In the central lounge of a mercenary group’s base.
Rugged-looking men fill the space, maintaining a heavy silence.
A strange tension flows among them as they wait for something without a word of conversation.
“I’m here!”
“Cain!”
Just then, the door bursts open, and a man strides in with a boisterous laugh.
The men stir, rising from their seats.
Cain’s expression is so bright that it’s practically glowing.
It wasn’t hard to predict the outcome.
“Was it a success?”
“Of course! A dungeon like that is nothing! We conquered it!”
“And the casualties?”
“Our rookie just scraped his knee; that’s the biggest injury!”
“Uwaaaah!”
The lounge erupts with cheers.
Cain slaps high-fives with everyone as he moves forward, finally reaching the reception desk.
From his arms, a small stone emerges.
“This is the core of Dungeon 57. Please check it.”
The stone was embedded in the deepest room of the dungeon, emitting a sinister purple glow.
This core proves the conquest triumph.
A conquered dungeon can no longer spawn monsters once its core is extracted.
The appraiser touches the core, closes their eyes, and focuses.
“Yes. Confirmed. It’s definitely the core of Dungeon 57.”
“Waaaaah!!!”
The cheers erupt again, hands reaching out to ruffle Cain’s hair.
It’s a success.
Cain’s party has finally conquered Dungeon 57 without any sacrifices.
Cain pushes through the crowd to reach the gigantic map laid out on the central table.
“57 is this way, Cain!”
Stars marking difficulty adorn the dungeon on the map.
A yellow star indicates an unconquered dungeon.
Occasionally, a red star appears for an unconquered dungeon that has caused casualties.
So, even if the number of stars is the same, a red star dungeon is considered far more dangerous.
And finally, there’s the rare black star dungeon, of which there are only 13 in total across the entire map.
A black star signifies an abandoned dungeon quest.
If all the leaders of the mercenary groups agree, it is officially considered abandoned.
Even five stars would have a different level of danger for a black star!
While a red star means danger, a black star means certain death.
“……Huh.”
Dungeon 57, marked with five yellow stars.
It alone is still yellow among all the dungeons with five stars.
Cain picks up a pen and marks an X on the map.
Thus, Dungeon 57 has become the only highest-level dungeon conquered without sacrifices.
“Send a messenger to inform all mercenary groups! We’ve successfully conquered Dungeon 57! Not a drop of blood shed!”
“Yes!”
The subordinates who received the command rush out of the lounge with excited faces.
All dungeon information is shared among mercenary groups.
Whenever a new dungeon is discovered or a casualty occurs, information is immediately shared, and maps get updated concurrently.
Despite typically squabbling over loot, they unconditionally cooperate when creating dungeon maps.
They had to.
If they began hiding the existence of newly discovered dungeons, civilian casualties would skyrocket.
Will my family be safe now?
Will my hometown be secure?
With those thoughts, the mercenaries collaborated to build the dungeon maps.
It was a product born from the minimal conscience and humanity created within a collective of selfishness and calculation.
The dungeon maps, now continuously updated, have gained such high credibility that even nobles and royalty purchase and reference them.
The cooperation to protect their families and homeland elevated the honor of the mercenaries.
“Cain! Aren’t you going to go drink?”
“Forget it. You all drink.”
“If the main character doesn’t join, what’s the point?”
“Today is the anniversary of my brothers. Let’s drink tomorrow.”
“Ah… ”
The once lively atmosphere dampens in an instant.
The mercenaries soon give up trying to persuade Cain and quietly exit the lounge.
When all the mercenaries have left, Cain gazes intently at a spot on the map.
A dungeon marked with five black stars.
The sixth dungeon.
“It’s already been five years.”
Left alone in the lounge, Cain places five glasses on the empty table.
Plop! As he opens the whiskey bottle, the liquid pours out.
Finally filling all five glasses, Cain picks one up and toasts into the air.
“To my brothers. I think I’m free from my trauma now.”
