Only after the two figures vanished did the team finally erupt into wild cheers.
“We actually cleared Abyss difficulty!”
“Just a few days ago we couldn’t even beat Normal…”
“That was insane. I never thought we’d actually pull it off.”
Yet everyone knew perfectly well who deserved the real credit.
Or rather, the biggest share belonged to a certain member of the strategy team—and the tiny troublemaker who dragged her here.
When they tallied the loot, they were stunned by how generous Abyss difficulty truly was.
Six pieces of silver gear, over a dozen bronze, several skill books, plus a mountain of magic scrolls and gems—easily more than two full Nightmare runs combined.
And right where Gilbert had fallen, they even found a golden necklace.
Forbidden Shackles (Gold)
Level Requirement: 10
Stats: Defense +5, Spirit +18, Intelligence +12, Perception +4
Attached Skill: Dark Shackles
Dark Shackles: Next spell gains shackle effect. On hit, deals bonus damage and immobilizes the target for 3 seconds. Cooldown: 20 minutes.
Secret Rune Shackles Set (1/3)
Usage Restriction: Mage Only
Even ignoring the base stats, that skill alone was enough to make every mage drool.
It couldn’t compare to the version Gilbert used, of course, but it was still an absolutely top-tier crowd-control ability.
And it was part of a set.
Remembering those Black Shackles from the fight, everyone could already imagine how terrifying the completed set would be.
“Isn’t this the first gold item ever dropped…?”
“No, a few have dropped already, but gold equipment is still extremely rare. I bet there aren’t even ten pieces in the entire Gruin region.”
“If I got that, my magic damage would go through the roof.”
No matter how much they coveted it, no one in the team even considered keeping it.
They handed it straight to Hill—the person most responsible for carrying them through Abyss.
Catching my sneaky glance, Hill accepted the golden necklace without a word, but refused everything else.
“I’ve already obtained the data I needed. The rest holds no value for me.”
No one could find a way to argue with that reasoning, so they let it slide and distributed the remaining loot.
I didn’t join in either—everything I was wearing was already better.
By the end, the gear upgrades across the entire team were good enough to rival the elite squads of small-to-medium guilds.
That alone showed just how massive the haul had been.
As usual, they hid their names before leaving the instance.
It was time to part ways.
“Somehow I feel a little sad…”
“We all added each other as friends anyway. We’ll meet again.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“No worries. If any of you beautiful ladies ever feel lonely—”
Before Otaku Source could finish, Autumn Waters grabbed his ear with a sweet smile and twisted.
A tragic scream immediately rang out.
The others who had been planning to silence him the usual way—Weaving Night and the rest—all swallowed nervously.
In the end, only a certain twin-tailed loli remained draped over me, looking utterly reluctant to let go.
“Uuu… we have to part so soon. I’m so sad.”
“You can come find me anytime after logging off. What are you even sad about, dummy?”
“You don’t understand, An An. This is like leaving home for school. This kind of lingering attachment is meaningful!”
“So what exactly are you trying to say?”
“How about a goodbye kiss~?”
Smack.
The only answer she got was a palm across her little face.
It was hard to imagine any team clearing Abyss difficulty at this point in the game, but there were always idle players—or guild scouts—hanging around the Black Prison Forest entrance checking the leaderboards.
If they noticed, it would cause a huge commotion.
So after saying their goodbyes, everyone quickly scattered.
Sure enough, not long after Dolan and the others left the forest ruins, they received a message from Crimson Rose.
“Dolan, Scarlet Rain, Shuiyan—Abyss difficulty in Black Prison Forest just got first-cleared with 100% completion. Did you know?”
Only a few minutes had passed since they cleared, yet the news had already reached Crimson Rose.
That showed both how terrifyingly efficient Roseheart’s intelligence network was and how seriously they were taking this dungeon.
Of course, every major guild was probably the same.
Dolan guessed the news had already reached every guild leader’s ears.
The fierce competition on the leaderboard up until now proved that Roseheart wasn’t the only one watching closely.
“Mmm… we’re right here.”
“I almost forgot. But which team on earth has that kind of strength? Stormwind and Starry Myth can be ruled out—they’d never pass up a chance to brag. Could it be one of those famous studios? But I haven’t heard any big movements from them either. Something doesn’t add up.”
Crimson Rose was still thinking out loud when something seemed to occur to her.
“Oh right, Eleven told me Nightmare still hasn’t had a first clear. Did something go wrong on your end? Do you need me to send some core members or lend gear?”
Dolan fell silent for a moment, exchanged glances with Scarlet Rain and Shuiyan, then replied.
“President… we’re the team that cleared Abyss difficulty.”
“……”
“……”
“!?!”
On Roseheart’s side, the internal channel seemed to freeze from the explosive revelation.
Meanwhile, Hill and I had already left the forest ruins and were heading back toward Radiant Monastery.
“Heehee, Hill’s definitely been marked now.”
Thinking of how Dolan and Scarlet Rain had looked when we parted, I was absolutely certain Hill had been added to their VIP watchlist.
Good thing I signaled everyone not to send her friend requests.
Otherwise, Hill would have been completely overwhelmed by Roseheart’s enthusiastic onslaught.
Yet Hill didn’t seem to care about that at all.
Instead, she wore a faintly pensive expression.
“Your Highness, there’s something I still don’t quite understand. Why didn’t Gilbert admit it, even until the very end?”
So she was thinking about the plot.
As expected of Hill—she had still noticed something unusual.
I had only given them the strategy, after all.
It wasn’t strange that someone who hadn’t seen the full story would feel confused.
“Because he didn’t actually do it.”
I smiled faintly.
…..
…..
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