abcnovels
Chapter 52
Chapter 52
Chapter 52
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]
Chapter 52: Gold Rich (3)
6.
“The El Pam Party of the Gafor Guild has entered Jack Rich’s tomb!”
The news quickly reached Lith Harbor and the ears of the officials of the Ten Great Guilds.
The expressions of the officials who heard the news all hardened.
There was one exception.
“Lord Ivok.”
Bayz, an executive of the Kania Guild, smiled at the news.
“The rat has walked into the trap on its own.”
The El Pam Party, whom they wanted to kill, had gone to hell on their own.
Moreover, that place was not just any hell.
“It’s the place where they spread a curse to kill Jack Rich.”
The place where the followers of the Black Mage had played a powerful trick to kill the second son of Gold Rich.
In a way, it was the most difficult Orange-rank Mystic Gate.
And only five people entered there?
It was inevitable that they would die.
“He has survived repeatedly.”
“Yes?”
However, Ivok was not satisfied with that fact.
Rather, Ivok thought,
“He must have prepared something this time as well.”
“By preparation, you mean….”
“Under the pretext of rescuing the El Pam Party, the Gafor Guild could send in a rescue team. That could be the El Pam Party’s aim.”
“Ah!”
At that thought, Bayz’s expression hardened.
If that were the case, it meant that the Gafor Guild could fill the party with its own people.
In fact, the justification was clear.
The El Pam Party had entered the Mystic Gate on their own, and in that situation, there was no reason for other adventurers to enter.
In other words, adventurers from other guilds had no reason to enter.
Even if it was the Kania Guild.
Of course, Ivok had no intention of just sitting back and doing nothing.
“It will take quite a while for the rescue team to gather. So we’ll move before that.”
He moved.
“Send the Martyrs.”
Martyrs.
The moment that word came out, Bayz’s face hardened.
They were beings that the followers of the Black Mage had painstakingly raised.
Noble beings who were willing to give their lives to turn the Mystic Gate and beyond into hell.
Deploying them meant that Ivok really wanted to drive a wedge.
In other words, it meant that no more exceptions would be tolerated.
“How long will it take for the Martyrs to arrive?”
“A day is enough.”
“Finish it within half a day.”
“Yes, I will finish it within half a day.”
That was why Bayz’s face, as he spoke, was filled with more desperate determination than ever.
‘If El Pam doesn’t die, I die.’
If he failed here, then Bayz would have to take responsibility for nothing other than his own life.
It was a situation that could not help but make one’s head complicated in many ways.
Fortunately, Bayz did not have to risk his life.
“Ba-Bayz-nim.”
“What is it?”
He received the contact less than an hour after hearing the news of El Pam, let alone half a day.
“The, the door is closed.”
“What?”
7.
There were many abilities required of adventurers in the Mystic Gate.
But the most needed ability among them was not combat ability.
“No matter how well an adventurer fights, if they can’t find the exit, they die. Whether they starve to death or die of exhaustion.”
The ability to find the exit.
That was the most important ability for an adventurer exploring the Mystic Gate.
That’s why adventurers built up their ability to find the Mystic Gate.
Of course, it wasn’t as easy to build up as it sounded.
First of all, talent was needed.
The talent to quickly find hidden pictures, the talent to find signs or clues of the Mystic Gate in any situation, even in passing scenes.
Experience was also needed.
There were various environments beyond the Mystic Gate, and even if it was the same forest, if the monsters that appeared, the trees that made up the forest, etc., were different, it was no exaggeration to say that it was a completely different space.
That was why.
“Second floor.”
El Pam was able to find the exit to the second floor in less than an hour.
Because in that area, El Pam had the best talent and experience that could not be compared to anyone else.
“Artemis’s Eye, it’s far more useful than I thought.”
El Pam had acquired an item he had never possessed before, even before returning to the past.
As soon as he found the exit, El Pam moved to the second floor.
“A swamp.”
What the El Pam party faced was the same swamp as the first floor.
It was a dire situation.
Instead of escaping the swamp, they found themselves in the same swamp.
Furthermore, as it was the second floor, the difficulty of the monsters appearing would be incomparably higher than on the first floor.
“From now on, no one can enter this Mystic Gate.”
Crucially, the El Pam party now had to leave this place on their own, without anyone’s help.
However, even in the face of this disaster, the El Pam party did not show any despairing expressions.
They couldn’t.
“I’ve been with the real boss for quite some time now, and I’m amazed every time. Amazed.”
In the face of El Pam’s abilities, any sense of crisis was meaningless.
There was only the certainty that with him, they could find the exit from any Mystic Gate.
The same was true now.
It was the worst situation, but the El Pam party had one thing.
“Now let’s quickly find the Jack Rich party, grab the items, and head straight for the exit.”
The expectation of obtaining Jack Rich’s legacy.
