Chapter 113
Chapter 113
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: 30. Night Dungeon (1)
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“What... why is it black?”
Amid the obsidian rain pouring from the pitch-black sky, a black orb... Youngwoo felt a vague sense of foreboding.
“Is it because it’s night? But it can’t just be a different color... right?”
In this world of night, Youngwoo was the only human around.
So he had no choice but to talk to the goblin sheltering from the rain under the edge of his cloak.
-Keek!
Soon the creature stuck its hand out from under the cloak, gesturing as if urging him to touch the orb.
Of course, there was no way this relic-grade slave knew the secrets of this world.
It was just mimicking the motions Youngwoo had made every time he touched the orb so far.
Still, it was a tiny bit comforting.
“Well, it doesn’t make sense to leave it behind just because it looks kinda scary.”
He was really talking to himself.
Youngwoo glanced around the pitch-dark surroundings needlessly, then very cautiously placed his hand on the black orb.
Thud.
Just like always, a system message popped up.
“Huh.”
But the content was completely different from during the “day.”
「New authority unlocked.」
|Dungeon
“Dungeon...?”
No sooner had Youngwoo muttered to himself than a gray wave spread out from the black orb he’d placed his hand on.
Fwaaah!
Then the colors of the entire area shifted to gray.
As if he’d crossed into a parallel world.
-Prurrup!
The rank-unknown iron horse Neugg that Doggo had lent him smacked its lips.
The creature didn’t seem to like this endlessly silent space.
-Keee...
The golden goblin let out a sharp, drawn-out cry unlike its usual self.
And after a moment.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The ground beneath his feet shook violently as something began to happen.
“W-What?”
Youngwoo hurriedly pulled Neugg back in alarm, and right on cue, the ground in front split open as a massive structure rose up.
Rooooar...!
It was a pyramid.
But one made of some black, sturdy material coating its exterior, crafted in another world.
‘And why does it feel so familiar?’
Youngwoo stared at the pyramid swelling up to blot out the sky, plunged into déjà vu.
Then he realized where it came from.
‘...The exchange.’
It felt just like that exchange on Reset Day One, the one that gave off an uncanny vibe because it didn’t reflect the sunlight.
‘Made by the same people?’
It was familiar, but not welcome at all.
He couldn’t help wondering what mess would happen this time.
“......”
As Youngwoo stared fixedly at the pyramid, a brightly glowing rectangular panel appeared on its front face.
Pip!
He nudged Neugg forward a bit out of curiosity, and text appeared on the panel.
「Please dismount from the vehicle.」
“Oh...?”
An unexpectedly user-friendly interface, contrary to his expectations.
Youngwoo hopped off Neugg as instructed.
Clank!
The golden goblin jumped down after him, and almost simultaneously, another message appeared.
「Slaves cannot accompany you in this dungeon.」
-Keekit! Ket!
The golden goblin’s ears perked up as it protested angrily.
Youngwoo, meanwhile, stroked his chin and nodded.
‘So this is a dungeon after all. The appearance conditions were so tricky I hadn’t seen one until now...’
He clearly remembered that on Reset Day One, when the president and various other celebrities chose “disassembly,” it spawned quests, currency, and a bunch of other elements.
Including dungeons.
‘No wonder. With monsters falling from the sky, I was wondering why no dungeons were showing up.’
In truth, they appeared every night, but no one had braved the freak weather to find out.
“Whew.”
As his thoughts reached that point, Youngwoo felt his heart start pounding.
He was thrilled at having reached a hidden element of this world that no one else had discovered yet.
Was this another quirk of being a “blockhead”?
Clank.
As Youngwoo took one more step toward the pyramid, leaving Neugg and the goblin behind, new text appeared on the glowing panel.
Flash!
It was the dungeon format.
[Iria’s Agony]
|Dungeon Grade: Normal
|Difficulty: D
|Required Personnel: 3
‘This part’s surprisingly standard.’
Youngwoo chuckled at the dungeon system he’d seen countless times in games.
Then.
“Huh, wait.”
He double-checked the text at the very bottom of the dungeon info.
“Required personnel?”
Three of them, no less.
It meant three people were needed to run this dungeon.
“What am I supposed to do with required personnel of three? Who else is even here besides me?”
Youngwoo took one more step toward the pyramid with a wronged expression, and a vortex swirled in front of it as space began to open.
Whirrr!
So that was...
‘A portal.’
The dungeon entrance.
‘But I need two more people.’
Peering into the portal with a disappointed face, Youngwoo noticed a number inside it.
[0/3]
Of course, that didn’t change the situation.
It just meant no one was in this three-person-required dungeon right now.
‘Too bad.’
Still, since he was here, should he at least peek inside?
He was a bit deflated, but it wasn’t a total loss.
He’d figured out the dungeon spawn conditions, so someday he could recruit two more heroes and explore it.
‘Might as well go in for some preliminary scouting...’
The moment Youngwoo thought that and stepped toward the portal.
Flash!
[1/3]
The number inside the portal changed to “1/3.”
