Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 278
============================================================
Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 278
60. The Age of Adventure (1)
I instead questioned the National Intelligence Service agent who asked me about the difficulty of this dungeon.
"Do you know what level an ogre is?"
"I know a little. Orcs can be dealt with using personal firearms, but ogres require tanks or attack helicopters. I heard that when monsters poured out of the poisoned lands before, there was an ogre that took ten 120mm smoothbore rounds and still turned three tanks into scrap metal."
"If the combat power of such an ogre is 1, then a Death Knight is 10, an Elder Death Knight is 100, and the Cerberus we just caught is 1,000."
"Ha... Is that so?"
"Ah, of course, just because the difference in combat power between an ogre and a Cerberus is about a thousand times doesn't mean that a thousand ogres could fight a single Cerberus on equal footing. It's just a figure of speech even if ogres attacked in a horde, they couldn't kill a Cerberus."
It means the difference between combat power 1 and 10 isn't something you can bridge simply by gathering ten times the number of people.
Anyone who has played a strategy simulation game would understand this easily.
In real combat, a person with a combat power of 1.2 only about 20 percent higher than 1 can sometimes take down two people with a combat power of 1.
"Then you should have a rough understanding of this dungeon's difficulty by now."
"Th-thank you for the kind explanation."
I patted the National Intelligence Service agent on the shoulder and looked at Major Lee Geunseok, who was thoroughly intimidated.
Whether it was because he felt guilty for putting his party members in danger today, or simply because he was scared, he subtly lowered his gaze and avoided my eyes.
I shrugged and examined the items Cerberus left behind upon dying.
A magic stone is a magic stone no matter how large it is.
The stronger the monster slain, the more Mana befitting it is imbued within but it did not yield a special Mana crystal like a Dragon Heart.
However, the hide and the forearm-sized fangs it dropped were excellent enough to be compared to dragon materials.
So I tossed the magic stone to the National Intelligence Service agent as a gift and took the hide and fangs.
"Not bad."
And lastly, I examined the sword that appeared.
The sword was a magic item, and considering that the drop rate for magic items is around 0.1%, I could only say I was lucky.
[Magic Sword Gigantes]
-Forged by mixing a small amount of adamantite into Cerberus's fangs.
-Can process and release all types of energy in the form of an Aura Blade.
-The blade's size can be extended up to 5 meters.
-Being made of dark-attribute material, it deals additional damage to light-attribute enemies.
It is quite a good sword, worthy of the grand name "Magic Sword."
If anything, it could be said to have effects similar to the Holy Sword that Arcia and I possess.
It was an item that would sufficiently interest Arcia, but since she already has a hundred swords better than this, I handed it to Major Lee Geunseok without hesitation.
"Are you giving this to me?"
"This sword lets you display attack power at the level of an Aura Master. It's a weapon on par with what Rondel calls a Holy Sword. Using this, the experiment team's growth rate will speed up further. Make good use of it."
"Thank you!"
He was so moved that he even shed a few tears, unfitting for his large frame.
After distributing everything except material items to the Korean side, I looked up at the massive door.
An unusual energy emanates from within.
Even Cerberus alone was a problem, but this is clearly not something made for anyone to clear.
Of course, my companions and I could clear it easily, but the people who will use this dungeon are Gift users like Major Lee Geunseok, or practitioners and mercenaries from Rondel.
For such people to break through Aura Master-class Death Knights, Grandmaster-class Elder Death Knights, and quasi-dragon-class Cerberus?
It seemed absolutely impossible unless about 100 years were to pass.
"Could it be that we're forcibly approaching a space that was made to warn people away?"
Dark Square's conjecture.
It was a perfectly reasonable point.
But I shook my head.
It's not as if the goddess is unaware of my existence, so she surely would have anticipated my intervention.
"Well, whether this place alone is special, or whether other dungeons are like this too we'll find out in due time."
I extended my hand forward and spoke.
"Let's go in."
With that, the massive door began to slowly open.
