00006 [Part 1] [Return] ------------------------------------------------------------------------=
"Is this the end?"
Aran asked, looking around.
After passing through the narrow passage, a wide space with irregularly arranged stone pillars appeared. The torches hanging from the pillars burned quietly, exuding solemnity. At the edge of their vision was a place resembling an altar, and whether a hole had been pierced through the ceiling or it had been open from the start, moonlight shone down on that spot alone.
"There are no monsters."
At Chocomint's words, the group all looked around. Despite the advantage of being able to hide behind pillars for ambushes or utilize the wide terrain, no Groomans were in sight.
"They weren't here when I first discovered this place either."
Maybe because of the altar?
Judging by the presence of the altar, this must be a place sacred to the Groomans. A place where one must not set foot without permission. Karon figured they probably only entered when they had permission from a chieftain-level Grooman or when performing some kind of ritual.
"Good work today, everyone! You guys did great."
"You too. Thank you for leading us."
Greenwind smiled in reply to Nieritic's words. Hunting together in a party, the awkwardness between them had faded, and they seemed to have reached a point where they could joke around. Seeing that they had grown closer without the help of alcohol, Karon thought that meeting in virtual reality might not be so bad after all.
Of course, that wasn't the case for him.
Since he had come along from the start just to fill a spot, Karon didn't actively join in the cheerful atmosphere. He simply enjoyed the game that had changed over two years, silently doing his part from the back.
So much had changed.
Much had changed in two years. Monsters, terrain, items, levels, skills. All of it stoked the interest of someone who had once lived immersed in the game.
Starting the game again might not be so bad. Maybe he could even meet those Polaris guys. No. This time, he would go find them.
If they had quit the game, it couldn't be helped. But if they were still playing, he wanted to meet them after so long. This time, he would go to meet his comrades. He wanted to meet them and beg for forgiveness. His heart was already racing at just the thought.
"Huh?"
Just then, Karon, who had approached near the altar, discovered something strange. Though it hadn't been visible from the front, the inside of the altar was hollow on the opposite side. More than anything, what was strange was the floor hidden by the altar. Though it was covered in dust, a faint boundary line could be seen.
"Karon, what are you doing? Huh...?"
Aran, who had followed Karon, also discovered the boundary line beneath the altar. When she bent down and brushed away the dust with her hand, a rectangle comparable in size to the altar appeared.
"There's something here!"
"What?"
"Let's try pushing it for now."
Aran waved at the party members who had been scouting the surroundings. While they walked over to the altar, Karon pushed it to reveal the full boundary line.
"What is this? Was this here before?"
Nieritic, the first to approach, frowned as he stared at the floor.
"There's a groove here?"
At Agriman's words, the group lowered their gazes further. Where he pointed, there was a deeply carved groove. When Karon pulled at the groove, the square stone slab tilted open.
[You have discovered a dungeon for the first time. For 7 days in real-time, experience gained and item drop rates from monsters inside the dungeon are doubled.]
"It looks like a dungeon...!"
Chocomint let out a small exclamation. Finding an unidentified dungeon inside a dungeon was surprising enough. Karon was also inwardly surprised.
"What do you want to do?"
"What do you mean, what do we do...?"
At Karon's question, Nieritic looked around at the others' reactions in confusion. Everyone had an expression saying they would follow his decision.
"Of course we go in! Double experience, you know!"
"Wow!"
"Let's go in!"
"Sounds fun."
There was no room for hesitation. Their formation remained unchanged. Led by Nieritic, the party decided to head down the stairs. Perhaps because everyone was in a good mood from discovering the dungeon, the girls were even humming to themselves.
It was exciting, but a bit uneasy. The enemies they would meet on the 2nd floor were stronger than the Groomans on the 1st floor. Just in case, Karon shouldn't neglect his Detection.
Some dungeons didn't allow escape unless they were cleared after entering. Karon carefully checked as he came down last to see if the entrance would close, but fortunately it didn't. If the situation turned dangerous, he decided to lead the party back up to the 1st floor along the stairs.
"Not much different from before."
Karon nodded at Nieritic's words. The 2nd floor had a maze-like structure similar to the 1st floor. From the structure visible from the stairs as they came down, there appeared to be a giant iron door beyond the maze, leading them to guess that the boss of this dungeon would be there.
"Alright, let's go in. Guys, just trust me."
"We're counting on you."
"We'll trust only you."
"Be careful."
The girls sent Nieritic a word of encouragement. Excited, Nieritic stepped toward the entrance with buoyant steps.
At that moment—
"Urk!"
The moment he set foot inside the entrance, a flying club struck his side and he collapsed, vomiting blood. Startled by the clapping sound, he fell to the floor and trembled like a shivering mosquito, foaming at the mouth as his body shook violently.
"Bro!"
Agriman, the fastest among them, rushed out to cover him. Since they knew the enemy's location, avoiding the attack wasn't difficult. Because of that, the enemy—whose focus had been drawn—revealed itself from the entrance, and Aran quickly fired an arrow.
"Ugh!"
The enemy was not a Grooman like the ones they had seen on the 1st floor. It was wearing armor. Because of that, the arrow bounced off the thick armor.
"It's tiger leather!"
"No, more importantly...."
Karon quickly denied Aran's words. Though it was visible from afar, the opponent was not a monkey draped in tiger leather. It was bigger and more muscular than a monkey, with a rugged and fierce-looking face—a gorilla.
"Hyaah!"
As Agriman began to be pushed back, Greenwind ran to join the fray. The others followed belatedly.
"That thing is.... Kuh...."
At the appearance of the new monster, they were too shocked to close their mouths. Because the information of the monster reflected in their eyes was as follows.
[Tiger-Leather-Draped Groomal (Lv 75)]
Nieritic, who had the highest level in this party, was only level 72.