Episode 232 No. 490 Winterhalt (1)
When Hong Yeon-hwa accepted my offer, I immediately chose a dungeon to enter that day.
There were no bids during the D rank, and it is easy to rank up for a freezing theme.
And then, towards evening, I met Shin Byeong-cheol and Hong Yeon-hwa, and we walked down the stairs to the basement.
Shin Byeong-cheol, who leads the way and chatters on and on.
“Hey, why don’t you rest every week during the strategy battle? It seems like you go more often than the average third-year student.”
“That’s because I mostly go to easy places.”
“I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. On Fridays, you—”
“mouth.”
“Oh, sorry.”
If I hadn’t paid attention in time, the news of me entering a B-rank dungeon would have gotten out.
Shin Byeong-cheol paused for a moment, but then began chattering again as if nothing had happened.
“But brother, is this guide really free of charge?”
“I took the bet because I liked you.”
At the time, the bet was whether Shin Byeong-cheol would draw a D-grade or higher from the random box, or a lower grade.
As expected, an E-rank teacup set came out of there, so this guide was free.
“No, that’s true, but I’ve been getting teacups lately and my life is so poor. I would appreciate it if you could show me some mercy—”
At that moment, Hong Yeon-hwa, feeling as if her patience was reaching its limit, said a word.
“hey.”
“ok?”
“Shut up.”
“Okay. I’ll close it.”
Shin Byeong-cheol zipped up his mouth.
I also felt the need to adjust the audio, so I didn’t say much to Hong Yeon-hwa.
However, I added a word because I thought it would be better to end the conversation.
“I guess I could give you a box or two.”
“… … !”
Shin Byeong-cheol expressed his gratitude through gestures.
This friend’s help is essential to get the fifth stamp.
Thanks to the reward that was not there before, Shin Byeong-cheol was able to focus on his role as a guide with motivation, and was able to reach the D-floor, the dungeon entrance, without any major trouble.
[No.490] [Winterhalt Fortress]
“When can I come back again?”
“I think I’ll be here for quite a while this time. In the morning.”
“Okay, see you then.”
Hong Yeon-hwa and I stepped into the teleportation portal one by one.
The next moment we appeared in a barracks.
Overall, it had a medieval feel and the facilities were not very good.
Also, it felt chilly even though it was indoors, so you could tell how much colder it was outside.
– Booooooow—!
At that moment, a deep, low trumpet sound rang out from somewhere.
There is a chaotic mix of people bustling about and shouting.
I exchanged glances with Hong Yeon-hwa and walked out of the barracks.
-Whew—
A blizzard that hits you straight in the face.
‘It’s cold.’
Even though the uniform has its own cold protection function and elemental resistance, it is still cold.
Of course, it wasn’t to the point where I was freezing to death, so I just endured it and looked around.
‘Winterhalt Fortress.’
This is the location that serves as the setting for this dungeon.
As you can guess from the word fortress, the main rule is [Mercury Warfare].
– Boohoo!
And the trumpet sound that continued to ring in our ears announced that the battle of Mercury was about to begin.
The white generals command the soldiers who are rushing towards the castle walls.
“To your respective positions—!”
“Move quickly, you snails—!”
After watching that scene, I also said something to Hong Yeon-hwa and took the lead.
“Follow me.”
“huh.”
We started climbing the stone steps towards the castle walls.
Then, he stops a white man passing by.
“Let me ask you something.”
“I told you to move quickly, you bastards—yes, wizard.”
He was threatening the soldiers with a tone as harsh as his fierce appearance, but when our eyes met, he flinched and suddenly became polite.
This is a passage that shows how absolute the status of a wizard is in this neighborhood.
‘Of course it’s not just because of that.’
The white chief must feel an unapproachable majesty from me.
One of the minor effects of [Monarch].
Thanks to this, it has become really easy to ask questions or order things.
“Where should we go?”
“Yes, if you go this way… … No, I will pick you up myself.”
Instead of giving directions, Baek In-jang started walking ahead.
“???”
Hong Yeon-hwa, who was following behind, looked back and forth between me and Baek In-jang with confused eyes.
The moment that gruff white man saw me, he became friendly as if he were a completely different person, so I felt a sense of alienation.
“This way.”
The white chief guided us to one side of the city wall.
Because it is higher than other places, you can see the battlefield at a glance.
‘This is a great place.’
The only flaw was that he was the center of attention of the soldiers guarding the place, but this was easily resolved.
I looked at them and frowned slightly.
“I’m worried. Could you please make some room for me?”
“But, Wizard, then we won’t be able to protect you in case of emergency.”
“We’ll take care of that.”
The white chief tried to dissuade me, but I persisted, so he had no choice but to accept it.
In this situation, the wizard is the best of the best.
He rushed out with his soldiers, and the bustling hall became empty.
After renting one side of the wall, we checked the battlefield in earnest.
The rugged terrain is completely covered in white snow, and an army of monsters advances, covering the white battlefield.
The most numerous one is the E-class monster, Orc.
However, these guys have white skin because they are colored to suit their environment.
Ice Orcs are E+ class monsters, and their units range from warriors to archers and shamans.
