Infinite Competitive Dungeon Society Chapter 158-159

Chapter 158. The Rondo of Scarlet Flame and Silver Ice (1)

After the raid ended, I honestly just wanted to sleep. Fatigue had built up from consecutively clearing an Event Dungeon and an Event Raid, and the Mantis Queen's words wouldn't leave my mind.

The world and the invaders. The relationship that I thought was simple did not seem to be so anymore. It seemed the monsters didn't come here on their own accord. There was an existence controlling them from the shadows and forcing them here. It was already confusing that monsters were hostile to each other, but there were more things to consider now.

"Hurry up and choose your reward."

"Wait, let me take care of the risk factor first."

I put my hand on the Mantis Queen's corpse and put it into my inventory. Pepper, who was watching, narrowed his eyes and muttered.

"T.K., the Flame Drake we fought before…"

"Alright, let's choose our rewards and go eat."

I openly changed the subject and turned my attention to the reward list. Then, I was surprised. To think Dimensional Travel and Return would appear like this! I already knew that there were few ways to obtain them. So Event Raid was one of them!

"It makes sense, I guess. SS ranked Event Raids are rare…"

Guild Revival's members all knew about Dimensional Mercenaries from my explanation.

Since all Ye-Eun needed was more achievements and getting a t.i.tle of an incarnation of a G.o.d, she probably wouldn't be interested in these. The one who would be interested was probably…

First, I chose my reward. Although Wild Dance of Fresh Blood was tempting, Spirit of the Collector was shouting that the 3rd item, Soul of Battle Blade, was a better item. After a bit of hesitation, I chose the blade.

"Mm?"

Surprisingly, it was a small silver sphere. Not to mention, it looked rather familiar. Right, there was no doubt. It was the same shape as the elixirs I've gotten from 5th to 50th floors. I checked the item description just in case, and it was indeed a consumable item. Feeling a bit doubtful, I swallowed it.

[Your strength and dexterity increase by 10. You learned 'low-rank Blade Rush.' Using the skill and charging forward will create sharp blades from your body using your mana. Upon reaching your target, all blades will be shot toward the target. As strength, dexterity, and skill level increase, the blades' damage will increase.]

I was already surprised that it raised my strength and dexterity by 10, but it even gave me a skill! Not to mention, it was a charge type skill! If Gale Track was a multi-target charge skill, this skill was a single-target charge skill. I was always slightly apprehensive about Gale Track, as it took time (29 targets) to be fully-charged (200%). With this, I could focus on damaging one target, while still having the 110% amplification for charge type skills.

"Hm…. Okay, Return."

While I was checking my item and its effects, it seemed the others finished picking their rewards. Dimensional Travel and Return went to father and Hwaya, respectively. Father said he chose Dimensional Travel because it seemed harder to obtain, while Hwaya planned to choose Return from the beginning. When I asked her why, she answered.

"I got a clearer information. When I solo clear the 80th floor, I can choose to go back to level 50 and start on the 50th floor of the First Dungeon. An administrative guild's guild master told me, so I'm sure."

"Level 50? If you're falling by 30 levels, you'll lose a lot of stats, HP, and MP."

"I pretty much made up for it during all the Event Dungeon runs. More than I expected, in fact."

"Ah."

She was right. She started clearing Event Dungeons a month before me. She had gained about 250 bonus stat points. Excluding HP and MP, it was equal to about 50 levels' worth.

Although it should be higher, it seemed there was a limit to the bonus points Event Dungeons could provide us. After clearing 200 Event Dungeons under S rank, Hwaya couldn't get bonus stats from those dungeons. She could only earn bonus stats from dungeons that were at least S ranked. Furthermore, the amount of bonus stats she was getting from those had also decreased.

I was surprised she had cleared over 200 dungeons, but since I was nearing that number, I couldn't say anything.

Since we found out that the bonus stats obtainable from Event Dungeons were limited, being Dimensional Mercenaries was that much more attractive. Since Hwaya's desire to improve herself was as great as mine, she had wanted to become one the moment I told her about it. She couldn't give up on the First Dungeon either for the same reason. It would make her stronger.

Of course, it would still be true that she would get weaker, but Hwaya would be able to enter the First Dungeon with high stats, and she would be able to obtain the Dimensional Travel Magic Book from solo clearing the 50th floor's Wendigo. Since her level would decrease by 30, she might be able to grind it as well.

