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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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After completely changing into the suit.
I moved to the Ungoliant Cave.
The Ungoliant Cave was located in a cave in the middle of the ‘Dark Forest,’ and I encountered monsters frequently on the way there.
-Kieeeeing!
*Bang!*
However, so far no monsters could withstand the ultra-high temperature plasma beam.
To encounter a monster with a shell strong enough to withstand the plasma beam, I would have had to go at least into the depths of the Dark Forest.
“Is it here?”
How far had I come into the Dark Forest?
I had finally arrived at the Ungoliant Cave.
The entrance of the cave looked like a human skull.
This was the cave where the Ungoliants resided.
“To come here so early, it’s quite nostalgic.”
The Ungoliant Cave.
Originally, this was a place we would go to for practical training during the first semester of the second year, one year from now.
In this place, the player would be isolated with one of the heroines due to a cave-in, and would end up protecting the injured heroine for about three hours.
That event would cause them to grow closer.
Well, this was a space where such a predictable romance story was scheduled to occur.
“Also, it’s where the worst disaster happened.”
However, that was only if you successfully completed the hidden event.
If you failed, the genre would change from romance to horror.
You’ll end up losing a strong heroine candidate just like that.
“……Well, it’ll be weaker compared to then.”
However, that happened because the Ungoliants at the time were under the influence of a demon.
That was also the time when the hints about demons started to appear.
If it was now, before they were influenced by demons, there wouldn’t be much of a problem for me to venture in here alone.
The Plasma Mana Shield that I had developed this time was no different from a skill that was the polar opposite to them.
Therefore, I buried myself in the cave, which was a deep abyss.
Step by step, with each footstep, the light gradually faded, and the darkness surrounding me deepened.
-Drip… drip…
Soon it became a quiet space where only my footsteps and the sound of dripping water echoed.
Now, this place was completely filled with darkness.
The only things that could be seen were the faint blue lights emanating from the mana stones attached to the suit.
However, even in this darkness, I could feel the gaze of a predator steadily following me.
Because the bright red eyes on the ceiling of the cave had been scattering busily since earlier.
That meant the Ungoliants were sticking close to me.
‘When will it be?’
I calmly waited for the right moment.
The moment they rushed at me.
*Sasa-sak*
*sasa-sak*
The busy footsteps of the creatures, moving in time with my steps, dug into my eardrums.
Now, they didn’t even seem to want to hide that they were targeting me, as they observed me while making eerie communications with each other.
*shii-shishik*
“If they don’t want to come, I’ll have to make them come.”
However, I knew well how those disgusting monsters would steal the souls of their prey.
They would hide their bodies in the dark, follow persistently as if they were about to pounce, and weaken the prey’s nerves.
*Thud!*
So, I fired a flare forward.
A beam of light pierced through the cave, and dozens of giant spiders, exposed to the light squeaked and hid their bodies in the darkness.
“It was here.”
And with just the terrain of the cave that was illuminated for a brief moment, I could grasp my location.
I had already explored this place more than a dozen times.
I already knew the complex structure of the cave.
‘A staff-shaped rock.’
That was the point I had picked out.
I chose the direction of the path based on a uniquely shaped terrain feature that only veterans would recognize.
Thus, among dozens of forks in the road, I entered the path where the staff-shaped rock was located.
*Shishik! Sasa-sak!*
Dozens of Ungoliants were following my footsteps.
‘I was worried that the structure of the cave might have changed, but it hasn’t.’
Fortunately, the structure of the cave was the same as the one I had seen so many times in the game.
A complex structure where the entire cave was connected like an anthill.
The reason why this place was so difficult to conquer was due to this intricate terrain.
Because it was a dark space without a single ray of light, and you could feel the pressure of not knowing when and where you would be ambushed in a place where all sides were connected by tunnels.
‘At the six-way fork, take the third path, then after the next fork, advance 20 steps and take the upper-right tunnel.’
However, that wasn’t the case for me.
I was a veteran among veterans of El Pandor Runterra.
I knew almost everything, including hidden easter eggs and hidden events.
I had also memorized the terrain of this place in my head, like a mathematical formula.
I moved without hesitation toward my destination.
“Shhh!”
At that moment.
Something sticky stuck to my ankle.
One of the Ungoliants, sensing the odd feeling, had shot a spiderweb.