In addition, there are medium-sized monsters such as ice trolls and golems mixed in here and there.
Finally, at the center of the Ice Legion stood a woman wearing a robe as white as snow.
Just by looking at the blue waves constantly emanating from her, you could tell that she was a fairly powerful magician.
This is the commander of this legion and a boss-level entity.
‘Ice Witch.’
There are two conditions for clearing this dungeon.
Succeed in Mercury for a certain amount of time, or defeat the Ice Witch.
Of course, there is no need to rush it.
The longer you stay, the more ranked pieces you can do.
An army of ice monsters continues to advance.
They had quite a bit of time to get within range of our archers, but some spells had a longer range than bows.
And if the range is long, it is only natural to take advantage of that.
I gave instructions to Hong Yeon-hwa.
“Try it.”
“… … .”
Hong Yeon-hwa answered by slightly moving her head up and down, then took out a staff from her inventory.
“You changed your weapon?”
“Uh, yeah… … .”
Originally, he used a short wand as his main weapon because it was easy to move around, but now he has changed to a long two-handed staff.
The ruby embedded in the tip is also larger.
“Are you going to go all out in formation?”
“That… … seems like a good fit.”
Just a few weeks ago, Hong Yeon-hwa was contemplating whether to go as an all-rounder or a forward.
I thought he’d wander around a bit more, but he must’ve made up his mind quickly.
“I thought about it carefully.”
The sooner we decide this, the better.
When I nodded, a faint smile appeared on Hong Yeon-hwa’s lips.
He seemed happy to be recognized.
But that was only for a moment, as he turned his gaze to the battlefield with a serious expression.
Next, Hong Yeon-hwa recites the spell repeatedly.
Then, the ruby embedded in the staff began to emit a bright red light, and a large magic circle was drawn at his feet.
After a while, the large-scale magic that was completed was used as a decisive move in the Cloud Stairs battle.
[Phoenix Flutter]
– Whoosh, whoosh,
A huge flame rose from the magic circle and took the shape of a phoenix.
The Phoenix flapped its wings once, sending hundreds of fiery feathers flying forward.
The feathers of fire traveled a great distance and reached the monster army, and countless tiny sparks rose up here and there.
Originally, it was a magic that didn’t do much damage, but
‘It’s different with Aqua Flame.’
– Whoosh whoosh!
Any monster that touches the sparks will melt and disappear, regardless of whether it’s an orc, troll, or golem.
Flame magic mixed with Aqua Flame is the worst of the worst against ice attribute monsters.
– Ohhh—!
The soldiers who were watching the scene cheered with a mixture of admiration and support.
Hong Yeon-hwa can’t hide her smug expression.
The corners of my mouth keep twitching.
I threw out another word.
“Let’s keep going like this.”
“huh.”
Hong Yeon-hwa summoned the Phoenix again, and once again hundreds of fiery feathers swept across the battlefield.
However, the Ice Monster Army still remains and continues to advance.
‘There is no hunting ground better than this.’
The perfect environment for practicing Aquaflame and various flame magic.
Although it is not as dense as the Eternal Iron Alloy, ice attribute monsters constantly swarm in.
It’s a case of competing with quantity over quality.
After casting large-scale magic a couple of times, Hong Yeon-hwa seemed to have gotten the hang of it.
He takes out a rolled up magic scroll from his inventory, as if he is about to start working on a ranked piece in earnest.
It has the word ‘Boost’ written on it and several arrows pointing upwards.
‘Rank boost.’
Simply put, it is an experience buff item, almost the same as the event buff received during mentoring.
Grants the user a buff for a certain period of time, and during the duration, ranks increase faster with the same training.
Also, unlike [Rank Up], it can be used at any rank, and its great advantage is that it allows you to hone various skills/traits at the same time.
I spoke honestly.
“I envy you.”
In this game, items related to rank are all valuable because they are directly connected to specs.
In particular, the rank boost only lasts for a few hours, so it is usually not used unless the rank boost efficiency is very high.
Hong Yeon-hwa tried to use it nonchalantly from the first dungeon she entered, which was a glimpse of the wealth of the Ruby Tower.
But Hong Yeon-hwa’s gaze wandered here and there, not knowing how to interpret my words of envy.
Within, I carefully advance the rank boost.
“Ha, I’ll give you one… … ?”
I wasn’t asking you to give it to me because I was jealous.
This makes me look like a bad guy.
I shook my head.
“No, that’s fine.”
“Okay, it’s okay. There are several.”
Hong Yeon-hwa took out more rank boosters from her inventory.
It’s hard to find just one, so why are you carrying around so many of them?
It seems like Ruby Mattap is really determined to push forward.
As I was silently watching with such thoughts, Hong Yeon-hwa began to tremble.
And he handed me one more rank boost.
“Then, two… …?”
Did you interpret it as one sheet not being enough?
Since it seemed like it would just keep increasing if I left it like this, I decided to just accept the favor.
In the first place, I’m the type of person who doesn’t refuse anything that’s given to me.
“One sheet will do. I’ll use it well.”
“huh…….”
-Whew—
Could it be because the snowstorm is so severe?
Somehow Hong Yeon-hwa’s appearance seemed more timid than usual.
