The Hidden Archive

The conquest of the Insect Assembly Castle (4). Still, time flows on, as they say. Whether Lily’s insect-repelling barrier was breached or mine was melting away, the hunt continued. No one here was the type to abandon the journey just because they’d been bitten by a few bugs.

We circled along the outer walls, slaughtering every insect and monster in sight. The women fought with ferocious enthusiasm, as if they were venting all the stress the bugs had piled on them straight back at the creatures.

“Burn! Burn it all down!”

“Damn it, there’s still a limit to how many I can cut down with a sword at once… Is there really no way to slice through them in a wider area…!”

Sometimes they were a little scary. I worried their irritation might turn toward me one day. In that state, it looked like someone might actually get stabbed.

Of course, I wasn’t free of stress myself. Every time I tried to sleep, bugs crawled across my skin and the buzz of wings filled my ears. No matter how many times the Saintess cast purification, there was a limit to how much filth she could cleanse from our bodies. And since there was no clean drinking water, we had no choice but to repeatedly purify the stagnant puddles nearby and drink from them. Scooping aside the floating insect corpses with our hands before lowering our heads to suck up the water… it went beyond pitiful and straight into miserable.

For all appearances, I was a man who had lived a comfortable life in modern society. I wouldn’t say I’d lived particularly well, but… at the very least, it had been far more comfortable than the lives of medieval people. Suddenly being forced into conditions worse than a medieval beggar… it was only natural that complaints would pile up.

Even so, the reason I could endure it was simple. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠There was still the joy of growth.

A month had passed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠since ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we entered the Insect Assembly Castle. In that time, I had learned a great deal.

As soon as I activated both Multitasking and Combat Focus, the swarms of insects rushing in from every direction became painfully clear. The sound of wings from the swarm charging from the left. The scratching of a centipede stealthily approaching from behind. Even the clicking of the stag beetle monster’s mandibles right in front of me. Three-pronged attacks all at once.

I didn’t panic. My accelerated thoughts had already decided exactly how I would respond.

First, the big one straight ahead.

Woooong.

The mana flowing through my body gently wrapped around the Holy Sword. After rising two levels in a single month, the density of my Mana Blade had changed completely. Even if it was only a two-level difference, this game had always been absurdly punishing when it came to level gaps.

Shukak!

The Holy Sword, infused with mana, sliced cleanly through the monster’s chitin armor. The creature was bisected mid-charge, its body splitting neatly in two. I dashed straight through the gap between the severed halves, dodging the attacks of both the swarm and the centipede.

Next.

I thrust my palm toward the swarm that was trying to cluster together and charge. I concentrated the mana flowing through my body into the center of my palm. Then I converted it into a single attribute. What I pictured in my mind was a blazing fireball.

A massive fireball shot forward into the middle of the swarm.

Whoosh!

The fireball that struck the insects blazed fiercely. The flames made of pure mana used the bugs themselves as fuel, lighting up the surroundings for a brief moment. It was a spell I had learned from our party’s mage, Lily. I could finally use magic too!

Of course, she hadn’t taught me directly. I had simply picked it up naturally while watching her furiously incinerate insects day after day. When someone throws fire magic around nonstop, how could I not copy it? Naturally, when Lily saw me using the same spell, she frowned and looked displeased… but that was a minor issue.

After dealing with those two threats, the last remaining creature finally revealed itself. A venomous centipede. The creature, as thick as a human forearm, curled its body and launched itself at me.

I had already perceived it and prepared accordingly. I could block it, dodge it, or simply cut it down with my sword. But I chose none of those options. Instead, I let it bite me.

After all, I had never been bitten by one of these yet.

Crunch!

The centipede sank its fangs into my forearm and injected its venom. A stinging pain spread as a status window appeared before my eyes.

“Oh.”

I let out a small sound of admiration. So it was a neurotoxin. And the fact that it even triggered a WARNING meant this was quite a potent venom.

Slash!

I quickly cut down the now-useless creature with my sword and observed my condition. Breathing gradually became difficult, and a slight nausea rose in my throat. If left alone, I would probably die from respiratory failure. But that reaction was neutralized shortly after.

By now, my Poison Resistance had reached a fairly high level. Since it was practically the most important skill for conquering the Insect King, I had been grinding it whenever I had a spare moment. And by “grinding,” I meant deliberately letting venom be injected into my body…

To be honest, it hurt like hell most of the time, but thanks to that I had raised it by three whole levels. At this point, I should be able to endure the Insect King’s poison to some degree.

