Infinite Competitive Dungeon Society

“Lin?”

“I know what you want to say, but that’s a misunderstanding.”

Lin threw the remaining bracelet at me and took out a cigarette. Even though he didn’t do anything, his cigarette lit up. Without being surprised, I received Daisy’s bracelet and also appraised it. Just like mine, it was full of question marks.

“Those are masterpieces I created with all my strength. There won’t be anything like them ever again.”

Lin puffed a smoke as he stared at me. I shrugged.

“I know. After all, Lin’s been working on them for two months. But why can’t I see their information?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s because the Lord can’t see through them.”

It felt like someone smacked me on the head. Lin was smirking.

“The Dungeon Lord isn’t omnipotent or omniscient. She can measure rewards she gives out, but these are equipment I made with my own power. If the Lord could read them so easily, my pride would be hurt.”

“So you didn’t give your all for the equipment you made for me so far?”

“Come on... I just didn’t have enough time. I could only do it this time because I was stuck here for my punishment. Also...”

He continued after a bit of hesitation.

“Items don’t become unknown just by having good effects. Those bracelets might surpass the Legend grade, but if you ask whether they’re on the level of Divine grade... Then I can only shake my head.”

“So like Enigma, yet not absolute.”

“Exactly.”

I grinned. It seemed these items were similar to Enigma, the mana I could wield when I used Overlord. Objects that surpassed the dungeon’s influence. They were objects created to resist the worlds’ enemies.

“So? What do they do?”

“I don’t know exactly.”

“This Draconian...”

“Hey, quantifying and qualifying an object’s ability isn’t easy! How am I supposed to see through something that even the Lord can’t? Huu...”

Lin dodged my gaze and puffed another smoke. I would have pulled his hair out if I could. Did Lin feel my bloodlust? Or did he feel sorry to not say anything? Regardless, he let out a dry cough and gave an explanation.

“At the very least, they aren’t cursed. Yours even has dragon’s blessing. The experience I gained from fighting the Book Walkers was used to make it. If you fight them again, as long as that bracelet is protecting you, they won’t be able to write about you. Not even a world’s enemy can nullify that bracelet, so it’ll work against anyone.”

“Anyone?”

“Anyone.”

I decided to trust Lin’s words. After all, Lin, the great blacksmith, took two months to work on them.

I put the bracelet on my left wrist as Pure Black Desire was already on my right wrist. Immediately after I put it on, I felt my senses change.

How do I explain this? It was almost like my senses got sharper. Right, it was as my sensory organs doubled. Eyes, nose, mouth, ears. The four organs perceiving outside information all became heightened. To be honest, I experienced this feeling whenever my levels and stats rose, but it was just too extreme this time. For a moment, I felt so dizzy that I had to stop to catch my breath.

“Oh, looks like it’s working. I haven’t tried them because you can’t take them off once you wear them.”

“It’s... like you said.”

I raised my left arm. The bracelet shrunk to fit my wrist and gripped my arm like it was a part of it. Although it shouldn’t be stuck, it really didn’t budge. After a while, I finally got used to the change, but a new twisting pain struck my insides.

“Lin...!?”

“I imitated the way Lord raised your league. Don’t glare at me like that. I didn’t know how to do it, so I had to use a little bit of draconic power. A lot, actually... I scraped a dragon’s body clean, too.”

Lin flicked his cigarette and fell in thought. Then, he snapped his fingers.

“It’s elevating your body to be similar to a dragon’s. If your achievements and league aren’t enough, you’ll die from having your body twisted, but you have more than enough qualification.”

“So this isn’t giving me another ability, but rather...”

“Right! Excluding everything you got from the dungeon, purely based on the achievements you’ve made, it’s using draconic power to adjust your ability to fit the true league you should have. That’s why it’s lacking compared to levels or stats. Mm, now that I think about it, it’s completely different from the method Lord uses. After all, Lord directly bestowed you with league. She’s really something else.”

“This...! Did you know about this, Lin?”

“Of course I did. That’s why I made you an equipment like this.”

At that moment, I finally overcame the extreme pain and stood up. Just like how my external organs were improved, I could feel that my internal organs improved. The flow of blood sped up, my bones got tougher, and my heart and other organs became reinforced.

When I clenched my fists, Lin added a small remark.

“No one will be able to take that away from you. It won’t be as useful as the boundless stats you possess, but it’ll still be useful. After all, it’s purely your power now.”

“Lin!”

I shouted.

“There’s no way you can make something like this with just a dragon’s body. You threw away your own power, didn’t you!?”

“Not too much. The one for that girl only has a fraction of what I put in yours.”

“But why would you go so far?”

“Because it’s the first time I’ve seen someone with the talent to accept a dragon’s power. I was curious.”

“Don’t joke.”

“Because I wanted to give them a good punch.”

Lin spoke quietly. I shut my mouth and stared at him. Now that my body was reforged with draconic power, I could finally see that he had gotten weaker than before. If I used Overlord, I was certain my attacks would reach him. Not too much? How was this ‘not too much’?

Lin raised his slender arms that looked incapable of even lifting up his guns. Feeling like his arms were chained up, my breathing stopped for a moment. I didn’t know if Lin knew how I felt, but he spoke with a rigid voice.

“You do it in my place. Give them a good punch.”

“Lin...”

“I felt something from the Sipua incident. Countless bastards are countlessly screwing with countless worlds, and I’ll continue to get tangled with them. How would you feel if you were me?”

“Like a piece of shit, I guess?”

