The Crystal Cave, shimring with a faint, iridescent light.
But perhaps because of the grueling battle I had fought here against Dreadfear…
I hesitated for a mont as soon as I opened my eyes.
[Just… one person…?]
[You… will beco… a great warrior…]
Ugh, why were those mories so vivid?
It was an experience I never wanted to relive.
But it was also sothing that could happen again.
“Mister… are you okay?”
“…It’s nothing.”
I snapped out of my reverie at Erwen’s worried question and looked at my teammates. Well, it was just Erwen and Misha.
“…….”
Misha had been quiet.
Was she still uncomfortable?
“Misha.”
“…Y-Yes?”
“We’re about to leave. Are you ready?”
“Yes…”
Her voice was subdued.
I gathered my team and started walking.
Our first destination was the Great Sage Monunt in the center of the Crystal Cave. We would regroup with the other team there.
We had split into two teams for this expedition.
‘…I need to recruit more clan mbers…’
We had split up because of our limited numbers.
There were only seven of us in the clan.
We had no choice but to split into teams of three and four.
Well, technically, there were six of us, excluding Auyen…
‘But we might need a navigator.’
So I had decided to bring him along.
There were several areas, including the 6th-floor Great Ocean, that required a ship and a navigator. I had to be prepared for every possibility.
‘…And if we don’t find anything here, we’ll have to go to the upper floors…’
I had spent the past few days researching the ‘hidden area’, and there was one thing they all had in common.
They always appeared on the sa floor where the feat was accomplished.
The Fairy King’s achievent was a pri example.
[Arlla Powell rhenia, a fairy archer, and her companions, defeated the Harmonizer Gregory and opened a hidden area.]
The Harmonizer Gregory was a hidden boss that could be encountered on the 5th floor with a low probability.
And ‘Larkaz’s Labyrinth’ was the hidden area that had been added after he was defeated for the first ti.
Well, technically, there were three different types of hidden fields…
Anyway, the important point was this:
The 1st floor would close on the 7th day. If we didn’t find anything by then, we would have to go to the upper floors.
“…There are a lot of people here…”
The central Dark Zone was crowded with explorers.
It was an unusual sight.
But it wasn’t surprising.
The explorers searching for the ‘hidden area’ would naturally co here first.
Most of them were wearing high-grade equipnt and displaying their clan emblems proudly.
‘There are more than I expected…’
As we entered the Dark Zone, the explorers who recognized parted like the Red Sea.
“Hey, isn’t that…?”
“It’s Bjorn Yandel…”
“So he’s looking for it too…”
They looked at with a mixture of curiosity and wariness, as if I was a competitor.
“…Maybe he has a clue…”
“He ca here first… does that an there’s sothing hidden here…?”
Being famous was a disadvantage in this situation.
“Misha, stay close.”
“Ah… okay…”
We continued through the passage, and soon we reached the chamber with the monunt. As expected, it was crowded with explorers.
“Oh! Bjorn! Over here!”
“You’re finally here.”
“Welco, Clan Master.”
The second team was already there.
I asked Alia for a report.
“Anything?”
“Not yet. It seems like the mages from various clans are investigating, but they haven’t found anything.”
“I see…”
I approached the monunt, and the mages who had been examining it stepped aside.
And…
Gulp!
They watched my every move, their eyes filled with anticipation.
It was a little amusing.
‘I don’t have any clues either…’
I felt a strange sense of déjà vu as I stood in front of the monunt.
The last ti I was here, there had been a Witch’s Altar instead of this monunt.
What secrets did this labyrinth hold?
I read the inscription on the monunt.
「In mory of Diflun Groundel Gavrilius, the Last Sage, and his first giant step.」
It was the sa inscription I had seen countless tis.
‘Nothing’s changed…’
I examined the monunt carefully, but I couldn’t find anything unusual.
Even when I touched it, nothing happened.
I returned to my teammates and discussed the situation.
“Bersil, is the Voice Control active?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Alright.”
“Yandel, did you find anything?”
“Not yet.”
I had a few ideas, but I couldn’t test them out with so many people watching.
I wasn’t a hero.
I preferred to work alone.
“Let’s go.”
I was about to leave…
“Baron Yandel.”
…when soone called out to .
It was a man with brown hair, a sword on his hip, and a sturdy build.
‘Who are you?’
I looked down at him, and he greeted politely.
“I’m Manus Stillico, team leader of the White Whale Clan’s 9th team. It’s an honor to et you, Baron Yandel.”
Ah, the White Whale Clan.
One of the four largest clans.
“Bersil, deactivate the Voice Control for a mont.”
“Okay.”
“So what do you want?”
I asked after the Voice Control was deactivated, and he cautiously spoke.
“If you have any information about the hidden area, we’re willing to buy it.”
Damn it, so that’s what he wanted.
I had received countless similar offers recently.
And if I rember correctly, I had ignored a letter from the White Whale Clan.
“Buy it…”
I didn’t intend to sell the information, even if I had it, but I pretended to consider his offer.
I had a question for him.
“Is the White Whale Clan Master here?”
“…He’s probably on the 1st floor, but not in this area.”
“Is he searching the outskirts?”
“No. Our 9th team is the only one searching for the hidden area.”
In other words, the rest of the clan had gone to the upper floors, just like the other clans.
“That’s not much support, is it?”
I implied that the information wouldn’t be worth much if they weren’t serious about finding the hidden area, and he quickly replied,
“We’re not taking this lightly. We’re just prioritizing the war effort. We have a contract with the military.”
