Chapter 35: The Nest of Fermi (1)

Kai could vividly recall their rudeness even with his eyes closed.

Those guys never would have easily let things pass if they found out about a dungeon.

Hugo continued, "The atmosphere wasn't too bad at first. Since our party discovered the dungeon first, we claimed the rights."

"There’s no way they would have listened to you."

"That’s right. At first, they claimed they had discovered the dungeon first. Of course, that was nonsense since our party had already received the first discovery bonus. We tried to negotiate peacefully and send them away... but we were attacked. Moreover, the matchup was unfavorable."

Hugo showed his bow.

"Our party was formed for easier hunting in the Forest of Spiders and consisted of a Fire Wizard, a tank, a Cleric, and myself, an Archer."

"What about them?"

"One tank, two Rogues... and a Fire Wizard."

"Hmm..."

The course of the battle roughly formed in Kai’s mind. The two Rogues would have ambushed the Cleric and the Wizard, and once that ambush was successful, the battle was practically over.

"But from what you've described, it seems all your party members are dead... so what exactly do you want me to help with?" Kai asked, tilting his head.

With closer observation, Hugo wasn’t in the best condition. Unless the Crimson Fist guild members were fools, they wouldn't have left his party members alone.

"Revenge..." Hugo ground his teeth and knelt down. "Will you please take revenge for us? We barely found that dungeon after more than two weeks of questing. I'd rather die than let those thugs take it."

"...Sorry, but you know I’m alone, right?" Kai responded with a tone of disbelief.

Kai had shown nothing to Hugo, so what made him think Kai could undertake revenge?

Hugo said urgently, "I've seen you hunt as I passed by. You’re skilled enough to hunt alone in the Forest of Spiders, and the white beam of light you occasionally unleash... Even to my untrained eye, it appeared powerful."

"Umm..."

Kai seemed to understand how Hugo had found him.

The Holy Explosion I fired earlier... Did he find me after seeing that?

Indeed, as Hugo said, the existence of a dungeon was very appealing.

But the question is, can I take on all those Crimson Fist guys by myself...?

As Kai stroked his chin in thought, he examined Hugo more closely.

He’s equipped with a Search Leader's Leather Armor and a Mongoose's Crude Bow with level requirements of 54... His level must be around 56 at most.

Unless it was a special class like a Cleric, there was usually not much level difference among party members, with a two-level difference at most.

If the Crimson Fist guys were able to ambush and kill a party with an average level of 56... Those guys must be at least level 59, right?

One tank, two Rogues, and a Wizard. Certainly, a combination better suited for fighting people than monsters.

If I think about it, I’m not really alone...

Kai had the Staff of the Undead Gnoll Chieftain! While it would require some luck, summoning even three or four creatures with it seemed enough to not be at a great disadvantage.

Plus, they don't even know that I’m here.

They would be busily exploring the dungeon by now. The more they focused on the dungeon, the easier it would be to strike them from behind.

The more Kai thought about it, the more inclined he felt to help.

Besides, those guys killed this man's party. They must be in a Chaotic state... They'll definitely drop items if killed, and the dungeon would be a bonus, but more than anything...

It would be satisfying!

Just two days ago, he had been surrounded and humiliated by those rude guys! He was still so angry that he would kick his blankets in bed.

Eventually, Kai accepted Hugo's request.

***

Slash!

"Is this the place?"

Kai shook his head as he cut through thick vines to move forward. Despite having all the information about the dungeon's location, finding it was very difficult.

"Really, such a trash game... How is anyone supposed to find the dungeon without information if it’s hidden in places like this?"

Of course, it was Pegasus Corporation's sacred intention that one shouldn't find the dungeon without information.

"Anyway..."

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

As Kai looked around, his eyes sparkled. The suspicion he had while on his way to the dungeon gradually turned into certainty.

It’s certain. They coincidentally encountered the Crimson Fist guys in front of the dungeon? Ha, that's nonsense.

Hugo couldn't have thought about this situation rationally since he was the victim of the situation, but Kai, as someone not directly involved, could see the incident more objectively.

They were followed.

It was unclear why the Crimson Fist guys decided to follow Hugo's party, but this much was certain.

"They wouldn't have followed with good intentions."

Unless the Crimson Fist guys were collectively struck by lightning and went mad, there was no chance they followed another party out of concern.

Swoosh, swoosh!

As Kai cut down the last vine, a grim cave welcomed him with its mouth wide open.

This is the Nest of Fermi.

Nest of Fermi was the name of the dungeon. The dungeon where Fermi, the queen spider who ruled the Forest of Spiders, resided!

According to Hugo, Fermi is level 70.

If this was true, it was a place even Kai couldn't tackle right away. However, dungeons not only offered boss monsters but lots of XP and loot as well!

Without hesitation, Kai entered the cave.

The monsters are dead.

The polygon lumps scattered on the ground were proof of that.

"What is this, Hansel and Gretel?"

Hansel and Gretel might have left breadcrumbs, but the Crimson Fist guild left polygon lumps.

"Well, it makes finding them easier, at least."

