The Old Man Is So Good at Acting Like a Loser

＜ 3. Enter the Dungeon (4) ＞

“I told you. I’ll show you how the deceased played the game.”

Andrea pulled her arms and legs off the wall and got out. Arpan jumped up from his stone chair and groped for the wall. As soon as Andrea came out, the wall hardened again as if it had never happened.

Ji Arpan, who was full of energy, let out a blank laugh.

“What tricks have you been playing? You will never be able to return to the waiting room until you pass the 10th floor, right?”

“Ah, that’s for people who are new to dungeons. If you’re like me, there’s a way.”

Andrea decided to be bold. I didn’t break any major rules, I just took advantage of some flaws. There was no need to act like I was wrong.

Arpan, on the other hand, was dying of wonder how this had happened.

“This is an important issue. If the challenger could return to the waiting room at any time, the design of this dungeon would be completely ruined. Please tell me how you did it.”

“Ah, of course I have to tell you. Oh, but let’s take a break and talk. I had a hard time catching the slime, so my socks hurt.”

Andrea lies down on the stone floor. Arpan was fed up with his sly attitude, but he couldn’t help but stomped his feet.

The guide cannot harm the competitor. Unless the challenger first harms the usher. It was one of the important rules that formed the basis of the dungeon.

“Ah, I wish I had something like a kettle. My mouth is a bit bored.”

Perhaps because it wasn’t implemented in the system, I didn’t feel hungry anymore when I entered the dungeon. But human habits are scary. The habit of eating food for several decades was not something that could be easily abandoned.

Arpan reluctantly grinded his teeth and slammed the cage on the floor. Green stalks grew from the cracks in the floor, and soon, delicious strawberries formed in clusters.

“No, anything like that. I didn’t mean to bring it.”

“What do you want, tell me?”

It wasn’t just a day or two of being a guide. Arfan immediately noticed that Andrea wanted to negotiate something.

“yes? What are you talking about? Does it sound like I’m just asking for something and not telling you?”

Saying that, Andrea picked a strawberry and munched on it. It looked like he was having fun teasing Arpan. Arpan threw down the iron cage and tore off the sheep’s horns.

“Please! I don’t want other challengers to find out and abuse that method!”

Andrea smiled in satisfaction at the reaction, which was much more dynamic than he had hoped.

“Well, I don’t want too much. Of course, you should only take what you can receive. When I start my journey in the waiting room, you give me a blessing, right? Once you get that, I’ll tell you how to get back here and leave again.”

“Yes? Isn’t Andrea already blessed?”

“Oh, was it? Then I’ll take it one more time, well.”

The hideous blue eyes looked straight at Andrea as if they were about to pierce them. If it was her first visit to the dungeon, she would have been terrified, but Andrea, knowing that she could not harm her, remained calm.

In the game, if you use the glitch to return to the waiting room, you can receive another blessing from Arpan. Of course, it cannot be repeated infinitely. This glitch was blocked if you went on a journey with two blessings.

Since it was an NPC who only spit out certain words in the game, they treated her as if they were seeing her for the first time and gave them blessings, but the reality was different. Well, Andrea was determined to get what she wanted.

Arpan lowered his voice and spoke as if threatening.

“It wouldn’t be nice to abuse my favor in this way.”

“favor? Did you say a favor just now?”

I shouldn’t have been pushed into a fight. Andrea thought it was time to go strong in order to negotiate smoothly.

“You bastard, the favor is to return me to my original body right away and send me back to the world I originally lived in. Is it a favor to make a dog-like character like this and turn a bearded man into a card?”

Turning Marco into a card was Andrea’s first request, but Arfan had no time to argue with that. After all, Andrea must have started on the worst terms of all the challengers.

It was Arpan who gave hints that Jung-hyeon knew something about what had happened, but Jung-hyeon had to find out the truth about it himself inside the dungeon. Being caught in a pod and being scolded for this didn’t look very good.

Arpan couldn’t answer easily and hesitated, perhaps at a loss for words. Andrea continued without hesitation.

“Of course, it’s not like you planned everything. But it can’t be denied that he knew something and avoided answering. I’m not asking for a lot, am I? One blessing in exchange for one revealing of this world’s flaws. That doesn’t sound like a bad deal.”

“What kind of blessing do you want? Let’s listen.”

“Increases maximum mana by 1 without penalty. Isn’t this enough?”

“That is nonsense!”

The blessing that increases maximum mana does not appear in the options at all, but it appears very rarely and has a strong penalty. The increase in maximum mana is because the number of cards that can be used in the beginning is completely different.

“If you start with a maximum mana of 2, isn’t it the same as the 25th trial not being applied! Are you going to take only the benefits without the hardships of the ordeal?”

In addition, the effect of the 25th trial is that the maximum mana is reduced to 1 at the start. It was not unreasonable for Arpan to run amok.

“Ah, yes. Then there is nothing you can do Let me receive another blessing, well.”

