Chapter 503
Was it just because he fought with all his might against Dreadfear in this space at the end?
The moment I opened my eyes, I hesitated for a moment without realizing it.
[Does it just… just stab one person…?]
[You’ll become a great… warrior…]
Oh seriously, why do you think you forgot these memories? Is it not forgotten?
It was an experience I never want to go through again.
However, if I continued to explore like this, it would not be strange if I went through it again someday.
“Mister… why are you like that?”
“…It is nothing.”
I quickly came to my senses at Erwen’s worried question and checked my teammates. Well, to be honest, Erwen and Misha were the only team members around me.
“…….”
Misha has been silent since before.
Are you still very uncomfortable?
“Misha.”
“…Ah huh?”
“I’m leaving now, are you okay?”
“Ugh…….”
I took care of Misha, who answered in a somewhat shrunken voice, and started to move quickly.
The primary destination was a monument joint located in the center of the crystal cave, and I was thinking of going there and joining other colleagues.
This time, we split the team into two teams.
‘……I should increase the number of clan members quickly.’
The reason the team was divided into two was solely due to the number of people.
The current clan has only seven members.
The process of dividing into threes and fours was inevitable.
Of course, excluding Auyen, the number would drop exactly to six…
‘Because you might need a navigator.’
After much thought, Auyen was included in the exploration team.
There were several areas requiring ships and navigators, including the 6th floor sea, so it was judged that it was necessary to prepare for all situations.
‘…Besides, if I don’t find it this time, I’ll have to go upstairs eventually.’
As a result of diligently searching related books during my stay in the city, ‘hidden areas’ have one thing in common.
That it always appears on the floor where the feat was accomplished.
A typical example is the feat of the Fairy King.
[Fairy archer Armella Powell Merhenia and her companions defeated Gregory the Adjuster and opened a hidden area.] If you
continue climbing the Tower of Heaven without going up to the 5th floor, you can meet the hidden boss Gregory the Adjuster with a low probability.
This guy is subjugated for the first time and the added area is the ‘Maze of Larcas’.
Well, should it be called a total of three types of hidden fields, including that one?
Anyway, the important point here is this.
On the 7th, the first floor is closed, so if you don’t achieve results before then, you have no choice but to go upstairs.
“…Anyway, there are a lot of people.”
Soon after arriving, the central dark area was teeming with explorers.
An apparently heterogeneous phenomenon that is different from the usual, always quiet.
However, there was no reason to consider this strange.
It was expected that the explorers who set out to find the ‘hidden area’ would be the first to find it.
In fact, most of the explorers were wearing good gear and wearing proud clan marks.
‘Still, there are more than I thought……’
I entered the dark area with that thought in mind, and the explorers who found me moved out of the way with a surprised look on their faces.
“Hey, that person…….”
“This is Bjorn Yandel…….”
“Is the author also looking for that place…….
” Sometimes the explorers look at me as if they were dealing with a competitor.
“…the author might have some clues.”
“The fact that you came here first means that there might be something hidden here?”
In this situation, being famous is rather a disadvantage.
“Misha, don’t blindly follow me and stick to me.”
“Ah… uh…”
After that, as I proceeded through the passage, lighting up the darkness, a cavity with a monument appeared before long. As expected, numerous explorers gathered around the monument.
“Ohhh! Bjoreu! Here, here!!”
“You’re here at last.”
“Are you here, Captain?”
2 teams approaching after finding out if we arrived first.
First of all, I heard from Amelia.
“Did you find out anything?”
“Still. It seems that the wizards in various clans are doing something, but they don’t seem to be getting much income.”
“That’s right…”
After that conversation, as we approached the monument, the wizards who were doing something in front opened the way.
And…….
Gulp-!
I observe my actions one by one with my eyes wide open in case there is any clue.
Something was very funny.
‘It’s not like I have any other clues.’
As soon as I stood in front of the monument, I felt strange for some reason.
When I came here from the last exploration, a witch’s altar was built instead of this tombstone.
What secrets are hidden in the labyrinth?
