＜ 6. Unexpected Companion (1) ＞
When the collapse was over, all power was gone. The dark red aura shrank like a faint candlelight and then disappeared. It felt like all the air was escaping from a tightly inflated balloon.
Andrea sat down on the floor from exhaustion, unable even to stand.
‘I passed a hurdle…’
Andrea was so exhausted that she just lay down on the floor. The sense of relief and achievement was great, but there was more emotion than that. It was a kind of futility.
The power to tear heaven and earth was only for a moment, and he had to explore the dungeon again with this weak character.
‘It would have been nice if the Golden Slime Summon wasn’t a disposable card…’
The Golden Slime Summon was a card that was extremely difficult to obtain as it was disposable and had a low drop rate. It wouldn’t be easy for Andrea to show off her overwhelming power now.
It was unavoidable. Andrea decided to regard this as a stroke of luck brought on by an extraordinary coincidence. It wasn’t originally theirs, so it’s natural to lose it.
After regaining some composure, I suddenly became worried about Marco. It must have been a shock for him to die so suddenly. Andrea took a card from her deck and summoned Marco.
The summoned Marco had a bewildered face. He asked Andrea in a voice that was dumb enough to think to himself.
“Are you dead too?”
Andrea shook her head. And step by step, I let them know that this is not the afterlife, and summoned beasts can be resurrected even if they die as long as the card is not removed from the deck.
Marco burst out laughing as if it was ridiculous.
“There was a time when I wished I was immortal, reviving even if I died on the battlefield. Speaking of how that wish came true now, it seems that the experience of dying once in a lifetime is enough.”
“sorry. It was also because I did not properly grasp the situation when I called Marco.”
“No, no. It would have been best for you too. It was a bit of a shock, but… not so much that I couldn’t stand it.”
It was fortunate that Marco’s condition was not as fatal as he thought. It’s like someone who made it through the battlefield and endured several years as a rower slave.
Marco glanced around the ruins. Then he asked a question in a voice full of doubt.
“What else happened? Did you deal with that armored knight?”
“To explain… it’s quite complex. I’ll explain as we go.”
Andrea told the story as they crossed the ruins with Marco. Marco couldn’t stand the extended exclamations throughout the story.
There was a portal behind the seat where the throne was. If you go through that portal, you can now return to the waiting room where Arpan is.
Of course, there was still the most important thing to do before going through the portal.
A large golden chest was placed next to the portal.
“Would you like to open it, Marco?”
“No, that’s okay. Do you have eyes to recognize that something valuable came out? You can open it.”
Andrea nodded.
The reward of the boss monster was different from the general reward. In addition, it was not the 10th floor, but the reward for catching the 20th floor boss, so it was worth looking forward to.
Andrea opened the treasure chest with excitement.
My eyes were blinding and I had no choice but to close my eyes. Various lights mixed and scattered dazzling brilliance in the air. Andrea complained happily that every time she gained something like this, her eyesight would deteriorate.
There were 3 items in total. Stacks of gold, equipment cards, and artifacts.
When I counted the gold, it was 850 gold. When combined with the money Andrea originally had in her subspace pocket, the total came to 3485 gold.
‘If this is enough, I might be able to sweep the next store.’
It was possible enough if there were no unique grade or higher cards in the shop. Andrea then looked at the equipment card.
‘[Unique] Ring of the Blind (Equipment Card): A ring made for a blind servant by the Archbishop of the Shadow God. (When hit, 20% chance to blind the enemy)’
It was a subtle card. If you ask me if it’s a bad effect, it wasn’t a bad effect at all, but compared to other unique equipment, it was somewhat shabby.
The effect of activating when hit is a very neglected option in this game. In a dungeon overflowing with monsters that slash one’s health in one shot, it’s impossible to get hit on purpose to activate an option.
‘It would have been a great fraudulent item if it had been the real name at the time of the attack, rather than being hit…’
Still, there were no accessories at all, so I managed to use them. Andrea calmed down and looked at the last remaining relic.
In fact, Andrea almost cheered as soon as she saw this. It was truly an artifact that Andrea needed more than any fraudulent card.
‘Eater box!’
Epic quality artifact, Eater Box. It looks like an ordinary box with a funny fat ghost mascot on it.
Epic is a level higher than Unique. It has a really simple appearance and simple effect, but it is a relic that shows what ‘simple is best’ is.
Andrea pressed the button on the side to open the food box. A ghost similar to the mascot drawn on the outside popped out.
“I am so hungry! Offer your card to the Eater! From chapter 1 to chapter 10, whatever you want! I can’t eat beyond 10 chapters because I’m full!”
The effect of the chowder box is to remove as many cards from the deck as you want, between 1 and 10.
It was a savior-like relic for Andrea, who desperately needed a deck compaction with 20 basic cards. Andrea quickly picked out basic, trashy cards from the deck.