Now that I thought about it, clearing 200 Event Dungeons and raking in stat points should be something only possible for early dungeon explorers like us. In other worlds, there were probably people like us, who raked in stats when monsters first began to appear. In other words, the moment that the world changed was the most dangerous time, but also the most opportunistic. Though different worlds must have been in different situations, it shouldn't have been too different.

"I don't know what's going on, but is everyone finished?"

"Oh, uh, yeah."

I remembered that there was someone here, whom we couldn't share the joy of getting rewards with. Since Pepper was looking at me with an extremely curious expression, I first decided to leave the area. Soon, the story that the SS ranked gate disappeared would spread, and things would only get more tiring if the media began to pester us.

A few hours later, Pepper became a Second Dungeon explorer under Sumire. Using Soul Contract, we made him promise to not tell anyone about dungeon explorers. Once another SS ranker appeared in America, he would have to join Revival and clear Event Dungeons or Event Raids when they happened.

Furthermore, when he leveled up and obtained the right to appoint another explorer, he would have to get the majority of Revival's member's agreement before he could make someone an explorer. This did not apply to just Pepper, but to all of us.

Right. It seemed Hwaya was a bit dissatisfied that I made Ye-Eun into an explorer on my own. Hwaya and I were fairly closed back then, so she was unhappy that I didn't ask for her opinion on the matter. Since I felt a bit sorry, I agreed to this clause. Of course, we didn't make anyone else use a Soul Contract, but we knew that no one here would renege on a promise.

"So you've been hiding an immense secret like this, T.K.!?"

Once Pepper entered the dungeon and came back, he couldn't hide his surprise. He checked his status window or opened his inventory as he continued to make exclamations of surprise. With a grin, I told him.

"With your ability, you should be able to climb to upper floors quickly. You'll get stronger as you level up, too."

"My G.o.d, T.K…"

"You can call me Shin. My real name is Kang Shin."

"Shin… Well then, friend, you can call me Leon! Since we're now friends that share the same fate!"

"Y-Yeah."

Pepper… seemed to be overly excited. There was no music, but he was dancing to some beat.

"Hahahaha! Good, monsters hidden in some mysterious s.p.a.ce! I can't wait!"

Other than me, it seemed all the dungeon explorers had strange quirks… I made a bitter smile.

After making an ally in America, we left to clear the remaining Event Dungeons. Guardian and Freedom Wing weren't just playing around either, as they cleared some dungeons ranked S or above. In the end, on the 58th day since the Event Dungeons appeared, there was only one Event Dungeon left on Earth. It was the SS ranked dungeon in Russia's snowy mountains.

The reason that it was the only remaining dungeon was simple. It was because whoever the Guardian and Freedom Wing sent never returned.

When Revival began to tour around the world to clear Event Dungeons and received an unexpectedly positive response, Guardian must have felt impatient. They didn't want to believe that a small group of fewer than 10 people could undermine their group.

There was only one way for them to recover their reputation. It was to conquer an SS ranked dungeon before us. As a result, Russia's SS ranker, France's SS ranker, and over 50 other S rankers joined to attack Russia's SS ranked dungeon.

Of course, this all happened without public knowledge. The reason we couldn't see France's SS ranker when we visited was that France's ranker had already gone to Russia. We only found out about everything when we arrived in America.

As I said before, the result was catastrophic. After entering the gate, nothing was heard from them again. When the other countries' SS rankers heard that the rankers had gone missing for over 3 weeks, they refused to enter the gate. The reason was obvious. Even if they knew that a disaster would strike when an SS ranked gate turned into a dungeon, there was nothing they could do if entering the gate meant death. Not to mention, it was another country's gate. France's SS ranker became the idiot for volunteering.

It was then that we cleared America's SS ranked Event Dungeon and even perfectly subjugated the Event Raid monster. Although it wasn't Revival, Guardian, or Freedom Wing's intention, Revival's popularity had skyrocketed. Some even called us the last hope of humanity. It was exactly the type of thing I hated.

'You Guardian b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, can't you do anything right!?' I shouted in Africa as I stepped on crocodile monsters.

[Our government officially requests Revival. Please save Russia from its impending disaster. We will agree to any demands you have.]

The situation only got worse by the day until Russia's Prime Minister finally made an official request to us. I imagined complicated talks were exchanged in the process, but what was important was that Russia's humiliating announcement was equivalent to Guardian's surrender. Ever since we clashed in Korea, Guardian had never even mentioned us, pretending that we didn't exist. But now, they had reached out to us on their own accord.

Although it wasn't our intention, we had planned to visit Russia last. However, they may have thought that we wouldn't subjugate Russia's SS ranked gate. I could only imagine the faces they would make if the truth was revealed.