He closes his eyes and recalls the past.
It was five years ago.
Young Cain excitedly told his party about discovering a new dungeon.
He remembers his brothers praising him, and together, they head for the dungeon.
The entrance was peculiar.
Normally, entrances are attached to walls, but this one was in the center of a giant pupil.
But young Cain, filled with the excitement of making his first contribution, carelessly nudged the door.
That was the beginning of the tragedy.
“Awwww!”
“That’s Fenrir’s howl!”
“To battle formation! Surround Cain!”
“Shit! When does the door open?!”
“Oh, here it comes! How many are there?!”
“Uwaaaah!”
One-sided slaughter, no, a hunt began.
The sounds of flesh tearing and piercing screeches filled the air.
In that hellish scene, young Cain was able to survive thanks to a large mercenary huddling over him.
He had to watch as the bones of the man covering him broke, hearing his dying screams.
“If I hadn’t begged to go, would the outcome have been different?”
From that day forward, the party earned the disgrace of being labeled a foolish party that couldn’t even enter the dungeon.
Naturally, its difficulty was not assessed, and many parties attempted to conquer it afterward.
However, none could breach the entrance, and eventually, the dungeon earned a black star.
Recognized as one of the worst dungeons, a judgment of abandonment was placed on Dungeon 6.
“I’m sorry. For saying anything bad about your party. I had no idea it was such a dangerous place.”
The party’s honor was somewhat restored, but that was insufficient.
Cain took on the wills of his brothers who died so absurdly and diligently challenged the dungeon.
He got stronger and stronger.
And five years later, today, he conquered the notoriously cruel Dungeon 57 without losing a single comrade.
A monumental achievement that will go down in history.
With this, his brothers’ honor has been preserved.
He proved that the choices of those who saved him were right.
His brothers in the heavens must not be ashamed of him.
As Cain chuckles while filling his glass again…
“Hmm.”
A boy wanders over to the map.
It’s the newly hired apprentice appraiser.
Cain sets his glass down and approaches him.
“You seem to need help.”
“Ah, yes. Right. I can’t memorize the map fully yet, so it’s hard to find the dungeons.”
“Which dungeon are you looking for?”
“Number 6.”
“What?”
Cain’s expression warps.
That can’t be right.
What reason would one have to mess with the black-starred Dungeon 6?
“Why are you looking for Dungeon 6?”
“To mark a conquest completion.”
“Hahaha. I think you’re mistaken. Dungeon 6 is marked as abandoned. Which crazy person would try to challenge a black star dungeon?”
“But, after analyzing the core I just received, it definitely matched the frequencies of Dungeon 6… ”
“What? Give it here!”
He snatches the stone from the boy’s hand and inspects it.
The moment he holds that ominous stone, Cain realizes something.
He doesn’t know much about the structure or unique frequencies of the core.
But this stone definitely emits the same energy as the door Cain had touched five years ago.
“Who handed you this core? Who was it?”
“Uh, um? I don’t know well. They weren’t from our mercenary group; they were an outsider…”
“Where are they now?”
“They left just a little while ago.”
“Damn it!”
Bang!
Cain bursts out of the lounge and scans the surroundings.
After looking around, he spots someone’s back at the end of the hallway.
“Hey! Stop right there!”
“…….”
At Cain’s voice, the figure stops and turns.
But something is off.
A small stature.
Messy silver hair.
No matter how he looks at it, it’s a little girl.
The girl then stares at Cain with an emotionless expression before slowly raising her hand.
“……Peace.”
“What?”
The girl makes a peace sign with her fingers.
Not knowing what that meant, Cain freezes up.
It’s like watching an emotionless machine trying to act emotional.
While Cain is bewildered, the girl walks away and disappears around the corner.
“Hey! Stop there! Just talk for a second! Hah… ”
Late in the game, Cain runs outside only to face a massive crowd.
No matter how hard he looks, he can’t see the girl anywhere.
