Chapter 116: Lucky or Unlucky 1
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Wed-Sun
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
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From the 21st floor to the 22nd, and from the 22nd to the 23rd.
From six to ten, and suddenly to twenty.
What's the purpose of these mana stones? I thought collecting ten was already a lot, but now we have twenty.
-It's just the 23rd floor, so there's still a long way to go.
-No way you need that many just for the 30th floor.
-Looking at them stacked up like that, they actually look pretty.
-12 minutes and 37 seconds is the record time, huh?
-You kept track of all that?
By now, the party, familiar with caves, mazes, and golems, efficiently gathers the remains of defeated golems and collects the mana stones.
The Magic Tower is always hungry for research subjects, so they buy all the remains of the golems.
Of course, it's too much to collect all the remains of a 2-meter tall golem, so they only take parts of it.
Still, the amount they earn is almost equivalent to taking on a single request.
Thanks to this, mages from the Magic Tower conducted some tests and identified the golems' weaknesses.
The golems were strong against physical attacks but surprisingly vulnerable to magic, especially non-offensive magic meant for construction work like softening rocks.
"At least when they're softened, it's easier. Swinging a sword at a pile of dirt is much easier than at a rock."
True, I didnt expect that kind of magic would work on them.
By using magic to make the golems joints like mud, Kaiden could dodge the slow golems attack and easily cut off its limbs.
A joint turned to mud means that the heavy stone body can't support its weight, causing the golem to easily shatter.
To put it in game terms, the golem, which has high defense but low health, suffers fixed damage due to the magic debuff, destroying its parts in an instant it feels like that.
"Though our exploration of the tower is going smoothly... Roland, are you really okay with this?"
"Okay with what?"
"I mean, the financial aspect. I've heard that men often bear financial losses because of their pride..."
After wrapping up the post-battle cleanup and looking at the path leading back to the caves, Irene approached, tapping on the arm of my armor.
As the number of golem mana stones in Han Se-ahs inventory grew, the more her frown deepened.
For Grace, who hails from a rural village, the amount of 10 gold coins was astonishing at first.
But that was only initially.
Our intermediate-level adventurer party earns silver coins every day, so she got used to it when she realized senior adventurers must be making even more.
But our saint candidate Irene has a background rooted in a religion similar to Christianity and Catholicism, valuing frugality.
She seems to be feeling uncomfortable since I'm shouldering the party's financial expenditures alone.
You dont need to worry about that.
"Oh! That's exactly what the nun said, word for word!"
A nun told you that?
She said it's the wisdom of life that the elderly have. That men are like children and sometimes suffer losses because of it.
No matter how shy and reserved Irene might be, we've camped together.
The awkward distance has vanished, and now she looks after me as if I were a naive boy.
Of course, with my resilient body, I've handled many requests related to the nobility, so there's no need to worry about my wallet.
But her reaction is cute, so it doesn't really matter.
I'm not so detached as to get upset about someone showing concern for me.
Especially if it's from a beauty.
As we chat for a bit, the rest of the party started to gather around us.
There's been no instance of monsters appearing when going from the maze back to the caves, but there's no reason to be careless in the tower.
"Shall we head back?"
"We secured a mana stone from the golem, collected its body, and on our way here, we gathered two kinds of moss and a mushroom, right? So, it seems we've completed all our tasks."
-The caves are starting to feel like a grind.
-Other than the screen being dark, it doesn't seem that hard.
-So, is there an actual reason behind the golem?
-It's smooth sailing, but too smooth. It's getting boring.
-Forget all that, I want to see our beautiful mage smiling again.
And so, without any issues, we concluded another adventure in the tower.
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Raei Translations
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"Um... Roland? There's something that's been bothering me."
"What is it?"
After defeating the golem and stepping outside, it was surprisingly still early in the afternoon.
The group decided to take a brief rest at a guild table before having dinner together.
As they settled down, going over the results of their adventure, Ellis approached me discreetly.
Her eyes, usually gleaming with mischief, were now narrowed in concern.
The topic she brought up was rather serious.
"I've been in contact with an adventurer party I know, but they haven't responded for several days."
"Why is that concerning?"
"They're aiming for the 30th floor, a veteran party even among the intermediates. They specifically told me they'd go to the 21st floor to look for the golem, but I lost contact with them after that."
Ellis has a wide network.
She's the big sister of the guild receptionists and the most senior among the administration staff, handling request-related paperwork and also connected to the finance department.
Thanks to her role, she knows countless adventurers, from greenhorns with potential to intermediates and senior adventurers.
Unlike other receptionists, whose contacts vary according to the paperwork they handle, Ellis knows adventurers from all ranks.
Given her vast network, her concern was pretty credible.
If she remembers and personally relays information, it means the party in question is reliable.
"So they're taking longer than they should've?"
"Yes. They're financially well-off and use gates to travel. They would've used it to reach the 20th floor, but it's already been four days since.
The party leader is very meticulous about planning, so there's no way they went above the 21st floor without notifying anyone."
Four days on the 21st floor for a party seriously targeting the 30th floor.
Thats indeed a situation to be concerned about.
Parties that don't return for extended periods within the tower are generally presumed dead.
The only suspicious thing in this case is the golem we've been hunting.
It's highly unlikely that veterans targeting the 30th floor, having been briefed about the golem by Ellis, would let their guard down.
So, there must be a detail we don't know of yet
"Wow, is that a hint? Like a side quest hint suggesting the golem's becoming more dangerous or there's a hidden mechanism with the golems? We've been wandering that maze for, at shortest ten minutes, at longest an hour, but we haven't found anything."
-Still, at least something might be happening.
-I get that something is about to happen, but when??
-If things continue this way, aren't we just emptying Roland's pockets?
-But if it's a red mana stone, wouldn't it be considered unique and we could sell it to the nobles?
-I hope something comes out by the 25th floor.
Han Se-ah, after hearing Ellis's words, seems to be having the same thoughts.
In the maze, there was always only one golem, and there hasn't been any variation.
Its odd to think an intermediate adventurer party struggled against a golem that's sturdy but not at all threatening.
The grasslands and the forest had beautiful scenery, but the caves were so dark that viewers complained of eye strain.
The real issue for many is the lighting.
Beyond the live chat which is moderated by A.I. in real-time more candid opinions could be seen on the internet.
Some say the baton-shaped magic tool was too dim to see the party's movements, while others felt that the slight movement in the darkness was a better visual due to the illusion it created.
...These guys are odd.
At this point, I wonder if viewers are tuning into Han Se-ah's stream for the world's fastest climb up the tower, or because the NPC party is the most attractive.
-Maybe a mid-boss will appear on the 25th floor and then we'll need to use the collected mana stones?
-If someone went missing on the 21st floor, could there be a special golem variant?
-Instead of rock golems, what if they've just been unlucky and haven't encountered, say, a golden golem?
-She wasted all her luck on character gacha, right?
-So, Han Se-ah's infamous bad luck is finally showing up again?
"Seriously, these damn comments. Are these the same people mocking me for having bad luck and calling me clumsy before 'Heroes Chronicle'?"
While pretending to be deep in thought, I sneak a glance at the chat.
All sorts of speculations are flying.
The one theory I'm inclined towards is the mid-boss on the 25th floor.
A boss monster with oddly high specs that can be weakened by a mechanic or collected items is a common trope in RPGs, isn't it?
But surely, as the viewers suggest, we couldn't have been so unlucky as to miss event triggers in nearly a dozen battles leading up to the 23rd floor.
...Right?
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