Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?
Chapter 185 - 167 Father Gascoigne: I Have 2 Phases

Chapter 185: Chapter 167 Father Gascoigne: I Have 2 Phases

Dungeon exploration strategies vary from person to person.

No single strategy guide can possibly meet everyone’s needs; after all, everyone is different.

When it comes to strategies for the same scenario, some may suggest plowing straight through Monsters with brute force, offering tips on the most efficient ways to fight. However, this type of strategy is useless for those who lack sufficient strength—they simply can’t force their way through.

What to do, then? Surely giving up is not an option. They can only search even harder for alternative strategies.

That’s why you’ll find dozens, or even more, versions of strategies for the same Dungeon, the same area, or even the same type of Monster. Adventurers pick what suits them best or create their own.

Among many strategies, those produced by Strategy Groups often hold the highest value—in fact, producing high-quality strategies is a requirement to be recognized as a Strategy Group.

Take Leon and his crew as an example. When they release a strategy, they offer at least three different approaches for the same scenario or Monster: one for the strong, one reflecting their own exploration insights, and one for those of lesser power.

Luluwo and their New Strategy Group tried to imitate this format, but unfortunately, they still need to improve their professionalism. Sometimes they even confuse themselves while writing.

Berto is the most educated among them, but even he only learned to read and do basic math in his childhood with the help of a tutor; he typically summarizes the strategies.

As for the others... let’s just say there’s an untainted beauty to them, their eyes clear and pure.

"AAARRGHHH!"

The priest trapped by the tombstone was howling, and the team eagerly laid into him... no, that’s not right—they were enthusiastically greeting him with various weapons.

It was frustrating, extremely frustrating.

Father Gascoin’s negative emotions were surging. Just when the New Strategy Group thought they were about to claim victory, he transformed.

"GRRRAAGHH!"

A massive Wolfman burst out of the mud swamp, forcing everyone back with a mere swipe. His howls, laden with boundless madness, struck terror into anyone who heard them.

His howl was way more authentic than Dal’s.

Berto was horrified. How could the priest have a Second Stage!?

Wait, why hadn’t previous strategies mentioned this? Surely it couldn’t be that weaklings couldn’t beat the First Stage and strong ones never saw the Second Stage—that would just be too cruelly ironic!

But he had no time to ponder, for the Wolfman’s substantial paw was about to smack him squarely, and he was backed against a tombstone with no escape.

"CRACKLE—"

Chains abruptly bound the priest’s arms, struggling as he might, but they also linked him to the tombstones.

More crackling sounds. The chains also secured his other arm, leaving him no chance to escape.

"Now’s your chance," called out Luluwo, her voice weak. Father Gascoin, in full beast form, was incredibly strong, and she was barely maintaining control in her incomplete state.

Mila and the rest didn’t waste Luluwo’s efforts and launched a fearless Combination Skill on the priest.

"ARRGH!"

With his limbs bound by chains, how could the priest break free? Exposed and vulnerable, was he to simply fade away?

Absolutely not!

With a deafening roar, his arms bulged with muscle, and to the disbelief of all, he ripped the tombstones out of the ground!

The chains were tangled around his arms and now the tombstones, effectively handing him a bunch of Meteor Hammers.

"SMACK!"

Mila, who couldn’t dodge in time, got her head smashed by the flung tombstone, while Berto got hit in the back covering Luluwo and was sent flying.

Ais and Em tried to flee, but the chains extended the priest’s attack range, so...

The bonfire crackled merrily as the members of the New Strategy Group sat before it once again.

It was a job well done!

But this time they weren’t impersonating Discouragement Brother; instead, they looked rather excited. Excited about dying? Were they actually masochists?

"Berto, did you get the information from just now?"

"I’m writing it down," Berto replied, pulling out a notebook and scribbling while wearing a pair of glasses, looking refined.

"The Strategy Group didn’t provide any information like this, right?" Luluwo asked, still concerned.

Berto shook his head.

"What about the other adventurers?"

Berto shook his head again.

"Awesome!"

Mila prodded Ais beside her, saying, "Haven’t seen the captain this happy in a long time."

"Yeah, yeah," agreed Ais: "The last time she was this happy was after we wiped out the Monsters that grew garlic on their bodies."

Listening to their discussion, Berto couldn’t help but smile. His notebook read:

[Warrior Pot incident · Warehouse strategy]

[The tombstones in the warehouse are indestructible; using them to trap Monsters can significantly reduce the difficulty of combat]

[Note that this method requires familiarity with the placement of the tombstones. Otherwise, there is a high chance the Monster will break free, turning the tombstones into your prison]

[Also, it’s best to have someone in the team capable of using the Mud Swamp Technique or other sustained control spells; Magic Scrolls can substitute, but make sure they last long enough]

This strategy is clearly aimed at those with limited strength.

With this, the weak can overcome the strong!

While they still don’t know how to get past the priest’s Second Stage, finding a way to consistently beat the First Stage is a major advancement.

Luluwo stood behind Berto, carefully examining what he had written, when a thought suddenly occurred to her.

"This is the real shortcut."

She mumbled to herself, her expression contemplative.

"Eh, finally a player who skips class has appeared."

In the City Lord’s room, Gong Qiying rubbed his chin, revealing an intrigued smile.

He had intentionally placed these tombstones here, indeed wondering whether anyone would discover that they could block Father Gascoin.

