The next day,
After washing up, I went out to the lobby. Having undergone expansion, the lobby was now luxurious, reminiscent of a high-end hotel. Through the adjacent hallway, I went to the dining hall.
Now Level 2, the dining hall was also impeccably clean. A long table covered with a white tablecloth occupied the center. Zena was eating breakfast there.
"Oh, you're up?" Zena saw me and waved. Even as she waved, she was still chewing. In front of her lay bread, bacon, and meat stew.
"Strangely, breakfast is incredibly delicious today. Thanks to that, I'm eating my fill." Zena popped a piece of bacon into her mouth. Her eyes softened, clearly in a good mood.
"Of course. Fewer mouths to feed." I pulled out the chair next to Zena and sat down.
Just yesterday, the stew had only one piece of meat, and the bacon was tough as leather. The bread was hard and dry. Regardless of the ingredients, there hadn't been enough time to cook properly. Two people had to prepare meals for 35.
Now that the number of occupants had been reduced by more than half, the amount of ingredients per person had drastically increased, and preparation time was more relaxed. The cooks would no longer suffer, working all day without rest.
Though the Heroes on the first floor were probably peeling potato skins.
Zena continued eating, humming a tune. The reason her skin looked exceptionally shiny seemed to be that she had spent all night in the bathhouse yesterday. I received my portion of the meal and began eating.
After finishing the meal, Zena and I went out to the plaza. The second-floor plaza was empty. It was natural. Lazy bums who would loiter around early in the morning wouldn't make it to the second floor. Everyone was either sleeping off an all-nighter or had already gone to the facilities or the training ground.
I opened the door to the training ground. Aron was there, thrusting his spear at a wooden dummy. This guy had been the last one in the training ground yesterday, and today he was the first one here. We were the next earliest after Aron. Party 2's activity schedule was usually a bit later than ours.
"You're here." Aron retracted his spear and greeted me.
I sighed and said, "Did you get four hours of sleep?"
"About three hours, probably."
"You're one remarkable guy."
With flawless movements, the spearhead pierced the wooden dummy. Finishing one round of motions, Aron approached us. And, as always, the basic physical training began.
The most significant change in the Level 3 training ground was the addition of private training rooms and a sparring arena. The private training rooms were divided by walls and could be locked from the inside. Now I could conduct the Berserk training, which I had previously only done at dawn, without worrying about prying eyes.
The sparring arena referred to the raised square platform in the center of the second-floor training ground. It was accessible via stairs and enclosed on all sides by metal fences. The key difference from other spaces was that high-speed recovery didn't work here. Gimmicks using the waiting area's healing properties were ineffective. This meant sparring could occur under conditions identical to actual combat. Of course, if serious injuries occurred, the person had to be quickly pulled out.
About 30 minutes later, Iolka appeared, yawning. She glanced indifferently at us running laps on the track and entered the Hall of Magic. Iolka's training vacation ended today. But that didn't mean she was slacking off. When she wasn't doing physical training, Iolka studied magic in the Hall's library.
A short while later, Party 2 joined, and the main group was assembled. As always, a busy day began. During training breaks, I went down to the first-floor plaza to observe. Unlike a few days ago, hardly anyone was lounging around. Most were either in the training ground or learning skills from the auxiliary staff in the facilities.
'Two candidates stand out.'
I peeked inside through the open door of the first-floor training ground. Belkist was currently engaged in a multi-opponent spar with other Heroes. Though called sparring, they wielded real swords, likely at Belkist's request. Belkist was the only one besides Party 1 who used real swords in sparring.
'Personality: domineering. Fearless. Talent: high-tier.' For instance, the 'Feral Instinct' skill Belkist awakened yesterday was a rare ability with less than a 1% acquisition rate. It was different from Calmness or Berserk. Feral Instinct was a passive skill that converted status effects like fear or anger into combat power; combined with skills that forcibly induce status effects, it could create incredible synergy.
I looked elsewhere. A woman with short black hair and a cold expression was gouging a wooden dummy with a thin rapier. Nerisa Iyor. A dual wielder who alternated between a rapier and a dagger.
Her raw combat power was lower than Belkist's, but her fundamental personality was cool and composed. She also possessed exceptional sense for special actions like stealth, infiltration, and information gathering. If properly nurtured, she would grow into a decent rogue type.
'The rest aren't worth watching.'
Every time Belkist's sword swung, someone inevitably hit the ground. Even though three were ganging up on him, they were no match. The only one who could possibly stand against him was perhaps Nerisa. The others were also Party 3 members summoned around the same time as those two, but the gap had widened significantly.
After knocking down the three, Belkist looked towards me and mouthed something. I couldn't hear the sound, but I understood the meaning.
'Want to have a go too, Senior?'
"Insolent brat." I chuckled softly and drew my sword. Then I entered the first-floor training ground.
Unsurprisingly, Belkist was no match for me. Roughed up a bit, he'd probably stay quiet for a while. It was commendable that he endured the pain even while being cut up all over his body.
When the day's routine ended, Amkena logged in. After sending the lower-ranked Heroes summoned yesterday on missions again, she began the daily dungeon rotation. From facility level 4 onwards, materials like ore, timber, and leather were needed in addition to Gems. From now on, there would be a separate job class called Gatherer responsible for farming.
And then again,
[Party 1, assemble!]
