Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: Warrior, Raising an Iron Wall
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Beren had been captured by Empress Ailen.
So, bored Vallak decided to check the current dungeon situation after finishing today's qi training.
"My eyes!!!"
"Hey, isn't the difference between the hero who fought Big Bro and the heroes coming in now way too huge?"
"Gyaah!!"
Because of that guy Beren, my standards had gotten ridiculously high.
Looking at the players entering the dungeon in my current state, my eyes felt like they were rotting!
And the players' growth rate was way too slow!
At this rate, the gap between me and the players would only widen even more?
Imagine if this situation dragged on all the way to the late game.
Then, I wouldn't have to worry about getting cheaply one-shot to death, so that part was good.
But this was too much!
"Ugh, even with spirit elixirs flying off the shelves at the shop, this is the best they can do?!!"
"The heroes who bought the elixirs aren't even coming back into the dungeon in the first place."
"That's exactly what I'm saying!"
Why are they called spirit elixirs?
It's because the dungeon merchants endlessly churning them out is what's weird.
They must be insanely rare out there.
So if players earn coins here, buy the elixirs somehow, and sell them outside...
Th-this is!!
"Damn it! My dungeon's become a rice bowl hotspot!!!"
"R-rice bowl?"
My dungeon was already swarming with no-good layabouts from the start.
Now all sorts of money-grubbers were flocking in too.
Ah... Is this the fate of a god dungeon?
I was seriously craving some normalization.
Sigh, with so many rice-bowlers now, the shop stats had become meaningless.
"Once their bellies are full, they just plop down right there..."
"And since they can even revive if they die here, there's no desperation either."
That's right! Desperation!
Isn't that the gap between the old heroes and the current ones?
I'd tried asking Beren about this before, but of all times, that guy got dragged off by his wife.
So who in my dungeon knew the Great War the best?
"Ya-ho~ Did you call for me?"
"Zephyra, come on in."
It was Zephyra, who'd lived through the Great War herself.
After combining Zephyra's tales with Anima's intel, some answers started to emerge.
"Is the problem that things have been too peaceful up till now?"
"Back then, we fought every day just to survive."
One coin.
Utter desperation.
Endless battles.
The madness of war.
Add aliens to the mix!
"So the gap between those constantly exposed to extreme situations and those dulled by peace can't be bridged."
"Such an obvious situation."
"Totally agree~"
Those who'd survived the worst era were now the leaders of every faction.
In short, the whole world avoiding another big war had wrecked the mid-tier.
But this was just another trial.
If I waited patiently, the players would surely grow steadily!
Now, calm my mind and turn on the video magic tool─
'Kyaaah!!'
'Why the hell are you jumping there!'
'If you're gonna die, die alone!!'
Growth... right?
*********************
Having listened to Vallak and Orek's conversation, Zephyra stared at them thoughtfully.
'He figured out almost the entire world's situation on his own...?'
As someone very close to the Great Spirit of Wind, Zephyra knew the world's affairs well.
But ever since entering the dungeon, restrictions prevented her from spilling info, leaving her frustrated.
Thanks to Vallak piecing most things together solo, his stock kept skyrocketing in her mind.
Not only was he absurdly strong, but he knew how to sway hearts too.
Running the dungeon and his recent deductions showed a sharp mind, plus an unshakeable spirit!
To spirits, he was the perfect contractor.
'No wonder the Great Spirits are drooling over him...'
The Great Spirits had been sending Vallak letters nonstop.
But they all ended up read and ignored!
Despite the pitiful treatment from Vallak, the more he stonewalled them, the more their passion burned.
And that led to─
'Um... Zephyra?'
'Great Spirit of Wind, what's up?'
'Do you think you could find out what Vallak likes, by any chance?'
'Huh?'
It was like Zephyra facing a family situation where her older sister had fallen for her boss.
Spirit realm life had turned hell-mode.
Spirit Kings never got rejected on contracts, so they had no clue how to handle this.
Of course, the fastest way was direct confrontation, and Zephyra had suggested it to the Great Spirits.
'If he rejects us to our face, we'll hole up at home...'
'You guys are such a pain.'
They'd already been ghosted on letters multiple times.
The girly Great Spirits were too scared of rejection to step up.
What could Zephyra do for these clingy big sisters?
