Unwilling to give up, I pulled the lever again and again without correcting the puzzle, but still, no monsters appeared.
I didnāt want to admit it, but there was no room for doubt now.
In the world, it seems like the infinite generation of monsters by traps doesnāt seem to be possible.
[H- However, this means that we can try the trapdoorās gimmick without any worries! Letās do our best to find the clue to the puzzleā¦ā¦]
I silently rotated the relief carvings, and aligned the pattern with the āsnake, lion, bird, and the cracked carving (Itās damaged so you canāt see whatās carved on it, but itās supposed to have the sun patternā, and pulled the lever.
Thereupon, the door opened.
[Y- Yeahā¦ā¦]
Ignoring Nukuās perplexed voice, I just quietly thought about the cause of this incident.
Why was the infinite grind through trap activation not possible here in this world?
I donāt know the cause.
ā¦ā¦However, I can imagine why.
First of all, thereās very little chance that the EXP grind method had been destroyed by an update from itself.
One assumption is that if this world was created based on āthe game I hadā or āmy memoriesā, it would be strange to have any more additional factors in it.
But more importantly, the developer of B&B went bankrupt soon after announcing the 5th DLC.
Itās almost certain that what I was playing was the latest version of B&B.
If so, itās possible that the specifications were changed by āGodā when this world was transformed from a game to reality.
There have already been previous cases, such as climbing a wall, where something that was restricted by the game specifications in B&B became possible in the real world.
This is a benefit of the game becoming a reality, but the game becoming a reality could also go the other way around.
In short, I hypothesize that āthings that were possible in games but not in realityā would be plucked off in this world.
That trap is probably a mechanism where āif you make a mistake in this trap, the monsters hidden in the ground will jump outā.
Thatās why the phenomenon that āmonsters spring out infinitely every time you step on the trap, which occurs only in the game, is extremely unnatural from a realistic point of view.
Therefore, that would explain, to some extent, if it was modified to āenemies would spring out only onceā in this world.
No, there have been many unnatural things in the past, but this time, I think it means that this infinite grind trick already crosses the āacceptable lineā.
(How much is safe and how much is out?Ā The scary part is that I donāt know where that line is drawnā¦ā¦)
""
Though I say that, I have spent more than a month in this world so far, and this is the only time that the gameās specifications didnāt work.
Blindly trusting game knowledge had its dangers, but I suppose we can verify this without being too nervous.
[ā¦ā¦I guess thatās that.]
[Nii-san?]
All I know at the moment is that the āinfinite grind by using trapsāĀ canāt be used.
Itās still too early to give up.
Raising my gaze, I declared to the puzzled Radd and his party.
[Weāre not going to explore this dungeon anymore. Letās move to the next place!]
Like hell I would let myself stumble here!
This time, I will make sure the infinite grind will succeed!
ā»ćā»ćā»
[Are you sure weāre in the right dungeon?]
Resilia, who had cut down monsters with a single slash, asked me that.
The dungeon we moved to is called the , a dungeon with a recommended level of seven.
Itās the kind of place where Adventurers who have cleared a beginnerās dungeon would normally come next, and of course, the enemies here can be defeated by everyone here with a single shot, and even if they defeated the monsters here, they donāt provide any EXP.
[Yeah. What weāre aiming for this time is a āSecret Bossā.]
[Secret Boss?]
It seems like the concept of Secret Bosses isnāt very popular in this world.
[Iām talking about a hidden enemy with a strength that doesnāt fit the dungeon.]
Saying that, I advanced along with the others while mowing down the enemies.
Considering the beginners following me, it would have been better not to defeat too many monsters, but we might have to go through this place many times.
Apologizing to them in my heart, I mercilessly crushed the monsters in our path and reached the dead end of a side road.
[Is thisā¦ā¦ a grave?]
Stuck there was a cross with a crown of flowers on it.
A large metal cross is propped up against the ground, like some kind of grave marker.
I approached the cross without hesitation.
[O- Old man!?]
Tightly gripping the cross in both hands, I rotated it.
