Evan D. Sherden, Cursed (3)
Evan's party got up after taking a break and had one last operational meeting at the shelter before entering the 5th floor. Evan provided them with various instructions on how to tackle difficult situations and other information about the 5th floor so they could conquer it easily.
After all, the Floor Master would be there waiting for them.
"Its sole purpose of existence is to stop people from proceeding to the next floor. But I wanted to ask you something, Master. Is there more than one staircase that goes down to the next floor from the 5th floor?"
"You guessed it right, Shine. The dungeon is quite vast, so it is impractical to have only one staircase to advance further. If that was the case, then venturing down may have been much more treacherous than it already is."
Evan already had a dungeon map, and he was leading the party so as not to get lost in the highly-confusing maze.
The staircases were located in several places. If someone had established a level of contribution appropriate to clearing the dungeon, they were then blessed by God when they found one of the staircases, and their levels rose too.
"Then, Master Evan, is there more than one Floor Master guarding all the stairs on the 5th floor?"
"That's right. There are five or six staircases on every floor of the dungeon, so there will be five or six Floor Masters patrolling the 5th floor."
"…Will we be able to obtain some kind of special achievement, Master?"
Raihan, who had been listening to Evan with a frown, finally spoke. His attention shifted when Evan said that 'there are several Floor Masters'.
"I mean will we be getting some kind of achievement for defeating all the Floor Masters…?"
"I'm glad we're all on the same wavelength. That's it. That's our goal on the 5th floor of the dungeon!"
"Indeed, you are amazing, Young Master!" Shine was silent as Belois praised Evan.
No, of course, the things they had been doing so far were ridiculous, but the achievement of killing all the Floor Masters blocking the stairs… Who else even knew about this achievement?
"I'm sure you have some solution."
"It's in the future, the future. Some things cannot be fixed with my prophetic power."
"Rather, it's already great how much Master knows. Don't you know that there is a limit to the information you can gather even with divination? I looked it up in some books."
"Okay, then let's go straight to the fifth floor. None of the other achievements is probably that great, so we only have to focus on going down the levels as fast as possible and defeating the Floor Masters."
"And… They are quarrelling again," Evan and Belois left Shine and Raihan behind, who started arguing with each other.
The 5th floor of the dungeon was particularly large and had many traps, especially dead ends. The achievement reward was enormous, so the difficulty level was also immense. Thus, it was natural for players to go to the 5th floor with greedy wealth in mind.
After you stepped down to the 5th floor, moving back would not be an option. The staircase would have already changed into a trap that activated instantly, and you would die. It was one of the fundamental rules of the dungeon.
"Okay, the map is complete."
Luckily, Evan and the group succeeded in completing the map before facing off against the Floor Master. In fact, unlike in the game, it had become possible to avoid any route leading to a dead end thanks to the wide field of view and the assisted detection ability based on Evan's evolved alchemy ability.
"Being able to clear dungeon floors more easily in reality than in the games is such an irony. Then, let's go get the Floor Master. There is one nearby."
"Oh, we have only been down on the 5th floor for two hours. No matter how important it is to defeat the Floor Master, even if we defeated it, would it be counted as if we cleared this floor too?" Raihan asked, and Evan shook his head.
"No, it won't be acknowledged as clearing the floor itself. Hyung, we're not going to be fighting only one of those so you'll still get a chance to get some considerable achievements."
"Ah… I understand, Master Evan. Thank you," Raihan nodded. He later realized that there was no need to clear the dungeon at this stage.
Evan first created a route from where they were located at the moment so that they would be able to track down the Floor Master and receive their achievements quickly.
As they reached their destination, Evan's lips curled into a smile.
'There is also an achievement for defeating all of the Floor Masters. Of course, it is an achievement that cannot be obtained by a novice player challenging the dungeon for the first time, and it is difficult even for experts to clear with only the resources gathered within a limited time.'
The player had to be very elaborate while designing the main character: they had to pay great attention to their companions in the beginning, and they also had to be very careful about acquiring skills and initial training, and finally, they had to collect as many potions as they possibly could.
Even then, if you were unable to get good skills by going down from the 1st to the 4th floor, then it was better to just give up neatly and go down to the 6th floor instead. Among the high-ranking players, only some of them achieved the 'Rotten Water' achievement.
'However, the difference in levelling up after gaining this achievement was not so large and the bonus product was still ridiculously low…'
Most of the players in his past life turned away from trying to acquire this achievement since it did not even matter to some because of the very little bonus that came along with it.
"But I need it this time. I need it so much now…!"
"…There is something that Master Evan needs done at all costs. And I think it is one of the achievements."
"You understood that correctly."
"Don't worry, Master. We will definitely help you achieve it in any way possible."
Had Evan been thinking out loud all this time? Suddenly, the attitude of the party changed. They were more determined now as if they were on a very important mission. It was really reassuring.
"Oh, look at this."
