Chapter 99

"Sure. Even if it's a game that relies heavily on luck, two consecutive bad draws are just unacceptable."

This is a game!

Carpe approached the treasure chest with a bright smile on his lips.

"Oh, there's no lock."

There are two main types of treasure chests that appear in dungeons.

Those with locks and those without.

Naturally, the rewards from the locked chests were a bit better, but to open a chest, you needed a key of the same grade as the chest.

Of course, this was a non-issue for Carpe, who possessed the best chest-opening skill, 'Unlock,' in Lase.

"It would have been better if it had a lock, but it's a bit disappointing."

-Don't say that in front of other people. You might get stoned to death.

Countless players have shed tears of blood over chest locks.

It's not easy to obtain keys of Unique grade or higher.

The frustration of finding a treasure chest and not being able to open it... some people even cry, saying it's worse than losing their first love!

"Anyway, I'll open it."

The probability of an item of the same grade as the chest appearing when you open it is usually around 10%.

"In other words, it's guaranteed. Come out! Unique!"

-...Let's say it is.

Chunma didn't bother to argue. He had long since reached a state of enlightenment.

Creak.

The chest revealed its contents under Carpe's careful touch.

"…Huh?"

Inside was a blue orb about the size of a fist.

Ding.

[Energy Crystal of Resentment]

[Grade: Unique]

[Category: Material, Magic Material]

[A crystal formed by the condensation of strong resentment under an unknown force. It contains powerful energy and may be processable.]

"Uh, it's Unique, but…"

-Hmm. Another material item? This is starting to make sense.

The first monster they caught in the labyrinth, the Minotaur, also dropped a similar item.

-It seems like the game is progressing by collecting these energies. Strong energy... hmm. Maybe it's to summon a boss monster?

"Ooh... this looks interesting."

-It's a quest that uses Unique material items, so it's bound to be an extraordinary quest. It'll be very interesting, as you said.

They didn't know what it was yet. They were just at the starting point.

"But as we explore the labyrinth, we'll gather clues."

-Right. But the original goal is the priority. We should focus on searching for the Centaurs while also looking for the energy of resentment.

"Understood."

Carpe continued to advance through the labyrinth.

About an hour later.

"Hyang! Now! Calling Thunder!"

"Kyo kyo!"

Kaboom!

At Mokhyang's gesture, a bolt of lightning was summoned and struck the Minotaur's head precisely.

"Ughhh…"

The Minotaur disappeared in a gray light, accompanied by a mournful cry.

In the spot where it disappeared, a piece of a broken mirror dropped.

"Oh, it dropped this time. Good job, Hyang. Another acorn!"

"Kyo kyo kyo!"

-This is the ninth one, right? The drop rate isn't very good.

"That's true."

During the hour they spent exploring the labyrinth, they discovered a few things.

There were four types of monsters in the labyrinth.

Minotaur, Mimic, Gargoyle, and a shadow-like monster called Shadow.

There might be other monsters somewhere, but at least for now, these were the only ones.

-Considering the first three, the Shadow is a rare monster... The Demon King must have managed to catch a bunch of them for experiments.

'Shadow' is a monster that hides in the shadows of objects and attacks players, using a stealth skill.

According to Chunma, they usually live deep in dungeons or caves and are very difficult to deal with due to their stealth skill.

"Right? I hope only Shadows appear."

But that was only true for ordinary players.

For Carpe, who possessed the 'Dragon's Eye' that could see through all stealth skills, Shadows were just easy monsters with low defense and health.

And another thing they discovered.

This dungeon had an unusually high number of treasure chests.

They found three chests in just an hour, whereas in a typical dungeon, you might find one or two from start to finish.

And all three chests contained 'Energy Crystals.'

"There were a lot of Mimics too. Thinking about it makes me angry. Ah, is this the way?"

-No, that's the way we came. Go the opposite direction.

The labyrinth lived up to its name with its very complex paths.

Without Chunma, they would have undoubtedly circled the same place many times.

"Have Tina and Mirage ever been here? It was the Demon King's laboratory."

"I've visited a few times... but the structure seems different now."

