Chapter 21: 21

Max Talent Player

Chapter 21: Mandra (2)

The Great Explorer, ‘Jackson’, was known to have cleared the ‘Seoul Station Dungeon’ at least 300 times. He said this about the dungeon:

[In Latin, mandra means stable.]

Jackson interpreted the name ‘Mandra’ as stable or barn, and was said to have tried various answers based on his interpretation.

Finally, I found the correct clearing method for the Seoul Station Dungeon.

Simply saying your name would give you so-so rewards, exactly the right kind of items for a beginner dungeon. Of course, they weren’t bad. However, they didn’t quite deserve to be called a ‘Hidden Piece’.

“My name is…”

Jackson’s strategy guide was like a rulebook for beginners, and I had memorized it from cover to end. He had said it like this:

[The correct answer is Rancher.]

“Your master, the one who has granted you new life. I am Rancher.”

“…”

The Mandra Statue began to shake. Finding my response curious, Seo Joohwan and So Yoohyun were unable to tear their eyes away from me. The statue had asked me for my name, but I had answered in English as ‘Rancher’.

The Great Explorer Jackson’s strategy was indeed correct.

I heard a notice.

[You have found the ‘correct answer’.]

[You have fulfilled the Hidden Piece.]

Notices from Guardians flooded in at the same time.

[The ‘Nameless Observer’ tilts their head.]

[The ‘Lady of the Scales’ is surprised.]

[The ‘Whispering Devil’ is feeling great interest.]

Yes, that was only natural. I could guess that the Guardians were getting just as heated as I was. They viewed Playing as their one and only amusement and stimulant. For them, I would become an incredible stimulant. I was aware of that fact, and would use it properly to my advantage.

Golden light began to emerge from Mandra’s body.

A hologram appeared before my eyes, visible only to me. There were three choices listed on it.

[Choose a Reward]

I already knew these choices would appear. In the meantime, Seo Joohwan asked, “It seems you’ve been given something special… We should wait, right?”

“I would be grateful if you would wait a moment. I think one minute will suffice.”

While I had been distracted, Eye of Perception had picked up something nasty. Seo Joohwan’s lecherous gaze had repeatedly landed on Sunhwa. He wouldn’t actually do anything, but that disgusting gaze was unpleasant. However, I didn’t show my disgust outwardly. After all, nothing good would come from revealing to the world that I could read someone’s emotions, disposition, and special traits.

I picked a reward without hesitation.

“I’ll take the gloves.”

Mandra nodded. 

I already knew the effects, but I still checked the gloves.

[Mandra’s Gloves]

Mandra’s Gloves have a special effect. They have a special resistance to ‘poison’ and will protect the wearer from countless infectious diseases.

Defense: 2

Effects: Poison resistance +3

The notices came in.

[You have passed ‘Mandra’s Test’.]

[The ‘Plaza of Mandra’ has been cleared.]

[The next scenario quest, ‘Two Forked Paths’, will proceed.]

A quest was issued.

[Two Forked Paths]

The final crossroad of the Seoul Station Dungeon. Find the appropriate clear conditions to complete the Seoul Station Dungeon. If you cannot clear the dungeon, a Dungeon Break will occur. At least one Player must enter each passage.

Not far in the distance, I saw two forked pathways. The ‘Seoul Station Dungeon’ was a dungeon that had a fundamentally forked structure. The difficulty of both paths were about the same.

Seo Joohwan was the first to speak. “I analyzed the best way to proceed, and…”

I could feel a repulsive nastiness coming from him via Eye of Perception. His obscene gaze towards Sunhwa was extremely unpleasant.

“As you all know, I am the type of DPS who moves quickly to strike weak points. It’s a class that can perform very well in combination with a reliable tank, like Miss Sunhwa.” Joohwan continued, “I think that it would be good to form a team with me, Sunhwa, and two people from my group. The other pathway can be handled by Yoohyun-nim, Hyukjin-nim, and the other person from my group. The balance should be right that way.”

TN: -nim is a formal honorific to express respect.

On the outside, he made it seem like he was paying heed to balance. However, I had no intention of letting Sunhwa go. At least, not to a sickening bastard with a summary of ‘Violent Pedophile’.

“No,” I responded flatly.

Seo Joohwan didn’t look all that surprised. “Please tell me why.”

“Sunhwa is like a little sister to me. In fact, my mother is considering adopting her. I will act with Sunhwa.”

I was curious as to how Seo Joohwan, a lieutenant of the Demon King Army I knew from the past, would respond.

“Even though I conceded the item to you with good grace… Won’t it be bad from an efficiency standpoint?”

“Efficiency? From the start, I was planning on clearing this dungeon with just me and Sunhwa.”

“And you think it’s possible with just the two of you? Even the Intermediate Administrators recommended seven Players. Think carefully.”

His eyes weren’t good-natured anymore. It couldn’t quite be called openly rude, but there was no real goodwill to be found, either. The look in his eyes had changed from before.

“If I had thought it impossible, I wouldn’t have come in.”

“You sure have a great deal of confidence.”

I could feel Joohwan’s emotions. Whenever someone felt intense emotions, Eye of Perception picked it up without fail. If I were to put it into words, he was cursing me as a ‘irritating son of a bitch’ right now.

“It seems you have met a Guardian who is providing you a lot of information and benefits.”

“Well, something like that.”

I didn’t get a scrap of information from the Guardians, but it was a decent reason to convince Seo Joohwan, who promptly grinned.

“If you have received information from a Guardian… That must effectively mean that Miss Sunhwa and Hyukjin-nim… are capable of clearing this dungeon with the two of you, correct?”

