[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 739: White Rank (3)
-Jeong Yeongwoo, huh… That’s not a name in the common tongue. You must be from a frontier race.
‘Ban’ listened to Yeongwoo’s name with a lukewarm attitude.
At this, Yeongwoo swung his Bastard Sword and furrowed his brow.
“Like it compares to a bastard like you who can't even give his real name.”
-A name isn't all that important.
“Why? Even the Great Path says this: let everyone know the meaning of your name.”
At that, Ban let out a low chuckle, as if amused.
-Do you wish to become great?
“I just want to become strong. But usually, those who are strong also happen to be great, don't they?”
-Another corpse shall be added to the Great Path.
“Now that I look at it, you're just the same, spouting useless nonsense.”
As Yeongwoo said this and tapped the table twice, the redraw button disappeared, and a streak of white light flowed out from that spot.
Phaaaaat!
Then it quickly enveloped Yeongwoo and Ban, dyeing the entire area pure white.
“W-what?”
Unlike Jung Yeongwoo, a first-timer in an Epic Dungeon who was panicking, Ban stood calmly in place.
Then, soon after.
Swoooosh!
Along with the distinct sense of displacement from spatial teleportation, their surroundings changed into a hexagonal room.
No, to be precise, it was more accurate to say they had been moved to another room.
They had finally entered the dungeon.
「Team formation complete.」
Following that, a system message appeared in midair, followed by an announcement to wait a little longer.
「Not all teams have finished forming yet.」
「As soon as all teams enter, ‘Keen Intuition’ will begin.」
Then, on one of the six sides that had been completely blocked by walls, a pure white door appeared.
At this, Yeongwoo quickly ran over and tried pushing and pulling the door, but naturally, nothing in particular happened.
-You're quite the frivolous type. Did you really think that would open? You saw the announcement too.
“Still, you never know. Is there any guarantee the system won't lie?”
-…….
At the reply that left him speechless, Ban was instead the one who shut his mouth.
And in the meantime, Yeongwoo looked around the hexagonal room that appeared to be some kind of waiting room.
“I doubt we'll be fighting while moving in and out of here... there's probably a big maze or something outside, right?”
-That's probably the case. It's basically a dungeon that ends when you find the exit and leave, so the process of finding the exit itself will be the adversity.
“Then what's your style? Do you kill everyone you meet while looking for the exit?”
At that, Ban tilted his head.
-If you don't kill them, what other options could there be? The only way to obtain tokens is through acquiring them via murder.
“No, no. That was the second method, the first method the system explained was ‘trade’.”
-You're saying something naive. Do you think guys who have made it to an Epic Dungeon will meekly hand over their tokens?
“Still, if they are truly driven to the brink of death, I think they'd hand over the token rather than die for their pride.”
-If you're skilled enough to drive an opponent to the brink of death, you don't need to receive tokens through trade in the first place. If you kill them, you can seize all their tokens, but if you trade, you have to leave at least one token for the opponent.
Those words were true.
Every participant dies the moment they lose all their tokens.
So, intending to obtain tokens through trade meant the exact same thing as taking a loss of at least one token per participant.
“But instead... if you keep the opponent alive, you can get something else.”
-Something else?
Ban reacted as if he had absolutely no idea.
At this, Yeongwoo rubbed his index finger and thumb together and said.
“I mean money.”
-...Money?
“Have you never issued bonds in a dungeon? If you ask them whether they want to die or fork over money, they usually choose the latter.”
-What on earth are you talking about...?
At his utterly bewildered reaction, Yeongwoo couldn't help but feel embarrassed in return.
“No, fuck. Was I the only one who made money on my way out of dungeons?”
Then, Ban spoke in a very firm tone.
-If you came to a dungeon, focus on gathering tokens according to the dungeon rules. Why are you thinking of making money in a place like this?
“No...”
It felt like his world was collapsing.
At the very least, the partner in front of him wasn't lacking in money, so he had never even conceived the idea of committing robbery inside a dungeon.
“Is it that common to find a place where you can meet a bunch of guys with real money all at once? That's why I always used to make money in dungeons.”
Besides, money wasn't the only advantage of keeping an opponent alive.
Even if they were kept alive for the sake of robbery, there were cases where good karma accumulated because of it, and sometimes you even gained unintended potential allies, didn't you?
Of course, Ban didn't seem to agree at all.
-That might have worked in lower-tier dungeons, but this is an Epic Dungeon. There aren't many guys easy enough for you to leisurely extort money from. It's wiser to kill them cleanly so there are no future troubles.
“Leisurely? I extort money desperately. I always need an astronomical amount of money.”
-Why on earth...? Money is important and all, but is there a reason you need it that much?
At Ban's question, Yeongwoo unconsciously almost blurted out the word ‘Earthship’ before shutting his mouth.
And he realized.
Just as Ban was covering his face and both arms to hide something, the fact was that he too was not entirely without things he wanted to hide.
So the only thing he could say right now was.
“That's because... I'm incredibly poor.”
-You don't look like it at all, but well, you must have your own reasons.
Glancing at Yeongwoo's Bastard, Ban soon turned his eyes to the empty air and said.
-In any case, it begins soon.
“How do you know that?”
-The color of the walls is subtly changing. It means the intervention of the system that was locking down the space is fading.
“What? The color of the walls?”
The moment Yeongwoo turned his head toward the wall at those words, a system message appeared.
