Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: 30. Night Dungeon (2)
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[Leopard of Tocantins]
The final party member appeared with a rather unusual title, and unlike the two who had arrived earlier, he was in a highly strung state.
No sooner had the portal vanished than he scanned his surroundings with a terrified expression, then spotted the two men and thrust his sword at them.
“What the hell are you guys...!”
It was obvious he’d endured some brutal days back home—his body was covered in wounds.
A deep gash scarred his face as well, and his mere arrival tensed the atmosphere.
“Huff!”
At the sound of the “Leopard’s” ragged breathing, as if he were about to charge, Sicily’s Guardian Sword made a calming gesture and took a couple of steps back.
“Hey, easy now! We’re not here to fight each other!”
Meanwhile, Youngwoo’s eyes widened as he noticed something new.
“The Dragon’s Legacy...”
The epic-grade weapon attached to his belt—which also served as a rank detector for others—was only now starting to heat up.
「Dragon’s Legacy」 - Epic One-Handed Sword
【Elitism.】
|Damage increased against targets Rank 2 or lower.
Which meant...
“...”
Youngwoo’s gaze shifted to the European, who was busy soothing the third participant.
‘He’s a Rank 1 human.’
Of course, since the achievement “Ending Maker” wasn’t complete, he probably wasn’t the protagonist.
But he was no ordinary person, that much was clear.
Swoosh.
When Youngwoo belatedly turned his eyes toward the “Leopard of Tocantins,” the man flinched and pointed his sword at him.
“Ch-Chinese...?”
“...Korean. Where are you from?”
As Youngwoo, who stood two meters tall, took a step forward with the campfire at his back, his massive shadow engulfed the “Leopard’s” feet.
“Why the hell do you care?”
Realizing Youngwoo’s size, the man adopted a combat stance, his eyes blazing with even more murderous intent than before.
“You’re the Greatest Sword... or whatever the top dog is in your region right now, but you seem way too on edge. How about we both lower our weapons and talk first?”
Youngwoo drove the black sword he held into the ground as he spoke. The “Leopard,” who had been watching, flinched.
He’d instinctively prepared to attack upon seeing the opponent disarm himself—but held back.
Because...
[3/3]
He too had just noticed the number hovering above the campfire.
The required number for exploring this dungeon: three.
If they fought and even one died, that number would likely drop back to 2/3.
“Man, the world’s gotten so rough that even saying hello is a challenge these days, huh?”
Sicily’s Guardian Sword finally slipped between the two powerhouses, joking lightly.
He then tapped his chest with his right hand and bowed slightly in greeting.
“I’m Ottavio Simorelli, from Sicily. Italian, if you want to get technical.”
Only then did the “Leopard” seem to fully grasp the situation, his face going blank.
“Italy...?”
Hadn’t that big Eastern guy just said he was Korean?
Italy, Korea, and...
“...I’m Ricardo da Silva Tavares. From Tocantins, Brazil.”
Brazil.
In other words, this spot now held one resident each from East Asia, Southern Europe, and South America.
“I’m Jeong Youngwoo, from Korea.”
Youngwoo followed with his own introduction, approaching Ricardo.
Clank, clank.
As Youngwoo drew near with metallic clinks, the tip of Ricardo’s sword rose threateningly again.
But Youngwoo ignored it, closing the distance to about three meters.
Then...
Swoosh.
He extended his right hand into the air.
So this was...
“If you want to keep going in this dungeon, shake my hand. You’re the only one who’s been pointing a sword here.”
Ricardo looked stunned at Youngwoo’s offer, while the Italian Ottavio eyed Youngwoo with keen interest.
[3/3]
Even amid this, the number above the campfire still indicated three survivors.
Ricardo glanced at it, then finally jammed his weapon into the ground and stepped forward.
Next...
Thwack!
He gripped Youngwoo’s outstretched hand with brute force.
“Sorry about earlier, friend.”
* * *
The time difference between Korea and Brazil is twelve hours.
Between Italy and Korea, eight hours.
Between Brazil and Italy, four hours.
But the moment they entered the dungeon, not only did the time differences vanish—they merged entirely.
How? Why?
The three debated pointlessly for a while before agreeing they couldn’t figure it out.
They decided to focus on the core reason they were here: exploring the dungeon.
“Hmm... Looks like everyone’s gathered.”
Ottavio stroked his chin, surveying the surroundings.
This stone chamber, evoking ancient ruins, had no visible exit.
The portal could be opened by tapping the wall twice, though.
“I figured the dungeon would auto-start once we had all the people. Guess not.”
If even the most experienced with dungeon waits—like Ottavio—said that, there were probably no physical mechanisms.
[3/3]
Youngwoo stared at the number above the campfire, then shifted his gaze to the steadily burning flames.
“Hey, is anyone else hot?”
“Yes?”
“...?”
Seeing their reactions, Youngwoo walked right up to the campfire without hesitation.
Before anyone could stop him, he plunged his hand into the flames.
Whoosh.
“Gah!”
“What the—!”
Even the rugged guy from Brazil gasped in shock at the bizarre act, but Youngwoo’s expression remained calm.
“The fire’s not hot. Come on, everyone—stick your hand in.”
It sounded like the ravings of a madman, but the South American and European followed the giant Asian’s lead and approached the campfire.
They couldn’t say why, but in this dungeon, defying common sense might be the right move.
A place where time zones worldwide merged—surely impossible things were possible here.
Swoosh.
Finally, the other two thrust their hands into the flames as well.
