The next afternoon, at the Coldiron City Adventurers' Guild.
It was a complex of buildings resembling an enormous tavern, containing a tavern, shooting range, pleasure house, casino, and a series of other facilities. It occupied a vast tract of Coldiron City's outer district and, by itself, supported nearly half the city's population.
【This world sure is open-minded.】
Merely submitting the signed confirmation of his completed commission and the bounty notice easily earned Loulan Gold-rank adventurer status and a medal as proof. His records were uploaded immediately as well.
He was now strolling toward the library, which housed most of the Coldiron City Adventurers' Guild's collection of knowledge.
Gold-rank adventurers had the right to read ninety-nine percent of its books!
The remainder consisted of secret accounts that had been sealed away.
【Do women really walk around the streets in armor that's basically a bikini? My god...】
Keeping his face pointed straight ahead, Loulan looked at a blonde woman in revealing light armor off in the distance. It was a sight one could hardly encounter on the streets in either the modern or ancient era of his previous life.
Only after installing certain unspeakable mods in a game could one witness such a magnificent view.
This world's adventurers were far more uninhibited than Loulan had imagined.
Was it perhaps because the pressure of dungeon exploration was too great? Did that force adventurers to soothe themselves through stimulating methods until it gradually developed into a style of dress?
This was a Western fantasy world, after all. Even nobles had all manner of mistresses, so there was no telling what the people below them might get up to.
Still, that worked in Loulan's favor. Looking at beautiful women improved anyone's mood, and he was no exception.
The blonde woman's generosity put an extra spring in his step~
Loulan soon reached his destination, a stone building like a tower, rich with the architectural beauty of a medieval keep.
This was the Adventurers' Guild's library.
"Here. This is my adventurer's medal."
He detached a steel medal with pure-gold edging from his chest. It bore an image of a dragon fighting a behemoth, the symbol of the Adventurers' Guild.
The dragon represented strength, and the behemoth its natural enemy.
It signified the law of adventure—the strong devoured the weak—and also symbolized an adventurer's determination to overcome every obstacle!
"Go on in. If you need to take a book out, remember to register it with me."
The gray-robed old man guarding the door took the medal and examined it. After confirming its authenticity, he returned it to Loulan, gave that reminder, and sat listlessly in a recliner by the library entrance to bask in the sun.
【This old man is terrifyingly strong. Do powerful men in their twilight years all enjoy guarding gates?】
Loulan's bodily instincts told him the old man was powerful, prompting him to make that silent quip.
Without lingering, Loulan stepped straight into an ocean of books.
The noble banquet at the earl's castle was still four days away. Maven would send Huian to find him here beforehand, so Loulan only needed to absorb knowledge in peace over the coming days.
...
【Oh, so that's how it works. A Darkest Dungeon is made up of independent spaces of different sizes. Depending on their size and difficulty, each holds a different number of adventurers.
A Darkest Dungeon is alive. Isn't this just a respawn mechanic? It's just that the more often the dungeon refreshes, the more docile and barren it becomes.】
【Darkest Dungeon Unwritten Rules Catalog. Tsk, there are a ridiculous number of stupid rules. What! After making me read rules for this long, you finally tell me the strong can take everything? Are you screwing with me?】
【Whoa, Coldiron City's Darkest Dungeons actually appeared out of nowhere, towers rising from flat ground. The supernatural forces in this world are pretty extreme.】
【Monster Bestiary. Just as I guessed, creeping fungi are one branch of fungus. Above the Rampart-Creeping Fungus is the Room-Filling Fungus.
Ugh~ A creeping-fungus monster covering every wall of an entire secret room, with fungal brains that can move at any time. This thing is ridiculously overpowered. How are you supposed to fight it?】
【Dragon species...】
...
Loulan immersed himself in the library for two days and two nights. Aside from eating and bathing, he practically lived there. Even the old gatekeeper began looking at him strangely.
The old man seemed to admire his perseverance.
It wasn't that Loulan loved studying. Rather... most books in this otherworld were like novels, making it easy for him to become engrossed.
They weren't dry science texts but richly fantastical collections of settings and lore. Like storybooks, they were impossible to tire of in such a short time.
Through constant reading, Loulan learned about most things inside Darkest Dungeons and encountered descriptions of many bizarre monsters.
Some were familiar, and others weren't.
The usual Western-fantasy guests—goblins, slimes, kobolds, trolls, dragons, and more—were all present.
Yet none of them appeared on the list of Darkest Dungeon monsters. They could only be found in ordinary dungeons and the wilderness.
What appeared commonly inside Darkest Dungeons were instead subterranean creatures, a more obscure category of monsters in Western fantasy settings.
Common examples included manticores, drow, and ghouls.
Then there were monsters more specific to particular regions. They had many familiar archetypes but had mutated because of the Darkest Dungeons.
Take Coldiron City's Fungus-Corpse Dynasty, whose monsters included dark creatures such as skeletons, werewolves, dire bats, zombies, ghouls, and minotaurs.
Wherever the mycelia held territory, all of them would be converted into fungus-corpse monsters.
Of course, plenty of ordinary fungus-corpses wandered the dungeon corridors, but most mycelial territories lay inside separate secret rooms.
Creeping fungi were only one branch.
There were also the bacillus, Blood Fungus, and Illusion Fungus branches, with different colors distinguishing the different fungal types.
The only detail worth noting was that the mycelial creatures inside Coldiron City's three great dungeons each shared one uniform color: the three primary colors of red, yellow, and blue. Loulan couldn't help connecting that fact to the records he had seen not long ago.
War, conflict, order, and division. Perhaps those four elements were what created these three Darkest Dungeons.
【Unfortunately, there are no records about Transcendence, not even in the Adventurers' Guild. Is that knowledge held by those at a higher level?】
After reading extensively for two days and two nights, Loulan still couldn't find any records concerning the power of Transcendence in the library.
The closest material consisted of descriptions of supernatural relics, and even those were empty statements such as "they possess wondrous abilities."
The library even contained detailed records of powerful magical creatures like dragons and behemoths! Yet there was absolutely nothing about "Transcendence."
"Mr. Loulan, please wait."
Loulan set down the book in his hands and was about to rise from the reading table to eat when a somewhat familiar voice came from beside him.
Turning his head, he saw the young mages Lilia and Vina seated at a table not far away. Only when they saw him rise did they call out to stop him.
But...
Compared to how he remembered them, both young women looked haggard and mentally exhausted, as miserable as though they had endured more than one ordeal.