And they believed that expectation would soon be fulfilled.
With El Pam’s search ability, finding the Jack Rich party and the exit wouldn’t be difficult.
Kyuu!
“Yes, Mano.”
No, apart from El Pam’s abilities, the El Pam party had another companion, the snail Mano.
“Where’s the item? Do you smell something unique?”
Kyuu!
“Over there?”
That’s Mano the snail, tracking down items.
There’s no better combination for finding inheritance.
Kyuu!
“Yes, it’s over there, Boss! Looks like he’s found something!”
Mano even showed a strong reaction, as if he had found something.
Everyone was excited by the reaction.
“Is he really that good at finding items?”
“He’s the best.”
“Really?”
“If I had to save one of you or Minerv, I’d save this guy.”
“…. You always have to say something.”
Minerv and Ralph’s eyes, in particular, changed.
The look of a pirate with eyes for treasure and a monster who would kill the Cygnus Knights Commander for money.
El Pam said to the excited group.
“Whether we leave the Mystic Gate or not depends on Divo and Kiri.”
“Huh?”
“What do you mean?”
Divo and Kiri turned their heads at the sudden words and looked at El Pam.
El Pam said to them.
“We’re not leaving until you two open the 3rd Circle.”
At those words, Divo, Kiri, and the rest of them were dumbfounded.
It was that outlandish of a statement.
“Boss…”
“This doesn’t make sense.”
At the same time, it was an absurd suggestion.
“If opening the 3rd Circle was something you could do just by wanting to, we would have done it already!”
“Exactly. It’s not like I haven’t done it because I didn’t want to.”
Circle Up is every adventurer’s dream!
But to do it at will?
Of course, El Pam’s thoughts were different.
First of all, the two of them had consumed a lot of magic stones while hunting monsters in the Mystic Gate.
Their Circles had become quite dense.
‘Divo has talent.’
Also, the Divo that El Pam knew wouldn’t have much trouble reaching the 3rd Circle.
‘Kiri is also capable enough.’
The same went for Kiri.
El Pam didn’t know Kiri’s future, but she had enough talent from what he had seen.
“There’s no one here but us.”
So he prepared this stage.
From the beginning, El Pam had no interest in Jack Rich’s heritage.
“We can monopolize all the monsters.”
His goal was to Circle Up in this place overflowing with monsters, without any interference.
“Boss! That’s not easy!”
Of course, El Pam knew.
“That’s right. Even if we kill all the monsters, we could still fail to Circle Up.”
That the monsters here weren’t infinite.
“If we haven’t Circled Up by the time we’ve wiped out all the monsters…”
That’s why he prepared.
“We can’t continue to party play anymore.”
For the case of failure.
At those words, Divo and Kiri’s expressions hardened.
But El Pam wasn’t swayed by their expressions. Rather, El Pam’s decision was for their sake.
El Pam didn’t have much time, so he had to move forward as quickly as possible.
‘Now we have to go to Yellow Rank.’
He had to go to a more dangerous place.
‘While fighting the Black Mage’s followers.’
With more dangerous people.
Staying at the 2nd Circle by El Pam’s side would be too dangerous.
And Divo and Kiri knew that too.
They sensed it the moment El Pam spoke.
‘If we don’t Circle Up here, it’s really over. Even if we want to follow, we won’t be able to.’
‘El Pam, he doesn’t say things twice.’
This wasn’t up for negotiation.
“Alright.”
Divo, who had come to that realization, raised his polearm.
“Let’s give it a try.”
Kiri was the same.
She also showed her determination by raising her sword.
Just as everyone was making up their minds, at that moment…
Ooouuu!
With a grotesque cry, a part of the swamp began to wriggle and move.
Soon, the owner of the cry revealed itself.
Ooouuu!
“It’s a Mud Swamp Monster.”
The identity of the monster that appeared was a Mud Swamp Monster, a mud monster that emerged from the swamp as its name suggested, covered in mud.
It was a very troublesome monster.
Being made of mud, most attacks didn’t work on it. The same went for magic.
Lightning and poison attributes couldn’t really deal damage.
Above all, it was quite large.
The small ones were 2 meters tall, and the big ones were over 4 meters.
Its huge size alone was terrifying, but what if that size was filled with mud? Getting hit by such a huge lump of mud? The physical shock that came then was beyond anything you could imagine.
It was a nightmare monster for adventurers.
However, Divo and Kiri, who saw the monster, had their eyes burning with passion.
“Come on!”
“Come on!”
The two shouted the same thing at the same time, and the Mud Swamp Monster gladly responded.
Urrrgh!
The Mud Swamp Monster let out a drawn-out sound and approached Divo and Kiri, and the two moved.
“I’ll take the front!”
While Divo faced the Mud Swamp Monster head-on, Kiri quickly moved behind it.
