Chapter 187
Chapter 187
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Zakum (2)
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4.
Adventurers say it all the time.
"Even ordinary folks who aren't adventurers can take down an Orange Mushroom if they band together and fight smart."
The power of teamwork is greater than anyone imagines.
"That's why, inside the Mystic Gate, adventurers have to stick to teamwork no matter what."
Especially in this Mystic Gate era, teamwork had become more crucial than anything else.
To squeeze out maximum efficiency from a limited number of people, nothing less would do.
"What happens if you don't? You get quietly erased from the picture."
If someone disrupted the teamwork, they were removed without a second thought.
"That's the right call from 3rd Circle to 4th Circle."
But it wasn't true in every case.
"Things change a bit starting at 5th Circle."
At 5th Circle—a realm only a select few adventurers ever reached—getting a group together to mesh as a team wasn't easy.
There were two reasons for that.
"First off, their egos are massive. Right? At 5th Circle, you're the boss of any organization you join, or at least the right-hand or left-hand man. Top-tier talent."
One was pride.
"And 5th Circle isn't something just anyone hits, you know? These are people who survived that insane world through their own methods. Ask them to change those methods? That's basically telling them to die."
The other was survival.
That was the most important part.
An adventurer's greatest virtue was staying alive, and the 5th Circle adventurers who made a name for themselves understood that virtue better than anyone.
They were the types who used any means necessary to survive.
So when 5th Circle adventurers teamed up to tackle a Mystic Gate, the concept of teamwork shifted a little.
"Which is why at 5th Circle, they don't have to go out of their way to cooperate."
They just let it be.
"They'll figure out who's who while hunting monsters anyway, and their rhythms will sync up naturally."
That alone was enough for them to achieve solid teamwork.
The Abandoned Mine expedition team was doing exactly that right now.
Cough! Cough!
On the 1st floor of the Mystic Gate, facing a pack of bulldogs that had appeared, the Abandoned Mine expedition was already adapting fast.
"Heh, the Knights are on the move. As expected, solid skills."
"A pack's coming from over there, sir. We'll handle that one first—leave it to us Wild Hunters."
They hunted the bulldog packs without issue, making Zakum's curse seem like nothing, and quickly pressed onward.
"Any casualties?"
"None, sir."
"Casualties are dropping off bit by bit."
And there weren't any real losses to speak of.
Of course, trouble always strikes when you think everything's fine—just like always.
This time was no different.
Cough!
"A bulldog pack!"
"The numbers are over a thousand!"
A bulldog horde charged in, dwarfing anything they'd faced so far.
"That one up front! It's the one we let slip away!"
"It's brought its buddies!"
These bulldogs weren't random encounters—they'd gathered specifically to hunt down the expedition team.
'We could lose people.'
Everyone braced for bad news.
And that fear turned real soon enough.
"Miss Viola, we've got a casualty."
Once the battle ended, everyone learned the truth.
"Who?"
"El Pam's party."
Viola's expression hardened at the words.
It was unexpected.
'El Pam's party?'
From what she knew, El Pam's party were survival experts who made it out of anything alive.
Even if the last fight had been rough, they weren't the type to die like that.
"The bodies?"
"The fight was too intense—we couldn't confirm properly."
That set off Viola's instincts the moment she heard it.
'Maybe they didn't actually die.'
Maybe El Pam's party had faked their deaths on purpose.
Maybe they'd ditched the expedition.
Of course, that was incredibly dangerous. It wasn't something they'd cleared with her beforehand.
Normally, you'd verify the bodies. Deserters could turn traitor, after all.
But Viola was certain here.
'There's a reason for it.'
El Pam's party wouldn't betray them.
"What should we do? Search for the bodies?"
"No time for that right now."
So Viola pushed the expedition forward, and the others nodded in agreement.
Unlike Viola, El Pam's party weren't big names to the rest of the team.
Just members tagged along from the Cygnus Knights for this expedition.
Of course, no one was looking down on them.
The last fight had been brutal enough that anyone could have died, and the least-known group bit it.
'Even if they're up to something.'
Everyone else was confident too.
'No slipping past our eyes.'
They'd spot any tricks in advance.
But the biggest reason was the one Viola had stated.
'We're only on the 1st floor. No time to waste here.'
With that, the group headed for the 2nd floor.
A short while later, El Pam's party appeared where they'd been.
5.
"Boss, why fake our deaths?"
Dibo's question got a short reply from El Pam.
"Because I can't trust them."
Short, but it said enough.
'There's a traitor in this expedition.'
Whenever El Pam said something like that, there had always been a traitor—a troll—hiding in the mix.
Separate from that certainty, it was still a shock.
'No, but who could it be?'
'Everyone here has a famous name and a solid background. A traitor among them?'
These weren't randos—they were people vetted over years or decades. And yet, a traitor?
El Pam saw it differently.
'The world is already overrun by Black Mage followers.'
