Episode 67
067. Open or Destroy
Iron Walker grabbed the scruff of the little shadow creature’s neck in Geumson’s stead. The little shadow dangled from Iron Walker as if suspended. It seemed to be saying something to Geumson in that state, but the words didn’t reach his ears.
Flip-flip—
Geumson tried turning the pages of the book.
However.
‘Blank pages? There’s no content at all?’
A strange book with nothing written on it. Just a weird book densely packed with nothing but blank pages. Then, a message appeared.
[User not permitted.]
[Item requires usage authorization.]
[Cannot be read.]
Seeing the message, Golden hands eyes gleamed.
‘Usage authorization? Then… it’s certain someone made this.’
There was no way the little shadow creature before him could have made such a ‘Flawless’ item. Items of Flawless quality were a realm not even golden-handed past masters could achieve.
“What are you?”
golden hand, holding the book, fixed his gaze on the little shadow. The book was one thing, but this little shadow also didn’t make sense.
‘It’s clearly not a monster… so how did it get inside the dungeon?’
He remembered the message content. It was definitely the first discovery. He had even received the reward clearly, yet another being was inside. This shouldn’t be possible.
‘Did it follow me in later? That can’t be right…’
golden hand didn’t consider that the little shadow might be the one who summoned the ‘Forgotten Ancient Giant King’ and attempted the ‘intervention.’ Frankly, it just looked far too weak.
“Eek! You lowly human… Ack! Let go! Let me go!”
The little shadow protested roughly, letting out a shriek. As it did, its form seemed to grow slightly fainter. In that moment, a sinister energy emanated from the shadow’s body, trying to bore into Geumson’s mind. Simultaneously, a message appeared.
[Divinity clears your mind.]
[golden hand Silver Helmet clears your mind.]
[You resist mental attacks due to the influence of the ‘Darkness’ attribute.]
[You resist the status ailment ‘Confusion.’]
It seemed the little shadow had tried to subtly shake his mind. An attack that would likely have worked before. But ever since Tia shared the ‘Darkness’ attribute, it was just laughable.
“You think a trick like that will work?”
“Tee-teeeet! Taek!”
Tia, also seeming angry, was about to activate her ‘Peck’ skill toward the little shadow when the book in Geumson’s hand seemed to catch her eye.
“Tee? Ti-ti- Tee-at!”
“Huh? You… want to eat this?”
“Tee-at! Tee-!”
Tia reacted violently, even drooling. golden hand tilted his head at her reaction.
‘I’m sure… she wouldn’t even touch anything below Unique grade, right? This is special, but no message popped up for it…’
It was a special item, but no grade was displayed. Yet Tia’s reaction was unusual. Moreover, the little shadow trembled more and more as Tia approached the book, as if about to have a fit.
“Get that away! Get that abomination away right now! Ugh… No! Surely not… Human? No, right? You’re not going to… give it to that thing, are you? Tell me you’re not! Huh?”
The little shadow’s reaction was almost pleading. In response, Geumson’s hand moved swiftly.
Riiip—
“Eeek! Ah, nooo!”
Ignoring the little shadow’s anguished cry, golden hand decisively tore a single page from the book and offered it to Tia. Without a moment’s hesitation, Tia nimbly took it and ate it.
Munch— munch—
Munch— munch—
Tia chewed it thoroughly. At the same time, a message appeared.
[The Fantastical Elementia ‘Tia’ absorbs the properties of the ‘Tome of Oblivion’.]
[A new attribute, ‘Light’, blossoms within Tia.]
[Light attribute increases by 15%.]
[Possessed Attributes]
– [Flame: 31%], [Light: 15%], [Darkness: 1.5%]
[Attribute: Light]
– Effect 1: Can pierce through ‘Truth’ to perceive hidden weaknesses or false illusions.
– Effect 2: Can release the power of Light to cleanse harmful effects from allies or nullify enhancement effects on enemies.
‘Light? Light? And… 15%!’
golden hand jaw dropped at the message. It was just one page. Merely by tearing out and eating one page, Tia had blossomed the ‘Light’ attribute and, on top of that, gained a whopping 15% increase.
‘A Unique-grade item raised it by 1%… but 15%? And the Light attribute? Is this some kind of holy scripture or something?’
It was utterly unbelievable to golden hand. It wasn’t a ‘Holy Scripture’ that Clerics would die for, yet it contained the ‘Light’ attribute. But before he could finish the thought, Tia’s body began to glow.
“Tee-aat!”
[Under the influence of the ‘Light’ attribute, you perceive false illusions.]