"Right. Just as Tina said. It's completely different."

"I'm sorry I couldn't meet your expectations, my lord."

"No, it's not your fault. Hmm. I guess I'll have to explore it myself."

Unlike with the Elder Snake and White Tiger, there was no strategy guide for this dungeon.

This was a moment when the power of the Chunma Secret Manual was truly felt.

About 30 minutes later, Carpe and his followers continued to advance.

"Kyaah!"

A woman's scream echoed from somewhere.

"...A scream?"

-What is it? Are there other people here besides us?

"That's impossible."

While thinking it was absurd, his feet were already running towards the direction of the scream.

After turning two corners in the stone walls, they finally reached the source of the voice.

"Kyaah! Kyah! Don't come! Go away!"

Surprisingly, there really was a person.

A woman in her early 20s, wearing glasses, was surrounded by three Gargoyles.

She was swinging a large staff that emitted lightning, which seemed to be keeping the Gargoyles at bay.

"Someone, someone, please help..."

A woman surrounded by monsters, in a life-or-death situation. If this were a fantasy novel, the hero would have rushed in without hesitation, but Carpe's eyes turned cold.

"It's a trap."

During their exploration of the labyrinth, they had encountered over ten Mimics.

Betrayed and betrayed again, a total of ten times!

Now, Carpe was suspicious of everything.

Most importantly, does it even make sense for a living person to be in an 800-year-old sealed underground labyrinth?

"It's an illusion trap or a mimicry by a monster like a Doppleganger."

-You've learned a lot from Lase. Right. In this situation, such suspicion is reasonable. Whoever taught you, they did a good job.

"Phew. Thanks to you, bro."

"Kyo kyo kyo!"

"Ah, Hyang noticed too? Great. You really take after someone smart..."

While the two men and the squirrel were praising each other, Tina approached and spoke.

"Lord, we should save her."

"Huh? Ah. Tina is straightforward, so she might not understand. It's a trap..."

"The woman. I know her well. She's not an illusion or a Doppleganger."

"Right. Tina is right. Not a Doppleganger. Definitely not."

"..."

-...

"Kyo."

When the Doppleganger Mirage confidently stated that the woman was not a Doppleganger, the three men were left speechless.

-...Hmm. She must be an event NPC. What should we do? We should save her quickly.

"I was just thinking that. Let's go! Hyang!"

"Kyo kyo kyo!"

Carpe and Mokhyang ambushed the Gargoyles from behind.

"Kieek?! Kyeek!"

"Kaaah!"

The battle was short.

Carpe and his followers wiped out the Gargoyles in an instant with perfect coordination.

"Are you okay? Phew. Thanks to my decisive action, we managed to help you just in time."

"Yes, thank you! I never thought anyone would come..."

"No, it's my duty... Wait?"

Carpe suddenly stopped speaking.

He hadn't noticed from a distance, but up close, something was wrong with her body.

While she generally had a human form... her body was translucent and blurry.

It looked like...

"Could it be a ghost?"

"Ah, yes! That's right. To be precise, a bound spirit... Oh?!"

The ghostly woman was even more surprised and looked behind Carpe.

At the end of her gaze stood Tina.

"It's been a long time, Ellis. Nearly 800 years."

"Good heavens! Is it really you, Princess?!"

"Akram has already fallen, so the title of Princess is no longer appropriate. Please call me Tina."

"Hello, Ellis. I'm here too."

"Oh! Lady Mirage!"

The three people, reunited after 800 years, shared a touching moment, but the two men and the squirrel couldn't understand one word.

"...Princess?"

-...Princess? Who?

"Kyo? Nye? Nye??"

Carpe, Chunma, and Mokhyang's heads tilted to the left simultaneously.

Tina, who watched this, also tilted her head.

"Lord, didn't I tell you? That I am the Demon King's daughter?"

"No way! I would never forget if I had heard it!"

-Wow, this is an unexpected story. No wonder all the people related to Akram were submissive to Tina.

Even the laid-back Gillian was very polite to Tina.

I thought he was just showing respect to a knight who fought alongside the