029 – Victor, looking for a party. #2

TL/ED: Lolz

When I opened my eyes, the world was covered in a vast expanse of white snow.

"Is this a dungeon? It feels like I was just in a park!"

"Melvin, quiet down. We don't know what enemies might be around. But it is fascinating."

The duo of Melvin and Dearmid couldn't hide their curious minds.

Even for the excellent students of Class A-1, this "alternate world" within the dungeon seemed to be a fascinating sight.

Even Megaira, who was talkative, couldn't help but be amazed.

"So, this is a dungeon shaped by the gods... a training ground where heroes are given trials and raised… I never thought such a place existed. Victor, how did you find out about this?"

Well, I found out through various means.

This "Snow Mountain Labyrinth" is a secret dungeon unrelated to quests or sub-quests.

To enter here, you need to read several books in the school library, combining the hints written on each page.

Although it's well organized on TreeWiki these days, back when I played for just about a hundred hours, there was nothing like that.

Of course, I couldn't tell the truth about this and had to come up with a suitable lie.

"It was one of the pieces of information I acquired during my time in the student council. Don't ask too much. It's classified. The important thing is that there's no problem with us being here."

Victor never tells lies.

At least, that's how it's known, and it seemed like no one doubted my story.

No, to begin with, there was no room for doubt in the face of the overwhelming scenery of this snow mountain.

Despite everything, it was overwhelming and emotional for me as well.

Thinking that the culmination of hints and time I had searched for so long was now tangible in front of me was quite a profound experience.

But still, I couldn't just be amazed.

"First, let me give you a warning."

The dungeon "Snow Mountain Labyrinth" itself was not that difficult.

The monsters that appeared were relatively weak, like Snow Rabbits or Ice Fangs.

But the difficulty of this dungeon lies in the environment itself.

As the name suggests, this dungeon is designed as a "labyrinth in the snowy mountains."

It's cold.

"Colder than I thought."

Just standing at the entrance was incredibly cold.

Even Victor was shivering slightly, so there was no need to mention the others.

"Ugh, it's cold. It's not even my hometown, and it's the coldest since last November! Spring hasn't even arrived here!"

"You guys are wearing pants. I'm wearing a skirt."

Everyone shouted about the cold.

Of course, this level of extreme cold was expected.

At this point, I took out a red water bottle from my bag.

"Everyone, drink this."

When heading to Ludens's frigid zone.

If you don't prepare measures like cold-proof equipment in advance, characters will be affected by the "cold" state, receiving 1 damage per second.

Characters under the "cold" state may occasionally be frozen, rendering their turns useless.

So, a good thing to have was a warming potion.

Drinking a warming potion would generate heat in the body, allowing resistance to the severe cold─ that was the setting.

Of course, real warming potions are still hard to come by, so I made a potion by diluting the 「Spring Sauce」 that I had prepared in advance in water.

Commonly known as Spring Potion.

It doesn't have the effect of increasing attack power, and there's no HP decrease effect like the spicy sauce dilution.

Its effect was simple.

When consumed, it generates heat in the body, causing sweat to pour out.

The idea came after watching Victoria eat 「Spring Sauce Bulgogi」.

Victoria was sweating profusely.

"Drink this, and you'll feel better."

"Ugh, it's incredibly spicy! But sure enough, heat is rising from my body, no, it's hot! It’s so hot!"

Melvin probably finished drinking it already.

When Melvin exclaimed that it was hot, Dearmid and Megaira, who were looking at the red liquid suspiciously, also drank it in one gulp.

"...It's spicy."

"Ugh, it's too spicy!"

Various reactions.

But the effect seemed the same for everyone.

"Now, you won't feel cold."

If we can overcome the cold, it's almost like we've achieved more than half of the dungeon conquest.

* * *

After Melvin and Dearmid each grabbed a white rabbit in their hands, they spoke.

"It's more mundane than I thought. Just snow rabbits. But these guys taste delicious when roasted. I used to eat them often back in my hometown!"

"The cold was the biggest issue. Victor, you've prepared for everything. You're more meticulous than I thought. That 'Spring Sauce’, when I diluted it in water, it didn't have this effect."

It had been an hour since we entered the dungeon.

"Let's stop here. This is the entrance."

Standing at the entrance of a large cave located midway up the mountain, I decided to light a campfire.

The inside was complex enough to be called a 'labyrinth’.

If I don't explain in advance, we might get lost.

That would make my hastily made 'Spring Potion' lose its effect, and the dungeon, which was dull with only snow rabbits appearing, would turn back into an ice-filled maze.

"One thing to be careful of. Don't stray too far from me."

That's it.

This should be understandable even for beginners.

So, we entered the cave.

After walking for about a minute through the straight cave, the view of stalactites and icicles disappeared, and an ice-walled maze appeared in front of us.

Dearmid touched the ice walls with gloved hands.

"A maze... it reminds me of the Labyrinth of Daedalus. Could there be monsters like the Minotaur here, too?"

Megaira asked.

"Isn't that just a made-up story? A mythological monster in the shape of a human in the labyrinth of the underworld."

I replied casually.

"The Minotaur is in a different labyrinth, not here."

"...A different labyrinth? Is it really there? A monster like that? A monster that breaks rocks with an axe and tears people apart?"

Of course, it was.

Although you guys are not at that level yet.

There was no need to explain since they would eventually encounter it, so I decided not to.

I needed to recall the mini-map in my mind.

First, three squares to the right—

Just as I was reminiscing like that.

Rumble—

"It's already here?"

