Chapter 63
Nothing much was known about dungeons except that they were a time point between the past and future of a dimension distorted by Chaos Mana. The strongest hypothesis about dungeons was that each dimension encountered the parallel universe known as the dungeon, which created a potential future for those dimensions.
Whether the hypothesis was true or not, each world in the dungeons was heading toward its downfall without fail. Each world fell for various reasons: war, disease, powerful monsters, natural disasters, and more. Regardless, all these reasons were ultimately caused by Chaos Mana.
Although the worlds in each dungeon were isolated from their original dimension, they contained life. The inhabitants were known as residents, who addressed individuals from the Mirror World as travelers.
The travelers could carry out a dungeon purification quest, which helped the residents, or a dungeon corruption quest against them. Dungeon purification quests involved discovering why the dungeon world faced its downfall and eliminating the cause, while the dungeon corruption quest involved hastening the dungeon world’s downfall. Both conditions could close the dungeon, and the one who did so was given abundant rewards and glory as a dungeon closer.
Carrying out the dungeon corruption quest amplified the Chaos Mana in the dungeon world and led it to its downfall. Just like how lifeforms turned into Chaos once corrupted by Chaos Mana, a dimension corrupted by Chaos Mana turned into a Chaos World. On the other hand, carrying out the dungeon purification quest drove the Chaos Mana away, earning the individual the residents’ eternal gratitude and additional rewards.
Whatever the case, exploring a dungeon came with immense benefits. It was no wonder that Mirror World residents searched for dungeons, hoping for the rewards to turn their lives around.
***
[You entered Dungeon: Forgotten Fairy’s Hideout.]
[Dimension: Pavelaya - Larayu Cradle.]
[Time: Future]
Seong-Hwi summoned the Tarot Deck of Destiny once he entered the dungeon, pulled out his Ackher Ring Dagger, and looked around on full alert.
“A forest? Is it a field dungeon?”
He was in a primeval forest filled with grass and trees. He felt like a dwarf in a world of giants. The forest was unsettlingly silent; he couldn’t hear any birds, water, or even the shuffling of insects.
Seong-Hwi noticed something as he was looking around.
What are those?
Everything in the forest was covered in grey briars infused with Chaos Mana. Just then, an Akasha Message showed Seong-Hwi the dungeon quests.
[Fairy Queen’s Knight (Dungeon Quest)
Rank: A
Description: Help the Fairy Queen defeat the Shadow Fairy Queen and prevent the Chaos Briars from invading Larayu Cradle.]
...
[Shadow Fairy Queen’s Knight (Dungeon Quest)
Rank: C++
Description: Help the Shadow Fairy Queen defeat the Fairy Queen and allow the Chaos Briars to invade Larayu Cradle.]
The two dungeon quests had opposite descriptions.
It’s a king’s game, Seong-Hwi thought.
There were different types of dungeon quests: king’s game, conquest, search-and-destroy, discovery, challenge, and more. Among them, the king’s game was like chess—the quest ended once the king was defeated.
This space was known as Larayu Cradle of the fairies’ home dimension, Pavelaya. From the quest descriptions, there seemed to be two fairy queens.
Anyone can see that the A-rank quest is the dungeon purification quest.
Dungeon purification quests were normally harder than dungeon corruption quests; restoring was always harder than breaking.
But something’s strange.
The quest rank difference was far too big, meaning the Shadow Fairy Queen was much stronger than the Fairy Queen. Dungeons were also worlds; time flowed in them regardless of whether travelers visited. Hence, unexplored dungeons sometimes disappeared on their own.
What’s going on? How was a world on the verge of its downfall explored a few years from now?
It did not make sense. Seong-Hwi wondered if the Fairy Queen had some sort of trump card. Regardless, he had to grasp the dungeon’s geography and decide which quest to challenge. Of course, he was planning on choosing the quest that would give him the Ancient Fairy Queen’s Wings.
The Tarot Deck of Destiny flashed with a golden light.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Foolish Dog, one of the symbols of No.0 The Fool]
Arf! Arf!
A stupid-looking white dog, sniffing and excitedly running everywhere, was embodied. It was the symbol that represented a guide to fortune.
