episode_0019

After killing two kobolds, I killed three more kobolds.

But still, the level up did not occur.

‘The King of the Kobolds.’

According to what the seniors of the Transcendence Gallery said, it is the only monster among the Kobold race that poses a threat to me.

I wonder if he’s inside this dungeon or not.

I thought that if there was one, I would like to meet him.

Am I going crazy after being on the tower on Pandemonium difficulty for almost a month?

Aside from Laura, the 9th floor residents, no one seemed to have a particularly good sense of combat.

At least Chinese Sun Haoran showed no hesitation.

The reason I can move more nimbly than them is because of the excellence of the Yongsalgeom itself and the Golem mk.2 for sparring.

I guess the orc commander who cornered me and the orc shaman who gave me such a hard time also played a part.

It’s been 6 hours and 32 minutes since I entered the dungeon.

The reason I know exactly what time it was is because the current time is written exactly at the top right corner of my field of vision.

The current time is 6:41.

All seven of us, including me, were crouching down and taking a rest.

Because I was the last one standing for 6 hours, only two people on the 3rd floor recognized me as strong.

There were two of them: Misaki and the Chinese woman next to her, Tzu-Xuan.

At first, I couldn’t understand why people were just lying around and relaxing without any tension.

A square golden border surrounded the outside of the group.

‘I said it was a safe zone.’

Misaki scratched her head and explained that it was a perfectly safe zone that occasionally existed on the top of the easy difficulty level.

The only feeling I had during the exchange was a sense of alienation.

Indeed, will we ever see this safe zone while climbing Pandemonium?

04:23:54

Above the safe zone, time floated.

04:23:53

Time was running out.

It started at five hours. That means that in four hours and 23 minutes, the safety zone the group is using will disappear.

Although the unarmed leader was a German woman named Laura, Baek Jin-young could be said to be the leader in terms of communication.

“It’s a bit early to go to sleep, but wouldn’t it be better to sleep for about 4 hours and then finish the dungeon?”

Laura nodded.

“Oh, that sounds good.”

Everyone agreed with Baek Jin-young’s words.

Misaki approached me, who was sitting quietly.

“You don’t have a sleeping bag, do you?”

“Yes.”

“Because it’s not sold in the waiting room on the third floor.”

Misaki handed me a sleeping bag.

“Please write!”

I would appreciate it if you gave it to me.

“Then, Misaki-san, you don’t have a sleeping bag?”

Misaki shook her head back and forth.

“Yes! I have a habit of not being able to throw away items that I have in my inventory… Oh, don’t worry! That’s a new sleeping bag! I’ll use the old one.”

Rather, he said it was good and told Misaki to use a new one. If I were to use an old sleeping bag, I would look like a crazy person.

“Thank you.”

I quietly received the sleeping bag and unfolded it.

“Where is Misaki-san’s highest difficulty?”

Misaki answered my question right away.

“It’s an easy difficulty level.”

I looked at the seat next to Misaki.

“What about Mr. Tzu-Xuan?”

Tzu-Xuan said softly.

“Yeah. You noticed, it’s me and him partying.”

You can’t help but notice. They’re so obviously taking care of each other.

Tzu-Xuan gestured to Sun Haoran, a Chinese man like himself.

“Sun Haoran, that guy is normal.”

Baek Jin-young was also on normal difficulty.

Now the only one who didn’t know the difficulty level was Laura.

He approached Laura.

As I approached, Laura looked above my head instead of at me and opened her mouth.

“What is it, 3rd floor.”

“What difficulty level are you on?”

Laura laughed in vain, as if she found it ridiculous to ask about the difficulty level so openly.

“Try to guess what difficulty level it is.”

He seemed to have more fighting talent than the normal Baek Jin-young or Sun Hao-ran.

However, it was lower than the level of hard difficulty climber I had imagined.

“Is it hard?”

“Yeah.”

Laura clicked her tongue.

“Fucking hard.”

It looks like it’s quite tough.

I didn’t feel like giving anything up. My life seemed a little more difficult.

The questions were overflowing.

“What kind of monsters appear on the 8th floor of Hard difficulty?”

Laura suddenly shuddered at my words and slowly opened her mouth.

“Orc Grandmaster.”

Oh oh.

“Did you kill him?”

Laura frowned at my words.

It wasn’t just a simple frown, he looked like a very serious goblin.

“Killing… How could I kill that guy? I just ran as far as I could. All I had to do was buy time.”

I’m very disappointed.

“Which Orc type came out before the Orc Warlord?”

Laura answered obediently, wondering if it was a bad thing to keep asking questions about herself.

“5th floor, Orc Corps Commander.”

It was said that the pioneer of the Transcendent Gallery also came from the 5th floor.

