Volume 3 Chapter 12 (1/2)
《Dungeon of Lump Orcs》
”damn it! What kind of GM¹ is this?”
Megruenius, who had graduated high school and university at a very young age And now he brought honor to his fa elomerate, on his first application when others needed to do at least three interviews Thanks to him, the whole family was able to move to District B from District D
”I'et you as my son”
His foster father was a career soldier who spent his whole life in the Union Defense He was now bragging about his son all over the world Though Megru, as an artificial hu able to pay back his parents' grace of adopting him
The house that the Union assigned to thearden His foster mother really loved it because of the earthy s flowers, and since she had now gotten an entire garden, her smile never went away from her mouth
The first job assigned to Megruame called Beyond Because administrators – also known as GMs – usually had ultiaenius
Though Beyond was a game that Necoames One of the top secrets was that the coame system
Beyond was a virtual world realized with two Ancient Computers and thousands of Supercoms, and now these two Motherco hu with the world of Beyond It aaher officers what the ive him an answer
”Well, I heard that was the deal they made with the Mother computers”
”Yeah It was a contract between the Whole Global Committee and Neco about it as the WGC had ownershi+p of the Mothercoms and Supercoms”
The words of his GM Colleagues were shocking Megrua run like this
”Then what rum
”Well! We are still the highest rankers unofficially,” Said Chornn
Like how Chornn said, that consoled the control as GMs They started with characters with the first job advanceah, they had their tasks to do
”But Chornn, why do we need to find unofficial rankers?”
Chornn sraduated from the Ko-1 Top University as a top student, who joined Necoh, his social class was too low to make it into the nobility of the Union
”People say the Union Military is going to e-scale special employment”
Megruh his rank was not that high, he knew lots about operations because of the years he spent in it, but Megru from his father
”This ain abilities by training in-game, if they use prime capsules like we do”
”That ned suits connects your whole nerve systenals, but your body learns from it Swordsmen or Warriors should be able to use the same techniques once they train their physical body”
The capsules Necomwall provided were prined suits, the sync rate was near 50, which was known as the liy has achieved
Though the aetting stimulated via the suit and the capsule, which allows them to use some abilities in real life
”This game is somewhat different The other GMs say, WGC, the unions and Neco Beyond for sos and Harks”
”Well, can't they si elites from the Union Defense?”
And that was the standard procedure, since one had to be physically agile and strong to be a career soldier
”Soents of Union defense They're already doing it”
”Then why are we looking for unofficial rankers?”
”Well, the thing is that there are talented people ainally found inco that incoames”
”Hame was developed with a military purpose in mind”
That was the hidden intention behind the developame that was most popular in the eastern Unions of the Eurasia continent
Megruot into Neco is that the outside of the barrier is quite different from what the Union education system teaches, and it is more effective to use traditional weapons than firear the mutated species or beasts
But Chornn's expression told Megrum that Chornn was still in question
”But I don't think that's all It feels like soer is behind this Otherwise, the nobles wouldn't have allowed this surreal game to be published to the public”
”You do?”
Chornn too, was a genius by birth, which s to hirows up
”And I'm pretty sure the true intention will be revealed as the Golden Battle proceeds”
With Mothercoe where they were able to get their first job advancement in a week, and reach level 80 in three e that attracted these newly hired GMs' attention The word 'True Intention' excited Megrum
”Well then, let's go and meet Imperial Princess Briella”
”Yup Correctfor talented people or unofficial rankers who gathers around the ined to Briella”
”You've got it Though, isn't it great to be paid for playing a game?”
”Hahaha! I can't agree more!
Shaking off the unco of the development of Beyond, they had to travel to the Viscounty of Paros, where Briella would be Though now they were destined to live the life of playing the ga and disconnecting for regular exercises, their faces were still bright
Devron and Paros gave their wholehearted support to Haroon for accepting the quest of escorting Hall to the Huk'ran Mountains Thanks to that, the Gusts of Wind were able to bring enough supplies for the journey, including expensive potions and elixirs
It took two days of walking for the Gusts of Wind and their VIP Hall to reach the river Seine, the south natural border of the Huk'ran Mountains Having its source at the highest peak of Huk'ran Mountains, Seine had a large voluh it was quite deep, it was flowing right through the rocky terrains, where there were soaps
Ordinary people would not dare to cross the river, but Haroon and his rew roots in the rocks, to for to look cooler, Gitan didn'ta shi+eld as his main weapon
After crossing the river unscathed, they headed north, following the river, not daring to clierous res have their habitat at the center of the ured out the riverside would be safer
But there were still countless monsters that had the riverside as their habitat As the riverside was rich with herbivores, nu those as their main food source
With Teeno's helpful skill, they were able to avoid encountering any huge hordes, but it was inevitable for them to encounter small numbers of monsters, several times a day Mainly because the riverside were either a plane field, or shrub forest which didn't provide enough cover to hide their bodies
But there were no reason to avoid having battle with a small number of roups when their number was less than 10, so it was actually fortunate for them The Gusts of Wind needed more experience
”You useless piles of orc dipshi+ts, sly orcs!”