“So the war cos first?”
“Yes. And if the hidden area is easy to find, our team alone will be enough. And if it’s not, there’s no point in mobilizing the entire clan from the beginning. Most clans are doing the sa.”
“I see.”
“So… what do you say about our offer…?”
I ended the conversation.
“Sorry, but I’ll have to decline.”
I had already gotten the information I wanted.
“…I understand. Thank you for your ti.”
We left the Great Sage Monunt.
‘The war is actually helpful in so ways.’
I had been worried about the crowds near the monunt, but it seed like the real competitors were busy with the war.
“Bjorn! Where are we going?!”
“To the outskirts.”
It was ti for to show off my skills.
The sooner we found the hidden area, the more we could explore it.
______________________
[Dungeon and Stone] was the most unfriendly ga I had ever played.
Boss monsters with ridiculous attack patterns.
Fields and rifts with bizarre chanics.
Hidden pieces that were almost impossible to find.
I could complain about the ga’s unfriendliness for three days and three nights.
But ironically, that ‘unfriendliness’ was also the reason I was so addicted to the ga.
I was the type of person who was motivated by challenges.
‘It’s been a while since I last searched for a hidden piece.’
The difficulty of [Dungeon and Stone] was determined by the number of hidden pieces you knew.
If you didn’t know any, it was practically impossible to progress through the floors.
So I had developed a habit of constantly searching for hidden pieces.
I would try to break every statue I saw.
I would hug the walls and spam the attack button as I walked.
I would cast random spells whenever I felt sothing was off.
I would burn, freeze, and even throw looter corpses at suspicious objects.
And after almost ten years of doing that…
I had discovered countless hidden pieces.
And I had developed a certain… intuition.
‘The problem is that I haven’t invested anything in that area…’
I didn’t have any characters specialized in luck or exploration.
My companions and I were all combat-focused.
I had assud that I already knew all the hidden pieces.
‘But at least I can read ancient language now…’
Well, it wouldn’t be of much help if the hidden piece didn’t involve ancient language.
But…
Thump!
It couldn’t be helped.
I had to make do with what I had.
Like this.
Thump!
I walked through the cave, tapping the walls with my hamr, just like I had done in the ga.
And my teammates followed suit.
Thump! Clink! Thud! Rumble.
A cacophony of sounds echoed through the cave as our weapons and spirits collided with the walls and crystals.
“Oh! This is fun! It’s like a festival!”
Ainar was the only one who seed to be enjoying it. The others looked like they wanted to be anywhere else.
“Just endure it! This is the basic thod for finding Gavrilius’s arrangents.”
“…Basic thod?”
“That’s what it said in a book I read!”
I made an excuse to Bersil, who didn’t know I was an evil spirit, and we continued our search. I carefully examined every nook and cranny.
The square crystal intersection.
The pond next to the large rock.
The moss-covered puddle.
The Crystal Cave’s terrain changed randomly, but there were a few fixed locations.
And…
‘Hidden pieces are usually hidden in specific locations.’
We reached the Dark Zone on the outskirts of the cave.
Whoosh!
The portal to the Goblin Forest had already been opened by soone else, and there was nothing suspicious nearby.
Damn, it wasn’t next to the portal either?
We split up and searched the Dark Zone, using a designated spot as our base.
And after we finished searching the area, we moved to a different location and repeated the process.
Day 1, Day 2…
And then, about two hours before the start of Day 3…
We finally found sothing.
A mid-sized clan, about twenty mbers, was blocking a passage.
As if they were trying to hide sothing.
“I thought I should report to you first, so I ca back without engaging them. They didn’t see .”
Good work, Erwen.
I led my team to the location Erwen had indicated, and we saw the explorers blocking the passage.
Step, step.
They drew their weapons as we approached, but then they hesitated as they recognized .
“Stop! Wait… B-Baron Yandel…?”
Right, they couldn’t be aggressive towards .
“I’d like to pass. Is there a problem?”
I asked, stepping closer, and the explorers, their faces pale with fear, said,
“W-We’re camping here… P-Please… go around us…”
It was definitely suspicious.
“Camping…? What are you talking about?”
“……?!”
“Don’t use difficult words!”
I charged forward, breaking through their lines.
“Uh…!”
“W-Wait…”
They couldn’t do anything but watch.
I entered the passage, and fifteen explorers, who had been gathered near the wall, flinched as if they had been caught doing sothing wrong.
“……!”
“……!”
A heavy silence filled the air.
“What’s all the commotion—? Huh?”
A man peeked out from a small crevice in the wall.
“Oh, there’s a hidden passage here?”
“Uh… Wh-Who are you…?”
“Bjorn, son of Yandel. Are you the leader?”
“Y-Yes…”
“What’s inside?”
“N-Nothing… there’s nothing here…”
“I don’t think so.”
I smirked, and he closed his eyes and shouted,
“…W-We found this place first!”
Damn it, now we looked like the bad guys.
“You found it first…?”
“Y-Yes! If you steal our discovery, it will damage your reputation, Baron Yandel—”
“Did the other explorers you encountered say the sa thing?”
“…What… do you an…?”
What do I an?
“Aaaaah!”
I grabbed him by the hair and pulled him out of the crevice.
“Your sleeve.”
“…?”
“There’s blood on your sleeve.”
“……!”
“Whose blood is it?”
It was still fresh.
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