Chapter 64
A Blessed One had entered Dreamland.
Her name was Aboralis, and though she was quite beautiful,
according to DunGal, she was a vicious bitch.
She loiters in front of the elevator, staring at the strategy guide.
It was probably something the dwarves had provided... but since Chase came in, the elevator had gotten way too easy to get into.
For now, I had to assume it could be breached.
For reference, even during a wave, dungeon expansion, minion purchases, and trap placement are possible.
There's a penalty that requires me to go there myself, but creating Area 4 right in front of the Core Room should be possible.
Now then, where would be the best place to send her?
According to the information Sarang gave me, Aboralis has a trait called Trap Nullification.
That's the ability I need to be most careful about right now.
If Aboralis in Area 3 were to unravel the weird phenomenon
and find the elevator, then if she nullified the elevator itself with that power, a path straight to the Core Room would open.
All paths in a dungeon must connect.
That was the basic rule.
Therefore, the elevator had no choice but to be placed in the middle passage connecting one area to another, which meant that even if some trap put the elevator in a space like Floor 70 or Floor 80, it would still be judged as a passage leading to the next area.
If the elevator were temporarily disabled, the passage leading to the Core Room would open.
If there were no elevator to begin with, that side would become the escape route.
So I couldn't just drop Aboralis straight into the Goblin Cave.
At least not until that ability was gone.
She also has the ability to read the memories of corpses.
I don't know exactly what the range or cooldown of this clairvoyance are.
It might take a long time, or there could be all kinds of possibilities.
A trespasser's corpse remains in the Goblin Cave.
It would be best to clear them all out with Malang.
But just like the faculty office at school, anything involving corpses was completely beyond my reach.
Maybe because it was a section with its own independent ecosystem, I wasn't sure why.
Even for a dungeon master themed around weird phenomena, there were lines that couldn't be crossed.
And I couldn't say I understood everything.
So the remaining options were the maze and the school, and the maze was better.
It would be wiser to coax her into using that ability as much as possible in the maze, then finish her off in the school.
There was also the possibility that she could be killed by a doppelganger or drowned by the maze.
"Honestly, dying to the bug man would be the best..."
-Hoo....
-You scared me.
That woman.
She didn't seem like she'd go down that easily.
She was one hell of a straightforward woman.
She'd already figured out how the elevator worked and was jabbing the number buttons over and over.
"Please go out into the hallway with no lights."
-I said to ignore the hallway with no lights.
Ugh, damn it.
Right. She even had a strategy guide.
Hoping for a fluke was a bit much.
For some reason, I pictured the bug man looking dejected.
It's okay. It's okay.
You carried us during the Stigmatized Elf fight, didn't you?
We can deal with her using another weird phenomenon.
Silently sending the words of encouragement I couldn't actually say aloud,
I watched Aboralis's actions.
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Aboralis eventually figured out the password.
-You'll find out eventually anyway, so what's the harm in setting it easy?
-How gloomy and disgusting. Is Dreamland's dungeon master into this kind of unpleasant stuff?
-He's got a pretty face, honestly such a waste.
Right after moving from the elevator to Area 1.
What should I say.
From the moment I stepped into the dungeon.
as if she knew I was watching her.
What was she trying to do, babbling away like a madwoman all by herself?
Hm.
"Sorry, but your beauty trick won't work on me."
"Ack."
I know.
Of course, it wasn't a beauty trick.
It reminds me of playing a nice, friendly 5v5 team game.
You know those bastards who trash-talk in all-chat because their side has the edge.
I didn't know if she was trying to get under my skin.
as if boasting that she already knew a fair bit about my identity.
-The Stigmatized Elves were the first ones to enter.
-Did they get past the elevator? According to the dwarves' strategy guide, it looked like a pretty brutal trap.
-Yuven didn't seem to have died at the elevator.
-Well, of course. You personally came outside and with your own hands... no, you lured him into a cave with a hungry bear and killed him.
-Wouldn't you show yourself in front of me too?
-You're a dungeon master brave enough to go outside. Heh, are you not confident in a one-on-one?
-I won't handle you roughly. I just want to see you with my own eyes once.
She was just spouting nonsense.
"Malang. Move out."
I immediately picked up a pen.
And wrote a note, then handed it to Malang.
"Ack."
Well, I might as well humor her with a cheap provocation.
The other side didn't have a gallery anyway, so I was bored.
