NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20
“Be careful coming up!”
After finishing the dormitory contract through Yeriel, I followed her.
As I climbed the slightly creaky stairs to the second floor…
It led to what appeared to be my room.
“You can use this room. I’ve cleaned it one more time, though…”
It was the kind of Western-style house you’d expect to see in a fantasy.
It looked tidy, whether from good maintenance or not.
However, given the building’s age, I couldn’t say it was extremely nice.
Still, for the sake of the writer’s convenience, I preferred the atmosphere of this place over the more modern facilities of Cheong-gwan dormitory.
It felt like I had gone from seeing a cutting-edge penthouse to a well-preserved hanok.
“It might be a bit uncomfortable, but bear with it…”
“It’s just fundamentally nice. What’s the problem?”
“Huh?”
“It’s tranquil and nice. It reminds me of my grandma’s house.”
“…I see.”
Oh, right. The follow-up was just my personal remark.
“…Right.”
“?”
Yeriel kept nodding her head for reasons unknown and handed me the key, saying.
“If you need anything… just tell me! And for meals…”
Thinking about it, it might take forever to get to the academy student cafeteria from here, and I could end up starving to death.
“Uh… I’m supposed to cook for myself, but today I’ll help you! Come down in time for dinner…”
She brushed her long, white hair behind her ear and smiled once more.
That smile was undeniably angelic.
Preparing dinner for an outsider with a bad reputation, huh?
Was she really that nice, or was it just so nice to finally have someone in the dorm?
With that, Yeriel shyly left the room, leaving a faint floral scent behind.
Splash!
[Level 2 Surveillance Magic has been deactivated.]
“Huh?”
If we’re talking about the stages of surveillance magic,
1 – Can’t identify the target’s position at all.
I can only tell if they used a large amount of magic or if something life-or-death happened.
2 – Can specify the target’s location by building.
In other words, it’s quite a bothersome ability.
However, considering Aria’s mana capacity, it would be exhausting to keep Level 2 active all the time.
So, this was my chance for hidden dungeon exploration,
‘This is the opportunity!’
I carelessly unpacked and grabbed the Mermaid’s Scream before heading straight out of the Black House.
*
…
Yeriel checked the ingredients for two servings for dinner.
Just a moment ago, he had dashed out as if he had something to do.
“I guess he doesn’t really like the dorm, huh?”
She was filled with various doubts about Lev Denec.
“No, that can’t be… Otherwise, he would have taken his belongings with him…”
In fact, even if it wasn’t him, most of the Claris students didn’t choose to live in the Black House for their dormitory.
This was the first semester she was in charge as the dormitory supervisor.
So, she had prepared diligently…
But after looking around the dormitory, everyone’s comments were similar.
– Ah… It was nice to see.
– It’s too far away…
– What about food? Do you really have to cook for yourself?
– I heard from the seniors that this dorm is for those who got into trouble or run out of gems…
– Shhh, keep it down. They’ll hear you.
Of course, the location was subpar, the facilities were aging, and it was a place where it was hard to get the academy’s conveniences.
It was an understandable choice if you wanted to fully focus on studies.
Of course, Lev Denec’s case was different.
First, he had exceeded his demerit points, so he had no other dormitory that would take him, and thus he was shoved into this one.
Moreover, he had caused a ruckus by picking fights with others and hitting on the female students, leading to him being completely ostracized at the academy.
To top it off, he was reportedly a very picky person with OCD.
Yet, for such a person, his actions felt unnaturally laid-back.
He acted like it was someone else’s business and, on top of that,
– Why is it so fundamentally nice?
He seemed at ease, even complimenting the Black House in a way that didn’t sound fake.
– It’s tranquil and nice. It reminds me of my grandma’s house.
She had never met someone like him before.
It could have been empty words, but at that moment, she couldn’t deny that she felt good.
One of the reasons she decided to stay in this old annex was that it was where her grandparents had been the dormitory supervisors.
Before the academy was built, it was a building where her grandparents lived even before it was purified from being a place of corruption.
Could he have thought of it that way too?
“He’s not a bad person, but he was… calm…?”
Her tone was casual, suggesting she wasn’t particularly interested, but unexpectedly, she didn’t complain about her own thoughts.
That made her seem more composed.
Yeriel doesn’t judge people based on appearances or rumors.
It’s her belief that experiencing something firsthand and then making a judgment is the right way to go.
“Since we’ll be living in the same dorm, we’ll inevitably have some interactions… mm mm.”
Of course, the arrival of a rational male in her previously female-dominated space was unexpected, but still, as the first student in the Black House, hosting a meal as a form of congratulations seemed reasonable.
She thought.
*
After taking the Circulation Train and walking quite a bit east, a magnificent lake appeared, with sunlight breaking over its emerald surface.
Who would ever think there’s a dungeon in there…
The saying goes that “the darkest place is under the lamp.”
In this clear lake, there’s an underwater cave that is considered an instance dungeon, and it’s inhabited by half-human, half-snake creatures known as nagas.
These guys have been a sleeping clan since this place was a place of corruption and are at the heart of an original story trying to resurrect the Water Dragon to restore their clan.
And that Water Dragon makes an appearance in Chapter 2 during Harpan’s magic sensitivity practice time, at which point Melissa ends up taking a hit due to her overconfidence in her fire magic, disregarding the elemental alignments.
Then, Caeran appears to save her, and Melissa’s inferiority complex soon transforms into affection.
Anyway…
In Chapter 2, the Water Dragon – Poseidoros is the link to the characters not grounded in reality.
I thought that if I could disrupt this connection, it might help me avoid my goal of reaching the Caeran ending.
Now, just before the Water Dragon’s resurrection was the perfect opportunity.
