I Became a 6? Gacha Character

332 - Knights' Valor Poem 2

TL/Editor: raei

Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: Posted in discord

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In a dim corner of the underground, the magical light began to dissolve the thick rock layers, carving out a wide, round passage. Although I couldn’t understand how they managed to expand the vacuum stone after miniaturizing it, I didn't bother with it since magic and alchemy were beyond my comprehension.

Behind it were twenty mages employed by the Knights and the Royal Second Knight Order, watching the tunnel in full armor.

The entire party of heroes and Old Bobo, who was surveying the surroundings, added up to over a hundred combat personnel.

Considering that the average underground carapace bug emerging from below was only a intermediate-level monster, it was an excessive force.

Even if it was exceptionally sturdy among intermediate-level monsters, there was no way it could withstand the concentrated fire of over a hundred people.

"Doesn't seem like there's any hidden spaces either."

While Katie and I squirmed with boredom, Grace, with her innate senses, and Han Se-ah, using her camera drone pretending it was magic, watched the slowly disappearing passage.

However, only intermediate-level carapace bugs appeared, as if to mock us by not giving any clear clues. Even the giant, high-level carapace bugs didn't show up, possibly sensing the fierce knights around. Thanks to this, Old Bobo was delighted that there were no giant worms to deal with.

Of course, Old Bobo was the only one pleased. Our party members and the knights seemed to be getting bored, as some knights subtly shifted their legs.

It wasn't like they were putting on a parade for the royalty, just waiting to hunt intermediate-level monsters that might pop out. Even the most disciplined knight couldn't stay tense for a slow-moving intermediate-level bug.

"...Roland, are any big ones really coming out?"

"Are we even supposed to be here?"

"Of course, we are. Since the Commander hasn't said otherwise, he must be curious too."

James slowly approached me, with McDonagh behind him, helmet pulled low.

Even though they had stepped out of the formation, the Commander, holding the banner firmly, didn't say a word, implying tacit approval.

That guy was definitely raising a sly snake and a fox in his big belly.

As usual, James, fully armored, chatted amiably like an old man, and McDonagh, looking tense like a new recruit following a seasoned sergeant, trailed behind him.

Given their ranks, even a young servant washing rags in the Royal Knight Order was higher than McDonagh. It's like how maids working in the palace were often the second or third daughters of high-ranking noble families.

"When we first broke through the passage, a huge one crawled out, twice the size, with a metal shell instead of rock. But it only got tougher, not faster, so we should be able to handle it."

"If it's just a metal shell, the mages can handle it."

"Yeah, it didn't have any unique abilities."

I too felt bored, so I started chatting with James. If it took as long as last time, the passage was about 70% cleared. If no giant carapace bug showed up by then, maybe there wouldn't be an event this time.

Honestly, thinking about it in game terms, it's odd for an event boss to appear when moving from the 46th to the 47th floor, not on every 5th or 10th floor. Even if something came out at the end, it would likely be just a few giant carapace bugs.

As an adventurer, I knew I shouldn't be complacent, but with the Royal Knight Order firmly holding the line ahead, it was hard not to relax. Like feeling secure with a thick reinforced glass or safari vehicle protecting you from lions and tigers.

Behind the Knights, the mages were staring at the Vacuum Stone's magic light like cats mesmerized by a fish tank, completely without tension. In front of them, the Knights were also visibly relaxed, except for a few newcomers in charge of combat support.

That was until some unsettling tentacles started to squirm out of the dark passage.

"...This looks different?"

"Stop the Vacuum Stone! Prepare the lights!"

Thanks to Old Bobo's quick reflexes, the Vacuum Stone was immediately shut down, and the portable magic lights lit up the underground chamber like a knife. Crawling out slowly into the lit space was not the carapace bug we had seen before.

The bug, which Old Bobo called "wriggler," was a giant woodlouse-like monster that gnawed on rocks and used them as its shell. But the creature emerging this time looked more like a slug infected with parasites than a woodlouse or pill bug.

In other words, it resembled the mid-boss from the 45th floor.

