WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Mistaken as the Dungeon Boss Monster ◈
Chapter 38: This Doesn’t Look Good
──────
‘Why is she pink too?’
Charlotte’s level had already turned hot pink.
What else would I expect from a bone-obsessed Witch?
Charlotte and Balutak stayed by my side without joining the conversation.
Estigel had come alone as a single-entity boss, so the two of us could speak freely.
I raised my hand, and a demon serving wine approached.
Following my lead, Estigel cautiously accepted a glass of wine.
“Cheers.”
“C-cheers....”
Clink.
Our glasses touched, and Estigel brought hers to her lips.
As an undead, I could only watch her drink.
“Cough! Cough! Hack!”
Was she really that uncomfortable under my gaze?
She hadn’t even finished half the glass before choking and breaking into a dry cough.
The attention already focused on us became even more concentrated.
“Cough! Cough!”
Apparently conscious of it, Estigel covered her mouth with both hands.
After finally calming down, she glanced up at me, moving only her eyes.
“Um, Lord?”
“Speak.”
“This may be presumptuous, but... aren’t you the one losing face by doing this?”
As she said, most of the nearby levels were colored with hostility.
I hadn’t harmed anyone. I had only spoken with Estigel, yet the colors kept changing by the second.
It probably showed what the 72 Lords thought of Estigel.
“It doesn’t matter.”
There was no need to care much about what they thought.
As one of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss, I only needed to conduct myself properly before the other Seven Palaces.
“Um... I’m really, really curious. Why are you being so nice to me?”
“Do you dislike it?”
“No, no! It’s not that....”
“There’s no special reason. I simply saw potential in you.”
Good fortune comes to those who wait.
Even if it took time, Estigel stock was bound to skyrocket someday.
“Potential? In me?”
“Yes.”
She still looked like she couldn’t believe it. Well, whether she believed it or not.
I had no intention of begging her to trust me.
“Either way, tell me whenever you need help.”
“...I do owe the Merchant Association some money.”
Even after bringing it up, she cautiously watched my reaction.
Perhaps realizing she’d made a mistake, Estigel lowered her gaze.
“How much?”
“J-just under one million Cell.”
I let out a disbelieving laugh.
Even that was a huge debt for Rank 72, apparently.
“I’ll settle it once the Assembly is over.”
“Gasp! Thank you!”
“Do you need anything else? How are your dungeon’s defenses?”
“Um.... I don’t really know yet. No one has invaded even once.”
That was only because it hadn’t happened yet. A Rank 72 dungeon was at high risk of being raided.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea for her to move into my dungeon while I was at it.
A Single-Entity Dungeon could easily be relocated by taking only its Dungeon Core and abandoning the dungeon.
Even in the game, there were cases where a single-entity boss moved into another dungeon, leaving two bosses in one dungeon.
“Would you like to come to Faith’s Tomb?”
“...Pardon?”
“I’m asking what you think. Would you like to become a member of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss?”
Estigel froze at my question.
Her pupils slowly widened, and her mouth opened as wide as Kirby’s.
“Someone like me becoming the Lord’s...! Gasp!”
Estigel quickly covered her mouth, perhaps worried about attracting attention again.
“There’s no rush. Take your time and think about it. You can tell me your answer when the Assembly ends.”
“N-no.... How could someone like me dare join the Seven Palaces of the Abyss...?”
At that moment, Estigel’s level color changed.
The Lv was pale green. The number 44 was still dark black.
It was an ambiguous mix of goodwill and fear.
That was still tremendous progress, wasn’t it?
It felt like the satisfaction of seeing a puppy that had only been wary and afraid finally open its heart.
“There’s plenty of room. My subordinates will welcome you too. You may come whenever you wish.”
“Uwaa....”
“A Rank 72 dungeon is dangerous. It’s common for whoever holds Rank 72 to be replaced within days.”
Estigel was a boss with high magical potential.
With Charlotte’s guidance, she would make that potential bloom and improve by leaps and bounds.
Who knew? She might even break into the top fifty in less than a month.
‘Charlotte might like her too.’
If fear were taken out of the equation, Estigel would naturally welcome it.
Estigel was a typical friendless loser, except one who wanted friends.
Her lonely life of hiding had only been a forced choice to avoid the storms of the world.
In truth, she was a girl who got lonely easily and craved the warmth of others.
There was even an Easter egg that revealed Estigel’s personality.
If a player entered the Rank 72 dungeon unarmed, Estigel would lower her guard and approach.
What she said to the player afterward was rather unexpected.
‘Did you come here to hide too? Then you can stay here with me.’
Seeing a boss warmly approach as soon as she appeared, anyone would think the same thing I did.