***
「ㄴㄱㅁ」
Aboralis blinked at the note.
"Heh...."
That girl had some real attitude.
I'll keep this as a memento.
I tried to rip the slime that delivered the note apart,
but like the elevator, it was something that couldn't be killed physically.
Drip, drip-
Water was dripping from the sprinkler.
"Ah, cold."
Aboralis looked up at the ceiling.
She didn't think this was a meaningless phenomenon.
It wasn't poison, just ordinary water.
What kind of trap was this, anyway?
Could it be that later that water will gush out
and fill this huge maze?
"Spraying water on a lady..."
Aboralis walked through the maze.
Even while walking, her mouth kept moving nonstop.
"They could at least serve tea in a cup... this dungeon's manners are awful."
Of course, it wasn't just to provoke the dungeon master.
Rather, it was close to self-suggestion.
Only white light filled the corridor, the very pinnacle of minimalism.
The road to the destination was long.
If all you did was keep walking, it was easy to let your mind go blank.
In a place like this where you never knew what would happen, if your focus wavered.
You were asking to die.
Her tone was playful as can be, but her expression was rigid.
'What on earth was Oblivion thinking... to make such a trash dungeon exist?'
Well.
This Dreamland was a hellhole where you couldn't even get achievement points, let alone points or experience.
A dungeon where only unrewarded death lurked?
If a rougher Blessed One had come here, she'd definitely have cursed up a storm.
Of course.
Aboralis didn't bother putting such vulgar words in her mouth.
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Like the black mages who had once been massacred, Aboralis came face to face with the true secret of Area 1.
The maze was an obsessive one.
The moment an intruder tried to leave Area 1, it changed its structure in real time and closed the exit.
Not only that.
The water droplets falling from the sprinkler had, before she knew it, become streams that formed puddles on the floor, and the concept of drowning that had only existed in imagination was slowly becoming reality.
And.
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Clomp, clomp.
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Clomp, clomp.
"Haha...."
The moment she confirmed the identity of whatever was approaching from ahead, Aboralis could only let out a bitter laugh.
That was me.
Not figuratively... it was really another Aboralis.
"Who are you?"
"That's what I'd like to ask... who exactly are you?"
It wasn't just the appearance.
She knew everything, from my abilities and the items I carried to my memories and even my past.
I assume that thing is a minion of Dreamland.
Minions are supposed to be beaten and driven off.
But you want me to fight and beat someone who has the same power as me all by myself?
There's a limit to bullshit.
I was at a loss for words.
"It's absurdly hard to clear for a brand-new dungeon."
"Yeah."
Aboralis drew her sword.
Then the other one drew a sword too.
"Could a fake come back to life after dying?"
"Who knows. Don't you have to try it to find out?"
"I completely agree with that..."
Probably.
This match would either end in a draw
or be won by whichever of the two was luckier.
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This time, the 'real' Aboralis was lucky.
She let out a sigh and kicked the head of the 'fake' Aboralis, bursting it open as it became a corpse.
Just then,
the thought suddenly occurred to her that the one remaining in this dungeon might actually be the fake.
That made sense, because the copy was so incredibly identical.
But the doubt quickly vanished.
The wave still hadn't ended.
This was decisive proof that she was not the dungeon's minion, but an intruder.
'As expected, experience and points aren't coming in at all.'
In her battered state, she gulped down an advanced healing potion, and her wounds slowly began to heal.
She pulled a logbook out of subspace and wrote in it.
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Aboralis wanted to figure out how to break the maze.
But with the fake appearing and all, she thought dragging it out any longer could be dangerous.
'It's bigger than I expected, so bringing at least two people would be the efficient way to investigate.'
She could neutralize one 'trap' once per wave.
And this maze counted as a trap.
The moment she activated her ability,
the oversized maze shrank, revealing a very, very long hallway.
She walked down the corridor.
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It was just when she thought she was almost there.
She couldn't go any farther.
Because.
there I was, walking toward her again.
I had anticipated the possibility of appearing, but it was faster than I had expected.
"Haa..."
"Haa..."
The reaction was astonishingly identical.
Aboralis opened her mouth.
"Hey."
"Yeah."
"If you were me, you'd be thinking the exact same thing right now, wouldn't you?"
"...Before we kill each other, should we write our logs first?"
Aboralis nodded.
Then the fake also smiled and nodded.
When Aboralis took a logbook from subspace, the fake did the same.