Now I was almost curious just how much more absurd it would be inside.
[This boss room is extremely dangerous. Will you still challenge it?]
The kindly ringing notification really feels like a game.
I nodded and stepped forward, and soon the boss room, which had been steeped in darkness, lit up.
[You have entered the boss room.]
And we were able to see the enemy.
[Arc Doppelganger appears. Arc Doppelganger duplicates the raid team.]
* * *
Miel, a high-ranking Heavenly Tribe member.
She belongs to Rondel's heavenly realm, and became someone who descended to the surface to investigate after the Heavenly King Heriel lost his life to Adrian's group.
But whether it was a case of bad timing, or one misfortune piling on top of another.
While hiding and carefully continuing her investigation so as not to be caught by the Demon King who had descended, she ended up swept into the world integration of Rondel and Earth.
Fortunately, it wasn't a crisis severe enough to threaten her life.
However, due to the emergence of Earth, which heralded a new era, she ended up being thoroughly worked to the bone by the heavenly realm.
[Why on earth is the investigation so slow?]
[Look into Adrian El Lawrence.]
[Compile and submit detailed information about the world called Earth.]
And so on.
Pushed around by the Heavenly Kings' nagging, her stress was beyond words.
Eventually, recently, even this kind of order came down.
[Go directly to Earth, observe that world, and seize the opportunity for a Heavenly King's descent.]
What could she do?
If a Heavenly King says jump, you jump.
She was merely a high-ranking Heavenly Tribe member, and she could only do her utmost to obey the Heavenly Kings' commands.
And so she blended in among people and slipped into Earth.
Miel is a Heavenly Tribe member with power between the 8th Circle and 9th-circle.
If she set her mind to it, she could travel from Rondel to Earth in an instant via spatial movement, but she couldn't bring herself to do so for fear of being caught by Adrian.
She had already confirmed multiple times that Adrian was a monster beyond the 9th-circle standard, so she had no choice but to be careful.
Otherwise, she would end up following in the footsteps of the Heavenly King Heriel, who had died first.
"Oh! There's another girl our age!"
"Now, now, 'our age'? You're an old hag over 100 years old who just looks young."
"It's just that the age standards differ by race I'm not a grandma! By human standards, I'm about 20!"
That's how Miel infiltrated the dispatched personnel of the Rondel nations occupying Earth's territory.
She only needed to brainwash a few people, so infiltration wasn't very difficult.
There was just one problem that arose in the process: she ended up associating with strange women.
A fox beastkin harboring the power of a mighty spirit, and a human whose balance of soul and body was strangely skewed.
The two women had clung to her from the moment the dispatched personnel gathered, and afterward followed her wherever she went.
Miel, who had plenty to do, couldn't help but be irritated.
"Ah! Why do you keep following me!?"
"Because I feel some kind of kinship with you."
"Right, right."
"Kinship?"
"My name is Maryang, and this one is Bug."
What followed, for some reason, was self-introductions.
And so the diligent Miel had no choice but to give her own name as well.
"I'm Miel. So what do you mean, kinship?"
"You're that too, aren't you?"
"What?"
"Someone who secretly stowed away to Earth without belonging to Chase Kingdom."
To be precise, she had arrived on Earth using teleportation, so describing it as stowing away wasn't quite accurate.
But right now, she couldn't argue with the fox beastkin Maryang's words.
Because, to her bewilderment, they had noticed her situation and approached her first.
If Maryang and Bug revealed her existence, her covert activities would become difficult.
So Miel thought that if it came down to it, she would have to dispose of the two.
"I don't know which family's Young Lady you are, but your appearance is far too noble. And it even seems like you've mastered powerful divine magic, so it's obvious. Actually, we're in the same boat."
"...."
"We're fellow stowaways too."
At Maryang and Bug's story, Miel showed bewilderment.
Now that she looked, weren't these two also people who had secretly crossed over to Earth?
Their reason was absurd too.
"We heard there are lots of amazing things on Earth, so we came to go on an adventure. You're the same, right?"
