âThereâs a big difference between seeing Shin-nimâs face and just hearing Shin-nimâs voice! I canât be assured that Shin-nim came back safely until I see Shin-nim and touch Shin-nim with my hands!â
Loretta fretted like a child and hit me lightly. A âlightâ hit from Loretta was enough to massacre several hundred Orc Lords, but I endured the pain. Even if we did something couple-like, our bodies made it more extreme. I spoke as I did my best to hide my pain.
âKkeung. I just wanted to finish everything I had to do before I came to see Loretta. That way, I wonât be distracted by other things.â
â⊠Until when?â
Loretta suddenly became quieter as she asked with sparkling eyes. It was extremely cute.
âAll day.â
âAll day!? Really?â
âYes.â
âYay!â
Seeing Loretta clap in happiness, I smiled awkwardly. Loretta pushed herself towards me and asked with a flushed face.
âWhat should we play? What should we play?â
âPlaying is nice, but thereâs actually something I want to learn from Loretta.â
In an instant, Lorettaâs face became rotten.
âShin-nim, is it fun inflating my expectation and bursting it in a moment?â
âIt is, actual⊠Sorry.â
After barely consoling Loretta, I had her sit down next to me. Of course, I had to suffer through unspeakable pain before then.
âFine, but only because Iâll be spending time with Shin-nim.â
âRight, so what I want to learn isâŠâ
âIf itâs punching people, Iâm really good at that.â
Loretta smiled sweetly and threw several jabs. With even a single jab being potentially lethal, I realized Loretta was still slightly angry.
âThatâs nice, but I want to learn about Dimensional Travel.â
Loretta face stiffened.
âYouâre kidding, right?â
âIâm not.â
â⊠Hold on.â
Loretta got up and circled around the room. She then went into the kitchen and boiled red tea. After wandering around for 10 minutes without saying anything, Loretta filled her teacup and took a sip. Only then did she finally say something.
âFine, but only because Iâll be spending time with Shin-nim.â
âYouâre going that far back!?â
âI donât know, you canât!â
âI want to learn it.â
I looked at Loretta with a serious face. Loretta then humphed and snorted.
âNo!â
âWhy not?â
âThe difficult of the magic is too high. Also, crossing a dimension with oneâs own power rather than using the dungeonâs power takes an enormous amount of mana! Itâs impossible with Shin-nimâs current strength!â
âBut I still want to learn it. If I do, Iâm sure itâll be useful one day.â
Loretta wore a exhausted look and asked.
âAt least tell me the reason Shin-nim wants to learn it.â
âI want to be able to use the skills the dungeon gave me on my own power.â
âBe more honest.â
âI also thought about being stuck in a foreign world where the dungeonâs power didnât work.â
âThatâs not⊠impossible, I guess.â
Loretta turned back from trying to shoot me down. She knew what I had gone through.
The balance between attack and defense was twisting in a strange way. The Demon Lord wasnât the only worldâs enemy trying to analyze the dungeonâs power to overcome it. Unless I planned on quit being a Dimensional Mercenary, I wanted to learn how to use Dimensional Travel on my own.
âBut Shin-nim, it will be really hard. Itâs not something you can master in just one or two days.â
âIâm prepared. Iâll come learn it from Loretta even if I have to squeeze my available time dry.â
ââŠâ
Thinking about it now, Loretta seemed to have liked what I just said. Loretta ears were perked up. She fell in thought for a moment, then finally nodded.
âDonât tell this to Lord. Only tell her after you fully master Dimensional Travel.â
âGot it.â
Loretta sighed. She then tilted her head and asked.
âShin-nim, how did you know I could use Dimensional Travel? Even amongst dungeon administrators, Iâm the only one other than Lord who can use it.â
âItâs that hard!?â
âAh, so you were just mistaken on how hard it was.â
Loretta gave me a stare urging me to give up now, but I only grinned in return. Loretta then suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
âShin-nim, now that I think about it, is that a proposal? Itâs the same thing as âIâll be with you forever,â right?â
âI want to learn it quickly, so cut the nonsenseâ
Lorettaâs tutoring starting just like that. In parallel with Dimensional Travel, I also practiced making other skills I learned in the dungeon mine. As long as I could protect myself from Loretta, who was eyeing my body like a predator eyeing a prey, she was the best mentor.
Ren and Paulâs thrashing phase, Revival membersâ Peruta Circuit lessons, learning Dimensional Travel from Loretta, and making Ciara into a person with Hwaya.
There were many things I had to do, but that didnât mean I could stop climbing the dungeon. I was sure that my current self wasnât strong enough to defeat the Demon Lord.
Not to mention, the Demon Lord wasnât the final boss. I had to defeat the one above the Demon Lord, and even then, I couldnât be sure that Earth would be completely safe. Even though I said I would defeat foreign worldsâ enemies, invading their territory was different than them invading mine. Furthermore⊠No, even if I thought about that one, I couldnât do anything about it, so letâs set it aside.
