Episode 9 – Dungeon Book (3)
Dungeon Book.
There were quite a variety of types, but the use itself was all the same.
'Move the person who opened the book into the dungeon.'
There were times when the dungeon one moved into was a virtual space like a virtual reality game, and there were times when it was real dungeon, but in the end, it was just a key for teleportation.
Jude slowly opened his eyes.
The white light faded, and what came to his sight was not the narrow and dark confession room, but a black sky and white floor, or to be exact, it was a large place with a white cloth spread on the floor.
'We've come to the right place.'
The dungeon book with an unknown author and title was hidden in the temple of the Varuna, the god of secrets.
In Legend of Heroes 2, this was the key to the conquerable dungeon, but Outboxer009 was the only one who entered and cleared it.
'There's a reason why the game continued for more than 10 years.'
The world of Legend of Heroes 2 was one that continued to grow.
What it meant was that even up to now, around 10 years after its release, Legend of Heroes 2 had not stopped its periodic updates.
It was not only the story of the second episode's main story for the single-player mode, but also the story between the second and third main stages of the multiplayer mode.
The stories of each playable character, the various quests that result from it, their interpersonal relationships to the NPCs, and so on.
Moreover, the number of stories was not small. There were rumors that the AI used big data to continue creating new stories, and no knew if this was true, but in any case, a huge number of stories were added with each update.
Therefore, despite the fact that it was a game full of rotten waters like Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm, Legend of Heroes 2 had yet to be fully conquered.
'Because there are still elements that we do not know.'
Naturally, the fact that there was an 'unknown' element in this dungeon, wherein he didn't know if this was a part of Legend of Heroes 2 or in a world similar to Legend of Heroes 2, was not something he was pleased about because it was closer to a disadvantage rather than an advantage.
In any case, what mattered now was the fact that they had entered the dungeon.
'What about Cordelia?'
"Ouch, my head hurts. Is this something like teleport motion sickness?"
Cordelia's voice came from behind his back as if answering his question.
He turned around and saw Cordelia holding her head with a pained expression.
"Cordelia, are you okay?"
"Uh… I'm not all right. What about you?"
"Oh, I'm all right."
"Why are you okay?"
"Why aren't you okay?"
"I know, right?"
Cordelia's body shivered as she answered like an idiot, perhaps because her motion sickness hindered her normal thinking.
"Anyway, haaa…. This is the dungeon in the dungeon book. It looks like… a virtual dungeon type?"
The biggest difference between a virtual dungeon and a real dungeon was the presence or absence of death.
In the case of a virtual dungeon, one would not really die if they died in the dungeon. They would still feel the pain, but they would only be expelled out of the book in the end, with all injuries mysteriously disappearing.
Obviously, there were penalties in addition to the pain.
'Retry is impossible.'
Once a player was kicked out, they couldn't return to the virtual dungeon again.
'It's much better than dying though.'
There were two reasons why Jude first chose Varuna's Dungeon Book at this point in time.
One was the reward being good, as he had told Cordelia, and the other was that they could experience an actual battle without the risk of death.
'After all, Legend of Heroes 2 is a fighting game.'
The journey to stop the Great Summons was inevitably accompanied by battles.
"Haa."
Jude cleared his mind and glanced at Cordelia again before he formed a small smile.
"Wow…it's so real."
It was a place where they had gone in and out countless times in the game, but this was the first time that they had gone in a dungeon book in reality.
Cordelia looked around with curiosity as she found it strangely interesting and mysterious.
'Anyway, let's get this over with.'
After looking at Cordelia, Jude turned his gaze to his left hand and smiled in satisfaction.
"Bingo."
As he had expected, there was a large bag in his left hand.
It was a bag he deliberately held with his hand just before opening the book.
'Because even in the game, the dungeon book took in all the items I was equipped with when I entered the book.'
The smiling Jude opened the bag. There were quite a lot of items inside since the bag was large.
"I should have brought a bag too."
Cordelia said as she slightly lifted the hem of her skirt. Apparently, she hid her items under her skirt like she did last time.
"What did you bring?"
"Just the basic stuff."
Cordelia answered Jude's question before she looked around again and said as she pouted her lips.
"Don't look here until I tell you."
"Should I just turn my back and sit?"
"That will be fine."
Having said that, Cordelia smiled and Jude quickly turned around. He rummaged through the items in his bag and spoke again.
"By the way."
"Yes."
"What tech will you be specializing on?"
"You mean magic?"
"Yes, magic."
"I'll go with the flame skills first."
"Elemental tech?"
"Yeah, elemental."
"What about buffs or debuffs?"
"I will get it. But I'll start with elemental first. Because firepower is essential."
"Well, that's an answer typical of Yellow Storm."
A battle maniac who risked their life just to deal damage.
At Jude's remark, Cordelia responded with a small smile.
"Because it's me. Oh, you can turn around now."
"I'll turn around then."
Jude turned around and his eyes widened with what he saw before he smiled again.
"As expected of our Yellow Storm."
Cordelia had been wearing a lace-filled dress with a wide skirt, but she was now wearing clothes suitable for combat.
Her blouse and leather pants perfectly fit her body, and there was a dagger on her waist and a short magic wand like a baton that she held in her hand.
She also wore leather boots instead of her dress shoes.
"Did you know that we'd be coming here?"
"No, but I thought that something would happen if you called me, so I brought it under my skirt."
