Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: Comprehensive Stage
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Whoosh!
Ryuka vanished after only saying that Theme 5 and Theme 6 would proceed simultaneously.
It wouldn’t take long.
But it would be tough to endure.
“Fuck.”
Vladimir muttered.
“That guy saying it like that makes it sound really serious.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. Everyone, get ready! Something’s about to happen!”
“Good, let’s think positive. If it won’t take long, that means we just have to survive this and it’s all over, right?”
“Look over there!”
Rumble rumble rumble!
Ollena pointed into the warping space.
[Theme 5 begins.]
[Reconfiguring space.]
Boom!
The ground split open.
Magma sloshed up from the cracks once more.
“Crazy?”
“More lava?”
“We did this shit to death in Theme 3!”
“No way those arrow-shooting machines from back then are coming out too, right?!”
Vladimir frowned at Ollena’s shout.
“Hey, watch your mouth. You’re gonna jinx it and...”
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Right then.
Familiar mechanical devices rained down from the sky like a storm.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
They piled up everywhere, one by one, forming walls.
“Son of a bitch?”
Vladimir spat out a curse.
“It’s real? Damn it, Ollena!”
“Ughhhh, we have to do this crap again? Oh God...”
And that wasn’t all.
Pssshhhh!
Green smoke billowed out from between the devices.
I frowned.
‘That’s poison.’
Sure, I’d reached a level in poison arts where no one could touch me anymore, so I was fine.
But not my comrades.
They’d endured the poison mist trial before, and I’d taken it all on myself.
“Hoo.”
I took a deep breath.
Poison mist, huh.
That level of poison? I could absorb it all and make it mine, easy.
Ssssh.
Green mist began creeping out from my body too.
Tempted by my offer.
As I’ve said before, poison mist wasn’t my subordinate.
It just saw me as a comfy home. If a better body showed up, it’d jump ship in a heartbeat.
Ssssh!
The poison mist I released collided with the machines’ poison in all directions.
They fused, neutralized, and mixed every which way.
[Space reconfiguration complete.]
[Theme 5 is the ‘Comprehensive Stage,’ combining all previous trials at maximum difficulty.]
“...Comprehensive Stage?”
“Whatever, comprehensive or not. They’ve gotta make it beatable, right? Looking at how they set the difficulties, it’s not impossible.”
Whoosh! Swoosh!
Arrows started flying.
Rumble rumble!
The floor began shaking up, down, left, right.
Just like in Theme 3, we had to keep our balance and dodge the arrows.
[The stages are divided into 5 levels.]
[Survive 1 hour for Stage 1 clear.]
[Survive 2 hours for Stage 2 clear.]
[Survive 3 hours for Stage 3 clear.]
[Survive 4 hours for Stage 4 clear.]
[Survive 5 hours for Stage 5 clear.]
[Clear Stage 5 for perfect success.]
Ahh.
Just how brutal was this that five hours was the end?
Sure, five hours wasn’t short.
But compared to the trials so far, it felt kinda brief.
[Upon passing or failing...]
[You will encounter the trial’s creator, Dungeon Maker Delaila.]
“Huh.”
The Judge Window shook its head.
“Meeting Delaila must be Theme 6.”
That explained why Ryuka said it’d be over soon.
Just endure five hours, and it’s all done.
“Even if we can’t hold out, we still get to meet Delaila, so that takes some pressure off.”
Jang Wei gripped his spear shaft tightly.
The muscles bulging on his forearms were massive, like symbols of the continent itself.
“My friends.”
“...”
The Judge Window used the term ‘friends’ for me and everyone else.
“As the saying goes, all things must have a beginning and an end. The true finale is near. Just as you’ve endured so well until now, no matter what trial comes, see it through to the end...!”
The team members moved.
Sweat and blood flowing.
Torn skin and muscle.
Accumulated fatigue.
After running nonstop without proper rest for so long, they faced the final gateway with optimism.
“Alright.”
“Good words.”
Wiping sweat and nodding: Kapu and Miao.
“Let’s all grab beers after this and reminisce about this moment!”
The cheerful guy, Vladimir Rodgin.
“Ugh, just hearing it makes my mouth water.”
Ollena smiled brightly.
“Beer’s famous in our Germany. I’ll invite you all sometime. Pair it with centuries-old traditional sausages—ughhh! The beer flavor just explodes.”
Even the thunderclap Floa’s fellow German, the middle-aged Maximilian.
“...”
But.
I stayed silent.
Something felt off.
Theme 5, the Comprehensive Stage, reduced to just poison gas, arrows, and shaking ground?
What about the Dragon Infant Soldiers?
The Shadow Shepherds, masters of ambushes?
No, beyond that.
