Chapter 584: Original (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 584: Original (1)
A single-person portal would open when the stone statue was touched.
With that phenomenon in mind, the officers, wizards, and adventurers of the expedition group came to the same conclusion.
All of the statues. There was a high probability that all or maybe a set number of them needed to be activated and defeated for that stone door to open.
I, of course, also agreed with this assessment. That was why, after coming back from clearing the Green Coal Mine, I tested a few different things.
I opened the rift I'd cleared again. I checked if the person who cleared the rift could enter the same rift again. I timed how long an opened portal would stay open, and so on. We redirected our attention from clearing the room to beginning our research.
It was time well spent, not wasted. I mean, weren't games like this as well? If you wanted to do well, you needed to know the proper activation conditions, characteristics of the enemy, and synergies between skills, among other things.
Alright, I think I'm getting it now.
As we proceeded with our investigation, we gathered a lot of information. We learned that if no one entered the portal, it would close after ten minutes and that we couldn't open a portal to a statue someone was already inside of.
Other than that, to summarize the most important things, I made a list of five things.
One: The stone statue can be activated at least seven times.
The reason it was at least seven times was because we only tried seven times.
Seven people, including me, cleared the Green Coal Mine and came back, but the stone statue continued to open a portal when we placed a hand on it.
We can just take it as there not being a usage limit.
Next, two: The Guardians were guaranteed to drop their essence.
The catch was that they didn't drop anything else. As proof of this, during our seven attempts, we didn't get a single rift stone or a numbered item. Well, it was a game of probabilities, so we could only really be sure if we tried more.
Anyway, three: When the rift was cleared, one of the symbols engraved on the stone door would light up with a red light.
Oh, and it didn't seem like duplicates worked for this. The light only came on when I cleared the rift the first time. Meaning, to light the rest of the lights, we would need to clear the rest of the stone statues.
Four: When the highest difficulty statue, the statue of a fifth-floor Guardian, was activated, two portals opened.
We were able to confirm this after learning that there were no limits to opening a portal and that an opened portal would close after ten minutes.
The fifth-floor rift had two portals, meaning two people could enter together.
Put another way, that meant the fourth-floor rifts and below needed to be cleared by one person alone.
In any case, finally, five: Even after buffing oneself with anything and everything before entering, it would all be dispelled after entering the portal.
Because that trick wasn't going to work, only people who had the capabilities at their base could enter the rift to clear it.
Even I wouldn't have an easy time. Dungeon and Stone wasn't a game where you could breeze through the game just by having a high level and eating good essences. Although I prided myself on being someone who ranked among the strongest in the world, there were enemies even I had trouble facing.
...Still, surely it'll be possible if two people can enter it, right?
Although the field had the concept of opening multiple single-person rifts, the stone room didn't have such an entry restriction.
Thanks to that, we were able to have hundreds of members here together.
And since each one of them was an elite member, we just needed to pick the adventurer who had the best matchup with the specific Guardian.
Let's try it...
It was time to properly start clearing this place.
***
Unlike a regular rift, the boss room appeared after only walking for a short while, so the early statues were cleared out quite quickly.
Cursed Knight Vlater of the Bloody Citadel.
Tyrant Tarunbas of the Glacier Cave.
Iron Ildium of the Iron Grave.
The raids ended nearly instantly, and all three of them dropped an essence.
Well, I wouldn't be eating those essences at this point.
Still, it wasn't as if there was nothing to gain.
[Guardian defeat bonus. EXP +3]
[Guardian defeat bonus. EXP +3]
[Guardian defeat bonus. EXP +3]
I became sure of it after defeating them a few times, but Guardian bonuses worked here as well.
Still, that's a shame.
I couldn't enter a rift I had already cleared. Even if someone else opened the portal for me, I would only walk through the portal and end up behind it.
If not for that, I would've farmed so much experience.
It was disappointing, but I decided to be more optimistic about it. Excluding a few I couldn't defeat, how much experience would I get for defeating the ones I could?
