The Old Man Is So Good at Acting Like a Loser chapter 116

(116)

＜ 19. Arpan ‘s burnt offering (5) ＞

Late at night, Andrea was lost in thought .

Two days had passed since I took a break on the 79th floor. Catch fish again by the waterside, take a walk while looking at the beautiful scenery, do nothing and relax when you feel tired, eat delicacies from the mountains and seas in the villa… Then, in the blink of an eye, time passed .

The fun time felt so short, I thought that even if I rested for a few more days, it wouldn’t be enough. However, Andrea remembered where she was now .

Infinite Dungeon. Even if he took just one step away from here, he had to continue his life-or-death struggle again. It’s good to take a break, but it’s not okay to lose tension and become lazy .

‘ I’ll leave here no matter what tomorrow .’

Upon hearing Andrea’s notice, the party couldn’t hide their regret. But nobody objected. Because they haven’t forgotten where they are .

Perhaps today was the last night to rest comfortably in the dungeon. Even God doesn’t know what will happen next. Andrea wanted everyone to have good dreams today .

Of course, he was an exception there. As the leader of the party, he had to predict and judge what would happen in the future. Someone’s comfortable bed is usually made up of someone’s insomnia .

‘ Arpan never tried to let me into the hidden room on the 80th floor, but he didn’t try to make sure I died… That’s probably because my role, including completing ‘Andrea’, remains …’

’ Then Arpan must have prepared something for the 80th floor. Block the entrance to the hidden room, set a trap… or even come directly .’

The entrance to the hidden room is right behind the portal to the waiting room, so digging a trap or sealing it won’t be an easy task. Moreover, if I had planned to deal directly with them, I could understand that the journey to the 80th floor was not ridiculously difficult, even though they said that they would give ‘maximum disadvantage’ .

The guess gradually leaned toward that Arpan would be there in person. And if that speculation is true, confronting Arpan was inevitable .

‘… Can Arpan and our party fight and win ?’

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No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with a positive prediction. Even if they did win, the odds of a flawless victory without anyone being sacrificed were not very high. Andrea is in deep trouble .

‘… It’s not enough just to know how to attack Arpan. I need something… another spleen number .’

Andrea spread out the ingredients, potions, and artifacts she had. Pot of Gluttony, Counterattack Bracelet, Necronomicon, Elixir Tablet, Blink Amulet x2, Antidote x2, Healing Potion x4, Azure Thread, Shadowweed Leaf, Nightmare Powder, Grey-white Goat’s Horn …

‘ Huh ?’

A flash of thought passed through Andrea’s mind as she unfolded the items. Somehow familiar ingredients. This material was enough to once again make ‘that thing’ that had been made before .

‘ But… how to use Arpan… Ah !’

Andrea’s thinking slowly began to accelerate. The meager idea gradually gained flesh and became intertwined with other ideas. The vague plan gradually materialized and quickly took shape .

With the plan at last fully fleshed out, Andrea pondered .

‘… what is the probability that this will work ?’

Even thinking in an optimistic way, a lot of luck had to follow. An interlocking coincidence, a fragile plan that can be broken with just a minor variable .

However, it was impossible to hope for a flawless plan against an enemy of that size .

Andrea recalled the principles of ‘roguelike games’ once again. Things that are full of variables that you can’t control. Nevertheless, choosing the best option you can choose without blaming fate .

There has never been a time when there were no variables in his journey. Even in the midst of always walking an uncertain tightrope, I just chose the best option without losing focus .

This time, this was the path he had to follow. In order to get answers to all his questions and find a way to return to the world he was in .

‘ Even Callices-sama… said that even if I killed the administrator, I might be able to return .’

Andrea closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. The midnight darkness enveloped the surroundings like a curtain. It’s so quiet, but the moment it becomes so devouring .

Andrea, who opened her eyes again, placed the leaves of the daisies and the horns of a gray-white goat on the floor and began to crush them with her gauntlets .

*

The long-awaited guest has finally arrived at the Ice Nest. Arpan lifted his eyelids slowly .

“You are quite late .”

A blizzard was raging everywhere, but Arpan looked clean without a speck of dust on it. It was thanks to the fact that he protected himself with an invisible veil .

He was sitting with his chin resting on an ice chair made to replace the seat in the waiting room .

“ Seeing that you came so late, you must have liked the resting area on the 79th floor .”

Arpan raises himself on the iron cage. He was pretending to be kind, but if he was a bit quick-witted, he would have noticed. That it contains a chill that makes your bones ache more than the cold of the ice nest .

Arpan smiled and wrapped his inner thoughts even thicker .

“ I know very well that Andrea-nim went through a lot of hardships while climbing the dungeon. I paid a lot of special attention. So you can have a good time with your colleagues .”

“…”

“ It doesn’t end there. We paid special attention to this floor as well. Considering that you’ve had a hard time catching the boss monsters, I’ve decided to pass this floor without fighting .”

Saying that, Arpan pointed to the top of the ice wall. The red frozen remains made me guess that something had been brutally murdered .

“ Andrea-sama, you just have to collect the reward and quietly go to the exit with your colleagues. It’s not difficult at all, is it ?”

“…”

There was neither a positive nor a negative answer. Andrea is firmly silent. Arpan felt a strange sense of difference in the silence .

Strangely, it wasn’t just that. Arpan looked around and narrowed his eyes .

“ By the way, where are your colleagues ?”

As Arpan said, there was no one by Andrea’s side. Only Andrea, who puts on her cape and looks at herself with a heartless gaze .

