The Cloud-Raised Brave Man's Travels

Chapter 57: The Assassin in the Dungeon

During this time, Manfuyu and her friends had actually collected quite a few crystal cores. Even after buying the portable space, they still had enough left to buy five or six invitation tickets. This ample supply of crystal cores was thanks to the hunting team of Katsura Hinagiku, Hayasaka Ai, and Shinomiya Kaguya. After acquiring the system, their only time was eating and sleeping, and going down the mountain to kill zombies. These girls were very strong, and they all understood that to survive in this world, they had to overcome their fear.

"Mr. Mafuyu, do we really need to buy invitation tickets?"

"Answer: Through communication with the doctor, we can confirm that the rewards given by the favorability system are the best option for us. The six of us who want to rely on the products in the system mall to become stronger require too many crystals."

"But how is the favorability calculated?"

"I think this Chika is pretty much the same as in the game. 60 is probably good friends, 80 is probably boyfriend/girlfriend, and 100 is the so-called lifelong companionship."

"I agree. That means as long as Koya considers us friends, we can at least get the first stage of rewards, and all we need to pay is an invitation ticket."

"That?"

"Let's take a vote! Call Xiao Ai over, and the six of us will vote... But if even one person disagrees, we'll just observe and see. Qianhua, do you think this is okay?"

"……I see."

The voting results came out soon.

·Dividing line·

"Koya, you actually left me again to find another sister!"

"Weren't you resting in the hotel at that time? Besides, meeting Lefiya and the others was just a coincidence."

Hatsune Miku also came to the residence of Loki's family. The hotel on the safe floor was too expensive. How expensive was it? It was about a hundred times more expensive than the average hotel in Orario. So just now, Koya and Ais and the others went back to the hotel to check out of the room. By the way, it was already noon, so it was a good time to wake Hatsune Miku up for lunch.

"Long time no see Hatsune~~"

"Yeah, long time no see, Lefiya."

I was very happy to see Hatsune Regia. Since they were of similar age and both were elves, they naturally became good friends. Maybe in the future their relationship could even develop into that of sisters.

The Loki family's lunch was quite good. Even in the dungeon, they still had thick and tender steaks, delicious creamy soup, and even fresh fruits and vegetables. Such a generous logistics made Koya envious. You know, his daily lunch in the dungeon was still fried potato balls...

Just as everyone was enjoying this delicious lunch comfortably.

"what……?"

Keya watched the ripples rising from the bowl of soup. Soon, the ground beneath his feet began to shake as well. The pebbles on the ground were shaken left and right, as if dancing. The tremor wasn't strong, but it persisted. This was unusual. If it were an earthquake, the destructive power wouldn't be so small, nor would it last so long. But if it wasn't an earthquake, what could be causing the dungeon to tremble?

"Earthquake?"

Lefiya asked a little dazedly, but soon she answered her own question.

"No, this is..."

The four of them were in no mood to continue eating lunch, so they walked out of the tent together. The underground city's shaking didn't stop, but instead became increasingly violent. The surrounding trees were swaying from side to side, and the leaves rustled in unison.

"This vibration... I have a bad feeling."

Hatsune blurted out these words as she looked at the scene in front of her. The two veteran adventurers, Ais and Lefiya, nodded in agreement.

It's obvious! This is a sign of something abnormal happening.

The floor continued to shake, and the next moment—the sound of shattering glass echoed, reaching the ears of every adventurer on this floor... The light pouring down overhead began to mix with dark shadows, and the surroundings darkened. Everyone habitually looked upwards...

"...What is that?" The adventurers, staring up at the sky, muttered in a daze.

The 'sky' of the eighteenth floor is made up of countless crystals, covering the entire ceiling of the eighteenth floor. In the center of the sky lies a huge white crystal, which acts as the sun on this floor. The light it emits shines through the crystals around it to every corner of the eighteenth floor. It is the sun of this underground city that makes the eighteenth floor lush with trees and peaceful and comfortable.

And now, a huge object is wriggling in the white crystal known as the Dungeon Sun.

Just like looking into a kaleidoscope, a huge shadow is reflected in the crystal, and it seems to exist anywhere on the crystal wall - this scene is definitely not beautiful, and it is even a bit eerie.

Soon the light and shadow changed, and something in the crystal seemed to be moving forward in the crystal. It was just behind the white crystal because the shadow was behind it, but now... something blocked the light of the white crystal, and a dark shadow fell from the sky.

Like everyone else, Cole was looking up at the ceiling. A bad feeling welled up in his heart. Suddenly, a stronger tremor swept over. This time, the tremor was no longer the minor one from before, but a powerful one that made everyone reach out to grab the surrounding tree trunks for support to prevent falling.

