chapter 11
< 3. Enter the Dungeon (7) >
‘[Rare] Polar Dawn (Equipment Card): A sharp sword made of iron that contains the cold of the polar region. (When attacking, a frost bite occurs with a 15% chance.)’
oops.
Andrea couldn’t help but burst into laughter as soon as she saw the explanation on the card. It wasn’t because of performance. It was because of the absurd mistranslation written in the special effects.
It was a mistranslation of Frostbite. ‘Dungeon of Infinity’ was officially translated into Korean, and the level wasn’t too bad, but sometimes I saw crazy mistranslations like this.
For this reason, for a while, articles mocking this mistranslation would come up in the community from time to time. Why isn’t burns biting flames? How many gigabytes does ‘Dungeon of Infinity’ have?
Although the translation was a bit strange, it was a pretty good weapon. Frostbite in this game was close to freezing in other games. It’s not just about inflicting damage with the cold, it can freeze a fairly large area.
15% wasn’t a low chance considering that he could continue to attack with normal attacks. Enemies whose weakness was cold were overflowing, so it was a weapon that could be used even after leaving the lower floors. Well, whatever weapon you got, it would have been better than a stick.
“Did you get any good stuff?”
Marco shouted from across the swamp. Andrea responded by lifting the card and waving it.
“It’s a pretty good weapon. Thanks to Marco.”
“Is that paper ticket a weapon? Well… Anyway, that’s fine. But how do you plan to get from there to here?”
oh
It was a mistake. So preoccupied with getting to the scaffold right away, Andrea completely forgot that she had to cross the swamp again to return.
If I had attacked the puzzle in a normal way, I would have knocked down the tree and came across, so I just had to climb it again. However, Andrea used a trick to cross the swamp, so there was no way to get back.
‘jump? No, the footrest is narrow, so I can’t even run. Let alone cross the swamp, I won’t be able to run farther than before.’
‘Should I hand the Polar Dawn to Mr. Marco and ask him to cut the tree? But… is that possible? A statue is useless for logging anyway, and a knife is an inappropriate weapon for cutting trees…’
‘Shall I summon Mr. Marco onto the scaffold and make him throw me again? No, that’s not possible either… Not only is the footrest narrow, but there is a risk of sinking because of the weight.’
I thought about it for a long time, but I couldn’t come up with a sharp number. As before, Andrea asked, hoping that Marco might come up with some number.
“Mr. Marco, do you have any good ideas?”
“Um… how about riding across that treasure chest?”
“Will this float in the swamp?”
“There is nothing to lose by trying.”
However, the solution proposed by Marco was blocked from the beginning.
The treasure chest was quite heavy, and Andrea didn’t have the strength to lift it. I had no choice but to put my weight on it and push it with my back, but the treasure chest wouldn’t budge.
Marco looked a little admiring.
“Andrea, you are a wonderful weakling.”
“I already know, so there is no need to tell me.”
It was the starting point again. Andrea sat on top of the treasure chest. I didn’t feel impatient, but it was a pretty big crisis.
If you fall into the swamp, you will most likely die, and even if you miraculously survive, you’ll have to fight without any regrets until you meet the holy water fountain. Since Andrea was already weak, it was not much different from going to find a place.
Time passed, but no suitable solution was found. Andrea didn’t have an answer anyway, so she took out the polar dawn with the idea of looking at the weapon.
It was a thin sword with a slightly azure tint. It wasn’t that long, but that was better. A long sword should be cool, but it was better to use this in a dungeon where there were many fights in a small room.
As it was a freshly acquired weapon, the blade stood sharp with no missing teeth. Andrea tapped the floor with her knife without much thought.
I must have touched it five or six times, and the frostbite was activated. A small explosion of chill along the blade completely froze the surface of the floor.
At that moment, an idea flashed through my head like a flash.
Andrea found the answer.
Andrea started cutting into the swamp.
“What are you doing? Are you planning to cut through the swamp with a knife?”
Marco’s expression, which was full of doubts, soon changed to surprise. As the cutting continued, the bubbling swamp gradually froze.
How long had he stirred the swamp, and when he was certain that it was completely frozen, Andrea carefully stepped out of the swamp and walked out.
“What kind of magic did you do? Were you a wizard by any chance?”
“If I had been a wizard, I would have been rowing on a galley. It is the power of this sword.”
I was lucky. If it wasn’t for the dawn of the polar region, I would have been stuck on the scaffolding without moving.
Marco looks at the knife with wonder. It seemed that Marco was destined to continue to be surprised while exploring this dungeon. Andrea sent Marco back to the card and left the room.
I went down the dark passage again along the stairs, and this time I saw an open space. It was an open area that was not even divided by a door.
Warm heat from the fireplace. A dusty old bed and delicious fruits in baskets. And in the center of the room is a fountain gushing holy water. The fourth floor was a rest area.
Andrea’s expression hardened.
‘It’s not good.’
