Holy fuck, hahaha.
ㄴGolemKing : We're fucked, hahaha.
ㄴDIP : Wow, that woke me right up.
ㄴDIP : I never thought I'd see that woman in the Newbie dungeon.
ㄴKingslayer : It's Aboralis...
ㄴSkullBones : Ah fuck, PTSD is kicking in...
ㄴSkullBones : That bitch is already insanely vicious... She'd been quiet for a while, and now she's crawled into the Newbie dungeon, huh;;
Is this really true?
Last time, didn't she even help out Secha, who was in trouble, apologize to the goblin she kidnapped, and give him a gold necklace and other gifts? I thought she'd been living pretty decently.
The world is cold.
I'm fucking wronged.
ㄴNewbie : Do I have to close the gallery now...?
ㄴNewbie : No, I'm so flustered I literally brain-froze, what am I supposed to do?
ㄴNewbie : What the fuck is this, and without even a warning...
Seriously, all I can say is fuck.
To put it in modern terms, it'd be like a hurricane suddenly forming in the area where I live and trying to destroy my house and car.
Of course, the veterans had steadily warned us about how dangerous Blessed Ones were.
There are definitely those kinds of bastards in this world.
As a Dungeon Master, I'd eventually run into them, but I never thought it'd be now.
ㄴNewbie : Ah fuck, it just came out of nowhere.
ㄴNewbie : I seriously don't even know what to say, haha....
ㄴNewbie : Guys, can I just die now?
ㄴNoMinions : Newbie, calm down first, damn it.
ㄴNoMinions : Take a deep breath.
ㄴNoMinions : Don't turn off the community connection yet.
ㄴNoMinions : It'll take four hours just to reach the elevator anyway.
Yeah.
Well, fuck, what else can I do?
I've come this far; I have to deal with it.
My favorite saying has always been that if you go into a tiger's den, you can survive as long as you keep your wits about you.
I took a deep breath as NoMinions said.
If this were another brand-new dungeon, it'd be hopeless.
But my dungeon is full of bizarre phenomena no one knows about.
Dreamland definitely has three areas.
No matter how smart someone is, clearing it on the first run is impossible. That's for sure.
Right now, more important than lamenting my lot was thinking about what came next.
ㄴNewbie : Okay, okay...
ㄴNoMinions : Good.
ㄴMentalHospitalChiefPatient : Honestly, Newbie-nim, you're kind of overreacting, and it's a little annoying??
ㄴMentalHospitalChiefPatient : Dreamland <<< the dungeon the Gallery picked as the one intruders would hate the most, and this bastard is making me want to flick him in the forehead ㅇㅇ
ㄴMentalHospitalChiefPatient : Do your bizarre phenomena look like a joke to you???
ㄴWhaleWhaleYeah : For real, hahaha.
ㄴMagicHero : B-b-besides, since he doesn't seem to have any helpers around him, it looks like he just came in to explore... don't worry too much.
ㄴMagicHero : Well, actually, this dwarf wave was so huge that even if it gets known, it wouldn't be weird...
ㄴAntQueen : But there is something I'm a little worried about.
ㄴAntQueen : Honestly, just hearing about Newbie-nim's dungeon is annoying, right?
ㄴAntQueen : They definitely know something is weird... hmm...
ㄴAntQueen : They're the kind of bastards who won't even enter Love's or my dungeon because they think it's annoying.
ㄴAntQueen : At least our dungeons give experience and points, though.
ㄴAntQueen : On the other hand, in Newbie-nim's dungeon everyone except the Dungeon Master is immortal, so they probably won't be able to gain any experience at all.
ㄴAntQueen : If they come in serious again next time
ㄴAntQueen : you should probably think about the worst-case scenario...
ㄴAntQueen : For example, if they helped Secha out...
ㄴAntQueen : or if they found out you can go outside...
Hmm, if Restia didn't spill it.
Then none of my actions up to now would be exposed.
Honestly, this is just my intuition.
Maybe I'm thinking that way because I'm a little softhearted.
Restia was absolutely not the type to spill information.
Looking at how she even came all the way to the Living Forest because she thought Dreamland was dangerous.
I should probably rule out that possibility.
All the elves were dead.
Other than that, I did wander around the Living Forest pretty often.
Well, even when I was doing Yuben Ttuta, there were only plants and animals around.
Unless that hungry bear testified against that woman, I'm confident there'd be no way I'd be exposed.
I think I've hidden this fact pretty thoroughly.
ㄴSlyLoveDog : (link)
ㄴSlyLoveDog : Newbie, I posted a write-up on the board summarizing that woman Aboralis's traits and her helper's traits, etc. Could you screenshot it and save it for now?
ㄴSlyLoveDog : Even if you disconnect the community link, you can still use the system. Yeah, yeah.