In any case, I headed to the dungeon. First Dungeonâs 81st floor. It was the true upper part of the dungeon belonging to Platinum rank explorers.
[If Tamer is not your main class, the number of tamed beast you can take to the 81st floor is limited to one.]
When I stepped on the stairway with Licorice and Lotte, message noona⊠Sherafinaâs alert rang out in my ear. I halted my steps and glanced at Loretta who was happily waving her hand from the Floor Shop. Loretta tilted her head for a moment, and hit her left palm with her right fist like she just remembered something. Then, she stuck out her tongue.
âEhet.â
Inexcusable. Still, since she was cute, I decided to forgive her.
âYou forgot again, didnât you?â
âYep! Itâs been a while since I dealt with a new Platinum rank explorer!â
I sighed and looked back at Licorice and Lotte.
âYou two should go train by yourselves. Tell Plene to work hard too.â
âWeâre both going back?â
âYeah. Since itâs like this, I might as well try it on my own.â
Licorice seemed a bit disappointed, but Lotte simply shrugged.
âItâll be fine if itâs Hero. Then Iâll head to Resting Place of the Angels.â
âIâll go back to Earth.â
The two of them nodded and headed back. After sending them off, I looked back at Loretta who was still grinning happily and smacked her forehead with a light aura ball. Loretta frowned and shouted.
âShin-nim is so mean! Give me one hundred kisses as punishment!â
âThatâs a reward, so no.â
â⊠Eh?â
After hearing what I said, Loretta titled her head for a moment. Leaving the then blushing Loretta behind, I went up to the 81st floor. Loretta was definitely stupid.
[You entered the 81st floor. Yell âcommence explorationâ to start exploring.]
The 81st floor carried an eerie atmosphere. It felt like ghosts would pop out of the large hallway at any time. It wasnât just the atmosphere that was eerie. The mana in the hallway was also chillingly cold. I had to summon Ruyue to lessen its impact.
âIf itâs like this from the beginning, it wonât be easy⊠Commence exploration!â
As soon as the words left my mouth, the hallwayâs atmosphere changed and its mana pressured me with a killing intent. I poured mana into my choker and summoned Chaotic Spear. At that moment, I felt something falling on my head.
âHaa!â
I shot my spear up fiercely. However, I didnât feel my spear connecting. I jumped back and checked my spear.
There was a lump of blood stuck on my spear tip.
[The blood is moving.]
Ruyue briefly spoke. It was as she said. Blood dripping from the ceiling, blood coursing through the walls, and blood crawling on the ground. They were all aiming for me. First, the blood traveling up my spear handle was the biggest problem. I quickly swung my spear, but I couldnât shake it off.
âIs this even a monster!?â
[I can feel a powerful mana! Itâs similar to a elemental!
âRuyue, freeze it!â
[Un!]
Ruyue immediately frozen the spear handle. Surprisingly, the blood absorbed Ruyueâs ice and continued to creep towards me. Mana eater, this was a mana eater! I clenched my teeth and roused Lightning Godâs power. Finally, a little bit of the blood evaporated. However, what I did was like peeing on a field of ice. Compared to the amount of mana I spent, the blood only incurred a tiny loss.
âSo troublesome.â
I couldnât just let it continue crawl up the spear handle. When I poured in more of Lightning Godâs power, the blood shot up with a crackling noise. It headed towards my face, and I smacked it down with my spear blade filled with Lightning Godâs power.
âRuyue, stop the blood falling from the ceiling! Peika, Sharana!â
[From the 81st floor, you cannot have three elementals out at the same time.]
Along with Sherafinaâs explanation, only Peika appeared in front of me. When she saw the blood creeping towards me from all sides, she freaked out and released lightning.
[Creepy! Burn up!]
âPeika, theyâre mana eaters. You need to use a lot of power!â
[Got it!]
While Peika and Ruyue frantically stopped the blood from encroaching, I hurriedly took out a mana potion and gulped it down.
Meanwhile, more and more blood appeared. Seeing a stream of blood shooting up from the ground underneath me, I got startled and stabbed it with my spear. When the property of a liquid mixed with the property of a mana eater, it became extremely tricky to deal with. As I couldnât just stand here and block them forever, I began to run. As I saw more and more blood filling up the hallway, I became a bit tired.
âWhat the hell are these things!?â
I considered using Elemental Tempest, but gave up as I was afraid of the mana eaters annihilating the elementalsâ existence. In the end, I used Heroic Strikes to cut apart the flood of blood and shouted in annoyance. Although I wasnât expecting an answer, a voice replied to the annoyed shout.
[They are âCrimson Hellâ, the worldâs enemy that almost ruined the world Pantiran.]