In any case, Russia's promise was a promise we would gladly take. While thinking about what we could request from Russia, we flew toward Russia on Hwaya's plane.

"Russia and France's SS ranker… Do you think they're dead?"

"They're still SS rankers, so shouldn't they be alive? Though I've never met them, so I can't say for sure."

Hwaya answered uninterestedly, as she polished her nails. I was surprised since I didn't think she would be so aloof about the death of other countries' rankers. Almost as if she read my mind, Hwaya smiled at me.

"There's no use worrying about it now, Shin. Thinking negatively will have negative impacts on yourself, your friends, and the world."

"So you're polishing your nails instead?"

"Of course, I have to always look perfect! Then, whoever looks at me will be happy. That's a good reason, right?"

As Hwaya gave a flaunting smile, I ended up laughing as well. After polishing her nails, she started doing her eyelashes. I wondered if that was something she should do in front of others, but I had to admit that she looked beautiful. I retorted.

"You're really full of confidence."

"Why, did I say something wrong?"

"No. I'm also happy right now."

"… If only you could always be that honest."

Although that's what Hwaya muttered, it seemed she didn't plan on pursuing an answer, as she hummed and continued to do our eyelashes. It seemed she was in a better mood.

I took my eyes off of her and looked at Ludia, who was leaning on my arm and sleeping. She looked as beautiful as an angel. Looking at her, I felt deep affection rising up from my heart and weighing me down.

"…. Huu."

"Shin, my mom says good fortune will run away when you sigh."

"I can't even sigh now!?"

But what a very Korean saying! I'd like to meet her!

After we entered Russia, everything was taken care of easily. The people we'd only seen on TV bowed and offered their handshakes. We stayed in the highest cla.s.s luxury hotel and ate in the highest cla.s.s luxury restaurant. In truth, it was quite meaningless to someone like me, who had no problem sleeping wherever or eating whatever.

Although we arrived in the middle of the night, a countless number of people greeted us. What was surprising was that they only showed their faces, then said that we should go eat and rest since we must be tired from traveling. I thought they would ask us to enter the gate immediately, but it seemed we had really gotten famous.

The next day, the prime minister asked to see me alone. I knew I had gotten famous from Revival, but I didn't think the prime minister would ask to see me personally. I became slightly fl.u.s.tered and told the others about it before I got on the limousine with the prime minister's secretary.

[Shin, careful!]

[It's fine. I can probably survive a nuclear bomb, too.]

I wasn't kidding. With my mana protecting me, neither the radiation nor the blast could damage me. I could hold my breath for 10 minutes if it came down to it, and if it was looking bad, I could always escape to the dungeon.

I had some idea about what the prime minister would say. It would probably be an explanation for Guardian's actions until now, an apology, and things regarding the future relationship between Russia and Revival. He might even ask Revival to join Russia. Other than that… he would probably ask if Russia could buy monster corpses we got from Event Dungeons or if we could rescue the rankers that went in previously.

But when I got to the small reception room, the prime minister laid out all sorts of overbearing flattery, like how thankful he was that I came or how good of a leader I was, then said this.

"If Russia's SS ranker is alive… please kill him."

It was something completely unexpected.

Author's note:

Chapter 159. The Rondo of Scarlet Flame and Silver Ice (2)

[Our SS ranker was always mentally unstable. Before he entered the gate, he caused a huge incident. He murdered all key personnel of the government and top bra.s.s members of Guardian before he entered the gate.]

[He probably thought he could escape us forever by going inside the gate. It just shows how mentally unstable he is.]

[The team we created did not consist of 2 SS rankers and 50 S rankers as you may have heard, but France's 1 SS ranker and the 50 S rankers led by him. In other words, he was out of our control.]

[No matter how important SS rankers are, we can no longer tolerate his madness. He is a psychopath and a murderer. I beg you, please kill him. We will take care of the rest.]

I said that wasn't for me to do and refused. However, before I left the reception room, I told him that once I went inside the gate, I would act appropriately given the circ.u.mstances. When I came back to my companions, I told them what happened. Hearing that the government personally requested me to kill an ability user, they were extremely displeased.

"He killed all key personnel of the government, but the prime minister is alive?"

"Something stinks. Even if he's telling the truth, it's irritating. If he's not, it's more irritating."

"Mentally unstable person… Why would someone like him have such a power…?"

If the prime minister was telling the truth and Russia's SS ranker was alive, we may have to fight a human, not monsters, when we entered the dungeon. When I considered that the reason France's SS ranker and other 50 S rankers couldn't clear the dungeon was because of Russia's SS ranker, a chill went down my back. However, Hwaya and father came to a rather simple conclusion.

