[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 379: Utopia (3)
Oscar silently looked around.
How should he put it—this was a rather bizarre sight.
‘There was a cabin, so I expected the outside to look like a forest or mountain lodge or sothing…….’
But when he stepped out, he found himself inside a bleak building that resembled a mana power plant or a corporate facility.
A room composed entirely of black tones.
No, he wasn’t even sure if this could be called a room.
It was larger than the training grounds of most sword clans.
“……”
And in a place like that, without even a building around them, there were only doors standing alone by themselves—thousands of them.
Oscar examined the nearest door.
[Beltra Trox, , 21:58:25]
Written on the door was the challenger’s na alongside the elapsed clear ti.
‘What’s the number in the middle supposed to an?’
With a small question in mind, he inspected several more doors, but they were all similar.
‘For now, there isn’t a single unnad door.’
If so, then the number of doors was probably equal to the total number of challengers currently participating in the dungeon.
Creeeak!
Suddenly hearing a door open behind him, Oscar turned around, and the person who had co out of a cabin flinched in surprise.
‘Looks like every exit is the sa cabin…….’
For now, I should step aside so people don’t get startled.
As he moved forward, he heard dozens of challengers gathered together talking amongst themselves.
“So, what are all of you planning to do?”
“Safely enter the door with our own nas on it, obviously? I don’t see any reason to take unnecessary risks.”
“Hmm…… Personally, I think it’s suspicious that they even give us the option of intrusion. There might be hidden rewards or sothing.”
“If sothing like that existed, wouldn’t rumors have spread ages ago? Quite a lot of people have already succeeded in clearing this place.”
It seed everyone was troubled by the decision.
Well, honestly, he also didn’t understand why the option of intrusion even existed.
‘The risk is way too high compared to the return.’
Especially because even if your own capabilities were excellent, that didn’t necessarily help with the clear.
If the owner of the the was an idiot, then you could end up trapped here for life without being able to do anything.
Even he himself wouldn’t have entered another person’s the if it weren’t for those problem children.
Swaaaaaash!
At that mont, one of the nearby doors scattered apart into white smoke.
“T-the door disappeared!”
“That happens often.”
A challenger who looked like he had already seen the sa phenonon several tis spoke casually.
“I interpreted that as the the disappearing because soone succeeded in clearing it.”
“Ah, then the person inside…….”
“They probably escaped the dungeon safely and are outside now.”
It was an extrely reasonable assumption.
And after waiting and observing for around ten minutes, dozens of doors dispersed into white smoke.
Of course, there were variations, but most of the disappearing doors were those whose entrants had been inside for less than twenty-four hours.
“Looks like they designed it so most people can escape within twenty-four hours.”
“But there are also doors that haven’t been cleared for hundreds of hours. What about those?”
“Well…… According to the Guide, this place provides personalized the dungeons. Maybe the wall they’re stuck at is simply too high, or maybe they lack talent?”
“Eeeh? No way. Even so, there’s no way the clear tis would differ that much.”
At the strong denial, everyone’s gaze instantly turned in one direction.
The woman who suddenly beca the center of attention didn’t shrink back at all under the stares and instead waved cheerfully.
“Hi there? My na’s Tesila Windroar. I’m an adventurer. Not to brag, but I’ve got experience clearing thirteen escape-type dungeons like this.”
“Tesila Windroar…… that’s the Empire-certified Special-Class Adventurer.”
“I heard she even investigated the Red Mountain Range.”
“A Level 7 Special-Class Adventurer, huh. Then her skills are definitely the real deal.”
Once her identity was revealed, people began listening attentively to Tesila’s words.
“Then in your opinion, Miss Tesila, why is there such a huge difference in clear tis?”
“Intrusion.”
She answered in a voice full of certainty.
“That’s the only variable. The dungeon structure itself is too simple.”
“……Then don’t tell that if soone intrudes, the difficulty of your own the dungeon increases?”
“At the mont, that’s the most plausible explanation.”
Thunk! Thunk!
Tesila knocked on one of the nearby doors as she spoke.
“In fact, isn’t there a weird number between the na and the clear ti?”
“Yes, though we have no idea what it ans…….”
“Well, I think this represents the the’s, mm~ how should I put it. Right, difficulty.”
The number represented the the’s difficulty?
Hearing that, the people hurriedly began inspecting the surrounding doors.
“Huh? That sounds very possible! Most of the doors that’ve gone over 200 hours are marked with a 1!”
“There’s even a 3 over here! But the clear ti…… holy crap, it’s already over 1,000 hours!”
Oscar, who had also inspected several doors himself, nodded.
It seed her words were correct.
‘She’s definitely not a Special-Class Adventurer for nothing.’
Her ability to grasp the dungeon’s structure in a short period of ti and pierce through to its core was outstanding.
The others also seed to agree with her opinion, and the related discussions continued.
“No matter how you look at it, this doesn’t seem like sothing where only the difficulty increases.”
“That’s true. The rewards probably rise as well. It’d probably be easier to earn points too.”
“In that case, if we want to aim for the Calm Zone, the key is to intrude as much as possible…….”
“I’ve been observing hundreds of doors since yesterday, and difficulty 3 is the highest I’ve seen. There hasn’t been a single door marked 4 or higher.”
They beca wildly excited, as if they had uncovered so trendous secret.
Watching them, Tesila spoke with an awkward expression.