This would probably be more helpful to me than the essences.
There are quite a few Guardians I haven't defeated yet.
Plus, if I included the first clear experience, I could theoretically obtain upward of 200 experience in just this expedition alone.
However, it seemed this had also occurred to the other adventurers. When we were going over to the second-floor Guardians, someone approached me.
"Could I...challenge this one as well?"
"Your name was..."
"It's Miles Humbreak, Lord Baron."
Ah, right. I remembered him because he wasn't a knight but an adventurer who was scouted for this expedition. Now that I thought about it, there were a few adventurers in this expedition who were like him.
"For the rifts on the first floor, excluding the Bloody Citadel, I haven't been able to obtain accomplishments for the Guardians. If you permit it—"
"Get permission from the count, not me."
"His Lordship said it would be fine if you gave your permission, Lord Baron."
So the village chief was going to keep acting as a puppet leader here as well.
"Hmm..."
What should I do? If I sent him and he ended up dying, we would wind up losing our strength.
...Still, surely it'll be possible if two people can enter it, right?
Although the field had the concept of opening multiple single-person rifts, the stone room didn't have such an entry restriction.
Thanks to that, we were able to have hundreds of members here together.
And since each one of them was an elite member, we just needed to pick the adventurer who had the best matchup with the specific Guardian.
Let's try it...
It was time to properly start clearing this place.
***
Unlike a regular rift, the boss room appeared after only walking for a short while, so the early statues were cleared out quite quickly.
Cursed Knight Vlater of the Bloody Citadel.
Tyrant Tarunbas of the Glacier Cave.
Iron Ildium of the Iron Grave.
The raids ended nearly instantly, and all three of them dropped an essence.
Well, I wouldn't be eating those essences at this point.
Still, it wasn't as if there was nothing to gain.
[Guardian defeat bonus. EXP +3]
[Guardian defeat bonus. EXP +3]
[Guardian defeat bonus. EXP +3]
I became sure of it after defeating them a few times, but Guardian bonuses worked here as well.
Still, that's a shame.
I couldn't enter a rift I had already cleared. Even if someone else opened the portal for me, I would only walk through the portal and end up behind it.
If not for that, I would've farmed so much experience.
It was disappointing, but I decided to be more optimistic about it. Excluding a few I couldn't defeat, how much experience would I get for defeating the ones I could?
This would probably be more helpful to me than the essences.
There are quite a few Guardians I haven't defeated yet.
Plus, if I included the first clear experience, I could theoretically obtain upward of 200 experience in just this expedition alone.
However, it seemed this had also occurred to the other adventurers. When we were going over to the second-floor Guardians, someone approached me.
"Could I...challenge this one as well?"
"Your name was..."
"It's Miles Humbreak, Lord Baron."
Ah, right. I remembered him because he wasn't a knight but an adventurer who was scouted for this expedition. Now that I thought about it, there were a few adventurers in this expedition who were like him.
"For the rifts on the first floor, excluding the Bloody Citadel, I haven't been able to obtain accomplishments for the Guardians. If you permit it—"
"Get permission from the count, not me."
"His Lordship said it would be fine if you gave your permission, Lord Baron."
So the village chief was going to keep acting as a puppet leader here as well.
"Hmm..."
What should I do? If I sent him and he ended up dying, we would wind up losing our strength.
When I didn't respond, he added on with desperation. "I understand your concerns, Lord Baron. It is unsafe for me to enter a place that no longer needs to be entered. However, please do not worry. No matter if it's a Guardian, I am not so weak as to lose to a rank 7 monster."
"I have a condition before I allow it."
"A... A condition," he repeated warily.
I smirked at the adventurer's serious expression. "What are you so nervous about? Before you enter, go to the wizards and learn everything there is to know about the Guardian. Everything. That is your condition."
"...Pardon? Ah, understood! Thank you! Thank you so much!" The adventurer seemed to have expected a different condition as he profusely thanked me before leaving.
