The Tomb's True Purpose

After seeing off Hilde's group, Fafnir conducted a quiet inspection in one ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠corner of the village.

'Hmm...'

What he was inspecting was the community window.

'Following Kindorhan, Sihyun, Siyeon, Ludius, Hilde, Lihana, Drexler, and Veron... Quite a few have accumulated.'

It's not like there aren't enough people.

If he tried to handle everything by himself, even ten bodies wouldn't be enough.

That's exactly why he needed people like them.

While it wasn't a good idea to make friends indiscriminately, building connections with future powerhouses would surely prove helpful in some way or another down the line.

'It's not ideal to be too exposed, but at this level, a bit more growth is actually something to be recommended.'

People in production classes were especially important.

Not only for himself, but also because he could equip the bone soldiers with gear.

'There is a community, but this one can't be skipped either.'

Fafnir opened his status window.

__DIV style="text-align:centerborder:3px solid #00ff88padding:25pxbox-shadow:0 0 20px rgba(0,255,136,0.6),inset 0 0 rgba(0,255,136,0.1)background:linear-gradient(135deg,#001a0a 0%,#000 50%,#001a0a 100%)border-radius:8pxmargin-bottom:20px"> __DIV style="color:#00ff88font-size:28pxfont-weight:boldtext-transform:uppercasemargin-bottom:20pxtext-shadow:0 0 10px rgba(0,255,136,0.4)">⚔ STATUS ⚔ __DIV style="border:1px solid #00ff88padding:20pxbackground:rgba(0,0,0,0.5)"> __DIV style="display:gridgrid-template-columns:1fr 1frgap:15pxtext-align:leftmax-width:500pxmargin:0 autocolor:#c0c0c0font-size:18pxline-height:2"> GT⚡ Strength: 252 GT💨 Agility: 185 GT🛡️ Defense: 644 GT💀 Intelligence: 425 GT🔥 Luck: 5 (Cursed) __DIV style="color:#e0e0e0font-size:15pxline-height:1.6margin-top:15px">[More details truncated]

'To think I'd level up just from killing the Iron Blood guild executives.'

Not to mention the experience that would normally take days or weeks of monster hunting.

He had also obtained two unique items from the executives.

Since they were holy-attribute gear, he couldn't use them himself, but selling them on the market would bring in millions of won per piece.

'Looking at it this way, I really am ridiculously strong.'

He had fought against Iron Blood rankers and the death knights at the same time without losing ground.

At this level, he could even go up against top-tier rankers without much trouble.

But he still wasn't enough.

'I can't keep doing these solo fights. I need to create an organization to lighten my load.'

The saying 'a rabbit digs three escape routes' came to mind.

Even if it wasn't three, creating an organization that could help him in large-scale battles or miscellaneous tasks would be a net gain, with no downside.

'I'm not completely alone on ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠top, and there are plenty of prodigies in this world too.'

Besides the death knights, there were several named players.

When looking overseas servers, the number exceeded hundreds.

If several of those named players attacked, even Fafnir would have faced a tough battle.

The reason for the organization wasn't just that, though.

Flush was about to start playing soon.

He'd explode from beginner village luck.

To stop that, Fafnir would have to interfere from the very start, and doing it every time would require ten bodies.

'If it's something that could become a hidden piece trigger, I should prevent him from taking on any small quests, and for monster hunts, I should actively block him on the surface rather than letting him outright kill.'

Doing all that alone would still require ten bodies.

To properly block and stop Flush's growth, he needed an organization.

'Then Flush will get tired, quit, or fail to level up in time and miss the hidden pieces.'

Honestly, it was unsportsmanlike.

But what could he do?

In strategy games, sniping an opponent's worker wasn't something to be scolded for—it was just common sense.

What he was thinking now was simply an extension of that logic.

'Of course, I can't slack off on my own growth either.'

Blocking Flush was important, but achieving good results and hitting the top was just as crucial.

If he got addicted to blocking and neglected his own play, there'd be no greater embarrassment.

'To do that, I should head to floor two of the dungeon first?'