While thinking about that, I read the words engraved on the monument once again.
「In memory of the great first step of the last great sage, Diplon Groundel Gabrillius.
」
‘Nothing has changed in the writing……’
After that, I looked around the altar and checked it closely, but I couldn’t find any changes or suspicious parts.
It was the same when I touched it myself.
So after this, I came back and talked to my teammates.
“Versil voice control?”
“I already have it on.”
“Right.”
“Did Yandel find out anything?”
“yet.”
It’s not that I don’t want to experiment, but it’s impossible in a situation like this where attention is focused.
Even if the people of Amman praise me as a hero, I am not such a great man.
I always liked rice cakes eaten alone.
“Enough and go.”
In that sense, I decided to come back to this place later when there were no people and was about to leave.
Someone came up to me and talked to me.
“Baron Yandel.”
weapon is a sword. Hair color is brown. And a man with a fairly stocky physique for a human being.
‘What are you?’ Looking down, the man greeted me according to noble etiquette.
“My name is Manus Stilico, the leader of Team 9 of the White Shark Clan. It is an honor to meet Baron Yandel.”
Oh, that mark was the white shark clan.
Now one of only four clans.
“Versil, turn off the voice control for a while.”
“yes.”
“So what’s the matter?”
When I kindly turned off the voice control and asked, the guy carefully brought up the main topic.
“If you have information about the hidden area, I would like to purchase it at a reasonable price.”
I was about to say something, but was this?
In fact, it was an offer I received countless times recently.
And according to my memory, among the letters I ignored were those from the White Shark Clan.
“Buy …….”
Even if he had the information, he had no intention of selling it for money, but he blurted out his words as if he had thought about it.
Well, there was one thing I wanted to ask you.
“Is the leader of the white shark clan on the first floor?”
“…it may still be there, but it won’t be anywhere near it.”
“Are you searching the outskirts?”
“No. In this expedition, our 9 teams are all on the mission to explore the hidden area.”
To put it simply, it means that the rest of the clan members, excluding these guys, go straight to the upper floors as they did before.
“Surprisingly, the lack of support?”
In such a situation, I turned around and said it with the feeling that I wouldn’t get much value for the information, and he quickly replied.
“It’s not that the clan is taking this issue lightly. It’s just that we can’t focus on the above issue right now as we have a wartime contract with the military.”
“You mean the war comes first?”
“Yes. Besides, if it’s something we can find in a short period of time, our team alone will suffice, and if it’s the other way around, there’s no reason to go all out from the start. It’s not just us, other clans must have made similar decisions in similar situations.”
“Right.”
“So… how about our proposal…”
I ended the conversation at this point.
“I’m sorry, but it’s a refusal.”
I’ve already heard everything you’re curious about.
“…I see. I see. Thank you very much for your time.”
After that conversation, we went outside with our backs to the monument.
‘War is surprisingly helpful.’
I was worried that explorers were crowded near the monument, but it was still empty.
The real competitors are tied up because of the war.
Even if the entrance is easy to find, we don’t have to worry too much about reducing our share in this situation.
“Bjorn! Where are you going now?!”
“To the outskirts.”
It was my turn to show off my skills after a long time.
The earlier you find it, the more you can eat.
***
Undoubtedly, [Dungeons and Stones] is the most unfriendly game I’ve ever played.
A boss mob that needs to be attacked by head-butting.
Fields and cracks armed with all sorts of bizarre mechanisms.
Various hidden elements hidden so tightly that I wonder if it was made to find this.
I could say for three days and nights how unkind this game is.
But paradoxically, the biggest reason I fell for this game was that ‘unkindness’.
Because at the time, when I was fighting the most boring boredom every day, I was the type that would burn as hard as it was difficult.
‘It’s been a while since I searched for Hidden Peace.’
The difficulty of [Dungeon and Stone] is a hidden factor.
In other words, it is determined by how many hidden pieces you know. If you don’t know anything about this element, it’s virtually impossible to climb up the hierarchy normally.
So, when I was playing the game, no matter what I was doing, I had a habit of searching for hidden pieces like I was breathing.
