Chapter 71
[Translator - Jjescus ]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]
Chapter: 71
"Wow..."
-Damn, this is seriously overpowered.
-Props to anyone still dueling Balder today.
-Instead of giving props, you should be practicing more.
-Info: Someone cleared it.
-But we don't know who.
The cleared path was littered with frog corpses. Hanbit patted Yeonwoo on the back and pulled away.
"Run."
"Wait... Let's go together!"
Thud-!
Yeonwoo reacted a beat late and started running.
Creak-!
Behind them, a horde of monsters was chasing.
Hanbit sped up, slashing at the frogs coming from the front.
"Ugh, seriously!" Yeonwoo, who was chasing after him, could only keep up. "Hyung! Won't you use that again?"
"Not now. Just run."
He could gather wind again, but there was no need right now. He wanted to leave some monsters behind.
"There's another fork in the road!" Yeonwoo shouted as they reached another split in the path.
Slash-!
Hanbit slashed at a frog blocking the entrance and turned into the left path. Then, he extended his arm and chanted, "Fire Burst!"
Boom-!
The fireball shot out, hitting the ceiling of the split path and exploding. Thanks to his increased intelligence, the attack was much stronger.
Kaboom-!
The ceiling, unable to withstand the explosion, collapsed. The structure, mixed with luminous stones, was especially vulnerable to fire, making the result even more violent.
Squeak-!
The frogs chasing the two were buried under the massive debris that had fallen from above.
Croak-!
A few that were still alive wriggled desperately but couldn't move.
"Fire Burst!"
Boom-!
Kaboom-!
Another spell shot out, causing more debris to fall. After that, there was no sound of monsters from the completely blocked passage.
[You gained 38,000 experience points.]
[You leveled up.]
[You gained 1 stat point.]
"No way..."
The fireball got bigger;
That was the power of magic.
-Sylph:?
-Sallion:?
-Fact) Even if you want to be a spirit mage, you can't.
[Soma has donated 20,000 won.]
[I knew I could count on you. ㅠㅠ]
[NiceWordsKindWords has donated 77,777 won.]
[Fire is the best.]
Because it felt like he had used magic for the first time in a while, he could see the names of familiar viewers.
Maybe if he learned new skills from Ifrit, he could increase the proportion of magic he used.
Ding-!
Then, a slightly different donation popped up.
[HappyLaugh has donated 1,000 won.]
[Is there no reaction in this stream?]
-?
-Why are you asking when you didn't even pay? lol
-NAGA
-Just watch Black Dragon play. That's the reaction.
-The information he has given us is enough reaction for the next 100 years.
-But I'm curious.
-Same.
For the first time, there was a question about the reactions. Yeonwoo had mentioned it, but what the viewers who had been watching wanted was all in the game.
"Hmm."
Considering the donations he was receiving, it wouldn't be strange to do something.
Fortunately, what the viewers wanted to see aligned perfectly with what Hanbit wanted to show. Information and strategies were also part of that.
After a moment's thought, Hanbit made his decision. "Instead of reactions, I'll do what I do best. There's still a lot of strategies and skills I can show you."
- Agreed.
- I support you.
- We'll be the clowns.
- If he reveals one more hidden skill, he could run for president.
- I'd totally vote for him.
- Let's send Dragon to the assembly!
The viewers unanimously agreed with Hanbit. Many of them were excited about the idea of him revealing hidden skills.
"But, can we really destroy that passage?" Yeonwoo asked, looking at the collapsed tunnel.
"There are so many players outside. We need to block it to buy us some time."
"That makes sense. So, the left path is the right one, right?"
"Just keep going straight. There won't be many more monsters."
"That's great."
Yeonwoo nodded, pleased with the news. However, Hanbit had another plan in mind.
'I need to lure them this way.'
The reason he had deliberately destroyed the passage was simple. He wanted to guide the players who would chase after them to the left path. Especially the Ranger, who would definitely try to force his way through. If they went down the right path, which was a dead end, his plan would be ruined.
"Let's go."
The two started down the left passage.
Occasionally, a monster would appear, but it was nothing serious.
After walking for a while, they reached the end of the path.
"Hyung, is this the end?"
All they could see was a dark, seemingly bottomless body of water.
Glancing down, Hanbit grabbed Yeonwoo's arm. "Let's go."
"Huh? Go where... Ugh!"
Thud-!
Before Yeonwoo could finish his sentence, Hanbit pushed off. Yeonwoo was pulled along involuntarily.
Splash-!
With a loud noise, they plunged into the water.
Hanbit swam towards the bottom of the path they had originally been on. There, separated by a translucent membrane, was another passage.
Thud-!
Grasping the wall, he pushed Yeonwoo through first. Then he followed, passing through the translucent membrane.
"Hyung! I thought I was going to die!" Yeonwoo exclaimed as he stepped into the passage.
Hanbit simply looked at his wet clothes curiously. "Wow, it even gets wet."
"...That level of realism isn't surprising anymore. But what is this place?" Yeonwoo asked, looking around the passage, shaking his head.
The atmosphere was completely different from the path above. The walls and floor were made of a translucent material, giving the impression of being underwater.
"It's the passage to the main dungeon. The one above was just the entrance."
"Really?"
- Is this a passage?
- How did they build this?
- Irtelroger? Was that the guy who made this?
