CH 115

KEN6-8 minutes 19.02.2022

I received a bottle of liquor from Mayer and, mesmerized, tried to uncork it, but… “Yargh, aagh…” Despite my endeavoring, the cork didn’t budge. Nothing changed even when I used both hands. My strength stat was garbage, sure, but I was level 45 now…!

“Hand it over,” Mayer said and took the bottle from me. Then, with his middle, ring, and pinky fingers wrapped around the neck, he pushed the cork with his thumb. With a clear popping sound, the cork that wouldn’t budge no matter what I did came out. And he did it with one hand! I had no intention of comparing my grip strength with Mayer, but I couldn’t help feeling a sense of hollowness.

“…Thank you.”

“It is nothing. I should uncork these bottles for you in the future,” Mayer replied.

Who knew a day would come when I would be treating Mayer Knox as a corkscrew? You live about three times and learn. In any case, since the bottle was open, all that remained was to pour. And pour I did into my glass without hesitation. Following that, its contents were then streamed down my throat. There was no time to savor the sweetness on the tip of my tongue as the heat of the drink evoked a tingle in my body. Stealing drinks from Mayer was the absolute best after all.

“Aaah…” I wiped my lips. Finally, I felt like I was somewhat alive with alcohol running in my head.

“Now let us continue our talk regarding the dungeon.” Mayer urged me, unable to wait any longer for me to explain. I became slightly frustrated then. How could one mouthful be enough to quench his thirst? But seeing how curious he was, and since I got a free drink too, I decided to start giving him the information. “We’ll be raiding the dungeon that’ll appear in Furka.”

“Furka? As I remember, there was nothing about that dungeon particularly worth raiding.” Mayer frowned, looking back on his memories of the first playthrough. I sipped at my glass as I said, “It’ll be different this time.”

“…Is it the same case as it was with the Green Spirits? The dungeon difficulty changing?”

Quick on the uptake, he found the answer in no time. I nodded. “Level 51. The maximum number of challengers, 28. We need people with smarts more than those with level or attack power.”

“Level 51, you say… A high-level dungeon after so long.”

“Although it’s a bit low for being high level, it’s the maximum of what the special unit can join in.”

Dungeons were classified into low-level, medium-level, and high-level in this world. Dungeons up to level 10 were called “level zero”. Those could be handled by soldiers instead of expedition corps. From level 11 to 30, dungeons were called low-level; up to level 50, medium-level. Beyond level 50, which was called the “wall of lament”, they were classified as high-level. From that point on, dungeon levels could range up to level 99. This was the maximum level, but it was actually meaningless. The demon lord was level 65 in the first playthrough, and in the second, he would be level 75.

In a nutshell, the dungeons that appeared before the battle against the demon lord would be limited to level 75 at most. And the final boss Mayer Knox was level 80. I stared at the man. Level 51 dungeons weren’t easy. No expedition corps member would take it lightly if they had to raid a high-level dungeon. Yet Mayer Knox looked no different from how he was before listening to my explanation, full of confidence that he could close the dungeon. I supposed a level 80 ‘would’ be confident in anything. That may be why he acted so freely like he didn’t mind stepping into the demon lord’s castle alone.

Mayer stroked his jaw as he said, “High-level dungeons are indeed rare, but I do not get why you care so much about it.”

“Why do you think dungeons change in the second playthrough?” I asked in return.

He paused, not finding an easy answer. “Hm… I am unsure. I only know some dungeons change because you informed me.”

“I’m only guessing myself, but…” This world was a world within a game, and abided by most of the rules in the game. But as it existed as an independent world, it followed the laws of plausibility. Or should it be called the principle of the world? It was the same with changing dungeons. “Just as we remember the first playthrough, there’ll be fellspawn in the demon realm who also remember. These ones will grow stronger faster as well, wouldn’t they?” Considering how the level 65 demon lord showed up stronger at level 75, there was no reason other fellspawn couldn’t undergo growth.

“But even if they do grow stronger, it is only in level, no?”

But levels were so crucial…! Then again, from his perspective as someone with level 80, it was natural to speak so arrogantly. Level 40, 50, or 60… there wasn’t much difference to him. “There are fellspawn that sometimes evolve.”