Reassuring.
Love really is the best.
ㄴNewbie : Thanks
ㄴSlyLoveDog : If it's Newbie, you should be able to hold it off, so don't worry
ㄴSlyLoveDog : But honestly, I can't say Ant's point is completely wrong
ㄴSlyLoveDog : That woman has a trait called 'Clairvoyance'...
ㄴSlyLoveDog : It's like she can create information out of nothing...
ㄴSlyLoveDog : It's probably best to assume the worst-case scenario too, T_T
Ah, right.
Blessed Ones and Dungeon Masters shouldn't be judged by normal standards.
Even that bastard Max.
He died and then revived right where he stood.
I looked at the post Love had uploaded.
Honestly, this wasn't an opponent to take lightly.
After all.
I never thought I'd see the sentence 'temporarily neutralize one dungeon trap per wave.'
Is this what a Blessed One is?
Honestly, saying I wasn't scared would be a lie.
An existence born to kill Dungeon Masters.
In many ways, it felt like a final boss to us.
If Blessed Ones
banded together and ganged up on my dungeon, just imagining it is horrifying.
Haa.
It feels like just yesterday I was talking about hopeful things, and now I'm getting depressed.
ㄴColdWorld : Newbie.
ㄴNewbie : Yes, bro...
ㄴColdWorld : It might sound like simple reassurance...
ㄴColdWorld : but this is just my gut feeling, okay?
ㄴColdWorld : I think Blessed Ones are mostly selfish bastards.
ㄴColdWorld : They'd never do something that puts them at a disadvantage, right?
ㄴColdWorld : They can resurrect infinitely, but there are penalties.
ㄴColdWorld : I don't know how severe the penalty is, but there's definitely one.
ㄴColdWorld : If there were no penalties, they'd just keep mindlessly bashing their heads against it until they got through.
ㄴColdWorld : Your dungeon is the kind of place where, if you don't know it, you're dead.
ㄴColdWorld : Once they realize how shitty Dreamland is, unless there's a huge payoff
ㄴColdWorld : they probably won't try to clear your dungeon first.
ㄴNewbie : Really??
ㄴColdWorld : Yeah, cases where those bastards band together are extremely rare.
ㄴColdWorld : After all
ㄴColdWorld : if one person marks a dungeon first, the others won't enter??
ㄴColdWorld : It's basically, 'This is the dungeon I've already claimed, so fuck off.'
ㄴColdWorld : It kind of works like that, you know?
ㄴColdWorld : So don't think of it as the absolute worst.
ㄴColdWorld : They're bastards who don't know the meaning of teamwork.
ㄴOrange★ : I totally agree with Secha too.
ㄴOrange★ : There has never been a case of facing two Blessed Ones back to back.
ㄴOrange★ : Don't touch what I've already claimed.
ㄴOrange★ : They kind of keep each other in check with that mindset, yeah.
ㄴOrange★ : Probably nothing will happen.
ㄴOrange★ : Who's going to sacrifice themselves to clear your dungeon??
ㄴOrange★ : Hmm, then that wouldn't be a Blessed One, yeah.
ㄴOrange★ : And.
ㄴOrange★ : Honestly, isn't this basically an EXP event for Newbie? lol
ㄴOrange★ : The experience and points should be delicious.
ㄴColdWorld : The only time they band together like us is
ㄴColdWorld : when they're keeping a scrub dungeon like mine alive...
ㄴColdWorld : Those bastards want to raise it and then eat it...
"Phew."
Yeah.
So that's how it is.
Then what I need to do is simple.
I just need to prove that I'm a terrifying Newbie.
I just need to hammer into that bastard's brain the fact that Dreamland is the worst dungeon in history.
ㄴSlyLoveDog : Newbie-yah!
ㄴSlyLoveDog : Look at my pretty face whenever it gets hard, T_T
ㄴSlyLoveDog : I'm leaving it here, so save it!
It's pretty cute, actually.
But if I save this and look at it whenever I'm in trouble, isn't that a death flag?
I saved it for now.
"Sigh... my lot in life."
ㄴNewbie : Let's meet alive, yeah
ㄴNewbie : I'll tell you the story once it's over
Community connection OFF.
Is this the button I press?
【Cannot connect to the Dungeon Gallery.】
How long has it been since I felt this lonely?
Once the Dungeon Gallery that always filled my view disappeared, I felt like I'd been left all alone.
"Eek."
Sorry.
I was mistaken.
I'm not alone after all.
Because you're always by my side.
"Mrrp!"
Yeah, yeah.
I won't get gloomy like some depressed menhera.
I stroked Squishy as it rubbed against me.
"Let's see what kind of Blessed One skills you've got, Squishy?"
"Eek."
And so I looked at the monitor with Squishy.