Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Otherworld Cheat Harem.

Episode 76: Treasure (4)

Even that sword was swung with a pitch-black blade. The Demon Sword Crow. True to its name, this raven-black sword was extremely difficult for even the wielder to track its trajectory.

The black blade cut through the darkness. Then next, it was swallowed by the monster’s skin.

Slash!

Despite slicing through the stone-hard skin of the monster, the sword showed not a single scratch. An unbelievably sturdy hardness. And a sharp edge that could even cut the hand of its wielder.

‘Truly a demon sword.’

Buzz.

Even now, while holding it, I could feel the sword vibrating. It must be pleased to be in my hand.

I was that confident in my swordsmanship. If the sword had a will, it would marvel at its own performance by now.

I glanced back. The monsters I intentionally let slip were targeting my companions. Eunha was holding the front, Orion was shooting arrows at the vital points, and Raize was casting spells at the exposed gaps.

It was too easy—far too much so.

‘This won’t do.’

What they were doing was hunting. We were training and working.

It shouldn’t be like this. Leveling up is a trial that the dungeon imposes on humanity. The reward of a miracle is given only to those who overcome adversity.

To level up through something this easy was an impossible thing.

‘I see.’

Only then did I grasp the true purpose of this dungeon’s existence. I also understood why it became harder as you ascended—because there was no such thing as an easy hardship.

At the same time, I realized why fewer heroes achieve higher levels as they progress.

Leveling up was a phenomenon that demonstrated an extraordinary power, akin to a miracle. It was so remarkable that a knight who had trained all his life could be easily overpowered by a newly leveled-up adventurer.

To challenge such individuals, the trials inevitably had to become more difficult.

‘In that case.’

I looked back at my companions. They were catching their breath after finishing the hunt. Watching them, I carefully extinguished the torch.

Then, darkness descended. Complete darkness enveloped the surroundings. In this suffocating darkness, Raize felt as if her lungs were being crushed.

It wasn’t just a feeling. Something was indeed squeezing her body.

‘Ugh!’

Shadow monsters. They thrived in darkness. In other words, this situation was nothing short of their home turf.

‘Magic!’

Magic was indeed a highly advanced discipline, and the phenomena called magic were all remnants of that advanced discipline.

Naturally, using magic required a considerable amount of concentration, and in such extreme situations, even the simplest magic couldn’t be easily used.

‘Can’t breathe…’

Raize felt the tightening pressure suffocating her. Her mouth wouldn’t open. Her body wouldn’t move.

She couldn’t use magic. She would die.

‘No.’

Reaching her limit, she moved her mana. The mana, understanding its master’s will, immediately awakened her ability.

Then, lightning struck the dungeon.

Kurrung!

The intense light and noise spread, enough to momentarily dispel the dungeon’s dark curtain that devoured all light and sound.

Thus, she was able to shake off the monster that was constricting her. Freed, Raize quickly raised her staff and chanted.

“Fire!”

A huge spark flew from the tip of her staff. Simultaneously, the darkness receded, revealing dozens of monsters that had been hiding within it.

‘What about the others?’

When Raize turned to check, everyone else except for Orion was already fighting.

She quickly summoned a fire arrow and shot it at the monster holding Orion. Heat and light were both natural enemies of shadow monsters.

Screeeeech! With an unpleasant shriek, the monster retreated. Freed from its grasp, Orion immediately expressed gratitude and started shooting arrows.

Boom! Boom!

In the distance, the sound of giant footsteps was heard. It was so intense that it could be heard even beyond the curtain. This meant that it was a huge monster.

Soon, a giant golem emerged from the darkness.

“Dojin!”

“Leader!”

Raize and Orion called out to Dojin at the same time. With their abilities, they couldn’t handle that massive stone monster.

Dojin, who had been diligently slicing through the shadow monsters, understood and dashed towards the golem.

Completely out of the party’s sight, he instantly leaped at the golem and swung his sword. The power of the Demon Sword Crow was exceptionally potent.

The golem was no match for its energy. Split in half and losing balance, it was completely defeated, and Dojin returned to the group.

Meanwhile, the party had dealt with all the shadow monsters. Raize, still maintaining the light, looked at him and asked.

“What happened? Why did you suddenly turn off the light?”

Raize considered a monster’s ambush or Dojin’s carelessness. In that case, it made sense.

However, the words that came out of Dojin’s mouth were absurd.

“I just turned it off.”

“…What? Why?”

“I just turned it off.”

“What are you talking about?!”

Raize was horrified and explained why he shouldn’t have turned off the light in the dungeon. It was funny that she, with much less adventuring experience than Dojin, was teaching him, but in terms of dungeon knowledge, she knew far more than Dojin.

He nodded as he listened to the information he already knew. But that wasn’t the important part.

“That way, it’s not dangerous.”

The reason adventurers climbed dungeons was very simple: to level up.

If you delved a little deeper into the process, it was about breaking through challenges that shatter oneself and spreading your wings even further.

“What kind of nonsense is that?!”

“At this rate, we’ll never get past the 30th floor.”

“We can go up once the guild’s investigation is over!”

“No, we can’t go up.”

Dojin shook his head. The guild had formed an investigation team to look into the anomalies on the 30th floor, but they wouldn’t be able to discover anything.

The anomaly on the 30th floor was caused by the awakening of a ruler who reacted to Dojin, and unless the ruler was killed, the same thing would continue to happen.

Having failed once, they couldn’t escape using the same methods as before, given the ruler’s tenacious and vicious nature.