Back then, I didn't know.
There was a reason judges always talked about precedents in trials.
"Um...Lord Baron?"
"Could I perhaps challenge one as well..."
With one came the others, who had all been eyeing our conversation.
Hah, it's not like I can refuse these guys since I already allowed him...
I couldn't be bothered answering each of them individually, so I took on a recruit in the end. "Whether you can challenge or not will be decided by...her, Arua Raven over there. If Raven allows it, I'll allow it as well."
"Eh? Why am I suddenly a part of this?"
"You're pretty solid in your knowledge about rifts."
"Don't lie. Don't think that I wouldn't know you're only doing this because you can't be bothered—"
Tsk, this was why the quick-witted ones were...
I quickly cut her off and sternly said, "It's not because I can't be bothered. It's because I can trust you to do it."
Honestly, I wasn't lying. Although there were a lot of wizards I could order, no one was as precise as her. It helped that she was weak to compliments too.
Even while letting out a sigh, Raven shook her head as if it couldn't be helped. "...I'll only send the people who are definitely going to come back. Alright?"
Yeah, I knew you would do that.
Even though I pushed the bothersome work to her, seeing her eyes light up with confidence, I probably wouldn't need to worry about this anymore.
"Yandel," Amelia called for me.
Hmm, was she also going to ask if she could help Raven filter out the people as well? The timing suggested that might be the case.
"Could I...also challenge the Guardians...?"
The question she asked while uncharacteristically avoiding eye contact was completely different from what I expected she would ask. "What...?"
"A-ahem..." When I only stared right at her, Amelia let out a dry cough and logically explained her position. "If we can obtain Guardian accomplishments, it'd be a waste to let go of the opportunity here. Honestly, I also believe that the other members need to go in one at a time as well."
I would have been hard-pressed to ignore her words.
Hmm...that definitely is logical, right?
It didn't take long for me to decide. "Sure, do that. But only up to the third-floor Guardians."
"Understood. Then I'll get them ready. Ignoring the others, I think I'll need to prepare Ainar Fenelin quite a bit if I want to send her in."
"I'll leave that to you."
When I didn't respond, he added on with desperation. "I understand your concerns, Lord Baron. It is unsafe for me to enter a place that no longer needs to be entered. However, please do not worry. No matter if it's a Guardian, I am not so weak as to lose to a rank 7 monster."
"I have a condition before I allow it."
"A... A condition," he repeated warily.
I smirked at the adventurer's serious expression. "What are you so nervous about? Before you enter, go to the wizards and learn everything there is to know about the Guardian. Everything. That is your condition."
"...Pardon? Ah, understood! Thank you! Thank you so much!" The adventurer seemed to have expected a different condition as he profusely thanked me before leaving.
Back then, I didn't know.
There was a reason judges always talked about precedents in trials.
"Um...Lord Baron?"
"Could I perhaps challenge one as well..."
With one came the others, who had all been eyeing our conversation.
Hah, it's not like I can refuse these guys since I already allowed him...
I couldn't be bothered answering each of them individually, so I took on a recruit in the end. "Whether you can challenge or not will be decided by...her, Arua Raven over there. If Raven allows it, I'll allow it as well."
"Eh? Why am I suddenly a part of this?"
"You're pretty solid in your knowledge about rifts."
"Don't lie. Don't think that I wouldn't know you're only doing this because you can't be bothered—"
Tsk, this was why the quick-witted ones were...
I quickly cut her off and sternly said, "It's not because I can't be bothered. It's because I can trust you to do it."
Honestly, I wasn't lying. Although there were a lot of wizards I could order, no one was as precise as her. It helped that she was weak to compliments too.
Even while letting out a sigh, Raven shook her head as if it couldn't be helped. "...I'll only send the people who are definitely going to come back. Alright?"
Yeah, I knew you would do that.
Even though I pushed the bothersome work to her, seeing her eyes light up with confidence, I probably wouldn't need to worry about this anymore.
