The Monsters Weren't Simply Mad

The monsters were not simply mad.

They had kept driving forward on the strength of their numbers, but the sight of Yujun's party — of Yujun himself, more precisely — standing utterly unmoved steadily bled the force from their charge.

"What the hell is that thing?"

"We can't kill it."

"It's a dragon. It has to be…"

"W-we failed to recognize a great being. I'll be taking my leave."

"Don't make excuses, goblin."

"Hey, big guy. You're dying to run too, aren't you?"

Of course, there were still monsters brave enough to charge. Compared with the beginning, though, their numbers had fallen off sharply. Yujun showed no sign of tiring and never once paused in the slaughter, so it was only natural that their spirit should break.

"How does a thing like that even exist?"

"This is a disgrace."

"A brief retreat…"

"Then what about the pond?"

The monsters of comparatively higher intelligence wrestled with themselves at length.

"Once he's used the pond, he'll leave."

"And if greed keeps him here? If he claims the place as his own?"

"Then there's nothing to be done."

"We'd have to stop him even if it costs our lives."

"Mm. Right."

A few others, though they had no heart for it, could not halt their advance for the sake of honor within the tribe. And what sort of match could they be for Yujun once the will to fight was already gone? The monsters' situation only worsened as time went on. Where Yujun's eyes had once taken in a great host filling the forest, they now found something closer to a file of nomads crossing a barren desert. The difference between then and now was that stark.

Seven levels, just like that.

From the moment their will to fight snapped, Yujun began to fight with the ease of a man who had merely stepped out for a stroll around the neighborhood. Early in the battle, even he had been forced to stay tense. There had simply been too many of them, and the place had been thick with creatures more dangerous than anything in Sourtul Forest. His own martial power, however, had outstripped what he expected.

He always carried greater strength than he himself recognized. He grew so quickly that he had a habit of underestimating himself, and yet the result was always the same. One had only to look at how many lethal situations he had walked into and still survived.

Paranet, meanwhile, was hurling himself into the monsters in high delight. His body slam had grown fiercer than before, and even the giant monsters could not escape the outcome — they were mashed into paste, or flung far across the field.

Another five minutes passed, and not a single monster remained on the battlefield. Most had fled, granted, and even so their corpses rose in mountains. A battle it would not have been an exaggeration to call a war came to an end just like that.

"Master! Master! You must enter the pond at once!"

The moment the fighting ended, Paranet came rushing over to hurry him along.

"Got it. Before that, go pick up the drops. Legendary grade and above only."

"…"

"And every consumable. Don't miss a single one."

"As you command."

Yujun gave the order and stroked Harp. That soft feel put him in a better mood. He had done nothing but stand where he was, so no blood stained his hands, and he could touch Harp without the slightest hesitation.

"Daddy's touch feels so nice. Pet me more. Can you?"

"Yeah. That's easy."

Harp's round face, round eyes, round nose, and round body. Was this what it felt like to become addicted to something?

Paranet moved with sharp efficiency, gathering the considerable number of items the monsters had dropped. He even used Space Movement without hesitation, all to save time.

Just how badly does he want me in that pond?

Watching him only made Yujun uneasy for no good reason. Had that much been building up inside Paranet? The summon returned quickly and handed over every item. There were so many that simply putting them all into the inventory was a chore in itself.

"Hold on. What's a Transcendent Stone doing here?"

"Yes?"

"Where did this come from?"

"Where else would it have come from? One of the monsters must have dropped it."

"…Was this something you could get so easily?"

"Come now, Master. It was hardly easy. Look at the corpses piled up. We killed this many monsters — that a single one should turn up is hardly so strange, is it?"

"Even so, a Transcendent Stone dropping off a monster just takes the wind right out of me."

"A good thing is a good thing, is it not? If this is luck, then call it luck."

"It is good, but…"

The Demon Realm. He, Manuela, and Do Jiyun had gone all the way to the Demon King's Castle to obtain one, and what an ordeal that had been. To think it was an item he might also have taken off a monster — the emptiness of it was almost unbearable. That brought his total to three Transcendent Stones.

There was a saying: hoard a thing, and it turns to shit. But that saying only held for those whose tomorrow was uncertain. At present, Yujun felt no lack of any kind. In truth, he was not using his unallocated stats at all, and those unallocated stats had, somewhere along the way, reached 780.

He already had more than enough power without distributing them, so he felt no particular need to strengthen his equipment with a Transcendent Stone. More than anything, spending one on the gear he wore now seemed as though it would only leave him regretting it. What if he obtained equipment better than what he had? He was, in particular, only a single Synchronization Marble away from being able to receive transferred gear. Fail to save the stones, and they might turn to shit all the sooner.