“Huh?”
Youngwoo pulled his foot back, but the number didn’t change.
“What the.”
If it wasn’t a system glitch, then this situation meant...
‘No way there’s someone inside...?’
That was the only conclusion.
So who had come out at night and entered a dungeon somewhere else?
‘That would mean multiple entrances.’
More precisely, someone had braved the night weather, summoned a dungeon elsewhere, and gone in.
“......”
Shing!
Youngwoo immediately drew his black sword.
He heightened his vigilance to the max and stepped into the portal.
* * *
Portal.
In games and novels, it usually means a “dimensional gate” or “teleportation.”
Whatever the case, the key function of a portal is to transport the user instantly, no matter how far the destination.
That’s why Youngwoo used to wonder, back when he played games, what it would feel like to experience portal travel in real life.
But this time too.
Swoosh!
He had no clue.
“Huh!”
The time spent passing through the portal was so short, and more than that, he truly felt nothing during it.
He’d taken just two steps forward, and suddenly he was somewhere completely different.
Inside a vast room that looked like some ancient ruin.
Clank!
As Youngwoo naturally landed on the floor after passing through the portal, a chilling sound came from behind him.
Shhriiiing!
The sound of the portal closing.
“This...!”
Youngwoo whipped around in surprise, but the portal was already gone.
Then someone leaning against the opposite wall spoke up in a voice brimming with delight for some reason.
“No worries at all! You can leave anytime you want! But you can’t leave yet!”
‘What the heck.’
Only then did Youngwoo belatedly remember his resolution to be cautious around people.
“...Who’s there?”
“Oh, you got startled, right? Everyone’s like that the first time they use a portal. Your memory blanks out for a sec.”
It was only now that Youngwoo noticed the large bonfire in the center of the room.
And the fact that the same format of numbers he’d seen in the portal was written above it.
[2/3]
‘It was 1/3 earlier, now it’s 2/3.’
Probably because of the nonstop talker across the fire plus himself.
In other words, two out of the three required for dungeon exploration had arrived.
And even amid this, the other kept chattering away.
“Now then, shall we slowly show each other what we look like? I’m dying to know who you are.”
“......”
Youngwoo finally understood why the other couldn’t sit still, like a puppy desperate to poop.
“No way you were here yesterday too?”
When Youngwoo asked, the figure across the fire clapped and replied in an even more excited voice.
“No, how did you know...! Yeah! I waited all night yesterday and no one came!”
“......”
That meant, despite the somewhat comical speech, the other was an incredible powerhouse.
They’d braved the freak weather two nights in a row, after all.
Either they’d gotten insanely lucky with farming, or they had some absurd gear that ignored all weather.
“Come on, now let’s very slowly move to the right? Let’s see your face.”
Though their brain didn’t seem all that sharp.
“Hey, right according to whose perspective? If we both go right, we’ll never meet.”
“Oh...! Right.”
“You move right, sir. I’ll match you.”
“Sounds good!”
The other accepted Youngwoo’s suggestion readily.
And finally.
Clank, clank.
Step, step.
The two, who’d only exchanged voices across the fire, began closing the distance bit by bit.
And as each revealed themselves gradually in the firelight.
“O... oh.”
“Wha... what’s going on.”
Both their faces stiffened.
Because.
“Oh, you... for an Asian... you’re tall.”
“Sicily... isn’t that Italy?”
One was Korean, and across from him was an Italian, no less.
『Gyeongbuk’s Greatest Swordsman』
『Sicily’s Guardian Sword』
Two people from opposite sides of the Earth.
‘My god.’
Youngwoo instantly sensed that this dungeon was shared worldwide.
But that meant...
“H-Hold on.”
A very eerie feeling—no, something close to dread—began creeping from his elbow up to the nape of his neck.
“What did you say earlier? You waited all night yesterday too, right?”
The Italian swallowed hard and glanced around.
“Y-Yes... I waited alone all night yesterday and went back. But why bring it up all of a sudden? It’s kinda scary.”
Youngwoo pressed a hand to his chest, feeling like his heart had stopped.
“What day was that? Reset Day?”
“Day 2. Obviously.”
“Then today is...”
“Day 3...”
The Italian, counting on his fingers, finally froze stiff.
He’d realized it too.
There was a massive error in this space, this encounter.
“...Time difference.”
As the Italian’s eyes widened, Youngwoo nodded.
“Italy’s about 8 hours ahead of Korea.”
“Th-Then...”
“I entered here on night of Day 3 my time. So right now in Italy, it should be afternoon around 3 or 4 on Day 3.”
“So you’re saying I’m experiencing something that hasn’t happened yet?”
“At least by my timeline, yeah. You’re from the future, sir.”
“But I have all my memories from 3 PM today until now. From my perspective... you’re the one from the past.”
“......”
By the time their conversation reached this point, the fact that they’d been freely crossing language barriers from the start felt far from surprising.
And to top it off.
Shhriing!
The sound of another portal closing rang out from across the fire.
The third party member had arrived in the dungeon.