At that moment, the Mud Swamp Monster turned its gaze towards Kiri.
“Warrior Leap!”
At that moment, Divo activated his 2nd Circle Warrior Leap skill.
Divo, who had been stuck in the swamp, leaped high, high enough to look down on the Mud Swamp Monster’s head in an instant.
“Slash Blaster!”
In that state, Divo plunged his polearm down along with the skill, and the attack pierced the Mud Swamp Monster’s head.
Puhwat!
Deeply, as if splitting firewood, he smashed the Mud Swamp Monster’s head in one fell swoop.
Of course, the Mud Swamp Monster didn’t die from that alone.
It was a monster that could only be killed by breaking its magic stone.
But the effect of breaking its head was clear.
“Now it can’t see us!”
Whooooosh!
Having lost its eyes, nose, and ears, all the Mud Swamp Monster could do was swing its limbs.
Whooooosh!
Towards the Mud Swamp Monster, swinging its arms as if randomly dancing, Kiri’s sword began to move.
Kiri’s sword also danced.
Hwaruru!
Kiri’s sword, imbued with the heat of the hot sun, cut and pierced through the Mud Swamp Monster’s body so lightly.
But the wound was not light.
Kiri’s heated sword baked the Mud Swamp Monster’s body, its mud body.
Like pottery.
Naturally, the parts that turned into pottery were incomparably weaker than when they were mud.
“Good job, Kiri!”
Divo didn’t miss that opportunity and struck the weakened area with his polearm.
Kwachik!
Faced with their party play, the Mud Swamp Monster began to crumble faster than expected.
Seeing this, El Pam and the others also took action.
“Let me help.”
Ralph joined Divo and Kiri.
Taang!
Meanwhile, Minerv’s pistol spat fire.
Aimed at the gap created by Kiri’s wound.
With their combined party play, the Mud Swamp Monster began to fall apart very easily.
At the same time, Divo and Kiri’s concentration began to heighten.
‘I need to grow stronger. To follow the boss.’
‘I don’t want to fall behind here.’
A sense of urgency arose.
Kukung!
Under the pressure of Divo and Kiri’s concentration, the Mud Swamp Monster couldn’t hold on for long and collapsed.
Of course, the two weren’t satisfied there.
“Boss! Let’s go hunt the other ones quickly!”
“There’s no time to rest.”
The fire was lit now.
Looking at them, El Pam said,
“That was unexpected.”
Divo replied with a laugh to that answer.
“Right, Boss? Even you didn’t expect me to fight this well, did you?”
It seemed he took El Pam’s words as a compliment.
However, it wasn’t a compliment.
“I didn’t expect you to Circle Up right away.”
“Huh? What?”
What El Pam found unexpected was that they had opened the 3rd Circle after just one battle.
“It appeared?”
“Mine too.”
It wasn’t just Divo, but Kiri as well.
Both of them had opened the 3rd Circle.
A sudden opening.
Of course, there was a clear reason.
“Circle Up occurs when there’s a mental awakening.”
Circle Up was achieved through talent and the awakening that triggered that talent.
And it was obvious what had awakened them.
“Haha, as I said, I can do it if I try! Isn’t it amazing? Huh? Boss, you saw it too, right? How I Circled Up right away?”
Desperation.
“It seems you’ve been comfortable until now.”
In other words, they hadn’t felt it until now.
“Huh? No, Boss, how did it come to that?”
“If you can Circle Up just by changing your mindset, it means you’ve been comfortable until now.”
“Well, so that means…”
Actually, in a way, it was natural.
They had El Pam. El Pam had made the crisis and desperation they felt seem insignificant.
‘This was unexpected.’
Even for El Pam, this situation was beyond his expectations.
Of course, it wasn’t a big problem.
Now, they would feel desperation whether they wanted to or not.
The important thing was that the results were out.
‘With this, everyone is 3rd Circle.’
They were fully prepared to move on to the next stage.
‘There’s no reason to stay here.’
All that was left was to go.
It was at that moment.
Koong!
“Huh? What’s that?”
An intense tremor, incomparable to anything they had ever felt before, struck El Pam’s party.
Koong!
“An earthquake?”
A shock as if a giant was stomping on the ground.
Koong!
“…Oh my god, is that a Mud Swamp Monster?”
At the starting point of the tremor was a Mud Swamp Monster.
A Mud Swamp Monster with a height of 10 meters.
“Mud Swamp Monsters are only supposed to be 4 meters tall at most?”
“I’ve never heard of one that big.”
“This is crazy, what is this place?”
Everyone was bewildered by this fact. According to their common sense, a 10-meter Mud Swamp Monster shouldn’t exist.
But El Pam was an exception.
He knew.
‘They used a martyr to kill Jack Rich.’
He knew that the Black Mage’s followers had a way to break that common sense.
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]