Then - the cracking sound continued to ring, and the sound became louder and louder, like glass breaking in front of you from far away.

A crack. The white crystal hanging between the ceiling suddenly began to shatter.

[Cracks…? Isn't this the sight of a monster being born?!]

[Impossible, this is a safe floor!]

The adventurers talked a lot, but no one was stupid. They soon realized that something must have happened in the dungeon, and they didn't know whether it would be a blessing or a curse to stay here.

About five minutes later, the cracks in the Dungeon Sun grew more severe. Crystal fragments gleamed and fell fragilely from the cracks, and dust also shimmered in the air like stars, a magnificent sight. In the town on the safe floor, the adventurers had no time to appreciate this beauty. They quickly gathered their belongings and rushed non-stop towards the passage leading to the seventeenth floor.

"Hey, hey, hey... I just got here, do you want to prepare such a big gift?"

"Lord Hermes, I hope you can tell me for sure that this matter has nothing to do with you."

"My dear Asifi, I also want to say that this matter has nothing to do with me, but it seems that it is really directed at me - the assassin of the dungeon."

Chapter 58: Dark Goliath

The dungeon is conscious and resents the gods - this is the first thing the gods' friends tell them after they descend to the mortal world. When the gods come to the guild to register for the mortal world, they will receive a warning: never set foot in the dungeon!

"Oh shit, I clearly didn't use any divine power, how did this dungeon find me?"

Hermes had an expression as if something terrible had happened and he was in trouble. He narrowed his eyes and kept spewing obscenities.

"You're not the only one who understands the situation. Please explain it clearly! What exactly is going on? I really shouldn't have agreed to your willfulness and brought you to the dungeon!"

"The dungeon discovered that a god like me had entered the dungeon. It is now very angry and wants to kill me~"

Hermes' tone suddenly became like a bard, as if he was telling a story. He continued to say to the confused Asfy: "The dungeon holds hatred. Hatred of the gods. This is the tomb of the gods, and it will not allow anyone to escape."

Asfi was puzzled as she watched Hermes, whose gaze was always fixed on the ceiling. Just as she was about to speak, a ball of crystal fell in front of them, interrupting her.

At this moment, the monsters originally in the floor seemed to have received the call, and distant howls came from all directions, overlapping with each other and forming an echo.

"Asfi, go to Rivera Town and get help."

"Reinforcements? Do you mean to fight them? Or leave this floor as soon as possible and take shelter?"

"No, I'm afraid..."

As if agreeing with Hermes' words, a sound of something collapsing and rocks colliding violently could be heard from the south. Asifi turned his head to the south, his eyes widening behind his glasses, and he gasped.

"The passage is blocked... they really don't intend to let me go."

"——! Damn it! Seriously! If I don't make it back alive, I'll hate you to death, God Hermes! No... Even if I make it back alive, I'll hang you on the gate of the clan!"

Even Her Royal Highness, who had received the highest level of etiquette education, was now driven to despair by her own Lord God.

Seeing Asfi leave, Hermes' gaze returned to the ceiling. The 'sun' was about to go out, the quartz rain was about to stop, and in the center of the crystal, the monster finally revealed its appearance.

"Floor Master...Alas, I really got into big trouble."

So, let's get back to the original question: why did Hermes come to the dungeon? It's simple: Bell and Koya happened to have both reached the eighteenth floor, and Hermes, a playful man, wanted to stir up some trouble and let these two "protagonists" show off their heroism. However, he himself didn't expect that this time, things would go a bit too far.

Hermes felt wronged. He had just found a group of jealous adventurers and was about to send them off to cause trouble, but those bastards hadn't even taken action yet! Could it be that the dungeon had discovered them while they were experimenting with their own items? Those items didn't have much power...

·Dividing line·

At the Loki Familia base, Finn had already assembled the members of the clan. The high-ranking adventurers had gathered their spare weapons, and the logistics team had set up their ballistae and catapults. They hadn't expected to use these weapons during the expedition, but now they would. The abilities of the top-tier Families were fully demonstrated at this moment. While the other adventurers were still staring blankly at the monster's appearance, the Loki Familia were already poised for action.

The monster within the crystal finally began to reveal itself, its head emerging first. It was as if it had sprouted from the crystal ceiling, its giant eyeballs glaring out, looking down at the upside-down world below.

"HOOO ...

The roar made the earth tremble. It announced its arrival to everyone with the most high-profile behavior. The one-eyed giant "Goliath", the lone king of the maze who was supposed to exist only on the seventeenth floor, was born on this safe floor with a more powerful posture.

