Episode 177

5.

Most people think that from Epic rank upward, no party should ever set foot in those dungeons unless they have a solid composition and proper gear.

They believe that the pressure of facing monsters of a similar level and strength, all granted penalty buffs just because they "spawned with an Epic spoon in their mouths," is not something that ends with the monsters just feeling "a bit stronger."

When you're already busy enough trying to figure out how to survive against a horde of monsters that only want to kill you, having to factor in dungeon-wide penalties and spend a long time inside is an enormous source of stress.

In particular, unlike clear conditions, most penalties cannot be "broken" or bypassed.

Unlike the Normal-rank dungeons people had grown used to clearing, these dungeons applied their own built-in nerfs to the players, which meant that for ordinary players, walking into them was like voluntarily choosing Hard Mode.

Of course, the rewards were more than worth it, and there was no shortage of people willing to take on the challenge, but the vast majority of regular players had thought, felt, experienced, and feared them that way.

Conversely, that meant that for players who regularly entered Epic and higher dungeons and targeted only those dungeons, things could look very different.

—Penalties can be overcome with items.

This was the secret that countless rankers gave when asked how to clear high-rank dungeons.

It was hardly even a "secret."

It was the most obvious thing in the world.

Among the countless questions top rankers received—rankers who would never reveal their real tricks even for hundreds of millions or billions—this was the one answer they could give without a moment's hesitation.

—Monster stat-boost penalties are basically the easiest kind; you can treat them as a kind of "bonus." Time-attack limits are practically nothing, too. The really nasty ones are penalties that chain together and create synergy, or penalties that trigger under special conditions. But surprisingly, as long as you know those conditions, you can prepare items in advance and counter them.

It was a very simple yet absolutely solid logic that shattered conventional wisdom.

However, it had already been six years since people started saying this.

Even now, most players who did this for a living still felt uneasy about Epic dungeons—no, even Rare-rank dungeons.

"Easy for them to say. Spend money to make money? Where are we supposed to get that kind of cash?"

"It's already annoying enough that every time we level up, the clear conditions get tougher. And on top of that, penalties? Now we're supposed to buy items just to counter dungeon penalties? Are you trying to sell me something?"

It couldn't be helped.

It was a tip that only applied to a tiny minority, far too small a group for most people to relate to.

Even in games, most players lug around the cheapest potions they can find just to save a few coins.

For people who run dungeons just to make a living, telling them to buy at least one penalty-countering item for every single dungeon they enter was like talking about another world.

It had been the same for Kim Buja.

"Status immunity, at least, is worth buying."

He was someone who only ran Epic and higher dungeons, and even without bothering with such "hassles," he had had no real trouble clearing even Legendary dungeons…

But now that he had experienced firsthand how easily a dungeon could be cleared this way, he couldn't help but feel tempted.

After he took down Beneila, there were practically no obstacles left between him and the nightmare legions charging at him.

"The curse… well, my stats are so over the top that it doesn't really matter. I knocked out one of the clear conditions, so they should be five percent weaker. Beneila is dead, so who cares if she evolves or not."

Five penalties.

On paper, they were so organically linked that it was hard to even imagine how to tackle them.

In practice, however, once he broke just one of them, it was hard to find a more lopsided, unbalanced set of penalties.

This was the kind of situation that made it obvious why, if you had the specs, you should always go for the highest-ranked dungeon you could.

There was only one real requirement.

"After class advantage, gear advantage really is king."

He felt that truth in his bones all over again.

At the same time, his urge to collect more items flared up once more.

* * *

Life's jackpots always explode in the most unexpected places.

After four days of slaughtering the thousand-strong nightmare legion, Kim Buja stepped into Beneila's chamber—the one he had seen in the nightmare.

What he saw was, as expected, the lord's throne in the distance, and on it, a single small toy.

"What the hell?"

It had taken longer than he had expected.

Compared to the thirty days he had planned for, he had finished early, but considering that he had thought the clear was effectively over the moment Beneila died, it had still taken quite a bit of time.

Of course, that was only natural, given how many nightmare legions he had had to fight.

Now, only one clear condition remained: the destruction of the Castle of Nightmares.

How was he supposed to destroy this massive fortress?

He had been thinking about buying a pile of demolition bombs from the Gold Shop, and while he was wandering around, wondering if there might be a hidden treasure vault somewhere, his eyes had landed on the toy.

A toy sitting where Beneila should have been, out of nowhere.

It gave off a bad vibe from the start.

He sprinted toward it.

Kim Buja's instincts told him: 'It's an item!'

In that instant, he remembered something he had forgotten.

This was a Legendary-rank dungeon, and in Legendary dungeons, if you were lucky, you could get Special or even Legendary items.

"Please!"

His desperate plea was rewarded with light.

[Castle of Nightmares]

▶ Rank: Legendary

▶ Usage Restriction: Lord of Nightmares

"Huh?"

But the light was all it had going for it.

It was indeed a Legendary-rank item.

That was all.

He didn't even care what options it had or how it could be used.

He understood the moment he saw it.

"Ha."

For Beneila, and for the countless demons who challenged her throne, this seat and the Castle of Nightmares upon it might have been a treasure worth staking their entire lives on.

