Chapter 134
Chapter 134
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 134
Chapter Title: Trial Tower Floor 2: Shoot Toward the Sun -1
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[Blood for Blood, Eye for an Eye: After encountering the dwarf hidden in the forest, clear Floor 2 using only the ballista]
"Come here, you monster who devoured my family. Come on."
This forest is packed with tasty little snacks. Tender, juicy morsels—docile beasts perfect for eating, scattered everywhere. All for you.
The massive harpoon that can pierce your hide, the giant bow to fire it—everything's been prepared just for you. The entire forest was crafted that way.
The moment you mindlessly gorge yourself... that's your last.
In the tower's early days, the ogre's position was thought random, so players relied on prayer meta to shave clear times. But now, with analysis complete, its spot is easy to pinpoint. The ogre is always directly "below the sun."
Look up at the sky, follow the oddly close sun's guidance, and run there.
There are three ballistas total, but only one loaded. Their attack power falls short of one-shotting the ogre.
The standard academy strat: Rush to the sun's position, beat the ogre to death.
Sapa strat: Burn the whole forest, dig a tunnel, and outlast it. (Having an Azure Magic Tower mage makes this more comfy.)
Yet amid all this, no one had ever reported meeting a dwarf.
They'd combed the forest exhaustively early on. Unless it used invisibility magic, someone would've spotted it.
Enbus and Selbia crouched, plotting their dwarf hunt.
"Hire an Azure mage to freeze the ogre without killing it, torch the forest, then search slow and steady."
"That's... a solid idea. How about asking Miss Whitesnow?"
"I'd die first."
"Er..."
But she's the only Azure mage strong enough to cryo-store an ogre, I dunno, if you drag her in I'm out—while they bickered.
Luna quietly raised her hand.
"I know. Where it is."
"You knew...?"
"Yeah. Tactics core."
"...?"
Luna briefly explained her record shortcut.
Facing the ogre head-on was iffy, and with one ballista shot, it wouldn't die. So she opted for the burn-the-forest plan too.
To find 1) fast-roast ogre spots and 2) good tunnel sites, she grabbed a shovel and dug around.
That's when she found the underground cavern.
"Underground cavern? That exists?"
"No way... you dug up that whole huge place bit by bit?!"
"V."
The cavern was tall inside. A dwarf lived there, munching mushrooms. Spotting this hidden piece, Luna thought:
Drop the ogre here—will it die?
She did. Lured it right above, triggered jump attack. Ground collapsed, ogre roared as it fell... 25% chance neck snaps, dead.
"..."
"...Th-the dwarf down there?"
Luna clenched then opened her fist. Flat-as-pancake meaning.
Enbus and Selbia edged away from her. Discovery method aside, they now knew the dwarf's spot.
"We'll go meet the dwarf first."
Luna would pull ogre aggro while they met it.
Caked in dirt, beard and hair a wild tangle—like a mine slave—the dwarf bellowed in a grating, metallic roar.
"Get lost, you humans! This is my forest! Filthy, ugly race—ptui!"
"..."
Luna shrugged. See?
Enbus froze in shock at the blatant racism to his face, but insult-hardened Selbia casually scanned around.
Dreary setup, unfit for living.
Mushroom cluster in the corner, gnaw marks. Food source.
Two massive ballista bolts leaned against the wall. Hidden here. She naturally picked one up.
"Elder, anything you wanna tell us...?"
"Only 'get lost'! Liars, ugly race... now thieves too?! Put that down, human girl!!"
"Don't be stingy. Bolts don't wear out from use."
"They do!!"
The dwarf frothed and flailed.
But a malnourished underground dwarf versus a fit, trained academy student? No contest.
Selbia recalled her village's undercurrent proverb:
'Dead men's goods are public property.'
Slightly tweaked: 'Dying men's goods are public property.' Dwarf looked near end anyway, so she pocketed the bolt guilt-free.
Enbus, stuck between, picked persuading the dwarf over her.
"Listen, dwarf elder. We're taking the bolts out of necessity, but we'll use them for good."
"You thieving bastards—!!"
"Once we kill the ogre with these, you can safely leave the forest. See some sunlight..."
"...What?"
Tone shifted. Not rage-what? Pure curiosity.
