𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟗𝟖
“Get the hell out of here!”
“It’s war if you come any closer! Come at me if you want to be destroyed!”
‘Man, that’s harsh.’
I looked at the Absolute Guild members shouting at the entrance.
Perhaps because so many people were exploring the island, the entrance was quickly discovered, and as a result, most of the players flocked to it, but no one dared to enter.
It was only natural. Entering would mean war.
Moreover, judging by the atmosphere, the Absolute Guild seemed to possess considerable power.
“You damn b*stards! You think it’s okay to monopolize it?!”
“Alright, let’s fight!”
Of course, those who shouted like that didn’t actually approach.
“It seems like they’re going to fight, but they’re not.”
“Because they know things will get complicated if they do.”
That Lee Ju-ho guy who openly invaded was the strange one.
Well, he must have had something he was relying on to barge in like that.
If I hadn’t found a way to hide in the main scenario area, I would have been wasting time at the entrance like them.
And after realizing that 30 minutes had passed, I approached the entrance with Yua.
Perhaps the guild members at the entrance had been informed, as we were able to enter without any restrictions. Like the entrance I found in the Harpe Empire, I could see a dark space.
It might have been a problem for visibility, but I had a helmet, so it didn’t matter. And Yua had a skill to summon light, so it would probably be fine.
“Now we just need to gather attributes here.”
“But will attribute monsters appear?”
“We’ll find out when we go…… but they probably will.”
If they didn’t, we would have the hassle of finding another dungeon.
But I wasn’t worried about that, because I had watched Black Dragon’s broadcast while waiting.
By the way, I watched it without any burden because it was my money that would be coming back to me.
Splash- Splash-
‘Tsk, this is a bit too much.’
The passage was like a sea cave.
If it were just that, it wouldn’t have been a big deal, but the water that reached almost up to my thighs was quite bothersome.
“Yua-nim, are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Splash!-
‘Huh?’
Suddenly, some strange creature jumped out of the water.
A monster with a head that looked like a dragon or a snake, wearing corroded weapons and armor.
[Fallen Seadragon]
‘It appeared faster than I thought.’
In a way, it was a good sign.
We were here to hunt, not to conquer.
“Jayer’s Guardian Shield.”
Anyway, after confirming the monster, I used Jayer’s Guardian Shield without hesitation.
I could have defeated it without using the Guardian Shield, but I thought it would be better to take it down as quickly as possible for Yua’s sake.
‘Now, let’s see how many attributes it gives.’
It would be useless if it didn’t give any attributes.
Thinking that I might even have to look for a different dungeon, I swung my shield at the nearest one.
“Thunder Strike!”
Kwaang!-
[Skill Damage! 11,646.]
[Skill Damage……]
I quickly launched attacks left and right, hitting it with three Thunder Strikes, but the Fallen Seadragon didn’t die and counterattacked.
[You have received damage! -107.]
The damage wasn’t much, but.
“Thunder Strike!”
Still, after eliminating it with the second Thunder Strike, I turned my head to check on Yua. Seeing that she was fighting with a certain advantage, I decided not to help her.
‘I guess she’s capable of fighting Fallen Seadragons.’
She seemed to be fighting even better than the average member of the Emperor Guild.
It was quite impressive.
The members of the Emperor Guild grew by roaming dozens of dungeons, while Yua had nothing but quests.
In terms of growth, she was definitely lagging behind.
Despite that, seeing her fight like this made me admire her.
‘More importantly, the experience points are……’
[Combat Experience 33,000 acquired!]
As expected, the experience points were good.
Wouldn’t this be higher than most dungeons?
However, what was important now was the attribute.
“Item Storage.”
So, I opened the item window and took out the crystal that Radells had given me. I checked the attribute first.
[Light-Imbued Elemental Crystal]
[Stored Attribute (Water)：110.]
‘Huh? Does it give this much?’
Considering that the World Tree branch was 1,000, this was an unbelievable speed.
If we actually gathered this much attribute, wouldn’t we be able to sweep all the rewards in this dungeon with just one round?