It had been three days since Iseul last called us. I, who had finished the training schedule and was analyzing the waiting area's status in my room in the second-floor living quarters, stood up. After organizing my materials, I went out to the plaza. The members of Party 1, excluding myself, were already gathered there.
[Ugh, going up and down is exhausting. Am I getting old?] Iseul complained, rubbing her shoulders.
Iolka cut her off uninterestedly. "What's the matter? Dungeon climbing?"
"It won't be climbing. We're missing one person," I said. The final members for Party 1 and Party 2 hadn't been filled yet. The situation was different from the 15th floor.
"Then why did you call us? We don't seem like the right members for a daily dungeon."
[The Master ordered an exploration.]
"Exploration?" Zena tilted her head.
'Exploration, huh.' Main Dungeon, Daily Dungeon, and finally, Exploration Dungeon. These were the three types of content always available from the Rift of Time and Space. Exploration Dungeons opened after clearing the 10th floor, but it seemed she intended to send us only now, after the 15th floor.
[Go down to the first floor. I've opened the Rift of Time and Space. I'm swamped with work, no time to rest!] Iseul puffed her cheeks, scattered stardust, and disappeared. She reappeared on the first floor and called out members of another party. Her voice was sharp. The excessive workload seemed to have made her irritable.
I headed towards the downstairs staircase. Zena pointed at the Dimensional Rift.
"There seems to be a similar door on the second floor, can't we go through there?"
"That one's unusable." The condition to open the Dimensional Rift was clearing the 20th floor. Still a long way off.
We went down to the first floor. The Rift of Time and Space was open. As we were about to enter, Aron spoke.
"This 'exploration,' is it a necessary mission?"
"Not strictly necessary," I replied. Exploration Dungeons were essential for enjoying higher-level content, but not critically important right now. Compared to the Main or Daily Dungeons, their necessity was currently lower. That's why Amkena hadn't sent us until after we cleared the 15th floor.
"It'll still take quite a bit of time though. At least a day or two. Probably longer in waiting area time."
"What do we do that takes so long?"
"Who knows. Won't we find out when we get there?"
"So there are things even you don't know." It wasn't a dismissal. Exploration Dungeons were one type of content Masters couldn't directly observe. Sending Heroes into Exploration Dungeons yielded rare materials, Advent Stones, and occasionally even Heroes, but I didn't know the exact mechanism.
[Master, please give the Heroes expense money! It will make their exploration much smoother.]
[Give Gold to Heroes?]
[Recommended - 3,000G per person]
[Yes (Selected) / No]
When Amkena pressed 'Yes,' leather pouches fell from the air. Inside the pouches were glittering gold coins. I picked up a pouch.
"Looks like they're giving us travel expenses." I examined the inside of the pouch. A total of 12 gold coins, about the size of a 500-won coin. According to the system, it was 3,000 gold per person, so each coin seemed to be worth 1,000 gold. I distributed three gold coins to each party member.
"They would fetch a good price if brought back, I suppose," Iolka murmured. Though they were glittering gold coins, they were meaningless within the waiting area. Zena showed curiosity, but Iolka and Aron looked at them indifferently.
'Gold, huh.' I couldn't be certain about Exploration Dungeons, but I could make some educated guesses.
I tucked the gold coins into my clothes and entered the Rift of Time and Space. Once all five of us were inside, the door closed, and light streamed from the mirror on the right.
[Collect various rare materials!]
[Exploration Dungeon: Exploration Possible (Haim Peninsula)]
Haim Peninsula. As I recalled, it was one of the place names in Taonier. It was also the region where the 5th and 10th floor stages took place. The areas available for exploration increased every 10 floors, and the names of these areas varied per account.
"Stay sharp. We might have to fight." The party members nodded.
There were cases where Heroes sent to Exploration Dungeons died and returned. This indicated the possibility of combat. However, the death rate was extremely low compared to the Main Dungeon.
The light emanating from the right mirror intensified, enveloping the entire Rift of Time and Space. When the light subsided, we found ourselves in a familiar place.
['Party 1' begins exploration!]
[Exploration Location - Haim Peninsula]
[Time Remaining until Return - 48 : 00 : 00]
[Tips/Completing Dungeon Deepening research increases Hero sojourn time. You can also instruct Heroes on the types of items to collect.]
Iolka sighed. "Here again."
I looked around. A river flowed in the distance. To the right, a dense forest could be seen. Ahead stood high city walls. I had seen it several times. It was an unforgettable place.
'Nelsa.' Just as expected. We were back in the city where we had gone through two boss stages.
The only difference from then was that we weren't in a combat situation. There was no sign of fighting anywhere. Zena raised her hand to her brow and surveyed the surroundings.
"It's strange. It was a mess when we left, wasn't it? The forest was all burnt, the walls were damaged, and many people died. But now..."
"It's perfectly fine," Iolka finished, opening her fan.
As Zena said, Nelsa was intact. The burnt forest, the corpses littering the plains, the half-collapsed walls – everything was back to normal.
"So many absurd things have happened that this isn't even surprising anymore."
"Han, what are we supposed to do? Should we find and eliminate enemies?"
I glanced sideways. A cart driver was staring at us curiously as he drove past. Whipping his horse, he moved away towards the city entrance. Besides him, there were other pedestrians coming and going on the road. They either looked at us with interest or ignored us. It was clear they could see us. But there was no hostility evident.
"Doesn't seem like we need to fight," I muttered. I didn't know the exact circumstances, but it seemed we needed to look around.