Coming to go on an adventure they looked like nothing but naïve young ladies.
Miel stared intently at the two women with a sour expression, agonizing over how to deal with them.
Then, all of a sudden, she felt that Maryang and Bug's faces seemed familiar.
"By the way, have we met somewhere before?"
"You probably saw us on TV?"
"TV?"
"I did some entertainment industry work for a while because of Adrian. I was fairly famous, so it's only natural we'd feel familiar."
Miel froze on the spot.
The reason wasn't that the two had been in the entertainment industry it was that the name 'Adrian' had been mentioned.
"Adrian? You mean Grand Duke Lawrence?"
"Yeah, we're friends."
This is an era where being Adrian's friend carries more clout than the position of Supreme Elder of the Elysian Coalition or Count of the Duchy of Lawrence.
So Bug and Maryang raised their chins proudly, and Miel momentarily lost her will to fight.
Because if she mishandled them, a shitty situation was bound to unfold.
"Goodbye."
Miel tried to slip away from the two, but Bug and Maryang persistently followed her.
* * *
Doppelganger.
A monster of the demon spirit realm with replication abilities.
It's a monster of such high caliber that it can perfectly replicate the abilities of an Aura Master and a 7th-circle Archmage.
The monster that could be called the superior version of such a doppelganger is none other than the 'Arc Doppelganger.'
The Arc Doppelganger is a perfected form that compensates for the weakness of regular doppelgangers, whose replication limit is up to Aura Master or 7th-circle.
Moreover, unlike the standard type which lacks reason, it can think and possesses analytical ability to improve upon problems, making it incredibly difficult to deal with.
"D-damn it!"
"This is dangerous!"
-Kwaaaang! Bang! Kwang!
Thanks to that, once the battle with the Arc Doppelganger began, the group was thrown into complete pandemonium.
The Heavenly King and Demon Kings struggled repeatedly against abilities identical to their own, and since copies of me and Arcia existed among them, one wrong move could mean death.
The National Intelligence Service agents and Major Lee Geunseok, who had joined the dungeon exploration, were completely like candles in the wind.
If even a single fragment of an attack flew their way, they'd die without even a squeak.
"Adrian! What are you doing!? Fight actively!"
"Yeah, we're dying here! Save us!"
The tide was against us.
The reason was obvious I was tilting my head and only defending against the enemy's attacks.
And it wasn't much different for Arcia either.
Only the Demon Kings and Heavenly Kings who had become my subordinates were getting picked off.
"Alright. Stop nagging."
So I let out a smirk, raised my hand before my eyes, and clenched it as if grabbing something.
-Halt.
At that, the Arc Doppelgangers that had been attacking the group all stopped moving at once.
"W-what?"
The group wore expressions of confusion.
After all, the Arc Doppelgangers that could perfectly replicate any ability were unable to move an inch.
"Arcia!"
"Yes!"
Though it looked simple on the surface, stopping their movements was no easy feat.
So I asked Arcia to attack, and all the doppelgangers were shattered by her sword strikes.
[You have slain the Arc Doppelganger.]
[Dungeon clear rewards will be given.]
With that, the battle was over.
I spoke to the group, who wore dumbfounded expressions.
"It seems it couldn't perfectly replicate our abilities after all."
The Arc Doppelganger displayed power that even the Demon Kings and Heavenly King struggled with, but it couldn't reach the level of me and Arcia, who are of the god race.
It means their replication ability also has limits.
Perhaps that's only natural.
We, who were reborn as the god race, absorbed a portion of the Creator's Authority.
If it could replicate even that, it would be overstepping its bounds as a mere creation.
I wore a mischievous smile at the sight of the Heavenly King and Demon Kings glaring at me with exhausted expressions, as if asking why I hadn't dealt with them sooner, and answered.
"Just because."
"Wow...."
"Look at that personality."
Having received my subordinates' jeers all at once, I shifted my gaze to the box that appeared in the center of the boss room.
I'm curious what they hid that made them go to such lengths.