Chapter 68 (2/2)
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Only one path remained unexplored. It happened to be the path where he sensed a faintly higher concentration of magical energy sometime ago. Most likely, this path would take them to the boss room.
“Why don’t we search for the exit in earnest now?” Su-hyeun asked.
The first one to react to Su-hyeun’s words was Keshunirn. “So soon? If we take that path, I think we should enter a new area….”
“H-he’s right. Let’s check a bit more.” Howal quickly chimed in to agree with Keshunirn’s opinion.
The huge bundle carried on his back was filled with Ether stones found here and there inside a dungeon. These stones were diligently picked up while they roamed around in this dungeon for the past ten days.
Aile’s goal was Ether stones as well, so she didn’t find the matters of the past ten days displeasing, either. If one wanted to amass that many Ether stones, one would have to attack dozens of regular dungeons.
They were, in a way, riding a bus.
Su-hyeun was hunting down monsters at such an astonishing rate and as a result, there was almost zero chance of them getting hurt, so they focused on sweeping up every Ether stone they could find. That was precisely why the group never complained once about leaving the dungeon as soon as possible and followed after Su-hyeun all this time.
“No, this really is the end,” said Aile.
What a relief it was that words could still get through to at least one person here.
Su-hyeun nodded his head at her assertion and continued on. “The path Keshunirn has spoken of is the same one we checked out three days ago. The paths here are laid out like a maze, actually.”
“A maze, you say?”
Keshunirn and Howal had been completely oblivious to that fact. Now thoroughly surprised, they hurriedly asked to confirm.
It seemed that only Aile managed to notice the layout of the dungeon. Even though it had already been ten days since they started traveling together, Su-hyeun could only groan under his breath once more.
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He searched through his memories, and it seemed unlikely that their lack of skills was to blame here. They were supposed to be rank Bs, so that simply couldn’t be it.
So, the reason why Keshurnirn and Howal failed to notice the dungeon’s structure until now despite their ranks could very well be the numerous Ether stones right before their eyes — in other words, “greed.”
“It’s likely that the boss room is in that direction. The only place we haven’t checked within this dungeon is that area, so the exit must be there, as well,” said Su-hyeun.
“Mm… it is unfortunate, but it can’t be helped, I guess.” Keshunirn was displaying his unwillingness to leave the dungeon, his former nervousness and fear at the beginning now a distant, forgotten memory. It was the same story for Howal, too.
Su-hyeun quietly studied both men for a bit before raising his voice. “If you still have some stamina left, then let us hurry and leave. There is nothing left here, anyway.”
The rest of the group naturally thought of Ether stones when Su-hyeun spoke of nothing being left here.
The boss room would, quite obviously, contain a far greater number of Ether stones, and as the exit was also located there, they really couldn’t think of a reason to linger around here anymore.
Inside the dungeon where all monsters had vanished, only their footsteps echoed vividly and loudly.
Once they made their way through the path, a massive open space revealed itself. There was a lone round tower standing tall in the middle of this space, and five more paths stretched out with it as their center.
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Creaaaak—
Slam—!
The path they took to get here suddenly disappeared. A massive plate fell to the ground behind them and blocked the path.
“W-what’s going on?”
“The path, it’s….”
“What about the boss? Where is the boss?”
All three became flustered at this sudden development.
In the meantime, Su-hyeun was quietly studying the round tower in the middle.
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A short while later, new messages popped up in the heads of the group, including Su-hyeun.
[There are five branching paths. For the next two hours, monsters will flood out from those paths dozens of times.]
[An exit will be generated at the foot of the round tower. However, only one individual can transfer out through the exit every 30 minutes.]
[Protect the round tower from the monsters. If the tower is destroyed, the exit will not appear again.]
[The trial will begin in five minutes.]
“….What was that?”
“A m-mission?”
The sudden appearance of the mission caused both Keshunirn and Howal to fall into panic.
The comparatively-calm Aile looked at the five branching paths and spoke up. “A dungeon structured similarly to a trial…. As expected, the difficulty is considerable.”
It seemed that this wasn’t her first time in a dungeon of this type. Su-hyeun stared at the round tower located in the middle of the space.
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Now that he took a closer look, there indeed was a complicated magic circle inscribed on the ground at the foot of the tower. A small stone was stuck in the middle of the magic circle, and that must’ve been the medium that acted as the exit.
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Su-hyeun quickly analyzed the potential variables.
“A-all of these, they are Ether stones!” Keshunirn, checking out the exit, cried out in a loud voice. That prompted Howal and Aile to gather around the exit as well.
“All of these? Really?”
“It can’t be… One dungeon can’t possibly contain so many Ether stones of such high quality,” said Aile.
Her suspicion wasn’t misguided.
The haul of Ether stones they got from this dungeon was considerably more, excessively so, than from other dungeons. Not only that, the round tower before their eyes easily exceeded a dozen meters in height.
Aile studied the tower. And sure enough, Ether stones could be found wedged here and there on the magic circles engraved on the surface of the tower.
“At a bare minimum, they are all above mid-grade quality. And also….”
The medium embedded in the middle of the magic circle. Aile’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
“A h-high grade Ether stone?”
Not just several mid-grade stones, but even one high-grade Ether stone as well. This amount was more than enough to blind anyone.
Of course, as Su-hyeun wasn’t a person from this world, so he wasn’t all that interested in those items.
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However, he thought he could now figure out the variable of the trial given to him this time. Su-hyeun’s eyes clearly reflected the naked greed on the faces of the other three people, including Aile herself.