Chapter 69. Fairy Garden (2)

After Event Dungeons turned into Field Dungeons, small countries without enough Awakened to properly maintain them were practically robbed of their money by the Guardian Association, who deployed their Awakened under the pretense of maintenance fees. They could more safely hunt monsters in the Field Dungeons than in the wild, and they even received additional money from the small countries. It was truly a clever money making tactic. Many countries’ Freedom Wing branches also participated in Field Dungeon subjugations using the same pretense.

The problem were the dungeons with comparatively higher ranks. Japan’s B+-rank Field Dungeon, ‘General’s Honor,’ and Britain’s Lake District’s Windermere Lake A+-rank Field Dungeon, ‘Graveyard Over the Lake,’ were especially of concern due to their large area, the high number of named monsters, and the high intelligence of their monsters.

Finally, Arizona State’s Antelope Canyon, which once boasted beautiful scenery, was now the object of people’s fears after turning into the S-rank Field Dungeon, Wyvern’s Nest. These three dungeons were the ones people were having trouble subjugating.

[I’m so annoyed. He bothers me at least once every hour!]

“Just set him on fire.”

[Oh, I tried. When I told him to screw off before I burnt all his hair up, he laughed and said, ‘What a cute kitten. I’ll come back when you’re feeling better.’]

“You sure have it rough, having to clear dungeons with someone like him…”

Graveyard Over the Lake, which the two SS-rank ability users, Hwaya and Joshua Brightman, and four other S-rank ability users were exploring, was the world’s largest dungeon, stretching over 16 square kilometers. As its monsters were A+-rank, it seemed that it would take a long time to completely explore the area. According to Hwaya, she and the other ability users explored the dungeon on a modified cruise ship.

“That sounds fun. I always wanted to go on a Windermere cruise ship.”

[After Windermere turned into a dungeon, it’s no longer a good tourist location… you don’t know how many people are sad about it. Plus, since it’s so high-ranked, ordinary ability users can’t do anything about it. Not to mention, Field Dungeons don’t disappear after being cleared. I’m worried it’ll come back to bite me even after I clean it up once.]

“Aren’t there people blaming you? After all, you had a huge influence on countries’ decisions to leave the Event Dungeons alone.”

[Because of what happened in China, no one is really blaming me.]

“Ah… well, that’s good to hear.”

Although Hwaya might be thankful that China took care of her worry, I didn’t want to admit that whoever was in charge of China’s disaster had a positive impact on someone’s life.

“Aren’t you messaging me too often these days?”

[It’s because I’m stressed… If you had to talk to that self-proclaimed gentleman, you’d want to relieve your stress too.]

“Look at the beautiful Windermere Lake and cheer up.”

[Ah, that tuna came out again!]

“… Good luck.”

Being inwardly happy that Gyeongbokgung Palace1 didn’t turn into an Event Dungeon, I ended my conversation with her. In front of my eyes was Lin, who was smoking on his cigarette as always.

“Are doing boss raids and talking with your friend the only things you do? Can’t you think about my scorching heart after being tricked into betting with you?”

“Lin, does the Residential Area Entrance Ticket disappear once you use it?”

“If a Draconian is talking to you, listen to him!”

Lin flicked his cigarette ash towards me as he fretted. I swung my spear and returned the ashes back to him.

“I’m asking Lin so I could find better things to do.”

“Don’t just skip out on parts of the conversation! … Alright, what? Residential Area? You got a ticket?”

“Yes.”

Puffing out cigarette smoke, Lin thought for a brief moment, then gave an exclamation of surprise.

“Obviously, the entrance ticket will disappear once you use it. But if you somehow manage to buy a residence at the Residential Area, you’ll be able to travel back and forth whenever you want. You just have to install a Mana Stone and get authorized.”

“Wait, can you repeat that part about the Mana Stone?”

“Don’t you know what a Mana Stone is? You know, the thing that comes out from monsters’ heads? It’s the reason for the monsters’ strong and strange biology. The reason they’re distinguished from humans. The difference is being able to control mana or being controlled by mana.”

Hearing this, I remembered something. A story from long time ago, when I first heard about dungeon explorers from father!

[In the dungeon, there are lots of precious things. Mana Stones, magical weapons… heck, even orc skin would be treated as new material never-before-seen on Earth…]

That’s right, Mana Stones! I remembered now! But now that I thought about it, I had never even seen a Mana Stone even though I was on the 30th floor. As for magical weapons, the automatic Silver Crossbow in my inventory could count as one. I had only gotten one when I was on the 30th floor! Not to mention, the orc skins were just trash items rather than a new material! If I sold it anywhere, I would have had to talk to the police!

I couldn’t help but tremble as I was reminiscing about the past. I became a dungeon explorer after being tricked by father’s words! Of course, I didn’t regret it in the slightest now, but I did resent father for tricking me when he had never owned Mana Stones or magical weapons. I vowed to get my revenge.

“I’ve never seen a Mana Stone.”

“Huh? Well, that’s a given. Monsters that appear below the 20th floor of the First Dungeon are weaklings who don’t have Mana Stones, and since the 21st through 40th floors all have undead monsters, they don’t have Mana Stones. You’ll have to get to the 41st floor to see some.”

