Chapter 39: Rose Breaks the Seal

“Judgment of Dusk…!”

“Death of the Sun…!”

The two giants closed in as they spoke.

“Ugh, no. I’m not fighting. I don’t want to fight. Go back.”

“To this kind of absurdity, only a strike will do! Don’t fight! Strike! Strike!”

But Gobori and Rose didn’t seem inclined to fight.

Had they suffered too much in this dungeon?

Still, there was no need to force them.

They would end up fighting eventually anyway.

“Are you really that reluctant? You won’t fight?”

I looked back at the two of them and asked.

“Brother! No matter what plans the User has, this battle is impossible! Level 45! Two boss monsters! And the giant monsters reduce all damage they take! It’s like facing two orcs at once!”

“Hmph! This kind of dungeon is deliberately made difficult to encourage spending. If we clear this dungeon, users get spoiled! Don’t fight! Surrender!”

Gobori and Rose grumbled.

Well, there was no helping it then.

I shrugged and manipulated the screen.

This was a feature I’d discovered while farming with Pae Wang and Flower Doll; I’d give it a try now.

“Then there’s no choice. Maybe I’ll rest a bit too. I’m tired.”

I smiled slyly and clicked on the screen.

[★★★ Indomitable Sword Stalker]

I tapped my character on the screen.

[Boss: Sun Guardian] Lv. 45

[Boss: Golden Guardian] Lv. 45

I selected ‘Golden Guardian.’

I decided to try ‘manual combat,’ something I’d never done before.

[Sealed Tome of Gold and Dusk]

‘Huh?’

Behind the giant, I saw the image of a book.

‘What’s that?’

‘Could I select that too?’

I tried selecting the book as the target for my character, but—

‘Uh-oh…!’

Suddenly, my feet started moving toward the giants.

Ah, right.

When selecting a target, the character moves there.

I stopped the command for now.

[★★★ Sane Explosomaniac]

I wondered how Gobori, the ranged dealer, would do.

I tapped Gobori to attack the book.

“Huh? Ma-manual combat? Eek!”

Gobori, who had been standing still, fired his slingshot.

Bang!

But the bomb missed.

[Miss!]

The ‘Miss!’ notification popped up on the screen too.

He must have failed his dungeon attack, so the on-screen attack also missed.

Still, no need to worry.

If he keeps firing, one of the bombs will land eventually.

“Eek! Why do you keep aiming somewhere else? That book? It won’t hit from this distance!”

[Miss!]

[Miss!]

The bombs still couldn’t hit.

One seemed to connect, but—

“Arrogant…!”

[-561]

[Boss: Golden Guardian]

Thud!

Each giant blocked with an outstretched arm.

Hitting by luck looked unlikely.

“This guy, this guy, since we won’t fight, he’s making us do manual combat. Isn’t it frustrating? We’re way more frustrated! Surrender!”

“Why do you keep selecting just the book? Is there something about it?”

Rose and Gobori complained.

Fine.

Anyway, the important thing was the book.

I spoke casually, dropping a hint.

“Hmm. Maybe it’s a hint?”

“A hint? What kind of hint?”

“Manual combat means the User is directly commanding us. Maybe that means he’s trying to tell us something.”

“There’s… something in that book?”

Gobori asked, tilting his head.

I couldn’t say for sure, but it was the only clue I had.

“We should try. If the book disappears, maybe the giants will stop moving?”

They nodded, staring at the book.

“Oh! That’s possible! There are plenty of dungeons with such objects!”

“So that means the User! Kya! It’s really you!”

Rose and Gobori got excited.

This was the strategy I’d discovered.

Without the screen, I wouldn’t have known if the book could be attacked, but since I could select it, I knew there was something to it.

“Rose.”

“Yes?”

“Can you break the book with your strength? With your root bind skill or another attack?”

“Are you asking me to break a book right now?”

“Yeah. Gobori and I will take on the giants. I just want to know if you can do it.”

“Hmm… my damage is more like a soft tap. I wonder if it’ll work.”

Rose looked at me with a serious expression.

True.

Her damage was always minimal.

Even the dying Pae Wang couldn’t finish them off.

“Here.”

“Huh?”

“How about this? Can you use it?”

I handed her the Uruk Slayer after a moment’s thought.