It was an insignificant maneuver. Arpan’s mouth twisted as it soared long .

“ Why don’t you just go over it calmly? Are you hiding and aiming for my weakness and launching a surprise attack? Really, do you think you can defeat me that way? Seriously ?”

bang !

Arpan hit the floor with an iron rod. Then, the snow that had been piled up to my knees dispersed in an instant, revealing the floor .

The floor was not in normal condition. The floor was bizarrely distorted as if it would sink at any moment. It was a one-shot that Arpan had prepared with great care to drive Andrea and the others into a corner .

“ Whatever you have planned, you’d better stop. You know what it is without telling me? If you don’t leave right away, I’ll burn this space down with ‘fires of annihilation’ .”

Arpan is ready to activate ‘Flame of Extinction’ in all places of the ice nest at the same time .

The

‘ flame of annihilation’ can never be stopped by building armor or increasing resistance. A flame that devours everything but the soul. A transcendental power that only administrators and guides can wield .

It didn’t matter what Andrea had planned. If it showed any signs of being suspicious, all I had to do was start a fire and burn it up .

“ Now, what are you going to do, Andrea ?”

Arpan does not hide his ridicule. He expected the cunning challenger’s face to be distorted into a mess .

However, even in this crisis, Andrea did not seem to feel much emotion .

He just tightened his cape once more and proceeded toward the exit with calm steps .

He followed his will so meekly that Arpan was taken aback. I thought I would pull out some lame tricks, or at least put up a pitiful resistance .

It was always like this. An arrogant attitude that he doesn’t care what kind of trials he brings. As if proving that the ‘root’ is different from those of you who were designed like puppets. In fact, he is a vermin that only knows how to gnaw through loopholes in dungeons .

‘··· Why did the manager treat this kind of person …’

Deep emotions boiled inside. Arpan is forced to do this. He couldn’t stop blasphemous thoughts from growing inside him .

‘… are you trying to die? ‘

My body was faster than I thought. Before anyone knew it, Arpan was blocking the exit. Andrea looks at him with detached eyes .

“ I have changed my mind .”

A voice as if several people were speaking at the same time. The eye light was a mixture of numerous colors, giving off a mysterious color .

“… I will activate the ‘flame of annihilation’ here and offer you as a burnt offering to the master .”

Even if he left right away, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t be able to find a way back to the 80th floor. And if you enter the hidden room, this guy might get a weapon that will reach the Administrator .

Even if that was what the manager wanted, Arpan couldn’t tolerate it .

Since he did not follow the order, it was clear that the administrator would perish himself. It didn’t matter. If you can protect the admin even like that .

made a decision Arpan raised the iron cage high to activate the ‘flame of annihilation’ .

But the moment I was about to take it down ,

Andrea’s figure disappeared .

There was no time to panic. Arpan felt something sucking him from behind. When I hurriedly turned around, the green magic circle filled my field of view .

Arpan knew very well what this was. And I was able to realize it right away .

That he had been beaten by Andrea again

*

The gist of Andrea’s plan to defeat Arpan was as follows .

First, use ‘shadow alter ego’ to create an alter ego identical to yourself .

Second, as soon as you enter the 80th floor, send only your alter ego in front of Arpan, and leave the rest to the waiting room using the ‘Elixir Stone Plate’ .

The first step wasn’t particularly difficult, but the second step required quite a bit of risk. The risk of Arpan recognizing the party as soon as they enter, the risk of immediately noticing that the alter ego is fake, the risk of realizing that the other companions are not really there ….

The reason Andrea was able to avoid all these dangers was because Arpan was trapped in one stereotype.

The stereotype of ‘not going to skip the 80th floor’ .

For this reason, the silence of the alter ego, who cannot speak, was accepted as concealing a trick, and the absence of colleagues was accepted as thorough hiding, so that it was difficult to even feel the presence. Arpan himself had imprisoned himself in the prison of his thoughts .

However, in the meantime, Andrea boldly skipped the 80th floor with the ‘Elixir of Stone’ .

He didn’t even give up on entering the hidden room. The reason Andrea was able to make this decision was because of the fixed event room she would face soon .

‘On the

85th floor, you can go to one of the floors you passed through in the dungeon… From there, send Emilia to the 25th floor, and I can go to the 80th floor .’

Of course, as long as Arpan was alive, it would be a long way for Andrea to return to the 80th floor unhindered. In the end, the most important thing is ‘how to kill Arpan’ .

The answer to that problem was right in Andrea’s hands .

A scroll that can be obtained by combining Gray White Goat’s Horn, Muyoungcho Leaf, Ironwood Bark, Nightmare Powder, and Parchment .

Andrea created the ‘Arpan Summoning Scroll’ once again on the 79th floor .

Andrea remembered. The ways of killing Arpan in the game. Among them, a waiting room without Arpan and an Arpan summoning scroll, a method that can only be used when these two conditions are met .

The final step in the plan to defeat Arfan .

Third, Arpan is summoned into an incinerator that deletes the character .

As a burnt offering to reveal the truth about the dungeon, the guide of the dungeon is offered .

Turning their backs on the others who were watching him with bated breath, Andrea used the scroll .

In front of the threshold of the roaring incinerator, a green halo rose. Grains of light intertwined in a spiral, a shape that gradually expanded in an arc, and a large horn appeared through a clear hexadecimal star .

Just before entering the incinerator, Arpan and Andrea’s eyes met .

＜ 19. Arpan’s Burnt Offering (5) ＞ End