This was only feasible because they were unifiers of major regions.
Tocantins had a pre-Reset population of about 1.5 million, and Sicily boasted five million.
Beep!
As all three participants held their hands in the flames, an alarm blared, and dungeon details appeared where the headcount had been.
[Ilia’s Suffering]
|Dungeon Grade: Normal
|Difficulty: D
|Required Personnel: 3
“Ilia’s Suffering...”
“It’s been bugging me since before we entered. What does it mean?”
“Whatever it is, it means a painful time awaits.”
Ricardo offered a grim prediction.
Then, new text appeared above the campfire.
「Required personnel fulfilled.」
「Dungeon will begin shortly.」
Next came the phrase any post-Reset survivor would recognize, drawing all three gazes.
「Prepare yourselves.」
“...!”
“Oh?”
“Shit.”
The room’s floor began to shake at the sound of Ricardo’s curse.
Rumble!
“Huh.”
“W-What’s happening?”
But the real issue came next.
Grind grind griiiind!
Gears turned somewhere, and the floor dropped out from under them.
Fwoooosh!
It felt like riding a massive elevator.
The difference: the walls rushed upward at blinding speed, visibly dangerous.
“C-Crazy!”
“Uwaaaah!”
“You’ve gotta be...!”
The descent was near freefall velocity, making the three feel like they were on an endless roller coaster drop.
Ruuuuumble...!
The campfire flames trailed upward in a long arc, and looking up revealed the vertical shaft they’d passed through.
An impossibly long tunnel, its ceiling already out of sight.
‘How deep is this going?’
One thing was certain: this wasn’t Earth.
They’d dropped at least a kilometer, by feel.
Ruuuuumble...!
Yet the mad floor showed no sign of stopping. Just as they thought it had descended twice the prior depth, Ricardo—lips pressed tight—muttered in dismay.
“Where the hell is this taking us?”
He glanced upward idly, thinking of the Earth-bound portal they’d left behind.
“Th-This way, we’ll...”
Even the ever-optimistic Ottavio from Sicily started voicing concerns when—
Screeeeech!
The gear noise grew far rougher, and the floor’s descent began to slow.
“Ah.”
“Ooh.”
“Fuck.”
Had they finally arrived?
As the three caught their breath and blinked, the passage walls enclosing the room vanished at once.
Fwoosh!
Not vanished, exactly—the passage section had ended.
They were now hundreds of meters in the air.
Beyond the stone floor beneath their feet, no structures existed.
Just endless, pitch-black vastness.
“...My god.”
“Where the hell are we...?”
“Look up.”
Everyone followed Ricardo’s pointing finger upward, and soon saw it.
A colossal stone structure etched with bizarre patterns.
It seemed like part of a massive rectangular body, pocked with tiny square holes—one of which was the passage they’d just traversed.
“H-How big is that thing...?”
No one could answer Ottavio’s question.
Not even a single corner of the structure was visible in their view.
What they saw was but a minuscule fraction.
Rumble ruuuumble...
The stone floor supporting them slowed further.
By now, the once pitch-black space revealed itself somewhat.
Thanks to the campfire at the floor’s center.
Its light now illuminated the “ground” below.
“There’s a floor down there! Almost there.”
Ottavio drew his sword as he spoke.
He, who hadn’t shown a single threatening move since entering the dungeon, now prepared for battle of his own accord.
Proof of the threat he sensed in this space.
Shing!
Ricardo followed, drawing his sword from his belt, and Youngwoo pulled his black sword close.
Right on cue, the stone floor met the vast space’s bottom.
Boom!
“Whew.”
“Inhale, heave.”
“Shuuu...”
Each regulated their breathing in their own way, trying to shake off the tension.
But the campfire didn’t illuminate far, leaving everything beyond the floor shrouded in darkness. They couldn’t relax.
‘Too dark. Wouldn’t know if something was coming.’
Where was this life headed?
Youngwoo recalled the shock of stabbing someone with a knife on Reset Day.
Back then, he’d thought his life was spiraling uncontrollably.
Compared to now, though...
Beep!
A shrill alarm pierced from the campfire, snapping everyone’s thoughts as they turned.
「‘Ilia’s Suffering’ will begin shortly.」
「To clear this dungeon, one helmsman and two harpooners are required.」
“Helmsman and harpooners...? What does that mean?”
As Ottavio asked, two iron chains shot out from one side of the stone floor.
Clank rattle!
Faint lights then flickered on in a row along the ground in that direction.
Tap, tap, tap.
Leading into the darkness beyond.
A sort of guide light.
“No way.”
Youngwoo grimaced, sensing what was coming, as the dungeon system continued.
「From now on, the helmsman pulls the chains to move the ship, and the two harpooners protect the campfire and helmsman from intruders.」
“...Ah.”
“What?”
Veterans of countless battles, the three could imagine plenty from that alone.
But it wasn’t over.
「Rule one: Only the helmsman may touch the chains.」
「Rule two: Only the helmsman may be outside the ship.」
『Iron Rule one: Violating the above rules results in total elimination.』
『Iron Rule two: Upon elimination judgment, one survivor at that moment is erased.』
“W-What the hell does that mean?”
They weren’t even given time to be shocked or memorize the rules.
Just as Youngwoo finished reading the second iron rule, glaring red holographic text appeared above the campfire.
「Those wishing to be helmsman, pick up the chains.」
「Time limit: 10 seconds.」
And as they’d dreadfully feared, the countdown began immediately.
...9.
...8.
...7.