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Chapter 64
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]
Chapter 64: The Gambling Board (1)
1.
“Double Up?”
The moment El Pam mentioned Double Up, Divo and the others tilted their heads in confusion.
“What’s that?”
Even Minerv, who had seen all sorts of items under Captain Kyrin, didn’t know, so what explanation was needed?
The concept of Double Up was unknown to most adventurers.
‘It’s natural that they don’t know. It hasn’t been long since I learned about Double Up either.’
Even El Pam hadn’t known about this concept for very long.
Of course, knowing about it changed things.
“Any skill, when cast, is doubled. If you use Fire Arrow, you get two.”
The moment adventurers understood this concept, they always had the same expression.
“What? No, does that make sense?”
At first, they couldn’t believe it.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
“Wait, so… hold on.”
And the moment they saw the result, the clear result, the moment they understood, they thought.
“Then other spells are doubled too?”
What this Double Up meant.
“Two Apollo’s Fire Arrows too?”
“Two Thunder Bolts too?”
“Yes.”
Naturally, this concept applied to all skills.
“Hey, wait a minute, does this include Flame Vortex or Poison Mist too? Does the amount or size double?”
“Yes.”
“Crazy!”
Literally all skills.
“Does money double too? If you take it out of your pocket?”
“…That’s not it.”
“Hmm.”
Any skill that used mana would have its output doubled, without exception.
That’s why even El Pam was surprised.
‘I didn’t know Freud’s ring had this kind of power.’
Freud’s ring, as an item owned by a great hero, he had expected it to have extraordinary abilities.
But he didn’t know that such a great power was hidden within it.
“Wow, this is crazy.”
Of course, the most surprising thing here was this.
“From now on, Boss is…”
This incredible item had fallen into the hands of none other than El Pam.
Gulp!
The members of the El Pam Party, remembering this fact, swallowed their saliva without exception.
At the same time, they realized.
‘An absurd monster has become even more absurd.’
Why El Pam willingly participated in the gamble.
El Pam said.
“Then, from now on, we’re going to the second floor.”
Divo said with a confident expression.
“Yes, let’s pass the second floor in one breath and go to the third floor to kill the boss and eat all the unique items!”
El Pam said to the confident Divo.
“No, we’re going to the third floor last.”
“Huh?”
2.
Ariant, the great kingdom on the Nihal Desert.
The adventurers from that place had an extraordinary confidence in their origins.
It was understandable.
“Ariant’s adventurers are strong. Surviving in the Nihal Desert is proof of that.”
The Nihal Desert made everything tough.
Just surviving there was enough to be proud of.
Compared to that, Victoria Island was heaven.
The toughest place there was Sleepywood Forest, and even that was nothing compared to the multiple hells in the Nihal Desert that would make Sleepywood Forest look like a joke.
“To such Ariant adventurers, Victoria Island adventurers are nothing but laughable.”
That’s why the adventurers of Ariant looked down on the adventurers of Victoria Island.
They considered them at least one circle lower.
A 4th Circle adventurer from Victoria Island would be treated as a 3rd Circle adventurer if they went to Ariant.
Conversely, it also meant this.
Ariant adventurers considered it a disgrace to cross over to Victoria Island.
The Boss Slayer Hassan and his companions were no different.
They were overflowing with pride in being Ariant adventurers.
“Everyone, remember this.”
Despite that, the reason Hassan and his companions came all the way to Victoria Island was simple.
“To make a big profit here.”
There was that much merit.
The reason for creating the gambling ring was, of course, the same.
“Especially Jack Richie’s legacy.”
Among them, what they wanted most was none other than the items the El Pam Party possessed.
“This kind of luck doesn’t come easily. Thanks to this, there’s no need to kill them.”
In fact, Hassan’s party had considered the option of hunting down the El Pam Party.
It was definitely a dangerous move. If caught, Hassan’s party would become fugitives and wander the world.
But it wasn’t strange.
Jack Richie’s legacy was enough to take that kind of risk.
In other words, a risk is a risk.
“Isn’t he a fool? To be blinded by greed and enter the gambling ring.”
“He’s not a fool.”
“What?”
Of course, Hassan knew.
“Rather, he knows. If he enters the gambling ring, it’s a competition, but if he doesn’t, he’ll be hunted.”
“Ah!”
“No matter how great a unique item you have, it’s useless if you’re dead. He knows that. His absurd survival rate comes from that.”
That the El Pam Party had no choice but to enter the gambling ring.
In any case, the risk was gone.
So there was only one thing left.
“We’ll definitely catch the boss monster.”
To become the victor in the gambling ring.
“We move to the third floor.”
To achieve this, Hassan’s party focused on reaching the third floor in the shortest time, rather than hunting monsters.
“As fast as possible.”
In the process, Hassan showed them why they were famous in the Nihal Desert and renowned adventurers in Ariant.
“Found the exit to the first floor!”
In the first floor overflowing with Fire Boars, Hassan’s party managed to find the exit to the second floor in just two days.
It was an incredible speed.
The second floor they reached was a world covered in snow.
A harsh world!
“We’re lucky.”
But when faced with that world, Hassan’s party smiled instead of frowning.
It wasn’t a bluff.
A world covered in snow was indeed a harsh place for adventurers.