"Yandel," Amelia called for me.
Hmm, was she also going to ask if she could help Raven filter out the people as well? The timing suggested that might be the case.
"Could I...also challenge the Guardians...?"
The question she asked while uncharacteristically avoiding eye contact was completely different from what I expected she would ask. "What...?"
"A-ahem..." When I only stared right at her, Amelia let out a dry cough and logically explained her position. "If we can obtain Guardian accomplishments, it'd be a waste to let go of the opportunity here. Honestly, I also believe that the other members need to go in one at a time as well."
I would have been hard-pressed to ignore her words.
Hmm...that definitely is logical, right?
It didn't take long for me to decide. "Sure, do that. But only up to the third-floor Guardians."
"Understood. Then I'll get them ready. Ignoring the others, I think I'll need to prepare Ainar Fenelin quite a bit if I want to send her in."
"I'll leave that to you."
It would be a lie if I said I wasn't worried about them going into the rifts alone without me, but I couldn't keep them under my wings like baby birds forever.
It was time to just trust them.
Amelia, Ainar, Erwen, Missha—those four would be able to easily complete up to the third-floor Guardians.
I ended up having a lot of time left.
I didn't stay to spectate the lecture Raven was giving the adventurers about the characteristics of the Guardians of the Rift, instead turning to look at the stone statues that hadn't been cleared yet. Among the second-floor Guardians, there were eight. The only third floor left was the Knight of the End of the White Temple.
Two for the fourth floor...
So including the unique rift of the fifth floor, that made for a total of twelve.
Fourteen types of unconfirmed Guardians, including Cambormere.
Adding on the four Guardians of the first floor, there were a total of forty-one statues here.
And since we defeated four of them here...
The calculation worked out to thirty-seven more Guardians to defeat.
...Let's deal with the easy ones first.
There probably wasn't a time limit here, right? Like we needed to defeat them all in a few days or something...
***
[Guardian Defeat Bonus. EXP +3]
[Guardian Defeat Bonus. EXP +3]
[Guardian Defeat Bonus. EXP +3]
[Guardian Defeat Bonus. EXP +3]
[Guardian...]
***
When I came out after defeating all eight of the second-floor Guardians, I could feel the change in the air. They did still seem welcoming, thanking me for the trouble, but something was off.
"The time? What's it say?"
"It's three minutes and twenty-seven seconds!"
A few of them were checking the time from afar and were writing something down as soon as they saw me. In hindsight, they had been doing this before as well.
"What are you writing?"
"...W-we were just recording how long it took you to defeat the Guardian and come back out, Lord Baron."
Displeasure rippled through me. What was I, a horse in a race?
"Are you perhaps making bets on me?" I asked in disgust.
The wizard paled and quickly waved his hands no. "N-not at all! We would never do that. It's just...for simple curiosity...we were recording everyone else as well, not just you, Lord Baron."
Hmm, then it would be odd for me to get angry here.
"Well...data is important..."
A wizard who didn't record wasn't a wizard at all.
As the saying of this world went, I knew how much a wizard loved to record things, so I didn't grill him anymore and carried on.
Missha and Erwen are raiding...and Amelia is taking a lesson.
As I took a bit of rest to collect my thoughts, a portal for the Glacier Cave opened as an adventurer walked back out of it.
"How long was that?" the adventurer immediately asked someone.
It would be a lie if I said I wasn't worried about them going into the rifts alone without me, but I couldn't keep them under my wings like baby birds forever.
It was time to just trust them.
Amelia, Ainar, Erwen, Missha—those four would be able to easily complete up to the third-floor Guardians.
I ended up having a lot of time left.
I didn't stay to spectate the lecture Raven was giving the adventurers about the characteristics of the Guardians of the Rift, instead turning to look at the stone statues that hadn't been cleared yet. Among the second-floor Guardians, there were eight. The only third floor left was the Knight of the End of the White Temple.
Two for the fourth floor...
So including the unique rift of the fifth floor, that made for a total of twelve.
