WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Mistaken as the Dungeon Boss Monster ◈
Chapter 55: Is It a Bug?
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Recently, the Empire had been thrown into unprecedented chaos by the newly arisen Faith’s Tomb, a member of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss.
Two Heroes had died. An undead had stolen the Holy Sword.
Whatever the truth was, the Margrave of Astoria had no time to worry about it.
Since the Empire’s founding, his family had defended its northwest.
For him, the Extermination Expedition was his only duty.
“What a sight.”
From atop the wall, the Margrave looked down at the army preparing to march.
He had often seen this formation and scene, but never on this scale. Nearly a hundred thousand soldiers stood below, enough to send a chill down his spine.
The strange behavior of beasts, widespread mana detection, and the scouts’ reports all led to one conclusion.
This Annihilation Monster Wave would be the largest and worst in history.
The situation was already unstable because of Faith’s Tomb.
If the northwest fell on top of that, the Empire would face chaos unlike anything it had ever known.
‘...This time especially.’
It could become the spark that brought about humanity’s extinction.
The Margrave clenched his fist.
Those hundred thousand troops depended on him.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say all humanity depended on this hand as well.
“Your Excellency. Support has arrived from the Mage Tower.”
Until now, he had defended the wall through his own strength, but for the first time in his life, he had requested aid from everywhere within reach.
“From the Mage Tower?”
Still, he had half doubted they would help.
What had gotten into those people, who shut themselves away and cut themselves off from the world?
...It seemed everyone knew this was no ordinary matter.
They were stubborn, not stupid.
The Five-Colored Mage Tower Masters must have recognized the importance of this Extermination Expedition.
A satisfied smile appeared on the Margrave’s lips.
Support from the Mage Tower during an expedition this large was like gaining overwhelmingly powerful reinforcements.
Then the Margrave belatedly flinched.
According to the chief strategist, the support had not been “on its way.”
It had “arrived.”
Yet despite the many messages, there were no reinforcements in sight.
“You. How many reinforcements are there?”
“One.”
“One?”
A hollow laugh slipped out, turning into white breath.
Had one of the Mage Tower Masters come in person?
One of those immovable people had actually bothered to show up. The Margrave snorted.
“How arrogant.”
Welcome as the support was, there was only one person.
Even if it was a Mage Tower Master, that was not confidence. It was recklessness.
The Margrave had witnessed their power and knew it well.
Their magic was certainly worthy of superhumans, but there was a time and place for everything.
“The young these days are too confident. They don’t know how to value their lives.”
From the old general’s perspective, it was simply ridiculous.
That was when a single set of footsteps sounded in the distance.
The chief strategist hurried toward the sound.
The Margrave frowned at the sight.
With the commander-in-chief standing right here, the chief strategist was already wagging his tail at a Mage Tower Master?
How could the chief strategist’s discipline be this lax? He wasn’t some ordinary soldier.
The Margrave clicked his tongue.
“It’s been a while.”
The moment he saw the other person, though, the Margrave could only stare blankly with wide eyes.
“...Great Sage, sir?”
There were not many people he, the wartime commander-in-chief, would address with an honorific.
At most, the Emperor and the Pope.
Even then, he was only respecting their positions, not the people themselves.
This old man before him was different. He was honoring the person.
“What brings you here...?”
“Didn’t you hear? I came to help you.”
If someone asked who the Empire’s true strongest was, everyone would name the Great Sage.
His personal power went without saying. He had trained the Five-Colored Mage Tower Masters and stood as an example to every mage.
Anyone would laugh if asked to name someone capable of stopping a Monster Wave alone.
Then, after thinking for a moment, they would recall a single person.
Gulp.
The Margrave swallowed without realizing it.
He had never imagined that the single reinforcement would be the Great Sage.
The Great Sage had long since left worldly affairs behind, becoming a sage detached from all things.
Why had someone who had never interfered in worldly matters come here now?
Even if the Extermination Expedition was important, was it important enough to move the Great Sage himself?
No matter how many times he asked himself, he could not shake his doubts.
“Astoria, I have a request once the expedition ends. First, this old man will take the front line during the expedition. Then there will be no need to worry about casualties.”
Just as he said, if the Great Sage stood at the vanguard, they could achieve victory without heavy losses.
Still, the Margrave could not simply be happy.
The Great Sage had come all this way because he wanted something.
The Margrave swallowed his tension and listened to the request that followed.
“If that happens, lead your knights and join the assault on the Seven Palaces of the Abyss.”
