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＜ 14. Unclean creature (3) ＞
“ Welcome. I was waiting for you.”
Upon entering the waiting room, there was Arpan, who greeted me with a familiar appearance. Perhaps they had waited for quite a while, but there was even a hint of gladness in their eyes looking at Andrea and the others .
“ Oh, isn’t it Emilia-sama? That’s right, congratulations. It looks like you have safely joined Andrea-sama’s group .”
“ Yes? Ah yes···. Ah, hello, Mr. Arpan .”
Emilia secretly hides behind Trisha as if she has committed some crime. Arpan tilted his head for a moment, but since Emilia was originally like that, she turned her head away regardless .
“ How was your journey in the rift, Andrea? It looks like you had a lot of fun, right?”
“… Yeah, it was a damn fun trip .”
Andrea glared at Arpan clearly. That smirking smile couldn’t be so annoying today .
Andrea had asked how he had come up with the idea of kidnapping Emilia just before parting ways with Bagratu. I don’t know if it was because he didn’t hear the way out, or if he just didn’t want to answer, but Bagratu stayed silent .
It’s only a guess, but Andrea thought that Arpan gave Bagratu a word. The time was probably between the time Andrea and the others passed through the 30th floor and the time before Emilia crossed the 40th floor and entered the waiting room. Otherwise, there was no way Bagratu would kidnap Amon Emilia into the rift .
However, even if there was physical evidence, there was nothing they could do about Arpan. Since there was no physical way to overcome it, Arpan said he didn’t know that it would happen, and it was clear that he would pass it over like a pit .
‘ How come these days, it seems like he’s always stopping Arpan like this …’
Andrea suddenly felt a strong desire to embarrass Arpan. Come to think of it, there was a speculation that came to mind from the conversation with Khalisis. If my guess is correct, Arpan would have been unable to help but be taken aback when he heard this question .
“Did ‘ that person’ say anything else ?”
Andrea guessed that Arpan was a minion of the ‘Manager’ .
Just as the gods have angels as agents, it was not strange that the ‘manager’ also had a minion to act on his behalf in managing the dungeon. And Arpan has shown himself more suited to the role than anyone else .
The smirk disappeared, and Arpan’s expression hardened at once. The blue eyes mixed with the strangeness. Arpan tapped the handle of the seat with his finger, then opened his mouth as if he had decided on what to say .
“You got a pretty good new weapon ?”
It was another question that had nothing to do with the question, but Andrea immediately understood the meaning behind it. Andrea’s weapon was a weapon that was heavily touched by the Shadow God. It was to ask if he had contacted Khalicis .
Andrea boldly decided to leave .
“ Oh, I got one that sticks very well to my hand. If you want, I can show you how powerful it is .”
“ I will decline. If the waiting room is destroyed, it will be my responsibility to clean up .”
The party couldn’t figure out why such a war of nerves had suddenly occurred, so they just glanced at each other nervously. An overwhelming sense of tension. However, since he was the guide anyway, Arpan lowered his tail first and turned around .
“ Now, by the way, did you have something to take care of? 50th floor. Isn’t that a pretty symbolic number of floors? It’s the end of a journey for cowardly challengers who haven’t picked enough trials. Tricia-sama and Emilia-sama were lucky enough to meet a nobleman during their journey, and their fates were reversed .
Saying that, Arfan slowly approached Emilia. Trisha did not hide her displeasure, and Emilia shrank slightly .
“ You heard the explanation from Andrea-nim a long time ago, right? In order to stay together even with this consolation, Emilia-sama must give up all her cards and belongings .”
The goat-headed guide held out his hand towards Emilia. Don’t forget to make an exaggeratedly pitiful expression .
“As I climbed the 50th floor, Emilia-sama worked hard with that fern-like hand! It hurts my heart too to have the collected items taken away. But aren’t there rules to follow? You can’t make exceptions .”
Arpan’s skittishness has reached an artistic level .
If they started farming on the
50th floor, Emilia would definitely become a burden to the party. The inequality of ability in the companionship of challengers becomes the seed of discord. Arfan guessed that the way Emilia avoided him was an attitude of fear .
But it was a complete misunderstanding. If Arpan had looked more carefully, he would have realized that Emilia’s attitude was rather similar to that of a person who is afraid of being caught for making a mistake .
Although hesitant, Emilia eventually obediently hauls the deck, subspace pouch, and equipped equipment and hands them over to Arpan .
Arpan’s face hardened while examining the handed over items .
“… how did this happen ?”
The subspace pouch contained only 10 gold coins and a pile of artifacts. The equipment he was equipped with was an old oak staff. Above all, what shocked Arpan was …
‘[ Basic] Strike (1 cost): The next physical attack I deal deals 3 more damage .’
‘[ Basic] Strike (1 cost): The next physical attack I deal deals 3 more damage .’
‘[ Basic] Defense (1 cost): Gain 3 defense .’
······
A deck with only basic cards .
Arpan realized too late that he was too lax. It wasn’t long before the companion system was introduced in the dungeon, and until now, all companions had met only in the waiting room and in front of Arpan. That’s why Arpan was able to retrieve all his belongings without any problems .
However, if I had been able to meet the party I was going to accompany before coming to the waiting room, all I had to do was hand over all of my belongings to the other party. Although the relic could not be transferred, so it was dedicated as it was …
However, the biggest question was ‘how did they even hide the cards in the deck’. The actual cards of the deck are not preserved in the deck, but a ‘record’ of the cards being added to and deleted from the deck. It was impossible to physically hide it or transfer it to another challenger .