Anyway, after continuing the fight in that manner, the battle eventually came to an end.

“Hoo—” Kamilla let out a long sigh and spoke. “Sure enough, the deeper we go, the stronger the monsters get. My sword isn’t cutting them as easily anymore.”

“More than that, I just want this wretched lifestyle to end… It’s already been a whole month. How much farther do we have to go?”

“There’s still a long way. From what my detection magic tells me… we’ll need at least another month.”

“Haa… We have to do this for another month?”

A month? The longest it had ever taken me was over half a year. The game had been truly brutal back then. Valcan hadn’t been the first Heavenly King but the fourth boss, and the castle’s interior was far more complex, making navigation a nightmare. Compared to that, our current situation was practically heavenly.

While listening to my companions’ conversation, I quietly scanned our surroundings. We ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had ventured quite deep; the corridor was noticeably darker than before. The monsters that appeared now were significantly stronger. Even fighting five or six of them left me short of breath. Blades were growing dull against their hides, and magic was losing effectiveness. There were times when even the Saintess’s purification couldn’t fully clear the terrible poisons we suffered. We had reached that stage.

But I wasn’t particularly worried. The game’s designer had apparently anticipated this and placed an item for a power-up nearby.

It’s about time for the hidden piece to appear.

Near the center of the Insect Assembly Castle lay one of its hidden pieces: Valcan’s Archive. Tucked away in a corner of the corridor, the repository contained all sorts of skill books and brief information on insect-type monsters. Of course, since it was essentially an abandoned book storage, there probably weren’t many truly important tomes… But value always depends on the person using it. For our current party, this was undoubtedly an opportunity to increase our combat strength.

“Let’s think positively. We’ve already come halfway, haven’t we? We’ve all grown much stronger during this time, so let’s keep pushing.”

“That’s true, but… haa, never mind. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been able to wash properly in so long. I keep complaining. Sorry.”

I walked while listening to the voices behind me like background music and continued scanning the area.

“It’s alright, Lily. In a situation like this, it’s only natural for irritation to build up. To be honest, I’ve accumulated quite a bit of stress myself. There’s no joy in exploring this place. Really, how can a castle of this scale not have even a single ordinary treasure chest…?”

Let’s see… I think it was around here.

Something far more important than a mere treasure chest.

After walking for quite a while while examining the walls, I finally spotted something unusual. A wall with such a subtle difference that it would be nearly impossible to notice under normal circumstances. Right in the exact center of the dark wall, perfectly positioned, was a single crushed fly. Strangely, there were almost no insects around it, giving the spot an eerie quality. It looked as if someone had deliberately left a marker.

Because the surroundings were so dark, unless you examined it closely you would never notice the sign. But once you knew what to look for, finding it wasn’t difficult.

I cheered inwardly.

Found it.

One of the hidden pieces belonging to Valcan. Valcan’s Archive, located precisely at the midpoint of the Insect Assembly Castle. Today, in this place, I would decide how to develop myself and lay the foundation for my class.

“Still, if we look carefully, there might be at least one hidden treasure chest somewhere, right?”

“I doubt it… I’ve been scanning periodically as we walked and haven’t detected anything. It seems he didn’t bother creating any secret rooms.”

While my companions were distracted, I quietly approached the wall. Taking the marked brick in the exact center as reference, I pressed three spaces to the right, then five spaces downward. Then, using the center as the axis of symmetry, I pressed the exact opposite spots on the other side as well.

The wall that looked solid slid inward with surprising smoothness.

And then—

“It seems there really isn’t anything hidden here. It really is just an ordinary castle full of bugs…”

Rumble!

A massive sound rang out, cutting off Adel’s words. The wall I had pressed according to the correct sequence gladly opened like a door, as if acknowledging the correct answer.

What appeared was a single staircase leading downward.

“······.”

“······?”

A hidden passage suddenly appearing in the middle of the corridor must have been shocking. Everyone’s eyes turned toward me. Adel, who had just declared there were no hidden rooms, stared back and forth between the staircase and me with a completely dumbfounded expression.

Under all those gazes, I spoke casually.

“Ahaha, I accidentally pressed something and this opened up?”

Everyone looked at me like I was ridiculous.