“Exactly. Who wants to live a piece of shit life? Unfortunately, I can’t leave this place. The only choice I have is to leave everything to someone I can trust.”

I didn’t know how to respond. Should I thank him for trusting in me? Lin grinned at my speechless self and added.

“You got it now? Before you kill them, shout, ‘This is for Lin!’ I’ll ask that grey haired girl if you did or not.”

“Hu, got it. Leave it to me.”

Since I already received it, there was no way to give it back. I answered with a smile and put away Daisy’s bracelet into safety. I wanted to ask her to come with me, so I could give it to her then.

“Now leave.”

“Ah, Lin, one of my friends is an ability user that uses guns.”

“Eh? Like me?”

“Yes.”

Lin took out another cigarette and bit down on it. As he asked with a uncertain voice, I immediately nodded. Then, he smirked.

“Interesting. Bring him to me later. I’ll check him out myself. Be thankful.”

“I thought you’d say that. It won’t take too long.”

For someone who always complained, he never let me down. Tsundere, how cute! I waved my hand in thanks and turned around. Leon, you better thank me!

“Daisy, where are you?”

[Beyond’s 16th floor. Just came in, today.]

I cursed inwardly. Although Daisy was an excellent warrior, she still couldn’t conquer a Beyond floor in a day or two. I couldn’t receive her help this time.

When I didn’t say anything, Daisy asked.

[Do you need my help?]

“No, it’s okay.”

[I’ll, die now. So, wait.]

“It’s fine, really! Don’t die on purpose, please.”

[... Tsundere?]

For a moment, she made me lost for words, but I quickly regained my composure and retorted.

“No. Who even taught you that word?”

[But Kang Shin needs, my help.]

“I don’t... Well, I do, but I’ll be fine by myself.”

[I knew it. Tsundere.]

“I’m really not.”

[Wait 10 minutes.]

“Don’t. Not being able to enter the dungeon for a month is too damaging right now.”

[... Tsk.]

Daisy seemed to understand. Even as she clicked her tongue unhappily, she stopped saying she’d purposely die.

“I’m going on a Dimensional Mercenary mission. Lin gave me the reward he made for you, so I’ll give it to you when I get back.”

[Un.]

She answered quietly, then asked a question.

[Where are you going?]

“You won’t follow me, right?”

[I’ll rush Beyond and go.]

“I’ll just accept your thoughts.”

[Tsk.]

After talking with her, I opened the guild communication channel and told them I’d come back after a Dimensional Mercenary mission. Hwaya was upset, but she knew she had to stay by Ciara’s side right now.

Since I was done with all the business I had to take care of, it was now time to go find Eleine again. Before that, however, I contacted Ellos. Since the Hero of his world went missing, I wanted to check up on his safety. Thankfully, he replied as soon as he received my message.

[Shin!]

“Hey, Ellos, it’s great that you picked up.”

[If you contacted me, does that mean...?]

“Earth is pretty calm right now.”

Ellos breathed a sigh of relief. His voice was extremely heavy.

[Huu... I’ve been waiting for you. Something troublesome happened to my continent, so I’ve been wanting to get your help.]

“Yeah, I heard from others too. I’ll be there soon, so wait for me.”

With that, I headed back to the pavilion. Loretta was choke-holding Eleine.

“Ugyagyagyagyak!”

“You’re still at it!?”

“They’ve been at it since you left. Do you want some popcorn?”

Lotang, the Dwarf, shoved a bowl full of popcorn towards me. I grabbed a handful and shoved it in my mouth. Then, I plopped down next to him. The rest of Fairy Garden’s members were munching on popcorn and enjoying the scene. These guys were all evil.

After Eleine’s face mysterious turned white, then red, then white, then red, Loretta seemed to have gotten tired of strangling her as she changed to a crossface hold. Eleine’s tone was about to break the Guinness world record. She was tapping on the ground furiously, but unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be a tap-out rule in Fairy Garden’s rulebook.

“Kkkuk, if, you’re, here, stop, her!”

“Oh, Shin-nim!”

Perhaps because she was seen last time, Loretta got up leisurely. Eleine fainted with bubbles foaming from her mouth, but no one paid her any attention.

“We were just discussing our friendship between women. I put in good words for Shin-nim, so she won’t try to flirt with you again!”

“Good words...?”

If what I saw were ‘good words’, Loretta’s ‘lecturing’ just might kill. With that in my mind, I asked Loretta.

“Let’s not talk too much from now, Loretta.”

“O, Oh. Then... U, Uhehe.”

Loretta interpreted my words as she liked and fell into her own imaginary world. I guess that’s another talent of hers...

I waited for Eleine to recover. When she did, I received a piece of paper from her. Loretta was still in her imaginary world, smiling creepily.

“This is the request form? It’s the first time I’ve seen one in paper.”

“It’ll work as a road sign. A part of the Hero’s item is engraved in it, so it’ll tell you where the Hero is.”

“Aha.”

“This time, there’s a total of twenty five people including you. They should all be gathered where you’re heading. There’s just one goal, saving the Hero.”

Eleine spoke with dignity as she fixed her ruined dress. Of course, there was no dignity to be felt.

“It’ll be extremely dangerous. You might even encounter a world’s enemy. I’ll ask one more time. Will you really go?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you!”

She spread her arms out to hug me, then lowered them with a noticeably flinch.

“Good luck! I’ll pray for your victory!”

Just like that, I headed to the Edias continent with Licorice and Lotte. Ah, with Loretta’s blessing too, of course.