Only one person in the party can come up with a trick like this .
“ Andrea ?”
Receiving Arpan’s call, Andrea returned the smirk that Arpan had before .
“ Yeah, why? Is there any problem ?”
“… I don’t know what kind of trick he did, but Soon-soon tells me. If it continues like this, I will not be able to stand still .”
” I don’t know what you’re talking about? I think I need to explain specifically what wrong I did so that we can cooperate ?”
“ I will see if you hid it by distributing it to other colleagues. It was my mistake for not handling things more thoroughly. However, I can’t look at the fact that the whole card is hidden. Tell me right away what glitch you used .”
“ What are you hiding? Priest Emilia’s deck was originally that. You didn’t know which card was good, so you didn’t get rid of it or get it .”
A lie that even a child would not be fooled by. Unlike Andrea, who came out brazenly, Emilia seemed to be hiding in a rat hole at any moment .
‘ I’ll have to change the target .’
As Arpan approached to pressure Emilia, Andrea blocked the way .
“ Is it okay for the guide to put such pressure on a challenger who has done nothing wrong? I don’t think it’s too neutral .”
“… I haven’t said anything yet .”
“ You thought so? It’s written all over your face Am I wrong?”
The situation was reversed. It was clear that he was lying, but there was no way to find fault with him. He was frightened and then threw words that were close to threats, and even persuaded him that he would take care of this just once if he told him how to do it, but Andrea was unyielding .
In my heart, I wanted to find out a way even if I had to subdue Andrea by force, but the guide could never attack the challenger first unless he was attacked. Arfan couldn’t figure out what kind of method Andrea used until the end .
Arpan’s expression was full of venom. However, there was no other way. In the end, Arfan had no choice but to change Emilia’s deck with only basic cards to another deck with only basic cards. Seeing the triumphant Andrea made my stomach twist .
After that, Andrea and the others calmly sat down in a corner of the waiting room and began to take a break. Emilia continued to have a troubled expression on her face, but the rest of the party seemed to be suing for some reason. This was especially true for Trisha, who had had her possessions confiscated before .
The dignity of the guide who lived through such suffering would fall to the ground. Andrea was like that from the beginning, but it was something that Arpan couldn’t welcome for other challengers to become like that as well .
‘··· Come to think of it.’
As he pondered, an idea came to Arpan. With the guide’s discretion, a way to get Andrea’s party into trouble without straying from that line came to mind. The corner of Arpan’s mouth soars slowly drawing a crooked curve .
“ Andrea-sama, come to think of it, aren’t everyone in the party over level 60 ?”
Hearing those words, Andrea checked her status card as if she had suddenly remembered .
[ Name: Andrea ]
[ Class: Shadow Cultist ]
[ Level : 63]
[ Max Mana : 2]
[ Strength : 101 + 73]
[ Magical Power : 73]
[ Resistance : 68 – 5]
[ Luck : 65]
[ Quirky: None ]
The first thing that caught my eye was the absurdly increased strength due to the ‘Grasp of Hell’ and ‘Sphere of Strength’ rather than the level. And anyway, due to the experience gained from the rift, Andrea’s level had already exceeded 60 .
“ Yeah, that’s already happened .”
After checking the status card, Trisha’s level was also raised to the same level as Andrea’s. Andrea immediately recognized the context in which Arpan had said such a thing .
‘… It means it’s time for the second job change .’
Unconditionally enhanced cards appear, new cards added, new traits, second deck acquired… If you do the 2nd job change, you can get several advantages. However, the reason why Arpan was smiling so meanly was because he was happy to be able to help Andrea and the others .
Arpan didn’t even ask, but he explained the 2nd job change in detail to the party. It wasn’t really worth listening to for the party who had already heard all the explanations from Andrea, but .
However, the fact that Arfan explained so diligently was a springboard for the last word .
“ You also know that you can only change your 2nd job if you pass the test, right? Originally, the 2nd job change test is conducted according to the procedures set out on the next floor, but …”
“ Okay, I’m thinking of going to rest for a while, so later …”
Arfan easily cut off Trisha’s words .
“ This time, at my discretion, I will not go to the next floor and replace it with a special cooperative test .”
As soon as I heard that, I had an ominous intuition. Andrea tensed her nerves. Arpan looked at him with satisfaction and continued .
“ It is to fight me and win .”
silence. Everyone is at a loss for words. After a long time passed, Andrea tried to keep her composure and opened her mouth .
“ Do you think that makes sense now ?”
“ Of course, if I gave my all, you wouldn’t last a few seconds. So, for the sake of equity, I will make a big concession .”
Arpan hit the floor with an iron rod. Andrea felt a sense of deja vu at that appearance .
kung- _
“ Hand of the giant, answer the call of your master .”
Two pure white hands spread like huge wings behind Arpan’s back .
“ You saw it when you faced the black dealer before, right?
I will fight using only these two hands. If the hand is completely subdued or destroyed, it is considered to have passed the test .”
Andrea let out a sigh of relief. It was absolutely impossible to stand against Arpan with only the current strength. However, the giant’s hand is not Arpan’s core weapon either. It wasn’t that difficult to deal with at least one of them .
Marco, who is reverse summoned, and Emilia, who has become penniless, may not be of much help right away, but with Trisha’s support, the two of them could fight against each other. In addition, if you use ‘Shadow Imprint’ to use the special effect of ‘Narrak’s Grip’ …
Andrea pulled on her gauntlet and said in a confident voice .
“ Okay, let’s try it .”
＜ 14. Foul Creature (3) ＞ End