“...Faith’s Tomb, you mean?”
The Great Sage nodded.
“It is His Majesty’s command. I hear they will soon organize an Extermination Party around Holy Hero Cecilia. The military wants you to assist Cecilia.”
The Margrave barely managed to hold back a hollow laugh.
They wanted him to support some green young rising star?
Even as his teeth ground together, the Margrave assessed the Empire’s political situation.
‘It’s obvious.’
They intended to give the most important credit to Cecilia and celebrate the emergence of a new Hero.
The Four Heroes of the Empire would have many uses in public affairs, after all.
Even under an imperial command, the Margrave had no obligation to surrender his military authority.
His duty was solely to protect the Empire from the Land of Extinction.
Yet if he owed such a great debt, he would have to accept as a matter of basic human decency before considering his duty.
‘But to summon the Great Sage...’
The Great Sage would disregard even the Emperor’s orders.
In other words, his request was driven by a much stronger personal will, with the imperial command as an excuse.
The Margrave fell silent in thought.
With the Great Sage’s aid, they would win without severe losses and enjoy peace for some time.
More than anything, the Great Sage’s involvement proved that Faith’s Tomb could become a great evil that swallowed the Empire.
After much consideration, the Margrave nodded.
“Very well.”
He would finish the expedition with as few losses as possible, then assault Faith’s Tomb.
* * *
“This place feels really creepy. Do you think something’s going to suddenly jump out at us?”
Isabella walked along with a shudder.
The only sounds in the cavern were Isabella’s voice and their footsteps.
I glanced at Charlotte’s face. Even beneath her blank expression, she looked clearly sullen.
Isabella had readily accepted it with admiration, saying, “As expected of you, Boss! You flipped the Golem over!”
Charlotte was the complete opposite.
Given her personality, Charlotte was less forgiving of her own mistakes than anyone else.
She was serious at all times and naturally stricter with herself than anyone.
Put nicely, she was self-reflective. Put badly, she was rigid.
‘She also got scolded by me.’
Considering her personality, it was only natural that she’d look downcast.
I had no intention of coddling her now.
She should blame herself and grow from it.
‘...It’s really bothering me, though.’
Even when I tried to ignore it, I kept glancing at her from the corner of my eye.
As I focused ahead and kept walking, red eyes and levels of the same color shone from the darkness.
[Lv. 71]
[Lv. 72]
[Lv. 75]
As expected of an Ancient Dungeon, even the regular monsters stationed here were over Level 70.
After considering it for a moment, I held out an arm to stop Isabella, who was about to step forward.
“Charlotte.”
I kept my gaze on her and tilted my chin.
Charlotte flinched and blinked.
Then she understood my meaning and unleashed mana spears into the darkness.
Kyaang!
The numbers vanished along with their dying cries.
As expected, monsters at that level weren’t even a bit of entertainment for Charlotte.
There wasn’t much difference in their levels, but the actual gap between them was enormous.
“Clean.”
I spoke, then watched Charlotte’s reaction.
Charlotte was already expressionless, but now she even lowered her head as though trying to hide her face.
Her lips were visibly pressed into a small pout, though.
‘She likes it.’
I really was too soft-hearted for my own good.
Still, it felt like she was gradually turning into a spoiled brat too.
A decorative Boss and a staff of spoiled brats. The Seven Palaces of the Abyss were doomed. Doomed.
I touched the vial tucked inside my clothes.
Mana’s Blessing (S+), which I had received from Giant King Dalon.
I had planned to give it to Charlotte if conquering the dungeon became difficult, but there was no need.
Several hours passed as we crossed the dungeon without much trouble, and we arrived before a room larger than the Keeper’s Room.
Perhaps because they remembered getting utterly crushed by the Keeper last time, the two couldn’t bring themselves to approach it right away.
In a dungeon, it was only logical that something stronger than the Keeper would be inside.
‘It’s actually nothing special, though.’
More precisely, there was a mid-boss, the Bone Dragon.
It was called a mid-boss, but it was practically the dungeon’s final boss.
According to the setting, it was the Ancient Dragon’s most loyal subordinate, but I didn’t care about that.
There was an altar inside.
If someone touched the altar, made contact with the Bone Dragon, or encountered it from the front, the sleeping thing would awaken.
Nothing else could wake it, no matter what someone did.
If you opened the main door and entered, you would naturally meet it face-to-face.
Fortunately, there was a narrow path beside the door that only one person could enter. If you followed it and turned left, there was a back door.
Only by entering through that back door could you steal the Dungeon Core without fighting.
