Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices

10 – The Revealed Dungeon

Continental Adventurers Guild Union Office.

Various people were gathered in the office.

Each one of them was a branch head of the Adventurers Guild spread across the continent.

It was an impressive number, as they had gathered from not only the capitals of the Empire and the Kingdom but also from branches located in the countryside.

“The Union Leader is entering.”

A rugged man with scars all over his face appeared.

It was Kyle, who led the union by combining the various Adventurers Guild branches.

“I thank you all for giving me your time, although I know everyone is busy.”

Everyone fell silent.

They didn’t make time to listen to such a greeting in their busy lives.

However, nobody dared to say it outright in front of Kyle.

Who was Kyle?

He was the Union leader governing all Adventurers Guilds in the continent.

He was also a retired Amantium-grade adventurer, which was one of the few in the whole continent.

Thinking about this, people could understand how remarkable Kyle’s presence was.

In this silent atmosphere, Kyle was not oblivious.

“Well well, as everyone is busy, let’s get straight to the main issue.”

Kyle hit the desk, prompting everyone to focus, and then opened his mouth.

“First, it’s about the White Order.”

People frowned as soon as the first agenda was mentioned.

“Isn’t the matter with the White Order none of our business?”

Someone contradicted Kyle’s statement.

A few others slightly nodded their heads in agreement.

It was a natural response since the Adventurers Guild and the Order had different identities.

“It’s not that simple. The White Order is currently silent, but based on my own investigation, it seems that one of the sealing stones has been released.”

“….!”

Previously uninterested, people now widened their eyes and turned their heads towards Kyle.

“No… What does that mean…”

“Kyle, can you take responsibility for what you said? This is not an issue to be discussed based on mere speculation!”

“However, hasn’t there been any word from the Council’s side? It seems a bit early to jump to conclusions.”

The news that the seal had been broken was not a simple matter for them.

Inside the seal lay the monsters that had once shaken the Elodrad continent.

Powerful monsters, as well as high-ranking demons and demon lords, were sealed within.

Fortunately, all the continents were able to join forces to repel and seal them.

The sealed stone that emerged was stored in the depths of the Council’s underground chamber and was meticulously guarded.

But now they were saying the seal had been broken.

If what Kyle said was true, the Council would be held responsible.

“However, since there has been no official announcement from the Council, I believe everyone will keep their mouths shut.”

If there was no official announcement from the Council, why were they making such a fuss about this incident?

Perhaps they would be branded as heretics for doubting the Goddess.

If that happened, the Council’s inquisitors would come personally.

The arrival of the inquisitors was tantamount to the arrival of the Grim Reaper.

They were fanatics who were loyal only to the Council and never let their prey escape until they were dead.

Kyle believed that everyone would keep quiet on their own due to the gravity of the situation.

“Next, here is the list of newly appeared dungeons this month. A total of 67 dungeons have appeared. Whether it’s fortunate or unfortunate, there are no dungeons that stand out significantly.”

Adventurers explore dungeons and hunt monsters. They sell the loot obtained during hunts or use it as equipment materials.

This made dungeons a valuable resource.

When Kyle mentioned that there were no outstanding dungeons, he meant that there were no high-level dungeons.

“We will classify all 67 dungeons as Iron-grade.”

Dungeon grades were mainly determined by the Adventurer Guild.

The grading criteria were naturally the same as the Adventurer’s ranking system.

The very first Adventurer started at the Iron rank.

Then, it went up to Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Amanthium in that order.

The dungeons were also classified based on these criteria.

As Kyle had just stated, it meant that all the 67 newly appearing dungeons were so insignificant that they could only be classified as Iron-grade.

“Finally, there is one more dungeon in addition to the 67.”

“Doesn’t that make it 68? Is there a need to separate it?”

Once again, everyone nodded in agreement.

The question was whether there was a need to separate it when it was, in fact, 68 dungeons.

“This place is a bit ambiguous. It’s a dungeon found in the mountain range of the Seil Kingdom, discovered by a hunter.”

The problem was that there was no energy detected in the dungeon, as Kyle added.

“Maybe the dungeon itself is just weak?”

Most people might think this way, but Kyle was cautious.

“So, I intend to temporarily designate the dungeon’s rank as Bronze.”

Kyle mulled over the hunter’s words once more.

‘Until ten days ago, there was nothing here. I saw it clearly with my own eyes.’

Perhaps he was overreacting just by listening to the hunter’s words.

But Kyle was worried about any possible situation.

It’s never too much to prepare for safety.

“If it’s confirmed that there are no abnormalities in the dungeon for a week, I will downgrade the rank from Bronze to Iron.”

From noble mtl dot com

* * *

After the status window appeared, I’ve been very busy.

I took a magic test and started working in earnest as a porter.

Fortunately, I was able to find a job as a porter with ease. I didn’t realize the difference between having and not having a status window.

Another change was that I became fascinated by the first experience points I gained after the status window appeared.

I couldn’t rest and kept running, so my body was exhausted.

“But at least I can rest tomorrow….”

I should be fine if I rest today and tomorrow.

I started the game after a long time.

Maybe it’s because I suddenly had some mental leisure.

“Come to think of it, it’s been a week, right?”

I suddenly remembered the dungeon hideout I used when I first played the game.

The period was a week, and the date had already passed.

Looking back, I wonder if there was any meaning to it.

I even paid extra for the game, but I neglected it completely because I was busy after logging in a few times.

But, I had set it up so that all authority was given to the deputy before closing.

