Book 17 Chapter 16
Would it be possible,
Is it wrong to pursue a dream in a dungeon (2)
Holding onto the roots of the World Tree and carefully descending, they arrived at the top of a spire.
This was a buried labyrinth.
In other words, they were entering an ancient castle that had been buried for a thousand years, in reverse order.
“Kyaoooooooo!”
The spire was quite large, even from the standard of its cone shape, and feline monsters were encamped there as guardians of the labyrinth.
Their name, Girnyai.
The Girnyai, which were 2.5 times the size of a tiger, had a danger rating of 2.5, as assessed by hunters and mercenaries.
This meant they were extremely dangerous monsters that could only be subjugated if one reached a gold rank.
But their numbers exceeded a dozen! Dangerous!
“Hmph, they look strong. Don't disappoint me…”
Just as he said that and was about to unleash a magic circle, Lista's Justice Punch landed directly on the monsters' heads!
“Eeyah!”
“KKuak!”
Skull Shatter! Master!
“Eeyah!”
“Kkuak!”
Spinal Extraction! Mad Master!
“Eeyah!”
“Kkuak!”
Bone and Flesh Separation! Utterly Mad Master! The time it took to butcher over a dozen 2.5-grade monsters: a mere 2.5 seconds!
“Whew~ The feeling after realizing justice is truly refreshing.”
The hero, cheerfully and beautifully wiping away the monster's blood, flesh, and brains splattered all over his face!
“Wow, there's a passage going down from under this spire that the monsters were surrounding! Let's go!”
Rin muttered, repeatedly glancing back and forth between the monster corpses and the hero.
“Even if he's alone, it feels like the whole turmoil and everything would be over, so maybe we should just go back to the magic tower.”
However, they couldn't.
Because the moment Rin's activity was needed had just arrived.
“Th-this is…!”
Freya took a step back, her face drained of color.
“A fork in the road…!”
“You're overreacting.”
“Overreacting? Did you say overreacting? Hey, you idiot! The most dangerous thing in a labyrinth is precisely a fork in the road like this! If you take the wrong path, you're screwed! You'll be rotting in the labyrinth for months!”
While Freya was making a fuss, Lista spoke to Kias.
“Kias, do you see anything? I can't see anything.”
[┐(ㅇㅅㅇ)┌]
“Kias can't see anything either? Hmm… Well, we do rely on our senses. But it's no problem. We have Rin!”
Then Freya's eyes changed.
“Right, this guy will find the right path. He's so good at search magic, too. So, which way should we go?”
Hmm… Rin seemed to ponder, holding his chin, then suddenly stood the Golden Staff he held in his hand upright on the ground.
Cling…
The direction the Golden Staff fell was to the right. Rin pointed to the right.
“Roughly this way, isn't it?”
Freya grinned.
Of course, that was only for a moment; the next instant, she roared like a beast and pounced on Rin.
It was the ultimate punishment: putting fists on both sides of the boy's head and twisting!
“Agh! I'm an idiot for even hoping for a moment! Huh? What did I say? I said the most dangerous thing in a labyrinth is a fork in the road! You can't just 'roughly' do it like this!”
“Ouch, ouch, ow!”
“You need to hurt a bit. You're being so pampered that you must think this Fire Dragon Priestess Freya is a joke!”
It was Lista, the party leader, who stopped Freya's rage.
“Wait, Freya. I don't think this is a joke.”
“What?”
“The Golden Staff is a fragment of Elder Yoshuhar's soul. So, isn't this a light that shows us the right direction?”
!
“You should apologize to Rin, Freya.”
Released from unspeakable pain, Freya suddenly hesitated, glancing around, and then said this:
“Hey, um, I'm sorry. My personality is naturally fiery, isn't it? Isn't that why I became the Fire Dragon Priestess?”
Just then, Pipi, who had flown ahead in the direction Rin pointed, hastily returned, her body a mess.
That place was literally hell!
Traps like poisoned arrows had exploded everywhere! Pipi began furiously pecking Rin's crown and forehead.
“Die, die, die. You dog-like trash swallow!”
“Ugh, sorry! I just guessed randomly, my bad!”
Sval stepped forward to protect his master from Pipi's onslaught! Take this, Sval Punch!
“Gyuuwoooot!”
Intersecting that punch, Pipi Kick directly hit Sval's cheek! Master!
“Piippipit!”
Lista, who would normally have immediately stopped Pipi and Sval's fight, had no time for it as she was deflecting Freya's murderous glare.
“Hey, say something. Unless you want to die. He said he just guessed.”
“Freya, this is… that's it! Rin gave us the courage to move forward! Because we were hesitating here!”
“Do you think I'd apologize and say, 'Ah, I see… I'm so sorry I didn't understand the bigger picture. From now on, I'll see the forest, not just the trees'? Come here. You need a beating too!”
Lista gave an awkward laugh and started running down the left passage.