Both of them turned their gazes away and moved their pens.
A little while later.
Daggers flew at the same time.
The sharp blades crossed and sank precisely into each other's throats.
Squelch!
I couldn't breathe.
Aboralis and the copy clutched their own throats and slumped to the ground.
It was a clean, no-frills piece of work.
Only then did Aboralis honestly admit it.
That monster could only be another perfect version of herself.
They exposed their own openings while aiming for the opponent's opening.
Apparently the other side had the same idea.
Blood gushed from her mouth.
As she stopped breathing, her mind began to go blank.
When she saw another version of herself, even in the midst of dying, pulling out a logbook and desperately moving a pen, Aboralis realized how to break this weird phenomenon.
'I guess one of the strategies for Area 1 is to get along with another me... maybe.'
Once she realized the method,
exchanging looks with another version of herself became genuinely enjoyable.
Aboralis was not like ordinary people.
After all, she was an immortal who revived even when she died.
That must be why she could enjoy this unpleasant situation.
Aboralis slowly drew her dagger.
Blood poured from her throat, but she endured the pain, took out an elixir, and forced it down.
Even as a Blessed One, it was a rare potion, one of only three she had.
Even then, it was hard to swallow, and she coughed up about half of it.
She could breathe somewhat again.
"Haa, cough... ptoo."
Sound began to flow out again.
Spitting out the blood that filled her throat, Aboralis asked.
"...Another me."
The other Aboralis also blocked the fatal wound the same way.
And she continued the conversation as if she were thinking exactly the same thing.
"Why are you calling me?"
"Do you want to come back to this dungeon?"
She shook her head.
"I got lucky this time."
No matter how much information she carried back, if she returned to Area 1, her memories would be erased and the information altered.
Of course, she'd be able to start from a far better position than now.
According to Chase, Dreamland couldn't alter every piece of information.
So she might be able to come in having inferred some of the minions' and traps' traits.
Well.
Even if she reached this area again next time, could she expect a better result than now?
Most of the abilities she'd accumulated so far were useless in this dungeon.
Her trump card, limited to once per wave, had already been used.
Then the action she needed to take was simple.
The fake and Aboralis took escape scrolls out of subspace.
This time too, the timing was exactly the same.
"If it comes to this, can there theoretically be a total of three Aboralises outside?"
"Heh, probably not. It'd be a disaster for the other dungeon masters."
The reason she was about to use the escape scroll now was
because she didn't have the confidence to survive the areas beyond that.
"You don't even know what's there, so you can't just raise the stakes lightly."
'Dreamland can't be removed easily. To remove it, you'd have to give up more than you think.'
This run was more for reconnaissance and exploration to begin with.
For now, it would be enough to learn this and write it in the log.
Aboralis looked up at the ceiling.
She felt as if she were exchanging glances with the dungeon master.
"The next time I see you, then..."
She muttered those ominous words and escaped from Dreamland.
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Aboralis stroked her own head.
She really couldn't remember a thing.
The only means of inferring what had happened inside was the logbook.
Aboralis read the logbook.
"The fake slyly tries to kill the conqueror. The fake has the same power as the conqueror. Therefore, multiple people need to go in, identify the fake, and kill it. The maze gradually fills with water as time passes, so there's a risk of drowning. No experience or points come in, and I nearly died twice just in Area 1. Considering that the minions and traps can't be destroyed, and taking the dungeon master's growth into account, if we want to clear it we need to be prepared to sacrifice a lot—levels, helpers, and so on?"
What should I say.
It doesn't feel real.
Is this really something I wrote?
Since I don't have any memory, even the parts where the handwriting is identical can't help but seem suspicious.
Aboralis stroked her own throat.
I've never seen such a disgusting new dungeon in my life.
'I guess I'll have to post it in the Blessed One gallery first.'
She moved her fingers.
She uploaded the post, including the fact that the dungeon master could come outside.
***
*Blessed One Gallery
Aboralis : That's it. This is the Dreamland information I found.
ㄴSinclair : So that's what kind of place it was...
ㄴSinclair : That bastard Max deserved to die.
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Aboralis : The views are going up, but there are no reactions.
ㄴAboralis : Everyone, please leave a comment.
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ㄴAn : Interesting!
ㄴAn : Everyone should avoid a trash dungeon like that! ㅠㅠ
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ㄴSarteon : Well, it's definitely unusual
ㄴSarteon : But since you can just avoid it like Wallachia...
