Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented

As user gathered steadily in the Dwarf Village, the excavation at the entrance of the Elite Dungeon accelerated at a rapid speed.

Skilled dwarf miners, aiming to unveil the legacy of the ancient dwarves in its utmost integrity, were paving the way to the Elite Dungeon, ‘Ancient Shrine of Berveia.’ Just like the ‘Demon Lord’s Forward Base’ and ‘Aspero’s Fortress,’ it served as some sort of content speed control.

With dwarves now eagerly welcoming adventurers from the stars, the armaments crafted from the minerals they mined, along with the items they produced, would provide great power to the people of this world.

The achievement of ‘Dwarf’s Friend’ that I easily earned. The ‘Friendliness Quest’ for it seemed tougher than expected. I couldn’t raise my Friendliness over 40 with just simple mineral mining quests. Once this Elite Dungeon opens, I should be able to enhance my Friendliness further through exploration and conquering.

As time went by, a considerable number of advance user groups achieved the minimum Friendliness level required for entering the Elite Dungeon.

Finally, the day of the opening of ‘Ancient Shrine of Berveia’ was approaching.

I had nothing to do, not needing to work on Friendliness quests.

I just took a tour of daily quests, helped Sister Chris level up, and then wandered around the Rock Mountains and Berveia Plains.

And, in the end, I would hole up in one spot.

I thought I had forgotten everything; I thought it had nothing to do with me anymore.

But living in this world made it inevitable for old memories to resurface.

Especially when I was sitting in a corner of a cave looking at petroglyphs.

[Dwarf Hero ‘Ain’]

Uncle Ain.

Honestly, I don’t know.

Why am I still here?

Is it to provide after-sales service for the Continent of Astria? Chuckle. They didn’t even give proper after-sales service to my own body.

There are many great adventurers in this world right now.

It doesn’t have to be me, right?

All I want is to feel the sensation of my body moving as I like, enjoy the scenery of this world, and enjoy adventures without worries.

But.

I stood up, looking at the face of my old comrade.

After all, these are the things we protected together.

As long as I am here, I owe it to the comrades who are no longer around to keep watch in their stead.

And also, I make some money in the process.

The sunlight hit my face as I stepped out of the cave, casting a warm red hue.

I squinted my eyes and gazed up at that redness.

“Rain, are you all set?”

“Yes.”

Still, I have precious connections that I gained by coming here.

People I would never have met if I hadn’t returned to the Continent of Astria.

The person who pulled me out of the pit of the past, a grateful friend.

“Sister, I like red.”

“Hehe, really? I prefer white.”

I took Sister Chris’s hand and headed towards the stage of our next adventure.

Whispering.

Finally, a crowd of users gathered in front of the massive entrance of the ancient shrine that revealed itself.

Compared to when we were at Aspero’s Fortress, the number of users was significantly fewer. The Friendliness level condition of 40 for Dwarf Village felt tighter than expected.

Of course, over time, other users would enter here too, but for now, those who had met the entrance requirements were about just these users.

“I didn’t even have time for the arena and had to go around to raise Friendliness with a pickaxe. It’s incredibly frustrating.”

Deathly Death grumbled.

“I’ve noticed that Deathly is recently working hard in the arena, right? Are you doing arena battles too, Rain?”

“I just do daily quests.”

“Really? I think I saw the nickname Rain on the first page of the arena rankings. But of course, excluding ranks 1 to 3, only the last two characters of the nickname are exposed, so it must be a similar nickname.”

I slightly blushed at Bae Merong’s question.

Since I had no losses in the arena, my ranking went up a lot. Even though I only did daily quests, I exposed my nickname more than expected.

Should I intentionally lose to drop the ranking? I can’t resist the rewards.

Still, unless I meet someone I know in the arena, it would be tough to identify me.
…Maybe.

“No way, I started working on Friendliness quests first in our party, but it hasn’t gone up even after 40?! I worked so hard by groveling to the dwarves for even more petty tasks! I even helped with the matters of their backs! Can you even imagine?”

“I’d rather not.”

This time, Cherni unleashed his complaints. Bae Merong was snickering to herself.

Buzzing.

Rumbling.

As we chatted, the seal at the entrance of the Elite Dungeon was released.

The massive doors of the shrine swung open, revealing the entrance.

Chris, who was holding my hand tightly, lowered her head slightly to meet my gaze.

Memories of lying in the corner, trying to avoid people’s eyes, flashed through my mind.

Thanks to her sticking close, I found the courage to wait at the front.

“Rain, let’s do our best today as well.”

Chris’s eyes scanned left and right, checking if my party members were nearby.

Was it the feeling of a parent leaving a child with unfamiliar friends?

I lightly squeezed her hand once, gently letting go and creating some distance.

I stood alone in front of the dungeon entrance.

