Chapter 46
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: The Treasure Keeper
-----------------------------------------------------------------
We continued our march for nearly five hours.
With Rex running out of time, Trian carried me on his back whenever my stamina hit its limit. Once I recovered a bit, I would get down and walk again. We repeated this process, hurrying our steps.
We encountered monsters and trapped rooms along the way, but they weren't major obstacles. Trian would warn us in advance, and dealing with the monsters one at a time wasn't much of a problem.
“It’s just ahead.”
At the end of our long march, Trian’s expression soured, as if he too had pinpointed the location of the Treasure Keeper's room. How on earth could elves perceive what was beyond walls with such acuity? It was simply amazing.
“There are no signs or traces of monsters nearby. The area is safe… for now, at least.”
Soon, a thunderous roar would echo through the dungeon, drawing all the monsters here. Trian’s face showed that just thinking about what he was about to face was enough to make him sigh.
“...I’ve only ever read about it. The Treasure Keeper’s door.”
Rireu murmured in awe, her eyes fixed on the massive golden door before us. Had I been seeing this enormous, ornate door for the first time, I would have had the same reaction.
“I’ll ask one more time. Are you sure you can finish this in five minutes?”
Trian, after a brief glance at the brilliant golden door, turned his gaze to me and asked.
“I’m sure.”
…Well.
For better or worse, it would definitely be over in five minutes.
“Go on, General.”
Rex said, wiping the cold sweat from his brow.
“Make sure you finish within five minutes. If you’re done early, come out and give us a hand.”
“Uh… good luck. And don’t push yourself too hard! Okay?”
Trian and Rireu each gave my shoulder a light pat, offering their own words of encouragement before the decisive battle.
*Creeeak…*
As I nodded and met his gaze, Rex’s muscular arms pushed the massive doors open. The sound of dust scraping against the floor accompanied a tremor that shook our surroundings.
I took a deep breath and carefully stepped into the Treasure Keeper’s room. A chamber of incomparable size, far larger than any we had passed through, unfolded before me. Its walls, ceiling, and floor were all plated in gold.
I could somewhat understand why so many adventurers willingly threw themselves into dungeons, fully aware of the risk of death.
Just chipping off a small piece of this gold-covered room’s wall would bring a commoner a fortune they could never dream of seeing in their entire life.
“...Close the door, please.”
Rex gave me a firm nod and, with the final words, “I’m counting on you,” closed the massive golden doors.
*Thud.*
With the sound of the doors closing, the world was instantly plunged into darkness.
My senses were enveloped by the void, unable to send any information to my brain.
“Hah… this is nerve-wracking.”
As I recalled, the Treasure Keeper in this dungeon was exactly level 60.
To solo a level 60 monster, a character would naturally need to be at least level 55. Even in a party, it would require four well-coordinated members around level 40.
But I had entered this room alone.
Someone might ask, ‘Isn’t that nothing short of a suicide mission?’
Well… they’d be half-right, but also half-wrong.
I had two reasons for my confidence.
First, my growth rate was so fast that even I couldn't predict it.
After testing my level by fighting twenty Mazoku simultaneously, I estimated that I was at least level 30. And that was a conservative estimate, since they were too weak for a proper test. My actual level was likely somewhere around 40.
…To be honest, I wasn't entirely certain.
If a punching machine only measures up to 999, how would I know if my score was 1000 or 4000?
I was just choosing to believe my level was around 40.
And if I was wrong?
What do you mean, what if? I’d die, of course.
“Haaah…”
The other reason was that I was a ‘One-Shot Mage.’ A One-Shot Mage who had meticulously compressed a week’s worth of mana within my body.
The spell ‘Blooming,’ while basically useless against mobs, demonstrated outstanding efficiency against boss monsters.
And my Blooming was refined enough to fight monsters about 20 levels higher without issue.
A level 40 with a highly refined Blooming that could handle a 20-level gap.
When these two factors combined, I reached the conclusion that I could somehow contend with a level 60 monster.
…Of course, contending was one thing. I had no guarantee I could win.
*Crack!*
A sound like an egg cracking echoed from the ceiling, and light began to fill the room. The gold-plated ceiling was adorned with a mural depicting vast treasures and four thieves making off with them.