- Insane skills;
- Developer: lol; Thanks
Yeonwoo crouched down and looked around curiously. He had seen many unique dungeons, but he had never seen anything like this, something clearly man-made.
"So, how difficult is this place? Considering the frogs, I'm guessing the boss is around level 35?"
Yeonwoo guessed the difficulty based on other dungeons.
But the designer of this place was Irtelroger. The reactions people would have when they saw his absurd strategies were something to look forward to.
"It's not that hard. I already know how to clear it."
"Then that's even more of a problem. What about the people outside who are eagerly waiting? They're going to follow whatever you do." Yeonwoo said, thinking about the situation at the entrance to the dungeon.
Hanbit glanced at the camera and feigned concern. "I'm a bit worried. The rewards here are pretty good."
"Really? Then we should clear it quickly!" Yeonwoo urged.
But Hanbit's true intention was different.
'The more, the merrier.'
"It's not difficult at all," Hanbit replied.
‘Greedy players will definitely try to join the competition. No, they have to. This dungeon is designed to be cleared at the expense of others. Especially the Ranger, I really hope he comes.’
"Did you do this on purpose? It's so strange," Yeonwoo asked, still fascinated by the underwater tunnel-like structure.
"The designer wanted it this way. It's built very sturdy."
Yeonwoo continued to show interest in the underwater structure.
However, his excitement didn't last long.
"Hey?" he stopped, a foot away from the wall, and pointed. "...What's that?"
"What?" Hanbit approached the wall and focused on the other side of the glass.
A faint, shadowy silhouette was seen wriggling in the distance.
"Isn’t it a fish? There are monsters in the sea too."
"Monsters? So it's dangerous here!"
-Sea monsters are super strong, lol.
-Was this what this aquarium was supposed to be?
-It's okay if it's bulletproof glass.
-But then, poof, the glass breaks.
-It's better to be dead.
The dark silhouette rippled again, this time a little closer.
"I think it's coming towards us."
"No, it won't."
"How can you be sure? Let's hurry inside..."
Startled, Yeonwoo tried to run. Hanbit grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him back.
"You'll make it collapse if you run."
"What? You said it was sturdy!"
"Did I?"
"Yes..."
After about 10 minutes of back and forth, they reached a fork in the road, left and right.
"Shall we choose one each?"
"...Are you joking?"
"I'm joking. Let's go left."
-lol, Roper's so scared.
-He'll probably cry if they went separate ways.
-I'm sure he'd pee his pants too.
-He already did.
Hanbit led the slightly hesitant Yeonwoo down the left path. They walked for another five minutes.
"Wow."
A giant blue wall appeared in front of them as they emerged from the passage. The floor was covered with sparkling coral-like objects.
"Is this a maze? It really does feel like an aquarium."
Yeonwoo remembered the message that appeared when he entered the water passage:
[Entering the Dungeon - Irtelroger's Aquarium].
The silhouette of the fish they saw through the translucent wall and this maze-like scenery explained the name. Moreover, the spaces between the mazes were wide, and it didn't seem very complex.
"I'll lead the way here."
Suddenly confident, Yeonwoo stepped forward.
Hanbit glanced at the chat and confirmed that the outside players hadn't entered yet.
-Ranger is controlling the outside, lol.
-He's so obedient;
-Did he feel intimidated by Black Dragon?
-No, he's probably just planning something else.
'He's being pretty cautious.'
Hanbit's suggestion was that they shouldn't enter until he cleared the maze. And the Ranger was actively following that order. Even though he must be fuming, he was being quite cautious, probably remembering the incident with Artsvel's magic book. Once he made up his mind, he would definitely barge in.
If the situation outside was like this, it was necessary to shake things up a bit.
"Hey, are you good at this kind of thing?"
"Well, I'm pretty good at thinking things through."
-Where did that confidence come from?
-Is a maze really something to think about?
-You'll have to memorize all the wrong paths too.
-The cameraman's counterattack.
[SoquaGeum has registered a 77,777 won challenge mission.]
[Mission: Clear the maze.]
"Oh, thank you, SoquaGeum! I'll show you."
With the donation on the line, Yeonwoo confidently took a step forward.
Hanbit opened the message window and asked the viewers.
[Will you root for us to win?]
-lol
-Suspicious right away;
-No way.
-That's just like Roper.
[SoquaGeum has donated 10,000 won.]
[Agreed.]
“Hey, Hyung!” Yeonwoo, having seen the donation, shouted.
“You go first. I won’t hold my breath.”
“Wow, am I really going to do this? I’m reborn as a new Roper, starting now.” With a strange glint in his eyes, Yeonwoo took the lead.
Hanbit followed behind, checking the chat.
“Where do we start?”
“You know the right-hand rule, right? In this case, we follow the wall on the outermost path, slowly exploring."
-Oh.
-Forensic science skills!
-Can he really do it?
-Should we believe him?
Yeonwoo's confident statement, though a bit out of the blue, seemed to resonate with the chat.
“Just watch me. I did the challenge dungeon on my own at first, remember?”
Now puffed up with pride, Yeonwoo started walking along the wall.
“Here we go this way..."
Following the wall with his right hand, his approach seemed somewhat systematic.
After moving for about 5 minutes, he said, sounding puzzled, "Do you smell something?"
"A smell?"
"It's like the smell of earth..." Tilting his head, he turned a sharp corner.
And there...
Wiggle-
He came face-to-face with a giant earthworm.
[Translator - Jjescus ]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]