Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Waiting Room
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I woke up feeling some discomfort in my lower body.
When I pulled back the blanket, huh? Isera was hugging my cock in her sleep.
'...Why is this kid here?'
I'd felt someone sucking on it while I was asleep, so I figured it was either the Saintess or Shin Seo-yeon. I'd cum once and then dozed off with it hugged tight...
And now some little brat was nestled in my arms.
Luckily, neither the Saintess nor Shin Seo-yeon had noticed yet.
"Hey, Isera. Wake up."
"Mmm."
"I said wake up."
I shook her awake, but instead she gripped my cock tighter and started sucking on it noisily.
"...Mmm. This is mine now. You lot can just watch from afar."
"What the hell are you talking about, kid?"
Was she dreaming or something?
No, that wasn't the point right now. We were the only two on the tent mattress, and for some reason, we were both naked.
I grabbed my underwear from the corner of the tent and quietly shook Isera again to wake her.
She was snoring away.
Instead, she burrowed deeper into my arms.
Judging that this wasn't working, I grabbed the nipple on her flat chest and squeezed hard.
Squeeze.
"!!"
A slight twist, and she reacted immediately.
Her eyes snapped open, and she bolted upright into a defensive stance, looking around wildly.
Those sharp eyes and fierce aura were just like a kid who'd survived a few days in this hellhole.
"What are you doing here?"
"?"
She finally looked at me and blinked, then lowered her head to stare at my cock.
"I'm joining the competition too."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
But she didn't answer, just said her piece and grabbed her clothes before hopping out of the tent.
Whoosh—her figure faded into transparency and vanished beyond the warehouse.
"...What the heck."
Left alone, I scratched my head in bewilderment, got dressed, and headed outside.
Morning had dawned before I knew it. The stone chamber was bathed in bright white light instead of the faint moonlight.
And there, leaning against one wall, Shin Seo-yeon and the Saintess were dozing off, heads nodding.
'Yeah, that time right around sunrise is when you're the sleepiest.'
And it's the sweetest nap time players can enjoy in the Trials zone.
The monsters' ferocity and hunting urge drop off for a moment, going quiet.
So I let the two sleep without waking them. I fetched water for washing and prepped breakfast.
'Still a mystery, though. What the hell was that about with Isera?'
She's not the type to say pointless stuff. Was there something I didn't know?
I thought about it while washing my cock, which the three women had sucked all night.
"So what are we doing today? Heading down to the mid-layers?"
"Nah, farming today."
Now that we'd secured our camp spot, it was time to get serious about making money.
We slipped out of the safe zone through the dog hole and ventured back into the monastery ruins shrouded in deep darkness.
"Farming here instead of going down to the mid-layers?"
"Yeah."
"Wouldn't it be better to grab Vardo's remains first, though?"
"Already got 'em."
"What?"
Shin Seo-yeon's eyes went wide. The Saintess clasped her hands, her eyes sparkling.
"As expected of Min-jun! When did you even snag that?!"
"No, seriously, when?"
"While I was taking care of business yesterday, a cute little fairy popped up and handed it over as a gift."
"I'm not in the mood for jokes right now."
"I'm not joking."
I glanced back, and sure enough, Isera was still tailing us. The future might've already changed.
"Fine, whatever. But farming items here? Don't stronger mobs drop better stuff? Shouldn't we go lower?"
Not necessarily.
Sure, the stronger the mob, the higher the item grade they drop and the better the special options.
But that doesn't mean it's always what we need. Strong mobs don't always drop the priciest gear.
Still, I didn't elaborate on that.
"You're right, Seo-yeon, but we don't know what mobs are down there. Here, we've already hunted a ton."
No point explaining in detail—our quick-witted Crimson Flame Witch would just grill me on how I knew.
Shin Seo-yeon nodded at my vague answer.
"So, playing it safe, huh."
"Exactly."
I marked our path on the map and kept moving.
