Evan D. Sherden, Encountered Anomaly (3)

Sherden Dungeon, Pellati Dungeon, and Merdin Dungeon. It was said that generations had passed since the so-called three mega-dungeons appeared, but that was still a short time compared to the world’s long history. In that short period, however, the world’s order and civilization had been reorganized around the Dungeons, binding all those who wanted treasure and growth. Therefore, humans thought dungeons were the last blessing the gods gave to humans. The voice of God that sometimes came to man was the proof.

“But if you’ve been exploring dungeons with me, you know it’s not that simple. There’s a statue of the Devil in the reward room where you clear the Hidden Boss, and there’s a lot of traps in the Dungeon that forces people to sacrifice themselves.”

“It’s God’s ordeal to humans, and to be called a reward…I couldn’t understand some points. You said before that Dungeons are specialized in drawing out negative human emotions.”

“Yes.”

Belois replied with a quiet nod to Evan’s words. Evan continued, shooting down the Seed Ogre, a chimera of Ogre and Sahagin, by throwing beads.

“Lua, you were questioning the Dungeon earlier. I would’ve said something similar then. Many years have passed since then, and now…What do you think of dungeons?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve come to my own conclusion. I thought deeply about the meaning of the Dungeon’s God.”

“We can grow big in dungeons. Moreover, the God of this Dungeon seems to take care of us more.”

The general public wouldn’t readily accept the existence of a god race. The claim that God had created the Dungeon might be convincing, but the question of why he made a race that could become strong ‘only’ in the Dungeon remained.

“So, I once wondered if not God, but something else was involved in the birth of the god race.”

“Oh, my God, I told you it wasn’t. God created your race. The race was arranged to make it easier to navigate the dungeons and grow at the end.”

“Yes, I was able to make the right decision without taking the wrong path because of you. I don’t know if I made a good judgment, but let me tell you what I think…”

Belois demonstrated the skill that evolved from the foxfire, ‘Violet Crystal’, and continued in a cautious voice, helping Evan’s hunt on the day she received the Snow Mountain Spirit earrings from Evan.

“Dungeons aren’t a space created by God. If the Dungeon was a space normally created by God for humans, then I don’t think there was a need for the god race.”

“Oh.”

“There are two possibilities, considering why the god race should exist. There was a need to conquer the Dungeon to the end, so they were encouraged to be strong in the Dungeon, or there was something dangerous at the end of the Dungeon, which gave humans the power to stop it.”

“Well, it’s not the former.”

If humans had left the Dungeon unattended, there would’ve been no problem. However, knowing that human greed wouldn’t leave the Dungeon alone, God was forced to intervene and manipulate it. The same went for both level and the god race.

“Then there’s only one thing left. There is something dangerous at the end of the Dungeon, so they have to create the god race. It’s probably not an ordinary monster…maybe it’s the Demon King.”

“Right. More precisely, the Demon King must be revived as we fully attack the dungeons. Sherden, Pellati, and Merdin. The dungeons in these three places are the cradle and womb set up for the resurrection of the Demon King.”

“As expected…”

Everyone wasn’t as surprised as Evan thought. Maybe it was because they were busy dealing with the surging Seed Ogres. Raihan, who was relatively free because he only needed to hold the shield forward, replied to Evan.

“I’ve been thinking ever since Master explained the Dungeon. If all the negative emotions produced by humans are fattening the Demon tribe, what is the existence of a dungeon that focuses all the negative emotions together? There’s only one conclusion.”

“The womb that nourishes and nurtures the Demon King. That’s a pretty deduction.”

“Do you mean that the more humans enter the Dungeon, the faster the resurrection of the Demon King will be? God tries to make humans as strong as they can be, and they can create a new species called the god race.”

In summary, it was simple. Shine held his dragon bone-improved double-edged daggers and swung a lighter, sharper strike to clean up all the Seed Ogres gathered on one side.

“But I think God wasn’t able to foresee the part about the unfortunate end of almost all the god race’s people before they can become stronger by entering the dungeon.”

“That’s why God is always sorry for you guys. When he was creating the god race, it was so urgent that they couldn’t control the balance in his haste.”

Instead, if God set the right path for growth, the god race could grow as strong as Belois and Shine had said.

“But as you said, Master…would it be solved if we don’t go and clear the dungeon until the end?”

“Well, that was the case at the beginning, but not now. It’s related to the current chaos.”

“Oh, it’s finally connected to this situation.”

The deep floors of the post-change Dungeon, where all three elements of the Dungeon were mixed. This was led by the Demon tribe and was also carried out to speed up the Demon King’s resurrection.

“Originally, if the Demon King was to be revived, the lowest level of all dungeons must be attacked. That’s the completion of consciousness. But God intervened and gave strength to humans…especially after finding out that the god race appeared, the Demon tribe came to think that the resurrected Demon King can be defeated by the humans.”

The Mahwa tribe of the Yo-Ma Great War 2 tried to resurrect the Demon King differently from the Dungeon. However, the Mahwa were defeated, and the Demon tribe was forced to take other measures.

“That’s the big change we have now. Look at this. Why would the monsters of the three dungeons appear mixed? The answer is simple. By mixing dungeons and unifying the field of consciousness, they have eased the conditions for the resurrection of the Demon King so that we do not have to attack all three dungeons.”

“Huh…that’s amazing.”

That was the truth of the Dungeon’s big change following the invasion of the Demon tribe. When the humans weren’t ready, the Demon tribe planned to resurrect Demon King and devour the human world! Of course, the Demon tribe sacrificed themselves to create the formula for this big change, but that wasn’t the case now.

“Oh, so will anyone who enters through the Pellati or the Merdin Dungeon run into us in the deep floors?”

