Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: 100-Man Gate (3)
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7.
The Adventurer Association's very reason for existing was to help adventurers embark on safer and greater adventures.
In other words, support was the Association's role, which meant it rarely stepped up to the front lines itself.
Even when adventurers broke the rules set by the Association, it almost never intervened directly to punish them.
However, there were a few exceptions.
Trolling was the prime example.
"Adventurers who engage in trolling are designated enemies of the Association, and all privileges recognized by the Adventurer Association are revoked."
The Adventurer Association was extremely sensitive to trolling and reacted with fierce intensity.
This had only grown worse after the Mystic Gates appeared.
"If repeated trolling is discovered two or more times, the Adventurer Association will take action."
The Association took direct organizational measures against any adventurers caught trolling.
Trolling was that dangerous an act for adventurers.
It was an act that could plunge an entire party into despair and ruin in the blink of an eye.
That was why.
"You're in luck."
E-Rank adventurer William smiled at the sight before him after entering the 100-man gate.
He had come here specifically to troll.
'Ribbon Pigs, huh.'
The emergence of the Ribbon Pigs was welcome news for him.
'Thanks to them, everyone's scattered without any real coordination.'
Because of the Ribbon Pigs, the hundred adventurers had scattered in all directions without exchanging so much as a word.
That made it easy for William.
"Ugh... ughhh..."
Easily. Without needing to watch his surroundings or pretend to be a comrade. He poisoned the adventurers who had entered with him.
"Kuh... ugh."
As he listened to the groans of his dying comrades, something happened.
"Wh-what in the world... why? Why?"
One survivor who hadn't succumbed yet stared at William with eyes brimming with confusion. Smiling, William answered the unspoken question.
"Everything is for the resurrection of the Black Mage, my lord."
Shing!
With that, he drew the dagger from his belt.
8.
Boom!
The polearm plummeted from the sky like a bolt of lightning, slamming into the Ribbon Pig's skull. A guttural roar echoed as blood erupted in a geyser.
"Huff... huff... huff."
Rough breaths poured from Dibo's mouth as he gripped the end of the polearm.
He was exhausted.
"Damn, this isn't even comparable to those mushrooms."
And understandably so. The monsters Dibo had faced until now operated on an entirely different level from Ribbon Pigs.
Even the tough ones like Green Mushrooms were still just mushrooms at the end of the day.
Ribbon Pigs were different. They had skin. Bones beneath it. Blood vessels and innards packed inside.
The toughness that created was far more aggravating than he'd imagined.
And that wasn't all.
"The grease and blood are dulling the blade way too fast."
The fat and gore from the Ribbon Pigs stripped weapons of their edge faster than expected.
The only reason Dibo had triumphed over five of them was his training.
Without the countless battles against mushrooms, he'd have been pig chow long ago.
"Ugh, if hundreds of these things rushed at once..."
Even this had only been possible because they were stragglers—five laggards.
Anything more, and combat itself would be impossible.
"Blocking them wouldn't be easy, either."
Worse still, unlike Orange Mushrooms or Stumps, Ribbon Pigs were far harder to fend off.
A major problem.
El Pam's party revolved around Dibo holding the monsters at bay while El Pam eliminated them.
If Dibo couldn't play shield?
That put El Pam in danger too.
Above all, the limitations Dibo felt were ones El Pam shared.
"Boss's Fire Arrows won't be easy against these pigs, either..."
Truth be told, there was only one answer at this point.
"We can't do this alone. We'd have to team up with other adventurers."
Pooling strength with the group.
"But trolling makes that tough, right?"
The issue was that option was off the table.
Trolling meant a saboteur in the ranks—teaming up would just mean a knife in the back.
'If the boss says there's trolling, there is.'
Dibo didn't doubt El Pam's claim for a second.
It wasn't blind faith.
Dibo had never been one to trust blindly.
The man who'd lived like a mad dog until now trusted only one soul: his sole little sister.
'But the boss knows something. Just like always.'
Even so, he trusted El Pam because of his track record.
'Follow the boss's lead, and you won't die.'
For any adventurer, nothing mattered more than survival odds.
"So there's only one choice."
In truth, Dibo had already guessed El Pam's intent.
"You're planning to do it, aren't you, boss?"
El Pam nodded at the question. Dibo nodded in turn.
"Before the trolls can pull anything... you bail..."
"Before the trolls pull anything, we take down the boss monster."
"Yes?"
Dibo's eyes went wide as the words overlapped and faded.
"Boss? What're you talking about?"
Any sane person would cut and run.
"The boss monster?"
But El Pam saw it differently.
"It's our chance. A shot at the boss monster with no competition."