Unexpectedly, however, Andrea quickly gave up the offer. When Arpan gave up too easily, anxiety overtook him.

“Then how about strengthening this card? Isn’t card enhancement a blessing that always appears in options?”

In Andrea’s hand is the ‘Summon Marco’ card. Arpan finally realized Andrea’s intentions.

‘That’s how it was meant to be from the beginning.’

“If I remember correctly, the first enchanting effect of all summon cards was to reduce the cost by 1, right? ‘Summon Marco’ was originally a 2-cost, so oops, coincidentally, it’ll be a 1-cost I can use, right?”

In the world of ‘Dungeons of Infinity’, not only the rank determines the strength of a card. Depending on how well they are strengthened, normal cards can surpass the performance of rare cards and even unique cards.

The effect of reinforcement was one of two things. Better performance, or lower cost.

Of course, the priority was definitely the card that could lower the cost first. This is because even if the performance of a card is strengthened, it is rarely twice as strong.

On top of that, Andrea’s max mana is currently 1. Needless to say how important it is to lower the cost.

Although he was in trouble, Arpan had no choice but to accept the proposal. As Andrea said, strengthening a card was an option that always appeared well among blessings. Compared to raising the maximum mana, it wasn’t a big deal against fairness.

When Arpan hit the floor with the iron rod, the tiles shattered and a water fountain rose from the floor. It was a fountain where holy water flowed.

Drinking this holy water restores physical strength, and immersing a card strengthens it. It was a fountain that could only be used once per fountain, so it was always forced to choose one or the other.

“As you already know, just dip the card in holy water.”

Andrea dipped the ‘Summon Marco’ in holy water as instructed. Brilliant light enveloped the card, and all the water evaporated, creating a weak shockwave.

‘[Normal] Summon Marco + (1 cost): Summons Marco, a slave from Helios.’

Andrea grinned and snatched the card that floated in the air. This was a card that was more useful than most rare cards and had good value for money.

‘great. As long as I follow the draw luck, I don’t have to worry until the 10th floor.’

“Now that I have blessed you, please keep your promise. How the hell were you able to come back to the waiting room?”

Andrea kindly showed her movements and explained how to return to Arpan. When he found out that it was a method that could only be used on the first floor, Arpan’s expression became lethargic.

“There was no way you could come to the waiting room from any floor.”

“Yeah, you never said that?”

It was because he had guessed, but Arpan couldn’t erase the feeling that he had been tricked. Andrea was eager to tease him more, but stopped. Now that the deal was over, further abuse was futile.

“Now, will you open the passage? I couldn’t even get a reward on the first floor and came in a hurry.”

“… Instead, we will remove the [Beginner’s Luck] buff. Andrea-sama is not a beginner by any means.”

“Ah, is that so?”

It was the kind of petty revenge that Arpan could have. Andrea didn’t care too much.

After knocking on the wall with an iron bar, the passage to the dungeon opened again. Andrea walked down the aisle with a deliberately cheerful stride. I felt Arpan’s complex gaze toward the back of my head.

Before the wall closed, Andrea looked at Arpan and waved his hand with a refreshing smile.

“See you again, Arpan! If I find another flaw, I’ll let you know!”

The goat-headed guide had no choice but to frown while holding back his anger.

*

Things worked out just as planned. Andrea walked through the aisle with a grin. The first floor, where slime slime protruded in a mess, also looked pleasant.

Anyone who has enjoyed ‘Dungeons of Infinity’ for a long time has something to sympathize with. It is bullsh*t to say that well begun is half done. In dungeons, it is not uncommon for a character to die after stepping on a trap incorrectly, even after receiving a unique card with Arpan’s blessing.

But Andrea is an exception. Andrea had a high chance of dying on the lower floors, so getting a good first nose job was more important than anything else. Wouldn’t it be possible to go to the finals only after passing the preliminaries?

It was a very good start in that respect. Even if you use the glitch, there are many cases where you only receive a beggarly blessing twice, but you only pick and receive the two times with the essentials.

‘I shouldn’t be vigilant, but I can’t help but feel good.’

Forgetting the fact that he became a trash character and looking at his excitement at a trivial luck, he was also a deceased person in this game.

After passing through the door, a narrow passage appeared with a lower ceiling than before. I had to bend slightly, but fortunately the aisle was not long. A wood-framed treasure chest was placed in front of the stairs leading down to the second floor. It was the reward for this battle.

Andrea didn’t expect much. There were a lot of things we needed, but expecting them here was overkill. There is no ‘beginner’s luck’, and it’s only a first-floor reward. It’s probably just a normal card and a bit of gold.

Opening the box revealed the reward. The reward didn’t disappoint. 20 gold and a normal gear card.

However, there was no sign of disappointment on Andrea’s face. On the contrary, he seemed to like the reward quite a bit. An equipment card was one of the things he needed. Andrea summoned it immediately by pressing the normal equipment card.

‘Ah, indeed. It was really empty.’

＜ 3. Enter the Dungeon (4) ＞ End