*Fzzzt!*
I channeled mana into the suit to create a momentary high temperature, melting the spiderweb.
After that, I melted the dozens of spiderwebs that were shot at me in the same way.
*Pah!*
The creatures were struggling to bind my movements.
I had no intention of falling for their tricks.
After melting all the spiderwebs, I immediately began to sprint toward my destination.
“Shhhhiiiiit!”
“Shishishit!!”
Then the creatures began to rush at me, making urgent noises.
Even though they were monsters with drastically low intelligence, they had sensed danger because I went straight to their most precious space without getting lost.
-Kieeeeing!
*Bang!*
But it was already too late.
After taking out the spiders with minimal combat, I fired a flare to illuminate the terrain.
And after confirming the location of my destination, I focused mana on my legs to momentarily increase my speed, and I outran them.
Before the Ungoliant group could react properly, I had broken through the final line of defense.
“Shhhiiiiit!!!”
“Suwaaaat! Shikk! Shishik!”
The creatures were furious.
The place I had arrived at was none other than the Ungoliant’s hatchery.
Hundreds of eggs were pulsating like human internal organs.
And some of the hatched young ones were eating various kinds of monsters that were wrapped in spiderwebs.
Among them, some were sucking on the spinal fluid of humans.
“Now, it’s an all-out frontal battle.”
I loaded a plasma beam and fired it at the Ungoliant hatchling that was sucking on human spinal fluid.
*Whoosh!*
The creature’s body burst, and pieces of the corpse scattered everywhere.
Strong hostility was felt in the dozens of hostile eyes glaring at me and a terrible scream echoed throughout the cave.
“Kieeeeeeeeeee!!”
My aim was successful.
The creatures were enraged.
I stretched my right hand back and indiscriminately fired plasma beams at the creatures’ hatchery.
Then dozens of adult Ungoliants, who had lost their reason, began to rush at me at once.
“Alright. How nice it is if we face each other fair and square in a frontal battle.”
However, this frontal battle was the best battle that I had designed.
I immediately activated the Plasma Mana Shield.
Then a super-high temperature plasma mana shield was formed within a 2-meter radius centered on me.
And the Ungoliants angered by touching their eggs, started throwing themselves into the ultra-high temperature shield without hesitation, trying to break through it.
This was no different from dozens of Zerglings rushing at a Firebat with Irradiate on its Defensive Matrix.[1]
And a Firebat blocking the entrance of the hill.
“Kieeeeeeeek!”
“Kreeeeeek!”
Therefore, the creatures that rushed at me started to melt on contact.
The Ungoliants of the Dark Forest were not creatures that properly manipulated mana, so they could easily be killed with the Plasma Mana Shield.
In the first place, the only reason they were difficult was because they would wear people down with constant guerrilla warfare in the darkness, where you couldn’t see an inch ahead.
So, they could never beat me in a frontal battle.
“Tsk. They’ve kidnapped quite a lot.”
I looked around the hatchery, ignoring the Ungoliants that were rushing toward the plasma like moths to a flame.
Corpses were dangling from the ceiling.
Goblins, White Wolves, Gnolls, Harpies, Quillbeasts, and all sorts of monsters were hanging, wrapped in spiderwebs.
And among them, the most numerous corpses were of course, human corpses.
Since the Ungoliants’ favorite delicacy was human spinal fluid, they would often kidnap adventurers who passed through the Dark Forest or children who got lost and feed them to their young ones as a treat.
Perhaps the heroines of my failed playthroughs who I couldn’t save had also suffered the same fate.
“I’m suddenly pissed.”
*Kieeeeing! Bang!*
I fired another plasma beam at their eggs.
Then, the creatures, having lost their young ones, began to strike my mana shield even more fiercely.
*Fzzzzt!*
*Chiiiiiik!*
However, their serrated legs could not reach me.
The amount of my mana was almost the same as Enya’s, one of the top NPCs.
My mana wouldn’t run out easily.
“Shishit…! Shiiiiit…!”
How long had I been watching the creatures who were like moths throwing themselves into the flames?
Now, the creatures were starting to hesitate.
After seeing that they would only die if they rushed at me, they stopped charging.
“Oh, I guess I need to recharge their anger.”
It seemed that their anger had run out.
