＜ 24. Goinmul is too good at mangkae (1) ＞
Karon touched his forehead.
I could feel the hot heat. I thought it was because of my mood that something was heating up, but in reality, it seemed that the fever was spreading. I felt like I wanted to grab someone by the collar and ask why these things kept happening today.
The upper layer was completely destroyed.
A terribly collapsed floor. The parts that barely remained were the size of the palm of my hand, so there were no precipitous cliffs. The barrier had long since been destroyed, and the challengers were barely floating in the air thanks to Charon’s magic.
And on the narrow footstool at the exit, the culprit that caused all these scammers was standing still.
It was Andrea.
“Hey, can you say I won? I want you to open the exit.”
Hearing the calm voice, Karon felt his blood gushing again. What was even more upsetting was the fact that there was nothing in Andrea’s words and actions to be sanctioned.
Andrea’s opponent, Jericho, disappeared without leaving even a trace of his existence in this world.
Karon tries to review how this happened. Clearly, it was Jericho who led the game in his favor.
Taking advantage of Andrea’s inaction, Jericho doped himself with all sorts of potions and used magic cards. Since the class was an illusionist, physical firepower might be lacking, but the psychological damage was likely to be considerable.
However, Andrea stood still and was immovable. Standing still, as if waiting for something, she only used the card quietly. Jericho boldly used acceleration magic and even launched a physical attack, but Andrea blocked all attacks with one hand as if he was bland.
Then, 10 turns passed before I knew it. Jericho was exhausted and gasping for breath, but Andrea was the same as when he first came out.
Andrea then began to take action. I used the last card from my deck and raised my finger towards the ceiling. Then he slammed his fingers down on the floor like a shotgun.
Then a tremendous explosion occurred, the barrier was shattered and the upper layer collapsed.
It felt like being possessed by a ghost. Charon has been guarding the dungeon since it was created and has seen countless challengers, but he has never seen a card with such destructive power. I had no idea what the heck he was doing.
The referee who presides over the upper level never asks questions. Charon’s only role is to answer the challenger’s question. Conversely, asking a challenger a question should never have happened.
But Charon couldn’t help but ask a question this time.
“What the hell did you do?”
Andrea scratches the back of her head as if it’s annoying and replies.
“Well, I just made good use of the cards in my deck. Anything special?”
“No, there’s no way there’s a card with that much power!”
“Say that. Isn’t that amazing?”
“…!”
“I don’t have time to kindly ask and answer questions, so please open the exit. I think you have enough qualifications since you won the duel?”
Someone has a tantrum because they have to repair the upper floor that was restored at best, but the person responsible does not even tell us how he did it and has such an impudent attitude. Caron was frustrated by Andrea’s attitude and felt half mad.
However, he barely regained his reason. This would have been impossible without a sense of responsibility and mortifying self-denial.
What is more important than your own feelings is your role as a referee of the upper level. There was no clause giving a penalty if the challenger broke the space during the duel. Andrea, as he said, deserved the exit.
“···All right. I will open it.”
As Charon threw his left hand into the air, the huge stone gate blocking the exit was pushed aside. And when he even stirred his right hand, only the winners among the challengers floating in the air reached the exit.
“The losers… let’s make a promise to the next one.”
“aaagh!”
“Uhhhhh!”
The challengers who were defeated in the duel fell to the ground and were swept away by the black whirlpool. Still alive, they were better off than the defeated challengers who faced death, but most of them would die without reaching this place again anyway.
The victorious challengers sneakily avoided Andrea, who was holding on to the exit, and hurriedly ran away. It seemed that he was worried that he might offend Andrea’s planting. Andrea burst out laughing as she watched the terrified runaway challengers.
Everyone had arrived and it was time to leave. But before he could take his foot off, he heard Charon calling Andrea from afar.
“Did you say your name was Andrea?”
“It is.”
“I will remember. Let’s wait and see if we can safely pass the 100th floor and move forward.”
“…I won’t be able to watch you for a long time?”
“…?”
“This is just the beginning. Because I will destroy this dungeon soon.”
Caron raised his eyebrows and was silent for a long time. Vibration of the pulse tapping on the ear. I tried to burst out laughing because it was so absurd, but Andrea’s voice contained a strange magical power that I couldn’t help but believe.
Intuition and common sense clashed violently. While scratching his forehead, Charon finally came out with these words.
“…let’s try it somewhere.”
“Sure. it won’t be long Let’s go, boys.”
With that, the conversation ended. Andrea led the party towards the 100th floor. Karon couldn’t take his eyes off her back.
I was dumbfounded with how confident he was to say such an outrageous statement. Although he has absurdly strong power, he is just a kid who has never climbed the 100th floor.
But why does it exude a seasoned, worn-out spirit as if it has been here hundreds of times?
I don’t know if the author will really destroy the dungeon, but I’m sure of one thing. Whether it’s positive or negative, something big will happen in the dungeon.
Because of that challenger.
Charon closed his eyes and fell into deep thought. His intuition rarely went wrong at a time like this, but he hoped it would go wrong this time. As for him, he could only hope that he would continue to serve as an upper-level referee and that no challenger would appear again who would waste space like this.
* * *
“…how did you manage to summon so many shadow spheres, Andrea?”
It was a question that Trisha brought up in the passage leading to the 100th floor.
It happened so quickly that most people didn’t even realize what had happened. All I could think of was that Andrea raised and lowered her finger and suddenly space exploded.
However, Trisha, who has excellent torso vision, saw them all. Over Andrea’s head, in an instant, hundreds of spheres of shadow bombardment floated up. Each one of them was a sphere with unparalleled destructive power, so it was not unreasonable for space to collapse like that.