“Do you think you can escape from my 16-cylinder broom? Stop while I'm asking nicely!”
Freya flew her 16-cylinder broom at maximum output, chasing after him.
“MeWoooooooooooooo!”
Two labyrinth guardians appeared, blocking their way!
Their name was Sarquei.
Their danger rating was 2, and while they were monsters of the same family as the Girnyai, as their higher rating indicated, they were more ferocious and dangerous.
“Get out of the way! Eeyah!”
“Kkuak!”
At the hero's hastily swung fist, the Sarquei's body was literally shattered, ending its life! Master!
“I'm in the middle of something important, so don't bother me and get lost! Dracutus, hastily chanted and abbreviated!”
The other Sarquei was instantly incinerated by the sudden dragon's flames, dying instantly! Mad Master!
“Stop there! Aren't you stopping? If you don't stop, I'll shoot flames!”
“Calm down, Freya!”
“Shut up! If I say I'll shoot, I'm a woman who really shoots! Don't you know who I am? I'm the woman the Fire Dragon personally appointed as priestess! Dracutus!!!”
Faced with the terrifying heat of the approaching flames, the hero, sensing danger, finally had to draw his holy sword.
The tip of the Exalted Holy Sword Schilpen pointed directly at the labyrinth floor.
The brilliantly roaring sword light of the holy sword collapsed several layers of the floor, creating a direct passage to the deeper levels.
“Do you think you can escape? My broom-flying acrobatics are said to be top-notch in history!”
Thus, the hero and the priestess began a life-or-death game of tag in the ultra-high-risk facility known as the labyrinth!
“Goooooong…!”
“What kind of golem is that, get out of the way!”
“Kkeueueueeong…”
To the strongest of their era, it might be a game, but to the ordinary people who had to endure it, it was truly high-risk violence!
“Gooooooong…!”
“I'm busy, so get lost, you rock chunk! Dracutus!”
“Kkiiiiiiiiong…”
The labyrinth was repeatedly shaken by impacts that completely churned it up.
Just Like ‘새우 등 is Boom, because 고래 war’! Translated, when whales fight, the shrimp's back breaks!
How long did they run like that! The ordinary people reached the deepest part of the highest difficulty labyrinth, which would normally require years of planning and strategy to conquer.
“There's nowhere left to run! Wouldn't it have been better if you'd just surrendered nicely? Where are you going to run? For your insolence, your full-body first-degree burns are now upgraded to second-degree burns.”
“Wait, Freya. Look at this.”
“Look at what? Do I look like a stupid fool who would fall for something like that?”
“No, it's real. Look!”
“Hmph. Huh? Oh? What, what! This is a treasure chest! Oh my, ohmyohmyohmyohmyohmyohmyohmyohmy! It's so big, what do I do, how wonderful. The vertical area is even taller than I am!”
“Freya, actually, isn't it Rin who pushed us to get all the way here like this? They say everything works together for good!”
“No, it's not.”
Freya already had absolutely no interest in whatever nonsense Lista was spouting.
A treasure chest of this size would contain enough money for three generations to throw daily drinking parties with handsome big brothers and still have some left over.
And Freya was the only one in the hero's party interested in wealth. So, all the treasures here would be hers alone to monopolize.
“What, but… Ugh, is it locked? Why isn't it opening? Is it because it's too big and heavy?”
However, since even Lista couldn't open it, the latter was unlikely to be the problem. Just then, Lista discovered something on top of the treasure chest.
“Freya, look at this. Is this an instruction manual? But it's in an ancient language, so I can't read it.”
“Give it here. Quickly.”
What Lista threw was a stone tablet. Ancient words were engraved on the tablet, instructing how to open this box, having transcended a thousand years.
“What, what is this…? This is ridiculous, is it playing a trick on me now?”
“Why, what's wrong?”
“It says three cute girls, clearly visible to anyone, have to sing and dance. Only then will it open?”
“What? What kind of sexual exploitation is this! Unforgivable. I'll slash it with the holy sword!”
“No, no! What if the treasure gets damaged then!”
“But how do we bring young girls to this dangerous place? It's better to secure a few items even if they get damaged.”
“Your holy sword's power just cuts through dimensions, so what 'few items' are you talking about securing! Even securing one would be lucky!”
It was then that Rin and Kias joined them.
Rin was truly a haggard sight. Partly because Pipi had bitten and clawed him all over, but also because the passion in his heart had completely cooled.
He had come expecting the strongest opponent, but two delinquents had utterly shattered all his dreams and hopes.
“Who am I… Where is this…?”
As Freya looked at such a Rin, the light of realization shone eerily in her eyes.
“Rin, you came at just the right time.”
“What is life…? Is life truly an egg…?”
“According to this stone tablet, the [Strongest Foe] is sleeping inside this box. The being you so longed for, that is.”
Immediately, vitality returned to the eyes of the young magician whose soul was on the verge of leaving his body.
