Chapter 41: Preliminary Preparations (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 41: Preliminary Preparations (4)
It goes without saying, but high-tier species aren’t classified as such for no reason.
Even with reinforced mana bombs, one or two aren’t enough to bring down an Ent.
“Yeah, but I’m gonna keep going~”
But what if I repeat it ten times?
Kaboom!
It might be a bit unsightly, but as long as I win without a scratch, it’s fine, right?
Safety first. Always safety first.
In truth, this method is only viable in dungeons with large doors and wide-open spaces, but it’s a subjugation tactic actually listed in Academy textbooks.
It’s a tactic that assumes the existence of a space large enough to withstand the blast and a wall to shield against the shockwave, but the ability to unilaterally take down a massive boss monster that can’t dodge the explosion is undoubtedly a merit.
Of course, it’s not always a jackpot in every dungeon.
Generally, you can’t just throw around expensive items like high-grade mana bombs, so it’s not a very efficient method. The textbooks even state it’s not recommended. However, for me, having absolute certainty about this dungeon’s rewards, it wasn’t a wasteful investment at all.
I didn’t really have anywhere else to spend the money my family sent me anyway.
“Alright, one more!”
And above all, since I have my Reinforcement talent, I don’t have to use as many bombs as others would. I like that part.
— Groaaaaar…!
I felt like I could hear the Ent’s screams from beyond the door, but perhaps the wicked monster was just pretending to be weak to deceive us.
“Open wide! Here comes another one!”
Haha! The Ent is like trash!
The kids seemed to be looking at me with slightly fed-up expressions, but so what?
Life is about results, kids! Looking cool won’t put food on the table!
After detonating all ten prepared bombs, I signaled Cheon Yu-hak, who cautiously opened the door.
— Gro…aar…!
Surprisingly, the Ent was still alive.
Its entire body was charred black, and there wasn’t a single spot left unscathed by the aftermath of the explosions, but it was still breathing, so it was technically alive.
“…It’s effective, but I’m not sure if it’s efficient,” Cheon Yu-hak muttered as he infused mana into his spear.
Well, if you sold everything we got from the mobs so far, you probably couldn’t even buy ten high-grade mana bombs, so it might look that way to him.
But Yu-hak! The reward room is the real deal! I’m looking out for you, man.
— Gro…ar…!
The Ent let out a sorrowful cry as if it couldn’t bear to die like this, but it finally stopped moving after letting out a death rattle from Cheon Yu-hak’s spear throw.
Ah, Ent. You were the strongest opponent I’ve fought so far.
It’s just that I was a little bit stronger.
What, you got a problem? Since ancient times, they’ve said it’s not the strong who survive, but those who survive who are strong.
“Subjugating a high-tier monster should count for a lot of points on our record, right?”
“T-That’s true, but…”
“Wow, looking at it like this, high-tier species don’t seem like much?”
I wondered where the guys who were terrified just moments ago had gone. They looked baffled yet couldn’t hide their curiosity as they observed the Ent Cheon Yu-hak had finished off.
“We won’t be able to use much of the materials. They either shattered from the impact or were completely burned.”
Everyone seemed a bit disappointed, likely expecting decent materials from a high-tier kill. However, since surviving an encounter with a high-tier species was a miracle for anyone other than Cheon Yu-hak, no one openly complained to me.
“Well, let’s just hope there’s something good in the reward room,” I muttered, feigning ignorance, and their faces brightened instantly.
That’s right.
While materials provide side income, the true charm of a dungeon is the reward room.
Of course, since this wasn’t a game, a difficult dungeon didn’t always guarantee a good reward. Still, it’s human nature to expect a reward after a struggle.
And these guys will definitely never regret their choice to follow me today.
Moving further past the boss room, a massive door greeted us, just like the one before.
“There’s a saying that empty vessels make the most noise, but this doesn’t feel like that at all.”
“Right? I think we can actually look forward to this.”
Cheon Yu-hak and Ju Ri-ra entered the reward room with satisfied faces.
“…Hah.”
And there, in the center of the room, stood a spear. It boasted such an overwhelming presence that even Cheon Yu-hak, who rarely got surprised, let out an involuntary gasp.
Cheon Yu-hak approached the spear, which was emitting golden lightning, as if possessed. Then, he suddenly looked at me and stopped.