With its long tentacles used like antennae and its slug-like body without a single leg, it looked like a juvenile version of the mid-boss, unable to form a shell yet. Its body was exposed, resembling wet cement.

"...Ugh, disgusting."

"Definitely more disgusting without the shell. But the arrows might stick. Should we shoot or let the Knights handle it?"

-If raised well, does it evolve into a mid-boss?

-I'd rather watch pretty harpies, but these bugs keep crawling out.

-Isn't it just mage fodder if it's as slow as the carapace bug but without a shell?

-Does BB Games hate melee fighters? Do we have to fight those bugs up close?

-Isn't this why female knights and tentacles are a thing?

The shell-less slug wiggled its sticky tentacles. Both the party members and viewers felt a physiological disgust.

Curious mages raised their staffs, ready to cast spells. Not seeing the need to charge at the slow, sticky monster, the Knight Commander pointed his large banner forward like a conductor's baton.

"Use spells that won't affect the passage, fire!"

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Raei Translations

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After the wriggler came the sticky one.

I was idly surfing the web, pondering what the shell-less version of a beetle would be called in Chinese characters, when Old Bobo made a remark.

It seemed the monster wasn't something new but something well-known to the stone dwarves.

"If the wriggler hardens its shell by eating rocks, these sticky ones dissolve rare ores infused with magic like slimes. That's why miners hate them the most."

"Sir, does that mean they can gather mana?"

"Exactly. If they get lucky and absorb something, they can hide or control rocks, which makes them a real nuisance."

Listening to James and Old Bobo, it seemed that while the wriggler increased its defense as it leveled up, the sticky one increased its mana pool and gained special abilities.

I had expected enemies using magic or skills to come from the harpy side, but it turned out that the tentacled slug crawling underground could use skills too.

This one died without a peep to intermediate-level magic, but Han Se-ah's expression twisted slightly.

In games, a small one like that appearing meant a bigger one was sure to come.

"If the mid-boss on the 45th floor is a stronger version of wriggler, then the true boss on the 50th floor depicted in the tentacle mural must be a stronger version of sticky. The mid-boss pattern is to break the shell and deal extreme damage, and the boss pattern will likely involve avoiding area attacks."

-Breath attack, dodge!!!!

-Thousand-year-old wriggler and Thousand-year-old Sticky collaboration.

-But why do they grow more tentacles as they evolve, living underground?

-Could it be that someone at BB Games has a strong desire to include tentacles along with female knights and orcs? Just a thought.

-If it's toxic enough to dissolve ore, it wouldn’t just melt clothes if caught; it would leave only bones.

With thoughts of fighting a giant acidic tentacle monster capable of using magic, Han Se-ah began running simulations for her viewers. Beside her, Grace and Katie started discussing with Irene.

"The arrows should work since it doesn't have a shell. But do the alchemy arrowheads affect magical creatures?"

"I've never seen a squirming thing like that in the cold north. If it's soft, should we check if freezing and shattering it works?"

"I think my holy protection spell can block the acid… If you want to test it, make sure to receive the spell first, Katie. Got it?"

"Of course. No matter how weak the opponent is, I won't recklessly charge in without information."

It seemed they were discussing it seriously because it was the first monster they encountered that could use magic. So far, the tower's monsters mostly relied on physical abilities.

Goblins and orcs, naturally, and even the golems in cave terrains and the giant worms charging like subway trains relied solely on physical strength. For Grace and Katie, who were quick on their feet, it was enough to dodge and strike while trusting in my tanking.

But according to Old Bobo, stickies, as they grew, could use primal magic.

Hidden, they might shoot gravel bullets or dig pits to create traps, as per Han Se-ah's strategy, making them naturally annoying.

"At least we’ve cleared the passage to the 47th floor without much trouble."

"The Knights will probably enter first, right?"

As we discussed this, the passage was completely cleared.

Connecting the underground city of the 46th floor, used to abandon old and sick stone dwarves, to the underground city of the 47th floor, Knight Commander Edward marched forward with the flag in hand.