“What? Really? Let's open it. Open it quickly. I'm going to beat them up, so nobody interfere.”
“But there's a problem. To open this box… three cute girls have to dance.”
Rin opened his narrow eyes.
“You, if you talk nonsense, you die.”
“What should I do? Unfortunately, it's true.”
Freya's eyes held such clear signs of regret that Rin's suspicion cracked for a moment.
“Freya, this is—”
Lista, unable to stand by and watch the fraud unfolding before her as a hero, hesitated and opened her mouth, but…
“—Hm? What's wrong, Lista?”
Freya said with a bright smile.
Her face was devoid of any anger or emotion, almost like an angel's face. Perhaps that's why it was even scarier!
Lista, in bone-chilling terror, clamped her mouth shut and remained silent!
“So what should we do? Where and how do we bring girls all the way here?”
Tsk tsk, Freya clicked her tongue and wagged her index finger from side to side.
“Listen carefully. Lista is the most beautiful woman living in modern times, isn't she? And I'm confident I'm not far behind her. It's roughly a narrow save, you see.”
?
“And you're quite passable in drag, so I think the three of us can just do it roughly.”
Rin said nothing.
Instead, he merely raised both middle fingers! Not one hand, but both hands!
This is the highest level of insult, regardless of history, era, or world!
“Of course, if your dream of becoming the strongest is all a lie, and you're going to yield the strongest foe buried here to someone else, I won't stop you.”
!
“As you know, we're a busy hero's party on our way; once we leave here, we can't come back.”
!!!
“Someone else will face this strongest foe, gain many insights, and get one step closer to being the strongest. If you're willing to yield that with a benevolent heart, well… I'll support you as you become one step more adult.”
Rin's brain began to process a lifetime's worth of anguish at a rotational speed of 17 revolutions per second right then and there.
'The ego meeting will now begin. Everyone, stand up.'
The process was as if Rin's consciousness had split into a dozen fragments and was attending a courtroom.
'How do you think we should handle this matter?'
At the remarks of Judge Rin, who had a dignified mustache, Rin the Lawyer, standing in a suit, shouted.
'Your Honor, having gone through the experience of feeling so ashamed I could die multiple times, I believe we should never do it again.'
Then Rin the Prosecutor, standing on the opposite side, slammed the table with both hands.
'Objection! Don't you know the saying that there's a triangle in a person's heart?'
……?!
'Haven't we already cross-dressed multiple times, and haven't our comrades all seen it? Even if we do it again, it's just a little embarrassing. We must advance towards becoming the strongest.'
The five judges exchanged distressed opinions in silence.
'Cross-dress? Again…?'
'No, I hate it, I'll die of embarrassment.'
'But the strongest opponent…'
'Ah, I just don't want to because it's embarrassing!'
'Anyway, we've already seen everything there is to see about each other, so what's the big deal? Just go for it.'
The chief judge, seated in the center, closed his eyes and pondered for a long time before finally reaching a conclusion.
"…Instead, absolutely do not interfere. I'm going to fight them one-on-one."
Freya jumped up and down, laughing.
“Yahoo! Do as you please. But all the treasure is mine, okay?”
“Didn't you say there's a strongest foe?”
“Uh, well, you know, we don't know, do we? If we defeat it, treasure might come out as a reward. Aren't we allowed to have a little hope? Can't you even do that?”
Freya, skillfully deflecting her own fault by instead lashing out at Rin! Utterly Mad Master!
“Alright, then I'll sing the lead, and you guys can sing the chorus. I've already memorized all the lyrics.”
“Wow, that's amazing, Freya! When did you memorize all of something so long?”
“What do you take me for? This very person here memorized all those Dragon Scriptures and psalms. But there's one more problem left.”
“What is it now?”
“I memorized the lyrics, but I couldn't memorize the choreography. Here, Kias, take this.”
?
“See the movements listed on the back of this stone tablet? You take the poses according to it and instruct us. It's like leading the dance.”
Kias, who had accepted the stone tablet without much thought, had his expression stiffen like stone.
Then, a frantic head-shaking at 22 times per second! It was enough to even see afterimages, truly a master!
Since it was the first time Kias had expressed emotion so directly and violently without going through Serwevon, Rin was slightly flustered but soon felt irritation surge up.
“You, please hurry up. Don't you see I'm even in drag? Can't you see my self-esteem is being completely destroyed right now? Don't you know how happy you are compared to me?”
[(#_#);;;]
“Ah, just do it already! How frustrating! I'm super embarrassed to keep wearing this outfit!”
[*(ㅠㅁㅠ)*]
“Listen to Rin, you drunkard. Just do as you're told! You didn't have human rights to begin with.”
[OTL]
Thus began the most disgraceful of disgraces, unrecorded in any fairytale book! The 'Hero Party Dancing Tonight' of shock and horror!
“Pipi and Sval, give us a beat. Serwevon, you're in charge of the stage lighting. Alright, let's go!”