”……”
”You wanna die? Where are you staring at? I'll make a necklace out of your eyes!”
”……”
Ritrina's taunts were at the peak, and was always followed by the members' silence of shock Her taunty look and curses were so effective, that the orcs that heard her taunts chased her no h they didn't fully understand what she said
But the iant shi+eld of Gitan It was big enough for two le sheet of steel, so it dealt a lot of dae upon impact
”shi+eld Attack!”
Gitan's shi+eld Attack was a si the shi+eld forward As he got stronger by always carrying a heavy shi+eld, Gitan was able to parry back even two or three weapons at the same time
”shi+eld Crossing!”
Three orcs' bodies were cut into half as Gitan swung the shi+eld As his skill level is still low, he wasn't able to use the blades at the side effectively, but it was still good enough
”S Blow!”
When Gitan wasn't able to make his next move because of the momentum, Philip dashed out from the back of Gitan and stabbed the forehead or neck of the orcs that still were in a daze because of the impact with the shi+eld It was easy for hiets And now, he had no proble more than one enemy
”Multi blow!”
Multi blow, the evolved version of Shtly ets simultaneously To use this skill effectively, Philip was in need offinding a sith a more narrow and sharper blade If the number of enemies were more than Philip could handle at a ti knives Because the skill had to be used in a focused stance, there was a little bit of delay between the skills
Haroon's knives neverthe Dungeon that Ruh SP for his newly acquired skill, Multi-shot, so he learnt it as they left the castle As he was able to use it a lot in the Huk'ran Mountain, Haroon's Multi-shot was already at level 2
With his current ESP stats, Haroon was now able to observe the h, which allowed him to practice , he learned to throw six knives at the saets, three in each hand He still needed to practice distributing enough power to each of the knives, but he was getting there Meanwhile, he leveled up 3 times
”Yes! This is a big one!”
Serinn was now having fun with skinning the ot so used to it that she had beco the others help her with pulling off the leather Seeing her skinning a dead orc with a smile, nobody would be able to match her to old Serinn back in the Merc Academy
”I don't see any other monsters in this area”
Ritrina reported, after scouting around Then the round
”Well done, Ritrina”
”Teeno, my Taunt skill has reached its maximum level!”
On Teeno's coling Haroon thought her words were probably true, considering how her taunts weresoher own skill instead of what she learnt in the Hall of Warriors
”You call that a skill? Tsk tsk”
Philip clicked his tongue seeing Ritrina so proud of such a skill, but Serinn's words were over the top
”Heh, so you finally reached your final level of Basic, yeah? I'm sorry to tell you but o”
It was easy to tell that it was true, seeing how skillful she was at using her dagger She was now skinning aany blood wet her hands, whichany blood vessels
Seeing blood stains on her hard leather, Haroon realized how h Haroon felt a bit sorry that he hasto feel sorry about it
'I don't think you are out of the noble category yet You still need to change,' he thought
He turned his eyes away from her, and looked at his other members
”Well done, guys Philip, how are things going for you?”