“I wonder if the deputy is doing well?”

I touched the game screen, and it showed the dungeon.

The lieutenant in a maid’s outfit was still wandering around the dungeon.

“This one’s really working hard.”

Even though it was a game, there was no one who would dislike such a diligent fellow.

But that wasn’t the problem.

I was definitely looking at the dungeon on my screen.

Yes, it was undoubtedly the dungeon.

“No, but what is this?”

Did I see it wrong?

The appearance of the dungeon had changed significantly.

The long corridor had wide open spaces like ant nests in the middle.

If someone entered the dungeon, they had no choice but to pass through these wide open spaces in the middle of the narrow corridors.

And there weren’t just one, but a total of three such open spaces.

On the wide, flat ground, pillars were erected in various places that could be used for cover.

“Wow, they really put a lot of effort into this.”

Even near the entrance of the dungeon, skeletons were densely arranged.

“Is it really necessary to grow this much?”

I just left it as it was….

As expected, granting all permissions in the lieutenant settings was the right answer.

But to go to this extent, a lot of jewels must have been used, right?

Even if you drew only 10 monsters, it required 5,000 jewels.

Looking at the number of skeletons now, it was close to 30, and even if I had used all the remaining 5,000 jewels, it wouldn’t have been enough.

My eyes immediately went to the jewel window.

“Huh?”

Looking at the remaining jewel count, I was truly surprised.

“There are still 4,300 left?”

Were my eyes deceiving me?

When I drew 10 monsters, it cost 5,000 jewels. But when I actually left the game, it had only decreased by 700 jewels.

Furthermore, the number of monsters had increased significantly, and the dungeon’s size had clearly changed.

“….”

Should I be happy about this?

It felt as if my efforts were being invalidated.

No, let’s think positively.

At least, it must have developed this much because I was here.

I touched the arranged skeleton.

Aside from the 2-star skeleton I had synthesized last time, the rest were all 1-star.

Hoping that the remaining ones would become stronger if I synthesized them, I touched the [Synthesis] tab.

– Monsters already placed cannot be used as synthesis materials.

Ah.

For a moment, I had forgotten the personality of the game developer.

On second thought, this game emphasized in-game purchases more than others.

The fact that already placed monsters could not be used for synthesis meant just that.

In short, telling me to keep spending on gacha while consuming gems was no different.

The intention was to use the newly obtained monsters as synthesis materials.

Of course, I couldn’t see it only negatively.

In another sense, I understood it.

Even if it grows so effortlessly with neglect, they couldn’t have made the difficulty level too easy.

“Developer, I understand what you’re trying to do.”

If the difficulty was too high, players would quickly give up, on the other hand, if it was too low, there would be no reason to make in-game purchases.

When I touched the screen again, a new notification appeared.

– The Adventurer’s Guild has determined the rank for this dungeon.

– Dungeon ‘Lair of the Evil God’ is ranked Copper ().

“……?”

Forget what I just said.

This game had an extremely high level of difficulty.

A copper-ranked dungeon, wasn’t that too harsh?

The lieutenant was a 6-star monster.

Besides, even just looking at the skeletons, their numbers were high.

“Exactly how strong are the adventurers invading the dungeon?”

Rather, I became afraid.

Surely, they aren’t trying to encourage me to make in-game purchases?

No matter what, it’s a bit much to have a 6-star monster.

Having been in the Eldorado Continent for a year, I’m pretty confident about knowing adventurer’s ranks.

The ranks are determined as follows: Iron, Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Adamantium.

Copper rank.

The second-lowest.

Moreover, I had learned that 6-star beings were incredibly rare, even in the Eldorado Continent.

If anything, shouldn’t my dungeon be set at the Gold rank at the very least?

Perhaps games are indeed different from reality.

“Ugh…”

Instead of exiting the game, my hand instinctively went to the store window.

There was no choice. If my dungeon is weak, I should spend more on gems.

* * *

As always, the Adventurers’ Guild was bustling with people.

This was the Adventurers’ Guild in the Sael Kingdom.

Three adventurers entered the noisy guild.

Armed with shabby equipment, at a glance, anyone could tell that they were newly-minted Iron rank adventurers.

They immediately went to the reception desk and showed their adventurer IDs.

“Um… We’d like to find a nearby dungeon for a request, is there one available?”

The receptionist confirmed their IDs.

Iron rank adventurers.

With their rank, they could only go to Iron rank dungeons.

However, due to an increase in Iron rank adventurers recently, all available Iron rank dungeons had already been assigned.

“Er, is there maybe a dungeon left?”

They were on the brink of leaving empty-handed.

The receptionist felt sorry for them.

Then, they recalled the branch manager’s words.

– This is a Copper rank dungeon, but you can think of it as Iron rank. Its rank is going to drop soon, so just deal with it.

Coincidentally, the dungeon was nearby, in the mountains of the Sael Kingdom.

It was a dungeon of the same grade, but it was expected to be downgraded to an iron-grade dungeon soon.

“They’re friends who are trying their best, so it would be cruel to just send them back…”

Rather than waiting until then, it seemed okay to entrust these rookie adventurers with the task now.

With three adventurers, they should be able to conquer at least one iron-grade dungeon.

“Oh, there happens to be one dungeon left! It’s an iron-grade dungeon, and it’s located in the Kingdom’s Mountain Range, so it’s close by.”

In response to the guide’s question of how they would proceed, the three adventurers smiled and immediately agreed.

To think that there was still an iron-grade dungeon left.

Today was a lucky day.