“Space is distorted, but the chances of meeting aren’t zero. Of course, no one is strong enough to challenge the deep floors in Pellati at this point. As for Merdin, if you explore the depths, you may be able to get a hint of the current situation there.”

By the way, that was also why Evan wanted to attack carefully. It was because Merdin must have been included among the depths, and the anxiety factor had increased as much as what might have flowed into the Dungeon from Merdin, whose current situation was unknown. But that was something he could think about then. Evan shook his head to shake off his thoughts and continued to explain.

“Furthermore, this depth isn’t just accelerating the resurrection of the Demon King. Dungeons which have been transformed and fused beyond the deep floors have an overwhelming efficiency in drawing energy.”

“Do you mean that even if the same negative emotions occur, the Demon tribe gains more energy?”

“Right. If we haven’t cleared enough dungeons before the big change, the attack will take up a lot of time after the change…There used to be a sad situation in which the last boss, the Demon King, would break through.”

Evan made a distant look as he recalled the game back when he became strong enough to slap the cheeks of the Demon tribe, had fought against the Demon King after he intentionally induced the great change through fulfilling minimum requirements. The battle was indeed fierce for Yeo Ban-Min, who was known for his insane abilities…Moreover, unlike the game’s actual development, the big change’s timing had been pushed forward, so without Evan, mankind would’ve lost.

“Maybe they were in a hurry because of you?”

“No way.”

“Before the two of Four Heavenly Kings were killed, they wouldn’t have taken your existence so seriously. So, that speculation is wrong. There must have been some other factor, which is why it was not according to the vision seen by the Master.”

“Lua’s right. What’s more, the seal on Merdin is something I never expected.”

Evan didn’t want to tackle his prediction.

“As expected, that’s why you are emphasizing safety-oriented exploration to the adventurers.”

“It would be for the same reason why they let the number of casualties soar high, which made the adventurers shrivel.”

Belois and Arisha shook their heads as if they had noticed Evan’s tricks. Raihan spoke as he realized it a bit late.

“You don’t want humans to put all their energy into the dungeon.”

“Yes, I think it would be nice if they tried as much as they could handle. The people who will defeat the Demon King are chosen anyway. It’s all right for the rest of humanity to be strong enough to deal with the Demon tribe.”

And that was the ‘most efficient way’. To have a hero who could deal with the Four Heavenly Kings on the human side, two of the Four Heavenly Kings would be newly born in the Demon tribe through the sacrifices made so far. If then, it was better not to let humans into the Dungeon! Evan, in the past, wouldn’t have thought this far. However, as enemies, including the Demon tribe, appeared stronger than they were in the game, humans naturally came to this conclusion just like what the NPCs would do.

“Whew, nothing can be done with your personality of being picky with people.”

“The times have made me like this, the times.”

When Shine said it, Evan replied oddly like an older man pouting his lips. Serena, who had been calm until then, raised a hand.

“Oppa, I have a question after hearing what you’ve said.”

“What is it?”

[Kyuut!]

[Kyuuuuuuut!]

Serena was very relaxed in the Dungeon’s depth, filled with risks. Her pets were already fighting fiercely against the enemy, and she was the only one relaxing comfortably. For reference, Gnar was not that strong enough to explore the deep floors of the Dungeon, so he was growing up by struggling against the slimes that Evan had summoned in a specially made training ground.

“We know that the mega-dungeon was originally designed for the resurrection of the Demon King, that the levels which are granted by God and the god race were designed to stop the Demon King. The three dungeons’ deep floors have now been fused to ease the task of revival. But, didn’t you say you’d leave the Demon King to the kid named Must Save?”

“I did.”

“But if we completely conquer the Sherden dungeon, the Demon King will be resurrected. What are you going to do about that?”

“Oh, don’t worry. We’re going to adjust the timing. Moreover, if we conquer the Dungeon, the Demon King will be resurrected, but other things should be dealt with during the process. I’ll leave them to Save. So, we can defeat the Demon King at the right time. It’s okay.”

“Resurrection at your desired time…”

“I see, so resurrecting and defeating the Demon King is considered as one process.”

And Evan said assuredly that they would conquer the Dungeon. Still, as he said earlier, it would be impossible to conquer the Dungeon so fast as the three dungeons were combined and random elements were created in the dungeon map. Save, who grew up with a thorough education from Evan, would be able to catch up with them given his rapid pace by Evan’s support.

‘Catching up in terms of power…… I’m afraid it’s too much.’

No, maybe it would be possible for Save to become stronger than the senior group considering the current Save, who is far stronger than who he really was in the game. Evan muttered so without realizing that he was the main culprit in making Save stronger.

“Anyway, you’re all clear now, right? Let’s move on. The impact from the Merdin Dungeon will appear soon. Everything in the undead Dungeon is trickier and more demanding than other dungeons, so be prepared.”

“Yes!”

Evan led the group of people, who realized the world’s secrets and had sparkling expressions, and they advanced into the Dungeon carefully. Due to the influence of the convergence, the roads and traps were more complicated. When they encountered monsters, the situation was worse. However, those harsh conditions couldn’t prevent the Astray Knights from moving forward. After a few hours, Evan was able to get the outline of the 51st floor of the Dungeon into his head…

“Something’s wrong.”

Evan finally realized it.

“Where did the Merdin Dungeon go…?”

Traces of Pellati dungeon could be found from the beginning. He also dealt with traces of a mixture between Sherden and Pellati. They even overcame some of the vicious traps and areas that fell deep into the ocean.

“There are no Undead…?”

But strangely enough, there was no trace of Merdin in the Dungeon. Five minutes later, Evan realized that perhaps the seal on Merdin had even affected the Dungeon.