***
“Kerek! Not you bastards again!”
“Krrrk! Do you want to be dragged to the torture chambers and have your flesh torn off your bones?”
Two goblins shouted at the prisoners in the west wing. Miroslav, the human doing the difficult jobs for them, had disappeared without a trace. They then came across a pool of blood in the west wing hall.
“Chwik. I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Qwee said apathetically.
“Yes, I’m sure a hungry prisoner ate him or something,” Sayo added.
Thumper shook his head disappointingly and remarked to the goblins, “Huuu, I knew this would happen. I warned him not to get too close to the cells. This is kind of your fault, too.”
“Kerek! What did you say, rabbit? Are you crazy?”
“I’m sure one of the prisoners snapped after unanswered complaints about not getting enough meat. That’s why they probably settled for the food distributor.”
The two goblins stared at each other.
“Kerek. Is that right?”
“Krrrk. How should I know?”
“It’s not like I can’t relate. Human meat is delicious. Kerek!”
“Really? Honestly, I’m not a fan of how it smells.”
“Krrrk. Some Trophy Hunters only hunt humans. They’re easy to catch, have nice reactions, and are even delicious.”
“They’re good workers, too. Kerek!”
The goblins went from scolding the prisoners to exchanging small talk. They were initially angry, but not because of the dead human food distributor. They were just annoyed because the prisoners in the west wing constantly acted out of control.
“Krrrk. We’ll have to request a new food distributor.”
“Kerek. Humans taste disgusting, but I still like them. They’re so useful, after all. Hardly a waste of space.”
To goblins, humans were just a convenient consumable. They did not see the need to comb through the stables for a missing food distributor. After all, they weren’t even a prisoner. The eyes of the same prisoners glinted as they stared at the indolent goblins.
***
“Don’t steal my food, black bastard!”
“I didn’t even eat that much of it, cheap-ass yellow bitch!”
“It doesn’t matter how much of it you ate! I told you not to!”
“Alright, that’s enough. Let’s not insult each other with skin color like children, yeah?”
Around twenty people sat around each of the five circular tables of a Chinese restaurant in West Earth of the Capital, a hundred people in total.
Park Ho-Geun, a man in his fifties with grey sideburns and a bushy beard, stood up and shouted, “Alright! Quiet, everyone! We all know there’s an important announcement today, right? I’ve heard there are two pieces of good news!”
He calmed the rowdy restaurant and turned to Shin Jun beside him. Jun was no longer a young man in his mid-twenties with a buzz cut. He wore leather armor, had a steel shield on his back, and his hair had grown, albeit still short. On top of that, his black eyes carried a powerful sense of presence one could only obtain by surviving from the brink of death.
Jun stood up and scanned the five tables. All eyes were on him.
He remarked, “It’s been a month since the funeral. Thanks to everyone’s help, the Union has officially acknowledged our clan.”
“Whoa!”
“That’s awesome! Does that mean we can get items for cheap, too? Items have been scarce lately.”
“Idiot! That’s only possible if a clan has an exclusive contract with a store. Not just any clan has it.”
Everyone in the restaurant was a newbie who entrusted their backs to one another during the Edu attack incident. They took Remy Martin’s advice to heart and worked fervently to grow stronger daily. Now was when their growth speed would be the fastest. They did not have to pay that much survival tax yet and could raise their stats quickly since the F and E-rank cubes were so cheap.
“Our clan name is One Tree. All of us may be fragile branches individually, but together, we can become a tree that can weather any storm.”
“Hah! I like it!”
“What the hell? Was my suggestion, Black Star, rejected?”
“El Clasico is a badass name, though.”
“Kekek. What a tacky bunch!”
Everyone couldn’t help but smile after hearing their clan was now official. It was like gaining ground to dig one’s roots into this world where one couldn’t rely on anything. Since they made a clan with people they had fought together with instead of entering an existing clan, it held even more meaning in their hearts.