But for a long time, no one noticed, whether it was Leon and his group who were the first to come here or other adventurers; they were either simply killed or fought their way through honorably.

How straightforward can these people be?

Now that the New Strategy Group has finally dug out this method of skipping class, Gong Qiying felt a sense of gratification that the designer’s meticulous planning had at last been discovered by the public.

"However, even if they can skip class, I can’t let Monsters go for nothing."

Tonight, I’ll adjust the hardness of the tombstones. Each one should only withstand five or six of the priest’s attacks, that should be about right.

Slight adjustment to the position of the tombstones as well, only two places can genuinely work in conjunction with the Mud Swamp Technique to trap the priest, and the rest are false.

Those two real "shortcut locations," let’s place them near the New Strategy Group’s discovered points, to give them some face. Otherwise, if adventurers rush in only to find the strategy is fake...

The New Strategy Group would probably be done for completely.

Aside from the minor adjustments needed here in the warehouse, the Warrior Pot incident also needs to be modified.

The normal process after saving the Warrior Pot remains unchanged, but the process after killing the Warrior Pot needs adjustment.

Previously, after killing the Warrior Pot and entering the Pot settlement, you would receive a piece of shit and be attacked by Monsters related to pots, but now that I think about it, such an arrangement is too forced and subjective; it’s not well designed.

I should make it a different branch, and of course, the choice will be left to the adventurers.

So, change it so that after killing the Warrior Pot, Carl, the entire Pot settlement becomes hostile, Little Pots disappear, and are replaced with two Warrior Pots and a Living Pot filled with contents.

After the kill, drop raw meatballs, Beast Balls, and other miscellaneous rewards, and during subsequent exploration, you will be invaded by Pot Man, who after being killed, grants a Pot Helmet and a craft handbook for a Pot-related item.

The items crafted according to the craft handbooks from the Sain Dungeon have uniqueness not possessed by ordinary items of this world.

Such as accumulated various abnormal statuses.

"This should be about right."

He flexed his stiff arms and then peeped at the New Strategy Group.

To be honest, Gong Qiying had some expectations for these people.

The number of adventurers exploring the Sain Dungeon is vast, but those truly at the forefront of the strategy, besides the true Strategy Group led by Leon and various second and third Strategy Groups, included the Exploration Team organized by the Holy Light Church, consisting entirely of Priests and Holy Light Knights.

Additionally, some capable teams can closely follow the pace of the Strategy Group, such as Steeran’s "Morning Wind" squad.

If the Strategy Group is the first person to eat crabs, then it’s Morning Wind and other teams’ responsibility to popularize the crabs, handing them over to the public to discover more ways to eat them.

With a clear division of labor, Gong Qiying’s degree of attention to these people is also different, and he sometimes makes minor adjustments to the Dungeon based on the situation of certain adventurers.

So he’s living a fulfilling life every day, one might say too fulfilling, working year-round and 24/7, a normal person would have long reported to the King of Hell.

"If I count it out, the New Strategy Group will publicize their class-skipping strategy by tonight, ferment it for a day tomorrow, and by the day after tomorrow, this information should shine and heat up, drawing people to try it."

According to past patterns, after three or four days of hot activity brought by the new strategies, the flow of people will stabilize.

However, this time the strategy is incomplete, so the hot period should be shorter than usual.

"In that case, the timing is perfect," Gong Qiying watched the celebrating New Strategy Group on the Crystal Ball and mumbled to himself: "It won’t let the Dungeon break when the adventurers’ enthusiasm is at its peak."

He held a purple-black letter in his hand, and its ominous color represented the Evil Nest Dungeon.

The content on the letter was simple.

[Hybrid, hurry, come fight! Kill you!]

"He’s even learned to use punctuation; that must’ve been hard for him."

Gong Qiying disdainfully threw away the envelope. He had already prepared many battle plans, waiting to see which situation unfolds to choose the one with the lowest cost.

There are many ways to exterminate a large number of creatures, such as throwing a divine seal from the "Death Space" into the Evil Nest Dungeon, then just waiting for the flowers to blossom.

Of course, it’s only hypothetical, to this day Gong Qiying has not unlocked the creation authority for the divine seal, and even if he did, he will probably not use it; that thing is too overpowered no matter how you look at it.

The method of battle is no longer his concern; what he’s most looking forward to now is the authority of the Evil Nest Dungeon.

I really hope the opponent has some interesting authority; I could even do without his Dungeon.

Lately, Gong Qiying had encountered some difficulties in designing the Dungeon – the construction of the Painting World had hit a bottleneck.

Should it be set as an independent space within the Dungeon, connected by something like a Teleportation Treasure Box, or another method?

In his concept, the Painting World is like a Dungeon within a Dungeon — small in volume, limited content, telling a complete story; isn’t this DLC?

The difficulties encountered are nothing but map construction, Monster selection, and... perhaps the characters to be included.

If adventurers, in the process of exploration, met a nice big brother named Sun Warrior Solar, who helps push the map, and as their affection deepens, suddenly discover he’s been parasitized by the Sun Worm.

I imagine the spiritual power that bursts out must be quite delicious.

But all these have encountered various problems in practice, all related to details.

If the authority of the Evil Nest Dungeon could solve these problems, that would be perfect.

As Gong Qiying thought, he looked again at the Crystal Ball.

In the Crystal Ball, Luluwo and her group decisively chose to leave the Dungeon.