Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Mage's Dungeon (3)
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"Huup."
Boom! Crackle.
Rokan steadied his breathing and slammed the boss room door shut with force. For some perverse reason, trying to push it open like a normal boss room would electrocute you.
The boss room door swung open as if yielding to the impact.
From the gap emerged someone unmistakably dressed as a mage.
[Cowardly Mage Chorgi][Lv 140]
The boss of this dungeon and the creator of the rings he used.
With anticipation bubbling about what items this guy would drop, Rokan launched himself forward.
"Charge of Destruction!"
"Eek! Grease!"
Slick.
A basic spell that reduced the ground's friction to zero.
Startled by Rokan's charge, the mage quickly cast a spell in response.
Rokan's momentum veered off course, slamming him into the wall, and a pile of rocks collapsed onto him.
"Hyaat! Throwing!"
But Rokan wasn't one to die under something like that. He shouldered a massive boulder falling from above and hurled it at Chorgi.
"Escape!"
It didn't work this time either. The mage had dodged with quick thinking befitting his class.
Despite the "cowardly" moniker, this guy was no pushover.
"Freeze Arrow!"
Next came arrows of ice.
Rokan kept his eyes locked on them and dodged. They weren't that powerful, but getting hit would slow him with a freeze effect.
'Tough one.'
He didn't pack one-shot kills to worry about, but that's what made him hard to catch. He wielded a barrage of minor but effective spells with skill.
It was almost surprising that someone this capable was cowering and fleeing.
'Means there's someone even stronger after him.'
Anyway, he couldn't just praise the enemy.
Rokan dodged the attacks nimbly while hurling hand axes to pressure him and close the distance.
"Fire!"
Then the mage pulled another trick. This was Chorgi's lab and fortress.
Hidden magic traps and devices revealed themselves all at once, unleashing a concentrated barrage at Rokan.
"Escape! Defense!"
It wasn't time for Berserk yet.
He unleashed every skill embedded in his rings. Dodging the barrage's focal point, he raised a shield. It was precarious, but he blocked most of the attacks.
"Leap Attack!"
The moment his shield shattered, Rokan soared. He swung his battle axe down at Chorgi's head with savage force, as if to split it in two.
"Escape!"
"Charge! Dash!"
Chorgi attempted another escape right then.
Rokan had used a ring skill, but for Chorgi, Escape was a quick combo he could spam often.
"Force!"
As if he'd anticipated that too, Rokan instantly charged and caught up.
A horizontal slash separated the robe's hem from the body, inflicting a mortal wound.
Splat!
The battle axe tore through the robe viciously. But inside wasn't Chorgi.
[Disguised Specter Revealed][Lv 130]
Chorgi had dressed a specter in his robe and disguised it as himself.
Once the robe—the medium for the disguise—was torn, revealing the body, the illusion broke.
Rumble.
Before he could search for the real Chorgi, a new foe appeared.
[Chorgi's Golem, Super One][Lv 133]
A stone golem rose amid vibrations. A common ultimate weapon for mages.
Boasting top-tier defense from its solid rock body, but Rokan's gaze on it was ice-cold.
It was nothing to him, with his confidence in raw destructive power.
"Fatal Blow!"
Ignoring it to finish the specter first, mini golems had risen in the meantime.
"You really love hiding, don't you?"
Sneering, he charged not at the golem but at the wall behind where the specter had been.
"Intruder, die!"
He smashed his battle axe into the wall adorned with decorative magic runes, and the golem lunged like it was berserk.
But Rokan ignored it still, smashing the same spot repeatedly to break the wall.
Like the old tree hiding the entrance, this was a control room concealed by magic.
Crack!
The wall crumbled soon after, altering the terrain. A hidden room revealed itself.
"Fire Ballista!"
"Berserk!"
A terrifying blow launched simultaneously. Even a tank with full health would barely survive it, yet Rokan took it head-on.
"Eek!"
Chorgi gasped in horror as his finisher failed.
Rokan bared his madness, glaring right at the cowardly human mage.
"Krraaaaaah!"
His predator's roar halted every being. Mana invaded the golem's core, freezing its functions momentarily.
The golem locked up mid-swing with clasped fists.
It gave Rokan his opening.
"I'm sick of this. Let's end it!"
Rokan closed in relentlessly, his battle axe shredding the real Chorgi's body in seconds.
True to his cowardly name, Chorgi wore iron armor instead of a mage's robe, but it only slowed him down. He ended up a pulp after getting pummeled like a sandbag.