That was why the Ancient Dungeon DLC’s Ancient Dragon’s Tomb was the easiest dungeon to obtain rewards from.
Ironically, it was the hardest dungeon to fully conquer.
“It looks dangerous, so wait here.”
They had done everything they needed to do up to this point.
All that remained was for them to wait quietly.
With my back to them, I turned and forced my way into the narrow passage.
My black iron armor scraped against the cramped walls, making an unpleasant sound.
Getting in was difficult, but once I was inside, there was more room than I expected.
I moved awkwardly like a crab. My armor occasionally caught with a clunk, but I didn’t pay much attention to it.
The passage that had continued straight eventually turned left.
After turning that way and walking again, a stone door came into view.
Rumble─
The stone door opened with a grand noise, revealing the interior.
In the distance, the Bone Dragon lay in a distinctively dragon-like pose.
There was no danger now that I had come up behind it, but I couldn’t help feeling overwhelmed.
I rose onto my toes and carefully took one step at a time.
I saw an altar made of red stone, with a golden orb resting atop it.
That was a fake reward.
It wasn’t the Dungeon Core, but a Dragon Orb that had lost its power.
The developers called it a Dragon Heart, but as far as I was concerned, it was still a Dragon Orb.
If someone touched the Dragon Orb without knowing better, the Bone Dragon would awaken.
It wasn’t particularly useful anyway, so I ignored it.
‘Let’s see...’
The walls of this room were filled with round luminous stones that shone like light bulbs.
There looked to be hundreds of them, but I knew the Dungeon Core’s location and its subtle distinguishing feature.
While the other luminous stones gave off an orange-red glow, the Dungeon Core emitted a faint golden light.
The moment I looked toward the place I remembered, I headed there.
‘...It’s definitely this one.’
After confirming the slight difference, I grabbed the Dungeon Core.
Even after holding it in my hand, I stared at it for a long time before becoming certain.
That took care of everything.
As I carefully tiptoed out through the back door, the Bone Dragon remained dormant.
I had worried that the game and reality might differ and the Bone Dragon would wake up, but nothing happened.
Hoo.
A cold breath of relief escaped my mouth.
Before entering the narrow passage, I looked at the Dungeon Core once more.
Even if I absorbed the Dungeon Core here, the dungeon wouldn’t collapse.
That was another difference between Ancient Dungeons and the 72 Dungeons.
Crack─!
The moment I crushed the Dungeon Core with my grip strength, a vivid golden light rose from within it like incense smoke.
It was the Ancient Dragon’s legacy, containing only the primal power of the Dungeon Core and Dragon Orb.
It didn’t spread anywhere else. It settled entirely into my body.
Since nothing was left behind, it seemed I had absorbed it all. A mysterious sensation stirred within me.
I looked around several times.
Just as I was about to test whether I had absorbed it properly, I spotted a centipede.
I immediately glared at it and activated Fear with intent.
The centipede, which had been crawling along just fine, went limp in an instant.
“It worked.”
Dragon’s Fear functioned properly. All that remained was Dragon Speech.
Dozens of Chinese characters swirled through my mind.
Since I was in an enclosed space, I thought only of Dragon Speech phrases that applied to a target rather than wide-area ones.
“Heavenly Pressure.”
Crush!
The limp centipede’s body was pressed down by an invisible force.
When its level disappeared, the force vanished like a mirage as well.
I nodded in satisfaction.
After Fear, Dragon Speech also worked without any problems.
For reference, Fear was a permanent passive, while Dragon Speech had a cooldown.
Even if the characters were different, once I used Dragon Speech, I couldn’t immediately use another one.
Its limitation was a cooldown ranging from ten minutes to as long as twenty-four hours.
Scuttle, scuttle.
A cockroach crawled near my feet.
“False Death.”
I muttered it while looking at the cockroach, but I didn’t expect much.
Not even ten minutes had passed. There was no way it would work.
I had only said it in the form of Dragon Speech because I wanted the disgusting thing to die.
Screech!
That was when the cockroach went limp.
There was no rigor mortis, nor could I sense any signs of life.
More than anything, the disappearance of its level meant it was completely dead.
“...What?”
Had Dragon Speech just worked? Twice in a row without a cooldown?
There was no answer, no matter how much I questioned myself.
I searched for nearby bugs, then used Dragon Speech one word at a time while watching them.
After False Death, I used eight Dragon Speech phrases in total.
All eight succeeded.
“...Is it a bug?”
Footnotes:
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