NOVPUBAfter collecting the drop items from the forest emperor who had been gloriously browned in the flames—or rather, turned into a mana stone—we were able to find the gate without any further incidents.
The Secret Terror, having wandered near the forest fairy villages for hundreds of years, knew exactly where the suddenly appearing gate was located. It's like how everyone would notice if someone built a stone structure in the empty lot in front of their house.
The gate stood majestically alone amid the ashes. It was spotlessly clean without a speck of soot, as if declaring it had never been affected by the flames.
Peep! Peepeepyang!
"Oh, at least it's still opening the gate for us."
The starlight finch immediately flew up to activate the gate when it saw it. I'd thought its friendliness would have been shattered after seeing Han Se-ah set fire to the forest and fainting from high blood pressure, but it still opened the gate.
Who would have thought that a tiny finch smaller than a fist would make a peepyapyak sound, moan, and then faint? It had been quiet and hadn't chirped since then, which had me a bit worried, but thankfully it was fine.
The Secret Terror's eyes widened as she watched the gate instantly activate when the starlight finch's pure white, ethereal mana infused it. Her expression suggested that, above all else, she had no idea such a thing existed in the forest she had protected for hundreds of years. 𝘯𝑜𝑣𝑝𝑢𝘣.𝑐𝑜𝑚
-Hmm, starlight finches are famous guides... but how can it use such magic?
"Starlight finches are guides?"
-Well, since ancient times, stars have been compasses for fairies venturing outside the forest.
After confirming the forest fairy emblems, the two animals, the holy power, the sacred items, and now the gate, the Secret Terror softened her suspicions. It seemed she was quite adaptable and quick-thinking, immediately changing her appearance and attempting conversation when at a disadvantage.
But despite claiming to have dropped her suspicions, she darted into the gate ahead of us before we could enter, as if wanting to verify our Demon Lord story personally.
"Um... I guess that means she's coming with us?"
"Probably. Just looking at how she treasures that lich skull, it seems she likes the holy power and life force."
"Oh, you're right. She's been holding the sacred item all this time."
Katie, seeing no reason to hesitate, strode confidently after her. Curious about what new things the 63rd floor might hold, she dashed in, followed closely by Grace and Irene.
While the two of them moved forward engaged in leisurely conversation, Han Se-ah, who had been frantically collecting donations against viewer slander, hurriedly crossed the gate. After confirming she'd gone through, I also stepped across. Advancing one step from the ash heap, I was greeted by lush greenery.
Just as I'd suspected that an entire layer had burned, I was welcomed by the massive trees of the 63rd floor.
-Sigh... so that preposterous story was actually true.
The Secret Terror, flying above those enormous trees and looking around, heaved a deep sigh. A stone structure that shouldn't exist in the forest was suddenly activated by a guide bird, and passing through it triggered a spatial transfer spell?
Gates, or spatial transfer magic, were not just rare—they were legendary. Even if hordes of Magic Tower lunatics rushed in, they couldn't even begin research without a physical specimen from the Tower. It would be like a modern Earth human facing a UFO.
Having personally experienced spatial transfer—and not just any transfer but spatial transfer—it must be hard to deny reality any longer. Floating gently in the air, the Secret Terror sighed heavily before landing beside Irene.
-If what you say is true, haa, true... I'll help you find the way.
"Oh my, thank you."
-So please leave the forest as quickly as possible, and don't set anything on fire.
She couldn't deny reality, which meant she also couldn't deny that the 62nd floor had been completely incinerated. So her plan was to get this party of insane arsonist heroes out of the forest as quickly as possible.
Well, she was a wraith born to repel humans entering the forest. If she couldn't defeat us, helping us leave quickly was the rational choice. Irene smiled brightly at the Secret Terror's friendly and cooperative demeanor.
Though I felt terribly sorry for Irene, who was smiling cheerfully saying the forest would be fine, and the Secret Terror who was starting to believe her... if my prediction was correct, the forest wouldn't recover, and my long-forgotten conscience began to prick me.
'If my layer destruction trigger theory is right... the 62nd floor might remain ashes forever.'
