/
Evan D. Sherden. Enters the Dungeon (3)
The colossal Dungeon of Sherden, located in the center of the dungeon city, looked very grand from its entrance.
Looking at the marble-covered floor, high ceilings, and sculptures of gods on both sides of the corridor, it was easy to be confused whether this was the entrance to the dungeon or the temple.
“Ah, this…”
“Huh. It is the entrance to the dungeon.”
A huge circle was drawn in the center of the temple, boasting a huge and overwhelming majesty, in which ancient characters that humans could never recognize were written.
It was a magic circle—a magic circle composed of the power of God.
‘There’s a locking device that the gods managed to build so that the monsters in the dungeon couldn’t jump out of it. The reason why the dungeon backflow was of such a small scale was because this magic circle blocks the entrance of monsters as much as possible…’
Evan, who knew about the background of the dungeon from the Yo-ma Great War series, saw it and understood.
When playing it as a game, he had thought that this was just a basic area. However, when it became real, he found out how much difference it made for humanity.
Once his realization had settled in, his faith in the Gods was soaring. Of course, that didn’t mean he believed in one of them.
‘Unlike the earth, in this world where the existence of a god is taken for granted, it is difficult to understand what faith is for… No, let’s just go in.’
He was not a theologian, and he had no intention of taking this thought and spreading it around just to receive strange glares. Evan raised his head with a light sigh.
Raihan was praying in silence while heavily armored, while Belois and Shine quietly stared at the magic circle on the floor.
“Master Evan, you must enter within 2 or 3 minutes at the most. I’m really sorry, the other team is also waiting for entry…”
The knight in armor, who managed the magic circle, said, bowing his head as if to warn Evan. After that, a priest and a mage also stood by him.
The management of the magic circle was conducted on a turn basis, which applied to all explorers using the dungeon. There, two men and one knight of the marquis were added, and a total of three men were guarding the dungeon entrance for a full day.
“It’s okay, I know that’s the law. Raihan, have you finished praying?”
“Yes, I’m done.”
After praying, Raihan walked to them and opened his visor, revealing his eyes.
Surprisingly, he was wearing the “Eco Shield,” the shield he wore for shield arts training, and the “Invisible Shield,” which looked like great full plate armor, but was actually treated as a shield and couldn’t play the role of armor at all.
“Hyung, I’ll ask you one last time. Is this really okay?”
“If my shield technique can’t stop even the attacks of these lower-level monsters, that means I’m not talented.”
“But the danger lurking in the dungeon is not only monsters.”
“I need to know how to stop even those so that I can call myself a real master of shield arts.”
No, he was not, but Raihan, who appeared in the game, had a terrifyingly hard armor… At a time when he was in the midst of his frustration, he realized his aptitude for the shield, and it seemed that Raihan became obsessed with the shield at that moment.
But even if he thought so, he did not need to say it.
In the dungeon, there was a bonus to skill training, so his behavior was the right thing to do if one only thought about the training of shield art.
‘Moreover, because I have a clear grasp of dungeons. If I act to save myself, it will naturally reduce the risk for Raihan. Also, Raihan’s divine power didn’t go anywhere.’
He hadn’t heard of anyone in the past wearing an invisible shield and entering the dungeon as he was.
However, with Raihan’s ability now, moreover, when Shine and Belois’ aid were added to it, it could be affirmed that he would never die while going to the 5th floor of the dungeon.
‘Oh, not absolutely. Because there is a really vicious space movement trap on the 3rd floor of the dungeon…’
Evan reached out to the group, vowing to tell the story when they entered the third floor. Belois grabbed his hand. Shine took Belois’ free hand and offered his other hand to Raihan, who took it.
Only when they were connected to each other would they be transmitted to the same place without being separated. In the game, it was as long as they were tied to the same party, and of course, there was no party formation system in this world. Instead, the way to prove that they were indeed a party was through this simple hand-holding.
“The maximum reach is the first floor. Is that correct?”
“Yeah. All four of them have no experience entering the dungeon.”
“If so, they don’t need to prepare in advance.”
“I see. The magic circle will send everyone to the first floor.”
This magic circle was a universal weapon that helped the explorer move freely from the first floor to the level where the explorer reached their maximum level, but the four of them were automatically fixed to the first floor when entering the dungeon because they had never entered the dungeon before.
“The entry point is completely random. But as you explore, you’ll find the path leading downstairs. It is then that God will come and give you the blessing of the level.”
“There is no trap on the first floor of the dungeon, but please be careful and move forward.”
‘Yes, yes, this is a story that I heard thousands and tens of thousands of times during Yo-ma Great War 2, 3, and 4. Every time you enter the dungeon, the secondary NPC will tell you about it!
Now, I could not only memorize it but also make it in rap and sing it. Y0! It is safe on the first floor! From the second floor, open your eyes and look around! The trap is under my feet, the grim reaper behind my neck, yeah!’
Evan pulled the party that was memorizing it and set his foot on the magic circle. The magic circle spewed out a dazzling light and swallowed up the party. A voice drifted through Evan’s ears.
[Where is this, I don’t know, I’m scared… ]
“Huh?!”
When Evan raised his head, they were already in the dungeon. It was difficult to check the surroundings because it was dark everywhere, but Raihan, who was prepared, turned on the magic lamp that had been attached to his helmet in advance.