"There's no problem. We can just think of it as having one more SS ranked enemy."

"She's right, son. No matter who appears, can that person be stronger than me? Don't worry too much."

"No, father, what I'm worried about is… No, it's fine."

I couldn't spoil the mood when everyone sounded so confident. Plus, I had already killed a human before. I couldn't ask whether they could kill a human, even if he appeared as an enemy.

Before we entered the Event Dungeon, we inspected our equipment and condition. After seeing that that everything was perfect, we headed to the snowy mountains where the Event Dungeon was located. The prime minister also came with us. This person… didn't he have better things to do?

When we were about to enter the dungeon, Ludia tilted her head and asked.

"Shin, where's the wyvern?"

"Oh, Lotte? She left for training."

"… You're kidding, right?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

Lotte seemed to be extremely vexed that she couldn't enter America's SS ranked Event Dungeon with me, as she asked for my permission and left for training. I wanted to ask what training she was doing or if it was even effective, but I didn't. Since she wanted it so much, I couldn't say no. I let her go after telling her not to overdo it.

I didn't know what it was that she wanted. I just hoped she wouldn't return as something like Dark Destiny Wing… In any case, not having Lotte wasn't detrimental to our success. As such, we entered the dungeon.

[You entered the SS ranked Event Dungeon, 'Frozen Castle.']

The moment I stepped inside the Event Dungeon, a bone-chilling wind blew. Of course, with my contract to Ruyue and the effect of Red Dragon Felixes' Cape, it only felt like a light breeze. However, it seemed that wasn't the case for my companions.

"C-C-C-C-C-C-Cold."

"Father, I thought you were an undead."

"I-I-I-I-I-I'm c-c-cold t-too."

With that, Ye-Eun jumped in my embrace. Then, she cheered.

"Shin's cape is hot!"

"It's made out of a red dragon's leather."

The moment Ye-Eun yelled, few more people clung to my cape. Pushing them off forcefully, I shouted.

"Didn't you buy cold weather clothes in the dungeon? Wear that instead!"

"But it's hard to fight in it."

"If you're clinging onto me, neither of us can fight!"

In the end, everyone other than Hwaya and me wore thick cold weather clothes. Although I was fine thanks to my cape, it seemed Hwaya could protect herself with her flame ability.

"So, where are we?"

"It looks like the castle's underground corridor. Everything's made out of ice."

I looked around. We were in a corridor about 5 meters wide and 10 meters tall. The flat walls had no windows. It was the perfect underground corridor where you'd expect to hear the cries of captured criminals. However, for an underground corridor, the ceiling was too high. Not to mention, everything was made out of ice. The floor, walls, ceiling, everything!

Although we entered all sorts of dungeons, the surroundings were always wide open and we had a s.p.a.cious area to explore. However, although the place we were standing in was fairly s.p.a.cious, it was clearly limited since we were caged in. If we took account the freezing energy that was continuously pouring in, the penalty we were suffering from couldn't be said to be light.

We put Hwaya and Ludia, who were weak to close-ranged combat, in the middle, and quickly walked along the corridor. If the Event Dungeons we had entered so far all had the monsters attack us immediately, this dungeon was the complete opposite. Even after 30 minutes, we had not run into any monsters.

"Echoo!"

"Ludia, come here."

"Un!"

After we walked in this cold for a while, Ludia, who had a weak const.i.tution, kept sneezing. Even though we prepared ourselves for any environment we might find ourselves in, it seemed it wasn't enough.

Feeling sorry, I brought Ludia to my side. I couldn't give her my cape because it was bound to me, but she would be able to share the warmth by being near it. After Ludia grabbed the edge of my cape, she stopped sneezing. Instead, Hwaya and Ye-Eun's cheeks were puffed up.

"I'm cold, too… I'm so jealous."

"Your favoritism is too strong. I don't like it."

Ye-Eun, your condition is much better than Ludia's! And Hwaya, you're warmer than anyone else here! I wanted to argue, but since it would probably be a ha.s.sle, I didn't. I simply ignored them and firmly walked onward.

However, not long afterward, I hate to stop everyone. I had discovered blood splashed on the wall.

"There was a battle here."

"It's frozen."

I looked around, but there was nothing other than the trace of blood. I told everyone to be on guard, then we continued onward as I actively used Mana Detection. After about 30 minutes, I suddenly felt a presence in front of me. It came with an extremely cold energy.

"Ludia, get back!"