”Slaying a few more would level up my Multi-blow skill to 2, Boss”
Philip shook off the blood fro the first journey, he wasBlow', and noasMulti-blow that he learned in the Hall of Warriors Like the tip of his blade, his eyesight was getting sharper
'He is indeed a sincere guy It'd be so ht alone'
Haroon orried about Philip getting way to used to fighting in a group Of course, his stabbing skills were agile and precise, and has been effective so far But when the battle becoht or when he had to face le
'When we get to the training center in the ive him a chance to pick up a sword technique or two'
And it was the sauild's improvement
Philip was the e dealer in the Gusts of Wind While Haroon personally thinks thatTeeno is the best member, he was poor at coers such as monsters, combat skills were the primary concern That would probably be why Teeno was not accepted into other h he is a Grade-C Mercenary
Now Haroon looked at Hall, atching theat the members, or the scenery behind them
'It's so hard to get close to her'
They've been travelling for roup Seeing how she does not talk to the h, but Haroon had no idea about who she really was
Devron never mentioned her rank specifically, and even Her Majesty Briella was not treating her lightly, so maybe she's a descendant of some important fa down on the members, or was hostile to them
Drawing his attention away from Hall, Haroon stacked his knives back The leathers that she skinned ell stacked and was ready to be carried on Gitan's back That stack of leathers ell-dried and was ready to be sold for a good price
”Teeno, let's find a place to rest around this place”
The sun was barely going over the peak of the mountain
”Sounds like a good plan I'll look for a campsite”
With agile movements, Teeno disappeared into the s, which Teeno told Haroon that he learned fro was an altered version of Messenger Walking, which allowed the user to h the power of accu mana is weakened dreadfully
With decades of training, Teeno was now constantly casting Messenger Moving on every h he didn't know, he was now accu some mana
Back to the routing, they were following the river Seine, but now they had to enter the Mountains The place they stopped at was rocky terrain, which acted as a sign for the beginning of thefor a campsite, the members rested, and maintained their weapons
Though the sun was still high up,Teeno said it'd be better to rest and set off early at dawn as they'll have to pass Cliff rift
”Are we finally entering the Huk'ran Mountains?”
Hall opened up herti very ot about her existence a few ti her existence, even when they are ether
”Yes we are According to Teeno, Cliff rift that we can see froe to the peak of Huk'ran Mountain, so we should be arriving at the Training Hall within three days maximum”
Haroon wondered what kind of place it would be What kind of people would be training, and what kind of training are they taking Everything was hidden behind a veil, so thelots of assumptions
The users were ae of Beyond, there was lots of foru about their opinions and expectations of the Golden Battle And according to their intel, Briella had the weakest force of all the participants
That was a false assumption to Haroon He saw Paros' and Devron's faces which were full of confidence It was positive that they had a secret force that the others did not know about, and Haroon assu trained in the secret training camp located in the middle of Huk'ran Mountains
While Haroon was lost in thought, Teeno ran back to thefor Haroon to notice him
”Boss!”
”What's the matter?”
When Teeno caroup was already ready for combat It was a pavlovian reaction that their body h for the last 20 days
Even Gitan, did not seem so scared He had his trusty shi+eld with him
”I-I think I found a d-dungeon”
”I'm sorry?”
TheTeeno's words
”Well, I found a s boulders on the way to the rift so, I took a look at it, and it seeeon”
”Lead the way!”
As Teeno lead the way, the party ran toward the dungeon, full of exciteeon, they hit the jackpot as all they got during the journey was the leather of goblins or orcs
Haroon wasn't the only one as excited It was coet experience and treasures This was ures of the th was known to be acquired in the dungeons
Teeno stopped near the bottoinably long tiround, they probably came off from the cliff Teeno lead the party to the crack between the rocks, covered with tree roots and vines
”Wow, that's a great spot for a dungeon”
”Yeah nobody would find such place if they're not Teeno”
Like how Philip and Gitan said, the crack between the rocks were barely visible because of thick tree roots
”I thought there would be soe of temperature in the wind, then I found this place”
Teeno indeed had exceptional ability in scouting
Because of the tiun in Beyond The ath, so they could definitely sense ind co from the crack
”Let's head in”
Pulling the vines to the side, Haroon headed into the crack
[You have found the Lueon]
With a short UI sound, an informationpopped up in front of Haroon
Lueon
Difficulty : B – Teeon
Full of ores and mana stones, this volcanic area of Huk'ran Mountains is the habitat of the orcs who survived through continuous consumption of a mixture of water andseperated from the other orc tribes, ti the in the forence and physical ability
Monster types:
Lump Orc Warriors – Lv 35~40
Lump Orc Raid Leaders – Lv 60~70
Lump Orc Witch Doctors – Lv 70~80
The Lump Orc Chief – Lv 90~100
Objective:
Defeat: The Lump Orc Chief, 5 Witch Doctors, 10 Raid Leaders, 400 Warriors
You have been rewarded for the discovery with:
100 Fame
30 SP
300 Drop Rate until the dungeon completion
This dungeon cannot be registered
'That sounds so dangerous,' Haroon thought
According to the intel Bell collected, the nueons started to increase recently This raphers or finders But eons with difficulty D, and C in soeons with difficulty B
'Just what kind of monsters are the Lump Orcs?'
Their level was her than ordinary orcs, which are known to be about level 15 to 20 It becah for theh had a difficulty of C, and the entrance requirement was a party with at least 10 eon would need at least 90 members to be beatable
While Haroon was thinking to hieon infor their speculations
”Yuck! This is the smell of orcs!”