When El Pam had first entered the 100-man Mystic Gate intent on the boss, his biggest concern hadn't been the monster itself.
It had been the other adventurers.
Multiple parties meant inevitable chaos over the boss.
You might claim it, but only under everyone's watchful eyes—and even then, your shot might never come.
Steal it mid-fight? Out of the question.
The second you stepped out, Longko and his crew would be waiting.
"A chance to claim any drops for ourselves."
Best of all, taking it down now meant no one else would know.
'I came prepared, but I didn't expect an opportunity like this.'
The perfect scenario.
Dibo got it.
El Pam wasn't wrong. If anything, this was the ideal play.
"No, boss."
Just one issue.
"We can't even handle Ribbon Pigs right. How do we take a boss?"
The core problem.
El Pam replied calmly to the doubt.
"Can't handle Ribbon Pigs right?"
"Isn't that the truth? You're amazing, boss, but Fire Arrows aren't cutting it easy against them."
El Pam's answer to that:
"So we'll use a different spell."
A different spell!
Dibo's eyes sharpened.
"As expected, boss! You had it all planned!"
That changed everything.
"So, what spell'd you prep?"
El Pam told the eager Dibo.
"Poison Breath."
"Yes?"
"Poison."
Dibo's face went blank for a beat.
"Ah."
Snapping out of it, he spoke with wavering eyes.
"B-boss. I get Poison Breath's strong and all? But against Ribbon Pigs... won't it fall flat?"
Reasoning it out.
"You saw those pigs—they never stay put. Spray Poison Breath, and they barely get a whiff. It won't even register."
Sound logic.
"You're right."
El Pam knew it was.
"They'd take maybe a sip."
"Exactly?"
Better than anyone.
Better than anyone alive.
He knew the Poison Breath skill's fatal flaw.
"So we fix it."
He'd survived an era where overcoming that flaw was do-or-die.
Until the very end.
"Poison Breath."
El Pam triggered the Poison Breath skill.
Dibo stumbled back on instinct.
A natural response.
'Crazy!'
Poison didn't discriminate between friend or foe. Only the caster walked free.
But he hadn't reacted in time.
'Damn it, poisoned?'
Dibo's face twisted in realization.
Anger flared.
"No, boss, this is seriously..."
That's when he saw it.
El Pam's body shrouded in faint vapor.
The vapor coalescing, gathering atop El Pam's right palm into a fist-sized orb.
El Pam's other trick.
"Room."
Telekinesis compressing the Poison Breath mist into a single point.
"Gathers the poison in one spot using telekinesis."
The condensed Poison Breath was visibly dense, potent beyond measure.
And that wasn't all.
Trapped in a telekinesis container, its toxicity hadn't weakened a jot.
Pure, unadulterated deadly poison.
Gulp!
Dibo swallowed hard just looking at it.
'One whiff of that...'
Then it happened.
The poison mass on El Pam's palm began writhing, darting this way and that.
In that instant, Dibo understood.
'That's it.'
Why El Pam had proposed boss hunting without a second thought.
The poison was deadly enough on its own—but freely manipulable? Unless the monster resisted poison, it'd be child's play.
And that was exactly why he'd been thrilled to acquire the Poison Breath item.
To him, it could rival his strongest spells.
"Now we hunt the boss monster."
No more questions or doubts from Dibo when those words came.
"You got it. Time to track that boss monster."
Confidence brimmed.
"And scarf down those unique items."
His eyes gleamed with greed for the loot.
"So how do we find it?"
"Finding it won't be hard. But there's a catch."
To Dibo like that, whatever problem El Pam named was no problem at all.
He declared with full swagger, "Boss and me? What's the issue?"
"Maintaining the Room demands intense focus. Mana drain's heavy too. Movement speed takes a hit."
But El Pam's follow-up wiped the smirk from Dibo's face bit by bit.
He could feel it.
"Th-then what?"
"You buy time."
"Buy... time?"
"Hold the boss monster for one minute. Just one."
No trace of that cocky grin now.
Not entirely gone, though.
"H-heh, tough gig, but screw it. Let's do this."
Awkward, but the smile lingered.
Fueled by hope.
'The boss might be a pushover. No need to chicken out right away.'
Optimism born of ignorance—the boss type unknown.
Reasonable optimism, too.
Some boss monsters played right into a warrior's strengths.
And El Pam only needed one minute. Could be easier than Ribbon Pigs if lucky.
Carrying that hope, El Pam and Dibo set off after the boss.
They didn't have to wait long.
Hiss!
"Huh? What the hell's that? Freaky faces."
Green-skinned, humanoid monsters.
El Pam's face hardened as he took them in.
"Hobs. Green Hobs."