"Can you show me the inside of that skirt later? I'm curious about the internal structure."
"What is this crazy b*stard saying?"
Cordelia swore, but her face was smiling.
Jude shrugged once, and then approached Cordelia with some of the things he had taken out of his bag.
"Then, put this on too."
"Eh?"
"Don't be shy."
What Jude brought out was a leather vest with chain mail, and hard leg and wrist guards made of oiled leather.
"There's also a helmet and a shield."
Those were made of leather too.
Jude placed the helmet with what looked like to be old aviator goggles over Cordelia's head, and smiled in satisfaction, while Cordelia stared at the round leather shield she somehow came to hold in her hand before she narrowed her eyes.
"Outboxer."
"Yes?"
"If my eyes aren't seeing wrong, isn't this the only armor set in the bag?"
"That's right."
"But why are you putting this on me?"
"That's because you're in the front line."
"The front line?"
"Yes, the vanguard."
"The vanguard in battle?"
"That vanguard."
"You're a warrior and I'm a wizard, right?"
"Hey, how can you say that? I'm a man with Gueumjulmaek. How am I supposed to stand in the front line? I have to stay in the back."
"You got the Sun's Necklace."
"Will it be treated in 10 days? Even if I was cured, there's something that you're forgetting, right?"
"Something?"
"Even if my illness is cured, I'm still weak."
He had thin limbs and waist, and a light body weight.
His muscle mass might even be less than that of Cordelia.
"I'm quite conscientious though. After all, I gave the only body armor that I have to the one who will stand in the front line for me."
Jude grinned, and Cordelia said with a bright smile too.
"F*ck."
"Yes, yes. If my Gueumjulmaek is healed, I'll carry you, be hit by you, cross the wall, and even stand in the front line."
Jude smiled again and gave a thumbs-up, but Cordelia gave him the middle finger.
"F*ck you. Okay, I'll be in the front line for now. What will you be doing in the back though?"
"I'm going to use this."
Jude walked back to his bag and took out a bunch of papers he packed inside.
"Magic circles?"
"I've made those that we can use at our current level."
Jude had originally experimented with various magic circles in order to learn how Bellastin's magic circle works.
"Let me see that."
"Here. Take your time."
There were several complex patterns drawn on the papers that were slightly bigger than a palm.
'Crazy.'
Cordelia studied the magic circles and was forced to swear and admire it at the same time.
The magic circles that Jude gave her numbered 30.
1-star magic spells were drawn, but the reason Cordelia cursed was simple.
'You memorized all of these?'
Bellastin's magic circle was amazingly complex, but it was a very special magic circle after all.
However, the magic circles in front of her now wasn't that complex.
It was naturally easy to memorize these because they were simple, but even so, the fact that he managed to memorize these many was astounding.
"That…"
"That?"
"No, it's nothing."
At that moment, Cordelia wanted to ask how many more did he memorize, but she decided to not just ask.
'Because I have this feeling that he memorized everything.'
And then he'll tease me that I can't memorize these.
"Cordelia?"
"Well, good. This should be good enough. These magic circles are also of different types."
"Yes, so please inject your mana into them."
"Eh?"
"I mean, you'll need to inject mana into the magic circle in order to use it, right?"
"What about your mana?"
"Hey, why are you being like this again? I have Gueumjulma-"
"F*cking b*stard, evil b*stard, son of a b*tch."
"Woof-woof."
The last one who spoke was obviously Jude, but Cordelia growled like a dog afterwards.
And an hour later.
Cordelia collapsed onto the floor after she had finished injecting her mana into the magic circles while drinking the mana potions she had brought.
"Haa…haa…"
They hadn't started yet, but she already wanted to spread out on the floor.
But now wasn't the time to be lying on the floor.
"The speed of time is multiplied by how much again… Haa… tell me, okay?"
"It's 20 times in the game."
When Cordelia panted and asked, Jude readily answered as he took the magic circles.
20 times.
In other words, this meant that 20 minutes inside the dungeon book was equivalent to a minute outside.
"Even if it's a secret meeting in the confession room, Maja and Dahlia will be worried if we stay for 30 minutes. So let's finish it before that."
"Wait, 30 minutes? How long does it take to conquer this dungeon?"
"Well, I don't know. At our level now, it will roughly take eight hours if you include the resting time?"
"Crazy. What the hell is in here?"
"As I have already explained, It's a B-rank skill book that's either martial arts or magic. Isn't it obvious that we'll have to work hard for it though?"
At his quick answer, Cordelia wanted to roll her eyes, but she immediately closed it and sighed.
"Just use those fricking magic circles."
"No way, you're kidding, right?"
Jude calmly answered before he sat in front of Cordelia and unfolded a large piece of paper.
It was a dungeon map he had drawn based on his memories.
"I've remembered all the paths, but you should know it as well. We also need to talk about the monsters that will appear inside– Why are you looking at me like that?"
"No, it's nothing."
What can a guy who even memorized Bellastin's magic circle not memorize?
Cordelia was secretly impressed, and the two began to talk in earnest about their dungeon strategy.
And time passed.
After their rough discussion, Jude and Cordelia stood beside each other in front of a large arched door.
If this place was a safe zone, beyond this was the danger zone where monsters would appear.
Jude took a deep breath before he glanced at Cordelia, and she also looked at him.
"Shall we begin?"
"Let's begin."
To conquer Varuna's Dungeon Book.
The two stood together and took their first step.