[Mermaid’s Scream]
[Rarity: C-]
[A potion that allows for underwater breathing. Lasts for 30 minutes.]
Pop!
I quickly uncapped the glass bottle and downed it in one go.
…
*
…
[Instance Dungeon]
[Hidden]
[Demon Lake – Water Dragon’s Altar]
[Difficulty: D]
[Time Limit: 5 hours 39 minutes]
Drip.
In the dark, damp cave, only the sound of my crossbow echoed.
Hiss!
Whack!
[Critical Hit!]
Haaah…
And as the notification of the critical hit popped up, the creatures fell limply without even a squeak.
[Hider – Gamer trait activated.]
[Hider][Aggro: 9]
[*If Aggro reaches 100, enemies (demons) will recognize you.]
[Luck triggered! Random stat increases by 0.05.]
[*Luck activation does not raise the luck stat.]
So, I stealthily selected positions where the enemies couldn’t see me and made my way deeper into the cave.
Hiss!
Thud!
Slither, slither…
[Critical Hit!]
[Aggro: +8]
[Aggro: 17]
[Luck triggered! Random stat increases by 0.05.]
Thanks to my near-forced assassination gameplay, I could monopolize the experience.
Even in ultra hell mode, if I could take them out in one shot with a critical hit, managing aggro would be easy.
———————————————————
[Naga Spearman]
[Normal, Hidden D+ Rank Demon]
[Human-like]
[Danger Level: Somewhat Low]
[Characteristics: Adult. They seem to be guarding something for a cause they believe in.]
———————————————————
Nagas have a much higher entity value than Hobgoblins, who are rank F, but since they’ve been living deep in the sea amongst their clan for a long time, even though they can evolve from snake-like beings, they have no resistance to terrestrial poison.
———————————————————
[Steel Bolt]
[Enchantment: Poison]
[Remaining Uses: 25]
[A D- rank crossbow bolt coated with poison, reduces the target’s healing effect by 30% and inflicts additional fixed damage for 5 seconds.]
———————————————————
However, since the poison enchantment Hazel had cast was recognized under game mechanics, I could fully utilize this.
Anyway, the synergy between hidden monsters, the luck trait, and the monopoly of experience was incredible.
[Luck triggered! Random stat increases by 0.05.]
[Luck triggered! Random stat increases by 0.05.]
[Luck triggered! Random stat increases by 0.05.]
I was consistently getting stat bonuses that are typically awarded on rare occasions when defeating enemies!
It was so limited in terms of enemy numbers, it was nearly disappointing.
Thus, my growth began to heat up.
———————————————————
Status
[Strength]: 1.75 -> 1.9 (new)
[Health]: 2.0 -> 2.2 (new)
[Dexterity]: 1.4 -> 1.55 (new)
[Magic Power]: 1.0 -> 1.05 (new)
[Mana]: 1.0 -> 1.10 (new)
[Mental Strength]: 1.25 -> 1.30 (new)
[Sensitivity]: 1.0 -> 1.05 (new)
[Luck]: 2.6
[Specialization]
[Circle Magic (1)]
[Crossbow – Proficiency (5)]
———————————————————
“Delicious.”
Not only was it the stats.
[Luck triggered! Proficiency increases.]
———————————————————
[Crossbow Proficiency] [5]
[Increases the minimum hit rate to 97% based on a maximum range of 90% for the crossbow.]
[Additional 4% chance of critical hit for the crossbow.]
[Crossbow’s critical hit damage increases by 10%.]
[(Hidden) When using a crossbow, additional damage is dealt proportional to your dexterity.]
———————————————————
“Delicious…”
I hadn’t planned to use the crossbow for long, but now it attached a surprisingly sweet hidden passive.
A bonus damage proportional to my dexterity.
Since in [Reincarnated Hero], the marksman and rogue positions had many skills proportional to dexterity, it made sense.
Due to my bad luck, my dexterity stats weren’t too high, but for now, I needed to play it safe and soak up the rewards until all my stats gradually filled up.
…
Swimming down again in the cave, swimming up in a U-shape,
I found the last one, the boss.
Grrrr…
———————————————————
[Water Dragon’s Priest]
[Named E-Rank Demon]
[Human-like]
[Danger Level: Somewhat High]
[Characteristics: The priest levels up to D rank upon successfully stacking spells three times.
Experience approaching! Will level up to D rank in 2 hours.]
———————————————————
Dressed in white cloth, this emerald colored naga fancied itself a priest.
The issue was that in the original [Reincarnated Hero], it was classified as a rare monster,
But it seems to have also received the ultra hell mode treatment because now it stood before me as a named creature.
“Should I take a hit?”
Based on what I could see through my appraising magic, if it succeeded in stacking its casting, it would level up to D rank.
A D rank named creature would be equivalent to A-B rank monsters in the usual standards,
At that point, even grandpa crossbow wouldn’t be able to take it down.
Besides, due to the game mechanics where it grows stronger over time, it just so happens that it’ll evolve in 2 hours.
In other words, it would be too late to consider any alternate method to retry.
‘Having come this far, it’s too much to give up.’
Since it’s a named entity, if I take it down successfully, I could choose one of three new traits.
Also, the splendidly glowing essence of the Water Dragon behind it… called to me.
‘Makes my mouth water.’
What if I happened to hit a weakness? One shot should do it.
But even if I miss, if I charge in with everything I’ve got, might be okay?
‘But what if I get knocked out?’
Even in-game, using mercenaries for instance dungeons is the safest and most cost-effective play.
That’s the downside of solo play, after all.
As I was pondering whether to give up, I suddenly remembered the skills I had.
‘Hold on…’
I have one skill that’s particularly useful when I’m alone.
‘Demon Transformation.’