”Then it's a eon”
Teeno lightly nodded while listening to Philip and Gitan's words Deep disappointeon wasn't soicians nor an ancient ruin If it was, they could have gathered a fortune that one can't spend in their lifetiendary skill, but fate betrayed their expectations
”But still, it's a dungeon, isn't it? And the monsters are easy-peasy-lemon-squishy orcs!”
Said Gitan, as not afraid of the orcs anymore
”You're right! I wonder how good iteuys have”
Ritrina seemed excited, so was everyone To those mercenaries whose daily salary was 50 Silver, the items that they could sell for at least 30 Gold was still a fortune
But Haroon was still considering whether to risk fighting with the monsters These NPCs did not have any intel, but he, a user, did know a lot of things He siht about this as he didn't knohat kind of orcs Lu for theht away
”This is gonna be fun!”
On Ritrina's excited words, Haroon shook his head These NPCs could say this kind of thing very easily because they knew nothing So Haroon made a safer choice
”Let's make a baseca, we'll leave our loads at the basecaht bodies”
”Do you think it'll be fine, Boss?”
Cautious Philip asked, seeing Haroon's face
”There is no trace of orcs at the entrance, so it's either the outside, or there is another entrance that the orcs use”
”Boss is right on that Though the smell of the orcs are present, I don't think they’re near this place I'eon just serous……”
Teeno slurred his words at the end He er by instinct
”Let's scout ahead and then decide”
”Sounds like a plan”
Teeno's judgment on terrains and monsters was always trustworthy, so they decided to follow his decision As Haroon said, they began setting a baseca it would take to clear the dungeon, they brought so else at the basecamp
After spending a night at the dungeon entrance, they entered the dungeon as soon as the sun rose Although they didn't talk about Hall acco them, she followed them in
The dungeon was in the for Like how Teeno commented about the entrance, they couldn't h they walked for quite a while They had to crawl through soe instead, but it wasn't impassable
It took about a half an hour to encounter an orc for the first time, in the most aay possible
It was sitting on a hole, with its feet on each side of the hole to support itself, exposing its pink rump contrasted to its furry body, and ready for 'action'
”Oh man! Yuck!”
Because of the smell it made which was incoru his nose
”Shhh!”
As Teeno warned him to be quiet, Gitan shut his mouth, but it was too late It heard the noise and turned back, and surprisingly enough, the orc had a lump on its head
Haroon quickly threw a knife before the situation got uncontrollable, but it didn't hit the target
”damn it!”
Haroon couldn't believe his eyes Not because he h to pick up its ax and block the knife, even in that aard position Shocked by the scene, the group hesitated to et into a stance, then it charged at the group
”shi+eld Attack!”
Gitan stepped forward and blocked the first attack With a loud impact sound, the ax and the shi+eld ering from the aftershock, Philip quickly made his move
”S blow!”
The sword of Philip, who almostits target
The orc's eyes widened Philip spun his sword and made a hole in its neck Then it was pulled out with a streaht
”This…… This is……” Gitan mumbled
Gitan was still shaking his hands It meant the orc was hard to deal with Besides, Philip's face took on a set expression, despite how he had slain an enemy
”It moved even when it had a sword in its neck That's not all My sword didn't hit where I aimed, in fact, it was far from it”
On Philip's words, Teeno drew closer to the corpse and inspected it Like how he said, the hole was far from the center of the neck
”It's a lump orc!”
It was Hall, atching the situation from behind
”Did you just say lump? Well, It really does have a lump on its head”
With curiosity in mind, Serinn drew closer and looked up and down the corpse It was a head taller than the a normal orc, and its muscular body o She touched the lump on its head
”It's hard like a horn Could this be a bio-mana stone by any chance, Hall?”
A spark of greed was reflected on Serinn's eyes for a brief moment
”I find that unlikely Bio-mana stones are formed when a beast or a monster happens to consume a mana stone, or a portion of it In most cases, the consumer dies because their body cannot handle the flow ofphysical ability and is born with the ability to handle the mana flow, they survive and the body adapts to usethe er We call that a bio-mana stone”
”Then what is this?”
”There are not s known about it, but what's known is that those huulation of unused mana that the her purity and better conductivity than the ordinary mana stones, these humps are just multiple layers of raw mana and monster tissues Because it requires a coicians to use it as a manastone, it's not really useful”
The ician Hall was able to answer Serinn's curiosity
'Well, that's a shame'
Haroon secretly hoped for it to be a mana stone, as Haroon couldn't summon Brat because of the poison