Must Save, Entering the Dungeon (6)

Unless you meet other special conditions, you can only meet the hidden boss after you’ve knocked out all the floor masters that exist in the dungeon.

It took quite a while after Yo-Ma Great War 3 was released for the existence of a hidden boss to become known. It was because of the placement of the stairs, which immediately crossed from the floor master’s battle room. Adventurers in this world usually rushed to the next floor without any doubt, and missed it.

What about on Earth, where there were so many players who played all sorts of games?

Even there, no one knew about the hidden boss’ existence until he had first discovered it (though the expression “excavated” would be more appropriate) and defeated it.

“Wow! So it was true!”

And it was now being revealed to the world again by a three-member elite sub-party sponsored by Evan.

“I can’t believe there was such a room! It’s like a hidden room after you can kill nine floor masters!”

“Don’t make a fuss, Renail. What if other explorers around you hear this?”

“No, it’s okay, though.”

Save spoke with a light smile to Louise, who was criticizing Renail.

“At least there’s no sign of uneasiness around here.”

“Uh… oh, yeah.”

Louise couldn’t say anything and closed her mouth because she knew that the passive skill Trace he got from the first floor had played a big part in their success. Instead, she gathered the magic stones from the nine floor masters and stood in front of a huge gate blocking the Hidden Boss Battle Room.

“You’ll have to be prepared. Of course, you’re expecting it, but the one lurking in here will be at least at the level of a Goblin Knight.”

“Of course. Considering what we’ve been through, there’s no way they’ll be weak. So, we have to hunt it and prove our strength. I’m sure God will be happy, too.”

Explorers entering the make money, interact with many people, gain honor, become strong, or achieve a secret mission…

However, the ones cut above the rest, were those who only sought pure strength and improvement in the dungeon.

“Mhh. The floor master was a Goblin Knight… What’s the hidden boss? I wonder if it’s going to be similar to a Goblin Knight?”

“What about a Goblin Auror Knight, which only appears in legends?”

“No, we’ll all die if something like that comes out. And in the first place, if it’s a Goblin variant, it won’t be capable of handling aura.”

When Save and Renail were exchanging such a sullen story and guessing the hidden boss’ identity, only Louise maintained a nervous look. Only she had heard from Evan and knew the identity of the boss.

“Listen, just because the floor master was a Goblin doesn’t mean the hidden boss is going to be one.”

The formula worked relatively well in the old dungeon, where Louise, Save, and Renail didn’t even step into. Not anymore, though. After the alteration, the dungeon was strengthened in every sense, and it was a dangerous place where people could die even if they were thoroughly prepared.

Furthermore, the hidden boss battle was content intended for die-hard veteran players in the dungeon, so there was nothing strange with something like a troll appearing there.

“That’s what the teacher said.”

“As expected of the Apostle Louise.”

“I’ll take the front with my shield. Give way for Renail to prepare her magic. Our response when the enemy is alone or in a group will be different, so don’t try to cast magic in advance.”

“Okay.”

“Save, I’ll leave you to your best judgment depending on the situation. Whenever the enemy comes out, be careful not to pull him too far.”

“Okay.”

It was not that she didn’t want to reveal the boss monster’s identity inside, but if she did, they would surely have questioned her.

At first, she, holding a shield, could only help the party members adapt and cope with the enemy’s attack. In other words, she had to take the initial attack on for them.

“Whew… If everyone’s ready, I’ll go.”

Louise secretly cried whilst throwing the Magic Stones one by one into a hole in the middle of the door. After listening to Evan, she had no regrets honing her shielding techniques.

If she did as her teacher told her to do, everything would work out well in the end, so she just had to trust him and do it.

Louise came forward with such vague thoughts. Before she knew it, she was starting to think like Save.

“Wow, the battle room is vibrating.”

“The hole is disappearing. The handle on the door…”

The boy and girl, who had been chatting in detail, were also overwhelmed by the scene of the hidden boss battle room. This had been the first hidden boss battle room since the dungeon underwent the drastic transformation. Perhaps this would also be an achievement.

“…Let’s go.”

Louise, who felt determined, entered the battle room with her shield up as if she were covering the other two. When viewed from the outside, a huge hole was revealed, and something that could not be recognized was inside.

Waiting for them in the hole was a huge… spider.

-Haaaa!

“Oh…”

Even Louise became contemplative. She couldn’t believe that such a crazy monster appeared on the fifth floor of the dungeon.

[Lv.30 Giant Spider]

[Main Skills – Poison, Web Injection, Egg Cracking]

“Existence level 30…… 10 levels higher than the Goblin Knight.”

Save, who had been able to read the enemy’s capabilities more clearly than anyone else in the party, also seemed to be quite nervous.

Although he was confident that his dungeon level and skills grew, the enemy’s level was too high. At this, Save’s body trembled. Afraid of an enemy? Of course, he was scared. However, excitement and expectations were ahead because ‘he’ was the one who led him here.

‘We are here because Evan thought I could beat this spider.’

‘He led me here. So how can I not be excited?! Of course, it will be hard. I may feel incapable,

but he sent me here because he believed I could go beyond it.’

Save’s eyes flashed with strong faith.

-Kyaaaahh!

[A giant spider is shooting poison.]

At that moment, information that had not been read with his eyes until now appeared.