The real reason he had come to this dungeon wasn't for hunting Iron Blood Alliance members or making friends with Lihana.

'The Tomb of the Dragon Knight Karamit... It's finally time to enter there for real.'

His stamina and MP were more than enough to recover.

He could go now if he wanted.

But first, he needed to prepare properly.

"Could you repair this for me?"

"Yeees!"

Stories about game novels often showed characters saving money by bringing their own whetstones or tools to get repairs done.

Based on his experience playing all kinds of games in real life, that was just pointless nonsense.

‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

'If he was a professional blacksmith, sure, but repairing weapons by hand himself? That's exactly the kind of move that breaks gear.'

Herbology, alchemy, and mechanical engineering were the same.

If he took those classes, maybe, but otherwise it was better to leave it to an NPC and avoid useless waste or disasters.

'Since the repairs are taken care of, should I start preparing for the dungeon conquest as well...'

Fafnir walked around the village buying everything needed for dungeon exploration.

Cooking utensils, flints, waterskins, backpacks, emergency herbs, potions, oil-soaked torches, ropes, leather tents.

Heaping items like healing potions, bread, and all the food and tools, plus salt, seasonings, flour, and sugar.

After filling his inventory to the brim, he collected the repaired weapons and immediately headed to the dungeon!

"...There they are."

At the dungeon entrance, players numbering well over a thousand had gathered.

They had just started maintenance and yet here they came anyway—late by one step!

"We're here!"

"Move it!"

The Iron Blood Alliance had sent out a response after hearing about the PK.

They hadn't just sent rankers—they had also dispatched elite NPC soldiers and knights!

It made sense.

The Iron Blood guild members, guild leaders under their umbrella (including those connected to the Iron Blood Patriarch's dealings), and even the executives had all been killed.

'If they catch me, I won't be able to pass through smoothly.'

Ramming into that number was like sticking his neck out begging to be killed.

'Where...'

Fafnir quietly summoned the bone soldiers and sent them toward the nearby dungeon.

"There are bone soldiers moving!"

"Wait, stop!"

The players trying to catch them were stopped by other players.

"It's fine to wait until they've moved to a different dungeon."

Even when catching bugs or mice, they'd release one and intentionally track the others.

The knights and soldiers followed the bone soldiers' trail deep into the soldiers' graveyard.

'Good.'

A short while later, noisy sounds erupted from inside.

"Aaaah! W-what are these guys!"

"Who touched the loot? They must really want to die!"

"Zombies! Zombie soldiers!"

Tampering with the loot inside the graveyard would incur a curse.

Not just a simple debuff, but also drawing out the anger of the undead who had fallen into eternal sleep to turn them into monsters!

"Priests and paladins, move! Soldiers, prepare holy bolts!"

The pursuit group remained calm despite the sudden development and poured all their power into the fight.

That was proof of how elite they truly were.

In other words, the watchmen guarding the entrance to the Tomb of the Nameless Swords had grown relatively lax.

"They probably already slipped out."

"Yeah, probably... Well, we got paid, so it's fine."

Leaving the soldiers' whispers behind, Fafnir cautiously entered the Tomb of the Nameless Swords.

"We should hurry deeper inside."

Because the monsters' levels were high, the pursuit group still hadn't entered the deeper parts of the dungeon.

Before the boss appeared again.

Upon reaching the boss room, Fafnir summoned the bone soldiers and gave orders.

"Line these armor pieces up side by side."

"Clank!"

The bone soldiers faithfully followed the orders while carrying the Living Armors' gear.

Once the last armor piece was placed, the stone in the center of the boss room began to move.

Grrrrr!

A short while later, stairs and an iron door appeared before Fafnir's eyes.