「All teams have been formed. Keen Intuition begins.」
Then, the tightly shut white entrance door swung wide open.
Clack!
‘What the, if it's like this... the guys who formed their teams last are starting the game without even having a proper conversation with each other.’
In effect, it meant that the later you formed a team, the more of a disadvantage you carried from the start.
And whether Ban was well aware of this fact too, he quickly dashed outside and said.
-Check if there are any white doors nearby. If a door has opened but there's still someone inside, that's our first attack target.
He meant they would first attack the guys who were dawdling because they formed their team at the last minute.
However, whether it was bad luck, or because they had gotten a harsh starting point due to ‘Ban’ possessing a whopping eleven white marks, there didn't seem to be any weak teams around.
There was an open white door right across from them, but the participants inside had already come out.
-Oh, man.
-What is this?
A knight with outstandingly handsome features and striking blue hair, and a one-eyed being with a blunt horn protruding from its forehead.
The two possessed six and four white marks respectively.
They weren't exactly tremendous veterans, but they weren't rookies either.
On the other hand, the marks on ‘Ban’, who was staring intently at the two opponents, numbered a staggering eleven.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
-A tough opponent from the very first one. But I have a feeling this will be the first and last adversity.
The blue-haired knight recited a rather bold line.
He was saying that as long as they killed the veteran in front of them, there would be no one more dangerous in this dungeon.
At this, Ban looked at the blue hair and spoke in a low voice.
-If you have blue hair... are you of the Sinual tribe? I heard they are quite skilled in hand-to-hand combat.
At that, the opponent lightly presented his fist and said.
-You seem to have quite a wide breadth of knowledge. And you, who are you and where are you from?
In reality, Ban had not revealed a single mark that could specify his identity.
-I think that's unnecessary information for someone who is going to die anyway.
-Whether I die or win, I just want to know who I am fighting against.
-Then find out for yourself after you win.
With those final words, as Ban reached his hand into the empty air, a long silhouette appeared there and soon transformed into an ultramarine spear.
‘Weapon Catalog!’
While Yeongwoo widened his eyes at the familiar sight, Ban glanced slightly toward Yeongwoo and said quietly.
-Keep a good watch to see if any other guys are coming. Because dealing with four at the same time is difficult.
“What?”
This effectively meant that he could finish off about two natives of an Epic Dungeon all by himself, didn't it?
Taaaat!
In the meantime, Ban was already rushing forward, gripping his spear fiercely, and seeing this, Yeongwoo hesitated for a moment.
‘Should I really just stand back with my hands behind my back as that guy ordered? Or a joint attack? Or if not that.......’
There was also the option of striking the back of ‘Ban’ of all people, but Yeongwoo soon shook his head.
‘If I kill that guy now, I'll have to face the remaining two opponents all by myself. And by some slim chance, if that bastard's martial prowess...’
The moment Yeongwoo's thoughts reached this point, the worst predictable situation actually unfolded.
Kwaaaack!
Swung with an eerie sound tearing through the air, Ban's spear blade cleaved through the blue-haired knight's shoulder in a single stroke.
-...Ugh!
-Sinual of hand-to-hand combat? You're terrible compared to your reputation. Or have you just never fought someone who properly uses a spear?
While Ban spat out those very cold words, the one-eyed being swung its axe, but it wasn't of much help.
Swoosh!
Because, as if he had been waiting for it, Ban rotated his body around the spear shaft and dodged the opponent's attack.
Then he immediately struck the opponent with the spear blade, while simultaneously pushing away the blue-haired knight with the opposite end of the spear shaft.
It was truly a unification of offense and defense.
‘No, it's more than that. He's using the spear to dominate the space.’
Moreover, the spearmanship used by his unidentified partner was different starting from its fundamental movements.
Normally, one fought by swinging the weapon held in their hand, but in Ban's case, it felt closer to the spear being the center and his body being the one swung around.
He was truly seeing that kind of movement for the first time, and Yeongwoo was finally able to realize.
‘Damn it... I've chosen the best and worst partner.’
The reason he was the best was, without a doubt, Ban's martial prowess.
So, if they had encountered each other on different teams, he would have become an unconditional enemy and experienced that ridiculous spearmanship firsthand.
However, the reason he was the worst was...
‘A guy like that is after my Bastard...?’
Yeongwoo remembered clearly.
The method to get out of this dungeon, that is.
「However, the exit will only activate when two surviving participants touch it at the same time.」
Two surviving participants.
Nowhere did it say ‘partners’ or ‘same team members’.
In other words, even if one were to lose their partner at the last moment, as long as they could drag along another participant, there would be no hindrance to escaping.
So, what kind of thoughts would be inside the head of Ban, who was effectively the strongest in the dungeon?
‘Before we escape, that guy will try to kill me no matter what. Why? Because he covets my Bastard, and he intends to take the few tokens I have left.’
Yet, as conversed earlier, Ban had no great interest in money.
He was an opponent with whom one could not negotiate in the normal way.
If so, how on earth was he supposed to survive against that crazy bastard?
Kwaaaak!
Watching the one-eyed being's head get cut off just now, Yeongwoo thought with an expression that looked like he was about to cry at any moment.
‘T-There are only two ways. One is to defeat that guy with pure skill.’
And the other is.......
‘If that doesn't work, I have no choice but to make sure there are no other survivors in this dungeon besides me and that bastard.’
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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