Kai smiled in satisfaction, his eyes twinkling. The hunt had already begun.

***

"Block it!"

Boom!

"Arrgh! That fucking hurts!"

"Is this damage for real? Use more fire magic!"

"Fuck, do you even know what casting is? Ever heard of cooldowns?"

The four members of the Crimson Fist guild were sweating hard as they raided the dungeon.

This dungeon is tougher than expected.

With their average level of 59, they could easily handle a dungeon's regular monsters.

However, the first elite monster they encountered, a spider covered in white hair whose name was Paras, was more powerful than they had imagined.

"Argh... Shit!" cursed Duncan the Rogue as he failed to sneak up on Paras. "Damn, are we going to fail this raid?"

The Crimson Fist guild was formed by six PKers. Led by the guild master, Crimson Fist, they were thugs who usually killed other parties in hunting fields to loot items or tricked naive players into giving them money.

If we don’t conquer it, then there was no point in taking it.

These four members stumbled upon the dungeon by chance while ambushing Hugo's party and agreed to keep it among themselves. Sharing the dungeon's information with the guild would only reduce their share, so they decided to raid the dungeon with just the four of them and keep quiet. It was a decision they could make given their distrustful relationship.

"Just a bit more!"

"Lark, hang in there a bit longer!"

"My HP is at 5%! Just hit it a little more!"

But no matter how elite the monster, it was still a monster! AI patterns were not infinite, so they began to strategize to conquer Paras.

We got it now!

Paras's remaining HP was just 1%! It was the result of hunting for a whole forty minutes.

"Hey, finish it."

"Leave it to me!" The party's Fire Wizard cast a spell. "O blazing lance of flame, move according to my will and annihilate my enemy! Flame Spear!"

Shwoom!

What was summoned in mid-air was the brutish Flame Spear which raised the surrounding temperature by itself! Without a moment's hesitation, the Wizard aimed it at Paras.

"Die!"

The spear, tensely frozen in mid-air, seemed only to be waiting for its leash to be released. The moment the Wizard let go of the leash, the spear charged through the air like a beast unleashed.

It's finally over.

Phew, since it's an elite monster, maybe it'll drop a Rare item.

If a Rare item drops...

I'll have to watch the situation and then backstab them at the right moment.

Such was the level of thinking among these thugs!

However, the Rare item they hoped for could only be obtained by those who defeated Paras. That meant that the moment an unknown white flash burst Paras's head, their efforts were considered unrewardable.

"Wh-what the?!"

"What the hell!"

As they were bandaging and drinking potions to recover HP, the members of the Crimson Fist guild jumped up.

"What... what happened? Did we get it?"

"We killed it, right? Right?"

As they checked the message window, the XP had indeed come in. But importantly, an uninvited guest had shared their XP and rewards. They raged and began to blame each other.

"You dumbass! Just because you couldn't finish it off, look at the mess we're in!"

"What? How is this my fault? Weren't you the ones who dumped this annoying task on me in the first place?"

"Look who's talking!"

The party instantly divided! However, there was something that quickly united them again.

Clank, clank.

"...What's this now?"

"Skeletons?"

"There's only three of them."

What appeared in front of them were three Gnoll Skeletons!

The Crimson Fist guild members instinctively knew they needed to deal with the one who delivered the final blow to Paras first.

"Hey, there must be at least two enemies."

"There's definitely a Necromancer, controlling the skeletons."

"And the one who landed the final blow on Paras with that white beam."

"Everyone, be careful!"

They quickly regrouped to face the Gnoll Skeletons.

Then at that moment, a white beam was fired at them once again.

"Argh, dodge!"

Their barely reformed formation was easily scattered, and the Gnoll Skeletons seized the opportunity to dive in.

"Shit! Deal with these Skeleton bastards first!"

"Why are they so tough?"

"Damn, level 50 but such a high attack power!"

This was because Kai had generously buffed all the Skeletons!

Looking leisurely at the Gnoll Skeletons fighting the Crimson Fist guild members, Kai murmured, "Hehehe. Plus 5 points to Strength stat."

[+5 Strength.]

Kai had superbly managed to piggyback on defeating the elite monster, Paras! Though his contribution to the hunt was low, snatching the last hit granted him a significant amount of XP.

Looking at his increased Strength, Kai smiled slyly.

“Hehehe.”

It was the smile Kai wore when his plan fit perfectly.

It's so refreshing!

As if a clogged toilet had suddenly been unclogged, he felt a sense of liberation wrap around his body, Kai threw himself into that cool and refreshing feeling.

Whether because of this or not, Kai suddenly appeared like a wind that blew without warning.

"Wh-what the hell is this guy!?"

"They have a Warrior too!"

"Is it a three-person party?"

"Shit, the guys we took care of at the entrance must’ve called their friends."

"Still, his movements are slower than I thought! We can handle this!"

The Crimson Fist guild members were thoroughly mistaken!

Of course, Kai felt no need to correct their misconception.

My movements are slower than expected?

Kai glanced at the Rogue who had made that comment.

Sure, I might seem slow now, but...

His current speed was not the fastest he could go.