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Chapter 49

\'I wonder what will come out.\'

There were five main types of items that could appear from treasure chests in dungeons:

Gold coins, equipment, artifacts, stats, and traits.

Of course, traits appeared with an extremely low probability, so unless you cleared the dungeon hundreds of times through dungeon runs, it was virtually impossible to obtain them.

Excluding traits, there were four remaining items that could realistically be obtained:

Gold coins, equipment, artifacts, and stats.

In the current situation, I would gladly accept anything that came out.

As I was thinking that, the golden light began to fade.

And then...

"M-Mr. First Place!"

As the reward was revealed, Thompson was startled and stumbled backward.

I also flinched at the sudden change, but soon grasped the situation.

A sense of fullness that washed over me as the golden light faded.

This feeling of energy welling up inside me was similar to the feeling I got when I leveled up.

There was only one reward that could cause such a change.

\'Stats.\'

More precisely, strength stats.

Otherwise, it wouldn\'t give me this feeling of overflowing strength.

\'I\'m lucky.\'

Although not as rare as traits, stats were still a relatively low-probability reward.

This meant that it was a very satisfying result.

As these accumulated, they would eventually have an effect comparable to leveling up.

"What was that just now...?"

Thompson, still completely clueless, asked while touching his arm.

The problem was that I had no words to explain it to him.

No, I was also surprised by the current situation.

\'...Did his stats increase too?\'

Generally, rewards that didn\'t have a physical form were only effective for the player.

In other words, no matter how many traits and stats you obtained from treasure chests, they had no effect on NPCs or summons.

However, Thompson\'s reaction clearly showed that his stats had increased... Even I couldn\'t help but be surprised.

\'Is this also a change that happened over the last 100 years?\'

That question came to mind, but I couldn\'t find a definite answer.

Of course, it wasn\'t a big issue to worry about.

The fact that these rewards also applied to my companions was a positive thing no matter how you looked at it.

\'Once we\'ve grown to a certain extent, we should all go dungeon farming.\'

If traits appeared, those who needed them could take them, and if stats appeared, the entire party would become stronger.

\'...Isn\'t this broken?\'

Come to think of it, the value of dungeons seemed to have become ridiculously high.

Perhaps we could build a party far stronger than I imagined through dungeon runs.

Well, anyway.

"Don\'t be too surprised. You just got a little stronger."

"What? Stronger?"

"Yes, I don\'t know the details, but I heard this kind of thing happens often in dungeons."

"Oh? Is that so? It\'s amazing what happens when I\'m with Mr. First Place. Hehehe."

After briefly explaining to Thompson, we started exploring the dungeon again.

Now that I knew dungeon rewards also applied to party members, there was something I had to do first.

"We need to proceed while carefully checking for any traces."

Our top priority was to join up with Barundel as quickly as possible.

That way, we could maximize the rewards from any treasure chests we might find.

Well, I was also worried about Barundel\'s safety.

\'He should be fine in a dungeon of this level...\'

But you never knew.

He could have, like Thompson, stumbled upon a Mimic without knowing any better.

"Trust me. I\'m keeping my eyes peeled!"

After some more time...

While passing through a seemingly lethal poisonous area, we finally found a trace.

A strand of brown hair, which could have been from his head or beard.

"Mr. First Place, this is... right?"

"It seems so."

It was Barundel\'s trace.

Thompson scratched his head and said,

"Not footprints, but hair... Is this something to be happy about?"

Instead of answering, I nodded.

It wasn\'t a big help, but it wasn\'t bad news either.

There were no bloodstains or blood-soaked clothes nearby.

At least it meant he wasn\'t injured.

And above all, the presence of a trace meant that Barundel had passed through here.

He might even be nearby.

"Let\'s hurry."

Dash, dash, dash.

We increased our pace and searched the maze thoroughly.

As a result...

We finally spotted a familiar figure.

Black armor covering his entire body and braided hair reaching his waist.

And a contrasting short stature.

It was definitely Barundel.

"Dwarf!"

Thompson, upon finding Barundel, rushed towards him.

Clank!

Whoosh!

A chain trap hidden in the middle activated and flew towards Thompson, but he lightly jumped and dodged it.

After repeating this dozens of times, his senses were so honed that he could avoid such simple traps with his eyes closed.

"Dwarf, are you okay?"

Thompson reached Barundel and grabbed his shoulders.

Barundel, who had been engrossed in something, finally turned his head.

"Ah, we meet again. Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Well, as you can see, both Yuhan and I are fine. But what are you doing now?"

Thompson asked while looking behind Barundel.

This was because Barundel\'s attention had been focused behind him since earlier.

"Ah, that..."

Barundel stepped aside slightly and pointed to what was behind him.

