[Desolate Ruins]
-Recommended Level: 16~20
-Entry Limit: 5
-Explore the ruins. 4 hours 59 minutes.
The reason ruin Gates were popular was, of course, because there was a high chance of finding high-grade items.
Some people said that there had to be good items in every ‘ruin.’ Their claim was that those who had failed to find any had simply failed to find them. I hoped that was true.
As long as I had Spatial Sense, failing to find them was practically not an option.
When we entered the Gate, we found ourselves standing atop some hill overlooking a vast green field.
“Nice view.”
“It is.”
And below, on the field, stood faded ocher ruins. They were slightly larger than a small village.
Perhaps they were the remnants of a truly small city. A huge building like a temple stood at their center.
Whether they had been molded from clay or built from stone, their colors had become uneven with age, and moss and overgrowth clung to them.
The scenery itself was beautiful, but the ancient buildings were broken in so many places that the name Desolate Ruins suited them.
“Those are…….”
“Gnolls.”
Monsters also wandered through the ruins. Gnolls. Humanoid monsters that looked as if hyenas and humans had been combined.
They were treated as monsters similar to orcs, but slightly more powerful. They were intelligent and agile, and they fought differently.
While orcs fought like strong people, gnolls fought like beasts despite being humanoid.
They used weapons, yet also clawed with their hands and feet and tore at faces with their enormous jaws.
‘They’re faster than orcs, so they’re hard to evade, too.’
One needed to be around level 15 to face an Awakened Orc one-on-one, but an Awakened Gnoll required one to be around level 20 for that reason.
Those bastards also traveled in packs in the first place. Uncle narrowed his eyes as he surveyed the ruins.
“Do they occupy the ruins and live there? There are more than I expected.”
“There are roughly twenty in sight, so if we count the ones inside the buildings too, there could be as many as thirty or forty?”
Still, there was nothing to worry about. Had we not taken Elixirs and invested in our stats in preparation for this Gate?
Even though I was level 16, my stat-equivalent level would exceed the high twenties.
“Should we work out a strategy?”
If nothing happened immediately after entering a Gate, it was only natural to work out a strategy.
We had even identified the enemy from a safe position, had we not? Uncle offered his opinion.
“I think we could lure them in, then take them out with Flying Dragon Flash and Wind Cleave.”
Gnolls were animals with keen senses of smell. He meant that we should lure them in since they would catch our scent even from far away.
“They are intelligent bastards, so it will be hard to kill all of them at once. Still, if we reduce their numbers first, exploring will be easier.”
It was a very textbook approach.
“Or we could just brute-force our way through head-on.”
Uncle’s eyes widened at my words.
“I think it’s possible with our stats. If it seems dangerous, we can just unleash Flying Dragon Flash.”
“You just want to force your way through head-on, do you not?”
He saw straight through me.
“Honestly, I want to try out Fighting Rooster a little.”
“Fine, let us do that. I used Flying Dragon Flash a great deal last time.”
Uncle readily agreed.
“Then we will force our way through head-on.”
Grinning, we headed toward the ruins. It was when we had entered the ruins and taken a few steps forward.
Before a gnoll even entered my Spatial Sense, I heard a gnoll howl.
I knew what it meant. When one of them caught a scent, it let out a ‘warning howl.’ Then the surrounding gnolls began searching together.
And when prey was discovered, they let out a ‘hunting howl.’
“Get ready.”
Similar howls rang out another couple of times. They were probably signaling the others nearby. Then I heard rustling from somewhere.
And one gnoll entered my Spatial Sense. Ahead, at eleven o’clock. My eyes met the gnoll’s.
-HOWWWWWL!
Then a ‘hunting howl’ burst forth. Perhaps because it was an intelligent bastard, it did not charge me immediately. It was waiting for its companions to arrive.
Of course, I did not stay still. I walked forward and swung the Windflow Sword. The gnoll tilted its head.
“Yip?”
It seemed unable to sense the blade of wind and was wondering why I had swung my sword.
The orcs and goblins I had seen before had not even thought anything was strange. There really was a difference when a bastard had intelligence.
“Ghk!”
But that did not mean it could evade the blade of wind.
