The Game Difficulty
Is Insane
Chapter 24
Crushing Momentum
Glen and Romina cut through the wave of skeletons and finally passed through the bone-made door at the end of the corridor.
As soon as they separated from each other, the first trial of the Tomb of Saint Ridenhall began.
Just like the Emerald Bath, the Tomb of Saint Ridenhall grants three trials to challengers who pass the dungeon entrance.
The first trial was Black Bone Hunt.
It was a trial where they had to capture black skeletons running all over the dungeon within a time limit. Since the capture tools were fixed, the party had to split roles between a driver and a capturer.
Thanks to Romina’s performance as the driver, they cleared it easily.
The second trial was Choosing the Tomb.
Among dozens of stone coffins laid across two massive chambers, they had to pick the correct ones one by one.
The riddles hinting at the correct coffins were located in the opposite chamber, making communication important—but this too was cleared without much trouble.
The final third trial, Belphag’s Tomb Guardian, was the same.
They overcame it without any major danger.
Kuuuuung—!
Looking up at the massive skeleton collapsing while scattering white dust, Romina wore a dazed expression.
“…What. Was it easy?”
“Huh? Uh… yeah…”
Since damage was only applied when all party members attacked the same target, having only two party members made it simple.
And since the monster was designed for a 5-star party, its level was only 6-star to begin with.
“So… is it over?”
“Yeah. It’s over.”
“Ah……”
About thirty minutes to clear.
Compared to the Emerald Bath—where they had nearly died multiple times—the Tomb of Saint Ridenhall felt somewhat anticlimactic.
“To be honest, the dungeon itself is easy, but the bigger reason is that our level is way higher than before.”
Back when they challenged the Emerald Bath, Glen was 6-star and Romina was 5-star.
They had taken on a 6-star dungeon with an average power of 5.5 stars, relying only on memorized strategies—so it being hard was natural.
Now, with power exceeding 7 stars, clearing a 5-star dungeon being easy was only logical.
‘And through this dungeon, both our power levels will rise again.’
The main reward from the party dungeon Tomb of Saint Ridenhall was experience.
Rather than increasing simple physical stats like strength, agility, or stamina, it boosted stats related to the source of the challenger’s power.
That meant Glen’s holy power would increase.
And Romina’s demonic power would increase.
‘Though the increase won’t be huge due to the level gap.’
Still, Glen’s holy power stat was only 59—below 5-star—so it would increase by a noticeable amount.
Romina’s demonic power was somewhere between 6 and 7 stars, so hers wouldn’t rise as much.
‘Still, it should be enough to connect the seventh ring.’
Fwooooo—
From the place where Belphag’s Tomb Guardian fell, particles of holy power rose together with white dust.
Soon, the scenery around Glen and Romina began to change.
The reddish-brown bricks turned pure white.
Warm stained glass appeared along the ceiling and walls.
The hollow chamber that had radiated gloom soon transformed into a small, cozy chapel.
It was the signal that the party dungeon Tomb of Saint Ridenhall had been cleared.
‘Good. No unexpected variables like Lunatic this time.’
Glen slowly walked toward the front of the chapel, where the stained-glass light converged.
At the center of that light—
A brilliantly shining jewel rested on a modest shelf.
“So that’s the dungeon reward?”
Romina leaned her head out beside Glen’s shoulder.
Glen nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Ooh… it’s pretty. Do you know its name?”
“No. What matters is that this will lead you and me to the next ring.”
In truth, the jewel did have a name.
Something like Stone of Experience—but that wasn’t important.
“It just looks like an ordinary gem… Anyway, good work.”
Romina patted Glen’s shoulder and whispered near his ear.
“……”
“What’s wrong? You don’t look happy. Something bothering you?”
“Huh? Well…”
Glen rubbed his chin and fell into thought.
‘Something feels off.’
The dungeon was definitely cleared.
And in the most ideal way Glen had planned, without a single variable.
‘Then why is this showing up?’
Glen’s gaze turned toward the air.
Blue light particles formed text there.
《Tomb of Saint Ridenhall Cleared》
《Quest Grade》 : C
《Objective》
: Saint Ridenhall, once loved and revered by humanity, vanished suddenly over a hundred years ago. Find his tomb and uncover the truth behind it.
《Progress》
: Discovered the entrance to Ridenhall’s Tomb within Saint Ridenhall Garden.
: Overcame all trials of the Tomb of Saint Ridenhall and reached the end.
《Rewards》
: Grade-4 Stone of Experience
: Stat Experience Increase (C)
《Reward Adjustment Points》 : 3 / 10 Pt
Glen had cleared the party dungeon Tomb of Saint Ridenhall using the exact method he remembered.
Yet, according to the newly acquired authority—the Lunatic Quest Chart—something wasn’t right.
‘There’s a problem with reward adjustment.’
A strange light flickered in Glen’s eyes.
Reward Adjustment was a new authority included in the Lunatic Quest Chart.
It analyzed the result of quest completion, the method used, and the contribution of the authority holder in detail, then granted points accordingly.
‘But the reward adjustment points are abnormally low.’
He cleared all three trials.
There was no issue with the result or timing.
He followed the dungeon’s intended methods.
And his contribution was clearly greater than Romina’s.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Glen led the entire dungeon.
Yet the reward adjustment points were only 3, not even half.
‘Does that make sense?’
If it were around 7, he could understand the clear being imperfect.
But 3 was far too low.
“Romina.”
“Hm?”
