-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Eve of the Storm
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Deep Water Capital Dungeon, 5th floor, narrow gap in pipe 349.
An eight-man party was hiding in a total mess.
"Look at this. Damn it, my foot's swollen twice the size because of the poison."
"...Shouldn't we cut it off?"
"Don't say ominous shit! What then, just sit here and die? I can still fight!"
The blackened foot looked seriously bad at a glance. As time passed, the discolored area was creeping past the foot and up the ankle. Most of the group figured he wouldn't make it through the day without amputating.
Of course, some knew he'd die even if he did cut it off. A hunter who couldn't walk had no chance of surviving the ranking battles and would just be dead weight on the way back. So why not put him out of his misery and split the coins?
The one feeling this unspoken atmosphere most keenly was Mohamed, clutching his pitch-black foot. Unable to hold back his rage, he shouted.
"Goddamn it, I told you not to go this deep!"
"Then what? Get hunted by the rankers in a few days? We all agreed to push deeper to climb the rankings."
"Ah, yeah. Be smart about it. We followed your wise ass down here and got chased by a Grand Worm! Now we're crammed in some random pipe gap who knows where! How the hell are we getting back! How?!"
"Quiet, Mohamed. Shut up! If you keep this up..."
'No matter how we get back, we won't need your help anyway.'
As death closed in, Mohamed panicked. Screaming like that in a dangerous dungeon was basically begging the monsters to come kill them, but he'd lost his reason so badly he couldn't even judge that.
Have to kill him. Leader Kasim, who had hesitated because they were both from the Middle East, made his decision. Just as Kasim's hand touched his scimitar.
Screeech, scritch, scritch—ick!
The inside of the pipe trembled faintly. The sign of a Grand Worm crawling up the pipe.
Everyone instantly held their breath. Mohamed seemed to snap out of it too, freezing in his angry pose.
How much time passed.
Scritch scritch┐
Scritch┐ scritch┘ Scritch scritch—ick
Scritch
The eight hiding in the pipe gap all felt it. Dozens of Grand Worms had stopped right above their heads.
♪~ ♩~ ♬~ ♩ ♪~
Humming came from somewhere.
Scritch-a-lick-lick
Dozens of Grand Worms thrashed on the rusty pipe.
"Eek."
Someone let out a whimpering groan. Everyone looked at each other.
'Which bastard's humming right now?'
Kasim had seen countless soldiers on the battlefield lose it to stress and panic, acting irrationally. Thinking Mohamed or the others had snapped, he checked their mouths, but even with everyone clamping theirs shut, the singing grew louder.
♪~ ♬~♩ ♪~~
Screeeeeeeeeech!
The pipe shook like never before. Bolts popped off, and the ceiling buckled.
"Now! Run!"
Kasim yelled. It wasn't one of them singing. No idea which lunatic it was, but doing a sing-along in front of Grand Worms. Best to bolt before things settled.
Kasim poked his head out of the gap first. Hot fluids splashed across his face.
Right in front of him was a Grand Worm, its body crushed, spewing fluids and guts from its mouth.
['Ra-Djehuty (SS)' secondary ability 'Omniscience Magic Tome' activated. Current efficiency: 157%.]
"Ignition Booster. Behind the weapon."
['Ignition Booster (D)' activated.]
An enormous explosion erupted behind the spiked club Gonghyeok held.
The spiked club, propelled like a rocket, slammed into the underjaw of a 4-meter Grand Worm.
The Grand Worm spun like a windmill for a few turns before smashing into the ceiling, splattering its guts.
Screech, screech.
Despite being bugs, they remembered the massacre from days ago and scurried away nimbly.
['Ignition Booster' stage 2 activated.]
['Primary rank, secondary left arm. Mana consumption increased by 184%.']
Boom!
Flames burst behind Gonghyeok's body. Using the explosion's thrust as a launchpad, he leaped forward, closing dozens of meters in an instant.
A secondary blast behind his left shoulder. The spiked club whipped around like a gale. Its wild spikes impaled three bodies at once, shredding them to pieces.
"Good, good. Getting the hang of it now."
- Heh heh, using magic not to burn enemies but to boost your movements. Truly an apostle.
The party members emerging from the gap gaped at the masked man in his brutal visage and the massive Egyptian-style god slaughtering Grand Worms.
Solo dungeon crawling with this level of prowess—Kasim swallowed hard and spoke.
"Thanks for the help. 'X'."
Gonghyeok slowly turned his back.
"Seems like a guy I can talk to. Around rank 64?"
Kasim was startled that he pegged his ranking instantly. He'd been listed anonymously, but he couldn't evade the GM's info analysis.
"Good. Decent party. Let's make a deal. You won't lose out at all."
"A deal, you say?"
Suspicious. Incredibly fishy, but Kasim hid it as best he could. No clue what the masked 'X' was thinking, but he tossed over a scroll.
"攻略 methods for seven 1st-floor dungeons. Climb the rankings. I'll get you all into the top ranks."
"Top ranks? What're you suddenly—"
The group eyed the scroll X threw. No way to verify if it was real, but it was an irresistible offer.
"Yeah. In exchange, make a 'promise' with me. This guy's our witness."
Behind him, the Egyptian god with a bird's head, Ra-Djehuty, unfurled a massive papyrus.
[Avatar 'Ra-Djehuty's ability '365 Days Oath' activated.]
[Current oath-takers: 48. Duration: 10 days. Promise items: 2. Remaining space: 269 (365-96). Full use requires 1 year to recharge.]
"Just two promises."
Kasim could only gulp at his casual tone.
= = =
Babel 1st floor's administrator and angel of weapons, Azazel, had been sitting cross-legged on the dais for 12 days straight.
She looked like she was just meditating, but she was simultaneously managing two million summons from the 7th Great Summoning across 10,000 zones.
Managing village entrances was her job too—by demon-angel accord, they closed at 6 PM and stayed shut until 6 AM.
While everyone else slept awaiting dawn, someone visited her 3349th clone.
Gonghyeok, hooded and wearing the 'Hellhound Mask.'
"Azazel. Give me a quest."
"You haven't taken any quests from me yet. The first one is to gather 200 ribbon strawberries from the forest north of the village..."
"I'll take the '100-Man Survival Quest.'"
Azazel's eyes flickered open briefly.
"You're that guy who bypassed the system last time."
"Yeah."
"You said the same then. So you've finally realized?"
"I'll make 51 people tie for joint 50th. That way, 100 survive."
"Enlightened one, that path is thornier than killing 199. The thorny road you've chosen..."
Gonghyeok cut her off.
"Yeah, yeah. Just give me the quest."
"...Insolent tone, but may the dimensional gods bless your path."
[Quest '1st Floor 100-Man Survival' assigned to hunter 'X'.]
[Rewards applied stepwise based on achievement rate.]
[At 100% achievement: Heaven-Shaking Mace (B+), Skill Coin Book (B), Thunderclap Scroll, 5 blue coins.]
"I'll let you pick special rewards if you exceed that."
"Don't need any of it."
Azazel's face hardened.
"You think I'm some being who tolerates wordplay from vermin like you?"
"Throw it all out. Prepare a Spirit Summoning Scroll."
Gonghyeok declared.
"I'm only taking the 'Spirit Summoning Scroll' as my reward. Do whatever with the rest."
= = =
Ra-Djehuty's Oath
1. Oath-taker may accumulate points only up to joint 50th place.
2. For 3 days after village murder restriction lifts, oath-taker will not enter the village.
Violating the contract turns all stats to 1.
────────────────────────────────────