“One Tree has only one goal: become a tree large enough to offer shade to as many humans as possible,” Jun declared, his eyes shining brightly and carrying an unyielding determination so powerful it was contagious. “Let us fight so that we won’t have to lose anything ever again. I don’t want there to be any more funerals for our comrades.”
Everyone maintained silence. They knew that some were bound to die as they moved forward. It was only natural because that was what kind of world this was. Jun’s words were contradictory, but everyone was resolved about it. If they only wanted to survive, they would have found another way to earn Coins instead of creating a clan with their comrades.
“Peace is about being equipped with a stronger shield and a sharper sword than the opponent. We have to grow stronger,” Jun added.
Even on Earth, nations developed nuclear weapons not to destroy but to keep one another in check. The Mirror World was no different—only the powerful had the right to assert themselves.
Jun continued, “We said there would be two pieces of good news, right? One is our clan becoming official, and the other is about... discovering a dungeon.”
“W-what?”
“A dungeon? For real?”
Every clansman’s eyes widened. A dungeon was like a treasure island of which even the tiniest information about it was worth millions of Coins. It made sense why Finders, who specialized in discovering dungeons, never had to worry about the survival tax.
“You can hear the details from your category captains once this is over,” Jun remarked.
Everyone quickly looked around. Only fellow clansmen were around them since they had rented an entire floor, but it was certainly not a place to talk about a dungeon.
“Dammit, I’m so curious.”
“How could he just stop there? I can’t even taste the food anymore.”
Jun turned to One Tree’s five category captains as his clansmen grumbled. The enhancement captain was Sledgehammer, Park Ho-Geun. The transformation captain was Rottweiler, Maximilian. The manipulation captain was Lasso, Brandon. The emission captain was Bow, Namgung Min-Jae. Lastly, the conjuration captain was Shaker, Nathaniel.
The five captains were not chosen by Jun but acknowledged by members of each category. Ho-Geun’s destructive power was well-known in the clan, and the German man Maximilian could partially beastify with his Rottweiler. Shaya Singh Rai with the snow leopard, Hugh, was also a candidate, but Maximilian was chosen instead because she was still too young.
Brandon, a Texan cowboy who lost all his comrades in the Dark Forest, was highly proficient in binding but not the strongest manipulator in the clan. It was Choi Hee-Gyeong, but she was in no condition to lead a group due to her shock from Nam Do-Hyun’s death.
Min-Jae was known for his exceptional skills since Edu, so no one objected to his becoming the emission captain. The healer Nathaniel was a candidate for the conjuration captain alongside Na Seong-Tae with powerful attacks. However, Seong-Tae yielded the position to Nathaniel because he claimed he was closer to an enhancer.
Although I doubt that’s how he truly felt, Jun thought.
Jun knew exactly why Seong-Tae yielded the position to Nathaniel. He was sure Seong-Tae had stepped down because he thought it would be bad for the clan if so many captains were from the same team since the Dark Forest.
Jun looked away from his reliable captains and pulled a letter out of his pocket. Shaya had brought it to him, saying she had no idea when it entered her pocket. On the envelope were the words: To Shin Jun, a twenty-seven-year-old Korean male.
It’s been a while. How have you been? You haven’t forgotten about our bet, right? You said you would build a fence to protect the lambs from wolves, and I said I would become a tiger that would devour those wolves. We promised to see which of us was right.
Thinking back on it now, I have far too much of an advantage, which is why I’m giving you some help. Albeit F-rank, here is information about a dungeon.
...
You can sell this information for Coins or challenge it to earn Karma and cubes. I leave it to your discretion. I wish you luck, hoping the bet won’t turn boring.
Card
Jun thought as much when he first read the letter.
I knew it. There’s no way Cheon Seong-Hwi failed to reach the Mirror World.
Jun focused on the detailed information about the dungeon location. He did not know where Seong-Hwi obtained this information, but considering Seong-Hwi’s personality, it was likely legitimate.
Jun mumbled, “The answer is obvious. We need Karma to grow stronger, not Coins.”
There was only one reason he had not revealed this information to his clansmen despite trusting the source. Clans officially acknowledged by the Union were given exploration rights to any dungeon they discovered. Since the condition was now fulfilled, there was no point in waiting.