As I rotated it one revolution to the left and twice to the right, I heard a click, and the ground behind the cross made a noise.
[A- A hidden staircaseā¦ā¦]
While Radd and the others were surprised, I strode down the staircase.
At the end of the stairs is a large circular room, in the center of which stands a knight in full body armor.
That is our target this time.
Looking into its empty eye sockets, reflecting nothing back, I used .
*insert enemy stat board ā knight of sorrows*
The corners of my lips naturally turned up at the sight of this Status.
Standing before us was the most powerful enemy since the .
ā»ćā»ćā»
When I went down the stairs and met the knightās eyes, Raddās body tensed up, as if his body was paralyzed, and he timidly looked at me.
[O- Old man. Even I can tell. This guyās pretty strong, arenāt they?]
[That monster over there is a Secret Boss after all. If we talk about Status, itās a few levels higher than the Boss of the we went to earlier.]
Radd gulped.
[Donāt worry. They wonāt attack unless you enter the room, and they donāt have a long-range attack. Youāll be safe here.]
In the end, this is a beginner dungeon.
Itās not set up to run over players who just happened to find the hidden passageway without question.
He only attacks at close range, and his movement speed is slow.
Even if you accidentally get close to it, you can safely escape by leaving the room and leaving the combat state.
[And besidesā¦ā¦]
While I explained that to them, I switched the rings Iām wearing on my fingers to āVITā-oriented ones.
I donāt intend to let myself get hit by its attacks, but itās still better to have a safety margin in case of any unforeseen accidents.
[Thereās no need for you guys to fight that guy.]
[Ehā¦ā¦?]
[This guy is famous for summoning a Lv 30 when their HP falls to a half and a quarter. Everyoneās target this time would be defeating those summons and raising your level.]
As I said this, Resilia, who had been watching the situation quietly, vigorously interrupted, looking as if she was about to snap.
[You intend to fight that thing alone!? I wonāt let youā¦ā¦]
[No way. I wonāt fight it. I will just escape from its reach and run around in circles.]
[Ehā¦ā¦?]
I moved forward, passing by the side of Resilia, who looked blankly at me.
[Well, youāll see if what I said works or not. I shouldnāt be in any danger, but if there is, it wouldnāt be too late for you to come and help.]
With that, I step into the circular room.
""
Thereupon, the knight standing in the center of the room, their eyes letting out a gloomy light, slowly swung the sword in their hand to the side.
[It seems like theyāre ready for battle.]
This would be the first life-and-death battle Iāve had for a while.
My heart beats faster with a pleasant tension.
(I guess Iāll give it a try.)
I pulled out a Molotov cocktail from my inventory and tossed it at the knight.
As my throw doesnāt miss and hits the knight, their body is engulfed in flamesā¦ā¦
[ā¦ā¦Well, I knew this would happen.]
But the knight didnāt move an inch.
With the gloomy light within its eyes, it simply stepped towards me as if the flames of the molotov didnāt leave them any scratch.
That happening is something I expected.
If this Secret Boss had the same setting as in the game, long-range attacks wonāt work on this guy.
You would have to stand in this guyās arena, and fight them in a close combat match.
The only way to subdue this knight is to engage in a desperate melee battle.
(If thatās the caseā¦ā¦)
I will just move as I planned.
Keeping my distance without panicking, I waited for the opponent to move.
The knight approached my way step by step.
If you are caught off guard by their slow movement here and get within range of their sword, you will certainly be hit by a slash that will wake you up.
Thatās why, I will not underestimate this guy.
I watch the knight cautiously, and when they come close to a certain distance, I run away by circling the perimeter.
Thereupon, the knight will slowly approach me, and I will circle around the perimeter again to keep my distance before their sword gets within range.
Such a pattern repeated over and over, tens and hundreds of times, and thenā¦ā¦
āāāāāJust like that, an hour had passed.
ā»ćā»ćā»
(ā¦ā¦I think itās about time?)
My body moving with a sense of purpose, I lead the armored knight to the back.
Then, just after I reached the innermost wall, it happened.
