Infinite Competitive Dungeon Society - Chapter 166

Chapter 166

Chapter 166 . Double Crisis (2)

“Originally, the invasion process is extremely slow . After all, there’s a limit to the number of times that the pathway can be used before it can be used again . But once a Double Crisis occurs, the dimensional pathway widens and the invasion speed accelerates . The world that faces a Double Crisis then faces more enemies more quickly . ”

Loretta’s explanation validated Lin’s words . Just like he said, Earth looked pretty fucked .

“Shin-nim, tell me . How many Event Dungeons appeared this time?”

“About 300 . ”

“300… 300… The invasion of Earth began 1 year and 8 months ago, and it was about two and a half months ago that the Demon Army from the conquered Luka continent began to reach out to another world…”

The woman who was talking to Lin responded instead of Loretta .

“It looks like one of the forces invading will completely arrive in 2 years at least… Isn’t your world over?”

“Shut it, Eleine . ”

Loretta said with a smile . The woman, Eleine, flinched . With that, their relative positions were made clear .

“It’s fine . If it’s Shin-nim, he might be able to do it… He’s completely rewriting the dungeon’s history . If he can climb to the end of the dungeon within 2 years…”

“Ha? You think he can conquer the First Dungeon, which has never been conquered, in just 2 years? What floor is he in? 98th?”

“54th . ”

“Pfft . ”

“And he’s an explorer of Beyond . ”

“…”

The woman called Eleine had a dumbfounded expression .

“Loretta, are you saying that for real? Or have you finally lost your mind? Fine, as an explorer of Beyond at just the 54th floor, it is true that he is a genius . I’ll admit that . Even so, it’s impossible . It’s physically impossible . He can perhaps barely achieve it if he’s given 200 years . ”

“Just 1 year and 8 months ago, Shin-nim was on the 5th floor . ”

“…?”

Oh, I knew that expression . That was the expression Ye-Eun had when I first told her about the dungeon . It was the, ‘What the hell is this person saying?’ kind of expression . However, Loretta gestured at her, as if it was a waste of time to explain things to her .

“Eleine, sorry, but leave . I don’t want non-guild members to hear what I have to say from now . ”

“You should know this, but Loretta…”

“Leave . ”

With that, Loretta gestured strongly with her hands . Eleine’s words were interrupted and she faded away . With a harrumph, Loretta snorted and explained .

“That woman’s is the guild master of the administrative guild, ‘Lost Valley . ’ Ever since she fell for Lin, she would ignore her status as a guild master and visit Fairy Garden . You don’t need to pay attention to a fool like her . ”

I had the feeling I knew a similar woman, but I didn’t say it aloud . Loretta then began to drink her tea again . Meanwhile, I asked Lin to fix my equipment . As I hadn’t done any equipment maintenance for one month, they were quite bruised . Lin scowled, but still accepted my armor and began to work on it .

Loretta, who was drinking tea, suddenly grit her teeth after seeing my armor .

“Lin, Shin-nim’s equipment is old . For how long are you going to let him wear such lousy equipment?”

“Noonim, it hasn’t been that long since I made them for him . Plus, they’re Epic-grade items…”

“Don’t make me say it twice . ”

“Tsk… Understood . I’ll make him better ones . ”

I had felt it before, but perhaps Loretta was quite a tyrant to those working for her . While I was thinking about their subordinate-superior relationship, Lin glared at me and spoke .

“But I won’t do it for free . Bring me some reasonable material, something that would make me hit my knees and yell, ‘That’s it!’”

“What would Lin be impressed by? Flame Drake?”

“Please . Where would I use that lizard? If you want to impress me with the type of creature, bring me a dragon or a peak-rank demon . ”

Lin snorted and answered . He made me remember something . I took out the corpse of the Demon Army Commander Shatuno, which I had just stuffed into my inventory .

“How about this, Lin?”

The moment Lin saw Shatuno’s corpse, he bit his lips and clenched his fists . Then, he muttered like he hated it .

“Damn, this is it…!”

“Why aren’t you hitting your knees? Go on, I’ll be watching . Do it . ”

“Agh, how annoying!”

Besides Shatuno’s corpse, Lin took parts of the Evil Rhinoceros Beetle’s carapace, the Cyclops Lord’s skin and blood, and other monsters which were stuffed in my inventory . Then, he took Red Dragon Felixes’ Cape, which was originally attached to the armor set .

“I’ll refine the cape by adding the demon’s skin . It looks like I’ll be busy…”

“Great! It looks like you found yourself a job to do, Lin!”

“I already have a lot! Do you want to kill me, noonim!?”

“Ei, how could my Lin die from something like that? So hurry up~”

Loretta pressured Lin with a bright smile . Lin scratched his head and let out a deep sigh before he got up .

“Damn it… Then I’m going to go work on these . Oi, Kang Shin . It’s going to take me a while, so live without a cape for a bit . ”

“Thank you, Lin . ”

“Hmph!”

He gave me a snort and left the cabin . Seeing his back, Loretta snickered .

“Lin must really like Shin-nim . ”

“Which part of that conversation gave you that idea!?”

“Don’t you know? No matter how much I plead, Lin never makes equipment for someone he hates . ”

I thought what Loretta did was more like threatening with authority than pleading, but I must have misunderstood . I was certain . It definitely wasn’t because I was afraid of her Last Bullet of Extermination .

“Then, Shin-nim, let’s go back to talking about the matter at hand . ”

Loretta put down her teacup, placed her hands on her knees, and looked at me intently . Her mystical eyes that occasionally flashed with light seemed to be examining me with worry .

