Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Shark's Return and the Hidden Entrance
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Meanwhile, at that moment.
Another user had been transported back to the Starting Village.
'I've really come back here.'
His epithet was Shark.
He was the user who had obtained the hidden piece, the First Hunter's Bow, not long ago.
Shark, who was best friends with Luke in the real world.
He scanned the village teeming with beginners with hollow eyes.
But that lasted only a moment.
Soon, he clenched his fists tightly, recalling memories from not long ago.
'Since when have you lived agonizing over things?'
'Just go straight ahead. When have you ever hesitated like you're pondering now?'
'Life is about charging straight forward. Isn't that your motto?'
That was right.
The path awakened by his best friend.
It was his own motto that he had forgotten for a while.
Life is straight ahead.
Now, he couldn't regret that choice.
It wasn't in his nature to begin with.
'Yeah, what the hell is life anyway. Let's start over properly from here.'
With that resolve burning inside, Shark headed straight for the village's public warehouse.
He retrieved the First Hunter's Bow that he had stored away early on.
'A chance to leap beyond the rankers.'
That was the hidden scenario.
As long as he had this bow, he could climb those stairs someday.
Shark believed that without a doubt.
'The problem is...'
The voice that had echoed in the ruins.
If his guess was correct, somewhere in this village there should be that descendant of the clan.
To reach the hidden scenario, he needed to find that NPC first.
'Plans aren't my style anyway.'
He had plenty of funds.
He also had items stored in the warehouse.
Though buying the Potion of Oblivion that reset his character had cost a fortune, he still had some leeway.
'That damn potion. It resets your character to level 1, but why's it so expensive?'
It was like selling something unhealthy at a premium.
Of course, the problem was that he'd bought it like a sucker.
'Anyway, now that I've got to raise a new character, I can't let those guys find out.'
Those guys.
The top ten guilds.
They were still hunting him to steal the hidden scenario.
If they found out, they'd swarm this area in no time.
'As much as I hate it, I guess I'll have to cover my face at least.'
So Shark pulled out an iron helmet from the warehouse to hide his face.
'Not like it's a welcome sight anyway.'
As proof, villagers passing by were already avoiding his fierce features.
Clank.
'Good... think that works?'
The helmet fit snugly over his face.
A bit uncomfortable, but he'd endure it.
'Okay, now let's go find that descendant!'
Shark strode forward confidently.
But...
'Hm?'
Something felt off.
What was it?
Shark stood still, blankly pondering.
And soon realized.
'Come to think of it...'
The descendant of the clan in the primordial land.
There was no obvious way to find them right away.
'R-Right. Ask the villagers...!'
That was one way, but the issue was how to approach it.
He couldn't just go around asking if they knew the clan descendant.
'......'
A strange silence flowed for a moment.
No way to find the descendant.
Cold sweat trickled down Shark's forehead as he realized it late.
'...Did I charge in too recklessly?'
It seemed so.
But that lasted only a moment.
'Ah, right!'
His eyes caught the First Hunter's Bow he'd retrieved from the warehouse.
'Show this around and ask.'
An utterly brute-force idea.
But perhaps that simple approach would work.
The moment he pulled the bow from his inventory, something happened.
Shwaaa!
Suddenly, a brilliant beam of light shot from the tip of the bow.
"Whoa, shh! Scared me!"
Shark jumped in fright and fell on his butt.
At the same time, passersby glanced at him like he was some weirdo.
'...They can't see this light?'
Users.
NPCs.
Everyone except him reacted that way.
Gulp!
He didn't know why.
All he could guess was that this bow held a special power.
A mysterious one visible only to those pursuing the hidden scenario.
So Shark quickly composed himself and stood up.
He slowly followed the brilliant beam of light.
'Over there?'
He could see it.
A house at the end of the beam.
The village chief's house, guarded tightly by sentries, was right in front of him.
'No way, the clan descendant?!'
Was it the chief of the Starting Village?
Judging by the beam stopping at the chief's house, it sure seemed so.
'Alright, straight there!'
Snorting, Shark marched right up to the door.
But.
"Halt! This is the chief's residence. We can't let you in without special business!"