ㄴSarteon : It doesn't earn achievement points, and you can't earn points or experience, lol
ㄴSarteon : There's no reason to go there, yeah
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ㄴGulak : Exactly lol
ㄴGulak : I was wondering what the hell it was because you wrote that it was so important
ㄴGulak : If that's all, then I don't really have anything else to say
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ㄴAboralis : I definitely wrote in the post that the dungeon master can go outside.
ㄴAboralis : I want everyone's opinion on that.
ㄴAboralis : I know everyone's busy, but
ㄴAboralis : shouldn't this be something we take seriously?
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ㄴObelin : Even if it comes outside, I don't see how it'd be a problem?
ㄴObelin : Even if Dreamland's dungeon master comes out and attacks people
ㄴObelin : it wouldn't really interfere with my dungeon clearing, would it lol
ㄴAnke : That's what I'm saying...
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ㄴSiz : Maybe just ignore it?
ㄴSiz : If it dies then, that's our loss
ㄴSiz : Wouldn't that just mean we're helping the dungeon master grow for free
ㄴAboralis : As long as there's a system called Income, after all
ㄴAboralis : a dungeon is structured so it has no choice but to grow
ㄴAboralis : It could come back as a bigger problem later.
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ㄴKevin : Thanks for the info
ㄴKevin : I'll read it carefully
ㄴMaria : Thanks thanks~~
ㄴMaria : You wrote it diligently~~
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ㄴAboralis : Let's assume Dreamland's dungeon master has grown.
ㄴAboralis : What if he can enter other dungeons too?
ㄴAboralis : What if he tries to use his power to support other dungeons?
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ㄴAboralis : Wouldn't that interfere with our future clears?
ㄴAboralis : If we leave it alone like this, we'll definitely regret it.
ㄴAboralis : We have to finish it off with our own hands before it grows any further.
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ㄴArt : Can you even be sure that dungeon master would help other dungeons?
ㄴArt : I don't know why you're spinning such delusions about something that hasn't even happened yet
ㄴArt : From the post, it looks like you could theoretically break it by banging your head against it enough
ㄴArt : instant-death traps <<< in the end, doesn't that mean this setup leaves you no choice but to die?
ㄴArt : There's nothing to gain, and you want us to accept the penalty and fish for info?
ㄴArt : And if the info you fish out gets altered, lol
ㄴArt : the conquerors are going to take a massive loss themselves
ㄴArt : If your level gets cut in half and your helper dies, who's going to take responsibility?
ㄴArt : I don't want to take a loss, bye
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ㄴSandrea : Probably better to just ignore it?
ㄴSandrea : It'd be nice if it got dealt with, but I don't want to step in either.
ㄴSandrea : Instant-death traps, information tampering, memory loss, the difficulty is brutal.
ㄴSandrea : And the clear reward itself is X, lol
ㄴAboralis : No matter how I think about it, this isn't something we can ignore.
ㄴSandrea : Hm lol
ㄴSandrea : If you're so worried about the future, clear it yourself.
ㄴSandrea : Then that'll be that, ㅇㅇ
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ㄴJettheJeff : It's a bit burdensome for us to go ourselves.
ㄴJettheJeff : How about leaking info to another group and getting them to clear it?
ㄴJettheJeff : For example, by saying there's an unbelievably huge mana stone... something like that.
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ㄴTaylor : It's obvious you don't even want to go in yourself
ㄴTaylor : and posted this so you could dump it on us.
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Aboralis let out a sigh.
"Was that a waste of time......"
It seemed that only a very small number of Blessed Ones seriously thought about this.
Most of them didn't even want to discuss it, so any further conversation was pointless.
One of the words Oblivion had implanted was 'group project.'
And this was exactly the kind of situation that word described.
Aboralis took out the note.
The note bore the Dreamland dungeon master's handwriting.
It was the paper she'd obtained in the dungeon earlier.
She snapped a picture of it and uploaded it to the gallery.
Aboralis :
「ㄴㄱㅁ」
Dreamland is dangerous.
It's a dungeon with the potential to get in our way someday.
Nipping it in the bud early is surely rational for Blessed Ones.
However, the moment dealing with it starts to incur losses.
the many quickly become individuals, and once that happens, their thoughts are bound to diverge.
There's always someone who has to make the sacrifice in a group project.
I know that to get a good grade, even that person has to work hard,