While I was thinking about that, I saw Yua also defeat a Seadragon.
[Stored Attribute (Water)：220.]
‘It seems it gives attributes even if Yua kills them.’
At this rate, it seemed like 1-2 hours of hunting would be enough.
“We’ve already gathered 220.”
“Let’s gather around 10,000 and go back.”
“Yes.”
Yua also seemed to think that it wouldn’t take long at this rate, as she answered brightly.
* * *
Crackle!-
[Combat Experience 33,000 acquired!]
[You have leveled up.]
‘I leveled up again.’
Thanks to the considerable experience points, my level was rising rapidly.
I had heard that it wouldn’t go up properly from level 100, but seeing my level, which had already reached 102, made me think it wasn’t just a matter of the hunting ground.
[Stored Attribute (Water)：3,740.]
‘The attributes are gathering well too.’
The situation itself was going smoothly.
I wished they would keep attacking in groups of 3-4, but Yua couldn’t recover stamina like me, so maybe the current situation was better.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, because Rudin-nim is taking on two at a time.”
Well, I did try to create 1:1 situations for Yua as much as possible.
Yua’s fighting style involved pouring out more than half of her stamina, so I couldn’t let her fight more than one monster at a time.
‘It’s probably the limit of her skills.’
If she had powerful A~S rank skills, she might be able to fight more efficiently.
“Hmm, by now, that Black Dragon guy should be fighting an Apostle, right?”
“If nothing happened on the way, he should be.”
However, if you asked me if he could catch the Apostle, I would have to think about it a little more.
I didn’t know which one would appear, but a formidable one would definitely pop up and harass Black Dragon and his guild members.
‘Thinking about that, I need to get stronger too.’
As someone who had to rely on the power of the devil just to catch a mere gatekeeper Apostle, I was both curious and worried about the boss that would appear later.
‘The problem is that there aren’t many ways to get stronger here.’
Should I upgrade all my equipment to +15 enhancement?
Just gathering Rare Enhancement Stones would probably take months.
I could ask Aizen to do it, and it would be done quickly, but since we had a give-and-take relationship, I felt uncomfortable asking him out of the blue.
━Growl……
“……?”
Suddenly, a different roar echoed.
Thinking it was probably a new monster, I slowly prepared myself and looked ahead. Soon, I saw a huge monster approaching, lumbering along.
[Fallen Seadragon General]
‘It’s almost boss-level, right?’
It looked three times bigger than the Seadragons I had fought so far.
Moreover, seeing the protruding thorns and muscles all over its body, it looked like it possessed monstrous strength that could crush me in an instant.
Furthermore, there were five Seadragons next to the General.
‘Still, they’re just normal monsters, so I don’t need to worry, right?’
If it wasn’t a boss-level monster like an Apostle, I thought I could handle it. Just as I was thinking that, the General let out a fierce roar.
━Krooooar!!
[You have been provoked.]
[For 120 seconds, damage dealt to targets other than the Fallen Seadragon General will be reduced by half.]
“Provocation?”
I didn’t expect to be provoked as a player, but seeing the message, it seemed to work this way.
But it just meant that the monsters that died in two hits from Thunder Strike would now take four hits.
Thinking that far, I charged in without hesitation.
“Thunder Strike!”
There was no better skill than this for dealing damage.
However, the General, with agility unbefitting its size, swung the axe in its hand to block my movement in advance.
Kwaang!-
“Ugh.”
My shield and the General’s axe collided.
There was no damage since the attacks clashed, but I was pushed back due to the difference in strength.
━Kieek!
And the regular Seadragons seized the opportunity and rushed in.
Just then, the spear Yua threw from behind hit one of them, but it only stopped it momentarily.
“Dynamics!”
Kwaang!-
I used Earth’s Dynamics to stop the charging Seadragons, but those outside the range passed me and headed towards Yua.
There were two of them.
“It’s okay, keep fighting!”
Her shout reached me before I could even turn my head towards Yua.
Was she going to take on two by herself?
At the same time, I thought it would be difficult, but I decided to trust her for now and focus on my own fight, leaving the two that passed me behind.
