Chapter 135

Chapter 135 – Experience Dungeon (2)

“I want to see how strong everyone is because I need to think about our formation.”

“Hyun, it will probably work out if it’s you.”

“Right now?”

Hyun nodded at TarrTarr’s question.

“Yes. First, we must see our current status.”

Clack.

Hyun activated the switch, and the magic circle under them began shining.

The dungeon’s difficulty could be regulated from Lv.50 to Lv.200. 

“First, let’s begin with level 100.”

Fwoosh-! The group was covered with light.

What appeared in front of them after the light vanished wasn’t the dark hall but the labyrinth from 500 years prior.

In the past, the city was full of monsters.

The adventurers had created a base at the labyrinth’s crossroads to prevent danger and systematically explored the labyrinth.

There was a pillar called the ‘core’ in the center of where the crossroads connected.

The goal was to protect the core from monsters arriving from all directions.

Ting-!

[The level of all monsters has been set to Lv. 100!]

[Protect the core for 20 minutes!]

Hyun began to give out orders after receiving the short message.

“Everyone, each person should take care of one passageway.”

“M… Me too…?”

“Yes, you too.”

Even if Louise acted pitifully, Hyun wasn’t planning to go easy on her.

After all, it was just replaying past incidents, they weren’t real monsters.

“What about Hyun?”

“Hmm…? I’m going to be looking for the moment.”

At that answer, Ain looked at the faces of the rest of the group and mumbled.

“Hmm… I don’t think we will be able to beat it.”

“It’s just practice. If you’re having an easy time, help others too. After all, I’m counting on you the most.”

“Fufu. As expected…!”

Ain smiled after hearing Hyun’s words and went to her position.

Hyun stood in the middle of the core.

One person stood in each passageway. 

The idea behind it was a collaborative defense.

Since there were walls all around it, each party member couldn’t easily see the situation on the other side.

Not only that, but the moment one passageway was penetrated, monsters would reach the core, and the mission would end up failing.

The only person capable of coordinating the group was the one who was usually at the center of the core, but Hyun didn’t intend to participate on the first try.

Rather than clearing the dungeon, it was more important to see how good each party member was.

“Are you a new recruit? That’s good! We were lacking some forces!”

An NPC with a grim expression stood on top of the core.

He was the memory of the one in charge of watching over the core that was left in the magic circle. He was someone who had died 500 years prior in a battle there in the labyrinth.

“If the strategy is too much, just follow my orders! I’ll tell you how to make a basic plan!”

“I don’t need it.”

Even if Hyun ignored him, the NPC didn’t seem to care.

That was because he was an NPC that was programmed instead of artificial intelligence.

Hyun was a bit interested in the NPC because, although it may have felt awkward by modern standards, all NPCs used to be like that in the past.

“Everyone, defend!”

After he shouted, the monsters began attacking.

There was a blue wolf in Ain’s passageway.

Salon was facing off against three assassin goblins.

TarrTarr had to fight against a group of skeletons.

Louise was approached by a group of red slimes.

The party members soon faced each of their enemies.

‘As expected.’

After checking the situation in each passageway, Hyun clicked his tongue.

Everything was going as he had expected.

Ain and Salon were the better ones. TarrTarr was having some difficulties.

Louise’s situation was catastrophic.

Whoosh-!

A strong wind kept blowing in Louise’s passageway. It wasn’t a sharp and scary one but one that was only strong.

It wasn’t a wind that damaged the monsters but one that just pushed them away.

That’s why monsters kept appearing in Louise’s section.

“Ugh… These guys aren’t dying!”

“That’s because you have to get closer to them! If you use that attack at such a long distance, it becomes as effective as a fan!”

“A fan…?”

A slime was a monster that couldn’t even use magic, so Hyun thought that even Louise could easily win against one.

But Louise was afraid and didn’t get close to them.

It didn’t take long before it got full of slimes.

“H-Hyun…! «Assimilate» to me, quickly!”

Fwoosh-!

Suddenly, flames covered Louise’s entire field of view.

She could see Ain’s back behind the burning slimes.

She’d gone running to Louise after defeating her enemies.

“Hey, your side?”

“Fufu, I’m okay.”

Fwoosh-!

The moment the fire appeared, the slimes were destroyed, and Ain was already back at her original place. 

Louise and Ain were on opposite ends. 

It was a distance she could move across with «Incarnation Steps».

“Th-thank you…!”

Louise sighed in relief, but that peace didn’t last long.

She heard TarrTarr’s shout.

“Hyeong! There are too many of them. What should I do? My damage is too low; they aren’t dying no matter how many times I hit them.”

“That’s because you should’ve saved up your skills. You used them too early.”

“This is my first time using this job, so I don’t understand what’s what. Ugh, argh…!”

When he thought that he should give TarrTarr some advice, Louise became in danger.

“Ugh… Slimes that use thunder appeared! Wind doesn’t work against thunder…!”

“Hey, Hyun…! Please, use «Assimilate» on me! It’s a named monster specialized in dodging, so I’m having difficulty fighting against it as a Combo Thief!”

Hyun was overwhelmed by people asking for help. The words ‘total chaos’ were perfect to describe the situation.

Would they have even been able to clear it with «Assimilation»?

Especially the passageway Louise was in charge of… it was as if there wasn’t anyone guarding it.

* * *

Translator – Daniel Shin

Proofreader – ilafy

* * *

Although Ain was covering for it… Once a crack appeared, it became hard to cover it.

The NPC kindly indicated the place where the hole had appeared to him.

“The west defense has been penetrated! Increase the defense on the west!”

[The core is being damaged! (Durability left: 95%)]

The blue wolves had taken advantage of Ain not being there to do a long-range attack, and the core received a bit of damage.

