Subterranean Island, Atlantis. This place was actually the most challenging part of leveling up a Shield Barbarian. It’s not called the second core essence location for nothing. Normally, by the time you reach this point, you’d only have essences of grade 4 or lower. It’s practically impossible to get here with a combination of Storm Gush’s [Origin], Bayon’s [Transcendence], and Gacha Bon’s [Risk]. Therefore, attempting a solo run like this would be impossible; you’d need to come with suitable companions and thorough preparations. Only after obtaining the essence here would your combat power increase rapidly, and the serious looting of grade 3 essences would begin.
‘But somehow, the order got reversed.’ Looking back, it seems like it all started with the Ogre’s essence. I was lucky enough to get a high-grade essence early on, and from there, my growth accelerated like a snowball rolling down a hill. Just like this.
「You have defeated Murmur Priest. EXP +6」
「You have defeated Lavitor. EXP +5」
「You have defeated a Sea Guardian. EXP +4」
「You have defeated Nagakulos…」
「…」
I’m just running forward, drawing the aggro of the monsters, and my experience points are skyrocketing. It feels like I’m almost doing a speedrun. Of course, I had to take breaks in between. Even for me, my MP isn’t infinite. Especially here, where I have to deal with the ‘Hyperventilation’ status ailment, which doubles resource consumption.
“Hey, mister!” Soon, my companions, who were collecting magic stones and following behind, arrived as I was taking a short break. “I saw an essence drop over there, what are you going to do with it?” Huh? An essence dropped? I was so busy running while getting hit that I didn’t even notice it. I pondered for a moment before answering, “Just leave it there.” A grade 4 monster like the Murmur Priest would be incredibly valuable, but I’ve already confirmed that it doesn’t drop an essence. There was no reason to use one of my two test tubes on an unknown essence. If the essence is grade 5, it’s a slight gain, and if it’s grade 6, it’s mostly a loss.
“Schuitz, how far have we come now?” “A little over halfway.” “We’ve been moving in a straight line ever since we entered this place, is there a reason for that?” “We can catch the outer monsters later.” Erwen interjected as I was talking to Amelia. “Ah, is it perhaps because of that rival you mentioned earlier?” Actually, this is a bit ambiguous. Originally, my personality is to prioritize and solve the important things first. However, I can’t say that it has no influence at all. “Yeah, just in case.” Atlantis is not a rift [a temporary dungeon]. Once a portal is opened, it remains open until the labyrinth is closed, and explorers can freely travel back and forth between here and the outside.
“What if you encounter them?” “I don’t know.” I answered habitually, then continued, “If they attack, I’ll fight; if not, I’ll just pass by.” “I see…” Amelia nodded, looking somewhat unconvinced by my answer. I was about to let it go, but I ended up asking, “It seems like you have something you want to say.” “It’s just… I was wondering which side you would welcome more.” “Which side I would welcome?” “Exactly.” “…?” When I stared at her with eyes demanding a more detailed answer, Amelia cautiously asked me, “Schuitz, aren’t you secretly hoping that the other side will attack first?” As soon as I heard those words, I felt something, and many reasons to defend myself came to mind. But I held back and asked again, “Why do you suddenly think that?” “It’s not sudden. It’s just that I’ve been thinking that way as I’ve been watching you.” Amelia shrugged and glanced at the navigator and the mage. I followed her gaze and turned my head, and the two of them quickly avoided my eyes, pretending not to hear, as if afraid of getting caught in the crossfire. I didn’t quite understand.
“I didn’t expect you, Emily, of all people, to say that. Are you saying I should have let the guys who attacked me first live?” My voice became sharp without me realizing it. Amelia was startled and shook her head. “That’s not what I meant. It’s just…” “Just?” “…No, never mind. I just said something silly.” Amelia muttered and stepped back, and I didn’t press her further. Of course, it wasn’t that I wasn’t curious. What exactly was the word that was left unsaid? Because I didn’t ask again, I couldn’t know as I was now. But, for some reason.
