CH 69

Chapter 69: Instant Dungeon [α] 2

The door to the Instant Dungeon [α] was located next to the Temple inside of the area where the pond used to be.

Just the other day, it was filled to the top with water, but now it was completely dried up.

If you look inside the pond, against one of the walls, you will see a hole that is about 3 persons wide.

Inside this hole, you will find the door.

With the pond now dried up, all of the merchants who couldn’t set up shop due to the flood concerns were now lining up all around the former pond.

Some of the merchants dealt with the trade of Monster Stones, and their hawkish eyes fell on every Adventurer who were returning from a Dungeon.

But as if to balance out the merchant stands, the Guild set up a simple trade and purchase reception area in the middle of the former pond.

Though they only kept the most basic items, even then, their inventory was formidable in comparison to most of the merchant stands.

The Adventurer’s Guild will purchase the Monster Stones and materials from you.

They would buy it up from the Adventurers and then resell it to the merchants.

The reason why the Guild intervenes between the Adventurers and Merchants is to prevent unfair market trades and also to get merchants a more marginal but steady income.

And one more thing. There is also the problem of trust.

If an Adventurer decided to go directly to the merchants (without Guild intervention), they might be able to get a better deal.

But it’s not always beneficial.

There are inevitably trustworthy and untrustworthy merchants.

If you fall upon an untrustworthy one, then they might lie to you about the actual market price, and they could assess the value of your goods a step lower than what it should have been.

This is the primary reason why the Guild steps in to intercede so that Adventurers are not cheated or manipulated.

But for most merchants, having the Dungeon materials get monopolized by the Guild is not a pleasant situation.

Hence, you will see them hang around like this to see if they can get in on any action if the Adventurers are willing to risk it.

Yuto and his Party members observed these hungry merchants calling out to Adventurers as they went inside the hole where the door is located.

Inside the hole, there was a Magic Stone Lamp already set.

The Magic Stone Lamps are Magic tools originally created from Monster Stones and are used to light paths.

They follow the lighted path deeper and deeper into the hole until they reach a much more open hall inside.

Yuto: “Wow……”

Dannan: “Whoa, this is pretty amazing…”

Eliz: “It is amazing, yes.”

In the spacious room, there were 3 doors side by side.

Compared to the Dungeon Generation Room doors, each door here was at least twice the size.

Above the doors, there was a letter carved above each.

There was an [α] , [β] , and [γ].

Yuto is holding a key that has [α] engraved onto it.

This key will be for the door with [α] written above it.

Yuto felt his heart beat faster at the thought of entering a new Instant Dungeon and turns towards his group.

Yuto: “Okay, is everyone ready?”

Dannan: “Yeah.”

Eliz: “Yes I am, yes.”

Each member held a tense, nervous expression and nodded.

Yuto takes out the key and places it into the door.

As he did so, the giant door was opened without a sound.

Yuto’s heart beat continued to increase and beat furiously inside his chest.

And beyond the doorーー

Yuto: “............oh…..what?”

ーーThere was nothing there.

There was a room with nothing inside before them.

The room might have been at least 10 times bigger than Yuto’s apartment room, but for a Dungeon, this was way too small.

At least from where they are standing, there are no other paths or doors connected to it.

Yuto: “..........what is this room?”

Dannan: “IーI guess we’ll step in to find out?” Yuto: “Yes, let’s.”

Yuto leads the group and the 3 steps into the Instant Dungeon [α].

Yuto takes a long, careful look at the room around him.

But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find any other corridors, paths, or doors connected to this room.

Yuto: “Hmmm……..what are we supposed to do here?”

Dannan: “They said the Insta will be different than before. Is this what they mean by that?” Yuto considered Dannan’s words and agreed with his assessment.

In the information they purchased from the Guild, it was mentioned that the Instant Dungeon would be different from others.

And looking at this room, it was indeed very different.

And it was difficult to predict what would come next.

Yuto: (Are there Monsters going to spawn in this small room?)

Yuto: “Everyone, be ready to deal with any Monsters that appear in this room.” Dannan: “Got it. Eliz: “Yes, yes.”

Yuto wasn’t certain, but just in case, he warned the other two members of his Party.

As the tension in their body steadily rose, the door that remained open finally closed completely.

At the same time, the room went dark.

“ “ “ ーー?!?! ” ” ”

All 3 gasped in a breath at the sudden change of events.

But the darkness only lasted for maybe a one second.

Light from above brightens their surroundings.

Yuto couldn’t help but close his eyes in reflex to the sudden bright light.

Yuto: (What…...what just happened?!)

He focused intently on his [Presence Detection] as he slowly opened in his eyes.

Then….

Yuto: “.........huh?”

Before his eyes was a wide field that spread endlessly around him.

Yuto and his Party was standing inside a room a moment ago and now were standing outside.

Beyond the fields lay forests.

And beyond the forests were mountains.

Yuto blinked several times and confirmed the scenery again and again.

But no matter how many times he checked, the scenery did not change.

Yuto: “What…...is this?” Eliz: “Wow～....!”

Dannan: “Well, that caught me by surprise….”

As Yuto stared at the landscape with his jaws dropped, Eliz and Dannan recovered from the sudden blinding from the light and gave their own impressions.

Eliz was delighted and stars glittered in her eyes.

Dannan responded similarly to Yuto and was taken aback by the change.

Yuto: “I wonder….maybe that room before had a similar function as the Transport Rooms?”

Dannan: “Ah...that would make sense. So we were transported as soon as those door closed behind us, huh…..so I guess we’re still inside a Dungeon then, right?” Yuto: “I believe…..it is still a Dungeon but….” Yuto pauses for a moment and takes in the entire view.

Yuto: “It looks nothing like a Dungeon.”

This Dungeon was built completely differently than other Instant Dungeons.

Yuto began to understand what the Guild was referring to now.

Dannan: “So, what do we do from here?” Yuto: “Well………” Unlike other Dungeons where you proceeded until you defeated the Dungeon Boss, this one most likely had a different goal in mind.

From here, there is no way to tell which way to go, and Yuto had difficulty understanding what it would take to clear this Instant Dungeon.

Yuto: “Maybe we should have paid the 50,000 gards for more information…” Dannan: “Too late for that now.”

Yuto believed that the [α] Dungeon's clear conditions would be no different than the other Instant Dungeons and based on that assumption, declined to pay any further fees.

But this is a brand new Instant Dungeon.

Since they had no idea what to expect, Yuto’s group felt that the price of the information was far more valuable than the 50,000 gard price tag.

But...regretting their decisions now won’t change a thing.

Yuto resets his thinking and feelings.

Yuto: “I think there was another Elimination Type of Instant Dungeon in the Temple, correct? I wonder if this Insta-[α] is similar in concept.” Dannan: “Ohhh...I see. Yeah, there’s definitely that possibility.”

Dannan nods deeply at Yuto’s words.

Other than Magic Types, proceeding from D-Rank Instant Dungeons, there is a Boss-Defeating Type but also an Monster-Elimination Type Dungeon.

In order to clear an Elimination Type, you must defeat every Monster that appears inside that Instant Dungeon.

Since he got the Skill Board, Yuto has yet to run into an Elimination Type Dungeon.

But before then, he served as a luggage carrier to several parties who ran into Elimination Type Dungeons.

From that experience, he suspected that the goal was not to slay a specific Monster, but the goal was to defeat every single Monster that appears.

Dannan: “Oh, looks like they’re not going to give us more time to think. Incoming enemies.”

Dannan looks up towards the forest.

A moment later, Yuto also stretches his [Presence Detection] and something catches his radar.

From that direction, there were 3 Monsters heading their way.