Andrea has been waiting for the time to try this method after using the ‘Golden Waxweed’. Although the opponent was too weak, the power shown was satisfactory.
‘With this method, it is clear that… it can cause ‘reasonable damage’ to the manager.’
Andrea’s head was spinning.
On the one hand, while preparing for the confrontation with the manager, on the other hand, I also thought of how to deal with the boss on the 100th floor. At least, this way of thinking was possible because I had already experienced hundreds of times what beings appeared on the 100th floor.
“Andrea, can you hear me? How did you summon the Shadow Sphere like that?”
Unexpectedly, the answer came from Mimic.
“Wow, a bowman. Master is busy thinking. Do not interrupt.”
“…I know that, but we shouldn’t talk about how it was done and what’s on the next floor. We will fight together on the next floor.”
“Lord, the master will do it with difficulty. Ooh, we just shut up…”
“Hey, I’ll give you gold coins, so keep your mouth shut.”
“Ah, overwhelming thanks.”
Mimic, who made a stunning change of posture, chewed on the gold coin Trisha gave her and quietly shut her mouth as ordered. The appearance was so absurd that Andrea naturally got out of her thoughts.
Trisha was right. Andrea thought she should put aside all other thoughts and explain what method she used and which boss appeared on the 100th floor right away.
“…That’s how I was able to summon so many shadow spheres, and now I’ll explain what kind of boss appears on the 100th floor.”
“…”
“…The boss on the 100th floor is one of five.”
Trisha tilted her head, not understanding what he meant. However, Emilia immediately understood what that meant and shuddered in surprise.
“what? Is that… possible?”
“Of course not. Because of various restrictions, it is difficult for the main body to descend into the dungeon. But even if it’s an alter ego, its power… Of course it’s not comparable to the boss monsters in dungeons.”
“Oh My God······.”
Unlike Emilia, who was stunned, Trisha still had a question mark on her face. Trisha hesitates for nothing and then manages to keep her mouth shut.
“Um, hey… can I put some in? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Emilia wiggled her fingers impatiently and answered.
“It means God.”
“yes?”
“It means that we have to fight against the alter ego of one of the five gods: the sun god, the shadow god, the thunder god, the earth god, and the wave god.”
Only then did Tricia share Emilia’s astonishment.
“It’s crazy, but now I have to fight God and win? Is that possible, Andrea?”
“…It’s not easy, but it’s not as difficult as you think. It doesn’t have to be annihilated, so the level of the spirit doesn’t matter, just like when you met the angel on the 50th floor, you just have to physically win.”
Even as she said that, Andrea also felt uneasy inside.
It didn’t matter if it was other gods. I felt sorry for Helios, Uranus, Nelas, and Emilia, but I was confident that I could deal with even Cleitos without any problems.
However, the problem was when the enemy that appeared was Khalisis.
The biggest pitfall of the 100th floor is that when you fight a god’s clone, you won’t be able to use everything that god gave you. Blessings, sacred cards, equipment, etc…
‘Actually, if that happens, only the three of us will have to fight…’
Trisha’s Infinite Cycle Deck and Emilia’s Archangelization require time to prepare before they can be used. In the meantime, it was overly optimistic to think that Mimic alone could stop Khalisis’ alter ego.
‘Ha… I miss Marco again at times like this. But well, there’s nothing I can do right now… I have no choice but to bump into it…’
Andrea was somehow convinced that Khalisis would come out. This damn dungeon always gave me the most unwanted situations, but it was understandable when I thought that the administrator’s intentions were contained in it. If so, it was certain that he would face Khalisis this time.
And finally the entrance to the 100th floor. Wave patterns and runes, people and monsters carved in relief under the clouds, and the five gods boasting their splendid figure above them.
It was a landscape I had seen while playing games, but it was the first place Andrea had reached.
It was a bit overwhelming, but there was no time to enjoy it. When I turned my head, I saw a group of people who looked nervous.
Andrea encouraged the party with a lighter voice.
“As long as you don’t get scared, you can win. Let’s all relax and go inside.”
“···yes.”
“okay.”
“Ah, I see, Master.”
The wavering eyes regained their focus. Their trust in Andrea sustained their faltering hearts. Andrea nodded, opened the door, and stepped inside.
And I faced the enemy as expected.
‘Shadow self Khalisis. The owner of eternal rest and the one who observes the world from the darkest place. The guardian deity of thieves, assassins, and swindlers, the darkness that devours the light, the one who has all the conspiracies and secrets of the world in the hem of his clothes…’
‘The fact that there are so many words to refer to her may prove the fact that you cannot judge her with just one word. Likewise, the way she handles her powers is also extremely diverse, and if you try to read the numbers rashly, you will be helpless.’
‘Challenger, you must take on a reckless challenge from now on. To dare to stand up to the gods with the body of a mere mortal. However, the greatest challenges are bound to be called reckless until they succeed. If you overcome this ordeal and move on, you will finally step into the path of a hero.’
Khalicis was sitting cross-legged on a chair in the shape of a large skeleton hand. Brilliantly white skin, a black dress that shone like the night sky, and black hair that covered it like the Milky Way.
He was the same as when he first met Khalisis in the dungeon that day.
Callices looks at Andrea with a bitter smile. God’s voice filled with remorse tickled his eardrums.
“I didn’t want to meet you in this way, but in the end I ended up meeting you in this way. My second apostle.”
“…it’s regrettable. Callisis.”
“There is no need for that. It’s not Jim’s will or yours that we met now. We just need to be faithful to the roles given to each other right now.”
Khalysis rose from her bony throne. Then he took out a long staff with a black jewel attached to it.
“Exactly like this.”
Then Khalicis did something completely unexpected. Andrea and the others couldn’t help but frown and doubt their own eyes.