[Have you ever thought about it, hyung [Korean term for older brother or male friend]? If they get in your way, you kill them; if you suspect them, you kill them; and when you meet someone new, you worry about whether they will hurt you. People’s lives… they just feel like game characters. You’re a complete psycho, aren’t you?] The conversation I had with Baekho a long time ago flashed through my mind. At the time, it was a statement that I could somewhat relate to, but thinking about it again, it had a different weight. Especially the part about people’s lives being like game characters.
[Crack-!] One swing of the hammer and a person dies. Of course, the target is always someone who is classified as someone who deserves to die according to my standards. But… [I, I was wrong! Please spare me!] The old man who was the first to have me spill blood with my own hands. It wasn’t like this back then with Hans A. Back then, I had a mental resistance, and I had to constantly convince myself that it was something I had to do as I swung my weapon. It was similar for a while after that. The hesitation in my hand disappeared, but for a while, a sense of unease dominated my whole body. This was the same even after returning to the city. Because the looks and expressions they had at that moment came to mind, I cooled my body with cold water and intentionally emptied my mind. Yes, I was definitely like that back then. But what about now?
‘That captain on the ship… what did his face look like?’ Now, I can’t even remember the face of the guy I killed not too long ago. What clearly comes to mind are the equipment and expensive valuables he was wearing, and the strong stimulation I felt when I obtained them. Should I call this getting used to it? Or should I say that I’ve gradually changed to reach this point? “Mister, what are you thinking so hard about…?” “It’s nothing. We’ll move again after resting for about 30 minutes, so you should rest too.” I laid down on the damp floor without hesitation and looked up. The darkness of the labyrinth that stretched endlessly from the point where the light surrounding us ended. It was a strange thing. 7th floor, 8th floor, 9th floor, 10th floor. Now, only four more floors remain above this. If I just pass through that path, I can pass through the gate of the abyss and return to the modern world. But, even so. Even though I’ve clearly climbed much higher than when I was struggling to survive on the 1st and 2nd floors, that place felt even further away.
***
After resting for about 30 minutes and replenishing my MP, I continued to conquer the subterranean island, following the same process as before. In other words, I would go ahead and sweep everything away, and they would follow behind and collect the magic stones. ‘If I catch all the outer monsters later, the magic stone income alone will be considerable.’ Even as I thought that, I found it somewhat funny. In fact, no matter how high the income is, it can’t compare to the battle I had a while ago. Although there was some damage, three ships and more than 10 servings of high-grade equipment. It’s an exploration income that you can never get just by catching monsters.
「Powerful Luck.」
「Reflects 150% of the damage taken back to the enemy.」
A critical success occurred, and the last monster that had been persistently following me disappeared into light. And… ‘I’ve already reached the boss room.’ I had reached the center of Atlantis. A vast open space where pillars the size of dozens of story buildings were erected in a circle. In the middle of those pillars, there was a huge egg. A blue egg that was three or four times bigger than me even when I used [Giantification]. ‘It looks exactly like the egg in the game.’ I chuckled at that thought.
「The character has witnessed a part of mythology.」
My heart pounded loudly, and a sense of fulfillment, as if something was filling me up, arose.
「Achievement Unlocked」
Condition: Mythical Discovery (1/5)
Reward: Soul Power permanently increases by +10.
What, did my MP just increase? If this is true, it means that the ‘Achievement’ system is also being properly activated… ‘Then I must have broken quite a few mental-related achievements so far?’ The mental stat wasn’t very noticeable, so I was unsure, but if this is the case, I should go achievement hunting from now on. There are quite a few helpful achievements from the 7th floor onwards. ‘…Wait a minute, if I had known this, should I have brought the others with me?’ I suddenly had that thought, but I decided to check it out next time. After all, the probability of an essence dropping on the first try is low. It wouldn’t be too late to do it next time I come. In the first place, it’s also unknown whether achievements apply to the locals. Whoooosh-! Soon, as I entered the pillars, a huge vortex surrounded the other side of the pillars, blocking the way back. It was a useless effect in my opinion. Come on, since I can’t even think about running away because of the ‘Challenger’ status ailment.