“Thunder Strike!”
The Seadragon, now freed from the bind of Earth’s Dynamics, attempted to attack me.
It was an attack that wouldn’t do much damage even if it landed.
Already knowing that, I didn’t panic and swung my shield even faster, then pulled out another skill.
“Elsyke’s Phantom Shift.”
Pat-
My target was behind the General.
I didn’t care about the other Seadragons attacking the phantom.
It would take them quite a while to kill my phantom with their attacks.
“Thunder Strike!”
[Skill Damage! 14,668.]
[Skill Damage! 13,629.]
The first attack, combined with the stealth damage, dealt a decent amount of damage, but the General didn’t die.
Did this guy also have around 100,000 HP?
━Krooooar!
When I landed the third attack with Thunder Strike, the General roared and turned halfway around to attack me.
But as I said before, if it was a normal monster, it wasn’t my enemy.
Especially in a 1:1 situation.
“Dynamics.”
Kwaang!-
The axe that was coming at me with the force to cleave me in two suddenly stopped.
Taking advantage of the gap, I moved out of the axe’s trajectory and used Thunder Strike and Earth’s Dynamics alternately. Soon, I saw the General collapse.
[Combat Experience 54,000 acquired!]
[Ding!~ Party member Rudin-nim has……]
In addition, realizing that the provocation effect had also been lifted, I attacked the Seadragons that were struggling with my phantom.
“Phantom Explosion.”
Kwaaang!!-
[Skill Damage! 8,679.]
[Skill Damage……]
After making the Seadragons stagger with Phantom Explosion, I finished them off with my shield. Finally, I looked at Yua.
Now, if we just eliminated the two Seadragons that Yua was fighting, the battle would be over.
And Yua was engaged in a difficult battle against the remaining Seadragon.
It seemed to be due to a lack of stamina.
‘As expected, two was too much.’
Seeing the situation, it seemed like it would be better to help her quickly.
So, I aimed for the back of the Seadragon that was facing Yua. With our combined attack, we were able to easily eliminate the Seadragon.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, just a little tired.”
“Then let’s take a break.”
There wasn’t a comfortable place to rest, but I said that anyway.
Normally, I would sit on the ground to rest, but here, if I sat down, I would be submerged up to my head.
In the end, we had no choice but to stand and rest.
“Damn it. What the hell is this after coming all this way?”
“Fortunately, we managed to escape.”
“That’s the problem! We escaped!”
Just then, I heard familiar voices from inside.
Was it Black Dragon?
While I was standing still and waiting, someone appeared. As expected, it was Black Dragon.
‘By the way, seeing that they escaped……’
It seemed they failed to catch the Apostle.
“Huh? You said you were hunting, but you came all the way here?”
“Yes, but what happened to the Apostle?”
“Looking at this state, the answer is obvious. We failed, of course.”
Well, hundreds of people went in, but only about 50 came back.
Wouldn’t this be considered a major failure?
Anyway, Black Dragon sighed deeply and lamented.
“Haa, I’ve never seen such a cheat. It trapped us in a water prison and bombarded us with all kinds of magic. There was nothing we could do.”
“Then will you form an alliance?”
“No, absolutely not. If we do that and another guild clears the main scenario, all our efforts will be wasted.”
Listening to him, it seemed he was planning to challenge it again and again.
However, if he kept challenging it and his guild members kept dying, wouldn’t it be dangerous?
The other guilds wouldn’t just stand by and watch the Absolute Guild weaken.
“Anyway, we need to go back and regroup. Are you going to keep hunting?”
“Yes, I have to hunt until tomorrow at the latest.”
“Alright, I’ll let them know. Good luck.”
Leaving those words, Black Dragon turned to head towards the entrance, but for some reason, he turned back and extended his hand to me.
“Come to think of it, we should at least register as friends so we can contact each other to send the money.”
Friend registration?
Thinking it would be convenient for both of us to have a way to contact each other, I nodded and agreed to register as friends.
[You have registered as a friend with player ‘ Black Dragon ‘.]
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