Chapter 63: 63 ASAP!
After dropping a classic Grey Wolf-style declaration, Altair fled the 19th floor. He had no desire to keep facing a group of ram-headed creatures. Upon leaving the 19th floor and entering the 20th, he felt much more at ease since those goat-headed monsters hadn't chased him. Free from the unsolvable problem of the goat-headed monsters, Altair immediately felt a weight lift from his shoulders.
At the entrance to the 20th floor, he regained the boldness he had when he first entered the 19th floor. With the dialogue board in his left hand and the lightsaber in his right, today he would perform in the dungeon... slaying monsters and demons if they blocked him and cutting down gods if they stood in his way!
'Come on, my dear monsters, come at me all you want!'
[So why are there goat-headed monsters on this floor too? (╬ ̄皿 ̄)!]
His idea had been great, but the moment Altair took a few steps into the 20th floor, a few monsters respawned in front of him. And, like the ones from the previous floor, they were goat-headed, goat-hoofed, human-bodied... goat-headed monsters!
Altair felt like he was about to crack. Why were these monsters respawning on two consecutive floors?
He forgot one thing... generally in RPG games, one type of monster can have several variations, and these monsters can respawn in multiple areas. In open-world sandbox games, the same monsters could appear in different regions with varying levels, from low to high. In map-based games, monsters might appear on consecutive maps, and as the map level changes, the monsters go from low to high in strength.
So, having goat-headed monsters on two consecutive floors? That was perfectly reasonable.
Not only were there goat-headed monsters on the 20th floor, but the ones from the 19th floor that had been chasing Altair also followed him down.
Generally speaking, monsters don't leave their designated floors. But that's just generally. Sometimes, monsters cross floors, like the minotaur in the original story who ran from a deeper floor to a lower one and nearly scared Bell half to death.
Now, the goat-headed monsters were chasing Altair, crossing floors just to pursue him.
[Hey, you guys! Don't push your luck! If you come any closer, I won't go easy on you!]
While running to avoid the goat-headed monsters, Altair raised his dialogue board with his left hand to warn them. Unfortunately, the goat-headed monsters couldn't understand what he was saying... or, rather, they couldn't comprehend the strange characters he was writing.
Moreover, the goat-headed monsters, whose movement speed wasn't that fast to begin with, suddenly seemed to gain a speed boost as they chased Altair, moving as if they were hacking the game. Altair's legs turned into wheels, spinning like mad as he ran, but the goat-headed monsters' legs also transformed into wheels, racing after him.
This blatant speed-hack-like behavior made Altair extremely angry.
[Someone, anyone, help me kill these things! ASAP!]
Altair felt incredibly unlucky. On a rare occasion when he ventured alone to grind in the middle floors of the dungeon, he just had to run into these monsters.
Sure, his cheats were strong, but this setup was ridiculous. A single goat-headed monster could completely counter him... that was just too weird! The cheat ability given to him was powerful, but the counterbalance was way too exaggerated!
Now, Altair could only hope to encounter some adventurers who would help him kill these things.
Just as he was thinking that a golden blur flew out from the side, instantly cutting down several of the goat-headed monsters chasing him.
Next, several fiery spears flew from a distance, hitting a goat-headed monster directly and killing it instantly. After that, a white figure swiftly followed, killing the remaining goat-headed monsters by kicking them to death.
The goat-headed monsters chasing Altair were all wiped out, and he finally got a chance to relax.
"Phew..."
He let out a long breath of relief while raising his dialogue board with his left hand, then looked toward the people who had helped him.
There were three people who helped him. The golden figure was a girl with long blonde hair, and the silver figure was a werewolf with spiky silver hair. As for the fiery spears, they likely came from the girl with long flaxen hair holding a staff in the distance... oh, and she was an elf.
These goat-headed monsters had been taken care of by these three people, and Altair recognized their identities.
Ais Wallenstein, the Sword Princess from the Loki Familia; Bete Loga, the Vanargand, both of whom were Level 5 adventurers; and Lefiya Viridis, the Thousand Elf, who was Level 3.
In short, they were members of the Loki Familia. Not long ago, the Loki Familia had just completed an expedition, and it was clear this wasn't their expedition force... just a small independent team with two Level 5s and one Level 3.
[Oh, thank you so much! I was about to crack!]
Although Altair was somewhat surprised to run into them, he immediately expressed his gratitude.
Ais noticed Altair's actions and saw the words he had written on the board. But true to her naturally aloof personality, she didn't respond at all... not even a nod. Instead, Bete, upon seeing Altair's dialogue board, gave him a look of utter disdain.
"What a troublesome guy. Which Familia are you from? A rookie daring to venture into the middle floors alone, and you can't even handle a goat? Trash like you dares to come down here?"
[...]
Altair was speechless. He knew Bete's personality well, this guy wasn't inherently a bad person, but his mouth was infuriatingly foul, like someone from a certain family that could offend people with just words alone.
People like him... you might think there's something wrong with their brain because they only offend weaker people. But they won't dare to offend anyone stronger.
So, dealing with someone like that could be really frustrating.
Altair had encountered the Loki Familia at the Hostess of Fertility before, but nothing dramatic had happened back then. Now, here in the dungeon, he was being mocked.
The thing was, it wasn't easy to explain himself. Was he supposed to admit he couldn't beat a goat-headed monster?
But there was no need to explain. For someone with such a filthy mouth, if he dared to mock Altair, he better be prepared.
[Oh~ It seems like you've never been chased before. You must be really amazing! I bet you grew up all alone!]
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