Dwarf pondered, asked again.
"Using those to hunt it?"
"It...?"
"The ogre! Scar on left eye!"
"From memory, the ogre has no such scar—"
Crack. Split.
Thud—!!
It all happened in a flash. Ceiling shattered, huge shadow plummeted, flattening the dwarf. Fallen ogre.
Luna sat on its back.
"..."
"You were late."
"We were just getting to the talk..."
"Do it again."
Enbus eyed the corpse sourly. Reset time. Dig again, meet dwarf, talk more this time.
Final glance—no scar on ogre's face.
Floor 2, normal clear.
The trigger was ogre hunting. Gruff dwarf softened at their intent, even cooperative.
"You plan to hunt the ogre? With... my ballista?"
"Yes."
"Fine. Even if it's human strength... if my ballista takes its neck. Worth it..."
Dwarf harbored deep ogre grudge. Wanted revenge with his own tools, gladly handed over two bolts.
Peaceful bolt acquisition: two shots.
Now the challenge: Down ogre with three total.
◆ First Attempt
Tank: Luna
Ballista Op: Enbus, Selbia
Luna directed clearly with fingers and words.
"I hold. You shoot."
Solid plan, no objections. They rolled with it.
"Let's do it."
"I'll calc angle, you power it!"
Luna controlled most vars. Sun position, terrain—guessed nearest ballista to ogre.
Ordered first load, timed lure to ballista front.
Unlike prior orcs, this ogre was vanilla. No double height, no magic. That's plenty tough already.
Even pro adventurer Teardrop Guy needed focus to cook it step-by-step.
Height ~3m variance. Hard to target vitals like neck. Natural reach crushes. Thick club = mass destruction.
Tough, thick green hide resists blades. Impacts worse. Flawless raw specs. Why ogres rule forests.
"Groooar—!!"
"Simple."
Luna danced lightly with the forest king.
To dodge sweeps and stay visible, Luna wore light, clingy clothes.
Club whipped wildly, splitting air, sweeping wide. Her counter: flexibility.
Splits flat to ground. Bends waist supple, evades range. Curves boldly exposed.
Grace like a ballerina.
Enbus mesmerized by the girl's elegant lines—thwack, Selbia toed his shin. He snapped to, excused.
"I-I saw the moves. The moves."
"Just shoot."
"Luna, signal and we fire!"
Luna nodded, whistled—but got a wheezy hiss. 50% success rate.
Lured to next pattern, signaled verbally.
"...Pip."
Twing! Shwoooo—!!
Ballista fired. Per Selbia's math, bolt speared ogre's head clean. It staggered, toppled back.
"Got it!"
"Hit!"
Enbus and Selbia rushed to check.
Pulse gone—clean kill. Success. Selbia draped Luna's shed jacket over her as they awaited results.
On Floor 1 challenge clear, they'd seen oddity: orc corpse leaked light orb, floated skyward, burst fireworks-style blessing clear.
Exit showed ★ on ranking board bottom. Expected same here.
But.
"...?"
"No star."
"Someone touch ogre?"
No fanfare. As they puzzled, bushes rustled. Underground dwarf.
He pocketed telescope, declared:
"This is invalid!"
"Luring and stalling? Even idiots can hit then. I won't accept it! You had to kill the ogre using only my ballista!"
Dwarf spat rage and old hate; faint light flickered on his chest.
"What bullshit is—"
Selbia bristled, but bright light hit—world blacked out.
Floor 2, normal clear.
"We used only the ballista?! What the hell...!!"
"..."
"..."
Selbia stomped floor in fury.
Enbus admired: Crimson Tower mages are fire-tempered. Luna analyzed gimmick.
"Light. Dwarf. Nirvana."
"...Meaning?"
Orc proper kill: challenge complete, light orb from corpse.
Matched dwarf's chest flash at 1st-run end.
Dwarf craved revenge via his gear only... Luna hypothesized:
Trial Tower challenges = granting per-floor wishes.
"Grant wish, gets marked."
"...So kill ogre dwarf's way?"
"No lure, no traps, purely ballista?"
"Strict. Probably."
Luna waved three fingers. No wonder three bolts.
Floor 2 trickier than thought.