Chapter 13
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]
Chapter 13: The Mushroom Forest (1)
The difficulty of a Mystic Gate is determined by two factors:
-Gate color
-Number of players allowed to enter
The more people who can enter, the more difficult it is to clear the Mystic Gate. And there is no limit to the number of people who can enter.
In the case of a Red Gate, the maximum number is 100, but even an Orange Gate can easily have 100 people.
In the case of the recently cleared Blue Gate, the number of people who could enter was as high as 800.
Of course, it is not common for ordinary adventurers to form a party of more than 1,000 people.
Usually, if that many adventurers gather, they are classified as a guild, and the unit of a party is usually 99 or less, and even then, it is a large party. The number of parties of 1st and 2nd Circle adventurers never exceeds 10.
For this reason, in the case of Mystic Gates with a large number of people who can enter, it is common for multiple parties to clear it together.
It is usually only beginners who clear a Mystic Gate with a party of 10 or less.
In other words, the fact that multiple parties are clearing it together means that it is not a beginner level.
“Are you the fifth party?”
That’s why Dibo was nervous when he saw the man who was now greeting El Paume and Dibo.
“These guys are the real deal.”
The people standing before them now were experienced adventurers who could properly conquer a Mystic Gate.
“Whether they have one Circle or two.”
Furthermore, the number of Circles they had on their left wrists was not a reliable indicator of their experience.
Circles were certainly a measure of strength, but only those with the innate talent for Circle Up could do so.
Among those without the talent, there were those who remained at 1st Circle for their entire lives.
And among those, there were those who had conquered a Mystic Gate hundreds of times.
They were the real veterans.
In fact, they were out of Dibo’s league.
“Real pros who don’t even use slaves.”
Honestly, only the very beginners, the greenest of greenhorns, used bait slaves, and only then if they were hunting alone.
After all, experienced adventurers did not entrust their fate to bait slaves.
They would rather share the profits or even take a loss if it meant a 1% higher chance of survival.
That’s why they did whatever it took inside a Mystic Gate.
Literally.
“They’ll eliminate any obstacles without hesitation.”
If another party in their group became an obstacle, they would remove that obstacle without hesitation.
And that was what they had to do.
“That’s why crazy adventurers are the most dangerous.”
To the veterans, the monsters beyond the Mystic Gate were certainly dangerous, but most monsters were predictable. They knew their habits, how to catch them, or how to escape them.
However, adventurers were different.
Crazy or malicious adventurers could not be put into the category of predictability.
In fact, it was not uncommon for adventurers to become intoxicated with evil and bring boss monsters to wipe out other adventurers.
And it was a pretty profitable business.
Unlike monsters, adventurers had a 100% chance of dropping at least one item when they died.
For veteran adventurers, it was basic to eliminate such people early on.
“Is it just the two of you?”
In their eyes, El Paume and Dibo were a bomb waiting to explode.
A party of only two?
That alone was enough to make people wonder what they were doing.
‘I’m a slave.’
Moreover, one of them was an unawakened ordinary person, a slave in fact.
It was a tense situation for Dibo in many ways.
“Yes, it’s just the two of us.”
Of course, El Paume was different.
“And one of us hasn’t awakened.”
He spoke the truth without mercy.
“Huh, boss?”
Everyone, including Dibo, was surprised by his words.
What kind of confidence did he have to talk like this?
However, El Paume thought differently.
‘He’s still just a Red Rank.’
In his eyes, those who came here were not even veterans, let alone rookies.
At least, that was the case by El Paume’s standards.
If they came after El Paume, he was confident that he could wipe them out in 10 minutes.
Above all, El Paume knew.
‘Furthermore, this is a test.’
What kind of stage this was.
That’s when it happened.
“You’re all here.”
A man appeared before them.
A man in his mid-40s with piercing eyes.
“I am Lacan.”
The moment the man spoke his name, everyone who had gathered froze.
‘Lakan, the executive of the Gafor Merchant Union?’
[TL/N: Gafor’s Top -> Gafor Merchant Union (it just sound’s better)]
There was no one who didn’t know the weight of that name.
“I’ll keep it short.”
Lakan spoke to the nervous adventurers.
“This is a test. Defeat the boss monster, and I’ll give you an opportunity.”
At the word “opportunity,” everyone’s eyes lit up.
“The opportunity to participate in the 100-man gate.”
And the moment they heard the next words, no one cared about El Paume’s party anymore.
2.
“Adventurers are a strange bunch.”
Adventurers all had different values they pursued.
Some aimed for wealth and fame, while others aimed for fame.
Others pursued various other values.
“There are no two exactly alike, but there are commonalities.”
However, there were two things that all those adventurers commonly desired.
“They pursue strength.”
One was the ability to adventure.
“They risk their lives for titles.”
The other was nicknames and titles, also known as titles.
No wonder, because titles are the ultimate goal and value for adventurers.
These days, even the Adventurer’s Association considers an adventurer’s achievements and titles, not their Circle, to be the most important factors when evaluating them.
Even a 1st Circle adventurer with a valuable title would receive better treatment than a 5th Circle adventurer.
Titles are the embodiment of an adventurer’s achievements, and adventurers are recognized for their value based on those achievements.