He couldn't say for sure, but it was probably some kind of controller that let the player manipulate the massive castle or conveniently carry it around and move the fortress itself.

For the Lord of the Castle of Nightmares, it was more valuable than any other Legendary item.

For Kim Buja, it was not.

He wasn't planning to live in this dungeon for a hundred or a thousand years. He was in a situation where he needed to get out as fast as possible, down to the last second, to set a record.

To do that, he had to fulfill the last remaining clear condition, which was to destroy the Castle of Nightmares right in front of him.

For someone who had been racking his brain over how to destroy this colossal fortress, it was like rain in a drought, but the excitement that had driven him to sprint over cooled in disappointment.

"Figures."

Of course he still hoped for good drops, even as someone already decked out in Legendary gear.

The instincts from his days as a hardcore professional gamer were still there. He wanted every last item, every last coin he could squeeze out.

Even so, he had learned not to show it, because he was desperate enough to understand something else.

They didn't drop.

And even when they did, it was rare for something you actually needed to drop like this.

Up to now, he had just been absurdly lucky.

If he thought back on everything he had gotten so far, it would not be an exaggeration to say he had already used up a lifetime's worth of luck.

With a sigh, he hurled the "Castle of Nightmares" to the floor and smashed it.

There was nothing about being Legendary that made it hard to break.

[You have fulfilled ☆☆☆.]

[The dungeon has been cleared.]

Aside from the disappointment, there was nothing to complain about.

He had gotten more than enough high-quality footage, and there was no shortage of people who wanted this kind of themed dungeon, especially one with a succubus boss.

After clearing the dungeon and thinking he might poke around for any remaining treasure vaults before leaving, something glittering among the shattered fragments caught Kim Buja's eye.

"What is that?"

He picked it up without thinking.

"Whoa!"

The moment he checked what it was, he dropped it.

A bracelet set with a gemstone no bigger than his pinky nail.

This was the dungeon's real reward.

6.

After leaving the dungeon, Kim Buja stared blankly up at the sky.

A hazy sky.

Just looking at it, it was hard to tell whether this was hell or reality; that was how ruined Earth had become.

Of course, he wasn't looking up out of anger or emptiness over the destroyed world.

He was selfish enough to think that as long as things held together until the day he died, that was all that mattered, so he didn't particularly care.

What mattered was the brand-new bracelet currently on his wrist.

The Special bracelet that had helped him kill Beneila had been discarded in an instant.

The reason was simple.

"Good work out there."

"It dropped."

"Sorry?"

"It dropped."

"What did?"

As she looked at him with a puzzled expression, he casually lifted his arm.

"No way."

Seeing it, Seora's eyes went wide.

"Special?"

She looked like she couldn't believe it.

There were plenty of Special and higher-rank items in circulation that had dropped from dungeons, but actually seeing someone you knew get one was like trying to pluck a star from the sky.

There weren't many people who could even enter dungeons of that rank, and on top of that, the drop rates were brutally low.

"Congratulations!"

So she could congratulate him sincerely.

No matter how much money you had, that was a separate issue from getting a lucky drop.

When she offered her congratulations, Kim Buja shook his head firmly.

Congratulations were fine when they were due, but corrections were also necessary.

"No."

"No?"

"Yeah. It's not Special."

Seora was struck silent.

Her shocked expression quickly morphed into one of utter disbelief.

Then she shook her head.

"No way. You're messing with me."

"I'm serious."

For her sake, he willingly held out his arm so she could check.

Seora carefully touched the bracelet and brought up its options.

[Bracelet of Nightmares]

▶ Rank: Legendary

▶ Magic +80

▶ When worn inside the "Castle of Nightmares," allows use of "(★★★★) Nightmare."

▶ When worn outside the "Castle of Nightmares," grants immunity to (★★★★) status ailments.

▷ A bracelet crafted from the heart of the succubus queen Beneila, Lord of Nightmares. It can turn the Castle of Nightmares into a "nightmare."

She fell silent.

Her dazed gaze, tinged with envy, turned to Kim Buja.

Even as his girlfriend, as a fellow player, she couldn't help but be jealous in a situation like this.

This wasn't about whether to congratulate him or not. This was pure luck.

She wasn't resentful, just stunned, wondering if something like this could really happen.

Then, at last, she broke into a bright smile and threw her arms around him.

"Congratulations!"

"Feels like you're a beat late, but I'm sure I'm imagining it."

"Of course you are!"

Immunity to status ailments of 4-star and below.

The fact that he could force a 4-star status ailment—specifically, the nightmare he had personally experienced—on an opponent when wearing it inside the "Castle of Nightmares" was certainly appealing as well.

However, that was a condition he would never be able to fulfill again anyway, and the immunity felt far more attractive.

At the same time, he let out a breath of relief.

'If it had been 4-star status ailments, I would have been in real trouble.'

Maybe it was because this was a 3-star Legendary dungeon.

Or maybe it was because this was an item you could only get by destroying the Castle of Nightmares.

Whatever the case, Kim Buja had cleared the dungeon, obtained yet another Legendary item, and safely set a new record under the watchful eyes of countless viewers.

"Five days flat. Took a bit longer than I wanted."

Not long after, word came that Fly had also emerged from the dungeon.

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