In the center of the room, where nothing had stood before the lights came on, was a colossal giant. A giant with the face of a spider.
“Holy shit, that startled me.”
Seeing the face of the enormous spider, I couldn't help but cry out.
To have that face be the first thing I saw as the pitch-black darkness lifted… its visual impact was so great that for a moment, I wondered if I’d been sucked into a horror survival game instead of a medieval fantasy one.
I was well aware that the Treasure Keeper and monsters in this dungeon had grotesque designs, but seeing it in person, I couldn’t stop the curse from escaping my lips.
“...Oh, a guest.”
The giant, with its spider head held high, slowly turned its head like a robot that had just been powered on. Its eyes met mine, and it opened its mouth.
As it spoke, a long string of saliva slowly dripped down its chin and pooled on the floor.
A total of twenty-one pairs of eyes were set in the spider’s head.
They weren’t even symmetrical, so I wasn't sure if calling them twenty-one pairs was accurate.
It would be more fitting to say that forty-two eyeballs were randomly embedded in its face.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a human. The last guests who played with me were a group of elves. It’s been almost… 300 years since I met a human?”
“...Whoa, hold on.”
I already knew that the Treasure Keeper could speak human language.
But witnessing it in reality, not through a monitor, was unsettling beyond imagination. A human voice flowing from a spider’s face, its forty-two eyes blinking and moving erratically…
Fuck, I think the genre really did change.
That giant’s face was something you’d expect to see in a horror game, the kind that relies on its visuals to be the star idol of terror.
“Just one this time. Well, no matter… as long as you can entertain me… it doesn’t matter.”
The spider-faced giant slowly lowered its stance and gathered its breath.
“Try not to die too quickly.”
Then, it kicked off the golden floor and began charging toward me.
*Thump! Thump! Thump!*
Facing the level 60 monster that was thundering toward me, intent on crushing me to a pulp, I closed my eyes.
‘My opponent is level 60. Even if my level is truly around 40, considering my current physical condition, the odds aren’t high. A normal Blooming won’t be enough.’
Bruises, fractures, muscle pain plaguing my entire body, and slight hyperventilation.
My condition was, as always, the worst it could be.
‘…I’ll have to use a chant here.’
“Using a chant incorrectly can weaken the spell’s power, or even prevent it from activating at all.”
Alter’s warning from long ago shot through my mind like an electric current.
If a chant failed, the spell’s power would typically be halved. If I was unlucky, I might just expend my mana without the spell even casting.
Worse, ‘Blooming’ was limited to one use per day and had the enormous demerit of causing the caster to lose consciousness immediately after its duration ended.
Unlike Bolt or Lightning Strike, where I could adjust the chant in real-time and make multiple attempts to find the optimal one, a failed chant for Blooming meant I would have to offer up my life.
The risk was far too great.
In contrast, if I simply cast the spell by shouting the name ‘Blooming’… I would gain enough power to fight on equal footing with a level 60 monster for five minutes.
‘…No, equal footing isn’t good enough.’
The problem was that my body was currently in tatters.
Standing still without making large movements was fine, but if I had to roll and run while fighting, the hyperventilation might return and cloud my consciousness.
If the fight dragged on, there was no telling what other variables might pop up. I had to use whatever means necessary to maximize the spell’s power and settle things with the Treasure Keeper as quickly as possible.
That’s right. What I needed now wasn’t the strength to roll around and fight an evenly matched battle.
It was the overwhelming power to guarantee victory with just a few flicks of my fingers from where I stood.
“…All I have to do is make it succeed.”
I closed my eyes and focused all my senses on feeling the mana flowing within me.
My body may have been a wreck, but my mind was clearer and sharper than ever.
Soon, the mana in my body transformed into electricity and flowed out of me.
The current that surged outward radiated enough heat to melt the gold in the surrounding area.
Seeing the massive amount of electricity enveloping me, the spider-giant’s mouth widened into a grotesque grin.
I’d never had a proper conversation with a spider, so I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like it was thrilled by the prospect of some fun after a long time.
“An electro-mage, are you? Melting gold. A decent amount of firepower, I’ll admit. But with just that much, you won’t be able to pierce my skin…”
I cut off the spider-giant’s words and quietly began to recite the magic chant.
In the next moment, a clap of thunder devoured every sound in the world.