Thud. As I walked towards the egg in the center, the vortex raging outside the pillars, as if the sea was angry, emitted an even more violent vibration. And… Thump-! Thump-! Thump-! A series of loud noises erupted at regular intervals, and the ground shook. For reference, the heavy booming sound was getting closer and closer… Thump-! As soon as the shaking of the ground stopped, I looked up. In the deep darkness, two blue eyes were staring down at me. A grade 3 monster, the Deep Sea Giant. Aside from the subterranean island Atlantis, it’s a monster that can only be encountered on the 9th floor. Of course, by that time, those bastards will be in groups like mobs, and their weaknesses won’t be as exposed as they are now, so hunting them will be several times more difficult.
[Serkima Dio Merder.] Just like in the game, the monster looked down at me and muttered something incomprehensible. I couldn’t tell when I was just reading the text, but his voice was full of the feeling of looking down on me. Therefore… “Behel—laaaaaaaa!!” After activating [Giantification], I dashed forward, calling out the name of my ancestor god for the first time in a while. After all, there’s no one here but me, right? Tap. Ah, of course, the place I ran to while shouting a battle cry was the place where the central egg was located. This is the strategy to catch this bastard. Thump-! The egg was pulsating as if it were alive. No, should I call it a heart that looks like an egg? Wham-! At the same time as I slammed the heart with all my might with the Demon Crusher, the giant let out a shriek and slammed its palm down, and I quickly retreated to avoid it. [Risk] only reflects skills that use resources. There’s no reason to take a normal attack that can’t be reflected.
「The Deep Sea Giant has cast [Blade Torrent].」 As soon as the normal attack missed, the monster cast a skill. Hundreds of streams of water flew in a straight line, drawing sharp trajectories like bullets fired in the water. I just have to take this… 「Powerful Luck.」 「Reflects 150% of the damage taken back to the enemy.」 Oh, what, a critical success from the start? [Gyaaaaaah-!] Just as I was bracing myself, defending only my vitals, a hearty skeleton’s cry was heard from behind. And… Whoooosh-! It was shot towards the sea giant, drawing a much thicker trajectory than the one that was flying towards me. [Gyaaaaaaaah-!] The monster staggered weakly, not befitting its size, as if it had taken a lot of damage. The monster staggered and slammed down with another normal attack. Normally, it’s standard to avoid it, but… Wham-! Is it because I came here after coating myself with grade 3 essences? ‘I can just block it at this point.’ It’s not to the point where I can’t withstand it with my shield. The damage transferred to my bones is also being recovered immediately thanks to [Origin].
「The Deep Sea Giant has cast [Source of Life].」 The monster took out the life force stored in its heart to recover damage to its main body. It was one of the Deep Sea Giant’s main skills. The Deep Sea Giants encountered on the 9th floor don’t have their hearts exposed like this. Based on this, the monster showed off its immense regeneration power and boasted the monstrous strength of a grade 3 monster. Well, it didn’t mean much here. It’s not for nothing that I always chose this guy as my first grade 3 essence. Thump. The heart, which was smaller than before, was beating more weakly. Wham-! Wham-! Wham-! Since there was no need to avoid normal attacks, I stuck to the heart and swung my hammer continuously. In response, the monster attacked me with various skills to stop me, and these were reflected again, dealing damage to the main body. And… 「The Deep Sea Giant has cast [Source of Life].」 Another vicious cycle repeated. The heart transferred life force to the main body, and the heart’s defense decreased by the amount of life force transferred. How many times did this process continue? Thump. I swung my hammer at the heart, which was several times smaller than when I first saw it. And immediately after that.
Crack-! I was able to face good news and bad news at the same time. 「You have defeated the Deep Sea Giant. EXP +7」 The first piece of good news was that I had finished hunting a grade 3 monster more easily than ever before. And the second was… Whoooosh-! An essence appeared from the first try. However, from here on out, it’s bad news. ‘Damn it.’ The essence dropped, but unfortunately, it wasn’t the color of essence I wanted. Well, what does that matter in the current situation? I stared beyond the vortex that had disappeared without a trace at the same time as I defeated the Deep Sea Giant. “…” He was wearing casual clothes that were hard to believe were from the labyrinth. He had a noble aura, white skin, and a thin physique. And on top of that, platinum blonde hair slicked back in a pomade style. “Wow, what are you, did you really catch that alone?” An unexpected encounter was waiting for me.