The Mindless Gatekeeper
Tae-hyun knew Hakkarias was formidable, but he couldn't wrap his head around why his subordinates were this strong. Why would someone that powerful serve under Hakkarias in the first place?
Carbanog informs you that Hakkarias used various secret arts and curses to turn that giant into a gatekeeper!
'Ah. Is that how it is? That's a relief.'
Instead of letting him keep his sanity, Hakkarias had turned him into a mindless gatekeeper in exchange for immense power! In that case, there was no reason to waste energy fighting him here. They just needed to slip past.
Of course, slipping past was much easier said than done.
"Aaaaargh!"
"He... Help me!"
Crash! Crunch! Kaboom!
A ranker mage could cast spells that caused localized earthquakes. Langdberg, however, caused earthquakes with his bare fists.
The ground in front of the lair's entrance split, shook, and twisted. Rocks flew in all directions, and shattered fragments rained down like a storm. It was pure chaos!
"Ooooh! Ooooh! Ooooh!" Langdberg roared, swinging his arms wildly.
The pressure was immense. He wasn't targeting anyone in particular, but every time he went on a rampage, one or two unlucky players were logged out.
"Guys, I'll buff you, so let's dive in quickly."
"Yes!"
Charge!
Having finished their preparations, Tae-hyun's party dashed through the rain of flying boulders. The players left behind were stunned. How were those guys just weaving through that?
"F-Follow them!"
Crunch!
Of course, copying them wasn't so easy. Another party was wiped out instantly.
"Blind him! Lay down a smoke screen!"
"Can't we teleport?"
"No! I think that bastard Hakkarias blocked it!"
"...Let's all go together!"
"?!"
"That's the only way!"
Though they couldn't enter as easily as Tae-hyun's party, other groups managed to slip past Langdberg one by one and throw themselves into the lair. If multiple parties ran like madmen simultaneously, at least one or two would get lucky and make it inside! No one knew who would be the sacrificial lambs, but it was their only option right now.
"Pant... pant..."
"Crazy. Who said it'd be easy to raid the lair just because Hakkarias is dead?!"
The Alliance party that barely survived had lost over half its members. What hurt even more was that their party composition was completely ruined. They needed a proper rotation of tanks, damage dealers, and healers, but the previous chaos with Langdberg had logged out a massive number of healers. If they encountered another poison trap like before, the remaining healers would be under immense pressure.
- Master. Uh... if I take over this lair... will you get rid of that guy for me?
- Haha. Heuk-heuk. You should do that yourself.
- ...I don't need this lair! I prefer being by Master's side!
- No, no. You should have a lair of your own too.
"Let's keep moving," Alcott said, shaking off his daze.
They had no choice but to go on! Having suffered this much damage, they had to get something out of this. They couldn't leave empty-handed. It was doubtful they could ever gather this many people again if they retreated now. The difficulty of this lair was just too absurd.
"..."
"Damn it, we have no choice but to keep going!"
The others knew it too. If they missed this chance, there would likely be no next time. No one would dare challenge this place for a while! Still, the atmosphere was gloomy. What else would pop out next?
Hummmmm—
"?"
Tae-hyun was puzzled. What was this?
The Charred Junk begins to glow with light.
"??"
Because he picked up so many items from all over the place and stuffed them into his inventory, he sometimes forgot where he got what.
Carbanog informs you that this is an item you picked up after blowing up Hakkarias.
- Ah, that one?
◈ Junk that has been completely burned to ashes by a massive explosion.
◈ It is impossible to tell what it originally was.
An unidentified item! He had kept it just in case it might be useful later, rather than throwing it away...
'Is it some kind of good item? A key? A map showing the way?' Tae-hyun was full of anticipation. What would happen after it glowed?
But nothing happened.
"...????"
Was that really it?
Carbanog averts its gaze. It mutters that when things explode, they tend to break...
- No, but still...! Why did it even glow then!
Tae-hyun was dumbfounded. How could it get his hopes up like that and do nothing!
Meanwhile, Alcott gathered the people and finished preparations to enter deeper into the lair.
"Let's swap party positions."
"It is about time we did."
Alcott said this and called out to Tae-hyun.
"Kim Tae-san! ...Sir!"
"???"
Crawford tilted his head. What was up with that awkward honorific?
"Hey, just speak comfortably. What's wrong with you?"
"N-No. Strangely... my body is..."
The phenomenon of unconsciously adding polite honorifics to his name! Alcott was flustered. Why was he acting like this?
"Why?"
"Please... go ahead of us."
"Got it."
Tae-hyun led his party to the front. Seeing this, the other players whispered among themselves.
"Was Alcott always this polite?"
"First time I've seen it. I thought he was just a smug prick."
Alcott's reputation was unexpectedly improving in the most bizarre way.
Tae-hyun's party was at the very front, with Toba's party right behind them.
Toba thought as he followed behind Tae-hyun: 'These guys are no joke!'
Come to think of it, it had been strange from the start. Coming to a lair with such a small number of people required serious guts! And considering the skills they displayed afterward, it was even more obvious. While others were dying left and right, not a single member of Tae-hyun's party had logged out.
In that case?
'...Spies?!'
Toba flinched. Why else would someone with that level of skill stay so quiet and not step forward? They had to be spies!
'Why are they hiding? What are they after? The items in the lair? Wait, don't tell me the Guild Alliance...?'
This area originally belonged to the Guild Alliance. Everyone had rushed over only because the Guild Alliance was currently too distracted with their own problems, but normally, this would be unthinkable.
While Toba was agonizing over this, Crawford asked, "Hey, Alcott."
"What?"
"Isn't this Guild Alliance territory? Is it really okay to bring outsiders here for a raid?"
"It's fine, it's fine."
"Did you get permission?"
