Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: REWARD!
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While Karian was hustling hard with sales calls, scrambling to meet Ballak's demands.
In the city of Laiter, the Heavenly Warrior Hero Herim shared his experiences with the other heroes still lingering in the city before departing with his companions amid laughter.
"""Oh."""
As a result, the heroes, pumped up with 1000% romantic fervor, desperately craved such battle experiences themselves, diving into the dungeon with even greater zeal.
Meanwhile, the adventurers who had just arrived in Laiter were facing severe difficulties.
"Sh-should we have not come here?"
"There's no work?!"
"Heroes~ Champions~ Let's eat~"
That's right! There was no work at all!
Even though many heroes had left the city, plenty with ample funds remained.
Those heroes had swept the surroundings clean for money, leaving not only the city but nearby villages free of monster threats.
Moreover, since the heroes saving the world received meager pay, adventurers were once again pushed out by them here!
Consequently, security and happiness in Laiter, surrounding cities, and villages soared incredibly high.
But adventurers, without guild support funds amid the city's exorbitant prices, were on the verge of starving starting tomorrow.
As adventurers pondered the Abyssal Depths once more.
A solo-play-focused adventurer was investigating the Madness Realm.
That adventurer's name was Eric.
He was a veteran adventurer holding the rank of Advanced Adventurer among them.
Drawing on his vast experiences from numerous diverse dungeons he had entered.
He was researching unbeatable strategies for the Madness Realm when he noticed something odd.
"Why is the path there so close to the wall?"
While most paths in the Madness Realm had deadly drops on both sides.
One particular section had an unusually narrow gap between the wall and the path.
Curiosity piqued, Eric closely examined that spot, cautiously avoiding the drop and shining a torch on the wall.
He discovered tiny letters and variously colored orbs embedded in every nook and cranny of the wall.
And the inscription read:
｢Three archers were aiming arrows at each other.｣
｢The black-haired archer has 100% accuracy.｣
｢The gray-haired archer has 70% accuracy.｣
｢The white-haired archer has 30% accuracy.｣
｢If they shoot in order from lowest skill, where should the white-haired archer shoot to maximize survival?｣
｢Then shoot your arrow in that highest-survival direction.｣
"Th-this is?!"
Spotting it as a riddle, Eric immediately dove back out from the cliff edge.
Then he racked his brain to solve it.
"Shouldn't it be the black orb no matter what? But that seems too easy..."
After agonizing for days, Eric finally reached a conclusion.
That conclusion was!
"Let's just shoot them all."
It was plain old grinding.
With the casual thought that failing just meant respawning at church anyway, Eric shot an arrow at the black orb—and immediately regretted it.
"Arrrgh!!"
"Wh-what's with the dungeon all of a sudden!!!"
"Insane!! Who touched that thing!!!"
Beep!
Beep beep beep beep beep!
The moment Eric touched the black orb, the Madness Realm turned into a frenzied nightclub crisscrossed by hundreds of laser beams.
Waking in the church amid crushing self-reproach for an unimaginable troll.
Furious heroes began interrogating the revived adventurers.
"Anyone~ see tiny writing on the wall and shoot an orb with an arrow~?"
"Hahaha... just asking, that's all."
"Thisisamazingwhodiditwe'resosupercuriouslet'smeettalkseriously─"
Heroes were indomitable spirits with extraordinary talents from the start.
Meaning you couldn't be a hero if you were dumb!
That's right! They had already found that wall inscription in the dungeon and shot the black orb!
From that wipeout experience, they dismissed the riddle as a mere prank trap, ignored it.
Even warned the Adventurer's Guild to beware.
But now with this incident, the heroes were seriously pissed.
But what are adventurers?
They're hardcore individualists—freelancers!
So they ignore guild announcements unless read aloud right in front of them!
Not to mention, unlike heroes, they don't particularly care about others.
Beep beep!
Beep beep beep beep beep!
"It went off again!!! Damn it!!!"
"Arrrgh!!! Which lunatic touched it this time!!!"
"The bastard who touched it!!! This time we'll catch 'em for sure!!!"
"Ahh... so this is 'humanity'?"
Sorry is sorry. But determined to solve this riddle, Eric began trolling in earnest.
*****************
After the dungeon hosted about six rave dance clubs.
