Chapter 385: Episode 385

It was a monster shaped like a turtle by continental standards, its body shielded by a mineral shell. Though it was a bit large, Simon, who had hunted all manner of heinous monsters on the continent, assumed it would be an easy fight.

He was wrong.

“…’Hoo, haah… haah…!”

Thirty minutes had already passed since the battle began, and Simon was still struggling, unable to defeat even this single monster.

’Clink! Clank!’

Skeletons swarmed the creature, their blades ricocheting harmlessly off the mineral shell that covered its entire body. From the rear, a Skeleton Archer loosed arrows while a Skeleton Mage launched a Dark Blaze, but neither had any effect. Its defense was nigh impenetrable.

’Open Gate!’

While the skeletons created a diversion, Simon struck at the monster’s joints with the Overlord’s tentacle blades. The blades scraped across the monster’s leg but left not a single scratch. Its entire body, not just the shell, was made of the same mineral-like substance.

’In that case!’

Taking a few steps back, Simon completed a magic circle and pointed his finger. If physical attacks were useless, he would resort to a curse.

‘Sickness.’

’TING!’

The curse dissipated with a faint sound, repelled by the mineral covering the monster’s body.

“…What in the world?”

He hadn’t expected every single attack to be so utterly ineffective.

Just then, the monster broke through his skeletons and charged straight for him. Simon quickly concentrated Jet-Black into his legs and opened his subspace.

“I’m counting on you, Herseva!”

[Little one!]

A staff flew from the subspace and landed neatly in his hand. In the same motion, he bent his knees and leaped high into the air. The Life Vessel’s Jet-Black recovery was slower than a normal human’s core, making it a shame to summon her so early, but he had no choice. Floating in the air, Simon swung Herseva down with all his might onto the monster’s shell.

“Golden Touch!”

’CLANG!’

However, even Herseva’s unique ability failed to turn the shell to gold.

[Yow! That hurts, little one!]

“Kugh!”

His attack having failed, Simon tumbled onto the shell.

’How can this be?’

Physical attacks, magic, curses, even special abilities—nothing worked. And this was just a common monster, not the Dungeon Lord. A wave of frustration washed over him as everything he had worked so hard to learn proved useless, but he quickly forced himself to calm down.

’This is a dungeon.’

Before coming here, Simon had devoured every book on dungeons in the Kizen library. Surprisingly, there was one thing all explorers unanimously emphasized. It wasn’t strength, experience, or intuition. It was mental fortitude.

’A dungeon is a separate world. Do not assume that the rules of your world will apply here. No matter how large and strong a creature is on land, it is weaker than a sluggish sea anemone if it falls into the sea. Reset all common sense and think.’

Just as a faint idea began to form, the monster realized Simon was on its back and began to thrash violently.

“Whoa!”

Simon flailed his arms to keep his balance. If he fell, he would be crushed by its heavy feet.

[Ugh! Whut shud we dooo? Liddle one!] Herseva shouted, biting down on Simon’s clothes to keep from being thrown off.

“Let’s retreat for now. I need time to think!”

He decided there was no point in stubbornly trying to kill it now. Recalling Herseva to his subspace, he fired his Cloud toward a distant tree. As the emerald rope wrapped around a thick branch, Simon launched himself off the shell and swung through the air. The monster, still thinking he was on its back, continued to shake its body wildly.

—

Roc Island. Kizen Grand Auditorium.

“What a mess,” the emcee, Conrad, muttered, clicking his tongue. The low-quality footage from the dungeon was being displayed, and the scene was one of total chaos.

The students had been brimming with confidence. They had grown incomparably since their first year and took great pride in their skills. But that pride was shattered within minutes of entering the dungeon. The Kizen students, who had been boldly declaring they would be the ones to defeat the Dungeon Lord, were now struggling to take down even a small, rabbit-like monster. This was especially true for the most arrogant among them.

“Die, die!!”

“Why won’t it just fall?!”

One student was already showing signs of Jet-Black depletion after frantically unleashing a torrent of flames.

“Aaaaargh!”

Another, who had fought recklessly from the start, was now fleeing with a broken arm just a few hours in. The parents murmured in dismay.

“Professor Hongfeng! What is your take on this situation?” Conrad asked.

“In the ‘Plainz’ where I waz born and raized, there iz a zaying,” Hongfeng began, her voice calm. “When on the plainz, follow the law of the plainz.”

“Pardon?”

“Many people from the continent come to the plainz, causing trouble and destroying nature while flaunting their ztatuz or wealth. That iz what we zay to zuch people.”

On the plains, there was no high or low birth. Above all was only the great Mother Nature, and beneath her, every person was equal.

“It iz the zame for the ztudentz who entered the dungeon.”

She rested her chin on her hand and sighed softly.

“If you come to a dungeon, you muzt follow the law of the dungeon.”

—

Dungeon, Day 2.

’Crunch, crunch.’

Simon sat on the ground, chewing on a high-calorie chocolate bar.

’I’ve been trying to ration it.’

He had only brought two days’ worth of food. If he couldn’t hunt a monster soon, he might starve.