“I hope you do your best too, Sister.”

A hint of confusion crossed Chris’s face.

“Rain, your party members….”

Hop.

My body lightly leaped back, entering the dungeon. Soon, Chris’s face disappeared from my view.

*

“Wow.”

The interior of the shrine was unbelievably vast. The ceiling reached unimaginable heights.

A downward structure of the dungeon. It seemed like it was utilizing spaces not just within the Rocky Mountains but also beneath them. Rather than a shrine, it would be more appropriate to call it a labyrinth.

Truly, an ancient maze.

This dungeon seemed to be built long before the era I was active in, embodying the zenith of dwarven ancient architecture.

The smoothly polished walls, adorned with peculiar patterns, glowed with a faint blue hue.

This kind of glowing mineral is rare. I lightly touched the walls inside the shrine.

“Magic Stone.”

A mineral that naturally absorbs Mana and allows the stored Mana to be utilized. Using these expensive items just for the lighting in this dungeon seems ludicrous.

I’d love to take them all, but it seems I can’t since it’s considered a dungeon structure.

I smacked my lips and continued deeper down.

Thud.

I arrived at the first room of Area 1.

Inside, the enormous cubic room held four strangely shaped statues.

Gargoyle statues. They are a type of golem.

Could this dungeon be puzzle-based with mobs?

I recalled the cave I passed through to enter the Dwarf Village. That dungeon was composed of basic mazes and puzzles, but this Elite Dungeon maze was designed to properly eliminate users. The specs of the golems here would be on a different level too.

Whirring.

As I completely entered the room, blue light began to rise from square shapes scattered across the ground, starting from beneath my feet. The light did not fill the entire floor but formed a certain shape. And its end connected to the exit across the room.

Thump.

With a step forward, the blue light under where I stepped vanished.

“Ah-ha.”

I could figure out the puzzle structure of this room.

It was a one-stroke drawing type of puzzle. I needed to step on all the blue light panels to extinguish them and finally reach the exit across.

Stepping on the same place twice or stepping on an unlit area would instantly summon a golem to attack.

“Ugh, hmm.”

I’m not particularly good at puzzles.

Should I just give it a shot?

Rumble.

“Hah.”

I sighed, looking at the opened door after defeating the last gargoyle.

Each time I made a mistake, a gargoyle golem attacked me one by one. With their gimmick type, they even had quite a lot of HP.

Ultimately, after using all four chances, I had no choice but to defeat all the gargoyles.

Indeed, puzzles aren’t for me. It seems I have no other choice but to smash everything.

After passing through a few more puzzle-type rooms, I encountered a differently shaped room.

Unlike the cubic rooms,

this one was structured like a long hallway.

However, the path was interrupted. A door was visible on the opposite side, but the floor leading there was completely missing.

I approached the edge of the broken path and peered down.

“Wow.”

Below were the gargoyle golems I had seen earlier. It wasn’t high enough to die from a fall, but I’d have to defeat all these guys to get back up.

Thump.

At that moment, accompanied by a resonating sound, blue stepping panels began to emerge from the edge where I stood.

Whoosh, Whoosh, Whoosh.

With a slight gap in between, the irregularly generated panels floated in the air.
And gradually, the ends of the stepping panels connected to the other side of the hallway.

The stepping panels were narrow. The distance between the panels was quite far.
But if I step on these panels floating in mid-air, I could bypass a fight with the golems below.

I grinned mischievously.
This requires physical skill. This is my strong suit.

Thump.

My body lightly leaped as I stepped onto the first panel.

Whoosh.

The panels flickered, appearing like they would disappear. I quickly moved to the next panel.

Thud, Thud, Thud.

Repeating that a few times, I soon found myself arriving at the opposite side of the hallway.

Thud.

Finally, landing in front of the exit, I spread my arms wide.

If it were a gymnastics event, all the judges would score a perfect 10 for my flawless landing.

“I’m here!”

Even though I spent quite a while in the puzzle gimmick room, I zipped through the panel hallway.

After traversing a few more such rooms, I reached a cubic room twice the size of the previous ones.

This was the 1 Named Boss Room.

As if to prove that, there stood a gigantic golem statue in the center.

A golem with a bull’s head.
It stood firmly on two feet like a human.
A bipedal bull? Since this is a fantasy world, it seems more appropriate to call it a Minota.

The minerals forming the golem’s body emitted a gentle blue light. How much is all that worth?

As I completely entered the room, the head of the golem began to move.

Screech, Rumbling.

The movements started from its neck, spreading throughout its colossal body.

Boom.

And finally, one foot stepped toward me.

Oooooooo-!

The sound resonating from the Magic Stones making up its body, the bull’s roar echoed throughout the room.

[1 Named Enemy]

[Level 45 Ancient Golem Minotaurus]

[HP 8,600,000/8,600,000]

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