Crack Museum (1)
"Is it dangerous?"
"Yes."
"I see... then."
I already knew the regressor's arms were not warm and safe all the time.
If I compared this continent and the situation we were in to a game, Kim Hyunsung was the sort of named NPC who carried a main quest on his back.
It was already set in stone that he would stand at the center of all sorts of incidents, and I had long since accepted that danger might follow him through every one of them.
Come to think of it, there had never really been a time when things were not dangerous.
Even joining the strategy party during the tutorial, when Jung Jinho was still with us, had been a risk, and the Castle Rock siege had been no different.
Of course, the reason I had never felt much pressure from events like these was because I trusted the lovable regressor.
A big part of it was that I kept thinking he would appear like lightning and solve whatever crisis came our way.
Especially in a place like the Tutorial Dungeon, his arrival had in fact lowered the difficulty by a wide margin.
It was dangerous, sure, but I hadn't exactly been tense.
When I thought about it, every decision I made was a rational one after weighing one factor after another.
'It'll be a little dangerous, but there's a chance.'
I acted on thoughts like that.
In truth, Kim Hyunsung had never warned me about the dangers his choices might bring.
That was partly because he had enough confidence to believe he could handle things if trouble did break out, but at the very least, he was sure he could keep the people in his party from dying.
'If even he's bringing this up...'
That meant this really was dangerous.
Honestly, I couldn't help feeling a degree of unease.
"Can I hear what happened first?"
"Black Swan sent a request for support."
"That would be hard to refuse."
"Yes."
Park Deokgu, who had been staring blankly into space, finally opened his mouth.
"Why would it be hard to refuse?"
"Because we owe them a lot."
"Ah..."
"We owe Black Swan in a lot of ways. We haven't even paid back everything yet, and when I had trouble at the royal city, they helped us. We've also received a lot of help in ways that aren't visible. If you knew the details, you'd be surprised, Deokgu. They've influenced us in ways that seem minor, and we've influenced them in return."
We had even received help regarding Park Deokgu himself.
"They call it an alliance, but Blue, Black Swan, and the Red Mercenaries are all independent factions in the end. Naturally, each one has to move for its own gain. The only reason this alliance holds together is because these groups need one another, not because of some strange friendship or because they all share the goal of protecting Lindel."
"But hyung, aren't you pretty... close with that red-haired noona?"
"That's my relationship with Hyeira noona, not the relationship between Blue and the Red Mercenaries. Of course, there are certain benefits that come from being close, but that's all it is. Just as I put Blue first, she probably puts the Red Mercenaries first. In fact, Hyunsung-ssi is also on friendly terms with Black Swan's guild master, isn't he? Public matters are public, personal matters are personal. That's the basic rule."
"Ahhh..."
"Even so, if you think about the fact that among the three allied forces, Blue is the one receiving support in so many different fields and in so many different ways, the answer is obvious, isn't it? We've already been getting more than enough consideration. To begin with, our guild may be middle-tier if you look at its movable assets and capabilities, but its actual size is small."
"I think I get the gist of it..."
"To put it simply, in this three-way alliance, Blue has been sucking up the sweetest honey. And that honey isn't free. That's all there is to it. It's time to pay for all the honey water we've been drinking."
At my words, Kim Hyunsung gave a slight nod.
"Representative Lee is right. This is the first time Black Swan Guild has officially requested help from Blue. If we back out because this job seems dangerous, we'll lose trust not only with Black Swan but with the Red Mercenaries as well. Of course, the same would apply to the other guilds and clans."
"Ah... so that's how it is. In other words, it's about trust, right?"
"Yes. Thinking of it that way will probably make it easier to understand."
Given our position, we had no choice but to accept it.
If this mission really was dangerous, as Kim Hyunsung said, then it could very well become more debt piled on top of debt.
In other words, it meant we could summon those women again for the same matter if necessary.
'Not bad.'
Blue, too, might face danger at any time, in any form.
It was a little ironic to have to take risks in order to overcome danger, but this continent had always rewarded you in proportion to the risk you shouldered.
Since the situation made resistance impossible, I decided it was worth rolling the dice.
"What exactly is it?"
"A dungeon."
'I knew it.'
Unless there was a war and our people were being held as prisoners in another country, there wasn't much else Black Swan could ask us to help with.
"To begin with, I was told Black Swan's senior officials and members are stranded inside a dungeon. The request Guild Master Park Yeonju made of me was to rescue the people trapped inside that dungeon while also clearing it. Of course, it seems Black Swan's main combat force, including Park Yeonju-ssi, will be moving with us as well. The total clearing force will probably come to thirty people."
"Hmm... is it possible that the people inside the dungeon are already dead?"
"There is one survivor who escaped from inside the dungeon. According to their testimony, the people inside are indeed trapped. The dungeon's name is Crack Museum. As for the unusual point... I was told it is an ungraded dungeon."
"There was a survivor who got out? No, more than that... you mean it has no grade?"