If you see a statue, start by looking for a way to destroy it.
Even when moving, always stick to the wall and hit the flat button repeatedly.
When I was a little bit suspicious, I cast all sorts of magic.
Sometimes they burned, froze, and threw the corpses of the looters they had collected on the way.
And the result of doing that for close to 10 years.
I discovered countless hidden elements and, of course, gained know-how along the way.
‘The problem is that I haven’t invested anything in that direction.’
Even characters who are extremely lucky.
There is no character set as a search-only essence.
All of my colleagues and I have a training guide with a battle-oriented setting.
That’s because I was proud of myself that I already knew all the hidden pieces I could find.
‘But fortunately, I can read the ancient language…’
Well, this is a skill that won’t be of much help if it’s a Hidden Peace that doesn’t need the ancient language.
But…
coo-ung!
What can I do?
If you don’t have teeth, you have to chew with your gums.
Just like this.
coo-!
Just like when you were playing games, you move by tapping the wall with a hammer.
Not just me, but the whole team together.
coo-! Virtue! thud! drooling.
A harmony close to the noise that blooms as the hammer dagger spirits collide with the crystals on the walls of the cave.
“Oh oh! It’s fun because it’s like a festival!!”
Everyone except Einar wondered if it was necessary to do this, but I firmly continued with the instructions.
“Even if I don’t like it, I can’t help it! Because this is the basic way to find Gabrielius’ arrangement.”
“……Basic way?”
“It was written that way in a book I read before!
” And every time I entered a certain section, I thoroughly searched the surroundings.
The square crystal intersection,
the pond next to the big rock,
the moss puddle, etc. In
the crystal cave, where the terrain changes every time you enter, there is a crystal that appears in a fixed position like this. The place existed,
and…
‘Usually, Hidden Peace is hidden in a specific possible location.’
As we were moving
, destroying everything we passed by so hard, we entered the outer dark zone
. After
that,
after we decided on a place, we scattered around it and searched the outer dark area. After
the search was over, we moved far away and repeated this task again.
Day 1 Day 2…
The first harvest occurred with about two hours left before the start of the third day. About 20 small and
medium clans gathered in one place to block traffic? As if they were trying to
hide something they found.
I thought it would be the first time, so I just came back without overdoing it. I saw it from a distance, so I didn’t even notice it.”
Yes, that’s right… ”
Well done Erwen.”
Soon after, I led my team and went to the place Erwen told me to, and I saw explorers blocking the passage as if they were standing guard.
As
I approached without hiding my presence, I took out a weapon from the other side and recognized me and startled.
“Stop! Stop… Hey, Baron Yandel…?”
But even after recognizing me, it would be difficult for me to come out forcefully.
“Is there any problem trying to pass?
” Even as he built the book, he desperately said, “This is where we are currently camping… According to the unwritten rule of explorers… I
ask you to get out of the way…” “It’s an
unwritten
rule… what is it?”
“……?!”
“Don’t say difficult things to me!!”
After that, I just ran forward and cleared the road
. Uh…!”
“I can’t…”
All the explorers who were on guard could do was say that and stare at
it . The three explorers flinched as if they were caught doing something bad.
”
……!
”
Huh?”
A man peeks out from a very small gap in the wall.
“Oh, there’s a side road like that
?”
“I am Bjorn, the son of Yandel. Are you the captain?”
“That’s right…” ”
What’s in here?”
“No… nothing…”
“I don’t think it’s like that.”
As I smiled, he closed his eyes tightly and shouted loudly,
“…This is the place we found first
!
” ..”
“Yes, intercepting the achievements of explorers like us will help Baron Yandel’s reputation—” “Did the
explorers you met say that too?” ”
…yes? What’s that…”
What did you say?
“Ouch! Aaaaa!”
He grabbed his hair and pulled him like a radish.
“Sleeves.”
“…?”
“There’s human blood on the sleeves.” It’s buried.”
“……!”
“Whose blood is that?”
It wasn’t even properly dried yet.