A Veteran in a Dead Game - Chapter 191



Only Krnovel

191. Ark (1)

“Should I call the honor guard now? I don’t know if they’ll still be in the waiting room.”

With a refreshing smile that suited the early morning, Sarah made a witty remark.

“You’re not upset because no one comes to pick you up, are you?”

“Stop talking nonsense and let’s go.”

The next day, early in the morning. The earth was just beginning to be bathed in sunlight.

Kyle left the Empire with Sera, a member of the Regeneration Society. As Sera joked, no one came to greet him. There was no need for it.

For an imperial legion commander, the procession was simple and shabby, but Kyle didn’t feel bad at all. He preferred this quiet atmosphere. If there had been some kind of ceremony, it would have been awkward.

“But is it really okay if I don’t give a speech? If I sell my face, people will recognize me.”

“It’s just annoying.”

If you go around like a commander, all kinds of troublesome things will follow. Of course, there may be some benefits to it as well.

‘Expectations are low.’

Someday, when the time comes, he may be able to announce his existence. But now is not the time.

‘If the canonization process goes well… then things will be different.

The canonization examination being prepared by Galek Stodiar, the leader of the Storm Paladins. If Kyle is crowned a saint there. And if he is given the title of Legion Commander…

As Galek Stodia had wished. Or, as Mirad Jirel had wished for Parth Shet.

Kyle could be the focal point of humanity, politically or otherwise.

At first, Kyle wanted to conquer the disaster on his own. But who would have thought that journey would lead to this?

‘Whatever, it’s not something to think about right now.’

Kyle and Sarah passed through the ruins without any trouble.

Thus, before the sun had even risen to its full height, the two men had traveled hundreds of kilometers and arrived at their primary destination, a river.

“arrive!”

To be exact, it was a dam blocking the river.

The dam, one of the largest man-made structures ever built by humans, has surprisingly continued to block water for over 100 years.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s fine. The dam itself is still standing tall without collapsing thanks to the reckless pouring and hardening of concrete, but it has already lost its function as a dam.

The area around the dam was a mixture of wetlands and swamps, with many trees and bushes lying haphazardly on the damp ground.

“They said it was stagnant for a long time and then overflowed repeatedly. Some parts of the facility even burst. That’s why it ended up like this.”

Sarah jumped up and climbed onto the top of the dam.

“So, where is the dungeon?”

What is the reason for coming all the way here?

That’s because there’s a dungeon worth conquering on the way to the ark. It’s also a dungeon with a fairly high difficulty level, so I wanted to bring Sera along to quickly conquer it and get over it.

“This way.”

“Let’s go quickly!”

*

The dungeon raid went very smoothly.

Although the difficulty level was quite high, it wasn’t at a level that Sarah and Kyle would have a hard time with.

Notable rewards from clearing the dungeon included three skill tickets, one enhancement ticket, and another item.

Kyle used the skill ticket first.

[Rank 6: Finishing]

This skill increases the damage dealt when attacking an enemy whose health has dropped below half. Since it is a passive skill, you don’t need to worry about it as it will be applied automatically.

[8th grade: Award]

The next skill I acquired was the water meter.

This is a skill that allows you to walk or run on or under water. It is usually a skill that fails. This is because it is rare for battles to take place on the sea, lake, or river.

But this time, it wasn’t an ordinary situation.

The spirit, the tidal wave of the sky has appeared. When you attack the spirit that is flooding the world from the head up, this award will definitely be helpful.

If you have the skill of a water feature, you can use the water stream that the guy extends as a stepping stone to move.

[3rd grade: Immersion]

The third skill was Sinking.

‘Debuff skill.’

By pointing your finger at an enemy within sight, you can lower all of that target’s abilities. According to the game’s description, it’ll give you the feeling of walking underwater.

If a normal person were to be hit with the immersion skill, they would suffer a debuff so severe that they wouldn’t be able to control their body properly.

‘It is not a skill that has an immediate effect on a strong enemy.’

Because the ability value that can be reduced by debuffs is not that high.

However, since you can stack the immersion skill on the same target multiple times as long as the cooldown runs out, it was a meaningful skill. The longer the battle goes on, the more powerful the debuff you can apply.

‘The fact that it always hits the mark is also a good point.’

Since you can apply a debuff simply by pointing with your finger, it also has the advantage of not being dependent on the situation.

[4th Grade: Lightning Chain]

And, the last remaining enhancement ticket. The enhanced skill was the Lightning Chain I had just obtained. This was a very satisfying result.

Lightning Chain itself is a powerful enough skill, and Kyle has enhanced Chain Acrobatics.