So they couldn’t ascend to the 30th floor, where the ruler was still lurking. At least not until they were confident they could defeat the ruler.

‘I don’t know how strong it will be.’

The ruler of the 10th floor was barely defeated by a group of nearly ten cheat-ability users pooling their strength. Then what about the ruler of the 30th floor? Even with simple calculations, at least three times the strength would be needed.

And in this world, there was no skill holder like that. So what should be done? Raise one. An adventurer to counter them.

“…This is just between us, but I think what happened on the 30th floor was because of me. So if I go up to the 30th floor, the same thing will happen again.”

“…Why do you think that?”

“I can’t say.”

“You can’t say? Not that you can’t do it?”

“Yeah.”

Based on the conclusion he squeezed out with Eunha overnight, Dojin disclosed a certain amount of information. Information that wouldn’t cause any immediate problems even if others knew.

Raize and Orion would be very curious about that basis, but there was no way for them to know unless he opened his mouth.

“…Well, if you say so. You must have a valid reason.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“Leader, that reason… you absolutely can’t tell us?”

“Not absolutely, once you reach level 3… I’ll let you know then.”

After all, it wasn’t something he could hide forever. Dojin planned to proceed with the boss raid with them, but now was not the time.

“If you dodge the question like this, then I’ll stick a staff up your butt.”

“Oh, scary.”

“If you understand, explain why you turned off the lights.”

“To level up, adversity is needed.”

“Adversity?”

“Yes, adversity.”

Adversity referred to a dire trial that couldn’t be solved easily, one that could even lead to death. The secret to leveling up lay in that.

When he told Deokgu that, he teased him, asking if he was a Saiyan. But his intuition had never been wrong so far.

“The visibility is poor, and you can barely hear anything. It’s a harsh environment for both humans and elves… Yet, the monsters crawl through the darkness as if it’s their own home.”

It was a dreadful place. An unbearably difficult situation.

“Then wouldn’t there be significant growth if we overcome it?”

Raize wasn’t too fond of Dojin’s words. They were illogical, speculative, and lacked substantial evidence.

However, she simultaneously considered it worth experimenting with. She herself felt that simply hunting monsters wouldn’t lead to growth.

It was just like magic. You wrack your brain, pour in your life, and research. After hundreds of failures, you grasp a single success.

“…Next time, speak before you act. Unless you want to be hit by magic.”

“Haha, got it. I’ll do that.”

Upon hearing Dojin’s words, Orion thought they sounded familiar. Elves didn’t have poor memories, but the sheer volume of memories accumulated over decades made it hard to recall immediately.

It wasn’t long before she remembered hearing it from her teacher during her trainee days.

─This training will be hard enough to die, but you won’t die.

─And everything that doesn’t kill you will ultimately make you stronger.

To think that those words would apply here. Or perhaps Dojin heard something similar from someone.

From whom?

It goes without saying.

Orion’s eyes sparkled. She gazed intently at Dojin.

Dojin’s intuition was correct. Danger brought about significant growth. Seeing the strengthened Raize and Eunha in such a short time, he thought as much.

‘The problem is… Orion.’

She didn’t easily fall into danger. Ironically, because she was so strong, she was deprived of opportunities to become stronger.

This was why high-level adventurers in the Adventurers’ Guild and the level holders of armies raised by various countries were similar.

‘This isn’t some game that gives penalties for being too skilled…’

Orion was strong. Therefore, it was hard for her to fall into danger. Since it was difficult to face adversity, she had to challenge more difficult trials.

Naturally, the stronger the opponent, the harder it would become to surpass them. Just as an elementary student could beat a middle schooler, it would be quite difficult for a high schooler to beat an amateur athlete.

‘Since there’s nothing I can do about it now… I’ll move on.’

Dojin looked at Raize and Eunha. Normally, they would have been on guard without issue, but they were already panting heavily.

It was the effect of real combat. Since they never knew when or where an enemy might appear, they always had to be on guard, and this was the result of the tension in their muscles.

Tensing muscles was harder than it seemed. Since they were unconsciously doing it all the time, their stamina was bound to deplete quickly.

“That’s it for today.”

“Huff… I’m tired. Give me a piggyback ride.”

“You call yourself a mage, but your stamina is that pitiful? Get up immediately. Otherwise, I’ll leave you here.”

“You’re such a jerk…”

Raize groaned as she got up. However, Dojin was firm in these matters. In his view, she could still move.

“How about you, Eunha? Are you okay?”

“…Yeah, no problem.”

“Hold on, why do you treat me coldly and Eunha like that?”

“Eunha doesn’t speak until she collapses from exhaustion, and Raize, you claim to be rational but tend to rely on others.”

“…I won’t deny it.”

Despite saying that, Dojin ended up carrying Raize, who had collapsed midway, out of the dungeon. Once they descended the dungeon, Raize, having recovered, walked back to the Magic Tower on her own…

“Eunha, go on ahead.”

“…Okay.”

After sending Eunha back to the mansion first, Dojin, left alone with Orion, gazed at her intently.

“What’s wrong, Leader? Do you have something to say?”

“Oh, I have something to ask.”

“Ask me anything. If you’re curious, even my measurements…”

“Then I’ll ask.”

“Oh my… so bold.”

“If you betray the Great Forest, what kind of punishment is there?”

“One hundred–”

Orion, who was about to state her measurements, stopped abruptly. Her gaze turned as cold as the moonlight in the sky, fixating on Dojin.