"I was wondering what to do with this. It seems like a treasure chest, and I think there might be something amazing inside..."

Treasure chest.

As soon as we heard those words, we stiffened and shouted with urgency,

"Don\'t open it!"

"Absolutely don\'t open it!"

"..."

Barundel stopped moving at our forceful shouts, and we were deeply relieved.

We almost had to go through another terrifying chase.

"Please step aside for a moment."

I pushed Barundel aside and immediately summoned the Sword of Light.

And without hesitation, I stabbed the chest.

Thud!

The sword sank in as if piercing a living creature.

Even though I knew it wouldn\'t attack us, chills ran down my spine.

"...That\'s a relief. We weren\'t too late."

"Why are you doing that? Is there some kind of monster in there?"

Monster? Of course there is.

A monster that could chew up even the strongest dwarf in a single bite.

With that thought, I explained to Barundel about the Mimic.

In great detail, so he would never rashly open a chest again.

"I saw it with my own eyes, it\'s truly terrifying. It even chewed up this wall."

"Hmm... So that\'s what happened. Alright. I won\'t even look at a chest anymore."

"Well, you don\'t have to go that far. Just follow what I do, and you\'ll be fine."

Barundel nodded, indicating that he understood.

Seeing that, Thompson clapped his hands.

"Now, let\'s get going. I\'m tired of this scenery."

It was time to seriously search for the dungeon exit.

After some time...

"Huff... Huff..."

"Ugh..."

Rough breathing echoed through the maze.

Our stamina was depleted from hours of dealing with traps.

"...Yuhan, does that right-hand rule really exist?"

"...Of course. I\'ve cleared dungeons countless times with it... Anyway, it\'s for sure."

"But if that\'s the case, we should have found the exit by now..."

"Well, that\'s true, but..."

I had no words to refute Barundel.

Because even I agreed with him.

\'...This is strange.\'

We had been wandering through the maze for over three hours.

No matter how complex the maze was, we should have found the exit by now.

\'Did the system change?\'

That was the most plausible hypothesis I could come up with.

The system might have changed so that the location of the exit changed periodically, or the paths of the maze were shuffled.

Considering the countless changes that had occurred over the last 100 years, it was quite possible.

The problem was...

\'...This is a big deal.\'

If this hypothesis was true, we were in a very difficult situation.

Because we only had an hour left until the dungeon closed.

"Mr. First Place, we\'re not really going to be lost in space, are we...?"

The fear of the dungeon closing was starting to weigh on me and my companions.

"...Calm down. I won\'t let that happen."

I calmed Thompson down to prevent him from panicking and started thinking of a solution.

A way to definitely find the exit within the remaining 30 minutes.

But nothing else came to mind.

What else could we do in a maze dungeon besides honestly searching for the way out?

We couldn\'t split up and search for the exit either.

Just then...

- I saw it with my own eyes, it\'s truly terrifying. It even chewed up this wall.

I suddenly remembered what Thompson had said earlier.

At the same time, it felt like lightning struck my mind.

"Huh..."

I had no idea.

That I would find a hint in those words I had just glossed over.

Of course, it would be a gamble with my life...

"...I have a good idea."

There was no other way.

I had to give it a shot.

***

Meanwhile, at the abandoned building in Sector 7.

Kayla, who was protecting the survivors there, suddenly felt a vibration and rummaged through her belongings.

Bzzzt!

A disc-shaped artifact appeared in her hand.

It was an item she had received as a reward for a request and kept just in case.

\'Why is this...?\'

Kayla tilted her head in confusion.

This artifact only reacted like this when it sensed demonic energy.

\'Is there a demon nearby?\'

Kayla shook her head at that thought.

This building had already been thoroughly searched.

There were definitely no signs or traces of demonic presence.

Moreover, she had set up barricades and detection magic beforehand.

Even if they tried to sneak in, Kayla would be the first to know.

\'Then why?\'

After a moment of contemplation, Kayla soon found the answer.

No, she couldn\'t help but find the answer.

Soon, a sinister demonic energy began to be felt by her senses.

Moreover, it wasn’t even an unfamiliar energy.

More precisely, it was an energy she couldn\'t forget even if she tried to.

She had already encountered someone with this kind of energy.

"Ma\'am, stay behind me."

"Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

"Hurry!"

Kayla shouted forcefully and instinctively turned around.

There, as if he had been there all along, stood the man with the familiar face.

"...Was that your true identity?"

"Puhahaha..."

Kayla, who intuitively realized the identity of the mysterious passerby she had met as soon as she set foot in Sector 7, confidently assumed a fighting stance.

"Bring it on."

Whoosh!

Hot flames surged around her.

Her second battle against a demon\'s subordinate.

The outcome of this battle would be very different from the last.

She was now a full-fledged fire mage.