‘Let’s go with 5 hits and 5 defenses. I really want to eat all 20 basic cards, but…’
I couldn’t help it because I was full beyond chapter 10. Andrea pushed the cards one by one into the snout of the eaters.
“Woo-wook. You, give only tasteless cards. I feel like I am going to vomit.”
After eating all the cards, the eater went back into the box with a disgusted face. Andrea closes the lid, and the box disappears leaving behind only smoke.
‘The trial helped for the first time. Epic grade cards and artifacts don’t come out unless it’s a high level ordeal.’
However, if asked if it was worth the hard work, Andrea did not have the confidence to readily say yes. It was an inevitable choice, but Andrea felt the spiciness of the ordeal so desperately.
Andrea checked her status card one last time before leaving for the portal. It was clear that his level had risen considerably since he had caught the boss monster with a wide gap.
[Name: Andrea]
[Class: None]
[Level: 32]
[Max Mana: 1]
[Strength: 28]
[mana: 33]
[Resistance: 33 + 1]
[Luck: 30]
[quirk: none]
There must have been some correction.
Andrea’s level was hard to believe that she skipped the 10th floor. Level 32 was a level that could only be reached by catching elite monsters and breaking through the 20th floor without skipping.
Andrea picked up a suitable stone and held it up. A stone the size of a watermelon sounded as light as a pebble.
It wasn’t real because he had so much power just a moment ago, but Andrea’s power had already reached a level that was incomparable to that of a normal person.
When Marco saw that, his expression turned sour.
“You are stronger. It seems to get stronger the more you climb this dungeon.”
“Yes, that’s true… but it’s embarrassing that you’re getting stronger much faster than I’ve known before.”
Andrea thought that when she returned to the waiting room, she should ask Arpan about this.
The job to see is over. It was time to go back to the waiting room. Andrea and Marco moved towards the portal.
Marco asked Andrea before entering the portal.
“By the way, isn’t it a lie to say that there is a time limit for summoning when I am outside?”
‘Ah, I was caught.’
Andrea readily agreed, like a man who had confessed his sins.
“···Yes.”
“I’m sorry. Don’t do that next time.”
“All right···.”
Andrea thought she’d have to do something later to appease Marco.
*
It was a scene I could never have imagined when Andrea entered the waiting room. Someone was pinned to the wall on one side of the waiting room, and Arpan stretched out the iron cage with his forehead crumpled.
Everyone in the room looked at each other and panicked, and there was a moment of silence. The one who broke the silence was the man pinned to the wall.
“What is it, b*tch?”
It was a familiar line. Impressive etiquette that swears at you from the first meeting. There was only one character in ‘Dungeon of Infinity’ who had this kind of tone.
‘Trisya!’
Straight black hair tied up in a loose ponytail, a face that could be said to be quite pretty if it wasn’t frowning. The outfit was the same as in the game, with black leather pants and a hooded dark green cape.
‘The waiting room is the place where character encounter events occur most frequently, but I didn’t expect to meet you this soon.’
Indeed, Tricia had no interest in Andrea’s party after she uttered a single curse word. Trisha brushed off the wall and, in the blink of an eye, put an arrow on her bowstring.
Seeing that, Arpan removed the barbed wire and stretched forward again. A shockwave came from the edge, pushing Tricia against the wall.
Andrea had no idea what was going on.
‘Is Trisha fighting against Arpan? But there’s no choice with that level of equipment.’
Trisha couldn’t move for a while, as if the shock she received this time was great. Instead, swear words came out of her mouth.
“Ah, sh*t, really! These horns are also rat-headed bastards! If there was something important like that, you should have said it from the beginning! There is no law that says you can’t change it now without even explaining it properly!”
“Isn’t it Trisha-sama’s fault for not asking properly in the first place? I am the guide of the dungeon, but I am not obligated to explain everything.”
“A sick soldier who had no duty, I fell asleep at the mountain ridge grabbing the horns of a goat and dancing with a stick. If you’re not going to explain it properly, let me change it later!”
“Unfortunately, trials can only be set when entering a dungeon. As Trisha-nim decided at the beginning, you should explore the dungeon without trials.”
“No, then you just want to search after the 50th floor?”
Andrea was stunned to hear that.
‘What, how does the character in the game know that?’
If you set the ordeal below 15 levels, it is impossible to climb the tower above 50 floors. This fact was information that could not be known without climbing the tower at least once.
Andrea swallowed. Character encounters with such conversations were an event that had never been experienced before.
Something different from what he knew was happening in the dungeon.
Arpan turned his head to look at Andrea and Marco with the attitude of trying to stop the opponent.
“Andrea, you are here. Excuse me for this. That challenger was forced to.”
“What’s so absurd, you bastard!”
Tricia’s clear voice echoed through the room. I had a strong feeling that I was caught up in something troubling.
＜ 6. Unexpected Companion (1) ＞ End