Chapter 19
Chapter 19
Killed two Kobolds, and then killed three more Kobolds.
But still, no level-up occurred.
'King of Kobolds.'
According to the seniors in the Transcendent Gallery, it was the only monster among the Kobold species that could pose a threat to me.
Would that guy be inside this dungeon, or not?
If he was, I felt like I wanted to meet him.
Has my mind gone strange from being in the Pandemonium difficulty Tower for nearly a month?
Except for Laura, the resident of the 9th floor, no one felt particularly outstanding in their combat sense.
At least the Chinese man, Sun Haoran, showed no hesitation.
The reason I could move more agilely than them was thanks to the inherent superiority of the Dragon Slayer Sword and the Sparring Golem Mk.2.
The Orc Commander who pushed me and the Orc Shaman who gave me considerable trouble must have also played a part.
6 hours and 32 minutes had passed since entering the dungeon.
The reason I knew the exact time that had passed was because the current time was precisely recorded in the top right corner of my vision.
Current time: 6:41 AM.
The seven of us, including myself, were all crouching and resting.
Because I had strictly taken the rear for 6 hours, only two people were recognized as strong for a 3rd-floor resident.
Misaki and the Chinese woman next to her, Zi Xuan. Those two.
At first, I couldn't understand why people were lounging around, resting without any tension.
A square, golden border surrounded the outer edge of the group.
'It's a Safe Zone.'
Misaki scratched her head and explained that it was a completely perfect safe area that occasionally existed in the Easy difficulty Tower.
The impression I got during the exchange meeting was nothing but a sense of disconnect.
Indeed, would I ever see this Safe Zone while climbing Pandemonium?
04 : 23 : 54
A timer floated above the Safe Zone.
04 : 23 : 53
The time was gradually decreasing.
It had started at five hours. This meant that in 4 hours and 23 minutes from now, the Safe Zone the party was using would disappear.
While Laura, the German woman, was the de facto leader in terms of strength, Baek Jinyeong could be considered the leader in terms of communication.
"It's too early to go to sleep, but wouldn't it be better to just finish the dungeon after sleeping for about 4 hours?"
Laura nodded.
"Yeah, that sounds good."
Everyone agreed with Baek Jinyeong's suggestion.
Misaki approached me as I sat quietly.
"You don't have a sleeping bag, do you?"
"No."
"They don't sell them in the 3rd-floor waiting room."
Misaki handed me a sleeping bag.
"Use this!"
I appreciated the offer, but...
"Then don't you not have a sleeping bag, Misaki?"
Misaki shook her head.
"I do! I have a habit of not throwing away things I've put in my inventory once... Ah, don't worry! This is a new sleeping bag! I'll use the old one."
It would be better if she said she'd use the new one and I'd use the old one; that would make me look like a madman.
"Thank you."
I quietly accepted the sleeping bag and unfolded it.
"What difficulty Tower are you in, Misaki?"
Misaki answered immediately to my question.
"Easy difficulty."
I looked at the seat next to Misaki.
"Zi Xuan?"
Zi Xuan said softly.
"Easy. You already figured it out, didn't you? We're a party."
It was impossible not to notice. They were openly looking out for each other.
Zi Xuan gestured with her chin towards Sun Haoran, who was also Chinese.
"Sun Haoran, he's Normal."
Baek Jinyeong was also Normal difficulty.
Now, the only one whose difficulty I didn't know was Laura.
I approached Laura.
As I approached, Laura looked above my head instead of at me and spoke.
"What is it, 3rd floor."
"What difficulty are you?"
Laura let out a hollow laugh, seemingly finding the direct question about difficulty absurd.
"Try and guess, what difficulty I'm on."
She seemed to have more combat talent than Baek Jinyeong or Sun Haoran, who were Normal.
However, she was below the level of a Hard difficulty climber I had imagined.
"Are you Hard?"
"Yes."
Laura clicked her tongue.
"Damn Hard."
It seemed incredibly tough.
I had no intention of offering words of comfort. My own life felt a bit tougher.
I had plenty of questions.
"What comes out on the 8th floor of Hard difficulty?"
At my words, Laura suddenly shivered and slowly opened her mouth.
"Orc Great Warrior."
Oh.
"Did you kill it?"
At my question, Laura scowled.
It wasn't just a scowl; she looked like an incredibly angry goblin.
"Kill it... How could I kill that thing? I just ran away as much as possible. All I had to do was survive until the time ran out."
Very disappointing.
"Before the Orc Great Warrior, what kind of Orc-type monster appeared?"
Laura didn't seem to mind me asking questions about her, as she answered readily.
"5th floor, Orc Commander."
The Pioneer from the Transcendent Gallery also appeared on the 5th floor.