I pushed Ludia into our formation. I pulled out my spear and manifested my aura. At the same time, I called Ruyue and Peika. The moment they were summoned, they floated up over my shoulders and emitted elemental power. Soon, the enemy made its appearance. It was a golem about 7 meters tall, made out of dozens of boulder-like ice. I finally understood. The ceiling had to be this high for this golem to appear.

[Guooooooo!]

When the golem saw us, it roared and charged directly at us. However, it couldn't have picked a worse opponent.

[Don't touch Shin!]

[Guoooo…ooo!?]

Just three words from Ruyue made the golem freeze in place. Dozens of ice crystals also rose up and stormed the golem. Shockingly, the ice forming the castle broke off readily and followed Ruyue's command. Hmm, could this place be a stage for Ruyue to shine?

However, the golem looked fine even after being struck by Ruyue's frightening attack.

[Guoooooo!]

"Oh, I see."

The flaw was that Ruyue couldn't deal huge damage to the golem as they were both had ice attribute. Ruyue, who was looking proud, quickly became dejected.

[Uuu, I have to protect Shin.]

"That was enough. Focus on blocking the golem's movements, Ruyue. Hwaya!"

"Eit!"

Hwaya threw a white flame at the golem. Even after colliding with the ice, the flame was not extinguished and continued to burn until it completely swallowed the golem.

[Guoooooooo!]

In the end, the golem melted to a puddle of water, while Hwaya proudly puffed out her chests.

"Huhu, did you see that?"

"Yeah, good job."

'For someone who fainted just by seeing bugs…' It seemed she forgot all about what happened in America. In any case, it was true that defeating the golem was easier with Hwaya. I adequately lifted Hwaya up and surveyed my surroundings with Mana Detection again.

"Ah, wait, let me go back."

"It looks like we'll run into monsters from now, so stay with me, Ludia."

"Don't call me Ludia! I'm going to be with Shin!"

"Come, it's warm next to me, too, right?"

"… You big-breasted jealous witch."

"… Hmph, it's better than being a tiny-breasted jealous witch, right?"

"I, I'm still growing! The alphabet just changed, too!"

Please don't say what alphabet changed… Like B, C… Ah, no, I shouldn't be thinking about this!

After that, we fought giant bats, gargoyles, and golems all made out of ice. Ruyue immobilized them, and Hwaya's flames violently melted all enemies even in this environment filled with ice.

Unfortunately, because the monsters were all made out of ice, they didn't leave any corpses. However, we were happy because Mana Stones dropped with a higher chance. Mana Stones could be used as currency in both Earth and the dungeon.

We were most likely underground. After all, there were no windows anywhere. Almost to prove that I was right, the rooms along the corridor were all weapon storage rooms (full of golems), food storage rooms (full of golems), or prisons ( full of golems).

After three hours, we explored the entire corridor. It seemed that we were on the lowest floor. We found a staircase going up. I couldn't hide my excitement as things started looking more and more like an RPG game.

"Let's first eat before we continue!"

"I knew you'd say that!"

Because everyone other than Hway and me were freezing, we all agreed to eat to warm ourselves up. I cooked ramen, using the Floor Shop's special item, 'Burned to White Ashes….' With it, I had no reason to fear the Ice Castle, which even extinguished Hwaya's flame in a few minutes. After all, even without fire, this magical item could heat up its content at the desired temperature for a desired amount of time!

However, things didn't go the way I expected.

"Oh, no. The water won't boil."

"d.a.m.n it… Even though the pot is hot, the water won't boil because it's too cold outside!"

What kind of an absurd environment was this!? Even as I shook from this illogical situation, I refused to give up. If it the outside was too cold, I just had to make it warmer! I cleared some s.p.a.ce around the pot and enveloped the area in chaos flame. Chaos flame wouldn't be extinguished unless I wished for it, and it wasn't just hot; it was scorching! Seeing the water boil, I became satisfied.

"You're using a flame that could kill an SS ranked dungeon's boss to boil water…"

"You shouldn't say that Walker when you're using that flame to warm your body."

With all the training expeditions I went with father, I had become a master of making ramen. Even while boiling 10 packs, I could maintain the noodles' springy texture. I considered it a marvelous talent! Soon, when we were gathered around the Ice Castle's underground corridor and eating ramen…

We sensed someone's presence.

"Are you… going to eat that?"

Hwaya and I turned around with noodles in our mouth.

There, we saw the Witch of Silver Ice.

Translator's note:
It's unknown whether Russia/France's SS rankers are male or female as gender-neutral p.r.o.nouns are used.