Chapter 32
The information Da-in provided wasn’t just that.
‘Moreover…’
“This is the ‘Tower of Calamity’. To be precise, it’s a dungeon confined within a tower.”
“A tower?”
“You don’t know? It’s very famous. Every 4-5 years, dungeons far more dangerous than usual appear. Dungeons that even S-rank hunters can’t handle alone. A hunter with blacksmith abilities created a tower to contain such dungeons, and that’s how the Tower of Calamity was made.”
“Then… is this the Tower of Calamity?”
“Yes. Inside the Tower of Calamity, there are five calamity-level dungeons in total. A lot of time has passed, and now that the tower can no longer hold, the government has gathered people to conquer the Tower of Calamity. If this dungeon breaks, it really would mean the end of the world.”
Da-in’s words flashed through my mind.
“Most people who come here want money, fame, or power. There are probably very few who come to protect the world.”
Perhaps because too much information came at once, my head throbbed.
‘The first dungeon, [Forgotten Forest], is divided into infinitely many areas for fighting.’
Like a tutorial, she added. Da-in’s voice echoed.
Let’s say this is inside the ‘Tower of Calamity’. Then why was I forcibly dropped here?
‘Even those S-rank guys who fell with me didn’t seem to know why they were there.’
They might have even found me suspicious.
“For now… thank you. Please keep what we talked about today a secret.”
There wasn’t really anything to hide, but I said it just in case.
“A secret…! I’ll definitely keep it!”
Da-in nodded with firm determination.
I’m not sure if I should be glad to have met someone like this first.
I sighed and stood up.
“Oh, where are you going?”
“I’m going to look for my companions.”
Even if they reject me, I need to at least check if they’re okay.
“It’s better to join a faction first.”
However, Da-in stopped me before that.
“Unless you join a faction, it’s hard to survive here. You’ll often get your coins stolen…”
Faction? There’s such a thing?
As I tilted my head, just then.
Ding!
[SYSTEM] ‘Main Quest-12’ has arrived!
The system chimed in perfect timing.
[SYSTEM] Main Quest-12 [Join or Acquire a Faction]
▸A faction is essential for survival. Join an existing faction or acquire an area to create a faction.
Time limit: None
▸Failure: Survival probability ↓
▸Reward: Faction benefits
How could they notify me of something this important only now?
💎
Those who survive the first dungeon, [Forgotten Forest], are sent to a new dungeon, [Abandoned Mansion], to start a new survival.
And what’s crucial, almost mandatory in this dungeon, is a ‘faction’.
There are two ways to have a faction.
First, find an existing faction and join it.
Second, create a new faction.
To create a new faction, you need to find a Blue Zone specially placed within the dungeon.
“If you wander around, you can find empty Blue Zones. It’s not too difficult to find them.”
But…
“When you enter an empty Blue Zone, you have to fight a monster. If you win there, you can subjugate that space as your own and create a faction. Since people have already settled in most places, probably only difficult ones are left.”
Da-in spilled out all the information she knew at my single request to “tell me about factions”. While I wondered if it was okay to reveal all this information without any caution, I realized that wasn’t the issue.
‘The point is, I need a faction no matter what.’
From what Da-in said, it seems better to just join an existing faction, but…
“If you go to a low-ranking faction, they’ll probably accept you. They seem to let people in after just checking that you won’t be a hindrance.”
Given Yi-joo’s skills that I saw earlier, you could easily join a mid-ranking faction too! Da-in added, but I’m not so sure.
‘My rank is too low, being F-rank, no, E-rank now.’
The problem was whether other factions would accept me in this state.
I frowned for a moment.
It didn’t take long to decide what to do.
“I’ll be going now.”
I stood up, peeling my back off the wall where I had been leaning to listen to Da-in’s story.
“Thanks for the information.”
There was no time.
Starting from low-ranking factions would take too much time, and even if I got in, they’d likely throw me out once they realized I wasn’t that strong.
So I’ll just have to find a Blue Zone.
“Wait a moment!”
That’s when Da-in grabbed me as I was getting up.
Huh? I turned around to see her slightly bowing her head, opening and closing her mouth.
“What is it?”
Is something wrong? As I blinked a few times, she bowed again.
