Chapter 421
"Something's wrong."
Letting out a huge sigh, I lamented the abnormality of the current situation.
"Why is the difficulty this bugged? Even when I was playing FBO, I never had a fumble streak like this."
Pulling a dud from the first draw—I can still understand that.Pulling a dud the next time too—I can still accept that.Pulling a dud three times in a row—I can accept that as bad luck.
"But come on, fourteen floors in a row without a break is just ridiculous! Damn it!!"
However, having nothing but duds up to this point, repeating fumbles with such momentum that I might just complete a full set of dud floors, even a usually mild-mannered guy like me loses his temper.
The spear I swung to vent some of that anger snapped, right on cue with its durability limit, leaving only the shaft in my hand.
"Why!"
Trying to put even that remaining shaft to good use, I stabbed it into the ground along with the writhing tentacles that attacked me, pinning them down.
"On top of that!"
Left momentarily unarmed, I kicked away multiple incoming tentacles while drawing one of my dwindling one-handed swords from my belt, using it to parry the tentacles.
"Such a pain!"
Overwhelmed by numbers, the enemy trying to crush me with quantity over quality is named Tentaclus.A monster with a spherical body, one eye, a large mouth, and anywhere from 10 to 30伸缩 tentacles extending from its torso.
Its reddish-purple body drips with a visibly sticky fluid, and it emits a creepy, unsettling sound from its back as it moves freely through this dimly lit cave area.
"I keep hitting monster zones!!"
And what's even more troublesome is that, as if it's learned my tactics, I keep landing in monster zones where weapons don't drop.
"Tch."
I'm protecting my weapons with Magic Edge, but it can't cover the impact, so they still wear out.Plus, Tentaclus tentacles regenerate, so damage doesn't accumulate well.
"And I'm short on ranged weapons too!"
The usual strategy is to pick up a suitable stone, throw it at the eye to stagger it, then charge the body and hack it to pieces.
"Tch, just magic stones, huh?"
What makes Tentaclus so troublesome is that they don't operate solo—they always move in groups of three or more, and they also have the annoying trait of being "Link Monsters" that summon other non-combatant individuals nearby the moment battle starts.
Their combat style involves capture via tentacles and mid-range attacks by whipping them like lashes.They also use Earth Magic, so I have to watch out for that too.A somewhat troublesome opponent to take head-on.
"......"
On top of that, their drops are stingy. Tentaclus-type drops are mostly poison-related materials; no weapon or armor drops.Ignoring the magic stones entirely now, I quickly try to escape the combat zone.Staying here will invite more attacks and slowly wear me down.
Reaching into the pouch at my waist, I check the remaining number of potions. They're down to one-fifth of what I had at my peak.Since four floors ago, restocking potions has become difficult.
As for weapons: three perfectly good one-handed swords obtained along the way, one slightly used spear, one perfectly good one-handed axe, and another axe that's about to break.All throwing weapons are used up, and I haven't been able to upgrade my armor in recent floors.Given the deterioration of my cloak, it's only a matter of time before it starts affecting the gear underneath.
"The lack of terrain changes is the only saving grace. At this rate, I'm done for if I don't minimize encounters. *Shadow Cloak*."
I sense a deliberate pattern in the dungeon's floor selection.A difficulty that feels like it's trying to kill me, and yet, despite this difficulty, I can almost feel its frustration at not being able to finish me off.
"Well, well, I don't recall ever earning a god's hatred."
Using *Shadow Cloak*, which is also useful for stealth, I avoid the Tentaclus's aggro and evade combat.If they're配置d with this much malice, I have to assume resupply is impossible and act accordingly.
At least this floor being a riddle-type is somewhat of a saving grace.
"Found it. Let's see, what's it say?"
The gimmick of this floor is to find the hidden steles in the cave and solve the problems on the spot.
"A creature with four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three at night? Hmm, normally you'd think of a human."
If I state the answer towards the stele, the voice recognition system will accept it.
"The answer is the monster 'Dorbunde.' It's a mobile plant monster whose number of legs changes depending on the time of day."*'Correct. 22 questions remaining.'*
"That makes eight. Thirty in total... Seriously, I hit the absolute worst number, damn it."
The answered stele crumbles away like sand and disappears.
The questions themselves are still within answerable range, but finding the hidden steles is a real pain.If the safe zones set up are any indication of mercy, water resupply isn't an issue. But cutting off the food supply is harsh.
The maximum number of questions on this floor is thirty. And that number is announced upon entering the floor.When I heard the number thirty, I lamented just how unlucky I was.
But since I can't escape without clearing it, I'm solving questions at maximum efficiency along the shortest route.If I get it wrong, a monster pops out of the stele, and I can't answer until I defeat it, so I can't let my guard down.
"Ahead here is, if I recall..."
Thanks to *Shadow Cloak*, the encounter rate is lowered. As long as I'm careful with my footsteps, I can avoid combat as much as possible.Dashing through the cave as a blackened existence, I run without stepping on the Tentaclus's detection web of tentacles. Comparing the map in my head with the stele locations...