"Is that a room, Master?"
"Yes, it is."
Three minutes later, the group arrived at their destination quite earlier than they had expected. There was a door at the end of the corridor. There was a hole in the centre of it, and intricate hieroglyphs were drawn all around it. Although the shape of the door was a little peculiar, it was definitely a room.
"The battle with the Floor Master can only be initiated with limited party members. That's why the room is arranged in this way. If we enter this 'Floor Master Battle Room' and defeat the Floor Master, then we will be able to access the staircase beyond."
"There you are, Master Evan."
At that time, someone appeared from a dark corridor nearby. Evan recognized him. It was an Ironwall Knight…
His name was Roban.
"I didn't anticipate that you would really come down here in less than two days, Master. You also look so fine… No matter how great you are, and I know that your abilities are outstanding, I thought the dungeon would be another story nonetheless."
"Is that so? Actually, we would have arrived earlier if we didn't get lost."
"Haha," Roban shook Evan's hand.
"If you don't know, the Knight Commander ordered me to be on standby from now on."
"Ah, so you are here to protect us?"
"Yes, of course. Even though Master Evan is very capable, he is still a cute and young 12-year-old child in the Marquis's eyes," Roban laughed ?? again before speaking in a more serious tone.
"I know very well that the things here wouldn't be able to touch you anyway. Still, you are not allowed to go down to the 6th floor. If you do, I will be there to stop it from happening."
"I understand that you are acting on my father's orders."
"I know you might feel frustrated, Master Evan. The Ironwall Knights will also support the Master in every way possible so that the day will come when you can quickly release the restrictions and walk freely. So, I want you to be patient for now please."
"Yes, thank you."
"Of course, you know how to enter the battle room…"
"Yes, I do. Since this is the 5th floor, we won't need a gemstone yet."
Entering the Floor Master Battle Room was always a pretty big deal. Basically, the Floor Master was a monster defined as a 'boss' class, and as such, compared to other monsters, not only did it have the basic abilities, but also special armaments.
It was difficult to freely summon such a special monster at any time in the dungeon, so the dungeon demanded an "offer" from the challengers to summon the Floor Master. Gold coins were required on the 5th floor, and beginning from the 10th floor, gold coins along with gemstones were required.
"Okay then, everyone is ready, right?"
"Of course, Master."
"Roban, I'm going to go fight the Floor Master in this room, so please step back."
"Alright, Master. See you in a minute."
Evan took a gold coin and slid it into the hole in the middle of the door. Then the whole door shone with a brilliant gold colour, and at the same time, a deafening sound boomed from inside. The Floor Master was summoned.
"Raihan hyung, go forward and lift up your shield. Lua, you'll be attacking them with me from the front. We will kill the monsters who will protect the Floor Master first."
"Okay."
Evan took out two Battle Beads and held one in each hand. At the same time, Belois created seven arrows in no time, all made out of fire. Roban was flabbergasted and wanted to shout,
'Seven fire arrows at this age? It's definitely not easy at all to distribute magical powers in all of them equally. How much did these guys grow so much in this dungeon in only two days?'
After making sure everyone was ready, Evan ordered Raihan to move forward. Raihan walked towards the stone door in front of him.
The stone gate melted and disappeared like a mirage, and they were able to enter the room. Everyone in the group followed Raihan's lead without hesitation.
[Kwoah!]
The moment the party fully entered the room, many shouts and screams resonated throughout the room.
A massive goblin was standing proudly in the centre of the spacious room. It was the Goblin Warrior, and it was wearing armour!
"They're shooting arrows at us!"
"Over here!"
Raihan activated a divine cry.
That was enough. With the Goblin Warrior at the centre, the Goblin Archers standing side by side bent towards Raihan as if they were being sucked in, and all fell helplessly to Raihan's bait. Meanwhile, Raihan was moving brilliantly.
"Now it's our turn!"
Evan aimed the Battle Beads at the Goblin Archers standing on the Goblin Warrior's left side, while Belois cast magic at the Goblin Archers on the right.
[Wow!]
The Goblin Warrior, who was hit by one of the Battle Beads, was tormented by the shockwaves and flames and died instantly.
"Okay, then, let's stab it once with the scimitar and head to the next battle room."
"Hey, wait a second."
"Hmm. All of the Goblin Warrior's weapons have become useless and cannot be used because they all broke in the aftermath of the shockwaves produced by the Battle Beads."
"No, wait a minute."
"Master Evan, let's go."
"Why is everyone taking this for granted? Hey! Wait, why did it die so easily?! I didn't even attack it directly!"
Roban tilted his head as he watched the party return within 10 seconds of entering, having successfully won the battle. But then his questions disappeared as he realized that Evan was the one leading the party.
"Everyone wait! Is it dead!? Why was it so weak? Is it even a Floor Master!?" Evan remained unconvinced of the unexpected turn of circumstances.