In normal cases, there was no reason why meeting a rest area would be bad. I was a little tired from going through the rooms one after another. Shake off the dust, lie in bed, eat some fruit, and you’ll feel better right away.
However, in order to survive in the infinite dungeon for a long time, he had to abandon such shortsighted views.
‘Once the resting area has appeared, the probability of it appearing again on the journey to the 10th floor is not very high. I’m not injured, and I don’t have any cards that I need to urgently strengthen.’
According to Andrea’s plan, the rest area had to be faced in a desperate situation. Facing the rest area now meant that, in the worst case scenario, you might have to go down to the 10th floor, where the boss monster is, without a chance to heal your injuries.
‘Since there has not been a fork in the road up to here, the probability of a fork in the road from this bottom is overwhelmingly high. I had to buy a map unconditionally. There should have been a shop on this floor, not a rest area.’
It was painful, but I couldn’t do anything about what had already happened. Roguelike games are basically like this. Things that are full of variables that you can’t control.
What players can do there is to choose only the best options they can choose without blaming the fate given to them.
Andrea put off her worries for the moment and approached the holy water fountain. Anyway, since the opportunity arose, I had to strengthen the card.
There was no reason to strengthen the basic card, so there were two options. Strengthening Marco Summon again, or strengthening Leap.
When a summon card is strengthened for the second time, it is common for the summon to become stronger without changing the cost. Andrea had memorized almost everything about how summoned cards became stronger as they were strengthened.
However, since I had never seen how Marco would become strong, I couldn’t easily guess. Humanoid summons usually wear better equipment after the second reinforcement, but it was unknown if that applied to Marco as well.
I definitely knew how it would change when I strengthened my jump. Leap becomes 0 cost when strengthened. It was like having a free move.
However, strengthening the leap was not so urgent. After all, if you use Leap and have enough mana, what you use is either attack or defense.
The worry didn’t last long. Just because you don’t know doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Andrea picked up the Marco Summon and dipped it into the fountain.
Brilliant light enveloped the card. A weak spray rose and the holy water evaporated at once, leaving only a single card containing the light intact in the fountain.
‘[Normal] Summon Marco ++ (1 cost): Summons Marco, a soldier from Helios.’
When a card is strengthened twice, an animation effect is created in the illustration. In the card, Marco was wearing leather armor and bravely wielding a long spear in the wilderness. There was no opponent, but the tip of the spear was flying back and forth in the air.
The descriptions are also strangely different. Not as a slave from Helios, but as a soldier from Helios. It seems that he became the Marco of his days as a soldier who participated in the crusade before he was taken prisoner.
Andrea was terrified for a moment. What if even Marco’s memories went back to that time? With a trembling heart, Andrea summoned Marco.
“This is something else. Why do I have to wear my soldier’s garb and swing my spear in the air?”
It seemed that the animation effect was something that Marco had to move directly inside the card. Fortunately, Marco’s memory was intact.
After a rough explanation, Andrea asked if there was any change in her body. If it had been strengthened to the 2nd level, the summoned beast could have developed some kind of skill.
“Well? I feel like I’ve gotten a little younger, but I’m not sure.”
There was no way to find out right away if you didn’t know. If you really have a skill, you will know it when you go into battle.
Andrea dusted herself off and sat down on the bed. The fruit in the basket was shared with Marco. It was the first break I had since coming to this world.
Like Hunger, he wasn’t sleepy in the dungeon, so he didn’t even need to sleep. But Andrea lay down on the bed and dared to close her eyes. In order not to be encroached on by the extraordinary routine of the dungeon, it was necessary to adjust the condition.
how much time has passed Looking around, Marco was warming up in front of the fireplace. Marco’s voice opens his mouth openly after feeling someone’s presence.
“There doesn’t seem to be a limit on summoning time or something here, right?”
“ah? Ah yes. There are no such restrictions in the rest room. But now I’m leaving this room, so I’ll have to go back to the card.”
Feeling some sort of remorse, Andrea put Marco back into the card.
It was time to leave.
The steps to leave were heavy. There was no guarantee that the resting place would appear again, so I had to pray that I would never get hurt in the future. Before Andrea went out the door, she glanced back at the resting area.
Dark aisle again. Still, thanks to the scattered torches hanging on the walls, I could see the way forward. It wasn’t a straight aisle like the ones I’ve been through, but a crooked aisle.
Andrea prepared her mind.
As expected, there was also a fork in the road. It is also a three-pronged road.
It was a three-pronged road with no milestones, no signs, and no difference in appearance. However, the outcome would be completely different depending on which path was chosen.
You can meet a shop, meet a normal monster, or meet an elite monster.
Concerns were not long compared to their importance. Worrying was useless unless there was information available anyway. Andrea took the right path.
After taking a few steps, an iron bar came down from behind and blocked the way back. Andrea swallowed. I couldn’t change my choice anymore.
< 3. Enter the Dungeon (7) > End