“Hey, everyone should calm down first, okay? The higher-numbered doors are usually the ones still being cleared even now. Which ans the difficulty rises to a point where ordinary skill levels can’t clear them easily. In the worst case, you have to assu the clear will fail.”
“Clear failure…….”
As if cold water had been poured over them, the atmosphere instantly sank.
Everyone had rembered what clear failure ant in this place.
“Do you get it now? You can’t just recklessly raise the difficulty. Not if you don’t want to live here forever.”
“B-but if we go outside and spread this information, maybe soone will co intrude to help…….”
“No matter how skilled the person intruding is, in the end there’s only so much they can do. Everyone knows that, which ans people will probably avoid entering doors with excessively long clear tis altogether.”
Because soone highly capable would never make a decision that threw away their future.
In other words, the longer the clear ti beca, the more exponentially the survival rate would plumt.
Only then did people swallow nervously.
“……If what you’re saying is true, then thorough self-awareness seems to be the important part of this dungeon.”
“Probably. And it should be about ti now.”
The mont Tesila muttered that—
One of the doors dispersed into white smoke.
And then—
BANG!
Soone burst out, throwing the cabin door open so violently it almost looked like it would break.
“Unni! I’m back!”
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
“I told you to call Captain while we’re outside. Anyway, Morin, how was it?”
“Intrusion? It wasn’t a big deal. Watching them got so frustrating I gave a few pointers, and then they cleared it.”
The woman called Morin shrugged her shoulders.
“So now I just enter the door with my own na on it, right?”
“Yep.”
“Hehe, I’m off.”
“Be careful.”
And imdiately after Morin opened the door with her own na and stepped inside—
Ding!
[Morin Brice, , 00:00:00]
[Morin Brice, , 00:00:01]
[Morin Brice, , 00:00:02]
……
The number in the center increased.
And imdiately afterward, the clear ti also began to flow.
After confirming it, Tesila nodded.
“Mm, as expected, my hypothesis was right.”
The number in the center of the naplate represented “difficulty,” and this could be increased through intrusion.
Once the hypothesis she had proposed was proven true, people began moving busily.
“Let’s move quickly. If we want good rewards, we need to start intruding imdiately.”
“We can’t trust the skills of complete strangers, so let’s take turns intruding amongst ourselves.”
But that trend died down just as quickly.
“Hm? Wait a second. But once soone succeeds in clearing their own the…… they escape imdiately, right?”
“Oh. Then there’s no point in grouping together.”
Even if they trusted one another’s abilities.
The person who intruded first would inevitably remain here.
And naturally, nobody wanted to enter the door of soone they didn’t even know.
A few quick-witted individuals abruptly raised their hands.
“Buying intrusion doors! We’ll pay generously after a simple skill test if you pass!”
“Aah! The Dragon Sword Clan is buying large quantities of doors belonging to skilled individuals! Those interested, co this way!”
They were trying to purchase the doors of challengers who were skilled but had entered alone.
And even for those who had co by themselves, it wasn’t such a bad deal.
They would earn money, and at the sa ti possibly gain soone who could offer advice if things went wrong.
“Funny, isn’t it?”
At the sudden voice, Oscar turned his head.
Before he realized it, Tesila had approached beside him and was smiling mischievously.
“Ah, was that too sudden? Sorry. You’re Oscar Crucian, right?”
“……You know ?”
“Of course. I saw you at the Mage’s Night. I was the host there.”
Naturally, he rembered her.
Still, at the ti he had only been a re Level 4 mage, so he hadn’t expected her to rember him.
Reading that thought, Tesila grinned.
“I’ve always had pretty good instincts since I was young. The mont I saw you, I thought, this kid’s going to beco soone big soday.”
“I’m a little jealous of that. But what was that thing you asked earlier?”
“I just find it amusing. Look at those people.”
Tesila gestured toward the noisy crowd with her chin.
“People who think they’re smart usually pursue efficiency. Once a good thod becos known, they create what they call the optimal route at a shocking speed.”
Oscar’s eyes narrowed.
He asked Tesila, who had predicted this situation and laid the groundwork for it.
“……What exactly is your objective?”
“It’s not anything grand, though? I just wanted to see it.”
Her eyes shifted toward a certain man.
“He’s a knight nad Mason from the Dragon Sword Clan. Level 7. If it’s that guy, he’ll probably intrude at least three tis. Unless he’s got less guts than his size suggests.”
“You wanted to see that simply for that reason?”
“I’m an adventurer. I use everything I can use. If you think that’s underhanded, then oh well.”
Most likely, she wanted to know whether the maximum difficulty was truly capped at 3.
And whether even a Level 7 knight from the Dragon Sword Clan would be unable to clear a difficulty 3 the.
Those were the two things she wanted to confirm.
“Looks like Level 8 isn’t far away for you.”
“Yep. Really not far now.”
It seed she intended to reach Level 8 through this dungeon.
And in order to obtain the information she wanted, she had deliberately shared information others hadn’t yet figured out.
“Then why speak to ?”
“I told you already. I’ve always had good instincts.”
Giggle, giggle.
Tesila shrugged with a laugh.
“I heard there are still mages in the White Tower who haven’t managed to escape yet…… You ca here to play rescue squad, didn’t you?”
Her instincts are freakishly sharp.
Frowning, Oscar asked:
“What do you want?”
“Let’s make a deal. Like I said earlier, my goal is Level 8. I’ll give you the Windless Zone as compensation.”
Her eyes sparkled as she finally stated what she wanted.
“In exchange, let intrude into your the so I can see the highest-difficulty the possible.”
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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