If you link the two skills, you will be able to utilize Lightning in a variety of ways.

Kyle felt his newly acquired skill and picked up the last remaining item in the reward box, a palm-sized blade.

It was a fragment of the responder’s blade.

‘That’s it, three.’

Now there are two blades left.

‘I expected that if I was lucky, I would be able to complete the blade in the Empire.’

When opening a dungeon reward box, if you hold a Blade Fragment of the Responder, you have a certain probability of obtaining an additional Blade Fragment.

However, unfortunately, the blade fragments did not appear in the many dungeons conquered by the Empire.

‘There are still many dungeons worth conquering. I guess I’ll have to look forward to the future.’

*

So around noon the next day, Kyle and Sarah were finally able to reach their destination.

In the old days, this was a place that had been a wheat field. Now, over the decades, the landscape had changed into weeds, shrubs, and forests.

“Is this an underground bunker?”

The entrance to the bunker was vaguely visible, covered with fallen leaves and moss. The roots of old trees and weeds surrounded the entrance to the bunker, so it looked like some unknown hole into which the forest was being sucked.

Kyle and Sarah entered through the bunker’s entrance. It was as if they had passed through the boundary between civilization and nature, and a completely different landscape unfolded before them.

A landscape where time seems to have stopped.

The flashlight Sarah held in her hand, or rather the torch eye hanging from the end of a stick like a fishing rod, illuminated the dark underground space.

An underground bunker that has been abandoned for a long time after losing its owner. You can see books strewn across the table, a TV hanging crookedly on the wall, and clothes that are almost worn out.

In one corner was a rusty iron gate, batteries, and bent cans. The floor was covered with a thick layer of dust, and the walls were covered with water and rust. It was damp and had a musty smell.

“This was no ordinary bunker. This was a super luxurious bunker for high-ranking officials in the political and financial world!”

That was certainly the case.

While going down the bunker, which was built with a total of seven underground floors, Kyle could see not only simple living and resting spaces, but also vegetable gardens, power plants, water purification facilities, a gymnasium, and even a movie theater and swimming pool.

If the bunker where Part Schet conducted his research was a one-room apartment, this bunker could be compared to a super luxury hotel.

Even most of those facilities looked pretty good. They may not be fully functional, but they had survived the passage of 100 years and had at least preserved their form.

“It’s too normal. There’s no sign of anyone living there.”

Because the luxurious appearance was preserved as it was, the shabby feeling seemed to be emphasized even more.

“The people who built their nests in this bunker couldn’t last more than a few days.”

“Did a powerful monster appear?”

“It’s not a monster. But something really, really powerful has visited me.”

It wasn’t hard to guess what that something was.

disaster.

Among them, if there is one that deserves to leave the facility so clean-

“…Are you the rider of the plague?”

“Correct answer!”

Sarah laughed sinisterly.

“The plague rider is sealed here at the lowest level.”

One of the five plagues. A very deadly plague itself. A terrible monster that would kill more people and faster than any other plague if not quickly eradicated.

It meant that the plague’s culprit was sealed beneath their feet.

“You said you would hand over control of the Plague Riders to me. Did you bring me here to confirm?”

“Well, just in case. The entrance to the ark is also in this bunker.”

“You’ve made your nest in a pretty dangerous place.”

If the Plague Rider were to awaken, the Regeneration Council would be in a very difficult position. Does that mean they took that risk?

“On the contrary. You can watch the plague riders right in front of your nose.”

At the end of her speech, Sarah stepped onto the stairs leading down to the fourth basement floor.

“stop.”

At that moment, someone invisible spoke.

“There is a reason for what is made into law.”

“You’re Mr. Chester, right? What are you talking about all of a sudden, the law?”

“Password.”

Sarah blinked.

“Uh… It’s been so long since I’ve been back that I can’t remember.”

“Then you can’t pass.”

“You forgot the password because you were fighting with the disaster scum outside! It’s me! Sarah! You know!”

After a moment of silence.

“Go back.”

This was the reply that came back.

“Ugh.”

Sarah opened her mouth wide. Then she looked at Kyle with a look of extreme embarrassment.

“Stop being so stiff and come out!”

Who would have thought that they would come all the way here and be treated so rudely? And it wasn’t Kyle’s fault, it was for some ridiculous reason: the guide forgot the password.

“Mr. Chester! Let’s talk face to face first!”

So far, Sarah has shown herself to be quite adept. She was active in the fight against the dream-eating earthquake, and has also worked with Kyle on several occasions since.

Sarah was a person who knew a lot and was quick-witted.