__DIV style="text-align:centerborder:4px solid #7c3aedpadding:30pxbox-shadow:0 0 40px rgba(124,58,237,0.7),0 0 80px rgba(220,38,38,0.3),inset 0 0 30px rgba(124,58,237,0.2)background:radial-gradient(ellipse at center,#1a0030 0%,#0a0012 40%,#000 80%)border-radius:10pxmargin-bottom:20pxposition:relativeoverflow:hidden"> __DIV style="position:absolutetop:0left:0right:0bottom:0background:linear-gradient(0deg,rgba(220,38,38,0.05) 0%,transparent 50%,rgba(124,58,237,0.05) 100%)"__GT __DIV style="position:relativez-index:1"> __DIV style="color:#dc2626font-size:14pxtext-transform:uppercaseletter-spacing:5pxmargin-bottom:8pxtext-shadow:0 0 10px #dc2626">⚠ ALERT ⚠ __DIV style="color:#a78bfafont-size:30pxfont-weight:boldtext-transform:uppercasemargin-bottom:15pxtext-shadow:0 0 30px #7c3aed,0 0 60px rgba(124,58,237,0.5)letter-spacing:4px">🌀 GATE DETECTED 🌀 __DIV style="border-top:2px solid rgba(124,58,237,0.4)padding-top:15px"> __DIV style="color:#c4b5fdfont-size:18pxline-height:1.8">

Rank: LegendaryType: DungeonLocation: Tomb of the Nameless Swords

- The seal of the hidden dungeon has been lifted.

- The Tomb of the Dragon Knight Karamit has opened.

The Tomb of the Nameless Swords itself was just a camouflage dungeon meant to conceal the one before Fafnir's eyes.

"Thank you."

Fafnir tossed one of the bone soldiers' bones from the inventory.

It was necessary to give some reward to prevent loyalty from dropping.

__DIV style="text-align:centerborder:3px solid #a78bfapadding:25pxbox-shadow:0 0 20px rgba(167,139,250,0.6)background:linear-gradient(135deg,#0f0a1a 0%,#000 50%,#0f0a1a 100%)border-radius:8pxmargin-bottom:20px"> __DIV style="color:#a78bfafont-size:26pxfont-weight:boldtext-transform:uppercasemargin-bottom:15pxtext-shadow:0 0 20px #a78bfaletter-spacing:3px">📜 NEW QUEST 📜 __DIV style="border-top:2px solid #a78bfapadding-top:15px"> __DIV style="color:#ffffont-size:20px"__GTTomb of the Dragon Knight Karamit Discovered! __DIV style="color:#c0c0c0font-size:16pxtext-align:leftmax-width:600pxmargin:15px autoline-height:1.8">

📍 Location: Tomb of the Dragon Knight Karamit

🎁 Reward: Unique Item and Explorer Buff

- You have discovered the Tomb of the Dragon Knight Karamit.

- You are the first to discover the Tomb ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the Dragon Knight Karamit.

- Information can now be registered with the Explorer Guild.

- Explorer experience has increased.

- First Discoverer Buff has been applied.

- This area has monster levels far exceeding your current level!

It was dark and silent.

A nauseating, foul stench drifted from far away.

Creak... creak!

- You are infected with Cadaver.

- You have resisted with strong darkness resistance.

Transparent black liquid masses!

If it was from a novel, that was ectoplasm.

A powerful amorphous monster, as difficult to damage as a slime cousin—nearly immune to physical attacks.

"As expected."

Fafnir summoned a normal bone soldier and handed him a bag of flour.

"Go, charge in!"

Clank clank!

The bone soldier charged without any preparation or even weapons, as Fafnir directed.

The ectoplasm's shape opened its mouth toward the running bone soldier.

__DIV style="text-align:centerborder:4px solid #ff3333padding:25pxbox-shadow:0 0 30px rgba(255,51,51,0.8),inset 0 0 30px rgba(255,51,51,0.2)background:linear-gradient(135deg,#1a0000 0%,#000 50%,#1a0000 100%)border-radius:8pxmargin-bottom:20px"> __DIV style="color:#ff3333font-size:30pxfont-weight:boldtext-transform:uppercasemargin-bottom:15pxtext-shadow:0 0 20px #ff3333letter-spacing:4px">💥 CRITICAL HIT! 💥 __DIV style="color:#ffccccfont-size:22pxline-height:1.8">

-280 HP

- Bone soldier 1 has died.

- Current summonable bone soldiers: 30

'Good.'