“Oops…! My mistake!”

Ain quickly returned to her place, but the core’s durability had already been reduced by a fifth.

“Ugh… I let three go!”

Three skeleton warriors came running from TarrTarr’s passageway.

While the core’s defensive magic circle got rid of them, its durability was reduced by half. 

“Hyun! I can’t use the return scroll! What should I do?!”

“You can’t use it here. No, don’t use it!”

Louise did her best to push the army of slimes away, but that also reached the limit.

Fwoosh-! 

As the number of slimes increased to the point that they couldn’t be pushed away by wind anymore, Louise was devoured by monsters and scattered away into light.

“Louise died?!”

“She didn’t really die… so stay in your position.”

Hyun was forced to cover for Luise… but it was pointless because ice came flying from Salon’s section, and the core received extra damage.

Even TarrTarr soon scattered away into light.

[The core has been destroyed!]

[5% bonus experience will be applied to what each person has earned!]

Fwoosh-!

Everyone returned to the hall where they had started from.

They were in a place illuminated softly by magic.

‘It’s worse than I thought.’

Hyun checked the experience bar, but it seemed like they hadn’t gained that much.

500 gold… It was as if they’d spent more than $300 USD and couldn’t obtain any achievements.

Louise smiled awkwardly after her eyes met with Hyun’s.

She’d seen what Hyun could do with her body, so she knew how bad she’d just been.

‘First, I need to take care of her.’

Hyun stood up before the rest could take a rest.

“Everyone, stand up. We’re going to try it once more.”

“We’re going at it right now?”

“Fufu. Nice.”

Click-

He used another 500 gold and activated the magic circle.

He didn’t care about money.

The experience dungeon was the safest place for Louise to gain real battle experience. 

The moment they were surrounded by light, they appeared in the middle of the cross-shaped passageway.

As soon as the mission began, Hyun «Assimilated» into Louise.

“Ain, can you change places with me?”

“I’m against slimes? I don’t like them because they feel bad.”

“Hmm… Then ask TarrTarr to change places.”

That time, Louise was against the blue wolves.

Unlike the slimes, only one appeared and spawned, so it was the best enemy for Louise to practice against. 

‘The problem is that she’s still too afraid.’

Because Louise had spent most of her life controlling wind as if it were part of her body, she could probably use it better than most users.

«Black wind».

It was a skill that even he had difficulty controlling, but Louise could use it freely.

The most important thing for Louise at the moment was overcoming her fear of monsters.

Once they overcame that, she would immediately become a great ally.

「Look closely.」

Vroom-!

The wolf’s paws swept through her field of view.

Hyun realized that Louise was ignoring the situation.

Was ignoring what she saw how Louise had overcome the fear until then?

But from that point onwards, she couldn’t do that anymore. She shouldn’t ignore what she saw anymore.

[Critical Hit! You’ve received 3310 damage!]

“Agh…!”

The moment the paw scratched her, Louise screamed.

Hyun had let her receive critical hit damage without it becoming a huge amount of damage.

Louise had rarely received damage while hunting. A red warning sign appeared in front of her.

「Try to move and dodge it until the end.」

Louise was probably almost fifteen.

According to the world’s lore, she was about to become an adult.

Although it may have been a harsh method… it was necessary for Louise’s future.

[Critical Hit! You’ve received 156 damage!]

Hyun felt pain, confusion, and fear.

Those were the emotions Louise was feeling.

They were so realistic that one wouldn’t think they belonged to an NPC. He felt that, if he didn’t focus, he would also be swept away by those emotions.

[Critical Hit! You’ve received 171 damage!]

[Critical Hit! You’ve received 298 damage!]

As she couldn’t quickly eliminate a wolf, there were soon two of them.

Silver claws came to her from both sides.

Hyun made the attacks barely scratch her with minimal movements, but he purposefully didn’t dodge entirely out of the way.

He could feel her skin throbbing.

It was because Louise’s body kept receiving damage.

「Dodge it!」

“Ugh…! Argh…!”

「…Or kill it.」

He felt fear, confusion, and even empathy on top of that, but Hyun did his best to leave those behind.

It was a game inside a game.

If it weren’t there, they wouldn’t be able to overcome Louise’s fear.

Grr!

Then there were three wolves.

The passageway was ten meters wide, so the amount of damage received had also multiplied by 3.

He received a message when Louise’s face turned pale.

“Ugh… I’m sorry…!”

[The core has been destroyed!]

[6.7% bonus experience will be applied to what each person has earned!]

The moment the section TarrTarr was in charge of was penetrated, the skeleton army quickly reached the center.

The party returned to the hall when the core was destroyed.

“Ugh…”

Louise looked at the rest with worrying eyes.

“Are you going to keep going on?” Salon asked with a worried voice. 

Hyun silently nodded.

If it were before, Louise would’ve probably said she was going to return home.

But fifteen-year-old Louise was different from the ten-year-old one.

She let out a sigh and shrugged a bit but didn’t complain.

Hyun felt bad for her, so he put his hand on her head.

“You don’t need to worry. They’re all weaker than you.”

Nod.

“If you’re scared, just close your eyes and punch it.”

Fwoosh-!

A few moments later, the group was devoured by the magic circle, and a blue wolf appeared in front of Louise.

Louise breathed heavily while biting her lips.

A few days before, she wasn’t worried about the number of monsters surrounding her because, even if she remained still, Hyun did everything for her.

But she was alone at the moment.

She wasn’t exactly alone, but she was in a situation where nothing would be solved if she remained still.

‘Okay, let’s do it.’

Louise decided to take a step forward.