The Closed Dungeon

"Aah! We made it!"

"Master, I'll tidy up the campsite."

"Sure."

The moment we arrived at the Relay Dungeon where Uroboros lay sleeping, Aquaril set to work putting the wrecked campsite back in order, as if fatigue were a concept that simply did not apply to her. Ryona had led a pack of soldiers through here last time and left the place looking like a war zone. Not a single thing had survived intact.

Let's see... Status window.

While Aquaril cleaned, I sat down on a boulder and pulled up my status.

Hwaryongwang's warehouse had held more than gold bars. There'd been Lower Growth Stones stacked in there too. I needed the gold, obviously, but there was no chance I was leaving those stones behind. I cleaned the place out. Leaving them would've been a waste anyway — that princeling who'd lucked into becoming Indigo's new ruler would've just swallowed them himself.

I'd originally planned to feed every last stone to Aquaril. Then I changed my mind.

Even with the eight-point boost from my trait, I still needed my own stats high enough to tank properly at the front. So I poured everything into the holy trinity of a tank — Strength, Stamina, and Durability — and only raised the rest just enough to clear the beginner quests. The Lower Growth Stones I'd gotten as quest rewards went down my own throat as well.

See? When you don't split your resources, you actually grow.

If I'd had more fairies than just Aquaril, my own growth would've crawled. For a fairy to pull its own weight, its stats have to be in the same ballpark as mine or Aquaril's.

Haa... my three thousand gems.

Today marked exactly one month since I'd obtained the one-and-only class in this world: Uroboros's Avatar.

The prompt had materialized the instant I opened my eyes that morning, like a loan shark showing up to collect. For fuck's sake — at least let a man wake up first, you piece-of-shit window.

I hated every second of it. But I paid. Three thousand gems, my own blood, offered up to Uroboros as tribute.

Uroboros turning hostile was bad enough. The thought of this class vanishing was worse. I didn't want to pay. I paid anyway.

I'd spent the last month learning exactly how broken a unique-grade class could be.

Not that I needed Uroboros's Avatar to become the strongest Master in Gaiarium. I was a former world-class ranker. Every scrap of that knowledge was still sitting in my head, intact.

But with this class, I could slash the timeline to pieces. And honestly? I wanted to be the strongest while I was still young. Even a year younger would do.

In my last life, being weak had been inconvenient. In this one, it was a sin. If I didn't want to get stepped on, I needed to get strong — and I needed to do it yesterday.

Which means starting today, it's infinite Growth Stone farming.

We'd already cleared Greed's Uroboros Nest on E-rank, so we could jump straight into D-rank. From D-rank on, the monsters were in a completely different league, so I planned to take it slow.

At least I wouldn't have to worry about tribute gems for a while. Hwaryongwang's hoarded fortune ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was enough to keep Uroboros fed for a year even if I sat on my ass and did nothing.

Now that's what I call a safety net.

I checked my inventory slots and smiled. The inventory that had started at five slots was now sitting at twenty. After paying tribute this morning, I'd expanded it by fifteen slots out of sheer spite.

Two hundred gems per slot. Three thousand gems, gone.

An absolutely unhinged flex. I didn't regret it. I'd packed the thing to bursting with food — enough for Aquaril and me to eat for five months without hunting a single thing.

And we'd cleared dungeons too.

There'd been an extra nine hundred gems on top of that. I hadn't spent those three days at the hotel just rolling around in bed with Aquaril. We'd fully cleared three dungeons inside Indigo and three outside it, and the 3-Star clear rewards had netted us nine hundred gems.

We'd been so far above the recommended levels that we hadn't gotten a single Growth Stone out of them. But that was fine. Growth Stones? We could farm as many as we wanted once we started running the Relay Dungeon.

"Master, I've finished cleaning."

"Oh, yeah?"

Aquaril came over just as I was still looking through my status and inventory. I stroked her hair and kissed her — a little reward for a job well done.

She flushed like a newlywed and ducked her head, suddenly shy.

"Mm..."

I looked up at the sky. It was already bleeding red. Night wasn't far off.

"Want to poke our heads into the dungeon for a bit? Let's get a feel for what D-rank monsters actually look like."

"Yes, Master. That sounds good."

Our resident yes-girl nodded along, same as always. I grabbed my sword and shield and stood. The inventory was so stuffed with food that I had to carry the weapons by hand.

I'd replaced both of them this time around, for the record. The old shield had been smashed to pieces, and the sword had more cracks than steel. Gold wasn't going to be a problem for a long while, so I'd splurged on new weapons and armor for Aquaril as well as myself. Not that "splurged" meant much — every last piece was still the cheapest 1-Star junk on the market.

Indigo was a starter city. I'd walked every forge in town and never once laid eyes on a 2-Star weapon or a scrap of 2-Star armor.

Weapons in hand, we headed for the dungeon.

Or rather — we tried to.

"...What?"