Goliath swung his hands like a hammer, shattering the crystal around him. Eager to escape, his massive body fell from the ceiling, following gravity. Like a black meteorite, it was surrounded by glittering crystal fragments.

"emission!"

The dashing giant soon met his Waterloo. The five ballistae of Loki's family made a hissing sound. The ballistae used by Loki's family were naturally not ordinary goods. Under the seemingly rough appearance, they were actually the most proud works of Hephaestus's blacksmiths. Let's put it this way... this ballista could shoot through the wall of Orario with one arrow.

"Ahhh-"

With a resounding bang, Goliath was shot down from the sky by Loki's followers. The wails of the trees were deafening. Even the tall trees could not support Goliath's massive body. Several trees were smashed halfway into the ground by Goliath, their sturdy trunks deformed.

Normally, anyone who saw the monster attacking in such a miserable state would have started cheering, but a strange atmosphere enveloped everyone in Loki's family. They all looked unhappy, and Finn even frowned and bit his thumb.

"Eh? Why does everyone have such expressions?"

"Because the crossbow arrows didn't break the monster's defense at all."

Because of his higher attributes, Koya could see more clearly than Hatsune. The seemingly powerful crossbow arrow was bounced back the moment it hit Goliath, and there was even a fleeting spark at the point of contact... How tough is Goliath's skin?

"Lefiya... What level do you think this goliath is?"

"At least Lv. 5. Our Loki clan's crossbows can penetrate even the Lone King of the Lower Labyrinth. Even the Black Turtle, known for its strongest defense, can leave a mark on it."

While Lefiya's level wasn't high, as Livilia's chosen heir, she participated in every expedition and was well aware of the power of her own ballista. So now the question arose: while the first-level adventurers of Loki's clan weren't afraid of this monster, their weapons were nearly all broken. How could they defeat this monster, which clearly boasted maxed-out defense? Ais's weapons were intact, but she was agile. A monster like Goliath, with its high defense and high health, would be dealt a gut-wrenching blow by Ais—a scraping blow!

Soon Goliath stood up from the ground. With dark skin and blood-red eyes, he looked like a demon crawling out of hell. A normal Goliath shouldn't look like this, right?

Chapter 59: Journey to Doomsday

"System? What's going on this time?"

Time suddenly stopped. Koya was very familiar with the feeling of being unable to move except for the brain. This was the situation when he went to the Terra world. So, was there someone who needed his help again?

[Now starting to transmit basic background, the task system has been activated and started to generate——]

"So the quest system only releases quests in other worlds? And there are zombies... such strange monsters."

[Main mission: Ensure the safety of Kirisu Mafuyu and his five companions - no reward, but please make sure to complete it.

Side Quest 1: Rescue the survivors.

The survivors of the doomsday world are a very important resource. The idea that there is strength in numbers is fully demonstrated in the doomsday; but please carefully distinguish which are the survivors worth saving and which are the doomsday thugs who deserve to be cut into pieces.

Mission reward: For each survivor rescued, the strength, endurance and other attribute values will all increase by 10 points.

Side Quest 2: Shelter

In the doomsday world, having a shelter that can withstand danger is definitely the wish of all survivors. Please build a safe shelter.

Mission Reward: Increases Strength, Endurance, and other attribute values by 100 points.

The reward for the mission is better than nothing for Koya. A few hundred attribute points are roughly equivalent to three or four days in the dungeon for him. Rather than a reward, the mission system is more like telling Koya what he should do in this doomsday.

"System, can I bring others with me?"

[This function is not currently supported and will be available later.]

"Okay, take me there then."

·Dividing line·

"Goo-"

The six girls in the living room stared nervously at the man before them. This time, Koya's appearance seemed quite calm, a stark contrast to his previous appearance in Terra. Looking at the six girls, Koya didn't know what to say. Should he say hello? What should he call them? Or should he introduce himself first?

"Koya?"

The first girl to speak among the six was not the outgoing Chika, nor the oldest Kirisu Mafuyu, but Shiina Mashiro, who had been silent and just served as the student union mascot.

"Well, hello, I'm Koya Constantine. If there's anything I can do for you, just let me know."

"Are you my lover?"

"Eh?"

"The system says you are our lover."

Koya didn't know what to say, but besides being confused, he must have felt more of a sense of secret joy. After all, being called a lover by a beautiful girl was really heart-warming.

"Ahem, hello Mr. Koya, I'm Katsura Daisy. Please allow me to introduce you to our current situation."

"Okay, please."

Katsura Hinagiku brought Koya to the study and began to explain the current situation to him. Hayasaka Ai and Fujiwara Chika went to the kitchen to prepare lunch for Koya, while Kaguya and the other two stayed in the living room...