Volume 5 Chapter 12 For Now, Remake It As An Rpg
Thanks to the smooth march, by the end of the day, Catherine and the second team had reached the end of the third level. The big room before heading to the 4th level is also a teleportation room to escape the dungeon.
If you touch the mysterious crystal sitting in the center of the room, you can go back. Randy doesn't really get how it works, but he convinces himself that "that's just how it is." The only thing he wonders is if such a big space is really needed.
Randy looked around the room again while watching the second team prepare for camp. The large space for the teleportation crystal could also look like a "boss room" from a certain angle.
But there was no sign of anything. No matter how much he searched, the only presence he felt was from everyone there, and then... there was the feeling of the first team of students coming from the hallway extending from the room.
Just as Randy sensed, about ten minutes after Catherine and the others arrived...
"What's up?"
"The other team is already here."
...Edgar and the first team also reached the big room at the end of the third level. Since the first team had been ahead in clearing the second level, it was no surprise they looked unhappy.
Even though Instructor Gardo was giving encouragement saying "So far, so good," it didn't seem to resonate much with the dissatisfied first team. Feeling their gazes, Randy spoke up.
"Still, we never seem to meet at the end of each level, do we?"
"It seems this dungeon originally has 2 routes."
"Is it related to the sun and moon, I wonder?"
Randy frowned, and Liz tilted her head, saying, "Who knows?" The mystery of the wall painting that they still didn't understand since their discovery, and the two split routes. Solving those might reveal a lot, but for now, work comes first.
"We should also get ready for camp──."
"[Randy Exploration Team] How's it going?"
When he turned at the voice, he saw Leonard with a grumpy face standing there.
"Things are going well so far. The second team is doing better than I expected."
Randy glanced back at the second team of students, and Leonard shifted his gaze to them with a "hmm." The students were quickly getting the camp ready, showing little sign of the fatigue from exploring the dungeon.
"The first team seems to be doing well too."
Randy looked over at the first team, who were also busy preparing their camp. Their earlier frowns weren't completely gone, but they were moving at a pretty good pace.
"Apparently, this is the fastest record ever."
Leonard scratched his head, referring to what Instructor Gardo had said to motivate everyone before they arrived. Usually, they would take a break in a big room halfway through the third level, and the students who made it this far usually took much longer.
"Just when I thought we were the fastest, someone else beat us to it..."
"Speed isn't everything, though."
Leonard had a complicated look on his face as he sighed, "I hope this doesn't affect tomorrow's exploration." The first team had their pride. They had received a high level of education as nobles, and Leonard was worried about not upsetting that pride.
Shaking his head to push away his frustration, Leonard sighed again.
"Let's stay focused. The real challenge starts from the 4th level."
Randy, who got a pat on the shoulder, replied with a "yes" and watched Leonard walk away. As Leonard said, tough beasts would appear from the 4th level. The Catherine exploration team had been systematic so far, but it was clear that they would need to work even more closely from here on out.
"Liz, should we grab some food for now?"
"Sounds good. Let's rest while we can."
Nodding, Liz and Randy walked over to the second team, who were preparing the camp.
* * *
The crackling sound of the campfire echoed in the quiet big room.
Using the firewood and fuel they brought, the campfire provided light for the night and warmth for the lookout. Inside the dungeon, the temperature was just right when moving, but it felt a bit chilly when standing still.
Randy tossed a piece of firewood into the slightly smaller fire.
──Thud
The sound of dry wood echoed in the room.
The big room was very quiet compared to when they arrived. The crackling of the fire, soft whispers, and the gentle snores of the students mixed together. From the calm snores, it was clear that everyone was tired from today's exploration.
"Randolph, it's almost our turn to switch."
Randy raised his hand and replied, "Yeah." He stood up, watched the student go wake someone else, and turned his gaze back to the flames.
It was already close to dawn.
Randy had been on watch since midnight, and he was set to stay until morning. By the way, this was the last watch for the students. Hearing a whiny voice from where the students were sleeping saying, "Just 5 more minutes," made Randy chuckle as he added a smaller log to the fire.
The fire regained a little strength.
"Good morning, Randy..."
It was Liz who woke up. Liz was supposed to be the guard, but she was counted as one of the students for the watch. Normally, the guards would split into 2 shifts, one until midnight and one from midnight onward, but Luke had taken the first shift as the guard.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Yes, thanks to you."
Liz sat down in a chair and let out a laugh without thinking.
"What's up? Suddenly..."
"No, I just didn't expect to sleep so well in a sleeping bag. Especially deep in a dungeon."
Looking back at where she had been sleeping, Liz smiled at Randy and said, "I've been influenced by Victor."
Randy nodded and laughed to hide his blushing cheeks from her charming smile. Liz's glowing smile by the campfire caught the attention of others from their team.
Randy didn't want to show Liz's smile to them, so he shifted his chair slightly.
He blocked Liz from their view.
"...You're really showing off."
Catherine woke up, stifling a yawn.
"Good morning."
"Morning."
Catherine, who sat down after greeting Liz, stifled another yawn.
"Was it good that you didn't sleep for another 5 minutes?"
Catherine pouted at Randy, who was grinning mischievously. After a moment of silence, she sighed and looked at Randy.
"So? Why did you time it so Elizabeth and I would be together?"
Randy raised his eyebrows at Catherine. It was nice to skip the unnecessary explanations, so she finally shared why she squeezed Liz into this time slot.
"So, Catherine... you said you know about the game that this world is based on, right?"
Catherine nodded silently at Randy's question.