[Ohhhā¦ā¦ Urwwwooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!]
The knight raised their sword with a frightening yell.
(āāāāNowās the time!)
This was the only opening the knight would show.
Running by the knightās side, I cut through their line of sight and moved behind them.
I am tempted to strike the knight in the back, but I wonāt be able to damage them during their āSummoning Motionā.
I shook off the temptation and walked back to where Radd and the others were waiting, and there, I turned around to see that the knight was still in its Summoning Motion with their back to us.
I fire my Decoy Gun so that it catches the guyās attention, and there, I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
With this, we finally have some time for conversation.
[W- What in the world is going on?]
[Look.]
Radd asked, to which I pointed toward the knight.
There, at this moment, the had brought forth a magic circle on the ground, from which a was about to be summoned.
[āāāāāSpawn Generation, success!!!]
This is the āinfinite grindā secret plan I thought about!
If the idea of infinitely generating monsters springing out of the ground is considered unnatural, then why not try a more natural way to generate the number of monsters?
This is the method I had come up with.
The summon squires when their HP decreases, once when their HP becomes half and once when their HP is a quarter, and even if they regain HP, they will not be summoned again.
However, thereās one more condition under which the would summon his squires.
āāāāāThat is when theyāre āin a combat state for an hourā.
Since itās quite easy to run away from the knight, even a novice player who canāt even damage the knight can keep on fighting it.
However, since the battle wonāt end indefinitely, perhaps to bring about a requiem to those players who want to cheese this knight, squires would be summoned each hour the battle drags on.
(T/N: Cheesing means you employ a cheap tactic to complete a task without much trouble. Without the summons, you can slowly trickle away the knightās HP with its 0 DEX stats.)
Unlike the HP condition, thereās no limit to the number of squires it summons, so just by running around like this, the number of enemies it spawns would rapidly increase, and you would be able to defeat any number of them!
[For the time being, Iāll wait another hour and see what happens. If it summons a squire again, the experiment will be a complete successā¦ā¦]
With a big smile on my face, I turned toward the othersā¦ā¦
[Well, what a good job we did today. I mean, we already leveled-up.]
[Yes. Fighting all those higher-leveled monsters gave us juicy EXP.]
[I canāt wait to take a bath.]
But talking about such things, Radd and the others looked like they were returning above ground.
[Eh, wait, ehā¦ā¦?]
I looked at Mana, the last remaining conscience of Raddās party, and perhaps feeling my gaze, she flinched, and looked at me and her party members several timesā¦ā¦
[E- Errr, ummmā¦ā¦ W- When we get back, letās have a consolation party!]
She bowed her head and walked up the stairs after Radd and the others.
As I was stunned at her response, Resilia came in front of me.
As expected, at the end of the day, it is only my little sister whom I can rely on.
[Thank goodness. Resilia, help me convince them tooā¦ā¦]
When I called out to her, Resilia sweetly smiled at meā¦ā¦
[āāāāCome on now. Letās go home, Nii-san.]
āā-and grabbing me by my collar, she started dragging me to the stairs.
[Hey, w- wait! We can spawn out enemies, generate infinite amounts of themā¦ā¦]
[Please stop with the stupidity. You have a lot of work to do, Nii-san. If you waste hours in a place like this, the Guildmaster will scold you again.]
I tried to shake her hand off, but the fact that what Iām wearing now were VIT-oriented rings turned out to be a disaster.
Even though I resisted her quite earnestly, Resiliaās hand didnāt move a twitch.
Helplessly being dragged along like a kitten in the mouth of its mother, my body climbed up the stairs in no time at all.
Before long, we caught up with Raddās party who had been moving ahead of us.
[Old manā¦ā¦ You know, even though heās so smart, he had times like these when heās being an idiot.]
[Mhmm. Thatās rude, Radd. Rex is cute that way.]
Receiving warm gazes from Raddās party for some reason, I was forcibly dragged away from the dungeon.
And thus, just one more step to fruition, the āSecond Infinite Grind Operationā ended up being postponed.