He knew the truth.
'And they're hiding it to free the Black Mage from his seal.'
That's why the Black Mage's followers lurked in Maple World's shadows.
'Less than a year left.'
Soon, the whole world would know.
'It won't be long.'
El Pam didn't dwell on it much.
Pondering wouldn't solve it.
'Leave the Black Mage stuff to Phantom.'
So he'd handed the item he'd recovered from the Heavenly Chryster to the phantom thief Phantom.
Whatever Phantom did with it, it'd yield better results than El Pam could manage.
Which meant El Pam had one job right now.
'I'll do what I can.'
That was why he was here.
As El Pam mulled it over, Dibo spoke up.
"So we hunt down the traitor from here on out."
The path ahead was clear.
"No."
"Huh?"
But El Pam had no intention of hunting the traitor—unlike what Dibo thought.
"It's impossible to identify the traitor."
More precisely, with his current abilities, El Pam couldn't root out and deal with whoever was hiding here.
For starters, they'd concealed their identity perfectly.
Above all, none of the expedition members matched anyone from El Pam's memories who screamed "traitor."
That meant the infiltrator had succeeded in hiding all the way.
"Even if we ID the traitor, taking them out is impossible."
The people here weren't pushovers.
Would the rest buy it if El Pam pointed fingers? Would they trust him, draw swords and guns on their comrades?
"The moment we show up, we'll be the suspects."
If they didn't get attacked outright, they'd be lucky.
Everyone's faces darkened.
So they had to march on with a bomb ticking among them?
"We just watch."
All that was left was to trail the Abandoned Mine expedition from afar.
"Boss, you think that'll work?"
But that was no easy feat.
"These are famous adventurers."
Tailing someone was harder than it sounded, especially when they were elite—they stayed hyper-vigilant about their surroundings.
"Yeah, forget watching—just follow their tracks."
Better to stay hidden, do nothing, and shadow their trail.
"But we can't let the bomb go off."
From El Pam's view, the traitors sabotaging this expedition had to be stopped.
'These members can't die.'
They weren't just random adventurers, knights, or Resistance fighters. They'd play huge, vital roles in the monster era to come.
'No replacements for them.'
Without them, the future would turn far grimmer than what El Pam remembered.
"Boss, it's still too risky. Even you're done for if they spot us!"
El Pam wasn't the reckless type, though.
"No problem."
Truth was, he wasn't worried at all.
"No problem?"
"Yeah."
He knew.
"From the 2nd floor on, the expedition won't have eyes for us."
6.
"Higher ranks mean tougher monster hunts."
Everyone in this era knew Mystic Gate difficulty ramped up with rank.
"But finding the exit doesn't get much harder."
The environments beyond—deserts, snow worlds—tough as they were, didn't escalate past a point.
That was why.
"By Green rank clears, finding the path is a joke."
High-rank clears often outpaced lower ones in speed.
The Abandoned Mine expedition took it to another level.
Every member was a renowned powerhouse.
"Entrance to the 2nd floor—over there!"
So on day 4 inside the Mystic Gate, they found it.
"Finish prepping and head straight in."
No hesitation at the entrance they'd found.
Like they'd said—all elites here.
Four days battling bulldogs had honed their teamwork and trust.
'As expected of their reputations.'
If nothing else, their skills were legit!
The biggest reason for no hesitation, though?
'Waiting here changes nothing.'
Adventurers gained only rest from stopping—and they'd rested plenty.
Stopping now just burned time and supplies.
No reason to halt.
The moment rest ended, they surged into the 2nd floor behind Viola—without a doubt.
And saw it.
Bubble bubble!
"...Damn it, lava zone!"
A scorching, black world flowing with lava.
"Of all things!"
Worst possible terrain.
Deserts and snow worlds sucked, sure, but you didn't get crippled just from a misstep.
Lava zones? Different story.
Step in lava by accident—touch it—and you'd take serious damage.
Of course, no idiot in this expedition would stroll into lava.
The problem was combat!
Hyper-focused fights while dodging flowing lava? Difficulty skyrocketed.
'Tough one.'
Everyone swallowed hard without realizing it—that was when.
Cough!
A howl echoed.
'Bulldog?'
Uncannily like the endless cries from floor 1.
No pleasant sound.
Dodging lava against berserk-charging bulldogs? Nightmare.
"Actually, better this way."
But the people here felt relief instead.
"We've hunted plenty by now, right?"
No warmup needed—that was ideal for them.
That relief vanished fast, though.
They saw it.
"Wait—no."
Wild Hunter Ri called it out.
"Not bulldogs! Those are Fire Dogs!"
Cough! Cough!
The monsters charging now were Fire Dogs—heat-resistant enough to trample lava freely.
Everyone's faces went grim.
"Everyone, watch yourselves."
Then Archer Rema landed the gut punch amid the tension.
"Fire Bombs mixed in. The suicide bombers."