WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Ceaseless
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◈ The Dungeon Gallery's Terrifying Newbie ◈
Chapter 48: Goblin Cave
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Chase recruited a seventh raid party.
He gave up on bringing mercenaries along.
There must have been a fight inside the dungeon. Maybe they found out about the Escape Scrolls, something like that.
There were too many variables when working with people he couldn't trust.
For the raid to go smoothly, he had to go with Dwarves no matter what.
That was what Chase thought.
Still, the Dwarves' response was cold this time as well.
"..."
It was only natural.
There was no longer any grand cause or justification for exploring Dreamland.
They could obtain Magic Stones to revive the city.
And if the Dwarves acquired those Magic Stones, they would earn honor.
That was all there was to it.
They had sacrificed forty Dwarves and gained nothing but information about the Elevator.
People had signed up at first, but they had already carried out six raids.
Even brave Dwarves had no choice but to turn away from a Dungeon Raid with no results.
'Should I go in alone?'
Chase sighed as he drank at the tavern.
"Why the long face? Is the Dungeon Raid not going the way you hoped?"
Chase turned his head.
Gronak, a friend he had known for many years, was smiling casually.
"Why are you back already? Don't tell me you got scared of some Goblins and ran away."
"Isn't it about time you acknowledged how incredible Gronak's hammer is? I wiped them out and came back today, you bastard."
Gronak was a ranger.
He dealt with the monsters around Fire Forge. A veteran who had amassed many extermination records over more than ten years, he was considered one of the stronger fighters in the Forge.
"You look like a mess. Where's that beard you always cherished so much? Don't tell me it got cut off in the dungeon?"
"Hey, Gronak."
"What?"
"I know giving up is the rational choice, but what are you supposed to do when you don't want to? It feels like if I quit now, it'll haunt me for the rest of my life."
Chase shared what had been troubling him.
His reflection in the glass swayed like rough waves.
"You've always been that kind of guy."
"What?"
"You're a nutjob who can't rest until you've figured out whatever's bothering you."
Chase snickered.
He didn't deny it.
"Want me to come with you?"
Gronak suddenly said.
"We could die."
"Or we might not."
"I happen to have two Escape Scrolls left."
"Then we're good."
"You want just the two of us to raid the dungeon?"
"We're a team of a former hotshot mage and an active ranger. What's there to be afraid of? And it's a newly formed dungeon, right? We can handle whatever comes up."
Chase considered it.
It wasn't a rational decision.
But this was the last chance his friend was offering him.
Maybe a small elite group would be better.
The reason he had brought so many people until now was to uncover even one more mystery.
Based on the journal, failing to solve those mysteries led straight to death.
That was why he thought more people would be better during the process of figuring them out.
Looking back on it now, though, if it was a situation they couldn't fully control, having more people could become a liability instead.
Rebellion and division could be deadlier to a raid party than the dungeon's mysteries.
Chase eventually nodded.
He hadn't given up.
If they could achieve real results on this raid, they might be able to change the minds of many Dwarves, including the mayor.
A crisis was an opportunity.
This was probably the kind of situation that phrase was made for.
"Let's go. Though two people still seems too few."
The two Dwarves gathered supplies and equipment, then began their seventh raid of Dreamland.
* * *
Day 1 of Dungeon Exploration
Their exploration from the entrance to the Elevator went without a hitch.
"You were right. It doesn't attack as long as you stay still."
"I'll go in this time. If anything happens, I'll contact you with Communication Magic."
Based on the information confirmed so far, Chase had figured out the Elevator's rules.
And they were true.
As long as they took care with the unlit hallway, the number of people, and the Insect Humans, the Elevator wouldn't kill them.
Now that they knew those rules, there was no reason to fear the Elevator any longer.
Chase connected to Gronak through Communication Magic and entered the Elevator.
'I must have seen this machine before.'
It was a strange feeling.
Thinking that the version of himself from a past he couldn't remember had pressed these buttons and headed to the next area made his heart race.
'The password...'
Just like Julius and Yuben, Chase had also figured out why the Elevator returned to the first floor.
An Elevator that returned to its starting point after moving three times.
The way to reach the next area wasn't to clear the unlit hallway.
It was to press the correct numbers.
10, 9, 8. 10, 9, 7.
He pressed the buttons one by one in order.
Then, the moment he pressed 9, 8, 7, the Elevator began to shake.
Rumble-
It clearly felt like he was falling.
He could have screamed, but Chase was certain this was the correct answer.
After all, if he had died so pointlessly here, he couldn't have escaped the dungeon before.
His view changed.
The body that had been falling inside the Elevator was suddenly standing on solid earth.
"..."
It happened in an instant.
The bizarre phenomenon gave him chills, but he had succeeded in reaching the next area.
And it had been surprisingly easy.
"The password is 987. Press it in order and you'll be able to move."
-Okay.
Gronak arrived as well.
While waiting, Chase used Detection Magic and discovered something interesting.
He immediately opened his journal and drew a map.
.
.
.
│ Entrance │
│ Elevator │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
──────────
│ │
│ │
│ │
──────────
──────────
│ ◆Party │
│ │
│ │
│ │
───────────
│ Core Room │
───────────
.