It seemed rare for cases like Sword of Light or Archmage appearing on the 2nd floor.
"Did you kill the Commander?"
Laura slowly shook her head at my question.
"That guy was also someone I just had to defend against until the Knights arrived, so I focused on enduring."
If she had been full of pride, she might have answered, "I killed the Commander," but...
Seeing her speak of enduring as if it were natural, it seemed that other Hard difficulty players, who were part of Laura's circle, had the same thoughts and made the same choices.
"There was one guy among those I cleared the floor with who suggested we kill it, but his words were naturally ignored."
The guy whose opinion was ignored was right.
Ultimately, the possibility of growth opens up when you push through and somehow kill strong monsters. That was the direction of this Tower, which I had learned even from the process of just the 2nd floor.
"How many people usually attempt to clear a floor?"
Laura replied indifferently.
"If it's the 5th floor or higher, it's usually 6 people or more, of course."
It was the standard practice to not even think about fighting it, even with more than 6 people.
I had heard that the difficulty gradually increased as the party size grew, but from my perspective, it still felt too cautious.
Since she hadn't even killed the Commander, my interest in the Hard difficulty climber before me waned.
I stood up and returned to the sleeping bag Misaki had given me.
The others, their bodies and minds worn out by fatigue, were sound asleep in their respective sleeping bags.
Seeing them all sleeping so peacefully, it seemed they had all experienced Safe Zones at least once.
I recalled a passage Sword of Light had written in the appendix of the Dragon Slayer Sword.
-
It is also necessary to practice sleeping in a way that can be woken at any time.
-
There is almost nothing impossible if you train.
I had thought it was nonsense.
But this was the time to use it.
Wasn't this the time to try that training?
Thinking so, I closed my eyes.
"……."
As if that would work.
I'd have to ask them to explain the method in detail later.
It was essentially meditation.
I needed to organize my thoughts.
Ever since I entered the exchange meeting, a certain topic had been lingering in my mind.
Thanks to the ample time given, I was able to reach a complete conclusion on that topic.
Misaki's head slowly lifted from the sleeping bag next to me.
"...Ah, good morning."
Misaki said softly, smoothing her messy hair.
"Yes."
I hadn't slept at all, but I didn't want to make her feel awkward.
I ate jerky and nuts.
They were provisions I had purchased with coins.
After the exchange meeting, I'd have to go back to the floor waiting room and eat a delicious meal.
00 : 25 : 34
There were still 25 minutes left on the Safe Zone timer.
The seven of us, including myself, had finished preparing to depart.
Although it wasn't a long sleep, everyone seemed to be in better condition than before.
The party moved.
As yesterday, Jake and Sun Haoran were at the very front.
And behind them, Laura and Baek Jinyeong.
Misaki and Zi Xuan were in front of me, who was at the very rear.
As yesterday, no major variables occurred.
They were not particularly strong, but they were individuals without any significant flaws.
The Kobolds were killed smoothly.
If there was anything not smooth, it was my level, which remained at 12 even after killing four more Kobolds.
A place made of three walls, like a dead end in a maze, halted the party.
"Huh?"
Jake's voice was heard. Jake, who had bent down and then straightened up, held a map in his right hand.
The map contained a map of the dungeon.
It wasn't a map depicting the overall dungeon structure.
It was a map showing the Boss Room and the room behind it.
Jake's voice carried a sense of doubt.
"It says there's a Hidden Boss Room? Are we going in?"
A moment of silence ensued.
Laura, the German woman, strode towards Jake and roughly snatched the map.
"Difficulty is what matters."
Laura checked the number of stars written below the Hidden Boss Room.
【 ★★★★★ 】
"Tsk."
Laura clicked her tongue upon seeing the difficulty.
"...For now, I'll just go up to the regular Boss Room and then withdraw from the exchange meeting."
I knew from the advice of the Transcendent Gallery seniors that there was a Hidden Boss Room in the exchange meeting dungeon.
Unlike the regular Boss Room, it allowed you to choose whether or not to challenge it by revealing the difficulty beforehand.
Five stars meant that the possibility of clearing it in the 10th-floor exchange meeting was extremely low.
Baek Jinyeong approached Laura.
"Oh, can I see it too?"
The rest of the party members also gathered to look at the map.
Baek Jinyeong scratched his head.
"Hmm... Five stars is indeed too tough."
I felt like I wanted to go in, even if it was alone.
To the place called the Hidden Boss Room.
At any rate, what was facing us now was the Boss Room.
"Let's do a quick gear check before entering."
Following Laura's command, everyone checked their equipment.
RUMBLE-!
And Jake threw open the door to the Boss Room.
[BOSS MONSTER]
[Kobold champion]
Kobold Champion.
Certainly, it looked the largest among the furry lizards I had killed so far.