With 130% attack power, maybe Rose could manage.

[★★★★ Rose Fairy: Cute Fairy Wing Effect!]

“Are you sure? This strategy isn’t even confirmed.”

Rose asked, taking the sword.

The sword in her hand shrank to about the size of a small awl.

“Beating the two giants is impossible anyway. If there’s a strategy, I guess it’s avoiding the giants.”

“Hmm. Not wrong. Got it! Leave it to me!”

Rose nodded, gripping the sword.

“And Gobori.”

“Yes! Goblin Sentry Gobori standing by!”

“Can you cover us?”

“Of course! Now that we know the strategy, let’s finish this quickly! Leave it to me! Ha ha ha!”

Gobori got excited.

He’d been unmotivated until just a moment ago, but knowing the strategy made a huge difference.

‘Alright.’

I took a deep breath and dashed out in a flash.

Phat!

“Eternal rest…!”

“Death…!”

The two giants closed in.

As expected, their goal was to protect the book.

Thud! Thud!

Giant spears plunged down from above.

Must feel like a fish targeted by a harpoon.

I moved quickly, dodging the massive spears.

[Miss!]

[Miss!]

‘Miss!’ kept flashing above my character on screen.

Sensing the spears aimed at me, I leapt over the giants’ feet.

Smack!

“Gwooo…!”

The spear aimed at me slammed into a giant’s foot.

“Oh…! Sorry…”

The direwolf giant looked flustered.

“Gobori!”

“Special move! Gobori Bomb Rapid Fire!”

[★★★ Sane Explosomaniac: Rapid Fire Skill!]

Kaboom!

At once, Gobori’s bombs exploded.

“Phew!”

We toyed with the giants and quickly retreated.

The giants on screen had only lost about 3% of their health each.

“Whoa! What’s up with you, Brother? You’re flying all over the place!”

“I’ve fought giants before. This is the giant strategy.”

“Toying with them quickly?”

“Using the giants’ power to make them fight each other. Like just now.”

I sneered at the giants.

“Arrogant…!”

“Invaders…!”

But the giants didn’t fight.

‘Were they close friends?’

If they were giants in our world, they’d be fighting over who was right and wrong.

They were surprisingly civilized giants.

[-21]

[-17]

[-18]

[Sealed Tome of Gold and Dusk]

Well, no need to worry about that anymore.

“Eek! Break! Break!!!”

Rose climbed onto the book and struck it with her sword.

“Arrogant…?”

“Invaders…?”

The two giants noticed, but it was too late.

The golden shell protecting the book cracked under Rose’s sword.

Crack!

“I did it! Rose did it!”

Another book popped out from inside.

There was a book hidden inside the golden one.

[Acquired Tome of Gold and Dusk!]

[Achievement: Acquired Tome of Gold and Dusk.]

[First in server to achieve this!]

With that, we cleared an achievement.

“Guarding…”

“Failed…”

Thunk! Thud! Rumble!

The two giants shattered simultaneously.

As expected, they were part of a strategy where you didn’t have to defeat the giants themselves.

[Achievement: Conquer Chamber of Gold and Sun]

[First in server to achieve this!]

[Speed Run: Chamber of Gold and Sun] [27 minutes 49 seconds]

[First in server to achieve this!]

[★★★ Indomitable Sword Stalker’s…]

[★★★ Indomitable Sword Stalker → Lv. 38]

[★★★ Indomitable Sword Stalker Lv. 39]

[★★★ Indomitable Sword Stalker Lv. 40]

[★★★ Indomitable Sword Stalker → Lv. 41]

[★★★ Sane Explosomaniac’s…]

[★★★ Sane Explosomaniac Lv. 27]

[★★★ Sane Explosomaniac Lv. 28]

[★★★ Sane Explosomaniac Lv. 34]

[★★★★ Rose Fairy’s…]

[★★★★ Rose Fairy → Lv. 43]

[★★★★ Rose Fairy → Lv. 44]

A flood of messages appeared on the screen.

Maybe because we were the first to enter this dungeon?

They were all first-in-server achievements.

“We did it! It feels kind of anticlimactic, though!”

“Ha ha ha! That’s Rose’s power! How many heroes can break a seal without being detected? Only Rose can!”

