Episode 123
123. Episode 123
The aftermath of the collapse of the anthill was enormous.
This is because the ants were confused and could not escape the nest due to the queen ant’s death as soon as she gave the order.
All the ants on the ground and in the anthills were wiped out. Most of the winged ants also lost their lives.
The few winged creatures that managed to survive were hovering in the air, not knowing what to do.
Crunch-
Se-un didn’t miss them.
In less than an hour, all the ants were gone.
-You have successfully completed the 8th floor trial, ‘Ant Nest in the Heat Wave’.
-Calculating public figures… … .
– Time remaining: 9 hours 02 minutes
-Number of monsters hunted: 5012.
– Complete the hidden quest ‘Death of the Queen Ant’.
– Complete the hidden quest ‘The Fall of the Ant Nest’.
…
-Total accumulated merit points: 302,200 points
There was still plenty of time left, but the ants were wiped out, so the ordeal ended naturally.
The number of monsters hunted was a whopping 5,000. It was a larger number than expected.
I wondered if it would have been possible to finish it in 10 hours even if we had repeated the hit and run as originally planned.
‘More than that, I have over 300,000 points, but I’m not in first place.’
It was evidence of how many monsters existed in the tower.
Unless there were additional points from hidden quests, it was difficult for even the most skilled players to surpass all of those monsters’ records.
However, Se-woon did not take first place, but Yoo Seo-ah is different.
No matter what anyone says, she was the main character of this ordeal.
You’ve killed the queen ant and destroyed the ant colony by using your potential domination, so the assigned public service points will also be enormous.
As evidence, her eyes were surprisingly wide open as she checked the message.
“Did you achieve the ranking?”
“Yes! I got second place! I got a ton of public service points too!”
“congratulations.”
“Oh, isn’t Mr. Se-un a top-ranked person?”
“That’s not true, but I received a decent amount of public service.”
-The constellation praises the contractor for his amazingly impressive hunting method, the ‘Crowned Spider’.
-The constellation, ‘The Crowned Spider’, nods, saying that it was a power that suited his contractor very well.
The potential of Yushua, domination.
Although it seemed a bit immature because I still didn’t know how to handle it well, it was a power that seemed to have endless potential for development.
Right now, you’re only dealing with a few ants or a dying queen for a very short time, but as time goes by, your power will only grow stronger.
-Designated the entire ‘ant nest’ with the power of gluttony.
-The fangs of gluttony swarm the monster!
-The constellation, ‘The Hungry Prince’, rejoices in the bursting texture.
-The constellation, ‘The Hungry Prince’, is happy to have a variety of recipes to choose from.
-The constellation, ‘The Hungry Prince’, is sad that he cannot eat all the food that is abundant everywhere.
Crunch, crunch!
Countless teeth chewed and swallowed the ants’ corpses.
However, since the target of the power was originally a monster that Seun had defeated, the number of ants swallowed out of over 5,000 was only a few hundred.
This was the very reason why Beelzebub was sorry.
Even so, the number of ants that Seun had defeated was enormous, so a lot of mana was absorbed as nutrients.
It was difficult to fill the circle with increased capacity, but didn’t they say that a little goes a long way?
Se-Woon sat down without being impatient and began to restore the empty circle.
“But how did you come up with the idea of controlling the queen ant?”
“Well, honestly, I wasn’t sure. But I thought it might be possible… … . Sorry.”
“No, I like it. Sometimes intuition is more important than rational judgment.”
“……thank you.”
“Other people… … .”
[Park Jeong-pil: Brother, brother, brother! I miss you!]
[Hanareum: Oh, really! I don’t want to hang out with this guy!]
[Baekhyun: The queen ant. She’s a coveted monster. To think that she can control that many ants at once… ]
[Lee Ha-neul: This ordeal is continuing. I hope you all are not running low on medicine.]
‘Ah, if it’s Baekhyun… … .’
Baekhyun’s regretful appearance was seen through the clan chat.
No matter how great a necromancer he is, it will be difficult for him to completely conquer this ordeal.
Seundo would normally not have left a corpse behind because of his power of gluttony, but now it was different.
“Yuseo-ah. Let’s go find the queen ant’s corpse.”
“A body? Could it still be there? It fell from the very top.”
“But just in case.”
Even if only a part of the body remained, it would be of great help.
If you have the skill to raise a manticore into a ghoul, you should also be able to create a chimera by stitching together the bodies of monsters.
Seun created wind magic to clear the dust and walked over the debris of the anthill.
The smell of urine was rising through the ant’s body fluid, so I naturally blocked my nose.
While searching for the queen ant, even using the Searching Magic, an unusually large number of ant corpses were seen piled up in the middle of the debris.
The moment Seun walks through some of them in an unnatural manner.
“… … I guess you kept it until the end.”
The queen ant’s corpse was revealed, surrounded by numerous worker ants, winged ants, and soldier ants.
The moment the ant colony collapsed, it seemed like they threw themselves to protect their queen.
From the moment the sword was stuck in Jeongsu-ri, it must have been known that the queen was dead.
According to the content of the ordeal, they were evil insects that attacked travelers in the desert, so I had no regrets, but I had to acknowledge their loyalty.
Thanks to the protection of the ants, the well-protected corpse was placed in a subspace pocket.