.
.
The party had arrived in the area directly in front of the Core Room.
They had skipped the long Passage and the wide area.
Chase told Gronak about it.
"Is that really true?"
"Don't get too excited. The Dungeon Master isn't an idiot. We'll probably have to clear it in reverse order. That's what the Elevator is for."
Chase looked up.
A beautiful night sky stretched above them.
They were in a forest.
The wind rustled through the leaves and flowers, making them seem to dance in full bloom.
The scenery was so elaborate that, if he hadn't used Detection Magic, he might have mistaken it for the outside world.
But an unbearable stench sharply assaulted his nose.
Where was that smell even coming from?
"What a strange place."
"That's what dungeons are like. They say Dungeon Masters can create not only Minions that follow them, but natural scenery like this too, as if they were the God of Oblivion. Anyway..."
Chase and Gronak looked ahead.
A massive cave stood there.
It looked as though an enormous mountain had been carved into shape.
The cave was large enough to blot out both the sky and the forest.
Its end was impossible to make out, so vast that they couldn't begin to estimate its interior.
"From now on, I'm going to designate this place Area 3. You agree?"
"Yeah."
"It looks like most of Area 3 is taken up by that cave."
As proof, Chase stretched a hand behind him.
It was as if an invisible wall existed there, preventing him from reaching any farther.
"The Elevator is probably inside. We need to explore that place from here on out. Think of it as a huge building with around eighty floors."
"Whew, this is making me nervous."
"Yeah. You should be nervous. We don't know what might happen ahead, so always be ready to use your Escape Scroll..."
Thud.
Before he could finish, Gronak's body toppled forward.
"..."
A chill ran down Chase's spine.
There was no point shouting, "Who is it?" in this dungeon.
This was proof that an Anomaly had begun.
"Ugh..."
Chase collapsed too.
Dizziness and weakness took over his entire body.
Was this where he died?
No.
This dungeon didn't feel like that.
His body wouldn't move, but his mind was clear.
His senses were alive.
Someone was walking toward them.
Judging by the sound, it was a creature that walked on two legs like them.
Rustle, rustle.
It felt over Chase's body.
What was it doing?
The question didn't last long.
The reason he had escaped the dungeon empty-handed last time.
That was probably...
'Because this thing stole my belongings.'
It took his backpack.
His body felt lighter.
Rustling came from Gronak's direction as well, and then the footsteps gradually faded away.
.
.
.
.
.
A little while later.
Chase and Gronak got up.
"Fuck, my Escape Scroll is gone?"
"It wasn't just the Escape Scroll. The water and food are all gone too."
"The equipment I bought with my entire salary too... Haa, aren't we in serious trouble now?"
"...You could say that."
They had thought they could just use an Escape Scroll if things got bad.
Dreamland was the kind of place that made such a judgment careless.
The situation was serious, but Gronak chuckled.
That was Gronak's strength.
His ability to stay positive in any situation was probably why he had survived so long as a veteran ranger.
"This is fucking ridiculous. What kind of dungeon confiscates your scrolls right from the start?"
"I think so too."
"Does that mean they're gone for good?"
"I don't think so."
Chase had definitely escaped the dungeon.
That meant there had to be a way to recover their belongings.
'I thought it was a dungeon where you just had to overcome instant-death traps like the Elevator, but it wasn't.'
He must have thought the exact same thing during his last visit.
Chase wore a bitter expression.
'If only I had come back with the journal...'
Regretting it was pointless.
He had probably been in a situation where bringing it back was impossible.
The Chase from back then wouldn't have failed to realize that the sixth raid itself was meaningless without the journal.
"Stay sharp from now on. One mistake and you'll cross the Black Gate."
"Ah, of course."
"Let's go."
The two Dwarves entered the cave.
* * *
Rip. Rip. Rip.
"Blorp."
"Just wait a little longer, Malrang. I'm almost done."
I was carefully tearing up the intruders' journal.
For the parts that were awkward to tear out, I erased them by hand with a pen.
I couldn't just let them have information about Area 3.
Why was I even going through the trouble of tearing up the journal?
Because I needed to shake them up as much as possible.
Those guys were rapists who came to rape the heart of my dungeon.
I wasn't planning to care about means or methods either.
I'd gotten data from the Veterans that these Dwarf bros were pretty damn capable fighters, so stepping in personally felt a little risky.
no_minions_4_me: newbie, you're seriously a demon
└op_ghost: Not a demon. An evil spirit.
└orange★: For real LMAOOOOOOOOO
└orange★: You be the actual demon...
antqueen: newbie kind of feels like a drill instructor at a training camp lol
└antqueen: A variable demon that can turn into an angel or a demon depending on the intruder
└humanluvr: That's wrong lol
└humanluvr: newbie only becomes an angel in front of me
└antqueen: Shut up shut up shut up
└humanluvr: [middle finger]
"Done. Malrang, deploy!"
I gave Malrang's sturdy body a slap.
That bouncy feeling was pretty satisfying.
"Blorp."
Malrang headed for Area 3.
I turned my attention back to the monitor.
They say humans often repeat the same mistakes.
The same went for Dwarves.
Footnotes:
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