Gobori and Rose cheered.

Come to think of it…

The assassin class Gobori mentioned.

Assassins move to the rear and attack from behind, so this dungeon might have favored them.

Thinking that way, this dungeon wasn’t so hard.

Thunk!

And just like that, we returned to the stage.

[Mission Clear!]

[+2,000 Gold]

[Pet Bonus!] [+790 Gold]

[Pet Bonus!] [+340 Steel Shards]

[+300 Diamonds]

[+20 Common Cards]

“Yahoo! Twenty common cards!”

“Phew! That was worth the effort!”

Rose and Gobori rejoiced.

Twenty common cards and 300 diamonds.

Pretty decent rewards.

“That was a nail-biting strategy! Figuring it out with the User’s hint—our User is awesome!”

When we returned to the stage, Dulv greeted us.

“Mister! What about me? I worked the hardest, you know?”

“Heh heh! Rose also did well! Attacking diligently with her tiny hands!”

“Hehe! I’m pretty capable, right?”

Rose and Dulv chatted.

And the rewards weren’t just cards and diamonds.

[★★★ Tome of Gold and Dusk]

[+80% Magic Defense. Revives the hero wearing it once per game.]

There was also a magic tome Rose brought back.

We all stared wide-eyed at the unexpected reward.

“Oh! What’s this equipment? A revival item?”

“Wow! This is amazing! Who knew such equipment existed!”

“Hmm. An interesting item. It looks like a magical artifact with special powers.”

Rose, Gobori, and Dulv said.

An item that revives a hero?

Remembering something, I asked Gobori.

“Gobori.”

“Yes!”

“This revival option. Is there a similar item? Like for heroes?”

“It’s in some skills or finishing moves of 5-star heroes, but not as equipment! As far as I know, this is the first.”

“Really!”

“So it can be used in PvP too?”

“Of course! There’s a revival priest build made just to annoy opponents! This lets you use revival without such heroes, yep!”

Gobori answered with a smirk.

As expected.

This equipment could be used in PvP.

In Valhalla, where death isn’t a big deal, a hero’s death could be part of a strategy.

“Give that to me! I brought it back! Give it to me!”

“What are you saying? If there’s equipment like this, you should use it! What would you do if you revived?”

“But I brought it!”

“What does that matter?”

Rose and Gobori bickered.

‘Hmm.’

I pondered for a moment, stroking my chin.

***

After thinking a bit, it seemed right for Rose to have this book.

Click.

I dragged the book from the screen and equipped it on Rose.

[★★★ Acquired Sage’s White Staff.]

“Huh? Why?”

“Told you it’s mine! Thanks!”

Gobori and Rose responded.

Since the book counted as a weapon, Rose’s ‘Sage’s White Staff’ was returned.

Considering it had to replace a weapon, it was definitely better for Rose to have it.

“Right. It makes sense for Rose to have it. The User’s choice is correct.”

I smiled briefly, sharing my thoughts.

“What? Brother, what do you mean? Why should she have it?”

“Rose has the trait to transfer equipment. If she has it, anyone can use it, right?”

“Cute Fairy Wing trait, you mean? So that’s why…”

Gobori understood my explanation.

This was my conclusion.

With Rose’s transferable trait, one piece of equipment could be used flexibly.

“Y-yeah! That’s what I was going to say! If I have it, anyone in the party can use it!”

“What are you talking about? You just realized that!”

“No, I knew it!”

“Sure you did!”

Rose and Gobori kept bickering.

[Storage] [Collected Heroes]

[★★ Apprentice Mage]

[★★ Rookie Spearman Mercenary]

[★★ Abandoned Heal Shuttle]

Anyway, that was enough cards collected.

I had 24 heroes, including myself.

Just six more to expand the stage.

[★★ Pickaxe of the Underground Mole]

[★★ Light Compound Bow]

[☆ Healing Potion]

Tutututuk!

I began flipping the cards immediately.

“Oh! You’re flipping cards!”

“Yahoo! More keep coming!”

“Heh heh! I wonder what heroes we’ll meet this time!”

Gobori, Rose, and Dulv cheered.

From the cards flipped lightly,

Bang!

The first explosion sounded.

My twenty-fifth hero entered the game.