I froze in front of the window hanging in midair. Closed? Since when?

"Master? Why aren't you going in?"

"Ah — hang on. Why don't you try?"

"??? Understood."

Aquaril tilted her head, baffled, and walked toward the entrance.

"Huh?"

She couldn't get in either. Something invisible sat across the mouth of the dungeon like a wall, and it wasn't letting either of us through.

"Master. I can't enter."

She turned back to me, her face gone tight.

What the hell? Did the dungeon close because Uroboros fell asleep?

That was the most likely explanation — a 10-Star monster, the dungeon's own master, going dormant. Except Uroboros had been asleep for almost two weeks already, and up until now the dungeon had been perfectly runnable.

Oh, come on. What now?

Irritation surged up my throat. The plan had been simple: farm Lower Growth Stones here until we were stacked, then move on to Chinnimoni — the setting of Chapter 3, and the closest city to Indigo. Traveling as a pair still felt a little thin, so I'd wanted the extra stats as a buffer. And now the Relay Dungeon was closed. So much for the plan.

First the princess and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hwaryongwang get in my way, and now it's Uroboros? This is such bullshit.

"Tsk. Fine. We sleep here tonight and head for Chinnimoni in the morning."

"Will that be all right?"

"What choice do we have? We can't get in."

I was still pissed, but so what? Complaining wasn't going to unlock a closed dungeon. Picking the next-best option immediately was the fastest way to stop wasting time.

Aquaril and I spent the night at the dungeon entrance, packed our things at first light, and set out for Chinnimoni.

I want a car so bad.

On foot, Chinnimoni was about a week away. In a car it would've been a few hours. Unfortunately, this world did not have cars.

I mean — this world has showerheads. It's got fried chicken and instant ramen. So why the hell are there no cars?

There were carriages, at least, but taking one meant going back to Indigo. I'd yelled Goodbye, Indigo! less than a day ago. Turning around now would have been mortifying.

And so Aquaril and I walked. Having her along at least kept the boredom from eating me alive.

"Master."

"Hm?"

"There is something I have been wondering."

"What is it?"

She asked the question without breaking stride.

"Why did you spare the prince and the princess?"

"Huh? That's what you were curious about?"

"I am ashamed to admit it, but... I am too dull-witted to have grasped Master's deeper intentions."

"..."

She really didn't need to put it like that.

"It's fine, it's fine. You're not dull-witted. I just never told you. So wipe that gloomy look off your face."

I patted her on the backside until the tension left her shoulders, then told her why I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠let the prince and princess live. There wasn't some grand design behind it.

"Hwaryongwang and all his fairies dying punched a massive hole in Indigo's military. If I'd killed the prince and princess on top of that, who'd manage the dungeons? Who'd fight the monster defense wars?"

"Then... you spared them for the sake of the people living in Indigo?"

"Yeah."

Wipe out the prince and princess too, and there'd be nobody left who could hold Indigo against the monsters. The city would burn. A lot of people would die.

I'm not a saint, and I'm not a moralist. If it came down to my life or theirs, I could sacrifice every last person in Indigo without blinking.

But that wasn't where we were. If I was willing to let them die to save myself, then I didn't get to look away from a situation where they might die and I could stop it.

If I can save someone, I save them. If I can help, I help.

That's the bare minimum of a conscience I've set for myself in this world.

"To think your intentions ran that deep... I am sorry I did not understand sooner, Master."

"I told you to stop apologizing. Aquaril. I don't want apologies from you. Instead of 'I'm sorry' and 'please forgive me,' I want to hear things like 'Master's the best! Master's awesome!'"

"Heh."

I winked as I said it, and she smiled. I'd thought it more than once already, but Aquaril was beautiful even sitting still. When she smiled, though — that was when she was at her most beautiful.

"Yes. Master's the best! Master's awesome!"

"Heh heh heh. That's right. Praise me. Worship me. That's what I want to hear."

"Heh. Yes, Master. I will."

"Haaah... we finally made it."

After five straight days of walking like a pair of possessed hikers, we arrived at Chinnimoni at last. It was clearly more developed than Indigo, and it traded freely with other cities — you could tell just by looking at the walls, which stood far higher than anything Indigo had to offer.

We hadn't run into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bandits on the road, or a monster pack, or anything of the sort. Indigo was an isolated backwater that barely traded with anyone, so there was no reason for bandits to set up shop on the stretch between the two cities. Try to rob people on that road and you'd starve.

The same went for monsters. Their habitat was the dungeons, and the only way they spilled outside was if a dungeon went uncleared for a long time. In a world where strength was law and truth, no Master was going to leave a dungeon like that alone.

A pack of wild dogs had eyed us and licked their chops, sure — but Aquaril swung her sword a few times and they tucked their tails and ran. A minor interlude, nothing more.

"Let's go."

"Yes, Master."

We showed our identification to the soldiers at the gate, cleared the checkpoint, and stepped into Chinnimoni.