So there was a reason she was a half-human, half-demon person. It was obvious the developers were trying to trick us with that innocent appearance.
At first, I thought it was that kind of deception.
But once I looked into it, Estigel’s words were completely sincere.
‘I’m in the same situation as you! We can be friends!’
If the player actually pressed the accept button, Estigel’s affinity score would appear from then on.
Players seeking a wholesome, relaxing experience sometimes gave up on progressing through the story and enjoyed playing house with Estigel.
But I was a player who wanted smooth story progression.
I always entered unarmed, raised her affinity, then stabbed her in the back and killed her.
It took less time than the proper approach, and I could kill her without taking any damage.
‘W-why are you trying to kill me? I thought we were friends...?’
Even the line she spoke as she died broke players’ hearts.
Combined with her screams and expression, which were quite realistic, she became famous among gamers as a boss designed to make them feel guilty.
“B-but still, how could someone like me....”
Estigel trailed off as she babbled.
Hm. Seeing her in person made me feel oddly guilty.
I had killed her hundreds of times.
‘Well, things are the opposite now.’
I was no longer in the position to kill her. I was in the position to take her in.
She was full of potential, and it would ease my guilt too.
Tap.
When I placed my hand on her shoulder again, she flinched.
“You have a Single-Entity Dungeon. It must be lonely being alone.”
“That is true, but....”
“I’m also a single-entity boss. I understand how you feel better than anyone.”
“!”
Estigel even stopped breathing as she stared blankly up at me.
“Look. Isn’t that why I keep subordinates at my side?”
“S-so that’s why?”
“So think about it positively.”
At some point, the green of her level had deepened while the black had faded.
There was nothing better than a shared identity when it came to winning someone over.
Tap. Tap.
That was when the sound of something striking the floor echoed through the hall.
At its source stood a troll shaman who looked like a crooked old hag.
Rank 8 Babayaga was walking toward us, planting an Elder Wand against the floor.
As the distance between us steadily closed, Estigel sucked in a breath.
I stared at Babayaga without saying a word.
“You look well.”
Her unpleasant, cracked old-woman’s voice rang out.
Before she could reach me, Charlotte and Balutak stepped in front of me.
They both stepped back only after I gave them permission with a gesture of my chin.
“What do you want?”
“Hoho... this old woman is late in introducing herself. I am Babayaga, boss of the Rank 8 Marsh Valley of Many Diseases.”
Her pale-red level signaled blatant hostility.
My tone sharpened in response.
“Did you come only to introduce yourself?”
“Yes, well. It would be an honor if the Lord of the Abyss remembers me.”
Even as she spoke, her glare stabbed at Estigel.
“Still, you have quite the easy life. To think an Abyssal Palace Lord would keep company with such an unfinished thing.”
Estigel, already intimidated, shrank even further.
Had she been watching for an opening and thought she had found a good excuse?
I hid Estigel behind my back and tilted my chin.
“Do you have a complaint?”
“Hoho, of course not. How could I dare hold a complaint against the will of an Abyssal Palace? If anything, I understand all of your actions until now.”
Babayaga twisted her lips into a smile.
“I was wondering what you were thinking when you killed Gergoer, but now I see you weren’t thinking at all.”
It was no longer sarcasm. It was outright condemnation.
Before I could respond, reactions came from both sides.
“Apologize for your insult, Babayaga. This person is an Abyssal Palace Lord.”
“Kirik. Troll has gone too far. That is my Great Chieftain.”
“Your subordinates are a human adjutant and an Insect Keeper. Are you not smearing yourself with filth and making a spectacle of yourself?”
There was an enormous gap between the Seven Palaces of the Abyss and Rank 8, even if they were only one rank apart.
Without exaggeration, the effective difference was at least ten ranks.
Did she know that and still act this way because she couldn’t control her anger? Or did she trust her faction too much?
More importantly, was she really acting of her own will?
“If the other Lords of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss heard this, they would lament such irreverence. Do you not know that, Your Highness?”
To me, Babayaga looked like a puppet with strings attached.
Every provocation until now had to be Kalandas’s will.
If an Abyssal Palace Lord was backing her, she had no reason to fear making an Abyssal Palace her enemy.
Besides, Kalandas was Rank 5, two ranks higher than me.
I couldn’t cower before that bastard and remain still either.
“Babayaga. Are you doing this because you want to die?”
“Hoho, will you kill me like you killed Gergoer?”
Babayaga answered without a single change in expression.
Of all things, she trusted Kalandas, so even my bluff didn’t intimidate her.
If I overlooked this and allowed it, it would become the turning point where my true limits were revealed to everyone.