"Then I want to know. What is this place?"
Randy pointed at the level with a serious look. He was unusually serious, but it made sense. A lifeless forest spread over the dungeon. A mysterious church appeared there. And the strange space underground, along with the meaningful murals.
The icing on the cake was the reliefs on the door and the obvious hole.
There was definitely something hidden here.
Randy didn't want to have too many preconceptions, but he thought it would be good to ask someone who might know something.
Catherine stared back at Randy's serious eyes for a moment, then sighed again and looked down.
"I... don't know."
Catherine shook her head, and Randy couldn't help but let out a "Huh?"
"Randy..."
Liz warned Randy about his slightly raised voice, and he covered his mouth, lowering his voice.
"You don't know... seriously──."
"I really don't. If I had to say, it's just a leveling spot."
Catherine continued, explaining her position in this dungeon game.
It was a dungeon visited during school events, and you could only go up to the fifth level. If you tried to go to the 6th level, you would always be told that time was up at that point.
There are 2 paths in the dungeon, but the main difference is just the items you can get at the end.
In this camp, you can deepen your bond by choosing the same watch time as your target.
At the very back of the fifth level, there's a boss, and defeating it will trigger an event.
One path leads to an ancient magic book with Holy Magic written in it, and the other has...
"There's an event about Edgar. It's a birth secret related to the royal family, not a big deal, just some flavor text."
Catherine sighed heavily and explained that Edgar and the royal family of Alexandria were a clan that once drove away a terrible disease caused by a forbidden existence. So, defeating the disaster witch along with the Saint would mean recreating the great deeds of their ancestors.
"Wait a minute... this doesn't add up."
Randy raised his hand and spoke up, causing Catherine to frown and ask, "What do you mean?"
"Let me sort this out a bit..."
Randy's mind was in a total mess.
(The forbidden existence is... definitely Ellie, right?)
He glanced at Liz, who was also deep in thought. It made sense. Before Ellie fell as the forbidden existence, a strange disease was already spreading across the continent. Ellie had been working hard to fight it off.
Now, they were saying that Ellie was blamed for that strange disease, and that the royal family's beginning was tied to defeating it. The implications made Randy whisper, "No way..."
"That 'no way' is probably right."
It was Ellie who spoke up.
"That guy's typical, cliché plot."
Ellie snorted and continued, referring to the man who had sent her to the guillotine in the [Tower of Time]. In her imagination, after that, her anger had destroyed the city, but the man had survived and rewritten the story.
"Still a real jerk, huh?"
Randy sighed and decided to change the subject for now. There were many things he was curious about. How did that man steal the credit from Ellie's friends? And does the royal family really have the bloodline?
Alexandria was originally a place with many small countries. The current royal family united these lands with help from the noble families. It's hard to believe that the ancient civilization from Ellie's time could fall to such small countries. ...But it's not impossible that Ellie destroyed everything.
There are definitely things that worry him. No, actually, there are too many things to worry about. But right now, finding clues about Ellie's body is way more important than the history of this country or what will happen to that man.
Randy sighed again and muttered, "Damn it," before looking at Catherine.
"I don't get any of this."
Catherine's frustrated face showed that even the game didn't explain it.
"I don't get it either... but there are more important things right now."
Randy shook his head and pulled out a few photos from his pocket, handing them to Catherine.
"What's this? Photos──."
Catherine looked at the photos and tilted her head, asking, "Is this a photo of a mural?"
"Do you know what this means...?"
"I don't know. In the game, it just says the mural is 'worn out and unreadable'."
Catherine pouted and rested her chin on her hands.
"There was a time when this dungeon was a hot topic in the strategy threads."
Catherine started talking again about various theories related to this dungeon.
The reason you can only go up to the fifth level.
The different items you get from each route.
The mysterious mural.
And the hole in the door.
"I mentioned a leveling spot earlier, right? The items you get from each route are different, but you can get a [Moon Stone] and a [Sun Stone]. If you bury them in that hole, it turns into dungeons called [Moonlight Corridor] and [Sunlight Corridor] where you can earn experience and exchange items."
While still resting her chin on her hands, Catherine was interrupted by Liz, who returned and asked, "So... what happens if you put both in?"
Even though she didn't know about the experience or exchange items, Liz pushed her question forward, and Catherine shook her head.
"It's impossible. You can only get one or the other."
When you get one thing in a game, you can't get the other. Randy scratched his head and looked up at the ceiling with a sigh, "Ahh."
"But... I heard that in the early days, some people got both because of a bug..."
Catherine lowered her voice even more, talking about how it was a hot topic for a while.
"If it was a hot topic, does that mean there was a guy who used both to get inside?"
Catherine nodded but then her face turned disappointed.
"But apparently it was pitch black and there was nothing there... That's why it became a topic, because of the bug or it not being finished. Well, it got fixed quickly, and now you can't get it at all."
Catherine shrugged, and Randy couldn't help but sigh, "What the heck." He thought it might give them a clue, but it turned out to be a bug where the room was completely dark and empty.
Feeling let down, Randy sighed again just as it seemed like it was time, and the students started to move around.
"No harvest, huh?"
"Yeah."
When Randy and Liz exchanged glances, Catherine suddenly clapped her hands as if she remembered something.
"Oh, by the way, one person who encountered that bug wrote that when they opened the menu window, the map name was shown."
"...What was it──?"
Catherine lowered her voice even more and leaned in slightly so the students behind them wouldn't hear.
"...[Eclipse Altar]."
The sound of burnt wood cracking, echoed loudly in the room.
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