When I think about how synchronization, until now, has only ever sent me the items I needed most…

Use a Transcendent Stone rashly, and he was certain he would regret it. So he decided not to use them, and to store them for the time being.

If I used them all at once on an armor set later, the result would be absurd, wouldn't it?

A full set of armor, every piece of it Transcendence grade. He could not even begin to gauge what the effect of that would be. It was unknown territory, even for him.

"Master!"

Paranet looked at him with eyes that sparkled. In truth, it was only a ghastly blue gleam.

"What?"

"When will you be entering the pond?"

"Did you plant a bomb down there or something? Why are you so desperate to get me in?"

"Because it will help you, Master, obviously! You are mighty even now, but imagine how proud a summon would be if you grew mightier still! And yet, Master — do you mean to say you fail to recognize this loyal devotion of mine?"

"All right. I'll go in."

He had to enter the Moonlight-Drinking Pond anyway if he wanted the precious treasure Sertiphs had spoken of. Or perhaps the power of the pond — the very thing Paranet was so desperate to see him claim — was that treasure.

"Manuela."

"Hm? What?"

"You go in."

"…"

"Kidding. I'll go first."

He did not think the pond was especially dangerous. If it wrought harm only upon players, the monsters would not have fought so desperately to keep him from it. They clearly knew the effect reached players as well.

I wonder if anyone among the celestials has felt what this pond does.

Even if someone had, he doubted they would have gone around boasting of it. Eager to feel for himself the power ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the pond over which Paranet was making such a peculiar fuss, Yujun slipped into the water at once. With a splash, his body sank swiftly beneath the surface.

I don't see anything special.

The thought lasted only a moment. As he continued downward, a single faintly glowing object caught his eye.

A lever?

Why would there be a lever in a pond? To settle his curiosity, he pulled the raised lever down. It gave a metallic clack.

"…"

He waited, but nothing in particular changed. Only the message that a water gate had opened sat there by itself.

It said "first." I'll have to find the other levers.

Well. Paranet had spent a long time beneath the pond. He would not have gained the power right here and now.

There probably aren't that many.

Yujun descended deeper. He could feel the water pressure growing stronger, but his body was hardly that of an ordinary human.

Just in case, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I should activate my senses too.

Senses were always like that — the difference between attending to them and not was enormous. He closed his eyes and searched for an object that felt as out of place as the first lever. The second was right nearby, hidden among a thick growth of seaweed, in a spot the eye could never have found.

I don't know why there's seaweed in a pond. Probably some sort of device meant to hide the lever.

The more he studied the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pond's structure, the more it seemed like something someone had built by hand. He pulled down the lever concealed in the green seaweed as well.

As expected, the second water gate opened. The problem lay elsewhere.

I never thought it would be this deep.

The speed of his descent was considerable, and yet a good while passed without him ever seeing the bottom.

Even so, the odds are high that the third is the last.

Paranet could not have been faster than he was, so a rough measure of the time told him the next gate — the third — would be the final one.

Found it.

The power of the senses was great indeed. He found a very small lever sitting in a blind spot, difficult to discover by sight alone. It was far smaller than the levers that had come before.

This place feels like it was made on purpose to test someone.

That, in truth, was not what mattered. What he stood to gain mattered more. Without lingering, Yujun pulled the third lever down. A deep boom rolled through the water. The vibration was greater this time. Water seemed to be surging in from somewhere, and the pressure felt stronger still. Yujun could hold his breath for more than an hour. He was not anxious.

The last one, at last. To fix the long-awaited moment in his memory, Yujun kept his eyes wide open and waited.

"…"

A minute passed like that.

"What? That wasn't the end?"

As if meaning to answer his doubt, a system message appeared.

"Resident life-forms?"

Don't tell me it means the monsters.

"So I wasn't supposed to kill them?"

It was the very moment Yujun heaved a deep sigh and pressed a palm to his brow.

A hidden lever?

Did that mean the levers until now had not been hidden? He could grant the first one, but the second and the third had clearly been concealed with care.

It means the last one will be hard to find, doesn't it?

That was what he wanted. Better difficult than easy. Experience so far said that the harder the trial, the higher the chance of a greater reward. The problem was how to find a fourth lever when he had already come nearly to the bottom.

If my senses didn't catch it on the way down, then it's hidden beyond anything I imagined.

He expected rough going. Honestly, he was on the verge of uncovering a hidden piece among hidden pieces. There was no way the final task would be easy.

Don't get impatient. Search slowly.

With that, Yujun activated Super Concentration.

His eyes flew wide.