Fourteen types of unconfirmed Guardians, including Cambormere.
Adding on the four Guardians of the first floor, there were a total of forty-one statues here.
And since we defeated four of them here...
The calculation worked out to thirty-seven more Guardians to defeat.
...Let's deal with the easy ones first.
There probably wasn't a time limit here, right? Like we needed to defeat them all in a few days or something...
***
[Guardian Defeat Bonus. EXP +3]
[Guardian Defeat Bonus. EXP +3]
[Guardian Defeat Bonus. EXP +3]
[Guardian Defeat Bonus. EXP +3]
[Guardian...]
***
When I came out after defeating all eight of the second-floor Guardians, I could feel the change in the air. They did still seem welcoming, thanking me for the trouble, but something was off.
"The time? What's it say?"
"It's three minutes and twenty-seven seconds!"
A few of them were checking the time from afar and were writing something down as soon as they saw me. In hindsight, they had been doing this before as well.
"What are you writing?"
"...W-we were just recording how long it took you to defeat the Guardian and come back out, Lord Baron."
Displeasure rippled through me. What was I, a horse in a race?
"Are you perhaps making bets on me?" I asked in disgust.
The wizard paled and quickly waved his hands no. "N-not at all! We would never do that. It's just...for simple curiosity...we were recording everyone else as well, not just you, Lord Baron."
Hmm, then it would be odd for me to get angry here.
"Well...data is important..."
A wizard who didn't record wasn't a wizard at all.
As the saying of this world went, I knew how much a wizard loved to record things, so I didn't grill him anymore and carried on.
Missha and Erwen are raiding...and Amelia is taking a lesson.
As I took a bit of rest to collect my thoughts, a portal for the Glacier Cave opened as an adventurer walked back out of it.
"How long was that?" the adventurer immediately asked someone.
"It was one minute and twenty-four seconds."
To the wizard's objective answer, the adventurer asked another question, the excitement beaming from his eyes. "Then what's my rank?"
"You are ranked third."
The adventurer made a sound of disappointment when he heard that before whispering into the wizard's ear. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to hear what he was saying.
"He's asking how long it took Bjorn Yandel."
Before I realized it, Amelia was next to me. I thought I had seen her taking a lesson from Raven just then. Did she leave it after seeing me?
Well, it wasn't that important.
"Uh-huh. Ahem, I see. Understood. Thank you for telling me."
The adventurer who had whispered to the wizard now looked very proud as if he had never been disappointed in his life before moving to receive Raven's lesson.
"Do you want to know what the wizard said?" Amelia offered.
"No, not particularly."
"Three minutes and twenty-seven seconds."
"...If you're going to tell me anyway, why bother asking?"
Her actions truly baffled me, but it wasn't as if I felt inferior because of my record. I mean, really, my record couldn't be that good in the first place. Every time I went in, I walked slowly through the corridor to check if anything had changed.
Well...even if I did my best, I don't think I would've been able to clear it as fast as them.
From what I could tell, they seemed to be competing amongst themselves, and it was a bit unfair to just include me in it like that. What was so good about killing monsters faster than a tank? What a bunch of pathetic—
"Also, my record was forty-seven seconds."
I blinked. "Huh?"
"...So I am ranked first."
"Ah..."
Maybe because of this additional context, rather than pathetic, it seemed pretty cute.
After taking my short rest, I immediately went to stand in front of a new stone statue, and Amelia tilted her head. "Are you going already?"
"I've rested enough."
"Not the Knight of the End?"
Right now, I was standing in front of the Vampire Guardian Cambormere. The reason was simple.
"It's about time we check the unconfirmed Guardians as well."
"Maybe..."
Amelia just nodded and didn't say anything else. She knew as well just how not of a threat a vampire would be to me.
"Still, be careful. Okay?" she said finally.
"Got it. I'm going now."
After being sent off by Amelia, I stepped through the portal.