SLICE— The gnoll’s body split in two.
-HOWL!
Two seconds later, another howl erupted. I did not know what this one meant. Had they reacted to their companion’s scent of blood?
Three, four…….
I could feel the number of bastards entering my Spatial Sense increasing in an instant.
-GRRRR!
Perhaps because they were beasts, the rank animal stench grew stronger, and Yongyong gave a small growl as if the smell displeased it.
After we had walked around ten steps, the gnolls had us surrounded.
“Hmm.”
In the standoff, Uncle looked around.
“There are no Awakened ones?”
“Right. That’s a little strange.”
I could not tell whether they were hiding or whether this Gate simply had no Awakened ones.
In any case, there were many of them, but considering our stats, this was a fight we could win easily.
“If it gets dangerous, break through and retreat with Flying Dragon Flash. I’ll handle them.”
“All right.”
My stats themselves were far higher than Uncle’s. Uncle was better at area-of-effect attacks, but I was better at fighting.
In an emergency, we also had the bastion of Subspace.
“Now…….”
A preemptive strike wins.
Just as I was about to swing my sword to unleash Wind Cleave—
“RO───────AR!”
Uncle Cheolgi suddenly let out a roar. A sense of déjà vu washed over me. No, it was not déjà vu. I had experienced it before.
It was like the Red Dragon’s roar in the Gate where I had Awakened. Of course, the aftermath was a little different…….
In any case, even my body stiffened for an instant, but the surrounding gnolls had it even worse.
TSSSS-.
I heard what sounded like water leaking from somewhere, and the groins beneath the pants of the gnolls surrounding us became soaked.
The gnolls surrounding us had all pissed themselves at once.
As the stench grew even worse, Uncle and I could not even think of fighting as we stared at each other.
“W, what was that just now?”
“I did not do that.”
It seemed Uncle was just as surprised. He was looking at Yongyong.
“Did Yongyong do it?”
“Yeah.”
It had shown its displeasure ever since the gnolls surrounded us. At that moment, I guessed what had happened.
“Isn’t it because of Dragon-Human Unity? You said it leveled up last time.”
“Dragon-Human Unity?”
“It makes the dragon and you into one, so you performed what Yongyong did.”
“That seems plausible…….”
Uncle, who had silently nodded, suddenly stopped and looked at Yongyong.
His expression had become more vicious than before because of the piss stench.
“Damn it again…….”
Then Dragon Fear burst forth once more.
“RO───────AR!”
In an instant, the gnolls surrounding us turned and began running as fast as their legs would carry them.
“W, what is this……?”
We were flustered as we watched the gnolls suddenly flee. We had never imagined a sight like this.
All that remained where the gnolls had disappeared was an extremely serious stench.
***
“RAWR!”
Once we had left the foul-smelling place, Yongyong let out a cheerful little cry, apparently in a good mood.
“You little bastard, you’re impressive.”
Pleased with Yongyong, I stroked its head. I had planned to try out Fighting Rooster, but I felt even better now.
Fighting Rooster could be used another time, whereas it was not easy to discover another way Yongyong could be used.
“This little rascal is really something. I roared in its place, but my body stiffened a little.”
“It’s a dragon. Its mother was far worse than this.”
“Worse than this?”
“There’s no comparison.”
“Well, the Gate where you saw the Red Dragon was level 90 or above…….”
I stroked Yongyong’s head.
“Will you remember the sensation?”
“I do not know. A dragon’s roar…… It was Yongyong’s will.”
“We’ll have to find a way.”
A roar that made most monsters piss themselves and run away. If we could use this whenever we wanted…….
Our party’s combat power would surely rise by another level or two.
“Once Yongyong grows, we really will have nothing to fear.”
“Right? If we just raise it properly, all we have to do is go in with Yongyong and say, ‘Take care of them!’ Then it’s over. As long as we stay alive, a bright future is guaranteed.”
“Heh-heh. When will it grow up?”
After saying that, Uncle flinched.
“Surely it will not take decades?”
“……Come on, surely not.”
“Do dragons not live for hundreds or thousands of years?”
For a moment, Uncle and I met each other’s eyes.
“…….”
“…….”