“I’ve shown an embarrassing side of myself. A promise is a promise; you choose first.”
That’s right. In the meeting before entering the dungeon, I had promised to provide the dungeon information in exchange for getting the first pick of the items in the reward room.
Recalling this, Cheon Yu-hak’s companions suddenly looked dejected.
Ju Ri-ra, in particular, looked so disappointed it was pitiful. They all seemed to think I would choose that spear.
Well, anyone could see that weapon suited Cheon Yu-hak better than me, so his fans were bound to be disappointed.
A Hero-grade artifact: the Thunder Dragon Spear. The lightning coiling around the spear was a threat in itself, but the true value of that spear lay in its special function, Lightning Transformation, which could be used once a day.
Literally, the spear becomes lightning. Depending on the user’s skill, a simple spear throw could become a one-hit-kill ultimate move.
Well, they wouldn’t know that much, but there was no denying it was a weapon meant for Cheon Yu-hak.
“Alright, then I’m picking.”
But I didn’t choose the spear.
What I picked was a round, sphere-like object that looked pathetic to anyone’s eyes. The others tilted their heads as they looked at the grayish orb.
“I’ll take this.”
Even those who had been thinking ‘surely not’ looked flustered when I bypassed the spear and declared I would take the object that looked like trash.
“…Kang So-hyun.”
“What, Cheon Yu-hak? You’re not going to back out now, are you?”
“If you’re doing this to be considerate of me, don’t. Pick the spear. Even if you can’t use it yourself, you can sell it and exchange it for other equipment.”
Ho, this is a bit surprising.
Cheon Yu-hak is infinitely arrogant and fierce toward those he doesn’t acknowledge.
For someone so greedy and full of self-display to suppress all that and offer to give up the spear meant he acknowledged me significantly.
But Yu-hak, that’s not it, man.
“What are you talking about?”
I knew the true identity of the sphere I was holding.
The treasure that allowed a mere executive of the Villain Alliance to overwhelm the two protagonists simultaneously in the early stages wasn’t the Thunder Dragon Spear, but this dingy ball.
A Pseudo-myth grade artifact: the Ruyi Replica.
That’s right. This round ball was a replica of the Dragon Palace’s measuring tool used as a weapon by the superstar of the monkey world, the protagonist of Journey to the West, Sun Wukong.
It was the weapon with the best compatibility among everything I could obtain at this point, a weapon that could almost perfectly complement my weaknesses—and above all, it was the moment I got my hands on the strongest weapon.
Though it was currently in a sealed state and just a somewhat heavy ball, I obviously knew how to break the seal, so it wasn’t a problem.
One might ask why a replica of Sun Wukong’s artifact would appear in an Ent dungeon, but there was a somewhat plausible reason.
…To be honest, it wasn’t really plausible; it was just something my friend wrote, so I just went with it. If the original author insists it’s plausible, who am I to argue?
Anyway, it was the moment I acquired the strongest weapon I could get at my current level, and the one that synergized best with my talent.
“Anyway, I’ve picked one as promised. The rest is up to the party leader’s discretion… What? Why are you guys looking at me like that?”
Not just Cheon Yu-hak, but Ju Ri-ra and the other party members were all looking at me with moved expressions.
Honestly, I was aiming for this a little bit, but the reaction was more intense than I expected.
“…As the party leader, I intend to take that spear and waive my rights to the rest. Does anyone object?”
Of course, there was no way they would, so everyone shook their heads.
“Good. Then I shall take this spear.”
Cheon Yu-hak cautiously approached the spear.
From Hero-grade artifacts onward, they have their own preferences and can be picky about their masters, but I wasn’t worried about that spear.
What that spear looked for wasn’t its master’s personality or strength.
It simply sought a master who could use it in many battles—in even more fights against enemies. It had enjoyed combat without a single sign of rebellion even in the hands of the villain who was supposed to be its original owner.
There was no way such a thing would reject Cheon Yu-hak.
As he carefully grasped the Thunder Dragon Spear, golden lightning momentarily swirled around him as if inspecting its new master.
The kid is definitely handsome.
Cheon Yu-hak, with his blonde hair and sculpted looks, looked quite dashing standing there shrouded in lightning with the spear drawn.
“I swear.”
Huh? What…?