“We really have entered the dungeon. Even if I knew it had such a structure, I still find it amazing.”
“This is a dungeon…”
“Woah, I’m really going to die from trembling. Hyung, use healing magic!”
“You’re still very far away from your stamina limit.”
The party had started a conversation, as they hadn’t heard any noise at all. There was only Evan who had heard this voice in this head.
‘What, why didn’t everyone hear it? I just heard it clearly, saying that it was scared.’
He didn’t hear exactly what it was scared of. But if the memory of Evan’s past life was correct, it was God’s voice.
But… there was something wrong with it. It was only when an explorer who enters a dungeon in the brief moment when he clears a level in the dungeon could hear the voice of God.
There were only two exceptions.
‘The main characters of Yo-ma Great War 3 and 4.’
They could see the future in a limited way. It was guessed that they were carrying the destiny of the world with them, and the Gods wanted to boost their strength somehow.
So, the protagonist of Yo-ma Great War 3 and 4 heard a message of support from the gods every time they entered the dungeon, starting from the first time they enter the dungeon. Players jokingly called this a login message.
It was fun to collect messages because the patterns and the contents of the messages changed according to the progress of the story. Evan also collected up to 598 in his previous life.
‘… But why is this login message coming to me?’
He wondered if all the people with him were compared to the protagonist, so he wondered if they all heard such a voice as well, but it didn’t seem like that. Thus, Evan felt even more stunned.
‘Why are you sending me a message and leaving this dream team behind… Is the transmission bad?’
Evan had the memories of his previous life, so he tried to make some guesses—
He shook his head and stopped thinking about it. Anything more was meaningless if he thought about it now.
‘I will ask them directly.’
If you went deeper into the dungeon, you got a chance to talk to the gods. Anyway, Evan was thinking of clearing the dungeon as much as possible, so that one day he could encounter the gods directly.
“Ah, everyone, be ready for battle. A group is approaching from behind that dark street corner. About four? The only monsters that appear on the first floor are goblins, but since they are still monsters, make sure everyone is prepared.”
“Uh… How did you know?”
“It’s just a guess.”
Evan replied with a shrug when Shine asked him. In fact, at the same time, as the level of existence improved, the five senses became better as well, so I didn’t feel like this was too special.
Looking at it this way, it was also quite helpful for dungeon exploration.
[Kihi… ]
[Kiik, Kirruk.]
As soon as they realized that they had been seen and watching Evan and others get ready for battle, the monsters that were hiding came out.
There were four goblins armed with slender wooden bats. It was really true what Evan said, even the headcount.
“They have no ranged attack. There are no archers on the first and second floors. However, this is the first real battle, so you should never relax…”
As soon as Evan saw the goblins, he quickly gave instructions to the party members and stopped speaking. Then he himself got ready.
It was the first time Evan also saw a goblin. But why wasn’t he afraid?
Why? Had he gotten used to it by killing the slimes already? No matter how weak they were, it seemed a little odd to compare goblins with slimes…
“Young master?”
“Oh no. The battle begins immediately. I believe you already know enough about the three combat methods.”
Maybe in the game, Evan was born with a strong will? This was not a good quality for someone who wanted to live for a long time… Evan struggled with such thoughts in his head but ordered the party members to fight.
As soon as he heard that, Raihan moved forward quickly with his shield in front of him, and Shine also steeped up, daggers in both hands without making a sound.
“We always have to keep the right distance from them, Lua. It should be a distance that is far enough not to be directly involved in the battle, but close enough to provide immediate assistance if something happens to them. It’s important to judge the distance and when to act.”
“Okay.”
Meanwhile, Evan and Belois, who belonged to the support group, followed them at a certain distance. This was the basic formation in dungeons.
The front-end protected the rear, and the rear assisted the front-end. But if you managed this distance incorrectly, the movement of the front could be disturbed, so it was a very important factor than it was thought to be.
‘Of course, there is a difference between the game and the reality… Yet this will be an element that is sufficiently reflected even in reality.’
By the time Evan had told Belois about the concept of proper distance, the front had begun fighting the four goblins.
And the battle was over.
“Uh, is it over already?”
“Yes, sir.”
Shine raised a dagger covered in the blood of the goblin and made a slightly embarrassed expression. Each dagger was used twice, one for each, and four goblins were dead in only four movements.
“Well. These were too weak… As soon as the dagger touched them, they kept falling.”
It was because they used the tricks of skill training that were applied in the game to the maximum efficiency from childhood and trained hard.
Evan may not have yet understood how terrible the training’s result was from the dungeon’s standpoint.
“Well, yes, as I thought. It’s been a few years since you’ve been training with the double daggers, and no matter how weak the rookies are, they shouldn’t struggle with a goblin. It is just the beginning, yet you already say these were not a big deal?”
However, Evan pretended as if he knew it all, as if he wasn’t surprised by Shine’s ability like it was natural for a goblin to die just by getting hit with a double dagger that doesn’t even use mana!
“Have you heard me? Then you need to conserve your stamina… Okay? We will continue to pay attention to the state of our stamina.”
“Okay. The most important thing in a dungeon is not to get tired, so that we will be able to cope with any abnormal situation at any time.”
“Yes, let’s increase the weight on Raihan and Lua in the next battle… Oh, and me too.”
If he killed them all, others’ contributions would be insufficient, and they would not be able to level up!