Ch-59
—
“Ah, so you’re planning to pour all your equipment on a single person?”
“No.”
That wasn’t it either.
“Then what is it?”
“You’ll equip the armor. But the weapon stays with me.”
“…Excuse me?”
“You may not be able to use skills, but you *can* use your Authority of ‘Position Exchange’. When multiple enemies appear, swap places with the leader among them and hold out.”
“My stats are low, so I can only use it twice a day at most.”
“That’s why I said you just need to endure.”
“I’ve never properly learned shield techniques.”
“I trust you.”
“Good lord.”
Realizing that her worst fear was becoming reality, Serengeti’s complexion turned pale.
But this was the most realistic way to use her.
If I possessed the ‘Position Exchange’ Authority, I would have trained entirely for defense.
In contrast, Serengeti had only ever used that Authority offensively.
She had lived her life completely divorced from defense, intending to toy with enemies, slaughter them, and deceive them with agile feints—just as she did with Massacre.
That wasn’t bad in itself, but in our current situation, it was useless.
“Just hold out until I kill the leader. Then you’ll survive.”
“…I’ll do my best to hold on.”
*
*
Where does the category of ‘tools’ end?
Basically, everything except equipment counted.
Which meant *this* could also be used.
Craaaaack!
Yelp!
Lightning crashed down among the pack of Werewolves.
Seeing the towering monstrous figure, the werewolf pack couldn’t help but freeze in shock.
Hydragon!
The “Soul of Hydragon” counted as a tool as well.
The sheer presence of it alone was overwhelming—
Huff, huff, huff!
But Hydragon’s heads were already tiring.
‘…So Hydragon’s stats are also capped at 20.’
The summoned summon also seemed to suffer the stat limitations.
Maintaining that massive body with only twenty stat points was simply impossible.
It seemed Hydragon would only be usable as an intimidation totem.
Still, that alone was enough.
Squelch!
Using the brief confusion, Serengeti swapped positions with the werewolf leader and killed it.
Whine?
Arf! Arf!
With the leader dead, the werewolf pack fell into disarray.
The perfect chance to wipe them out.
Crunch!
I retrieved the Corpse Crow’s core and swallowed it.
Crack, crack-crack!
In an instant, my form transformed into a Corpse Crow.
This too was a “tool”, therefore usable.
And if my guess was correct—
‘…I can use the Corpse Crow’s skills.’
Strictly speaking, becoming the King of the Corpse Crows and using its skills was the same as consuming the core and using the skills engraved in it.
That was why once I returned to being human, I couldn’t use them.
Therefore, I *could* use the skills.
Also—
<The ‘King of the Dead’ skill dominates the soul of the Werewolf Leader.>
Which meant even the skills I seized through Golden band were usable.
I infused the soul and resurrected the werewolf leader as a undead.
With the low stats, one was the limit.
<By Hidden Trait ‘Beast Lord’, your dominance over the Werewolf Leader increases.>
Sniff?
Awooooo!
The werewolves gathered around the leader.
No hostility.
Honestly, I had only been half-believing it would work.
But—
‘…It works.’
*
*
*Faithless ones.*
A Demigod.
An absolute being who designed the dungeon and bestowed the trials.
Though he had long since died and only his will remained, for countless years the dungeon was never cleared.
Because humans had no faith.
Because they couldn’t trust one another.
Even adding strict entry conditions had changed nothing.
Humans could not overcome desire. They were always ruled by the instinct to climb atop someone else.
*Humans truly are foolish.*
The will shook its head.
It had watched them for ages, yet there was no hope for them.
No matter how much time passed, humans never changed.
They were so foolish they couldn’t even overcome a single trial painstakingly crafted for them.
The challengers this time would be no different — or so he assumed.
*…How dare they.*
Yet this challenger was slightly different.
From the moment of entry, he had erased one of the four principles the demigod had set.
He forcibly teleported him without giving any time to prepare, yet this one advanced through the floors in a way completely different from the intended design.
Faith, Honor, Integrity.
These were the core virtues of the dungeon.
But once he entered the dungeon, the will had no authority to interfere.
Even a god must obey the dungeon’s rules once inside.
And yet—
Here came a being beyond even the demigod’s imagination, clearing the dungeon while utterly ignoring the rules.
He transformed, resurrected the Werewolf Leader as an undead, and increased his horde by dominating them.
This was originally a floor meant for challengers to rely on one another, facing the werewolf pack and strengthening their bonds.
But instead—this one simply tamed the werewolves. The pack that began at twenty grew to fifty, then a hundred.
He even trained them.
In all the years since the dungeon’s creation, countless humans had attempted it.
*What in the world is that creature…?!*
Such a one had never appeared before.
*
*
“What was the hardest dungeon you’ve ever cleared, Leader?”
One of the Korean Alliance’s players gathered at the dungeon entrance asked.
The man clad in golden armor and helmet—referred to as the Alliance Leader—answered:
“Thunderblade Dungeon.”
“The level 11 dungeon with that boss, Thunderblade?”
“Yes. The elite raid boss monster Thunderblade. Even now, thinking about it gives me chills.”
“Isn’t this dungeon also level 11?”
The leader looked at the massive cave entrance.
They were preparing to raid the Skywhale Dungeon.
The domain of the Skywhale—and likewise, a level 11 dungeon.
They had gathered twenty of Korea’s strongest players.
“We’re stronger now—both myself and the whole Alliance.”
He shrugged.
Compared to back then, the Alliance had grown tremendously.
At this rate, Korea would soon officially claim a major city in Pangaenia.
“What about the most trashy dungeon?”
“Trashy dungeon? Why ask that?”
“So we can avoid it later.”