After countless intersections and rooms, down a very long corridor, we turned a corner into a completely different passage.
"What's this...? The corridor's way wider."
"There are big doors on both sides too, Min-jun."
It was 1.5 times wider than the previous halls. Lining both sides were six massive straight doors, each at least four meters wide.
Passing those doors, at the corridor's end, two monk statues stood raising blue flames. Between them was a tunnel bending downward underground.
"That's the entrance to the mid-layers."
"What? But you said we're farming here, not going down."
"Right. Our farming spot's right beyond these doors."
We stopped in front of one of the six doors.
"Where's this?"
"The waiting room."
"Waiting room?"
"Where parishioners purify themselves, fix their clothes, and prepare before entering the chapel."
They gather here, and when worship time comes, they head down to the chapel in the mid-layers via that central staircase you see.
"By the way, the entire mid-layer is one big chapel."
"Must be enormous. It took over four hours just from the entrance here."
"Assuming upper and lower layers are the same size is a bias. The lower one's much smaller."
"Oh, yeah, that makes sense."
Though the deep layers' size was unknown.
The human hunter who'd mapped it hadn't gone that far, only up to around the mid-layer stairs. And the drunken ramblings from Round 1 survivors weren't much help.
-It's ridiculously huge. The deep layers are like an endless maze. But weirdly, you can reach the central room super quick. No idea what's inside. Looked like a boss room though.
"Get ready. We're going in."
I grabbed the waiting room door and flung it open. There were statues inside too, more than in the corridor, making the room pretty bright.
Bright enough to instantly dispel the stuffiness.
But that wasn't necessarily good.
"Pray... but the god shall not hear..."
"Light... why have you forsaken us...?"
The waiting room was packed with an enormous cluster of skeletons. Even though the room itself was huge, it looked cramped at a glance.
And with the bright light, their gruesome forms—bones caked in gore, eyes bloodshot red—stood out in vivid detail.
"Eek? Th-there's too many, aren't there?"
"Hey, Dickhead. Shouldn't we close the door...?"
Over a hundred of them—even Shin Seo-yeon shrank back a bit in fear.
This room was actually a trap.
-Should've never opened the waiting room. After that, I could never get back to the upper layer. The skeletons that got loose started proper patrols instead of staying confined.
Traps like this exist in the Trials zone. Players have to watch every action carefully.
Because a hasty decision can have lasting consequences.
"Why the fear?"
To me, though, this was just a tasty farming spot.
'Whoa, didn't expect this many mobs packed in.'
Jackpot. I drew my sword and positioned myself in front of the two women.
"I'll block everything that charges at the entrance. Seo-yeon, you hit the ones farther back with fireballs."
"Y-you sure you can handle it alone?"
"Plenty. Ha-na, please handle Seo-yeon's mana recovery."
"Y-yes!"
Around then, the grudge spirits—which detect players by sight even without hearing—started turning toward us one by one.
"You shall become like us!"
"We need blood! More...!"
Clatter clatter—the skeletons charged at us all at once.
"Here they come."
"Seo-yeon, no need to be scared. Just trust me."
"Ugh...! Fine, let's do this!"
Whoosh—a blazing fireball flew into the center of the waiting room. Boom! It exploded in a scorching blast that singed the air.
A single strike engulfed over a dozen skeletons, blowing them to bits.
'As expected of the Crimson Flame Witch.'
In the first Trial—and the hardest one, [Lair of Evil Spirits]—no other player could output this kind of firepower.
When it came to raw destructive power, she was top five, no doubt.
'Then I'll just nail my role.'
"We need blood! More blood!"
I raised my sword, glaring at the enemies.
Dozens were charging, but only so many could pass through the door at once.
Same for what I had to fight.
Still, standing alone against dozens of vengeful dead with gleaming eyes was terrifying, even after ten years on the battlefield.
'That's the right of the living.'
You can't discard desire, nor fear.
