Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Artificial Dungeon: Dank Pit - Crawling Labyrinth
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"Huh? This crazy fucker?"
I couldn't help but spit out a curse in sheer disbelief. My guess that it'd sneak into my house and trash the place? Dead wrong.
This insane miner bastard had locked the entire house away with me inside. Trapped it in an artificial dungeon it'd created.
I stared at the message in front of me, utterly dumbfounded, then let out a sigh and stepped outside the house.
All the traps I'd set up inside were useless now. At best, they'd serve as suicide bombs if monsters found and charged into them.
I was lamenting that fact and gearing up for battle when it happened.
A message like that popped up, followed by someone's gleeful laughter echoing through the air.
Click. Half of Pride's mana, the part handling light, froze up.
"This crazy bastard."
I barely had time to grimace at the curse-worthy situation before another restriction message rang out.
'This guy's trying to seal Longinus, huh.'
My ace in the hole, my strongest weapon. Longinus was sealed. I had no choice but to click my tongue.
The third restriction. Lucifer's wings and Chaos Magic skill were now off-limits.
'Damn it!'
This was turning into a real headache, way more than I'd expected. If my proficiency were just a bit higher, I could've deployed the demonic wings separately, but no dice right now.
It was threatening enough already, but the restrictions weren't done.
The demon known as Deriax had clearly analyzed my abilities through that dead miner bastard. No way it could've sealed them this precisely otherwise.
Restrictions targeting Gangga's Might and Giant God's Power. Equivalent Exchange's buffs were out too.
Finally, the last restriction echoed out.
I scowled. I hadn't used the Sun's Authority against the miner—how the hell did it know?
'I did tap into Sun's Eye briefly. But no way it figured it out from that.'
It was too far away to confirm it was the sun's power for sure.
A sigh escaped me. What I'd thought would be a quick cleanup had turned into a tangled mess.
"This is insane."
As I scowled and instinctively drew on the sun's power, Pride's mana drained sharply...
Whoosh!
Surprisingly, the sun's power ignored this bullshit restriction and manifested. And one ego that hadn't even shown its form in my mental space, let alone expressed any will, finally awakened.
Authorities possess egos. Why? Hell if I know. I'm not even sure if there are other Earthlings with authorities besides me—how could I?
In the confusion of whether all authorities have egos or just mine, Noon Sun—granted by Ra long ago—hadn't shown one, so I'd leaned toward the latter.
But now Noon Sun's ego had appeared. Recovery? Adaptation? Resurrection?
I could feel its will. No words, but I knew.
A power that was once whole had shattered into three, its ego broken amid constant sealing with no chance to recover.
Right after breaking free, the authority's root was handed over to someone else in a ridiculous twist, causing the ego to wither rapidly.
Then, to rebirth itself anew in a new vessel like me, it hid its ego.
Now it seemed all authorities had egos. Excluding oddballs like Longinus's limited special authority, anyway.
Authorities were valuable enough that Ra called them seeds of myth—no surprise they had egos.
The other authorities' egos eyed the newcomer. No issues. I'd worried about clashes, but Noon Sun's ego settled above Tower of Gold and Equivalent Exchange, below Fortune and Misfortune.
'Wait—if authorities ignore restrictions...!'
That meant Equivalent Exchange worked too.
Grinning in satisfaction, I opened my status window to check usable abilities.
Authorities
[Tower of Gold LV 2] [Fortune LV 1] [Noon Sun LV 3] [Equivalent Exchange LV 3]
Runes
[Crown of the Evolving Sovereign (Ancient) LV 1] [Domain Expansion - Fate's Frost (Ancient) LV 1] [Time - Hourglass (Origin) LV 1]
Unique Abilities
[Curse of Misfortune (Legend) LV MAX] [Infinite Heavenly Veins (Myth) LV 2] [Supreme Soul (Myth) LV 2] [Sun's Eye (Myth) LV 1] [Chaos Body (Myth) LV 1]
Skills
[Wings of Pride (Myth) LV 3] [Heart of the Giant God (Legend) LV 1] [Flowing Water Transformation (Epic) LV 1] [Gangga's Might (Unique) LV 1] [Giant God's Power (Legend) LV 1] [Chaos Magic (Myth) LV 1]
Name: Shin Juha
Title: World Destroyer [Legend], Blessing of Scorpio [Myth], Guardian of the Primordial City [Advanced], Godslayer [Myth]
Job: X
LV 32 (7%)
Level shot up the max of 5 at once, plus rewards from overcoming Misfortune with Unyielding, netting me 52 spare points.
Unyielding was growing steadily from beating Misfortune too.
'Can't raise Fortune.'
Raising Fortune raises Misfortune. Aside from that first nectar swig, I'd never invested a single point in it.
'Think about that later.'
Time to spend spare points. I'd ground up Ra's divine object, losing the all-stats +20 buff.
In a pinch like this, those 20 points felt vital, but regrets wouldn't bring 'em back.
I dumped everything into Infinite without hesitation. It takes 3 spare points per level-up now—51 points got me +17.
My body grew stronger. Maybe 'cause each point guzzles 3 now? Every stat-up felt crystal clear.
Closed the status window and reassessed this annoying mess. Usable powers? Authorities and Flowing Water Transformation, basically.
But that was plenty. Restrictions or not, I wasn't weak. Tougher, sure—but defeat? Nah.
I shifted Manbyeon into sword form. Right now, I was somewhere in the Crawling Labyrinth. Monster noises echoed from afar.
Goal: scour the labyrinth, kill all 666 enemies. Miner bastard's probably the boss.
I kicked off the ground. Get outta this shithole ASAP. These restrictions itched like hell—especially the demon's dank, nauseating vibe filling the labyrinth.
Grrrrrr!
A monster appeared. A fiend, they call 'em—demonic energy users. Shaped like its master: a worm. Leech slithering on the floor.
Gripped my sword. Swung. Infinite, up two grades already, gifted talent and power on another level.
Instinct honed to perfect, efficient moves. Enemy attack paths read sharper. Weak points faintly sensed.
Grrrk!
Maggot fiend, like a mini earthworm monster called Sandworm, gaped its round maw wider than its body, baring killing intent.
Drool or venom—I dunno—shot from the maw. Dodged on instinct, my sword slicing the maggot in half mid-leap.
Grreeek!
Weak. Pathetic. This what it's throwing at me?
Common grade, as expected. High rank for its tier, top of commons maybe—but that's its ceiling.
With stats invested, I was solidly mature C-rank now. Not its match.
"No way this is all it's got, right?"
What was it thinking? What scheme? Seriously trying to stop me with these?
I sighed and checked the dungeon window. Scowled.
"What the hell?"
All monsters in labyrinth eliminated (49/666)... (52/666)... (56/666)
I'd only killed one, but the count was plummeting.
"Goddamn, what bullshit now?"
I bolted. No more tricks. Already pissed—more could make it rough.
Worst case? Life on the line. Hurried through the labyrinth. One realization mid-sprint.
"No monsters?"
Confirmed. Miner and demon were killing them. Why? What for?
A thought flashed.
'Sacrificing them, maybe?'
No time. Sigh, kicked the ground. Extra sacrifices? Who knows what happens.
Worst case... partial demon descent. I'd be dead.
'Can't use Longinus Spear.'
Restrictions weren't ignorable. Big sigh, then raced through the labyrinth.