[You have leveled up.]
Perhaps linked somehow—the golem froze, and the satisfying level-up notice confirmed the fight's end.
"Whew!"
It had been a flashy, chaotic battle. Especially that final blow—even Rokan wouldn't have taken it easily with low health.
His elemental resistance had mitigated the damage enough not to die, but his health must have plummeted to critical.
But in the end, he was the victor.
He could've smashed the golem, found the hidden space, and cleared easier, but he just didn't want to deal with a rock golem that dulled his axe without dropping loot.
"Huh, again?"
[Cowardly Mage's Escape Ring][Magic]
An escape ring made by a cowardly mage.
-Once per day, shout 'Withdraw' inside a dungeon to teleport outside.
-Dungeons withdrawn from auto-reset.
-Charges: 1/1
-Recharge wait time: 0:00
Chorgi dropped a staff and armor too, but this stood out most.
He now had the full Cowardly Mage three-piece set.
Who could be so terrifying that he'd go this far?
He rummaged through old memories, but nothing clear surfaced. It hadn't pointed to anyone specific, anyway.
"Whatever, it'll come up eventually."
No need to force it. Searching the secret room would yield Chorgi's Diary item.
He recalled it as junk besides reading flavor text, but oddly, he felt compelled to read it again.
"First, time to choose."
Entering the secret room, Rokan scanned around. Scattered documents and books everywhere. Touching one brought up a window.
[Acquire Skill Book 'Shield'? For first clear, you may acquire one skill book from this room.]
A special reward for clearing the Mage's Dungeon. Claim one skill book from the room.
Some were sold by class guilds, others not, but all valuable.
Drop or reward skill books could be learned regardless of class.
A warrior wouldn't match a mage's power with magic, but smart use offered high utility.
Especially for creating new combo skills.
That's what Rokan had hoped for.
"Plenty here."
Problem was, there were unexpectedly many. He had to touch each to check, finally finding what he wanted after rummaging.
[Acquire Skill Book 'Damage Change'? For first clear, you may acquire one skill book from this room.]
Backstep, Blink, Shield—plenty of useful ones, but Rokan chose this.
Damage Change.
For one attack, swap physical attack power with magic attack power, and vice versa.
In other words, Rokan's devastating damage would hit as magic power.
Crit damage didn't apply, sadly, but utility was immense.
Especially swapping physical to magic: above a threshold, it turned 'explosive'.
"Now preparations are complete."
What could he do with this?
A wicked smile crept across Rokan's lips.
"Oh, almost forgot this."
Choosing the skill book turned the rest into plain books. Except one.
[Chorgi's Diary][Normal]
Diary of the Cowardly Mage Chorgi. Reading it might reveal what he feared...
Chorgi's Diary, junk like any other.
Many skimmed and tossed it in his past life, but Rokan felt drawn to it.
An odd sense of duty to read it. Maybe from wearing three of his rings?
"Hmm..."
The contents were simple. Written like a real diary, not daily, so short. He finished it easily while waiting out Berserk's cooldown.
"...Huh?"
Rokan's expression shifted subtly as he read without much thought.
[...They ordered me to make that cursed thing. This isn't right. It could doom the world. Monsters aren't the only ones who might corrupt. In the end...]
[...Can't escape. They'll kill me the moment I try. Forced to join them, but...]
[...The time has come. They'll leave for the council. That's when I'll act...]
[...Escaped successfully. Lost some prepared artifacts shaking pursuit, but I survived...]
[...No. They're coming. To catch me. To kill me. They don't need me anymore, but just knowing them is enough...]
[Hide. Deeper. Somewhere no one knows... But will even that fool them?]
"This..."
The diary depicted him slowly descending into madness, chased by some group.
But Rokan didn't pity him. Certain keywords caught his eye.
'Cursed thing' and 'corruption'.
Was this what he thought? If so, a new fact even he didn't know.
Mutated monsters came first, then corrupted ones.
"Humans involved too?"
A group mutating and corrupting monsters was known, but their identity never fully revealed in his past life.
Theories abounded, but Third Force seemed likely.
Corrupted monsters plagued not just Golden Lion but Black Dragon Legion territories too.
Humans entangled in this?
Maybe just disposable slaves, but not something to dismiss lightly.
"Gotta take this."
He decided to hand it to the investigation team. It might unlock a new main scenario quest if used right.
"But first, level up."
Of course, he needed the level for such a quest first.
Minimum 150. Over 30 levels ahead, but Rokan wasn't anxious.
Power-leveling prep was already done.