"No. They're too busy to say anything to me anyway."
Utterly shameless! The Guild Alliance currently needed Alcott too much to complain to him.
If Toba had heard their conversation, he would have realized that the Guild Alliance was in no position to send spies here. But since he didn't know, Toba's suspicions only grew.
'I must be careful!'
- Intruders. Detected. Intruders. Detected.
"It's a golem!"
"It's not venomous, is it?"
"Just a regular golem. Thank goodness."
Having suffered so much outside, the players were just grateful it wasn't a Venom Golem. Even if it was stronger, as long as it didn't poison them, they were happy!
- Guests. Detected. Guests. Detected.
"?"
Normally, Tae-hyun's party at the very front should have been attacked first. However, the golem completely ignored Tae-hyun's party, ran right past them, and smacked the person behind them. Toba!
"Oof?!"
Toba, who had let his guard down because Tae-hyun's party was in front, screamed as he was sent flying.
"Huh? What's going on?"
"Right?"
Tae-hyun's party was also bewildered! Was it because of Heuk-heuk?
'Are they treating him like a guest because he's a Black Dragon? No, that would be weird.'
Outside, they hadn't been called guests. The monsters had simply avoided touching Heuk-heuk!
'What is it?'
Thud, thud, thud, thud—
Meanwhile, more golems began to emerge from behind. One, two, three...
"U-Uh?"
The players, who had been relieved that they were just regular golems, began to turn pale. Just how many of them were there?
"Hakkarias, you crazy bastard..."
A chain attack of golems! But it was the same this time. They left Tae-hyun's party completely alone and attacked the players behind them.
Seeing this, Tae-hyun spoke to a golem.
"Hold on. Can you guide us inside?"
"What are you doing?!" Cain was horrified by Tae-hyun's actions. Talking to a charging golem! No matter how high Tae-hyun's Speech skill was, there was no way it would work on an inanimate golem. That made no sense...
- Guests. Guiding. Guests. Guiding.
The golem quickly picked Tae-hyun up, placed him on its shoulder, turned around, and began to scurry forward.
"????"
"???!?!"
"Them too."
- Guests. More guiding. Guests. More guiding.
"W-What is this?"
Taking advantage of the confusion, Tae-hyun's party climbed onto the golems' shoulders and began to ride them forward. The Alliance party fighting behind them was too frantic to even notice what was happening.
"How did this happen?"
"I think... one of the items I got from defeating Hakkarias is making them treat us as guests."
"...Was there some kind of lair pass?"
"I think so."
Otherwise, there was no reason for the golems to obey like this.
"There's an easy way to check. Heuk-heuk, fly over there."
Tae-hyun ordered Heuk-heuk to fly away from the group. Immediately, a golem breathed fire from its mouth, shooting at Heuk-heuk.
- Aaaaargh!
"As expected. Inside the lair, being a fellow Black Dragon doesn't mean squat."
Hakkarias was truly meticulous in these matters! Outside was one thing, but inside, he showed absolute ruthlessness, attacking even his own kind.
- Sob. Master. I thought I was going to die.
"There, there. But aren't you excited at the thought of getting a lair soon?"
- I'm not that excited anymore...
Heuk-heuk's wings drooped. It seemed this lair was still too difficult for him to manage!
"Golem. Take us to Hakkarias's treasure warehouse."
- Guest. Guidance to that area is prohibited. Guest. Guidance to that area is prohibited.
"Wow. What a stingy bastard."
Such thoroughness, completely blocking guidance to the treasure warehouse! Tae-hyun was honestly a bit impressed. If you're going to manage a lair, do it like Hakkarias!
But there was always a loophole for these things.
"Where can you take us?"
- Hakkarias-nim's drawing room, the First Torture Chamber, the Second Torture Chamber, the Third Torture Chamber, the Fourth Torture Chamber...
"..."
"..."
Tae-hyun's party looked disgusted. Why on earth were there so many torture chambers in this mountain?
"Is there anyone in the torture chambers?"
- There is currently no one.
"Tsk."
Tae-hyun was disappointed. He could have scored some major points if he rescued someone!
'The drawing room... No, not the drawing room. Knowing Hakkarias's personality, he wouldn't put the treasure warehouse near where guests enter. He would have placed it as far away as possible.'
"Let's go to the torture chambers!"
- Which torture chamber?
"...Starting from the first!"
Tae-hyun pulled out his hammer. Since Hakkarias was dead anyway, it should be fine to just smash the walls and make a path, right?
- This is the First Torture Chamber.
The torture chamber was filled with various cages.
◈ A sturdy cage designed to confine special monsters.
Your Blacksmithing skill is exceptionally high.
You have discovered iron chains infused with a tiny amount of Orichalcum.
...
"!!!"
Tae-hyun, who had raised his hammer to smash the wall, quietly lowered it. An unexpected bonus!
"Let's pack everything first!"
- Guest. Warning. Guest. Warning. If you touch Hakkarias-nim's belongings...
Whoosh—
Instead of answering, Tae-hyun swung his hammer. The golem took a direct hit and shattered on the spot.
Crunch!
"Pack quickly!"
"Yes!"
The party was far too used to this hit-and-run style. The moment Tae-hyun swung his hammer, their hands were already moving! They moved like a professional gang of thieves. Quickly assessing the value, sweeping it up, stuffing it in, and getting out!
- Guest. Guest.
"!"
But before they could even leave, a new golem appeared. Tae-hyun raised his hammer to swing...
- Apologies for the trouble. Providing new guidance. Apologies for the trouble. Providing new guidance.
"Hmm?"
- Curious about the cause of damage. Curious about the cause of damage.
Tae-hyun realized something. Golems didn't share information about how they were destroyed!
"Uh... it just suddenly broke?"
Tae-hyun quietly slipped his hammer back in.