A trash dungeon.
Ask people for the most difficult dungeon — answers differ.
But ask for the *most garbage* dungeon, and nine out of ten would say the same thing.
“…The Demigod Trait Dungeon.”
“Oh! That place is infamous.”
“No Alliance member is allowed to step inside.”
“Why is it forbidden?”
“Because it brings out the worst in people.”
“The worst?”
The leader grimaced as old memories surfaced.
“No human is only good. And no human is purely evil. But that dungeon magnifies only the worst parts of human nature.”
“For example?”
“It differs for every challenger. But when I challenged it, they planted impostors. They erased parts of everyone’s memories, and we had to vote for the fake. One floor was like that.”
“What happens when someone is chosen?”
“The person with the most votes died. But in the end, every single one of them turned out to be real.”
Not mockery — cruelty.
Dungeons named after demigods were always joint creations of great beings and their will.
“What the hell…”
“Four entered. Only I returned alive. Even Phantom never conquered that dungeon — that should tell you enough.”
“Phantom failed a dungeon?!”
Their eyes widened.
Phantom was a legend. A myth. It was said he had conquered every dungeon in existence.
But reality was different.
“There are several. One of them is the Demigod Trait Dungeon.”
“Well… Phantom probably hates betrayal more than anything. Come to think of it, he should be challenging a party dungeon right around now, right?”
“Probably.”
Randolph — believed to be Phantom’s player character — had cleared Main Quest 5, “Obtaining a Mystery”, with a phenomenal score.
He even solo-cleared a dimensional rift.
As a result, players everywhere were in chaos.
They couldn’t obtain any of the rewards meant to be gained by defeating the Rift King.
And not only that—
Maxim died. One of the Eight Heroes. Confirmed dead both in reality and in Pangaenia.
The impact was enormous.
Soon, fractures would spread among players, and a massive storm would come.
*We must become stronger before that happens.*
To avoid being swept away, they needed size—power.
For Korean players to survive, they needed a major city in Pangaenia and a dual-front strategy between Earth and Pangaenia.
At least before the next dimensional rift appeared.
Though even that was slow — compared to those already far ahead.
“Which dungeon do you think Phantom is challenging now?”
“Who knows. But definitely not the Demigod Trait Dungeon.”
Phantom, who despised betrayal, would never touch a dungeon designed to provoke betrayal.
Anyone who knew Phantom and the Demigod Dungeon would say the same.
Crack—
The leader ground his teeth.
*Damn it. Just remembering that place makes my mouth taste bitter.*
It was truly a trash dungeon.
*
*
**《You have defeated the ‘Blue Wolf’, King of the Floor.’》**
BOOOOM!
The enormous blue wolf finally collapsed, announcing its death.
Surrounded by over a hundred werewolves — essentially beaten to pulp — it had no chance.
*Six hours.*
That was how long it took to clear this floor.
Normally, Blue Wolf was a monster you’d hunt for a week straight to gear up before attempting.
But due to the shortest-clear-time trait, it couldn’t be helped.
Besides—
*I never intended to clear this place the normal way.*
I had no intention of approaching it properly from the start.
《Shortest-time clear achieved.》
《Achievement ‘Master of the Werewolf Horde’ unlocked.》
《Honor +10.》
《Several Constellations of the Pantheon glance toward you.》
《‘Constellation of the Shining Hero’ shows deep interest in your dungeon progress.》
Constellations of the Pantheon were taking interest one by one.
Not as much as during Main Quest 5, Mystery Acquisition, but by the end almost all constellations would be watching.
‘The Constellation of the Shining Hero…’
Interestingly, the Shining Hero wasn’t showing interest in *me*, but in the way the dungeon was being cleared.
A constellation that had never appeared except during the Mystery Quest.
If I cleared the dungeon “properly,” they might behave like the Constellations of Luck or Adventure, appearing frequently to upgrade the reward list.
《Moving to the next floor. Everything obtained from the previous floor resets.》
Shhhhh—
Once the warp finished, all equipment I had chosen earlier vanished.
Naturally, the werewolves I dominated were also reset.
The place was pure darkness.
When I looked around, Serengeti, Isaac, and Isabel were nowhere to be seen.
Only a few sheets of paper and a pen floated in midair.
《You have entered the ‘Chamber of Truth’.》
《Write one question you wish to ask each party member.》
《Questions will remain anonymous.》
《If even one party member refuses the ‘Oath of Truth’, progression stops.》
The Oath of Truth.
A contract.
A pledge to speak only truth.
Once I signed my name, the contract took effect. Any lie resulted in immediate expulsion.
‘…This is awful.’
Why would a trait dungeon need a Chamber of Truth?
I never saw this floor when I challenged with Wilhelm.
The demigod who designed this dungeon was definitely insane.
Unless all party members signed, the floor wouldn’t proceed.
And once I signed, my hidden traits wouldn’t function either — I agreed to it with my own hand, after all.
There was truly no option but to speak the truth.
In the worst case, the others might lose all trust in me.
But… if the questions were trivial, it might simply pass with a laugh.
For someone aiming for the shortest clear time, this could even be a gift.
《All party members have completed the Oath of Truth.》
《Please write your questions now.》
One question per person.
Three questions in total.
I wrote three vague ones.
If the others did the same, we just needed to answer truthfully three times each to clear.
How simple.
Depending on perspective, this was practically free.
《All questions submitted.》
《You are forbidden from mentioning the content of the questions you wrote.》
《If you do, you will be expelled.》
BOOM—!
With a heavy tremor, the darkness began to brighten.
—
Ну дракончик выложил своё подземелье в мир но он покупался на бета-тестеров по итогу пришёл багаюзер и всё сломал