Episode 212 No.294 Rainbow Lake (1)
Friday night.
Dang Gyu-yeong and I entered the basement of the dungeon building as planned.
We confidently took the elevator to the very bottom of the F floor, and from there, Dang Gyu-yeong was our guide to our destination.
‘It’s so comfortable.’
The difference is definitely felt when the first-year guide changes to the third-year department head.
For example, Shin Byeong-cheol would carefully look ahead and move forward, and when he sensed human presence, he would turn around and go through a different passageway.
On the other hand, Dang Gyu-yeong did not even look ahead and walked forward without hesitation, stepping on the circular stairs.
It’s almost at running speed.
If something is detected in the meantime,
“Come for a moment.”
He grabs my hand and pulls me into a shady place with him.
The third-year leadership team members then trudged up the circular staircase.
He is a senior from Hell Department whom I have met several times before.
He didn’t even notice the slightest hint that we were hiding right next to him.
This means that Dang Gyu-yeong’s shadow hiding technique is that secretive.
“… … .”
We watched the back of the head of the Hell Department senior, and after he disappeared, we walked out of the shadows.
Dang Gyu-yeong said, feeling a little proud.
“Have you seen it? Can’t you find it? This is my skill.”
“My older sister is the best.”
“Huh, let’s keep going.”
This means that Dang Gyu-yeong’s shadow hiding technique is that secretive.
We watched the back of the head of the Hell Department senior, and after he disappeared, we walked out of the shadows.
We picked up our pace again and walked deeper into the basement.
Soon, a teleportation portal gaped open in front of us.
[No.294] [Rainbow Lake]
Dang Gyu-yeong and I confirmed with our eyes that we were ready, and then we stepped into the dungeon at the same time.
The field of vision suddenly darkens and then clears up.
The first thing that caught my eye was the sky filled with red sunset.
You can tell that dinner is near.
And if you look down a little, a vast lake spreads out before you.
Although it has a reddish glow due to the sunset, other colors are mysteriously mixed and reflected.
Like a rainbow.
This is the main stage of this dungeon, Rainbow Lake.
“… … .”
Dang Gyu-yeong looked around carefully, then summoned several shadow butterflies and sent them flying in all directions.
It’s for reconnaissance to a slightly distant place.
But he tilts his head as if he can’t find anything.
“Kim Hoya, it’s so peaceful here?”
“I told you, it’s deserted.”
The main rule of Rainbow Lake is [Raid].
However, there are no special events other than battles with boss monsters.
This means that other monsters won’t swarm you or fireballs won’t fall from the sky.
“Then when will the boss come out?”
“Right now.”
When I pointed to the middle of the lake, Dang Gyu-yeong looked at it carefully.
– Bubble bubble,
Bubbles rise and ripples form on the mirror-smooth lake.
Moreover, the bubbles and ripples are gradually coming closer to us.
“… … .”
“… … .”
It was a situation that needed no words.
Dang Gyu-yeong began to prepare for the battle that would soon take place.
The shadows beneath your feet become darker and wider in range.
And there, butterflies flutter and fly up, one by one.
– Bubble bubble bubble,
Meanwhile, the bubbles rising from the depths of the lake became more and more violent.
– Swaaaah—!
Something huge and round suddenly emerged from the water.
It was a huge fish the size of a house.
Each scale covering its entire body was the size of a palm, so it looked like it was wearing armor.
That guy is the boss monster of this dungeon.
‘Elemental Fish.’
Two large eyes stared straight at us.
The bastard’s face resembled a frog or toad more than a fish, and it reminded me of someone I knew.
‘like…….’
At that moment, Dang Gyu-yeong blurted out what I had been thinking.
He patted my shoulder,
“Hey, doesn’t that guy look like Kim Gap-doo?”
“Why do you say that? That’s bad.”
“No, honestly, they do look similar. Honestly.”
“I don’t have that feeling, do I?”
“——!”
Elemental Fish didn’t seem to like being told that it resembled Kim Kap-doo.
As soon as he let out a sharp sound, a wave of mana energy spread out from the center of the creature.
Soon the ground beneath Dang Gyu-yeong and my feet began to shake violently as if an earthquake had occurred and overturned.
– Kwakwakwakwa!
We picked out relatively intact spots on the shattered floor and stepped on them.
Then, when I looked at its scales, I saw that they were all brown.
‘It’s local.’
The scales of elemental fish constantly change color, and their properties and the magic they use also change accordingly.
Since it is local now, we use local magic.
“—!”
Once again, Kim Gap-du’s fish let out a sharp sound.
This time, machine guns made of clay rose from all over the place and fired clay bullets.
– Doo doo doo doo!
Dang Gyu-yeong asked, dodging fist-sized clumps of dirt.
“But why is he so angry? He’s throwing dirt magic in my face.”
“It’s my territory.”
I translated the fish and told it to him.
Elemental fish have extremely vicious habits.
Its habit is to attack anything that approaches its territory.
“Where is his territory?”
“This is the lake.”
The entire Great Rainbow Lake, right up to the water’s edge, is his territory.
There was a reason why not even a single fish or rabbit could be seen nearby, let alone a single monster.
Dang Gyu-yeong reacted with disbelief.
“Have you ever seen such a shameless man? Did he rent out the lake?”
“That’s true. Should I scold you?”
“I need to scold him.”