“Kuk…”

“Don’t worry. If you go to the Residential Area’s market, you’ll meet other explorers selling some. Just buy one randomly and buy a house randomly too. Once you can install the mana stone at the house and go through the authorization process, you can freely go back and forth between your house and the dungeon. Just like how you can go back and forth between the dungeon and Earth.”

“That… That sounds like I can live in the dungeon without ever having to go back to Earth.”

When I said what I was thinking aloud, Lin sneered for a moment. When I noticed it, he changed his expression to a big smile. For a man, he had a very womanly charm, which made me take a step back. It was undoubtedly charming, but it was the kind of charm that made a chill run down one’s spine.

“Of course. That’s possible, Earth’s Hero.”

“…”

“You’ll find out when you get there, but I’ll tell you in advance. The word ‘escapee’ is forbidden. If you don’t want to become a common enemy at the Residential Area, don’t say that word.”

“Escapee…?”

“I said it’s forbidden. Understood?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Huu…”

He took out another cigarette and put it in his mouth while lighting it up. When I looked at him cautiously, he grinned and advised me.

“By the way, since any residence at the Residential Area will be too expensive for a soloing explorer to buy, you won’t be able to do anything even if you go. You’ll only end up wasting the entrance ticket you worked so hard to get.”

Since he kindly advised me, I decided to tell him the truth.

“Because of an achievement I made, I got a Special Mansion Free Purchase Ticket.”

“You… make me angry…!”

As I thought, an angry expression suited Lin the best! Since I knew I could freely go back and forth between the dungeon and the Residential Area once I installed a Mana Stone, I just had to go there and buy one! Excited, I used my Residential Area Entrance Ticket on the spot.

“Ah, wait! If it’s a Special Mansion, you need a Mana Stone matching its league…!”

Because I already used the entrance ticket, I couldn’t hear Lin very well. Just like when I entered Event Dungeons, my surroundings began to melt. Like removing the rust, the dungeon was slowly getting erased.

Then, a new world appeared in front of my eyes.

[You entered the Residential Area.]

“Argh, I died again. On the 55th floor.”

“Kukuku, the 55th is hard to cross, I know. Let’s just go for a drink.”

“Damn it, the king’s going to say something again.”

While I was dazed by the sudden change in scenery, two middle-aged men brushed past me. I first slapped away his hand trying to grab the spear behind my back.

“I won’t say much, so just go drink.”

“Kuk, I thought you were a newbie, but you’re quite skilled. Alright, we’ll leave. Consider it a welcome ceremony.”

Aiming for a martial artist’s weapon, he was lucky I didn’t cut off his wrist.

Since I knew directly fights between explorers were forbidden, I could tell him off after hearing him speak about the 55th floor. Though, to be explorers on the 55th floor, they looked too weak.

They were most likely lying. Because I was standing in a daze on my first time entering the Residential Area, they were trying to stomp on my spirit by talking about the 55th floor and steal my weapon. Although it was true that I was in a daze, my training wasn’t so loose that I wouldn’t notice someone stealing my weapon from right under my nose.

After seeing the two explorers off, I looked around. I instantly knew how to describe the scenery. It was like the vibrant streets of Medieval Europe. The buildings built with colorful bricks were incredibly beautiful, while the pretty stones making up the floor were clean and without gaps.

There was one thing I didn’t quite understand. It was that this place, which should be somewhere in the dungeon, had a sky full of clouds.

Other than this mystery, this place was certainly wonderful. The sight of so many dungeons explorers walking around with theirs weapons was almost dreamlike. Everything fit well with the area.

“Hey, handsome young man over there! Would you like a slice of ‘doragonu,’ the tastiest fruit in all of Sylon continent? Since Sylon continent is already ruined, you can’t find doragonu anywhere else!”

This place had fruit sellers who sold fruit I had never heard of before…

“That spear doesn’t look so good. Do you want to look around World Piresia’s high-ranking weapons?”

It had weapon shops that sold weapons from worlds I had never heard of before.

“It’s only noon and you’re drinking, you losers! If you got kicked out of the dungeon, quietly go back to your world!”

“That world is ruined already!”

There was even a foul-mouthed beauty serving alcohol and curses at her customers.

“Mm, it’s not that big. It’s probably about the size of a small town.”

The city didn’t have any residences belonging to explorers. To be exact, this place wasn’t the Residential Area, but an intermediate area to get to the Residential Area. It was a public space created for the Residential Area’s explorers to interact. Since just the intermediate area was this size, it was perhaps a little rude of me to call it small. However, since I was used to living in Korea’s capital, this place could only be small in comparison.

That said, I didn’t dislike this place filled with lively explorers. It was fun looking at each of the shops the explorers were running, and the fountain plaza I was summoned to was also incredibly beautiful.

Alright then, the place where I could buy the Special Mansion is… No, wait. Someone had told me to contact her when I came to the Residential Area.

“Palludia, are you in the dungeon?”

[… Kang Shin?]

“Yeah, you told me to contact you when I came to the Residential Area, remember?”

[… Wa… Wait. J-Just one moment!]

Then, in the three hours that I was looking around the Residential Area, I didn’t receive any messages from Palludia. A girl’s words really weren’t something you could trust.

1. Considered the most beautiful and grandest palace in Korea.

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