The feeling of floating came over me once more, and the moment I sensed that I had been transferred—
Dash.
I bolted forward.
I could check the geography while running.
Brick walls that reminded me of a medieval castle. Candlesticks that were stuck to the walls. Old blood stains that covered the ground.
The place I had opened my eyes to was similar to the Demon Worship Room of the final chapter of the Bloody Citadel, but also different. Unlike the box-shaped structure, this was just a straight line.
Fwoosh.
I sped through the corridor toward the boss room I could see in front of me.
It couldn't be helped. I was also a human. And while I didn't want to get hung up on the records...
I also didn't want to become a target others could compare with and find comfort in.
Assuming nothing went awry, I was planning on killing the Guardian as fast as possible before getting out.
Boom!
The moment I saw the vampire sit up when I slammed through the door, however, I had no choice but to change my plan.
"Odd, how odd..."
The vampire looked at me with his sleepy eyes and spoke.
"...Have we perhaps met before?"
"It was one minute and twenty-four seconds."
To the wizard's objective answer, the adventurer asked another question, the excitement beaming from his eyes. "Then what's my rank?"
"You are ranked third."
The adventurer made a sound of disappointment when he heard that before whispering into the wizard's ear. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to hear what he was saying.
"He's asking how long it took Bjorn Yandel."
Before I realized it, Amelia was next to me. I thought I had seen her taking a lesson from Raven just then. Did she leave it after seeing me?
Well, it wasn't that important.
"Uh-huh. Ahem, I see. Understood. Thank you for telling me."
The adventurer who had whispered to the wizard now looked very proud as if he had never been disappointed in his life before moving to receive Raven's lesson.
"Do you want to know what the wizard said?" Amelia offered.
"No, not particularly."
"Three minutes and twenty-seven seconds."
"...If you're going to tell me anyway, why bother asking?"
Her actions truly baffled me, but it wasn't as if I felt inferior because of my record. I mean, really, my record couldn't be that good in the first place. Every time I went in, I walked slowly through the corridor to check if anything had changed.
Well...even if I did my best, I don't think I would've been able to clear it as fast as them.
From what I could tell, they seemed to be competing amongst themselves, and it was a bit unfair to just include me in it like that. What was so good about killing monsters faster than a tank? What a bunch of pathetic—
"Also, my record was forty-seven seconds."
I blinked. "Huh?"
"...So I am ranked first."
"Ah..."
Maybe because of this additional context, rather than pathetic, it seemed pretty cute.
After taking my short rest, I immediately went to stand in front of a new stone statue, and Amelia tilted her head. "Are you going already?"
"I've rested enough."
"Not the Knight of the End?"
Right now, I was standing in front of the Vampire Guardian Cambormere. The reason was simple.
"It's about time we check the unconfirmed Guardians as well."
"Maybe..."
Amelia just nodded and didn't say anything else. She knew as well just how not of a threat a vampire would be to me.
"Still, be careful. Okay?" she said finally.
"Got it. I'm going now."
After being sent off by Amelia, I stepped through the portal.
The feeling of floating came over me once more, and the moment I sensed that I had been transferred—
Dash.
I bolted forward.
I could check the geography while running.
Brick walls that reminded me of a medieval castle. Candlesticks that were stuck to the walls. Old blood stains that covered the ground.
The place I had opened my eyes to was similar to the Demon Worship Room of the final chapter of the Bloody Citadel, but also different. Unlike the box-shaped structure, this was just a straight line.
Fwoosh.
I sped through the corridor toward the boss room I could see in front of me.
It couldn't be helped. I was also a human. And while I didn't want to get hung up on the records...
I also didn't want to become a target others could compare with and find comfort in.
Assuming nothing went awry, I was planning on killing the Guardian as fast as possible before getting out.
Boom!
The moment I saw the vampire sit up when I slammed through the door, however, I had no choice but to change my plan.
"Odd, how odd..."
The vampire looked at me with his sleepy eyes and spoke.
"...Have we perhaps met before?"