Something made a loud, rumbling noise. A monster residing in this maze.

An Ice Fang.

"It's a 3-tier monster, but be careful; it has the ability to freeze with a bite."

"We finally have a worthy opponent to fight! Come at me!"

Melvin shouted loudly and charged toward the creature. The Ice Fang, although it appeared as a wolf-shaped creature about 2 meters tall, was also charging.

The two intertwined in the narrow passage, making it look crowded.

"Melvin, hold onto it like that. Dearmid, while Melvin is holding the Ice Fang, you deal with it."

"Victor, are you naturally giving orders like this?"

"Dearmid! This thing is so active that I can't hold it for long!"

When Melvin grabbed the waist of the giant wolf, Dearmid reached out to the empty air. Then, two ordinary-looking iron swords appeared in his hands.

Is that Dearmid's 'Weapon Summon' skill?

"Linked Strike!"

As he swung the dual swords in an X-shaped intersection, the white wolf Ice Fang screamed and met its demise.

Indeed, Dearmid's attack power is impressive.

It was a good decision to bring them along.

Melvin laughed as he looked at the fallen wolf.

"This guy has quite a high capture score, don't you think? It brings us one step closer to becoming heroes!"

"More importantly, look at this."

After Dearmid defeated the Ice Fang, he examined the floor where the wolf's blood had splattered.

The floor was like glass, transparent ice.

However, upon closer inspection, there was something peculiar beneath it.

"This pattern of the burning sun is an ancient royal symbol. There's a structure under the ice. Now that I see it, there's a place where ice has thickly frozen on top of the building."

Indeed, Dearmid was an excellent student. He recognized it right away.

The one who reacted most was Megaira.

"An ancient royal symbol? Then, there might be the hidden crown somewhere here, right? If I can get that, Enio could become the master of the vacant throne..."

She stopped abruptly.

If the crown was here, everyone in this place could become a competitor to obtain it, she realized.

However, because she talked about too much, Melvin ended up biting into this topic.

"Crown! If I get that, can I also become a king? Then, I can have the dice that were permitted by the king and become the Ludens' player!"

"Melvin, you seem to know strange things despite dozing off during class."

"My friend Dearmid, it's the crown and the dice! There's nothing more mysterious than this! The last chance that even the ancient king Gilgamesh abandoned. If you finish that, you can ascend and become a god!"

What Melvin just mentioned is the goal of the game D&A and the potential dream of all Ludens students.

Moving towards the topic of playing pieces.

Becoming the one who throws the dice.

Unfortunately, there was no crown that everyone was looking for in this dungeon. I had no obligation to explain that, so I just kept moving forward.

"Let's go."

* * *

Megaira spoke up.

"Victor, are you sure you know the way? We seem to be circling the same place since a while ago."

"Your perception is off."

We were on the right path.

But it had been about an hour since we entered this labyrinth.

Perhaps due to the fatigue caused by the location itself, everyone seemed quite tired.

It would be better to take a break and light a campfire, maybe re-consume the Spring Potion.

Sizzle.

As the fire flared up and we gathered around it, we decided to take a short break.

"Dearmid, shall we roast the rabbits you caught earlier?"

"Not a bad idea."

While Melvin and Dearmid started roasting the rabbits, Megaira, who was watching the rabbits being cooked, approached me and started a conversation.

"I know it's a situation like this, but I have to ask. Why did you break off your engagement?"

"Are you curious about that?"

"You were an orphan. You received an invaluable favor from the Arkwright family, right? A debt that you couldn't repay in a lifetime. And yet, you abandoned your master."

"So you hate me for that? You also have a debt to Blackstar."

"Yeah. I'll never abandon Lady Enio, even if I'm in danger."

“But you were manipulated by Enrique and tried to attack Enio. I'm the one who stopped that. Is that why you're distant from Enio?"

“Ugh…”

Judging by the reaction, it seemed I hit the mark.

Megaira must have been deeply shocked by the revelation that she tried to attack Enio even while being manipulated.

Perhaps she carried a sense of guilt, thinking, 'It's because of my shortcomings...'

So, she wanted to conquer the dungeon to prove her worth again.

Ironically, Enio probably didn't consider Megaira useless.

For someone like Victor, who saw her as nothing more than a dog that bit the hand that fed her, Megaira was likely a much more valuable companion.

He might have even understood her feelings of self-blame.

But that was Victor's perspective, and I was Ha Seung-ri.

I had no debts to the Arkwright family, and even if I looked at my situation objectively—

From the beginning, Victor became an orphan because of Cain Arkwright, the head of the Arkwright family.

Of course, that was something that hadn't been revealed yet, as it was only the beginning of the first semester.

This was something that neither Victoria, who was his fiancée, nor Enio, who was intelligent, knew yet.

Victor wouldn't become some monstrous being. Even if he were to reveal it, there wouldn't be much to reveal.

* * *

"Miss, what you asked for. Here it is."

"You did well, Tisiphone. You can go now. And, don't call me 'Miss.' Just call me Enio comfortably."

"I can't do that."

The eldest of the triplets, Tisiphone, hid back into the shadows.

What Tisiphone had placed on Enio's luxurious single-room desk was an old document.

It was an envelope with a dazzling starlight pattern.

'Arkwright family's top-secret documents. Even if it's Tisiphone, it would have been difficult to obtain.'

Thinking of her friend's efforts, Enio broke the seal on the envelope.

Papers fell out.

Among them, Enio's crimson pupils widened for a moment, then gradually narrowed.

"This is...."

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