Irene confidently asserted the 62nd floor would recover, following adventurer common sense, but considering the case of the 35th floor that had been purified, it might remain ashes forever.
I didn't care if the Secret Terror burned with revenge since we could handle her, but I worried about Irene feeling guilty and remorseful. It would be best to quickly deal with the Orc Champion on the 70th floor and escape.
※
Breaking through the ashen 62nd floor to the 63rd and 64th floors was incredibly easy.
"You found it already? Thank you so much!"
-It's nothing, I just want you to leave as soon as possible so I can be at peace.
That's because we had a 24-hour operational flying observer.
Being a wraith meant being a ghost. Not eating, sleeping, or resting, a wraith roaming around 24 hours a day found it extremely easy to locate gates.
Add to that what we learned from Han Se-ah's minimap—that gates couldn't be that close together—and everything proceeded smoothly afterward. Moving a reasonable distance from the gate we had come through, then spiraling through the forest looking for traces of the next gate, we found them at a speed inconceivable to humans.
It was so effortless that even Han Se-ah gracefully accepted the title of "carried queen."
"Hmm, maybe it's cheating...? Seeing how quickly the Secret Terror finds gates, even I can't deny this is cheating in its purest form. I humbly accept this, thank you very much."
-Now that she admits it, her admission is pissing me off even more LOL ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Look at her acknowledging it just before the 65th floor ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-But if you think about it, didn't she try her best? Setting fires diligently, releasing gas enthusiastically, really acting like a hero? At least she was sincere about gas and bombs, whining doesn't help~
-It takes me longer to go from floor 12 to 15 than it took her to go from 62 to 65, is this fair?
-Han Se-ah viewer trait: "If you're jealous, just recruit Roland ㅋㅋ" passive skill always active
Setting aside the experiences of other players—the viewers swarming Han Se-ah's broadcast—even in my adventurer career, I'd never experienced such rapid conquest.
Even when high-rank adventurers gathered to slaughter goblins in the plains, they scattered in all four directions looking for the gate and moved more slowly than this. High-rank adventurers handling aura found facing goblins easier than twisting a child's wrist, but we were moving even more easily and quickly now.
So I understood why the viewers' invisible mouths seemed to protrude from beyond the screen. At this point, it went beyond being carried—we were swallowing floors whole like a snake, without even chewing.
-Hmm, I sense an ominous presence beyond this gate.
"Floor 65—I'm thinking the Orc Champion's subordinates might be there. By the way, Miss Terror, can you sense what's beyond the gate?"
-Miss Terror? Sigh, never mind... talking with you people gives me a headache.
Peeyak! Peek!
And so, as the viewers passed through the five stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—finally understanding that Han Se-ah was just being Han Se-ah, we stood before the gate to the 64th floor.
The Secret Terror mentioned something ominous, and as if in response, the starlight finch perched on the gate made a sharper cry than usual. Still, it didn't refuse to open the gate, and the gate slowly began to glow as it received the pure white mana that resembled starlight.
"Since it seems like there's something there, I'll go in first."
"Be careful, Roland."
It was natural for the tank to lead at times like this. As I headed toward the gate with shield in hand, Grace patted my back encouragingly, and Irene silently cast a quick holy barrier around me. Leaving behind Katie, who had drawn her sword and would rush in after a brief pause, and Han Se-ah, who nodded as if she trusted me while attaching her camera drone, I leaped into the gate.
One step—from a forest full of fallen leaves and twigs into the space beyond the gate. The moment my sturdy steel boots, impenetrable by spears, swords, teeth, or claws, touched the ground, I sensed something was wrong before my vision even returned.
I felt an oddly thin, crisp, unstable surface beneath my feet, along with a floating sensation throughout my body.
'A trap-?'
"Got, youuuu!"
"Stab him! Everyone stab together!"
I'd considered that beyond the gate might be a corrupted forest, an ashen forest, or perhaps not a forest at all but another type of layer, but I hadn't expected this.
Seriously, a trap right as you cross the gate? That's too much.
The world turned upside down as a snare caught my ankle.
Enjoy the chappy!