‘He answered me!’ Putting aside the overwhelming emotion, for now, Save shouted sharply.

“Renail, the poison will fly in!”

“Hmm, Sandwall! Eonni, back up!”

“Oh, gosh!

The giant spider’s response, which sprayed poison as soon as it could find the enemy, was commendable. However, it opened its small mouth and spat out purple poison after Renail had already set up a wall of dirt in front of the party!

Soon, the dirt wall blocked the poison, and a suddenly frustrated Louise came to her senses, charging in without delay. She had to start tanking.

“Get the shield! Ahhhh!”

-Kishaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Lousie’s shield skills, which she trained for less than a month, had become quite high in level. And Shield Charge was one of the few shield attacks that had many uses and mechanical tactics. Louise, who stormed with a shield, pushed the body of the giant spider!

-Ksshhhh!

Surprisingly, the giant spider was pushed back by Louise’s charge and hit the wall!

Originally, giant spiders sprayed spider webs from the back of their tails, but in order to block them, it was most important to push them against the wall so that they could not flip their bodies. Louise made it happen in a single attempt.

-Kshaaaah!

[The giant spider tries to spin a spider web. But it can’t move, so it failed.]

“Good job, Louise! You have to hold it back so it can’t turn around!”

“It looks like it’s working!”

‘Of course, I knew it would!’’ Louise swallowed these words and stuck out a shortsword over the shield, and stuffed it into the giant spider’s open mouth. Evan told her that poison flew out when it left its mouth open.

-Kugaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

[The giant spider tries to eject poison. Skill canceled due to attack on activation area!]

“Oh, oh, oh…!”

Save also ran forward, admiring Louse’s continuous skill cancellations. She was leading the tempo of the battle. From now, he had to join the attack.

“Renail, I need your help! It’s got a skill called Egg Cracking. You have to watch out for it!”

“Oh, baby spiders are coming out?”

Renail began a hateful yet magical incantation. In the meantime, Save reached the giant spider and hit it with his halberd at full strength. It landed on its left foreleg.

“In his name!”

-Bang!

-Ahhhhhhh!

Since they had stopped the poison injection and the spider web spraying, the only means it had of attacking him was with its legs. Therefore, the attack was made based on the judgment that it was important to also take out its legs.

It was a near-normal attack. However, it was so strong that its front legs were completely cut off.

-Argh!

“Wooh, look at me!”

‘I wish I had Raihan’s ability!’ Louise clenched her teeth and pushed the twisting spider hard again. It was then…

-Kuoaaaaaaaaa!

[The giant spider tries Egg Cracking. This is a non-cancellable pattern.]

“Non-cancellable?”

His ability to read the enemy’s skill sequence had not been fully developed, so he had yet to grasp all the terms.

However, it soon proved what it meant. The giant spider suddenly bounced Louise and Save away with terrible power and held them close to the air.

One could fully guess what was coming out of it. Eggs.

“Ugh!”

As soon as the giant spider hit up, Louise quickly took a bottle out of her arms and threw it while she was being attacked and smacked away.

Inside the bottle, a translucent fog was rising, and the moment it exploded against its tail, everyone would know what it was.

-Ahhhh!

“It’s frozen!”

It was a freezing potion. Even though it was made with only cheap materials, Evan’s personal line of freezing potions had three to four times the effect of the freezing potions created by other alchemists. Even the hidden boss on the fifth floor of the dungeon couldn’t resist it, and in no time, it froze completely.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

This was the moment they had all been waiting for. The giant spider had been frozen and was shaking from side to side in shock. With amazing timing, its tail collided with the dungeon’s wall.

“Oh, I didn’t even have to stop it. Then take this!”

Renail, who was initially preparing to intercept the baby spiders, quickly changed her magic and cast Soil Spear, a spell that created a spear made of mud.

A number of mud spears raised from the floor and pierced the giant spider’s body and fixed it to the floor. It was a spell used to hold enemies and to damage them at the same time!

“Good job, Renail!”

Louise’s freezing position surprised Save, but he soon realized what he was lacking in.

It was faith. There was a lack of faith in ‘him’ and in his Apostle Louise. If they had moved without doubt from the beginning, it would have given them more opportunities to attack.

“Okay… I will prove my faith again!”

[Learned Active Skill, Belief Level 1. The higher the faith, the more powerful the proximity of the attack is.]

Surprisingly, there was a purple hue emitting out of Save’s halberd. Like Evan’s magic, like the magic in his eyes!

-Yikes!

Save hit the floor and swung the halberd as hard as he could. The keen ax hanging from the spear was buried deep in the giant spider’s head, which was still unconscious.

-Kyaaaaahhh!

“How dare you?!”

“Die, die!”

“Ahhhhhhhh!”

The spider was furious and tried to vomit out poison, but Louise’s shortsword didn’t let it. Renail also stabbed it in the body with a Stone Spear; it then fell dead on the spot.

“Whoo, hoo…”

Louise, who had confirmed the death of the giant spider, collapsed on the spot.

It was a nearly perfect battle for the party members.

“I succeeded in doing what my teacher said…”

This was enough to make Evan D. Sherden proud. The faint sense of achievement seemed to tickle her heart.

She sat still for a moment, relished the feeling of pride, and soon opened her eyes and stood up.

It was time to receive compensation.

Her new job was fast approaching.