It froze everything solid.
“There will be traces left.”
Among those frozen things were the traces of adventurers who had ventured into this Mystic Gate earlier.
Above all, Hassan’s party thought.
“This is a place the Kania Guild tried to conquer secretly. Surely the adventurers who entered earlier would have left markers for those who came later.”
There must be a shortcut.
Of course, finding it wouldn’t be easy.
Such traces were usually carefully hidden so that only fellow adventurers could find them.
That’s why Hassan was able to gain fame.
“Lamia’s Eye.”
He possessed Lamia’s Bracelet, an item that allowed him to use the unique item skill, Lamia’s Eye.
And the world he saw through the activated Lamia’s Eye was filled with blue and red.
He could distinguish the world by temperature.
Living things were hot red.
On the contrary, dead things were cold blue.
It was an amazing ability.
There weren’t many things better for escaping from monsters.
“Over there, there’s a corpse.”
And there was nothing better for finding traces of the dead.
Once they found a corpse, that’s when it began.
They assessed the state of the corpse and checked the items they had on them. While doing so, they checked for clues.
“As expected.”
Finally, they found it.
“They found the exit to the third floor.”
“Captain.”
“What is it?”
“There’s a mark here. An arrow is carved into the tree.”
A signpost that the adventurers who entered earlier had already discovered.
“It’s that way.”
If they followed that signpost, they would be able to reach the third floor without any trouble.
“Should we erase the mark?”
“No way.”
Hassan’s tricks didn’t end there.
“Surely other adventurers will find it this far. So we should leave it for them. Bring some wood, clay, and soil.”
Swish!
He erased the existing traces and created new ones.
They weren’t sloppy traces.
He used the materials he mentioned – wood, clay, and soil – to erase the existing marks on the tree and leave new ones on top.
Perfectly!
“A good adventurer should be able to find this much.”
After smiling in satisfaction at his work, he moved towards the direction the real mark indicated.
“To the third floor!”
About five minutes after Hassan’s party disappeared.
“Boss, they really found their way here.”
The El Pam Party, who had been hiding, revealed themselves.
“Wow, that’s amazing, it’s seamless. How did they erase this and make a new one?”
While Divo admired the marks left on the tree, El Pam moved.
First, he buried the corpse in the snow again. Then, he did a similar job to what Hassan had done.
He restored the direction signs to their original state.
“…Boss, you’re even better at it.”
The result El Pam created was incomparably more seamless than Hassan’s.
“Amazing.”
“Better than some of the pirates who do this kind of work?”
“You could get paid for this.”
The rest of his companions also expressed their admiration.
However, El Pam didn’t feel much excitement.
Instead, sensing something, he said,
“They’re coming again. Hide.”
At his words, the El Pam Party hid again, and as if on cue, a group of adventurers appeared.
It was the Rebecca Party, adventurers from the El Nath Mountains.
They also did a similar job as Hassan before.
They found the corpse first, discovered the mark, then erased it and left a new one.
After they left, the El Pam Party reappeared.
“They’re doing the exact same thing.”
Divo, seeing the scene, had a dumbfounded expression.
El Pam, on the other hand, was different.
“That’s why they made it this far.”
They must have survived until now because they did things like this.
Divo and the others knew.
Although this scene was ridiculous, the level of the adventurers here was not ordinary.
That’s why…
“Aren’t we going to lose the boss monster at this rate?”
“Right. These guys aren’t ordinary, are they? What are we going to do if we send them all to the third floor like this?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to just get paid and teach them?”
The reason for their concern was…
No, beyond concern, they didn’t understand.
“Wouldn’t it be better to just go and catch it?”
Why would he show the way to the boss monster to his competitors in the boss monster hunting gamble?
El Pam finally answered that question.
“This place has been manipulated by the Kania Guild. Like the giant swamp mud monster we recently encountered.”
“What?”
Everyone was startled by the warning.
“No, then… that’s crazy, isn’t it?”
This wasn’t just any Mystic Gate, but a 300-man, highest-difficulty Yellow rank Mystic Gate.
And such an anomaly was happening in such a place?
El Pam, on the other hand, wasn’t surprised.
He knew from the beginning.
‘There’s no way the Kania Guild would reveal such a stage to the world without any preparation.’
That this was a trap.
But it wasn’t a trap targeting El Pam specifically.
So El Pam made preparations until the very end. He was ready to give up the adventure at any time if necessary.
‘With my current strength, I can break through.’
But the moment he obtained Freud’s ring, the word ‘failure’ no longer existed in El Pam’s mind.
‘But there’s no need to overdo it.’
However, El Pam had no intention of doing anything reckless.
That’s why…
“That’s why we’re sending the skilled ones first. They’ll take care of reducing the monsters beyond for us.”
That was El Pam’s reason for guiding them.
At those words, no one asked any more questions.
They just got goosebumps.
‘I’m so glad I’m in the same party as the boss.’
The chill of not having this absurd monster as a competitor in the gamble.
After staying on the second floor for six days and sending 17 parties, 255 people, to the third floor, the El Pam Party finally moved up.
And there, they could hear it.
A world covered in snow.
Awoooo!
“Everyone, run! The Hector pack is coming!”
The pack of gray-furred wolves filled that world.
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]