Like a dutiful little sister, she eyed chances for casual chats with Vallak!
And now was the moment.
"Um... Vallak? Do you, uh, have anything you like?"
"I get that you're changing the subject, but why mix casual and formal speech all of a sudden."
"Ahahaha! Y-yeah, weird, right!"
Even peppy Zephyra felt awkward for the first time, blurting out clumsy words.
But sweet Orek provided backup right away.
"Now that you mention it, I'm curious too. Big Bro, do you have anything you like?"
"What I like, huh..."
Vallak had only trained and exercised before entering the dungeon.
And that was still ongoing!
He'd naturally walked the hardcore path.
"Exercise?"
"Figured it'd be something like that."
"...This is seriously hopeless."
Zephyra hit a total iron wall and gave up.
She headed to the mini-dungeon with Orek, planning for next time.
**************
Flying across the vast skies of the mini-dungeon with Orek, Zephyra looked drained.
Seeing that, Orek roughly grasped the spirit realm's situation.
"Looks like Big Bro's drawing more and more attention from the primal realm... er, spirit realm."
"That's why I'm even more worried. Some are even jealous of me..."
"Huh? Why would you get jealousy, Zephyra?"
"Ahahaha..."
The sight of Orek and Zephyra hanging out was being live-streamed in the spirit realm right now.
Watching Orek's sweetness shocked the spirits.
"N-no way! He doesn't want anything from Zephyra?!"
"And whenever he asks for something, he does it all, plus in fights, that orc steps up instead of her?"
"I wanna be treated like that too..."
The spirits recalled their time with the elves.
'You! You're it! Go deal with that guy!'
'Um... can I sleep now? Turn off the light...'
'No! I said wake me up sooner!'
'As expected from a low-rank... too weak.'
'I wanted a high-rank spirit!! Not you!!'
Oh dear.
Total nightmare memories.
Anyway, comparing elf "friends(?)" vs. orc worship, the spirits sighed.
"So that's why the ones who went to orc turf never came back?"
"Wow... they kept that to themselves?!"
"Selfish jerks... share with us too..."
Some spirits, practicing "keep the good stuff to yourself" lesson one, sulked as their secret got out.
The rest envied Zephyra for finding her ideal contractor.
"That's why the spirit realm's in chaos lately."
"Never imagined such circumstances."
"Tell me about it!! If I'd known they'd worship me, I never would've gone to those elves!"
"Hahaha..."
Afterward, Zephyra secretly amped up her elf extermination on the sky islands, hiding it from Orek.
*******************
Having gleaned the spirit realm situation from Zephyra's excited ramblings, Vallak narrowed his eyes.
"So that's the backstory?"
No, you should be thrilled succeeding in summoning those cute little ones.
But the elves' "Gotta retrain from scratch..." attitude made his blood boil!
Elves truly the root of all evil!
Total JOATs.
Anyway, I knew the Great Spirits were into me.
How could I not, with all those letters!
Why I'd rejected them: I'm still rebuilding my basics right now.
Plus training the vibration power I got last time, so adding more force would mess everything up.
Spirits are intelligent beings too.
Neglect them post-contract, and I'd end up elf-like.
"The Great Spirits probably know your thoughts to some extent. That's why they're not offended."
"Skeleton merchant's here?"
Karyan, here to assist with today's training!
No more bosses coming to the boss room anyway.
We moved to the training room.
"Never thought the Sword Saint would come to Vallak."
"That's how famous my dungeon's gotten."
"A-hem! Indeed."
"And with more varied beings coming, we need countermeasures."
A big-name outsider lost here.
What next?
Even lesser names losing here would be shrugged off.
So peers or slightly inferior powerhouses might swarm in.
Plus─
"They say the snow's melting outside already."
"Means the world's coming alive again. So, Vallak, how should I assist?"
"Any progress on intel for this Sword Saint visitor?"
"He's challenged you over 20 times, so intel's perfect. But using it for..."
"No need to say it; I know. Don't worry."
If you reference world #1 in a fighting game to make ghost mode, what happens?
That AI's just a decent pro.
So the training dummy we're making won't even be half the Sword Saint.
But perfect as a testbed for various trials!
And aren't you curious how my sworn brothers, Damphir, and Ophelia hold up against it!
"Prep's done!"
"Let's go!"
Whiiiir!
Time to play!