Chapter 41

: (3). Unknown Dungeon -3
 
Piolan nodded.

Well… there are always exceptions.

Then, Kawin, who had been checking the guild’s member listed, called Herss.

Herss, you will reach Lv. 90 soon, right?

Herss nodded,
Yes, I think I will reach Lv. 90 by tomorrow.


And your Reputation?


My Reputation is… 190,000.

Kawin scratched his head.

Ha… not even close to meeting the requirements.

This time, Herss asked Piolan,
How high is your Reputation, Piolan?

Piolan had been checking that because she was curious about it, so she answered immediately.

Mine is a little over 160,000.


I see.

Piolan was the second greatest ‘hunting lover’ right next to Ian, so her Reputation was relatively low.

But does our Reputation even matters? Isn’t the guild master supposed to meet the qualifications
and be our Lord?

Herss shook his head.

I’ve checked that. Anyone in our guild can be the Lord as long as he or she qualifies. It doesn’t have
to be me.


Aha…


The user who has the highest Reputation in our guild is…

Herss checked the guild’s information and was surprised,
What? Isn’t there an error?

Everyone heard his ‘violent’ exclamation and looked at him.
Piolan asked,
Why? Is there a problem?

Herss answered, confused,
No, it just that the guild member who has the highest Reputation is…
Clovan.

Kawin and Piolan pretended to be surprised,
What? Really?


Huh? That gangster-like dude?

Herss scratched his head and answered,
That’s what I am saying. He just looks like someone who
would have a high amount of Evil Reputation, instead, he has the highest Reputation…

Clovan glared at them,
What?

Clovan was mad, but Herss didn’t mind it and continued to speak,
Your Reputation is over 270,000!
What have you done that your Reputation is so high?

This time, he wasn’t trying to mock Clovan.
Herss really looked surprised,
I thought you only spent your time hunting…

Piolan was shocked, too.
Clovan, however, shrugged his shoulders,
Are you all surprised by my Reputation?

Kawin teased him,
Herss, you sure you didn’t mistake Evil Reputation for Reputation?


What?

While Kawin and Clovan wrestled, Herss and Piolan checked the Reputation of more than 200 guild
members.
However, no one had a higher Reputation than Clovan.
Clovan then explained why his Reputation was so high,
When I was Lv. 50, I participated in the
Rookies’ Arena League.


Oh, really?


Yes. It was before I joined the guild. I was lucky and met a weak opponent, so I made it to the semi-
final. I received 50,000 Reputation then. Next, I did a lot of class quests to get more.

Everyone nodded. That made sense.

Aha, the Rookies’ League.

The Arena was a 1:1 pvp system that was opened at the beginning of every month and there was a
separate Rookies’ League for users at Lv. 50 and lower.
Clovan wasn’t one of the strongest players but reaching the semi-final in the Rookies’ League wasn’t
impossible.
Herss looked at Clovan,
Then Clovan is most likely to become our Lord?

Piolan nodded,
I guess so. His Reputation is higher than ours by at least 100,000.

Herss agreed,
Yeah… that’s strange. The gap is way too big, even counting the 50,000 he got from
the Rookies’ League.

Piolan shrugged his shoulders,
Well, only Clovan would know the answer.


Hu… he looks like a bandit but to think that he has a Reputation higher than 270,000…

Herss shook his head.
…
Meanwhile, Ian fought Ghost monsters that were created endlessly while having Bukbuk on his back.
He was grinning widely.
No matter how many he killed, new Ghost Lizards kept coming.
This time, they were not Ghost Drakes but Ghost Lizards. They were weaker, so they gave less EP.
However, that was good. This is because there were too many of them. Instead, if it had been Ghost
Drakes with that amount, Ian would have been forced to leave quickly.
Pak-!
Ian heard something, so he glanced back.

Your pet Bukbuk received critical damage.
Bukbuk’s Health decreased 1.