Given the difficulty so far, this level for Theme 5 didn’t add up.
There had to be more coming.
“Everyone, stay sharp!”
Before the chill in my chest fully faded.
[Ding!]
[In ‘Theme 1,’ you gathered food to earn trial points.]
[You also had to discern poison through taste to survive.]
[Taste is a vital sense.]
[It detects not just flavor, but danger too.]
[From now on, your sense of taste is disabled.]
“...!”
The salty taste on my tongue vanished completely.
The blood and sweetness lingering in my mouth—gone.
“What the hell is this!”
“See? There was more, right?”
“Of course! I knew it.”
“But why taste? What’s the point of losing taste?”
Before the comrades could panic, more messages popped up.
[Ding!]
[In ‘Theme 2,’ you gathered treasures to earn trial points.]
[It trained teamwork, but smell’s importance for exploration is no less.]
[It can detect far wider dangers than taste sometimes.]
[From now on, your sense of smell is disabled.]
With taste and smell gone.
My whole face felt alien.
‘Well, still not a big deal.’
So far.
But why was my spine still crawling?
‘Don’t tell me.’
[Ding!]
[In ‘Theme 3,’ you trained evasion and boosted reaction speed.]
[Reaction speed ties closely to touch.]
[Pressure, pain, cold, heat—they warn of direct dangers.]
[From now on, your sense of touch is disabled.]
“Ugh, uwaaaak!”
“W-Wait! This feels weird. I can’t feel anything, no smells either!”
“Hmm, definitely off.”
Touch hit the team hard right away.
The sensation of jumping.
Of landing.
Air brushing skin with every move.
Breathing.
All that familiar stuff gone—uncomfortable as hell.
“...”
I frowned too.
I’d figured out Theme 5’s purpose instantly.
Probably everyone on the team had by now.
‘It’s restricting our senses.’
Taste, smell, touch—gone.
Next up, Theme 4: Shadow Shepherds.
So what’s left?
[Ding!]
[In ‘Theme 4,’ you faced the Shadow Shepherd shadow tribe.]
[Their arts tie closely to sight.]
[Their pursued ‘soundlessness’ realm ties closely to hearing.]
[From now on, your sense of sight is disabled.]
[From now on, your sense of hearing is disabled.]
‘As expected.’
I tried to frown.
Tried, but couldn’t even feel the frown.
The messages floating before me vanished completely.
‘Indeed.’
Delaila’s trial was vicious.
Strip away every human sense, then survive five hours in this hell?
Was that even possible?
“...!”
“...!”
I wanted to check on my teammates.
But nothing to hear.
Nothing to see.
No smell, no taste, no sensation.
Nothing.
Absolute void.
Like how space dust floating in the cosmos might feel if it had emotions?
Not just comrades.
Was I submerged in lava right now?
Hit by arrows?
Fallen?
Bleeding?
Couldn’t feel a damn thing.
‘This...’
No.
Impossible.
A new terror gnawed at my mind.
‘I.’
I was certain.
Every ranker who’d faced this trial before failed Stage 1.
No one could clear this.
So why did Delaila include it?
To jack difficulty to extreme and filter out any possibles?
Or.
To preach the value of senses?
Show a piece of the universe?
Demonstrate helplessness?
‘Doesn’t matter.’
Not important now.
Had to do something.
And right now, only one option came to mind.
‘Wish-Granting Scroll.’
That was it.
[Item: Wish-Granting Scroll]
[Grade: S]
[Type: Scroll]
[Description: Use in a moment of crisis. Something you need most will appear.]
[Effect 1: In a moment of crisis, ancient magic aids you.]
If not now, when?
I’d planned to use the last one before the trial ended anyway.
‘Let’s do it.’
But it wasn’t easy.
Even if I had it, how to tear it?
Need senses to pull it out and rip.
“...”
I spread my imagination in the pitch-black void.
Pictured my body, the scroll in my pocket.
Imagined pulling it out.
Riiiip!
Even tearing it.
No clue if my body actually moved.
Couldn’t feel shit right now.
But.
‘Please.’
I kept imagining.
Kept trying to tear the scroll.
Might’ve already plunged into lava.
Or slipped and dropped it mid-tear.
But it was all I could do.
I didn’t want to give up.
‘I won’t lose.’
Even if I did, fighting to the end?
That’s winning.
‘The moment you think you’ve lost and quit—that’s true defeat.’
So.
Move as far as I can.
Strive till I reach it.
“Hraaah!”
With a mental shout, I ripped the scroll clean again.
Desperately tore and shredded.
That instant.
[‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS Grade) barely connects mentally with the ‘caster.’]
[‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS Grade) grumbles about the annoying situation.]
...It worked!
I cheered inwardly.