"Yes. To explain more precisely, I heard it's the kind of dungeon whose rank changes. It could become a Normal-grade dungeon, and it could also become a Legendary-grade dungeon. Personally... I think we should even consider the possibility that it might change into something above Legendary."
"What?"
"Of course, the odds of that happening are extremely low, but..."
If there was even a chance that it could transform into something above Legendary, then going in at all was reckless. It was suicide.
When I thought about how few Legendary-grade dungeons had ever been cleared, the very premise of entering a dungeon that might be above Legendary was already wrong-headed.
Of course, if there really was a survivor, Black Swan would have prepared all sorts of measures related to the raid, but even so, there were so many dangerous factors that it was enough to make you uneasy.
'Above Legendary... Mythic, then.'
It could be Normal. It could be Heroic. How the hell was something like that even possible?
"How is something like that possible?"
"Crack Museum is a type of dungeon where named monsters appear at random."
"Ah..."
"Rare and Heroic, Legendary and Mythic named monsters are sealed inside the cracks, and they only release named monsters at random."
"How did you get that information...?"
"Rather than explaining everything in words, I think it would be better to show you the report directly. It's based on information from a dungeon guide called the Crack Museum docent."
"Yes. Please do."
'Dungeon guide...'
I had occasionally heard that there were dungeons of this kind. No, I had even experienced one myself.
The type might be a little different, but honestly, even the woman's voice I heard in the Tutorial Dungeon could be thought of as a dungeon guide.
To put it another way, a dungeon guide is an irregular being that clearly tells you what kind of dungeon this is and what goal must be achieved inside it.
The term covers the residual thoughts of a mage left behind in a dungeon like the Mage Tower, which had once been cleared by the Mage Guild, the system in the Tutorial Dungeon, or even a wandering spirit that roams a dungeon.
If there was even a thing openly called the Crack Museum docent, then I figured this dungeon might be a relatively considerate kind of dungeon.
'It's nothing like the Cursed Shrine...'
Unlike the Cursed Shrine, where I had obtained Yuliena, the problem there had been the total absence of information.
That was why a dungeon that had only been judged to be Heroic had swallowed an entire guild called Blue.
In that sense, having a special NPC attached to it wasn't a bad thing.
'Can I assume there aren't any annoying traps or convoluted tricks?'
There was still room for the place to grind people down in other ways, of course...
'Still, it's not bad.'
At the very least, nothing like what happened last time, where I had to overthink things outside the actual raid or worry about them, would happen again.
When I turned my gaze to the report prepared by Black Swan's survivor, it was clear that my guess had been right.
Of course, it was hard to believe that this survivor's report contained everything about the dungeon, but at least it was better than having no information at all.
'Probably.'
Flipping through the thick report page by page was over in an instant.
Seeing that I was reading with a rather serious expression, Kim Hyunsung didn't add a word or interrupt me at all.
He was making room for me to focus completely.
'Honestly, whether I read it or not doesn't really change anything...'
[Report on the Unranked Dungeon Crack Museum.]
[This report is based on the testimony of a Black Swan Guild survivor who received guidance from the Crack Museum docent.]
[The report is divided into a first section that reproduces the docent's explanation, a middle section that outlines the events that took place in the dungeon called Crack Museum, and a final section for the raid itself.]
“……”
[According to the Crack Museum docent, Crack Museum is a treasury of knowledge and relics created by the Crack Guardians, a secret society that has persisted since ancient times, and the docent Max is an ego ring made by them.]
[The Crack Guardians could not withstand the long passage of time and were weathered away by it, losing both their existence and their purpose. Docent Max is the only surviving Crack Guardian. From among those who enter the dungeon, a representative is selected, and to preserve the museum's quiet, the number of explorers is fixed at around thirty. After wearing the docent's ring, the museum exploration begins, and once someone has entered the dungeon, they cannot leave until they either finish exploring or pay the required price; they are effectively forced to proceed with the raid.]
[The raid can only be completed after sealing the Crack Guardians or after defeating three of the contracted named monsters, and there is no other method. The named entities managed by the museum are not limited to those from this continent; some come from outside as well. Some transcendent beings are in the form of contracts rather than seals.]
“Hah...”
[There are around five hundred entities in the museum, including three kinds of named monsters above Legendary rank, thirty kinds of Legendary-rank monsters, roughly four hundred Heroic-rank monsters, and the rest are classified as Rare-rank monsters.]
'This is... completely...'
[The three named monsters selected are determined strictly at random.]
“……”
[The rewards for museum exploration are also three in number, and the rewards are likewise determined at random among three kinds of Legendary-or-higher weapons, thirty kinds of Legendary weapons, roughly four hundred Heroic weapons, and the remaining weapons are classified as Rare... truncated.]
'……'
[The rewards are also determined strictly at random.]
'It's all luck...'
You could defeat a Legendary-rank monster and still receive a Rare-rank reward, or take down a Rare-rank monster and walk away with a Legendary weapon.
Park Deokgu, who had been quietly peeking at the report from beside me, seemed able to understand that much as well.
"So this is basically a totally scammy gacha game, then?"
I had no choice but to nod at his mutter.