Chapter 19 – Floor 4. Altar of Six Divine Statues

Dark stairs like the maw of a monster waiting for prey with its mouth wide open, as if my desperate desire to escape this hellish underground sewer was its food.

Even as I descended those stairs, I realized how the mere act of going underground could make a human feel so diminished.

The stairs leading to Floor 4 were much longer than those I had descended so far, with more broken and crumbled parts as if they hadn’t been maintained, and the number of torches embedded in the walls was greatly reduced.

The sewers weren’t that bright to begin with, but the reduced light sources made the darkness even more prominent.

‘I should have rested for a night before coming down.’

A slight regret rose within me.

Severa’s Fuel meter, my maximum power, was completely depleted, and the slime, while not as bad, had only about half remaining.

Both were unsuitable for combat in their current state.

Nevertheless, what awaited on Floor 4 urged my feet forward.

First was the criminal with a knight’s background that Dave had mentioned.

I needed to make contact with this irregular person who had formed a faction and was steadily conquering the underground sewers, someone I had never seen in D.D., before he died.

He might already be dead or could be hostile to me, but if it became dangerous, I could always use a teleportation scroll.

And second was the altar area.

The player’s main means of enhancement, inevitably present on floors that are multiples of 4: 4, 8, 12, 16, 24…

In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that clearing D.D. is determined by how you utilize the floors with altars.

The special abilities granted by altars are catalysts that make meticulously crafted builds shine brilliantly.

‘Plus, I can change my build if items aren’t dropping and I need to switch.’

Whether the creator wanted some flexibility in strategy during gameplay or not, abilities once chosen could be changed on the next altar floor.

Thanks to this, there were cases where you’d start as a balanced warrior using an axe and shield, become a nuking warrior with a two-handed sword in the middle, and end as an evasion swordsman with dual blades—builds changing endlessly.

In extreme cases, someone might even change from a crossbow archer to an orthodox mage.

‘With my onaholes, I probably won’t change that drastically.’

Having onahole creation as a reliable source of summon items, I had a clearly defined most efficient choice.

“Status. Brief details.”

===========================================

Name: aaaa

Level: 07

Health: 37/72 ■■■■■□□□□□

Magic: 40/40 ■■■■■■■■■■

Hunger: 62/100 ■■■■■■□□□□

Thirst: 70/100 ■■■■■■■□□□

Temperature: ◀■■■■■■□□□□▷

Strength 10(+0) | Dexterity 15(+0) | Constitution 08(+0)

Mental 08(+0) | Perception 09(+0) | Charm 12(+2)

Distributable Points: 2

《Skills》

『Thief’s Luck』『Battle Command』

《Magic》

『Onahole Creation』Magic -25

===========================================​

My level had reached 7, and I had 2 points accumulated.

I had two main options:

Raise all stats to 15 to wrap myself in cost-effective additional skills achieved at 15, becoming a powerhouse until mid-game.

Or invest fully in Charm, which boosts summons, then invest in Strength and Constitution for late-game survivability and to fulfill a sub-melee role.

“The latter is stronger in the end… but the former is more stable.”

I desperately wanted to invest in Strength to relieve the increasingly burdensome weight, but ultimately invested all my points in Charm and dismissed the hologram.

***

Fortunately, I didn’t encounter any enemies immediately after descending to the lower floor, and finding the altar area wasn’t difficult either.

Right in front of me after descending to Floor 4 was a large room that was conspicuously different from the sewer structures I had seen so far—that was the place.

A bright space made of pure white marble, different from the dull sewer bricks visible through the open doorway.

Without hesitating, I opened the large door leading to the altar area and entered, as if afraid someone might see me.

And there they were—six enormous figures staring at the door as if measuring whoever entered.

Though they were merely statues, each exuded an extraordinary presence and achievements that made it clear they were no ordinary beings.

“Wow… it’s more like a temple than an altar.”

When seen in pixels, they were objects the same size as the player, but seeing them up close, they were enormous—at least 10 meters tall.

Moreover, they were so detailed that they seemed like real human skin, so realistic that it felt like my finger would sink in if I poked them, leaving me no choice but to express my admiration.

If made in reality, they must have cost an enormous amount.

