[Translator: Dawn ]

[Proofreader: Alissa ]

Chapter 53: [Free Exploration] Stay Keen on the Part Destruction (2)

Ring! Ring! Ring!

The damage slot began to spin fast.

As I watched the numbers roll, I suddenly started to feel uneasy.

Don't tell me I'm getting a fumble The absolute worst result.

'I didn't want Jupiter and Damian to get hurt, so I had to step forward!'

If something goes wrong and I get injured, it's better for me to suffer. Even if I get hurt a little, I can give out commands.

On the other hand, Jupiter and Demian must fight in the next defense stage immediately. So I can't allow any injuries!

That was the decision I followed and stepped forward for, but the moment I saw the face of the gigantic golem rushing toward me, I got scared a bit.

I'm not getting a triple zero, right? Hm? God of Dice?! I can trust you, right?!Tsrrr-

And thankfully.

Ring!

1, 2, 5!

I rolled a decent number.

'125 damage!'

It's more than enough!

A fierce wind enveloped my fist. I punched my fist from bottom to top.

Crash-!

As the wind exploded, the head of the golem rushing toward me snapped back.

Crush! Rattle!

The sound of something breaking resounded as the neck snapped in a direction that humans could not achieve.

Ah.

The golem's head, which had soared into the air for a moment, eventually slammed into the ground, forehead first.

Fuu!

I shook my hands off.

I really have to stop relying on gambling plays like this one, excluding as many variables as possible.

But the situation did not allow me to do that.

When the thick dust cleared, the golem's head was revealed, with the mana core exposed through the shattered armor.

The golem no longer moved an inch. Only one eyelike the lighthouse light in the middle of his headdimly flickered.

It's Raining.

Lucas approached me and reached out his hand.

Master, finish him.

Hm.

Killing a boss mob yields a great amount of experience bonus.

As I have the lowest level here, I decided to take this sure kill chance.

Lucas, lend me your sword.

Yes, here it is.

Lucas immediately lent me his sword.

Since I can't rely on Lucky Strike to roll decent damage, as I don't know what will happen if I roll a bad number.

I decided to choose the safe option of lending a sword.

I swung the sword toward the golem's face.

The one eye that shone in the golem's face slowly closed.

It's raining very heavily.

What the hell was this damned monster babbling about?

I forcefully struck my sword down.

After defeating the boss, while the rest of my party members were retrieving items from the remains of the boss mob,

I opened the system window and looked at the stage's clear status.

[Hidden Back Alley Boss Room]

Defeat the boss! (Achieved)

Lv.20 Giant Steam Golem

You have achieved complete destruction of all of the boss's parts. Complete destruction!

'I got the complete destruction bonus.'

I whistled at a low volume.

To be frank, all of the golem's other magic cores would explode if the magic core at its head was destroyed, which would yield an easier experience.

However, I didn't tell my party members that and destroyed every single one of them.

'There were part destruction bonuses, so of course, I had to destroy them all.'

Plus, I got the final hit experience points. I should be able to level up a decent amount.

'I got a decent amount of rewards from this exploration.'

Not only was I able to take all the rewards in the dungeon, but I was also lucky enough to meet a merchant NPC and get two SSR-rank items.

They were of course given straight to Evangeline as compensation

'It was an expense that had to be done anyway. I was able to get it for a rather cheap price.'

It's a bit scary that everything's going so well like this, but all is well.

It was right then when Demian, who was searching the inside of the boss room, called me.

Your Highness! There's a chest and a road over here!

Alright, I'll be right there. And Lucas?

After calling Lucas, I gestured my hand toward Jupiter.

Grab her.

Yes, Master.

Lucas grabbed Jupiter who was about to go insane after seeing the treasure chest.

Jupiter started shouting as she struggled to escape.

Wait, I'll just stand still! You can't suspect a poor old lady like this! I'll just look, Your Highness! I swear!

Yeah, right. I'd rather give a fish to a cat.

At the deepest part of the warehouse, there was a door leading to the other side and a large treasure chest.

Standing in front of the treasure chest, I vigorously opened it. Please, give me something good!

A purple light emanated from the box.

'It's an SR-rank item!'

I put my hand in and confirmed what came out of the box. What is it?!

[Orb of Scream (SR) Lv.30]

Class: Magic Orb

Attack: 40-45

Durability: 15/15

Each time you defeat an enemy in succession, the damage of the next attack is increased by 5%. This effect lasts for 30 seconds.

> Set Effect: You must scream (1/3)

If all sets are equipped, inflict AoE fear status whenever an enemy is defeated.

(Requires 'Robe of Scream' to activate the set)

(Requires 'Gloves of Scream' to activate the set)

I got a mage item from the box

After looking down at the orb in my hand with a perplexed feeling, I turned my gaze to the side and saw Jupiter grinning. Yikes.

Here you go.

Thaa~ank you very much!

I threw the orb at Jupiter who lightly caught it, and happily equipped it.

Well, the option suits Jupiter pretty well anyway. It was a good set item for a wide-area mage who can wipe out normal mobs collectively.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to get my hands on the rest of the set items though.

In addition, there were two Standard Highest-grade Magic Cores (SRs) in the box. Yahoo.

I got the treasure chest in the boss room, and the exploration of Area 2 was finished.

[Area 2: Hidden Back Alley]

Clear Progression: Normal Room 4/4, Boss Room 1/1

Acquired Treasure Chest: 5/5

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[Translator: Dawn]

[Proofreader: Alissa]

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I took the complete destruction and all clear bonuses. That was a great run.