He was immediately stopped by the guards.
Only then did Shark recall a forgotten fact.
The chief's house.
Only about ten users had ever entered it.
'...No choice. Guess I'll wait here till the chief comes out.'
In the end, Shark had no option but to camp at the entrance.
But he didn't know.
The hardships awaiting him ahead. Shark remained oblivious to the end.
The description had changed.
The compass's explanation, which had said it was broken for some reason.
Now, it had reacted to the map and transformed like this.
'Powered by means like maps.'
How exactly did it work?
He was inwardly curious about the compass's structure but decided to drop it.
What mattered now was that a clue to the hidden scenario had appeared.
'Should've checked it sooner if I knew.'
It was regrettable, but on the flip side, discovering it now was a relief.
'A compass powered by means like maps.'
He didn't know what other means besides maps yet, but it was progress.
The usage.
He had just figured out that means like maps were needed to move the compass needle.
Now, it was about utilizing the compass.
And checking directly if it could lead to the hidden scenario.
"Yeah, if there's a map, the compass has to come along."
"Poko?"
"Might as well go full explorer mode now."
The unknown domain.
As a lone explorer pioneering a hidden scenario.
"Follow close, Poko."
"Poko!"
Luke slowly set off with Poko trotting behind.
'......'
The path so far was the same.
The difference was moving only in the direction the compass pointed this time.
Otherwise, he was still wandering near the mountain peak.
'Can't fully trust the compass yet.'
Why?
Despite all the wandering, nothing had turned up.
No small changes or anything.
'Still...'
He had to follow it.
This Eternal Compass was his last hope.
As he kept walking in the needle's direction...
'The direction changed?'
The needle in the compass suddenly pointed elsewhere.
'East again.'
Luke turned accordingly.
He followed the new direction as if possessed.
'North now.'
Continuously.
'East again.'
Every direction change.
'West opposite.'
He was just circling the area following the compass.
'South from here now... but is this really the right path?'
Nothing changed, so it was frustrating.
'Maybe the path is right, but something else is needed.'
Like a prerequisite quest.
Or items to obtain from there, etc.
'Or maybe it's just screwing with me.'
If so, he'd smash the compass right there.
Luke steeled himself as he climbed the slope.
That instant.
A change on the map.
'The mark on the map shifted?'
Yes.
The X mark that had been near the peak.
Now, it had moved to a completely different spot.
The compass reacted again.
With the objective changed, the needle shifted once more.
'No way...'
He'd seen something like this on an info site once.
A special condition solved only by following a set path precisely.
'Even the Great Labyrinth, one of the Eight Forbidden Zones, was designed that way.'
Luke eyed the changed map mark, sensing high possibility.
'If that's the case, there's a separate way to find the path.'
And he'd found it with the Eternal Compass.
Prerequisite quest.
This compass had replaced whatever he needed to obtain beforehand.
'Ahh, Compass-joo. Just how grand was the picture you painted?'
The grand scheme starting from the chief's house.
This was the moment it finally shone.
"Poko?"
"Hah, enough chit-chat."
He moved again.
From then on, Luke traversed the entire mountain up and down multiple times following the compass.
Once.
Twice.
And consecutively a third time.
The map marks kept changing without rest, but it didn't matter.
He had the Eternal Compass.
Just follow the needle's direction, and that was it.
'Feels like a barrier from some wuxia novel.'
This sensation of navigating a misty maze.
But with a reliable guide, he never lost his way.
After fulfilling conditions relentlessly while following the map for a while...
Something appeared before Luke, who had belatedly returned to the peak.
'Stone pillars?'
Stone pillars twice a man's height.
Five of them stood atop the peak.
'No, there weren't any up here just before...'
It felt like they'd suddenly sprouted from the ground.
The scene was utterly absurd, and soon, something even more unbelievable unfolded before his eyes.
Rumble!
Between the five pillars.
The ground below split, revealing hidden stairs within.
He could see it.
The beam of light bursting from the map.
Clearly pointing to the stairs between the pillars.
At that sight, Luke murmured blankly, clutching the map.
"Hidden dungeon."