It seemed that the sword of light that came out from the second floor or the case of the great magician were rare.

“Did you kill the commander?”

At my words, Laura slowly nodded her head.

“That guy was someone who just had to defend himself until the knights arrived, so he focused all his energy on holding out.”

If Gao was fully charged, he would probably reply, “I killed the commander.”

Judging from the fact that she spoke so naturally about holding on like this, it seemed like other hard difficulty players around Laura had the same thoughts and made the same choices.

“There was one guy among those who had climbed the stairs with me who had suggested killing him, but of course, his words were ignored.”

That guy is right when he says his opinions were ignored.

Eventually, when you push through a strong monster and somehow kill it, the possibility of growth opens up. That was the direction of this tower that I learned in the process of completing only the second floor.

“How many people usually try to conquer?”

Laura answered calmly.

“If it’s above the 5th floor, of course, there are usually more than 6 people.”

Usually there are more than 6 people, but the general rule is not to try to catch them.

I’ve heard that the difficulty gradually increases as the number of party members increases, but it still felt too lenient for my standards.

Since he said he had never killed even a legion commander, I lost interest in the hard difficulty climber in front of me.

I got up and went back to the sleeping bag I had received from Misaki.

The others, exhausted physically and mentally, fell into a deep sleep in their sleeping bags.

Seeing everyone sleeping so peacefully, it seemed like they had all experienced the safe zone at least once.

The Sword of Light recalled something written in the appendix of the Dragon Sword.

-It is also necessary to practice sleeping in a way that you can wake up at any time.

-With practice, almost nothing is impossible.

I was wondering what the hell was going on.

This is what you use it for.

As for that training, isn’t it something you can try now?

I closed my eyes, thinking that way.

“… … .”

How could that be possible?

I’ll have to ask him to explain the method in detail later.

It was practically meditation.

I needed to organize my thoughts.

As soon as I entered the exchange meeting, there was a topic that kept lingering in my mind.

Given enough time, I was able to come to a full conclusion on the topic.

***

Misaki’s head, who was sleeping soundly in the sleeping bag next to me, rose very slowly.

“… Ah, good night.”

Misaki spoke softly, stroking her messy hair.

“Yes.”

I wasn’t asleep at all, but I didn’t want to embarrass her.

I ate beef jerky and nuts.

It was food purchased with coins.

After finishing the meeting and returning to the waiting room on the stairs, I need to eat a delicious meal.

00:25:34

There were still 25 minutes left in the safe zone.

Seven of us, including me, were ready to depart.

Although it wasn’t a very long sleep, everyone seemed to be in better condition than before.

The party moved.

Just like yesterday, Jake and Sun Haoran were at the front.

And behind them are Laura and Baek Jin-young.

In front of me, at the very back, were Misaki and Tsu-shu-an.

As with yesterday, no major variables occurred.

They weren’t that strong, but they didn’t have any special weaknesses.

The cobolds died peacefully.

If I had to pick something that wasn’t smooth, it was my level, which was still at level 12 even after killing four more kobolds.

A place like a dead end in a maze, consisting of three walls, stopped the group in their tracks.

“Huh?”

Jake’s voice was heard. Jake bent down and lifted his right hand, holding a map.

The map contained a map of the dungeon.

It wasn’t a map drawn of the overall dungeon structure.

It was a map that depicted the existence of the boss room and the room behind it.

Jake’s voice held a questioning note.

“There’s a hidden boss room? Should I go in?”

There was a moment of silence.

German Laura strode towards Jake and snatched the map roughly from his hands.

“Difficulty doesn’t matter.”

Laura checked the number of stars written below the hidden boss room.

【 ★★★★★ 】

“Tsk.”

Laura clicked her tongue at the difficulty level.

“… For now, I’ll just go to the existing boss room and then leave the exchange meeting.”

I knew that there was a hidden boss room in the Exchange Dungeon thanks to the advice of my seniors in the Transcendence Gallery.

Unlike regular boss rooms, the difficulty is announced in advance and you are given the choice of whether to challenge it or not.

Five stars means that the possibility of clearing the 10-story exchange meeting is extremely low.

Baek Jin-young approached Laura.

“Oh, can I see it too?”

The rest of the group gathered to look at the map.

Baek Jin-young scratched his head.

“Hmm… Five is too much.”

I thought I should go in alone if possible.

In a place called the Hidden Boss Room.

Anyway, what we are facing now is the boss room.

“Let’s take a quick look and then go in.”

At Laura’s command, everyone examined their weapons.

Kukukung-!

And Jake opened the door to the boss room.

[BOSS MONSTER]

[Kobold champion]

Cobalt Champion.

Certainly, it was the largest hairy lizard I’ve ever killed.