A dazzling light burst from Tia’s body, directed at the little shadow creature. The shadow covering the little creature began to peel away. The partially revealed face was that of a child-like boy. However, a single dainty horn protruded proudly from his forehead.
“Eek! Ah, no! My master will scold me! You bad human! I’ll get my revenge!”
It was unclear if he was upset about the torn book or his revealed face. Seeing tears welling up in those large eyes made Geumson feel a twinge of guilt—but just for a moment.
Riiip—!
Tap-tak—!
The creature tore the scruff of its clothes from Iron Walker’s grip and lunged at golden hand.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
golden hand moved swiftly, but strangely, the ‘Tome of Oblivion’ was now in the creature’s hand.
‘When did he…?’
The ‘Tome of Oblivion’ had been taken without him even feeling it slip from his grasp. Holding it, the half-revealed little shadow spoke.
“Hmph! Greedy human! If, if you eat too much, you’ll get a stomach ache! Why don’t you know that!”
The little shadow was saying strange things. It was unclear who he was saying would get a stomach ache, but the little one pulled a small, blue-glowing stone from his pocket.
“If you’re too greedy alone, the hourglass’s time will accelerate! You’ll see! You’ll definitely regret it! Hmph!”
Crack—
The little shadow threw the small stone he’d taken from his pocket onto the floor.
Fwoosh—
With a blinding flash of light, the shadow’s form vanished into thin air. Geumson stared blankly at the spot where it had disappeared. Checking the system map again, the gray dot was gone without a trace.
‘An NPC using a Return Stone? Is it really an NPC? And… time will accelerate?’
The Giant King and the little shadow. Two completely different beings had left behind incomprehensible words. golden hand let out a hollow laugh.
“This is driving me crazy. Anyway, it means there are beings in 《Lepion》 who know something, right?”
In his past life. Back then, he knew nothing, merely accepting the changing reality. And when the era of destruction arrived, he thought it must be fate and accepted the ruin. 《Lepione》 was 《Lepione》, but humanity at that time, in its opposition, was also self-serving.
So, he thought the destruction was inevitable. But within 《Lepione》, it seemed he might be able to learn the reason.
The vast world of 《Lepione》. Previously, all players were so busy leveling up that they couldn’t explore 《Lepyon》’s world. But this time would be different.
‘I’ll have to search. There’s definitely something.’
Having set a new goal, golden hand slowly approached the dungeon core and swung his hammer.
Vooom—
Crack—
The dungeon core shattered feebly. As it broke, messages appeared.
[You have conquered the ‘Forgotten City of Giants’.]
[Calculating contribution for the conquest of the ‘Forgotten City of Giants’.]
[…]
[MVP: golden hand (100%)]
[You have single-handedly conquered a dungeon with a recommended party size of 5 and recommended level 50 or above.]
[The system salutes you for achieving a feat bordering on the impossible.]
[A solo play privilege is granted.]
[You have acquired the hidden skill ‘Giant’s Might’!]
[Giant’s Might Lv. 1] [Hidden]
[Active Skill]
– Description: A secret technique that temporarily summons the primordial might of the ancient giants into your body. Upon use, you gain earth-shaking destructive power.
– Effects:
1. Strength and Stamina stats increase by 100%.
2. All attacks gain a Knockback effect, and you become immune to all knockback effects.
[You have acquired the title, ‘Lone Conqueror’.]
– Description: You alone have conquered the city of giants. Before your name, any army is meaningless.
– Effect 1: When not in a party (solo play), all stats increase by 10%.
– Effect 2: When not in a party (solo play), experience gain and item drop rate increase by an additional 20%.
– Effect 3: The ‘Endurance’ stat is unlocked, and you receive a +40 bonus to it.**
[…]
At the end of the messages, a choice was given.
[Will you ‘Open’ the Forgotten City of Giants? Or will you ‘Destroy’ it?]
‘Open and Destroy…’
This was a first for golden hand too. Conquering a dungeon alone, that is. It was different from the Cogwheel Dungeon he conquered before. That was a kind of artificial dungeon for testing. But the ‘Forgotten City of Giants’ was a genuine, different-caliber dungeon. Even across his past life, Geumson had never experienced this.
‘I knew about Opening… but was there a Destroy option too?’
He hadn’t known this. During the era of destruction, few players had ever conquered a dungeon, so he didn’t know about this kind of choice. He had only heard that you could open it; he had never heard anything about destroying it.
‘If you wanted to hide what you gained… there must have been guys who chose Destroy too.’
He could guess why this choice wasn’t widely known. However, golden hand didn’t need to ponder.
“I’ll open it.”