The bone soldier fell in one breath, but Fafnir didn't care and sent the next one.

When the third bone soldier was consumed, the ectoplasm noticed.

Its eyes flashed, but it was already too late.

"Take this!"

Kwaang! A powerful explosion blew apart the ectoplasm.

-Weak point damage! Critical hit!

The ectoplasm chunk that had been close to solid exploded in all directions.

At that moment, Fafnir gave the order.

"Now stomp on it and pierce! Keep going until they combine!"

The scattered ectoplasm chunks were still alive and were trying to reform into a single circle.

In other words, all those dozens of pieces were weak points, and the monster was powerless until they merged.

Creak creak!

Using all the bone soldiers, they attacked, but the ectoplasm reformed its body and struck back.

"I guess one isn't enough?"

Like a high-level monster, even the weakest one had a level in the 280s.

It had been possible to land hits, but they had to personally tank the overflowing health, strong attacks, and dark-attribute curses while hunting.

'If only the gimmick could be solved. Otherwise I might have given up on this one.'

Powerful dragons made the spine tingle, but these creatures pushed irritation and annoyance to their limits!

Fafnir and the bone soldiers kept smashing the merging ectoplasm.

After repeating this about four times, the ectoplasm chunks finally scattered everywhere.

__DIV style="text-align:centerborder:3px solid #e67e22padding:25pxbox-shadow:0 0 25px rgba(230,126,34,0.6),inset 0 0 20px rgba(230,126,34,0.15)background:linear-gradient(135deg,#1a0f00 0%,#000 50%,#1a0f00 100%)border-radius:8pxmargin-bottom:20pxposition:relative"> __DIV style="position:absolutetop:0left:0right:0height:2pxbackground:linear-gradient(90deg,transparent,#e67e22,transparent)"__GT __DIV style="color:#e67e22font-size:24pxfont-weight:boldtext-transform:uppercasemargin-bottom:15pxtext-shadow:0 0 20px #e67e22letter-spacing:3px">🎁 ITEM ACQUIRED 🎁 __DIV style="border:2px solid rgba(230,126,34,0.4)padding:15pxbackground:rgba(0,0,0,0.5)border-radius:6px"> __DIV style="color:#f5c778font-size:22pxfont-weight:boldmargin-bottom:10pxtext-shadow:0 0 12px rgba(245,199,120,0.5)">Ectoplasm (Rare) __DIV style="color:#e67e22font-size:14pxtext-transform:uppercaseletter-spacing:2pxmargin-bottom:12px">Rare __DIV style="color:#c0c0c0font-size:16pxline-height:1.8text-align:leftmax-width:500pxmargin:0 auto">

◈ High dark resistanceAmorphous form

- Experience has been gained.

- Ectoplasm (Rare) has been obtained.

- Superior Healing Potion has been obtained.

"Hah."

Fafnir wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Success."

At his level, he would have died and respawned many times just to catch this monster!

As proof, his experience had risen nearly ten percent in one go.

The hunt was horribly difficult, but the reward for success was guaranteed!

'Even while reading the novel I suspected, it seems this guy can be caught too.'

In the original, Flush would have found this method by accident in another location after a month.

Since it was the same type, it had been tested once and succeeded.

'I heard in the original he got hot picks in a month, but how long will it take this time?'

He had blocked both Flush's method and direct hunting.

A sly smile on his lips, Fafnir collected the rewards.

"With the first discoverer buff, the experience is excellent."

Ectoplasm was also a rare material.

And thanks to the first discoverer buff, unique items were guaranteed on boss hunts.

'If I think about the original plan, I should just take what I can get and leave, but...'

Conveniently, this dungeon was one of the places the Iron Blood Alliance pursuit group would search thoroughly.

In other words, for the next few days he'd have no choice but to stay outside this dungeon.

"Since there's nothing to do, I should go all out here."

Monopolizing a boss dungeon with the first discoverer buff alone!

Even better, the Iron Blood Alliance was guarding it, so no one else could enter— a hunting ground prepared entirely for Fafnir.

The Tomb's True Purpose

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