The Game Difficulty
Is Insane
Kuuuuuuu—
Thunderous roars echoed from all directions as gigantic skeletons over four meters tall charged forward.
Then, a single pure-white flash pierced straight through the giant skeleton rushing from the front.
Opening a path through the tightening encirclement, Glen flicked his gaze backward.
Romina kicked off the ground and immediately followed the opening Glen created.
Kuuuuuuu—
Even so, new skeletons had already blocked the path ahead.
“Romina!”
“I know!”
At Glen’s command, Romina gathered the demonic energy she had been controlling at her fingertips.
As she raised her index finger toward the front, densely packed particles of demonic energy formed a wedge shape and shot forward.
Kwaaaaaaang—!
The legs of the giant skeletons blocking the front shattered, and they soon lost their balance and staggered.
“Nice!”
With Glen’s short praise, the two of them threw themselves between the staggering giant skeletons.
The path opened again, and they ran at full speed, escaping dozens of giant skeletons chasing after them.
“Ghk… there are too many of them!”
“No need to worry. Just a little farther and we’ll reach the end.”
“Isn’t the problem what comes after that?”
“Still, it should be manageable.”
“That doesn’t sound like you. You don’t seem confident.”
Ignoring Romina’s worried look, Glen glanced at the system message written in his vision.
Then he smiled grimly.
“Confidence, huh… At the very least, I can guarantee that neither you nor I will be in danger of dying here.”
《Tomb of Saint Ridenhall》
《Quest Grade》 : C → B
《Objective》
: Saint Ridenhall, once showered with humanity’s love and attention. Find his tomb and uncover the truth behind his sudden disappearance over a hundred years ago.
《Progress》
: Discovered the entrance leading to Ridenhall’s Tomb within Saint Ridenhall Garden.
: Overcame all trials of the Tomb of Saint Ridenhall and reached the endpoint.
: Discovered a hidden passage at the dungeon’s endpoint and arrived at the entrance to the chamber where Saint Ridenhall’s remains are enshrined. (Grade Increase)
《Rewards》
: Grade-4 Stone of Experience
: Stat Experience Increase (B)
《Reward Adjustment Points》 : 4 / 10 Pt
The quest grade rose from C to B.
The updated quest progress.
The increased reward adjustment points.
All of it had been updated as they passed through the hidden passage beneath the party dungeon, the Tomb of Saint Ridenhall.
And considering that the quest grade was now B, it meant the current difficulty was not dangerous enough to threaten Glen’s life.
‘Quest grades are assigned based on me, the authority holder.’
Before Glen came to Istirenne—
The quest to uncover the truth of Honello Village, which had cooperated with the Black Church, rose from C to B when he encountered the Black Church’s prophet, Beveluga.
Then, when the prophet Chell intervened through Lunatic difficulty, the grade rose from B to A.
A B-grade situation including the battle with Beveluga was something Glen could clear with his own strength.
But the A-grade situation that included Chell was pushing it a bit too far.
So as long as the quest grade didn’t rise to A, there shouldn’t be any major problems.
‘As long as it doesn’t go up to A.’
While organizing his thoughts in spare moments, Glen finally shook off the pursuing giant skeletons and reached the end of the passage.
Dozens of steps at the endpoint, and above them, a massive door made of bone.
The moment he stepped in front of it, the skeletons chasing them suddenly turned around, stopped their pursuit, and retreated.
“Hoo… Looks like it’s over.”
“Good work.”
“You too. By the way…”
Romina brushed back her slightly messy bangs and let out a rough breath.
“It feels like it’s progressing the same way as when we first came here. Just a lot harder.”
Hundreds of skeletons at just under 3-star level swarming from all directions, then reaching the endpoint.
It was a kind of tutorial section meant to convey the dungeon’s atmosphere and basic monster types.
And aside from the fact that the swarming skeletons had been replaced by Belphag’s Tomb Guardian—a 6-star monster weakened to around 4-star—the trial Glen and Romina had just passed was similar to that.
In other words, only the difficulty had increased. The method itself was not much different.
“Then the trials coming up next will probably be similar too. There should be three of them.”
Simply put, where Glen and Romina stood now was like an enhanced version of the party dungeon—Tomb of Saint Ridenhall (Hard).
“Then does that mean we’ll be given the same three trials as before?”
“I’m not sure. Either three of the original trials included in this dungeon, or the exact same three we already cleared.”
“Hm. I don’t really want unfamiliar trials.”
Romina bit her thumbnail.
Then she turned her head at the gloomy gaze pouring in from the side.
“…W-what? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Romina. I wasn’t planning to go this far, but… I think I need to use my trump card.”
“T-trump card? Wait, you—”
Sensing the ominous atmosphere, Romina slowly stepped backward.
And the moment she saw Glen pulling paper and a quill from his inventory, she foresaw the misfortune about to befall her.
“Honestly, I’m already well past 7-star level, but you aren’t, right? So at least for this dungeon, shouldn’t you know it as well as I do?”
“I-I mean, that makes sense, but… don’t tell me you’re doing that here?”
Instead of answering, Glen dipped the quill in ink and began rapidly filling the paper with elaborate writing.
『Strategy Guide: Everything About the Party Dungeon, Tomb of Saint Ridenhall』
The moment she read the title she had hoped she was wrong about, Romina swallowed hard.
Chajajjajajak—
Even while reinforcing his body with holy power, Glen continued pouring out text.
Fear slowly crept into Romina’s amber eyes.
A silent cavern.
With Einheria—now his beloved sword—resting on his shoulder, Glen idly kicked dirt on the ground.
In his left hand was a metal staff with a transparent gem embedded in it: the Scepter.
“Guess there’s a reason you’re a candidate for the next Demon King. You really are insanely capable.”
Before coming here, Glen had written down every dungeon strategy on a single sheet of paper and made Romina memorize it.
And within just one hour, Romina had reached the point where she could recite every densely written strategy with her eyes closed.
Regardless of that, the first trial assigned to them was the same as before—the first trial they had already overcome: Black Bone Hunt.
‘Looks like the trials are the same too.’
It could be coincidence, but if this continued, the second and third trials might also be identical.
“Still, something feels off.”
Black Bone Hunt was a trial where they had to capture black skeletons fleeing around the dungeon within a time limit.
Glen, acting as the capturer, waited for Romina—the driver—to send the black skeletons his way.
But since the overall dungeon difficulty had increased, it seemed to be taking longer than before.
‘I just hope she doesn’t fail.’
Quest grade B.
With Romina assisting, Glen could clear it somehow—but for Romina alone, it might be a bit much, which worried him.
Drrrrrrk—
That worry turned out to be unnecessary.
The corner of Glen’s lips lifted.
From somewhere in the cavern came the suspicious sound of a mechanical device operating.
It was the sound signaling that Romina was properly fulfilling her role as the driver.
“I sent it your way!”
Clatter—clack—
Romina’s shout echoed from above.
Then came the sound of bones colliding.
Glen tightened his grip on Einheria.
The next moment, a pitch-black mass fell from above into the chimney-like space in front of him.
The collapsed black bones reassembled, becoming a single black skeleton.
The only difference from before was that the red glow in its eye sockets had turned pure white.
“Catch it right away!”