It was ridiculous to think that Sarah, who had been like that, would make such an absurd mistake. Before entering the ark, it was to the point where I had a ridiculous suspicion that it might be a vain attempt to kill Kyle’s spirit.

“…….”

When Kyle stared at Sarah with that meaning in mind, Sarah’s face immediately turned red. It seemed like being embarrassed wasn’t intentional.

“Actually, the password doesn’t really mean anything…”

“Rules are rules.”

“Ugh, there are guests, please let me in…”

Sarah was chewing her lips and speaking almost pleadingly, but Chester remained firm.

“Follow the rules.”

Chester was a named person, so Kyle knew him.

In the old days, a freelancer who was not affiliated with any guild or government agency.

He was skilled, had clean behavior, and was easy to recruit as a teammate, so he was often recruited as a teammate by Kyle in the game.

In the process, Kyle was able to learn various facts about Chester. Using this, he could possibly make Chester open the way for Kyle.

“Ah! I remembered the password! An article with important meaning!”

“That’s the password from last time.”

Fortunately, there was no need for that.

“Is this it? Your burning house is a genius idiot!”

“Wrong.”

“That, that can’t be true!”

I sighed at Sarah’s shameful behavior, because Chester himself showed up.

“Your house was burning, you’re a genius like a fool. This is the right answer.”

“Ah, but you’re almost right.”

Chester was an old gentleman, neatly dressed in a suit. He even carried a long cane with great style.

It wasn’t what Kyle remembered. In the game, Chester was middle-aged.

“From now on, please try to memorize the password. How can a smart guy like you not be able to memorize even one line of the password? If someone who can do it doesn’t, it’s just laziness.”

“Ugh, nagging.”

“You’ve always shown great passion for things you’re interested in, but you’ve easily let go of things you’re not interested in.”

Sarah tried to ignore Chester’s words. It was an expression telling him to stop nagging.

Chester looked at Sarah disapprovingly, as if he had more to say but was holding back, then shook his head.

“If there were no guests, I would have kicked you out. Welcome back, Sarah.”

“Ahem! Mr. Chester! How have you been?”

“You’re doing okay. You seem to be enjoying life. Well, at your age, anything is enjoyable. When I was-”

When the words started to get long, Sarah waved her hands in horror.

“S-Stop! Guest! It’s rude to make a guest stand! ”

“Hmm. You’re right about something.”

Chester turned to Kyle.

“I am Chester Screen, a member of the Regeneration Society. I welcome you on behalf of the Regeneration Society.”

“I’m adventurer Kyle.”

“I would like to just welcome you and wish you a pleasant stay… but… hmm. The atmosphere is a bit awkward, so I am worried that you might feel uncomfortable.”

Sarah’s eyes widened.

“What is it? Is something wrong?”

“The Saladan faction has stopped their external activities.”

Sarah was surprised.

“What kind of nonsense is that! The Ark is about to be shut down. It’s a situation where we need to move the busiest, so why…”

Exactly!

Chester tapped the ground with the end of his cane.

“I don’t like it either, but there’s some truth to their argument. Anyway, this isn’t something we should be discussing while the guests are here. First, guide the guests.”

Chester stepped aside.

“I can’t see you off, as I’m in no position to leave. My job is to take care of the terrifying monster beneath my feet.”

“Don’t worry! I’ll take good care of you.”

The entrance to the dungeon was inside a small movie theater on the fifth basement floor. The entrance to the dungeon was revealed only after stepping over a screen that had already fallen to the ground and was rotting away.

“You managed to find this underground dungeon.”

“The chairman visited to see if there were any relics from the old days and discovered them. If this dungeon had not existed, the current rebirth meeting would not have existed.

Sarah answered with a grin.

“Then, shall we go in?”

The two entered the dungeon through the black curtain at its entrance.

Wow!

A warm, bright, yet not too bright light filled my eyes, then slowly faded away, and at the end, my gaze returned to it.

The first thing you see is the sky. It’s a dark sky dotted with yellow, white, and somewhere in between. It’s a starry night sky.

What was visible beneath were several large cubes, each of which was vertically elongated and had several square windows, each of which let in a night-defying light.

What more can I say? Those many hexahedrons were buildings. Not ruins, but perfectly functional buildings in which people lived.

It was even emitting a bright light, as if electricity was coming in.

‘… Is that the type of dungeon?’

Kyle’s gaze went even lower. He could see buildings smaller than the buildings. Occasionally, signs were lit up, and streetlights were on on both sides of the road.

To my surprise, I saw a train. The train was running along the railroad tracks that surrounded the ark city, brightly lit by searchlights in front.

A dungeon that gives a glimpse into the glory of a bygone era.

That was the ark.