As Dang Gyu-yeong lightly waved his hand, the shadow butterflies flying nearby all flew towards Kim Gap-du’s fish.
I too approached the bastard, using the shadow butterflies as stepping stones.
Thanks to the wind magic, the hover time is long, but you still need to build up more specs to be able to completely float and fly.
As the distance between me and him narrowed, my fist began to take on a crimson flame.
He thrusts his flailing fist forward powerfully.
[Inferno Fist]
– Kwakwakwakwa—!
A blast of fire struck the elemental fish square in the face.
There, shadow butterflies flew up to the bastard’s head and rained down all kinds of shadow weapons, such as daggers, axes, and spears.
“—!”
An elemental fish that lets out an even sharper scream in pain.
But the actual damage did not seem to be that great.
I stepped on the shadow butterflies and returned to Dang Gyu-yeong’s side.
After the flames died down, I checked the condition of the creature and found that only the outer part of its scales was slightly burned and scratched.
“Why is that so different?”
“It’s because the properties don’t match.”
To deal significant damage to an elemental fish, you must attack based on its attribute.
Now the scales are brown, so you have to hit them with your local color.
All other attacks have their damage greatly reduced.
That’s why the bastard easily withstood the B-rank Inferno Fist and the shadow magic from the third-year class president.
“So you can’t catch it now?”
“Right now.”
Right now it’s hard to deal damage because it’s an earth attribute, but once the attribute changes to suit my skills, things will become much easier.
For example, if it’s a red scale, you can inflict proper damage with Inferno Fist.
“Still, there’s no harm in hitting him now.”
“Well, it’s better than doing nothing.”
“—!”
Once again, the Kim Gap-du fish made a sharp sound, and the native magics swept over us.
Dang Gyu-yeong evades the attacks and sends out shadow butterflies.
I use them as a stepping stone to approach the bastard.
As he strongly extends his flaming fist, a firestorm rushes across the water.
– Kwakwakwakwa—!
“—!”
The Elemental Fish easily withstood the Firestorm and Shadow Weapon Barrage this time around.
He stares at us with eyes full of hostility.
But instead of continuing his attack, the bastard slowly retreated and dove under the water.
The bubbling bubbles gradually subsided, and the lake regained its mirror-like smoothness.
If our surroundings hadn’t been in shambles, it would have been hard to believe that a battle had just taken place.
Dang Gyu-yeong looked at me.
“… … Gone?”
“He’s gone.”
“When will that come out again?”
“It should take a couple of hours.”
Elemental fish are ferocious, attacking anything that enters their area, but they are also clever enough to use their environment to their advantage.
When it feels like it’s engaged in a fierce battle, it retreats to the deeper part of the lake to recover some of its stamina, and then comes out of the water again after a couple of hours.
And each time, the scale color, or attribute, changes, and this is determined randomly without any special rules.
“But what if it’s brown?”
“Another two hours are flying by.”
“So that’s why it takes so long.”
Opportunities will keep coming, but each time you fail to kill the bastard, your time in the dungeon will increase by two hours.
For this reason, the Simryo-ok was prepared to minimize the influence of luck.
So that it can deal damage even if it is affected by the brain attribute.
“So what do you do now?”
“I just need to kill some time—just a moment.”
I raised my hand and stopped Dang Gyu-yeong.
Judging by the way his eyes sparkled and he put his hand into his inventory, he seemed to have prepared something, but it was not the time to be playing around yet.
“Let’s go see the crows first.”
“Oh, is that it now?”
A dimensional crow will appear shortly, so you must wait at the contact point in advance.
Dang Gyu-yeong took his hand away, licking his lips as if he felt regret.
The area around Rainbow Lake was a very typical forest, nothing special.
A short distance away rose a not-so-high hill, and after walking a bit as if taking a stroll, I soon reached the top.
There was a small open space at the top, and in the exact center of it sat a single flat rock.
The atmosphere is like an airplane landing pad.
“Is this it?”
“Here it is.”
“I’m curious. It’s my first time seeing it with my own eyes.”
Dang Gyu-young’s eyes sparkle with curiosity.
Although he had seen Dimensional Crows from a distance a few times, this was his first time dealing with them directly or observing a transaction in progress.
They were guys you would rarely encounter unless you planned as meticulously as I did.
“A deal is a deal, but can I ask you a favor?”
“Of course. Who asked you to do it?”
Dang Gyu-young answered with a smile.
But when he heard the request that followed, his expression changed strangely.
“… … Is this okay?”
“It’ll be okay.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll give it a try.”
We waited in silence for a while, watching the sunset.
How much time has passed like that?
The air began to ripple violently, and a black shape emerged from it.
– Fooddeuk,
The black figure flapped its wings repeatedly in the air to slow down and landed gently on the rock.
Its identity was a large crow.
“Caw.”
He was of unusual size, had a gentleman’s hat on his head, wore an aristocratic suit, and carried a bag.
It was exactly as I saw in the replay.
‘The Crow Tailor.’
The tailor didn’t even glance at Dang Gyu-yeong.
On the other hand, when it discovered me, it flapped its wings loudly in place as if it was surprised, and then leaned forward as if to get a closer look.
It was impossible to read the crow’s expression, but it was clear that it was very interested.
“Caaah, young monarch. Why have you come to see me?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
I came to get my tailoring done.