It was effectively correct. Sunhwa and I could clear this dungeon on our own. I saw Joohwan’s eyes sparkle, and I knew the reason why.

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‘You think you and I are on the same level?’

He probably thought so. I had hidden my skills in order to make him think that.

‘That’s why you’ll probably assume that if I can clear it, you can clear it too.’

It wasn’t strange that he would misunderstand. From the start, I had saved my strength in order to make him think that. I wanted to see just how he would react now.

“Then, how would you like to proceed, senior? Since you were planning on clearing the dungeon with Sunhwa as a pair… Will just the two of you go into one pathway?” he asked. He continued a moment later, “But if you do that, we’ll be too unbalanced, so… Let’s do it like this, instead. How about our group moving as one unit and Yoohyun-nim going to the other side?”

He gave a cunning smile. I checked his disposition again with Eye of Perception, clearly seeing one word on the list.

Perhaps noticing that the mood had turned a little strange, So Yoohyun intervened. “That sounds good. I will move to the other party.”

And so, the parties were divvied up—me, Sunhwa, and Yoohyun in one team, Joohwan and the three Players he led in the other. Their side only had damage dealers.

Seo Joohwan headed to the right forked pathway first. “Well then, I wish you the best of luck.”

* * *

* * *

I went into the left fork. As soon as we separated from Joohwan’s group, So Yoohyun spoke up. “You seemed very unhappy.”

From Yoohyun’s point of view, it was probably strange that I blatantly made things difficult for Seo Joohwan. I had never really shown him any goodwill, even though he hadn’t shown any reason to deserve such cold treatment.

“Yes. I don’t really like that kind of person.”

“…”

I decided not to say too much. I wouldn’t say that the man would become a named Player of an organization called ‘Nightmare’ in the future, or that his current dominant disposition was ‘fake’, or that his summary was ‘pedophile’. Nor would I tell him that he hadn’t noticed, but that bastard had been looking at Sunhwa with a dirty gaze. There was no need to say those things, and I had no reason to convince him of anything.

Notices came in.

[You have entered the first forked path.]

[Please reach the end of the path.]

[There will be a ‘clue to the clear’ at the end of the path.]

The notices aside, Yoohyun easily accepted my half-assed explanation of ‘I just don’t like him’.

“That’s fair.”

And then, he suddenly reached out and grabbed my hand. I almost shook him off by instinct. I didn’t have a perverted disposition like Seo Joohwan, and I didn’t swing that way either. Simply put, a man’s hand? No thanks. I very nearly attacked him.

“You are the person who saved me, correct?”

“…”

“I am sure I saw you in the D-Tower’s 2nd floor. The two heroes who left with the magic troll.”

Hm. He seemed to be remembering things a little strangely. It wasn’t that we left with the magic troll. We had fled for our lives from the magic troll.

“All of my teammates died there… but I survived. I owe you my life.”

Oh. Hm. So, um. That’s… Is that how it was?

“You are my hero.”

“…”

“Please give me a chance to repay you. I’m very good at repaying favors.”

I had no idea how to respond. I desperately wanted to tear my hand away, but it was a little tricky to do so with those big, glistening eyes shining at me. This was the reason why I couldn’t really shake off his hand:

I didn’t go out of my way to activate Eye of Perception, but I could very clearly feel what kinds of emotions this person had towards me. So Yoohyun… was being completely sincere. Sincerity was overflowing from every pore of his body.

“If it is alright with you, may I call you hyungnim?”

TN: Hyungnim is a respectful form of hyung, used by a male to refer to an older male.

“But we’re the same age?”

“That doesn’t matter, does it? You are my life’s savior.”

I scratched my head. This thing called Eye of Perception was really nice and all, but it was pointlessly sensitive and forced me to understand a person’s inner feelings far too well. So Yoohyun’s sincerity was relayed to me loud and clear through Eye of Perception. Was this guy always so simple and honest?

“Well… do as you please.”

“Please speak casually to me, hyungnim.”

“…”

Sunhwa smiled, as if finding the situation very amusing. “But you know, Hyukjin oppa is oppa. And Yoohyun mister is a mister. So if mister’s hyung is oppa, then what should I call you?” After contemplating on her lonesome, Sunhwa also came to a conclusion on her own, and very quickly. “Mister is still mister. And oppa is oppa. That settles it.”

Yoohyun’s brow wrinkled a little at being called a ‘mister’, but he didn’t show his feelings openly.

“But… it feels like you are staying here on purpose. Am I correct?”

This man, So Yoohyun, was pretty quick on the uptake.

“You are correct.”

“Come now, hyungnim. Like I said, please speak casually.”

“…”

I nodded. Fine, okay. It shouldn’t be a bad thing to have the future Fist King as my little brother. It wasn’t like I forced him or anything. This was what he wanted, so there wasn’t any reason to refuse, was there?

“Yeah,” I repeated, more casually this time.

“Why? Is there some genuine secret I don’t know about?”

“You’ll find out if we wait here a little.”

Yoohyun didn’t question me, and neither did Sunhwa. Waiting at the Safe Zone without leaving was a strange thing to do, but the two of them waited patiently.

After about ten minutes, we heard a notice.

[A new Player is entering.]

[The Safe Zone will be deactivated, as the limit of five Players has been exceeded.]

There was only one reason why I had waited without expending my stamina. It was because I predicted that the others would enter our path, though I hoped my prediction wouldn’t come true.

“Did they already clear the other path, hyungnim?”

I knew Seo Joohwan would come here. I also knew he would stab me in the back. I knew he had a summary of ‘Violent Pedophile’, and that his disgusting gaze had been straying towards Sunhwa.

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And I knew one last thing.

That the current Seo Joohwan was no match for me.

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