‘The arrangement is the same. Well… I guess that’s to be expected.’

I tried to recall information from my memory and looked for any special differences that might have appeared in reality, but fortunately or unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any such changes in the altar.

In order: a muscular man holding up a large sphere, a man with wind swirling around him and wings sprouting from his legs, a child with a sheep and dog beside them, propping themselves up with a stick, an old man in a robe with both arms burning, a one-eyed woman holding silk-like fabric and a needle, and finally, a naked woman who, unlike the other statues with their extraordinary features, was simply beautiful.

The detailed settings weren’t revealed, but according to the collective intelligence of gallery users who put their heads together, these were six gods defeated by the boss waiting at the end.

However, their will remained, and though unintended, they bestowed their power on players descending the dungeon to defeat the final boss who had killed them. That was the accepted theory.

I too supported this clichéd hypothesis.

‘I wonder if there’s something written on them like with Severa.’

I examined the statues thoroughly from various angles, looking for hidden text, but unfortunately, no such hidden elements were visible.

Eventually, I gave up and set down my backpack before standing in front of the statues.

Six divine statues, and six types of stats.

By this point, it should be clear that each statue represents one stat and bestows a blessing useful for builds that primarily use that stat.

For example, the strong man who appears to be modeled after Atlas—The Ascetic, Philaion—represents the Strength stat.

The blessings bestowed by Philaion include increasing the limit of items that can be carried, adding the one-handed tag to two-handed items, and the ability to destroy walls five times per floor—abilities that obviously require strength.

Interestingly, the last-mentioned wall destruction might seem like just a gimmick, but it was actually quite powerful.

‘Walls. That includes floors too.’

The strategy of luring difficult enemies, then destroying the floor to make them fall to the lower level and die from the fall was perfect for speed runs, minimizing resources while not being too troublesome.

It was a blessing I used quite often, but it would be impractical in a situation where I’d face a boss after descending just one floor.

But that wasn’t particularly important. I had already decided from whom to receive a blessing.

If the power didn’t manifest as I expected, I could revisit the altar and change it as long as I remained on Floor 4, so I stood before one statue with a light heart.

That statue was the naked woman standing at the far right.

Looking up, I could see the perversely detailed depiction of intimate parts, the enormous symbols of maternal love that would be considered beautiful art pieces even if separated, and two shyly protruding bumps.

Despite the pretext of representing a deity, I thought such perverted detail might conversely be blasphemous.

I feared they might have even detailed the inside.

In my opinion, the sculptor who carved this statue probably died from a lightning strike.

“Whoa— How is this a pure maiden? What I knew about purity…”

The name of the statue representing Charm was The Pure Maiden, Unicellia.

Seeing it in reality, she had become a shameless woman exposing everything.

Good Lord.

***

Let me reiterate, D.D. was a wholesome, WHOLESOME game rated for all ages.

Well, the graphics were such low-quality pixels that it was hard to recognize whether an enemy was being torn apart or someone was walking around naked, so how could it be cruel or suggestive?

And after the 40k resolution upgrade, I suspected this world might actually be set in an adult game universe.

‘No, it could be that anonymous bastard who made the DunGal Pack changed it.’

I decided to just think of it that way.

In truth, the fact that Unicellia’s statue, which I had always seen, was actually a naked woman was mind-blowing, but pleasant to look at nonetheless.

I checked the blessing bestowed upon me and looked up at Unicellia’s statue again.

Her seductive yet not vulgar eyes, enticing men, met mine.

“But would onahole creation work on statues too? I’d like to try it out… though I probably couldn’t use it in battle.”

It was quite an interesting topic.

Drip-

While contemplating whether to experiment, examining the statue up and down, something like a water droplet fell and hit the bridge of my nose.

“Huh? What’s this?”

I rubbed the spot where the droplet had fallen, feeling the moisture, and looked up again, but couldn’t find anywhere from which water might have fallen.

The altar area wasn’t humid enough for water droplets to form.

Moreover, I was under Unicellia’s legs, so I shouldn’t have been hit by droplets falling from the ceiling.

It was truly strange.

[You have discovered the secret of The Pure Maiden, Unicellia.]

[You have leveled up.]

“…What secret?”

What did I discover?