There is nothing more to do here. I gestured to the door behind the treasure chest.

Let's go. We have to reach the next point and go home.

A light of relief flashed across the faces of everyone in the party.

Understandable. This free exploration took almost an entire day.

If the progress was a bit slower, we would've had to camp overnight in the dungeon to continue the exploration. Everyone must be tired

When I opened the door and went out to the back of the warehouse, a tall staircase appeared after a short walk.

This is?Hm.

I hoisted the lantern up the stone steps.

Beyond the darkness, the stairs stretched endlessly. The direction the stairs headed was

It must be the staircase that leads to the fort wall.

It was leading to the wall that surrounded the outskirts of the city.

'We're on the right track so far.'

There was not a single discrepancy with the information I have accumulated so far.

I gestured my hand to go up the stairs.

Let's climb up the stairs.

The staircase continued for a very long while. As we climbed endlessly, the physically weak Demian and the old lady Jupiter gradually fell behind.

Huff, huff

Your Highness! This old lady's knees are going to break down at this point! How much more do we have to climb?

Just a bit more. We're almost there.

I said as I too was drenched in sweat. Why is the wall so high? Couldn't it have some kind of a shortcut or something since it's a game?

However, this was a reality, and we had to climb up for 10 more minutes to reach the end of the staircase.

Oh god, my imperial back Ow.

Having barely reached the top, I sat down on the cold stone floor. That was so tiring.

Demian dropped to the floor without making a single noise, and Jupiter sat down with a cigarette in her mouth.

Huff, huff. I'm about to die of heart failure, so I'll smoke one last cig before that

You really will pass out if you smoke a cigarette in this situation, granny

It seems that the climb was hard even for Lucas and Evangeline, as they pulled out water bottles from their bags and drank them at the same time.

The two of them emptied the bottles clean in one gulp as if they had promised. You guys seem to have good teamwork, no?

Good work, everyone. We made it.

I pointed to the front.

The stairs led to the inside of the watchtower, and in the spacious room inside the watchtower, I could see a permanent magic stone that emitted light and a familiar pile of stones.

It was the teleport gate.

Hooray! Let us return quickly. Or else, I might actually get a bone disease at this old age!

Jupiter, delighted, jumped up from her seat and ran to the teleport gate first. She seemed to be fine. Didn't you just say something about heart failure?

As soon as I get back, I will have a hot bath, a glass of whiskey with ice in one hand, and a cigar in the other

Jupiter, who was talking about her honest desires, suddenly stopped talking.

Standing at the end of the watchtower, Jupiter was staring at the other side, completely stiff.

The other party members who felt puzzled followed after Jupiter. And everyone froze.

This is

I too slowly followed after them.

A great wall stretched out in front of us.

Just the width of the wall seemed to be twice as large as the one in Crossroad, it was enormous.

And inside that wall, there was the Lake Kingdom.

It was just a part of this gigantic wall the last time I looked at it in the back alley.

Looking at the view from the top of the high fort wall, I finally realized the overwhelming scale of the Lake Kingdom.

'It's so huge that I can't even view everything in one glance.'

I remembered the experience of going up to the observation deck of a huge skyscraper in Seoul and looking down from there.

The Lake Kingdom was no lesser in scale than Seoul. If there's a problem, it's that it's completely dead.

The entire city should have been immersed in darkness so that nothing could be seen, but there was one reason why the overall structure could be seen, although in a blur.

There are lights

Demian murmured in a trembling voice.

In some parts of the city.

Like starlight dotted in a cloudy night sky, the lights of the 'strongpoint' sprinkled like salt in the city were scattering light.

Someone had placed permanent magic stones and lights at all corners and hubs throughout the city.

Thanks to this, few living humans could roam this place.

And those weren't the only source of light.

What is that? A lighthouse?

Evangeline pointed her hand toward the center of the city.

A faint flame raged on top of the towering spire located there.

Although it was unclear and surrounded by thick darkness, it was unmistakably 'light'.

The light was illuminating the tallest and most splendid skyscraper in the very center of the city.

'The palace of the Lake Kingdom.'

I stared at the royal castle wavering like fog in pitch darkness.

That is the final exploration area that we must reach someday.

And also the place where the final boss battle will take place.

'However, it's going to take a very lo~oong time for us to reach there'

I took a small breath as I looked down at the entire city.

Thinking about the long distance from here to there made me dizzy.

The city adopted a structure where the center of the city was the highest ground, and the outskirts were the lowest.

And our location right now was,

[Area 3: North of the Outer Fortress]

This.

The northernmost outskirts of the city.

We entered the kingdom through the drainage, wandered through the back alleys, and ended up near the northern gates of the city.

After summarizing the exploration so far, I looked back at the party members and smiled.

Well, let's think about the rest next time.

I slapped my lower back with my hand, which started to hurt.

Let's go home for now

It felt like I was the one who was going to get a bone disease. Oww.

[End of Free Exploration!]

[Leveled Up Characters]

Ash (EX) Lv.15 (4)

Lucas (SSR) Lv.33 (2)

Jupiter (SR) Lv.38 (1)

Demian (N) Lv.27 (3)

Evangeline (SSR) Lv.36 (1)

[Acquired Equipment]

Demon of Spear (SSR)

Giant of Shield (SSR)

Orb of Scream (SR)

[Acquired Items] Standard Highest-grade Magic Core (SR): 2

Magic Crystal of the Golem Corps: 120

Armor Fragments of the Golem Corps: 32

Blue Flame Torch

Summon Scroll: Giant Steam Golem

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