Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Undead Dungeon (2)
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“No way, all 36 strategies I prepared…!!”
“…Why on earth did you prepare so many?”
Pointlessly.
Alicia pounded the ground and wailed loudly.
“But that’s weird… Last time I came in, the door didn’t close even with more than twenty people.”
“The number of people might not be the issue.”
‘The number of people isn’t the issue.’
I thought the same.
I had experience entering a dungeon in the past with dozens of civilians.
So why were the soldiers’ entries blocked this time?
Assuming this was a game, when did this usually happen?
‘When there’s a balance problem.’
It was a question anyone who played RPGs had at least once. Why couldn’t an elite squad enter the dungeon, only a small party?
The reason was simple.
It would ruin the fun.
Kaizel was stronger than expected.
Not on Adelina’s level, but as Alicia’s personal guard, he was at least instructor-class.
The other soldiers weren’t inferior to academy students either. They even had Abyss Cores.
If they’d joined, clearing the dungeon would’ve been a breeze.
That’s probably why the dungeon only allowed Pasha and Mar. Anything more would break the balance.
But I had no idea what the criteria were.
I didn’t even know why it was only for this raid.
‘Maybe each dungeon has a fixed limit on allowed combat power?’
Anyway, that made the dungeon’s intended difficulty the key question.
‘Is six people the bare minimum to clear it? Or is it easy mode?’
That’s what I couldn’t figure out.
“So what now? Without Sir Kaizel and the soldiers, we can’t maintain torches on both sides at once.”
“Ku, kuhehe… Insolent…! But with fewer options, our path forward becomes that much clearer, doesn’t it!”
Alicia spread her fan and declared.
“Pasha and Mar take one side, Aren takes the other. We proceed as planned…”
“Senior, that won’t work.”
It was efficient and rational, but it didn’t account for Pasha and Mar’s combat power.
Those two couldn’t match the three of us.
They struggled even in mid-tier phase 2 dungeons.
Even if they’d grown a bit since then, it was impossible for just the two of them to fully handle the undead dungeon’s monsters.
We couldn’t separate them from Aren.
Of course, our options had narrowed.
To exactly one, in fact.
“Aren.”
“…”
“Can you handle both torches alone?”
It wasn’t a question seeking her opinion.
Resolve.
The moment we stepped into the dungeon, we couldn’t leave until we defeated Negalroun.
In the end, only Aren and I could handle the torches.
So naturally, Aren had to do it.
The problem was that, from my memory, the distance between the two walls was quite far.
Plus, due to the undead dungeon’s nature, monsters kept respawning until the mid-boss was defeated.
Meaning she’d have to madly shuttle between the two walls while endlessly cutting down waves of monsters.
Until we took down Negalroun.
“You need me for it, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll do it. As long as you need me, anytime.”
Aren answered, then glanced toward Pasha and Mar.
The two were confused as their expected plan fell apart before their eyes.
But as raid aspirants themselves, they quickly grasped the situation and nodded with grim expressions.
“…Very well. I’ll trust the junior’s judgment. But Aren—don’t let those two die. They’re just caught up in my poor decisions.”
“I’m counting on you too.”
With pleas from both Alicia and Mina, preparations for all six were complete shortly after.
As departure time arrived, Alicia spoke again.
“We’ll handle the torches that way… As for the strategy you proposed, junior—are you truly certain it’ll work?”
“It will.”
It worked in the original story.
“Understood. With my plans scrapped anyway, better to trust you.”
Alicia pulled five torches from her bag and distributed them to everyone except Mina.
We plunged into the passage, torches in hand.
And then.
“Let’s go!”
At Alicia’s shout, all six of us sprinted down the passage at full speed.
Our formation centered on Mina, the five of us surrounding her.
Everyone held only torches, no weapons.
- Kirik. Kiririk.
Red eyes lit up in droves from the darkness.
With the chilling clatter of bones, skeleton soldiers emerged.
Unlike the entrance trash mobs, each was elite-tier for an upper dungeon.
Normally, we’d have to fight them one by one.
“Mina! Over to you!”
“Yes, got it!”
This dungeon was exactly why I’d chosen Mina as my follower.
‘Undead Dungeon is Mina’s carry dungeon.’
“Haaah!”
Mina gathered holy power at her fingertips.
The art she used was Heal.
A lump of holy power shot toward the nearest skeleton soldier.
Boom!
The moment it hit, the monster’s head exploded with a bang, bones scattering everywhere.
“Insane…! That raw power is ridiculous!”
Games have a concept called “carry.”
When a specific character has a skill that perfectly counters the core gimmick of certain content, making it a cakewalk. That’s what they call it.
The Doll Dungeon favored Cecilia or Luna, but the Undead Dungeon was Mina’s carry spot.
But this level of carry was over the top.
They said if you brought only Mina, you’d clear Undead Dungeon whether you wanted to or not.
Could you use Heal on monsters?
Technically yes.
But it was meaningless.
What’s the point of healing something you’re supposed to kill?
Undead monsters were the exception.
On undead, Heal dealt damage equal to 300% of its heal amount—an instant kill.
A dungeon screaming to use Mina.
Refusing to use her was practically defying the devs.
Undead Dungeon was that kind of place.
“To think Heal works on monsters… How did you know such a crucial fact?”
“I heard it from Instructor Adelina.”
“No need to cross-check?”
The issue was that Heal working on undead wasn’t common knowledge in this world.
If Alicia hadn’t brushed it off smoothly, I might’ve been labeled a spy.
Before starting, I’d tipped her off about it and proposed this formation.
The rest of us lit the way with torches, briefed monster positions, while Mina soloed all damage.
Preserving everyone else’s stamina and mana by burning only Mina’s holy power reserves.
At the same time, shielding Mina—who still had trauma from the Undead Dungeon—from seeing the monsters as much as possible.
That was the goal of my proposed strategy.
“Mina, two approaching from three o’clock.”
“Got it!”
Boom! Boom!
“Saintess! Three coming from behind!”
“Got it!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With Aren’s and my presence detection combined, Mina was a siege tank incarnate.
And mobile, at that.
Dozens of monsters burst like fireworks the instant holy power touched them.
This was a saintess.
“I thought it was a crazy strategy, but it’s working perfectly. I should learn from you, junior.”
“Is there a crazier strategy than raiding the imperial secret vaults?”
“This one, right here?”
The dungeon’s allure elevated humans.
Perfect momentum.
At some point, we’d all surrendered to the vibe, charging straight ahead.
Even Pasha and Mar had immersed themselves in their roles.
“Enemy at nine o’clock!”
“Leave it to me!”
Boom!
The skeleton soldier’s skull exploded right in front of Pasha.
“You okay, Pasha?”
“…Yeah, thanks.”
“I’m the thankful one.”
How long had we run?
“We’ve arrived! This is where the three-way split starts!”
We’d finally reached the midpoint, the junction to the three paths.
“No more monsters chasing us.”
“Last time too… Once we entered this room… the monsters stopped pursuing.”
“Maybe some kind of rule kicks in.”
Mina leaned on her knees, panting heavily.
Her mental stamina couldn’t keep up with her holy power.
“Good work, Mina.”
As I patted her shoulder, her face visibly relaxed.