That was what I could tell from how they were hesitating.
*Kieeeeing! Bang!*
So, I fired a few more plasma beams at the creatures’ hatchery.
Once again, hatred began to fill the eyes of the creatures that had been calming down.
The recharge was complete.
“Kieeeeeeeeeek!”
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*Shhhhhhhhing… Bang!*
A firework soared into the quiet night sky of the 3rd Danger Zone.
The guard ‘Jenon’, who had been chewing on jerky at the exchange in the area, frowned and scratched the back of his head when he saw the fireworks lighting up the night sky.
“God damn it, I knew it! See, hyung! I told you, didn’t I? We shouldn’t have sent him!”
“……”
The old man with glasses remained silent at Jenon’s irritable words.
He sighed and replied.
“The amount of mana I sensed was considerable… Is this how it ends up, after all?”
“Noble young masters drunk on heroic tales are all the same. They rush in without thinking and end up like this. How many times has this happened?”
“Hmm…”
“What, there wouldn’t be any need to send out a distress signal? What a load of bullshit. Acting all high and mighty, weren’t you?”
Jenon roughly cursed while collecting his weapons and equipment.
After putting on his armor and helmet, he put his greatsword on his back.
“I’ll go take a look, so you just request a cleanup crew. If there are corpses scattered everywhere, it’ll be a pain for me to clean up alone. Ah! And I get 10 gold when I come back, right? I won the bet.”
After saying that, Jenon used mana amplification.
Blue aura wrapped around his body and evaporated like steam.
*Pah!*
Soon, his body sprang forward like a spring.
His figure quickly approached the location where the distress signal had been fired.
“Ha, the Ungoliant Cave? He’s out of his mind.”
Soon, Jenon, who had confirmed the location of the distress signal, laughed with a sneer.
Where did he cause such a mess?
It turned out to be a place near the Ungoliant Cave.
That hellish cave where even skilled inspectors were likely to become spider food!
How many adventurers had tried to capture that place only to become food for those terrible monsters?
Still, it was fortunate that the pretty-faced young noble seemed to have been scared by the entrance of the cave and fled.
That’s why he was able to fire off a distress signal.
“Huh?”
But then.
At a point 10 meters away from the Ungoliant Cave.
Jenon had no choice but to doubt his eyes.
Edgar, whom he had expected to be chased by the Ungoliants that had come out of the cave, was standing at the entrance of the cave with an incredibly calm face.
Moreover, there were 9 corpses and 2 survivors around him.
The survivors were constantly sobbing and thanking Ed.
“H-How did this…?”
Soon, Jenon, who had arrived in front of Ed, asked for the details with a bewildered face.
Then, Ed, who had been removing the spiderwebs from the corpses, turned to look at Jenon and said with indifferent eyes.
“I couldn’t leave the corpses behind. I have to identify them and return them to their families. And these two here are the lucky survivors.”
“……”
Jenon looked at the survivors, who were constantly shedding tears and thanking Ed.
And then, he looked back at Ed and asked with a disbelieving face.
“D-Did you perhaps… rescued the survivors and the corpses that were inside the Ungoliant Cave…?”
“Yes.”
“……?”
He felt like he had been hit in the head with a hammer.
The Ungoliant Cave was a maze-like space that you could never escape once you entered.
Not only was it amazing that he had come out of that place, but he had also brought corpses and survivors with him?
The Ungoliants stored their prey in the deepest part of the cave?
“Well, I’ll be on my way. Please collect the corpses and send them back to their families, and please give the survivors something to eat. As you can see, they’ve been starving for days wrapped in spiderwebs.”
“……”
“Then, good work.”
But without even allowing him a chance to resolve his questions, Ed immediately left.
That was because it would soon be time for the dormitory doors to close.
“….No, that’s just ridiculous.”
However, Jenon, who had been left alone, muttered that it couldn’t be true as he entered the cave.
Still questioning how Ed had escaped from this place.
*Pah!*
But when he entered the cave and lit a flare, he had no choice but to acknowledge it.
That Ed’s words were true.
Because the inside of the Ungoliant Cave, when the flare was lit up…
“Huh…”
All sides were filled with the corpses of Ungoliants.
Jenon stared blankly at the scene and muttered quietly.
“…Guess I lost 10 gold.”
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