“Can I go with you?”
She asked, almost mumbling. I was about to ask “Pardon?” thinking I might have misheard, when Da-in suddenly raised her head.
Her navy-like hair swayed, and my reflection was clearly visible in her gray eyes.
“Please let me help you, Yi-joo.”
💎
“It’s here.”
I raised my head.
“This is the Blue Zone I found.”
A blue line was drawn in the shape of a door on the stone wall.
“As soon as we enter here, a monster will appear.”
I looked at Da-in as she explained. Her fair, soft skin particularly caught my eye.
Da-in had said she would follow me. And she showed me the Blue Zone she had found before.
‘Why is she helping me to this extent?’
Was saving her from those three men really that moving? I should have realized it when she started listing all the information she knew.
Although she looked very gentle in appearance, Da-in’s personality itself was really very kind. That’s why she immediately showed me the Blue Zone she had found.
I quietly looked down at Da-in and thought.
‘Hmm…’
It seems we’ll have to fight together here, so it might be good to know more?
[Using skill, ‘Peek (S)’.]
‘I’ll just take one look.’
As I mentally apologized, her status window popped up.
[Name: Gi Da-in
Rank: A
Faction: None
Title: None
Traits: None
Skills: Rising (S), Lasso (B), Swinging (B), Vitality (E).]
[*Only information visible at the current level is displayed.]
‘A-rank…?’
Wait a minute.
“What’s your rank?”
“Pardon?”
Da-in asked back, surprised by the sudden question. I knew I had asked abruptly, but that wasn’t important right now.
“Your rank. Can you tell me?”
“Oh, I’m A-rank.”
Her sheepish reply confirmed that I hadn’t seen wrong.
“Don’t you know how to use attack skills?”
“Pardon?”
Except for ‘Vitality (E)’, they’re all attack skills, aren’t they?
“No, let me ask again.”
I couldn’t help but be surprised.
“Why didn’t you fend off those squids—I mean, those men earlier?”
She’s an A-rank. And she even has an S-rank attack skill.
But those men from earlier were clearly just thugs with mediocre ranks.
Even if their ranks were high, she could have at least tried to fight.
Da-in hesitated at my question, then carefully opened her mouth.
“Well, I have skills, but my attack power is weak.”
“Weak?”
“Um, well…”
She blinked repeatedly. As she awkwardly avoided my gaze, I belatedly noticed her expression. It clearly showed her discomfort.
‘Ah.’
Da-in was showing signs of discomfort for the first time.
‘…I spoke too abruptly.’
It would have been burdensome to reveal even a little information about one’s skills to a complete stranger in the first place, but to my surprise, I failed to consider Da-in’s feelings.
‘What have I done to someone who offered to help me?’
Regret quickly washed over me.
“Well, you see…”
“No, it’s okay. I get it roughly. I’m sorry for prying.”
I cut off Da-in as she was about to speak again, and smiled lightly as if to say it was fine.
“Anyway, you didn’t suffer any harm from those men, so it’s okay. Shall we go now?”
She stared blankly at my face, then smiled slightly and nodded. I smiled back at her “Yes” reply, then turned my head.
I stretched my hand towards the inside of the area bordered by the blue line.
[SYSTEM] This area is an empty Blue Zone. Do you want to enter? (Y/N)
The system clearly indicated that it was an empty space.
“I guess it remained because it’s in a corner location.”
As I said that, Da-in made an ambiguous sound.
“Well, that’s part of it… but it seems this place has a high difficulty level.”
Difficulty level?
“Each Blue Zone has a different difficulty, and it seems a C-rank hunter entered here and died.”
I heard an unsettling story. However, there wasn’t enough time to find another Blue Zone and settle in, adapt, and so on.
“Will you be okay? If it’s too difficult, I can find another place.”
I looked at Da-in as she spoke worriedly, then raised my head.
‘If I step in here, there will be a monster right away, right?’
I took a short breath while looking at the blue light drawn in a square shape. And instead of answering that it was okay, I stepped forward.
[SYSTEM] You have stepped into the Blue Zone.
[SYSTEM] Entering the Blue Zone!
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
Is this dropped?
No, it’s not (´∀｀；)