[Jeong Se-woon: I took the queen ant’s corpse.]
[Baekhyun: Really? Thank you so much!]
[Jeong Se-woon: Thanks to Yoo Seo-ah.]
[Yoo Seo Ah: Oh, no! If it weren’t for Se Woon, I would have… … .]
[Baekhyun: I will definitely repay you! I want to study it quickly! If I can maintain the characteristics, I can use it as a commander to command the undead!]
The response was better than expected.
Baekhyun’s increased combat power meant that the Diablo Clan’s combat power would also increase, so it was a welcome development for Seun.
After that, Seun recovered all of his mana, and Yusua also finished her rest.
“Yoo Seo-ah, are you feeling better?”
“I’m a little tired, but I can bear it. More than that, I feel a little uneasy and want to wash up quickly.”
Of course, Yu Seo-ah and Se-woon were in terrible shape as well.
The armor was stained with ant fluid all over, and his hair was soaked with fluid and dried in the sun, giving off a musty smell.
I didn’t even care while fighting, but after the battle was over, I felt a little uneasy.
Se-Woon usually didn’t care about the monster’s blood splattering, but this time it was a bit too much.
So I immediately pulled out a new magic spell.
-The Treasure Trove of Greed has been opened.
[ Clean shower ]
– Use the life magic of the Blue Tower to wash your body and clothes using a light whirlpool.
Choaaaah!
As soon as the magic manifested, a whirlpool arose beneath Seun and Yuseoah.
The cool water washed over my body, washing away the ant fluid and sand.
Although Yu Seo-ah was startled by the sudden torrential downpour, this was clearly a magic devised directly by Cheongtap.
After washing away all the foreign substances on my body, the moisture disappeared as if it were a lie.
Enough so that not a single hair on your head gets wet.
“Wow! That’s amazing!”
“Are you feeling better now?”
“Yes! I feel like I just got out of the shower. It’s so convenient, isn’t it?”
“It won’t be as good as a real wash, but it’ll do the trick.”
After a quick shower, I remembered the bathroom I had in my residence.
Next time I go back to my residence, I think I should spend a few hours in the hot spring.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes! Anytime.”
“let’s go.”
As I chose the next trial, my vision quickly darkened.
* * *
– Welcome to the 9th floor trials.
– Topic: Desert Ruins
-Time limit: 48 hours
-You who came to excavate the ruins of the desert have finally arrived at your destination.
-Discover and explore one of the surrounding ruins.
“It’s a desert again this time.”
“Shall I cast a spell?”
“No, I’m used to it now. I can’t expect help forever, right?”
Yu Seo-ah answered confidently.
Separately from that, sweat was already pouring down her body, but I had no intention of casting a spell on her if she didn’t want it.
Players grow with the trials. If you experience this kind of heat, you will become accustomed to it.
What if you experience heat on another floor?
While other players will somehow survive their experiences in the desert, those who fail to adapt here will have a hard time there too.
If possible, it is best to endure the difficult situation with your own body rather than trying to overcome it with tricks.
“By the way, if you say historic site, is that what you’re talking about?”
Yushua pointed to the pillars in front.
White pillars stood out in a row like a Greek temple, but they were broken and collapsed here and there as a sign of the passage of time.
“That’s true too.”
“That too?”
“There, and there. See?”
Se-woon nodded and pointed in another direction.
To the south stood a statue of a black scorpion sporting a sharp tail, while to the west stood the half-buried skeleton of an unidentified giant monster.
The 9th floor of trials, the ruins of the desert.
The content of the trial wasn’t just ‘Discover and explore one of the surrounding ruins.’
There are countless ruins around here, and each ruin has a different level of difficulty and rewards.
Players can choose one of these to explore.
This trial could be an easier one than the first floor, or it could be a difficult one that surpasses the difficulty of the ninth floor.
‘Unfortunately, I don’t know about the hidden piece here either.’
Se-un recalled the past.
From the 6th floor trials, you progress together with a companion, but Se-un’s companion did not follow Se-un’s words on the 6th floor and was killed by the ant hell.
Even after moving to the next floor, no new companions appeared, so during the anthill trial, I was truly risking my life to explore the trial.
Such as making surprise attacks on ants that move alone while hiding their appearance as much as possible.
If I had been just a few minutes short, I would not have passed the ordeal.
The place we arrived at was the 9th floor.
Since he had no allies and his fighting power was weak, Seun at the time challenged the easiest-looking ruins among those he could see.
Luckily, the place we arrived at was a ruins with almost no monsters, so we were able to explore it somehow.
Along the way, the itinerary’s signposts showed their responses, but I didn’t have time to pay attention to them.
‘Come to think of it…….’
As I reminisced about the past, a door I discovered at a ruins site I was exploring came to mind.
I didn’t pay much attention to it because it was a course unrelated to exploring the ruins, but I remembered the itinerary guidepost reacting at the time.
At the time, I didn’t even think about opening it because I was afraid there might be a monster inside, but even thinking about it now, it was definitely not an ordinary door.
Since I didn’t know which historic site would be the best, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to open the door there.
“Yuseo-ah, let’s go this way.”
“yes!”
Seun and Yuseo’s footprints were engraved on the hot sand.
fantasy,