“That’s what the 100-man gate is all about, right?”
And now, for adventurers facing the era of Mystic Gates, the title of 100-man Mystic Gate conqueror is the ultimate title for adventurers below 2nd Circle who can conquer Red Rank Mystic Gates.
Of course, it’s not just about the title.
“There’s also a chance for a Legendary item, right?”
The greatest value of the 100-man Mystic Gate is that it has a fairly high chance of producing Legendary items.
The value of this is enormous.
Most low-rank items are useless for high-Circle adventurers.
This is because the number of skills that can be used at once is the same as the number of Circles.
A 5th Circle adventurer can use five items at once.
Even then, if all of them are 5th Circle items, the mana consumption is too high to sustain.
As a result, mediocre items eventually become useless.
That’s why 1st and 2nd Circle items are now being traded at bargain prices.
However, Unique Rank items were different.
“Wouldn’t it be a jackpot if we just got one?”
Even 5th Circle adventurers, and even 8th Circle adventurers, sometimes used 1st Circle Unique Rank items.
El Paume was a witness to this.
Anyway, that’s what it meant to enter the 100-man gate.
“Wow, this isn’t even about paying off debts. What’s debt? We’re going to be rich in no time!”
It was a huge opportunity, even for Dibo.
That’s why the veteran adventurers were no longer paying attention to El Paume and Dibo.
“This is no joke of a competition.”
It meant that they had no time to worry about El Paume and Dibo at this point.
It goes without saying, but there were no exceptions.
“Time is not on our side. If you’re not in a party that’s going in right now, let me know your intention to withdraw within 10 minutes.”
No one spoke up to express their intention to withdraw after Lacan, the executive of the Gafor Merchant Union, spoke.
“We will enter in 10 minutes.”
And when the time of entry was set.
When that time came.
The five parties gathered, a total of 38 adventurers, stepped beyond the Mystic Gate without hesitation.
The test had begun.
3.
The moment they stepped beyond the Mystic Gate, most of the adventurers became one team, regardless of their affiliation.
To be precise, they had agreed before entering.
What they would do the moment they entered the Mystic Gate and who would be the leader.
And they played the party play centered on that leader.
But this time it was different.
The moment they entered the Mystic Gate, the parties just looked at each other.
That was all.
There was no conversation.
After exchanging brief glances, they scattered in all directions as if they had made a promise.
Only El Paume and Dibo were left.
Dibo was the same.
“Boss.”
He also spoke to El Paume with eyes more determined than ever.
“Let’s move too. We need to find the boss monster quickly.”
Lakan said.
Lakan announced that the first party to defeat the boss monster would be given the right to participate in the 100-man gate.
This meant that the first to defeat the boss monster would be the winner.
That’s why the parties had scattered silently a moment ago.
“Before the others catch it!”
These people were not colleagues, but competitors.
Of course, Dibo wasn’t just burning with ambition because he was intoxicated by the profit.
He had faith.
“If it’s a boss, it won’t be a problem!”
He believed that El Paume’s formidable abilities would allow them to win the competition against the others.
El Paume’s abilities were that great.
It was a far cry from the previous hunts.
Dibo thought above all else.
‘The boss must have come here for this!’
El Paume would want that too.
“We’re not going to interfere with the boss raid.”
“Yes?”
However, El Paume unexpectedly uttered words completely different from Dibo’s expectations.
“We’re going to hunt here.”
“Extermination hunting?”
Dibo’s expression froze at El Paume’s words, who said that they would rather hunt ordinary monsters instead of the boss monster.
‘What the hell is this crazy talk?’
If that’s what they were going to do, why did they come here in the first place?
“You think I’m talking crazy.”
“What? Oh, no.”
El Paume, who saw Dibo’s expression, kindly explained.
“Right now, the competition for the boss monster here is high. The higher the competition rate, the more dangerous it is.”
El Paume was strong.
However, he knew.
“The most important thing to avoid in the Mystic Gate is danger.”
One of the most important rules for adventurers is not to overestimate their strength.
“And it’s not like you can’t participate in the 100-man gate if you don’t hunt the boss monster here.”
“Huh? No, isn’t it a test?”
“The one who decides the representative of the Gafor Merchant Union who will participate in the 100-man gate is Gafor, not Lacan.”
Furthermore, El Paume knew that their chances wouldn’t disappear just because they didn’t hunt the boss monster here.
‘They’re going to fail anyway.’
On the contrary, opportunities had to keep coming in the future.
El Paume’s memory did not contain a single instance of this 100-man gate being cleared.
Above all, El Paume knew.
“The smell is definitely there.”
“Smell?”
Dibo immediately sniffed at El Paume’s words. However, the only smell he could detect was that of the damp forest.
And Dibo said to that smell.
“Isn’t this the smell of mushrooms?”
That it was the unique smell emitted by mushroom monsters.
That was all.
It was not a smell that made him feel particularly dangerous or threatening.
But it was different for El Paume.
“It’s the smell of mushrooms.”
He said with confidence.
“The smell of poisonous mushrooms.”
‘The smell of the Jester’s Deathcap.’
What kind of monster the boss monster here was.
[TL/N: Please Note I might Change few more names further down the line as the story unfolds more n i get a better understanding of who is who and what is what]
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]
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