Ghost Lizard aimed at Ian’s back, but Bukbuk’s shell was there to protect him.
Even though Bukbuk received critical damage, it was only inflicted with 1 damage. Ian smiled with
satisfaction.
‘Ha, a human is always meant to use his brain!’
He looked like a funny Ninja Turtle, but he didn’t care.
Every time an unavoidable attack came, he turned his back to it and Bukbuk’s shell perfectly blocked
the damage.
It was as good as a bulletproof vest.
Bukbuk’s shell was almost invincible. Thanks to it, Ian could freely move which it helped him greatly.
The enemies used to attack mainly Big Guy, now their attacks were forced to be divided. So, Ian could
hunt more efficiently.
It already had been an hour since he passed through that suspicious-looking giant iron gate and
Ghost Lizards had been coming endlessly. However, Ian wasn’t going to turn around and leave.
‘I have to get to the end. This room cannot be the end of this dungeon.’
Ian glanced at the wall opposite the door through which he had come in.
There was another iron gate that was similar to the one he had come through.
He didn’t know how long the Lizards would be coming at him, but he thought the door would open
eventually if he kept hunting them.
Besides, he had experienced a few dungeons where monsters came endlessly like this one before he
reset his character.
So, he knew how to handle situations like this. He wasn’t worried at all.
‘It’s time for this to end now…’
Ian saw the last remaining Lizard getting killed by Ly and got ready again.
If this wasn’t the end, even more Lizards would show up.
But then, the room started to move in a different pattern than before.
‘Finally. I wonder what will come out.’
Uuuung-!
A large sound resonated while a blue light started to flow through the floor.
‘Is this a Summoning Magic Circle?’
That was how the boss of a dungeon was usually summoned.
Ian started to get tense and stared at the light as it gathered in the middle of the room.

Ly, get ready to attack!

Growl-!
The Magic Circle was finally activated and something emerged out of it.
Ian’s eyes widened, he had expected a huge boss monster, instead, a small old man appeared.
His body was made of blue light and his staff glowed in white. It was a ghost in the form of an old
man.
He spoke to Ian first.

Hoo… you are a Summoner.

Ian was confused for a second, but soon he answered,
Yes, I am… who are you?

The old man didn’t answer the question and muttered something Ian couldn’t understand.

The first one to challenge Orkley’s test is a Summoner… is this fate, too…


Your name is Orkley?

Ian asked curtly. The old man nodded.

Yes, my name is Orkley.


Why are you here?

The old man thought for a while and spoke again.

I cannot tell you that yet.



What?

Ian thought it was ridiculous.
The old man just suddenly showed up and said things he couldn’t understand like a test, so he was
confused.
But then, the old man, who had been staring at Ian, raised his white staff and spoke in a low voice.

Challenger… if you pass my test, you will get to know all my secrets.

Ian instinctively felt something wasn’t right. Therefore, he got ready for battle.
Kung- Kukukung-!
The entire dungeon started to shake.
‘What is going to come out? I am getting nervous…’
Orkley raised his staff and shouted a summoning spell.

Chaos Drake… answer my summoning!

With that, a white light exploded in front of him and a giant Drake appeared.
It looked a lot like the Ghost Drakes Ian had fought on the ground floor, but it was twice as big. And,
unlike the white Ghost Drakes, it was grey.
Ian lost his courage just after taking a look.
And there was more.
‘Lv. 75?! Hero rank?’ Ian despaired.
He was a genius gamer, but he and his pets were still at about Lv. 42.
Big Guy, whose level was the highest, was Lv. 45, so there was no way for them to kill a Lv. 75 Hero
rank monster.
‘Is this even possible? A Lv. 75 boss in a dungeon where Lv. 60 players hunt?’
Ian hadn’t thought about that situation. So, he could only curse.
That kind of thing sometimes happened.
In cases of dungeons with high-rank related quests or dungeons related to hidden pieces, sometimes
a Lv. 95 boss could appear in a Lv. 60~70 dungeons.
However, Ian was so unlucky.
‘Uh… I was going to never die after resetting… am I really dying here?’
Ian glanced at Ly and Big Guy.
‘I must dismiss them first when I’m about to die.’
Death didn’t destroy pets.
However, they couldn’t be summoned for a certain amount of time according to their levels. When a
Lv. 40 pet died, it couldn’t be summoned for 4 days.
Plus, pets got a level-down penalty as well.
‘If I die, I shall die alone.’
The game over penalty for a character was losing 1 level and a 24-hour access limit, so his pets had
to survive, even if he died.
He didn’t want to die but, as long as his pets were alive, he would be able to hunt again as soon as
the death penalty ended.
And, most of all, he didn’t want to see his pets die.
Kaaaao!!
The Chaos Drake shrieked.
It was nothing compared to Dragon’s Fear, but Ian was only at Lv. 40. It felt quite deadly to him.

You are discouraged by the Chaos Drake’s Fear.
All stats decrease by 5% for 10 minutes.

Ian clenched his fists.
He wasn’t going to go down so easily.
Seeing Ian’s will to fight, the old man smiled and pointed his staff at him.

Chaos Drake, attack him!

Krrrrrr-!!
The Chaos Drake inhaled deeply.
Ian’s eyes widened a little.
‘What, it uses Breath, too?!’
It was clearly preparing to fire Breath.
Ian leaped forward and shouted to Big Guy and Ly.

Big Guy, Ly, scatter to both sides!

With that, a black Breath came out of the Chaos Drake’s mouth.
Ian quickly turned his back to it.