He missed her.
Cain’s strength drains away as he sighs heavily.
“That little girl took down a pack of Fenrir all by herself?”
The corners of Cain’s eyes twitch.
It’s hard to believe, but he has no choice but to accept it.
Having personally experienced the difficulty of Dungeon 6, he knows.
The girl’s power vastly exceeds that of an ordinary mercenary.
A new legend is about to be born.
.
.
.
“I bet they’re causing a ruckus right now.”
A new legend.
A rising divinity.
What could the identity of the cool, chic, silver-haired girl be?
He imagines that the mercenary groups are certainly buzzing with some sort of controversy.
After all, it’s only natural that a dungeon left untouched for five years has been broken.
If someone starts clearing such high-difficulty dungeons, it can’t help but draw attention.
As Cain’s fame increases, so does the chance of interacting with the main heroines.
He wants to sweep through dungeons at will, but he doesn’t want to be in the limelight, so he makes a special decision.
“I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.”
“……I’m not hungry.”
“I’m hungry, so we’re going. You don’t eat anyway.”
“……Okay.”
Deciding to lead this little one, Mi Jeong glances up at him.
Now that he looks, the hood suits her quite well.
With her skin sensitive to sunlight, it’s necessary to shield it.
Hiding her pale skin to avoid being discovered as a Blood Ghoul is essential.
No one would think she’s capable of slaying dozens of Fenrir.
So, he worried that no one would believe him…
“I saw it! It was a little girl!”
“Are you sure you didn’t missee?”
“Damn it! I’m sure! She had no emotions on her face, but it’s clear that she lost her feelings after too many fights! Maybe her growth stopped because she fought too much!”
“Hmm. Cain wouldn’t lie, though…”
Look at that.
It’s going well.
One side of the restaurant is filled with mercenaries discussing Mi Jeong’s story, making quite a noise.
Cain smirks and turns to the side.
“……Hmph.”
Mi Jeong snorts.
She looks quite proud.
Her expression remains blank, though.
“Ugh, I’m so tired. How many dungeons did we clear today?”
“……12.”
“Right.”
“……I was a great help.”
“Yeah. Thanks to you, we cleared it smoothly.”
From early morning, they had cleared 12 dungeons without rest.
When he was with the heroines, five a day had been his limit.
Even alone, he could manage at most ten.
Mi Jeong follows without complaint as long as she gets a regular blood supply, activating her Guardian Knight without hesitation.
Even if he uses her as bait in mortal danger, she obediently complies, making it so easy.
“The harvest is pretty good.”
As he opens his bag, it’s filled with mana stones.
Mercenaries often claim they fight to protect people from monsters, but the rewards from dungeons are a bigger motivator.
Sometimes, hitting the jackpot can lead to astronomical rewards.
But the problem lies in the randomness of those rewards.
One could end up with heaps of mana stones after taking down nothing but slimes without any danger.
Or reach the final room, losing comrades along the way, only to find it empty.
Of course, exceptions exist.
In a black star dungeon, top-tier rewards are guaranteed.
“……Wow.”
He retrieves a separate pouch from under the table and slowly opens it.
Revealing a magnificent black jewel.
It sparkles like the Milky Way, as the inner light dances beautifully.
Even stacked against a mountain of cheap mana stones, this high-grade mana stone is invaluable.
“……I wanna touch it.”
“No way.”
He closes the pouch and pushes it into the bag.
While this could make him incredibly rich if sold, he has no intention of that.
Since he obtained it, he wants to make use of it.
Given that his mana control level is only 1, he struggles with controlling it.
If mana exhaustion occurs or an overload happens in the dungeon, he’d be dead meat, so he couldn’t fully utilize mana control today.
Crafting a magical tool with this mana stone would help enhance his control.
“I’ll let you touch it once it’s processed.”
“……Okay.”
He knows an incredible craftsman who will become famous later on in the story.
He plans to reel him in beforehand.
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