[Babayaga’s Elderberry Shaman Staff (A)]
[Enhancement Chance: 10%]
[※Warning! If Enhancement fails, the item will be automatically destroyed!]
[If Enhancement fails, the cooldown will reset.]
[Would you like to enhance Babayaga’s Elderberry Shaman Staff (A)?]
[YES/NO]
As long as I didn’t physically harm her, it wouldn’t become a major problem.
If I only threatened her like I had Kalandas, the momentum would shift to my side.
Rather than escalating the conflict, this was the most appropriate response.
[Enhancing Babayaga’s Elderberry Shaman Staff (A).]
[Congratulations! You have succeeded in Enhancement with a 10% chance! Babayaga’s Elderberry Shaman Staff (A) has been enhanced!]
...What?
The status notifications appeared one after another. Their long-winded sentences seemed to mock me.
[Babayaga’s Elderberry Shaman Staff (A) +1 Enhancement]
[Enhancement Details: Enhancement has slightly increased all attributes.]
I had expected blindly trusting Enhancement to cause a major backlash someday.
I hadn’t expected that day to be now....
A sense of disaster sprouted in my chest and grew.
If I hadn’t kept a poker face, they would have noticed my thoughts long ago.
This was entirely my mistake. The constant help from Enhancement had made me overconfident.
The price gnawed at me with unbearable misery.
Babayaga raised her staff.
After looking around and tilting her head, she planted it against the floor again.
“Don’t be too angry. It’s only advice.”
“....”
“It seems that, as a newly established Lord, you do not understand the prestige of an Abyssal Palace. Would it not be proper for this old woman, your elder, to advise you?”
Since the Enhancement succeeded, I had to wait a full hour for the cooldown.
I didn’t have the oppressive presence that the bosses of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss gave off.
Using force wasn’t an option either. I was far weaker than Babayaga, and it would only reveal my limits.
I had to turn this situation around with words alone, but my thoughts had become hopelessly tangled.
It felt as if I had been struck in the back of the head with a hammer. I couldn’t think of any way out.
“Do you wish to kill me? You have done whatever you wanted until now. Try killing me here. I’m sure the other Abyssal Palace Lords will just love that.”
“This is your final warning. Stop this.”
Charlotte stepped forward in my place.
I could only hope she would buy me even a little time.
“Apologize for your rudeness immediately. If you cross the line any further, there will be no taking it back.”
“Are you threatening me? You, a mere human?”
“Kirik. My Great Chieftain is strong. Troll cannot win.”
“You insignificant bug.... This is not a place for the likes of you to interfere. Get lost while I am giving you the chance.”
A group with red levels was approaching from a distance.
They were the bosses of Babayaga’s faction.
“This person is not someone the likes of you could challenge. Kneel immediately and apologize to my lord.”
“Kirik. Ate many trolls. Will eat again and evolve.”
“You two might die acting like that.”
“Try killing us. You will die first.”
“Shut your mouth.”
“What? An adjutant has the nerve to say that? Who’s going to die?”
In the meantime, more than ten bosses had surrounded us, and everyone in the hall focused their attention here.
If I, the boss, stood by and only let my subordinates take the lead, my position would crumble beyond repair.
There could be no greater disgrace to the Seven Palaces of the Abyss.
Yet we were badly outnumbered. My bluff and authority wouldn’t work on them.
That fucking Kalandas. His scheme had driven me into a deadly situation.
‘Fuck, what do I do?’
I had never expected Babayaga to come at me this hard.
I had expected even less that my bluff wouldn’t weaken her momentum in the slightest.
Enhancement had failed me. If this had gone right, the outcome would have been different, but luck couldn’t always be on my side.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Nothing but curses surged through my mind.
Rumble─
The sound of the stone gate opening made my mind even more chaotic.
Charlotte and Balutak fell silent and only glanced at me.
Their urging eyes made my inability to take any action feel pathetic.
─The owner of the Rank 6 Castle Full of Lust! The Queen of the Night, Lady Valentia Rose Sha, has arrived─!
At that moment, all thought stopped.
My gaze instinctively turned toward the stone gate.
[Lv. 81]
[Lv. 88]
Vampire Dravule and Dullahan Carleon.
A woman with long crimson hair walked between them.
She radiated a noble aura through her movements alone.
Her existence drew every gaze and stirred the room, overwhelming everyone at the same time.
A pressure like the air itself being crushed spread in every direction, and the level responsible for it appeared.
[Lv. 93]
When her eyes, redder than blood, turned toward me, her level, which had been pure white, instantly became a deep pink.
“Hello, darling? I came because I missed you.”
Rose Sha waved gently, her eyes smiling as always.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