After savoring the precious bar, Simon turned his attention to the artifact on the ground beside him. The ‘Spring of Life Artifact,’ as it was called, collected moisture from the air and converted it into drinking water while he slept. Kizen had provided one to every student, but they had to be returned. Losing it meant a two-thousand-gold fine.

’It’s a relief I don’t have to worry about water.’

Gratefully, Simon drank the water collected in the artifact. His thirst vanished instantly, and his energy returned. He carefully transferred the rest into his canteen without spilling a drop and stood up.

“Alright, let’s try again!” he said, as if making a promise to himself, and approached the nearest tree. After a full day, he had confirmed that most of the flora and fauna here were covered in an unidentified mineral. From the roots to the branches, even the fruits and leaves, were all made of the same material, with only minor differences in hardness and elasticity. The structure seemed designed to prevent any internal damage.

’Besides, why do the plants in this dungeon look so creepy?’

They had faint traces of what looked like eyes, a nose, and a mouth, which was deeply unsettling.

Shaking off the thought, Simon placed his hand on the mineral-covered bark and carefully channeled his Jet-Black into it.

’Ting! Ting!’

The dark blue energy sparked as it was expelled. The mineral repelled any external force. If there had been any way to make his Jet-Black penetrate it, he would have had a clear path to a solution, but he was blocked from the start.

’It’s not a defense mechanism. The material itself just repels forces from outside the dungeon.’

He took his hand off the tree and drew a magic circle on his palm.

‘Call Fire.’

He held the small, flickering flame against the tree’s surface. It grew hot to the touch, but after a moment, it seemed to radiate the heat away, returning to its original temperature with no signs of burning or contraction.

‘Cold Bolt.’

The same went for cold. Temperature-based attacks were useless. He also tried electricity and a potent poison potion, but nothing worked. It was practically an invincible mineral. If this material could be brought to the continent, it would cause an uproar. Of course, it was common knowledge that items taken from a dungeon drastically lost their effectiveness outside.

“…What should I do?”

As he was deep in thought, a sudden ’snap!’ made him frown. His mental connection to a scout had been severed. A skeleton he’d posted nearby had been destroyed. He spun around.

’THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!’

The same turtle-shaped monster from his first encounter was charging toward him. It was a different one, of course, but it was the most common species in this forest.

“Whoops!”

Simon leaped into the air, pushing off a platform of Jet-Black. The monster stormed past him and rammed its head into the tree.

’CRACK!’

The mineral-covered tree, which Simon hadn’t been able to scratch, shattered from the single blow and toppled over. Landing softly, Simon broke into a cold sweat.

’That wasn’t an overwhelmingly powerful force.’

Could it be that attacks between the dungeon’s native life-forms were effective?

The monster turned its head toward him and charged again, kicking up a cloud of dust.

’Huh?’

Simon’s eyes widened. The mineral on the monster’s forehead was cracked.

“…”

He stared, a thought taking shape in his mind, and a slow smile spread across his lips.

“Don’t tell me that’s how it works?”

’WHOOSH!’

Dodging to the side, Simon pulled the fruit he had found on the first day from his subspace. He had been saving it for when he figured out how to break the minerals.

“With this!”

He extended his arm, and the bones of nearby skeletons quickly assembled over it.

‘Bone Armor – Gauntlet Mode.’

His right arm temporarily strengthened, he hurled the fruit with all his might.

’BAM!’

The mineral-covered fruit slammed into the monster’s head and exploded into fragments. At the same time, the mineral on the monster’s forehead cracked even further.

’Crack. Thud.’

Watching the debris fall, Simon confirmed his hypothesis.

“In the dungeon, you follow the dungeon’s rules.”

He strode over and picked up the shattered tree trunk.

‘Jet-Black Internal Combustion.’

’Fwoosh!’

A martial arts technique he hadn’t used in a while. Jet-Black surged through his body, maximizing his physical abilities. He effortlessly lifted the heavy trunk and ran toward the charging monster.

’Tap!’

He leaped onto its shell.

“Haaaaaaaaaah!”

With a powerful roar, he slammed the trunk down onto the shell.

’Craaack!’

The moment the two minerals collided, they flashed with energy, and both shattered.

“This was it!”

The minerals were nearly impervious to external forces, but when they collided with each other, a special reaction occurred, causing both to break apart. He’d only figured it out because the monster had rammed the tree. He was lucky.

Aiming his two index fingers at the exposed flesh on the monster’s back, he unleashed the curse he had prepared.

‘Exhaust.’

‘Exhaust.’

Only the outer layer was protected; the inside was fully susceptible to black magic. As the stacks of ‘Exhaust’ built up, the staggering monster finally collapsed with a heavy ’thud!’

“Sorry,” Simon murmured as six tentacle blades shot out from his subspace. “I’ll make it painless.”

The blades plunged into the monster’s head. As the creature went limp, Simon let out a weary groan and dropped to one knee. He was exhausted and out of breath from the backlash of the technique, but a triumphant smile graced his lips.

“Now I’m finally getting the hang of it.”

He felt as if he had just taken a monumental step forward in this dungeon.

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