“This is a weapon my friend conceded to me, even at the cost of giving up rights he was entitled to. As long as I fight with this spear, I swear on this spear and my name that I will never lose to anyone.”
Oh, shit.
The reaction is way too over-the-top. Do you like it that much? I get that it’s good, but I’m not really into that kind of stuff. I’ll politely decline the sentiment.
“Ah, I suppose I got a bit too caught up in the atmosphere. Now then, there are still many items left, so let’s hurry and distribute them.”
With Cheon Yu-hak’s permission, everyone started searching through various things.
Well, since the only truly useful things were taken by me and Cheon Yu-hak, all that was left were some Ent Fruits and a few Human-Faced Tree Fruits.
Of course, those were decent harvests, but they would probably feel a bit unsatisfying after seeing the Thunder Dragon Spear.
Wait, maybe not?
They were rejoicing over Cheon Yu-hak becoming stronger as if they had become stronger themselves.
Mhm, right, right.
They say kids grow up through fighting, but growing up without fighting is best.
If Lilac was like a friend’s son I worried about because he was too gentle, Cheon Yu-hak was like a friend’s son I worried about because he caused all sorts of trouble and fought with other kids.
In the end, he’s still just a friend’s brat.
As they were discussing in such a harmonious atmosphere, they glanced my way, and Ju Ri-ra approached as their representative.
“What is it?”
“After discussing it, we felt that this is too little compared to your contribution and the value of the information you provided.”
…No, it’s not? It’s more than enough.
“…Thanks for letting Yu-hak have the spear. Everyone feels the same way.”
When I glanced over, the healer and the mage waved at me.
Hmm, hmm. I feel proud that the friend’s brat seems to be popular.
“So, we decided to give you this fruit without including it in the final settlement.”
“Huh?”
Ju Ri-ra said that and held out a large tree fruit to me.
An Ent Fruit. Something I naturally thought would be sold for profit had somehow ended up in my hands.
“Hey, this is expensive. Sell it and split the profit.”
“You’re surprisingly ungreedy, aren’t you? You should grow some greed if you want to hang out with Yu-hak. Anyway, we’re giving this to you because you showed respect for the leader, and it’s a right you could have naturally claimed anyway, so don’t feel burdened.”
No, Ri-ra, I get what you’re saying, but I actually took the best thing out of all of these…?
“Well, if you’re giving it to me, I won’t refuse.”
While not as much as the Thunder Dragon Spear or the Ruyi, this fruit was indeed a very precious treasure.
There was no reason to refuse if they were giving it to me.
Anyway, with this, the dungeon was successfully cleared, and the reward distribution was finished.
Everyone was in a good mood, so all we had to do was head back.
Yeah, all we had to do was head back, but…
Ding.
It was a notification sound that was unpleasant no matter how many times I heard it.
[Confirmed circumstances of seizing another character’s fortuitous encounter.]
Ah, shit.
Right. There was this.
[Confirmed that the character in question is a person who exerts significant influence on the main story.]
[A penalty is being issued. The penalty intensity is Grade E: Probability Correction.]
I was afraid because I couldn’t guess what kind of penalty would be given, but surprisingly, looking at the grade alone, it didn’t seem that high.
“Huh? What’s that?”
“Ah, which bastards got in here first?”
The party members, who were rejoicing that they just had to find the exit and leave, heard the voices of uninvited guests.
Originally, this dungeon is cleared in the early stages of the original Academy story—specifically, in early May.
In other words, it was normal for there to be no other intruders now, in late April.
However, this crazy novel, which closely resembled the author’s personality, had made a rather unreasonable move in the name of ‘correcting probability.’
“Ah, no wonder, damn it. All the monsters were already dead.”
The villains who were originally supposed to claim this fortuitous encounter had crawled into the dungeon.
“Oh, here they are. Luckily, they haven’t left yet.”
A group of about thirty people, a fairly large number, were all fully armed.
They threatened us and drew their respective weapons.
“Good job clearing the dungeon, kids. As payment for your hard work, if you just leave the treasures and go, we’ll let you off. So hurry up and get lost.”
Following Choi In-ho and Jin Gyeong-tae, Cha Ho-young, an executive of the Villain Alliance who harasses the protagonist in the early stages, blocked our path.
…But you’re a pushover without the Ruyi, aren’t you?