Those who tried mostly went mad. Those who claimed no fear all died.
Swish!
"Give us your flesh!"
I pushed down the unease as I saw the enemy's raised blade.
Couldn't discard fear, but I could suppress it.
That was my survival trick after facing death's terror for a decade.
'Plus.'
"You won't escape this place either!"
Before the skeletons could swing, I moved my sword first. A flash of blade light sliced the front-runners apart, sending them crumbling.
-I'll pay you back once I'm strong.
-Yeah, I'll wait.
Couldn't keep that promise in Round 1 without the power.
But this time would be different.
"Krrk."
'Three down first.'
No breather—the next wave charged, but I swung my sword relentlessly, letting not a single one through.
I wouldn't let any reach her.
In moments, skeleton debris piled up near the door.
"Whoa, so much loot."
The Saintess marveled at the eight weapons and twelve monastic robes. We'd smashed a ton, but the drop rate was definitely high.
'Thanks to [Luck] and [10x Drop Rate].'
What a ten-man party might grind all day for, we three grabbed in under ten minutes.
"Heehee. I'm rich now!"
Shin Seo-yeon grinned as she scooped up the treasure. Behind her, Isera crouched hidden, stealthily plucking gems from the open bag one by one.
Curiously, the moment she grabbed one, it vanished completely within a second.
'Taking almost half.'
The oblivious witch was too busy picking up gems to notice.
After resetting everything, I closed the waiting room door and led the group to a corner. I dragged furniture over like barricades.
"Ha-na, remember what we did in the tutorial?"
"Oh."
"Same as then, in this room. Seo-yeon, kill mobs as they respawn. Ha-na, recover her mana. When no more spawn, we all go out, reset, and repeat."
"What if mobs pop mid-run?"
"Takes thirty minutes for them to respawn after reset. Wait five minutes—if nothing, move out."
Shin Seo-yeon crossed her arms, grumbling.
"Then what're you doing? Playing solo?"
"No way."
"......"
Suspicious glare.
Our Seo-yeon was sharp as ever.
"I'll scout the area. Check if it's safe around here, no dangers between camp and here. If time, peek at the mid-layers too."
"Hm, not bad."
She preferred camping one spot for comfy grinding over wandering, so she accepted.
I watched them hunt for three hours to confirm no issues, then slipped out quietly.
'Their duo's way faster and stabler than with me.'
S-Rank pair. No party in 4 billion hunted faster, guaranteed.
Leaving the two pros to grind, I stood before the mid-layer stairs.
Shhh—
A chilling, eerie aura crept up from deep in the tunnel, unlike up here.
A prickling chill on my skin like frost.
"Kinda cold down there. You okay?"
At my question, Isera—who'd been tagging along panty-less and bottomless—felt it, paused, then hopped onto my shoulder.
"......"
Her thighs wrapped my cheeks, bringing a fresh young woman's scent mixed with faint body wash.
I looked up at her.
"This is awkward for both of us. How about slipping on a robe now?"
"Huh? Not awkward for me."
Meaning she just didn't wanna wear it.
"Your panties?"
"Drying with my pants."
"Want some of my clothes?"
"Hehe~"
"......"
Riding me, Isera swung her legs happily like a kid splashing in a pool.
She hummed, filtering my words to hear only what she wanted.
"Sera, I'm asking you."
"Mister mister, I got a question."
"...Call me oppa."
"Mister got a wife?"
"......"
I snorted and gave up. Totally willful. Like dealing with a rebellious high schooler.
'Should I smack her one.'
Nah, held back. Counting Round 1, I was thirty. No point bickering with a kid this age. Just humor her.
"Mister, I'm asking you."
"Oh right, what'd our bedwetter say."
"......"
Silence above my head. Then the reply.
"Oppa, you got a wife?"
I descended the stairs one step at a time with the S-Rank bedwetter.
Soon, the massive chapel entrance came into view at the bottom.