“Um, don’t worry too much about what Eleine said . It’s not over yet . ”

“Ah . ”

I remembered what we just talked about . However, the fact that 20 years had turned into 2 years didn’t really strike me as real .

2 years? I had to face someone like that Demon Lord in 2 years? Compared to the Luka continent’s countless number of warriors, Earth was too ill-prepared . The ability users were not finished growing yet and there were only a few dungeon explorers . We could only now begin to look for trustworthy allies, but to think we only had 2 years left…

Not to mention, the one behind this crisis was none other than the Demon Lord who attacked the Luka continent… I asked the suspicion I had since a while ago .

“Loretta…”

“No, it’s a coincidence . ”

Loretta interrupted me .

“It’s not because Shin-nim went as a Dimensional Mercenary . If that was enough to cause a Double Crisis, no one would want to be a Dimensional Mercenary . ”

“But I’m Earth’s Hero . Could that have affected—”

“No . Shin-nim, I can promise you . That’s not it . Do you not trust me?”

Loretta brought her face up to mine . Her golden eyes were shining like two bright gems . She was close enough for me to feel her breath . Seeing Loretta’s resolute eyes, I shook my head .

“I trust you . ”

“The Demon Lord probably doesn’t know about Shin-nim’s existence . He will only realize once he crosses over . He simply invaded another world through a pathway, which happened to lead to Earth . Please, trust me, Shin-nim . ”

“Like I said, I trust you . ”

“Un… Good . ”

Loretta moved back with a satisfied expression . Then, she suddenly clapped .

“Alright, then think about what you should do now!”

“What should I do?”

“You should finish climbing the dungeon in 2 years!”

She said it as if it was simple .

“If possible, your allies, too . ”

“That sounds extremely difficult . ”

“But Shin-nim is the only one qualified to enter Beyond, right? If it’s just the First Dungeon, Shin-nim’s friends might be able to succeed with a monopoly over the blessings . ”

“I’d like it if that were the case . ”

“If that happens, you have a great chance to succeed . I can guarantee it . ”

“You want us to do in just 2 years what other explorers couldn’t in hundreds of years?”

“Otherwise, Shin-nim’s world will come to an end . ”

“…”

When I became silent, Loretta also became silent . This time, the silence continued for a long time . When I couldn’t handle the atmosphere anymore and was about to get up, Loretta opened her mouth .

“Shin-nim . ”

“Yes?”

“If… If Shin-nim is scared… I…”

“… Loretta?”

“Even if you abandon your world, I won’t blame you . ”

I doubted my ears .

“Loretta . ”

“It would go against the dungeon and the Lord’s philosophy… but Shin-nim is more important to me . I, I won’t blame you, so if… if the burden gets too heavy… if Shin-nim can’t bear it anymore…”

I cut her off and asked .

“What happens if I run away?”

“… If a Hero stays in the dungeon for too long, it will be the same as his world losing its power . ”

“In other words, the same thing that happened to the Luka continent will happen to Earth . ”

“…”

Her silence was the strongest affirmation . Seeing her reaction, I felt alleviated .

Running away… It wasn’t that I hadn’t considered it . But if I did, what about my parents? Even if I made mother and Yua into dungeon explorers and brought them to the dungeon, what about my friends? Would they think the same way as me? If they didn’t, would I be able to leave them behind and abandon Earth?

No, of course not . I didn’t plan to in the first place . Why did I have to abandon my friends and escape to the dungeon? Because of the Demon Lord? Because of the other unknown enemy? I should stay put in the dungeon because I was afraid of them? If I threw away what was important to me and survived, would the life I have be worth living?

I was certain that the answer was no . I hated losing my freedom the most . No one could tie me down . I hated the people trying to restrain me because I was a Hero, but what I hated the most was throwing away my freedom because i was afraid of monsters .

I grinned .

“You already know my answer, right?”

“But Shin-nim…”

“I decided . 2 years, right? Are you sure about that?”

“Y-Yes . It’s 2 years at the earliest . But—”

“I’ll do it within 2 years then . ”

I said lightly and smiled . Then, I wiped Loretta’s eyes, which were beginning to tear up .

“Short and simple . If I can conquer the dungeon in 2 years, I can destroy whatever comes my way, be it the Demon Lord or anything else . ”

“B-But it doesn’t have to be Shin-nim that does—”

“But there’s only me . ”

“…”

“I’ll do it . I know I can . So don’t worry and just watch over me . I’ll break through the dungeon and save the world . I’ll be the coolest guy in the world . ”

“Shin-niiim…”

Loretta was still frowning . So, I continued .

“For Loretta, I’ll make sure I succeed . ”

“For… me…?”

“Loretta, I’m going to be different . Trust me . ”

“Shin-nim . ”

Loretta widened her eyes . With her already big eyes, she looked slightly scary .

“How did you…”

“It’s easy to see . ”

“N-No, Shi, Shin-nim, I, Shin-nim is the only, ah, uuk, did you perhaps meet, ahuk!”

Loretta ended up biting her tongue . I couldn’t help but laugh seeing her clumsiness .

“I already know . Don’t worry about something like that and wait . The First Dungeon’s 54th floor and Beyonds’ 4th floor . I’ll first clear them and come back . ”

“Shin-nim . ”

I patted her head and continued .

“You don’t trust me?”

“… I trust you . I trust in Shin-nim’s potential . So… let me keep supporting you . ”

“Of course . Then, I’ll be off . ”

I smiled and left the cabin . I heard Loretta’s sniffling, but I didn’t turn around .

Now, it was the time to conquer the dungeon! Just you wait, 100th floor!

… By the way, I didn’t propose to Loretta, did I!?