Talented heroes caught Eric red-handed.
But he knew how to escape this!
"I'm sorry."
"""……….."""
The 'Hahaha!!! If even I apologize, what can you heroes do?!' strategy!
But these perceptive prodigies had already seen through Eric's mind.
Since heroes and their companions knew well that other humans weren't like them, Eric's punishment was swiftly decided.
"""Guildmaster, handle this properly."""
"Our guild member causing such damage!!! We're sorryyyy!! Heroes!!!"
Had the heroes not seen trolls like this once or twice during their activities?
Heroes scarred by human scum were a dime a dozen. They knew exactly how to deal with trolls like this.
If the Adventurer's Guild dared protect someone blacklisted by world-saving heroes.
They feared the Heavenly God's punishment from above, so they punished Eric harshly.
But Eric's spirit persists even in prison.
Persistence endures!
Thanks to Eric, the Madness Realm hosted six ecstatic nightclubs.
Meaning Eric had already shot every colored orb on the wall multiple times!
Heroes and companions realized this over time and stumbled upon the answer!
"If it's not the orbs on the wall, couldn't we just shoot into empty air?"
"Nah~ No wa─?"
"Huh?"
They froze.
Heroes and companions had fixated only on the wall near the path with the inscription, forgetting the key point!
Where exactly could one 'shoot an arrow' from that inscribed path section!
Places to loose arrows weren't limited to the walls with colored orbs.
The floor and ceiling were still there!
So what was the motif of this riddle?
The current wall riddle was directly lifted from Ballak's past life's 'Three Gunslingers' puzzle.
In an information age with smartphones, math was advanced enough for instant probability calculations.
But in this medieval-like world where math wasn't developed, it was quite the tough riddle!
Ballak knew the era well enough, so he placed this riddle there.
And now! Having completed the Mission perfectly, the hero parties claimed their Reward!
"Th-this is?!"
"A chest? It better not be a mimic..."
"Too high a chance it is..."
"Let's not open it here—carry it out."
"We have to lug this to the entrance?!"
"Sigh... this'll be real suffering."
Hero parties risked their lives to safely carry the chest out.
Opening it left them dumbfounded.
********************
Much time passed since hero parties emerged with the chest from the dungeon.
Laiter's blacksmiths were suddenly summoned to the church en masse.
Reluctant at the abrupt call.
But invoked in the Heavenly God's name, skipping meant closing shop in the city.
And most didn't regret going.
"Th-this is..."
"...Beautiful. And perfect."
"Is this what they mean by a god-forged weapon?"
"I could make something like this─"
"Damn! Dammit! I've been making trash!"
"Arrrgh!!!"
Some marveled at the very existence of such an item.
Some found a life's guiding star.
Others cursed their own talents.
The blacksmiths' varied reactions centered on the weapon Ballak hid in the first room's secret chest.
A single two-handed sword.
To accurately appraise this elegant, noble sword like a god-forged blade, church members called in experts.
But this sword's quality was utterly unseen in the mortal realm.
Knowing their own limits, the blacksmiths deemed it an appraisable divine sword beyond them.
The church's attempt seemed doomed to fail.
"Bishop, don't despair. There are ways."
"Hate to admit it, but ask the dwarves this time."
"That stubborn bull-headed race will cooperate for sure with this. Elves work too."
"As long-lived races, they must have records on such quality swords."
Laiter being human-centric meant scarce other races.
Adventurer and hero parties mostly human too.
Thus, the Heavenly God Church took the divine sword to portals leading to other races' domains.
Sparking greater interest in the Abyssal Depths among those races.
Afterward, the Heavenly God Church rewarded the non-greedy hero parties who obtained the sword with lavish support.
"Thank you!!! Overwhelming gratitude!!!"
"Fodder!! Fodder!!"
"Sob sob... today's fodder was delicious too..."
Though he trolled, credit for finding the divine sword.
Prisoner Eric was released, and the Adventurer's Guild received church support funds.
Now with financial breathing room, and legends of immense treasures in the Abyssal Depths proven.
Heroes and adventurers burned with even greater zeal to enter the dungeon.
"Huh?"
"Th-the dungeon entrance?!"
"My rags-to-riches dream!!!"
Suddenly, the dungeon entrance was sealed.