A brief silence followed. If it really took decades, that would be somewhat troublesome. It was fine even now, of course…… but what good would it be if Yongyong grew only after we had all become old?
It was not as if instructions for raising a dragon were available on the Internet, so there was no way to know how long its growth would take.
“It hatched after taking a Fire Elixir, so perhaps it will grow if we give it Elixirs?”
“That would be better. Then we would not have to wait decades.”
“Right.”
“We will have to keep clearing Gates diligently to test that.”
It felt as though we had gained another child we had not even given birth to—one with exorbitant tuition fees.
That was enough small talk, and we decided to focus on the main matter.
“There’s no point wasting time taking down the gnolls that ran away, so let’s search the ruins for items first.”
“All right. Even if those bastards return, they will run away at a single roar from Yongyong.”
I pointed at the temple in the center of the ruins.
“Let’s start over there.”
It was in the center of the ruins, to begin with. On top of that, it was a temple. It was the place most likely to contain something.
Of course, a place like that temple could instead turn out to be a dud.
Valuable items could just as easily turn up in some shabby building at the entrance to the ruins. It was a matter of probability.
Still, the textbook approach was to inspect the promising-looking temple first and then circle the outskirts.
“How has Minseok been lately? He must have changed schools after moving.”
“He seems to be adjusting well. Maybe word got around that his father is a Dragon Knight, because he has more friends now.”
“That’s a relief.”
Well, how cool must a Dragon Knight with a dragon seem to children?
As we talked, we reached the temple-like building in the center of the ruins. It truly looked like a temple.
The face of some woman was carved in relief there. She was probably the goddess worshipped in this place.
“How’s your Spatial Sense?”
“I don’t sense anything special. I think I’ll have to go inside to know.”
At least as far as my senses reached, I could not feel anything especially dangerous, such as traps or enemies.
The temple seemed to extend far to the rear, so I would only be able to learn the details after entering it.
“Let’s get ready for battle before we go in.”
We did not know what might appear. Perhaps there were several Awakened Gnolls farther inside. We opened the door with our weapons in hand.
CREEEAK-.
But there was nothing inside. It was a desolate temple similar to the other ruins.
That was when it happened.
A Gate notification appeared.
[Princess (Void Lord) summons the time of the past within the space.]
“Huh?”
“Princess?”
Then only Uncle and I stopped within this space. In other words, time around us had begun to flow backward.
The old, desolate temple gradually regained its color. As time flowed backward, dust vanished and the furnishings became intact.
Of course, they did not become like new.
It seemed to have gone back perhaps over ten, perhaps several dozen years. Still, it was no longer the ruin it had been before.
“W, what is going on?”
“I think it has something to do with my class.”
“It said Princess?”
“…I’m a Spatialist. Maybe it means something like the master of space?”
What a damned message.
Unable to reveal that I was a Princess even in this situation, I made an excuse with every ounce of my strength. Fortunately, Uncle seemed not to pay attention as he focused on our surroundings.
Still, the fact that it was summoning the time of the past within space was quite bewildering.
Could this be why the previous Princess had said that I was this world’s hope?
‘Come to think of it, I had the feeling that Gates transformed around me unusually often.’
No such notification had appeared back then.
I did not know exactly, but it seemed the Princess class had more secrets I did not know about.
[The Gate has transformed.]
[Decaying Temple]
-Recommended Level: 21~25
-Investigate the Decaying Temple. Remaining Time: 4 hours 59 minutes.
The notification appeared immediately afterward.
‘Investigate,’ huh.
Beyond simply having good items, it seemed to contain some sort of secret.
CREEEAK-
Then a sound came from deeper within the temple. When I turned my gaze, I saw someone opening a door and emerging.
He was a male priest who appeared to be in his mid-forties.
“……You have come, brothers.”
The priest, too, looked slightly surprised when he saw us, then lowered his head in greeting.
“May the blessing of light be with you. Brothers, welcome to the temple that serves the Goddess of Light.”
Standing before the sunlight pouring through the huge window behind the goddess statue, the priest looked quite holy.
A person had appeared.
It seemed that the ruin-type Gate we had entered had transformed into a Story-Type Gate.