"No matter how I look at it, I can't clear without taking out the Monster House, can I?"
Furrowing my brow, I couldn't help but show a troubled expression.
Within the stele configuration area, I have to break through at least one area with an abnormally high number of monsters—a so-called 'Monster House'—on a detour route, or two on the shortest route.
"Time to use it."
I've been saving the magic-sealed items for moments like this.Checking the location of the item I received from the fire spirit I saved back then, I rely on the map in my mind and dash at full speed.
I deactivate *Shadow Cloak* and deliberately stomp on a tentacle.
*'Keeeeeen!?'*
I trigger the enemy's detection web, and instantly, the Tentaclus's warning cries echo throughout the area.As that happens, I can sense movements stirring from all directions.
"That's right! The enemy is here!!"
I shout loudly, drawing even more enemies towards me as I charge into the Monster House.
It's a hellscape of tentacles. Tentaclus are swarming everywhere, impossible to hide.For some, it might be a nightmarish scene, but for someone accustomed like me, I can immediately scan the eyeballs and grasp the overall monster arrangement. I choose to dodge right with a sidestep for my first move.
Haste makes waste. Judging by the layout of this Monster House, I determine that charging straight through head-on is impossible.
The safe zone is a gap about two feet wide, located four steps to the right.I leap there first, evading the tentacle attacks of the Tentaclus that reacted to the warning cry.
The tentacle encirclement passes right before my eyes.Slipping through that net, I back-calculate from the number of tentacles to grasp how many Tentaclus are stationary.
Take a step back.As the opponent's tentacles move, the safe zone shifts.
Vision, sound, and the trembling of the air I feel on my skin.Since becoming this body, using all five senses to their fullest—things I never did in FBO—allows me to grasp monster movements with even greater precision.
This time, an attack from another Tentaclus操控ing its tentacles passes mere centimeters from my body.
"......"
My eyes dart about busily, tracking the Tentaclus's movements and their tentacles.To an outsider, it might look like I'm being cornered, but I calmly secure a piece of rock shattered by a tentacle attack in mid-air. This time, I take three steps forward to dodge an attack and throw the rock at the Tentaclus on my left.
The rock strikes the eye of a Tentaclus clinging to the ceiling.Critical damage sends its body plummeting to the ground, and an attack from another个体 aimed at me hits the falling one instead.
Their tentacles get tangled, immobilizing them.
Using that opening, I advance further. This time, I jump to evade a sweeping leg attack from a tentacle.
Slowly, without rushing, I advance, slipping my body into tiny gaps to evade tentacles. More and more Tentaclus are gathering from the entrance.As they flood in, the space within the Monster House gets progressively tighter.
The more they gather, the less space there is to evade, but still, I don't panic.
And at the moment the exit is finally blocked by Tentaclus, leaving me no escape, I take a deep breath, hold it, and throw myself into a crevice in the rocks I had spotted earlier.
At the spot I just vacated, I tossed the item, right on the verge of activation, as a parting gift.Right before it activates, I slip into the rock crevice and activate *Shadow Cloak*.
Reacting to my movement, the tentacles all simultaneously attack the crevice, but your fault for not taking evasive action.
An explosion magic activating in a confined space.
I cover myself with my cloak and further defend with *Shadow Cloak*, barely managing to suppress the damage, but—
"Phew, that took a big chunk out of them."
As for the Tentaclus caught in the direct blast? The ones that were there have vanished without a trace thanks to that single area-of-effect spell.Monsters that come in large numbers often have paper-thin durability; their tentacle regeneration is incredible, but their main body's HP isn't that high.
That's why they're weak to sweeping magic like this.The Tentaclus horde disappears, dropping items properly. The respawn time until the Monster House is repopulated is about one hour.If I take the long way, they'll likely have respawned by the time I'm back.
"Well, well, I used two of my saved items here. If I could replenish them again later, that'd be great, but given this trend, that's probably wishful thinking."
Since I plan to clear using the shortest route, I should be able to return to this passage before the respawn.Ahead should be about seven steles.Grumbling complaints, I dust myself off and start sprinting again.
Since I lured all the Tentaclus in this area into that Monster House, the path will be safe until they respawn.
"Mount Gedol!" "Bubble Bird!" "Gurgle Totem!"
Though not completely eliminated, I still act stealthily to minimize encounters. The ones I can't avoid, I assassinate while searching for and answering the steles.
"Lake Babini!" "Popol Valley!" "Tokto!"
But the questions themselves are all so twisted.They keep posing questions recognized as 'bad questions' in FBO—ones where a normal answer would be wrong.
"Hmm, am I being watched by someone?"
I know someone is probably watching since it's a trial.But is it fair to adjust the difficulty?
Maybe the great figures who cleared this in the past overcame this difficulty.If so, I'd have to praise their considerable skill.
But I think that possibility is low.
I've felt an intentional manipulation of the difficulty ever since I entered this trial.I have a rough idea of who and how someone is interfering.
"......"
Did I catch the eye of some weird god?Evading Tentaclus tentacle attacks, I dig through my memories for what I might have done.