Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?
Chapter 266 - 208 Lake Lienia

Chapter 266: Chapter 208 Lake Lienia

"The third group of people entering the Val Underworld has appeared."

In the Sain Dungeon, within the City Lord’s room, Gong Qiying watched the figures of Gapar and his group through the Crystal Ball.

Though Gapar and his group were the third batch to enter, in reality, the first two batches had already perished, making them the only ones active here.

The previous two groups also consisted of familiar faces, mixed with some new ones.

A notebook lay open on Gong Qiying’s lap, listing the name of each adventurer, or a simple sketch where names were unknown.

These people had potential and warranted special attention.

It was also finally time for Val City to enter the public eye, a truly gratifying development.

After tirelessly working day and night without rest, he finally managed to construct the Val Underworld... although it still resembled a prototype.

The prototype status was due to many concepts concerning a living-type dungeon only being in preliminary phases, not yet fully developed.

Moreover, there were not many themed layers present so far, still in single digits.

To improve it, collecting feedback from adventurers was necessary.

This timing for opening was chosen because his spiritual power was plentiful, his protection period was still in effect, other dungeons couldn’t trouble him, and the nobles and other forces maintained peace outwardly.

All was tranquil - if not now, then when?

The backstory of this dungeon was designed around magicians from Reyalucaria conducting experiments.

Magicians from different worlds poured their talents into this place, creating distinctly different characteristics for each layer.

Quietly speaking, though the general appearance of each layer varied greatly, he cleverly engaged in "Material Reuse" in many areas.

Cost-saving was one reason, but more importantly, his brain was nearly overloaded. Reusing materials in inconsequential areas also saved some brain cells.

In the basic setup of the Val Underworld, the dungeon could extend "infinitely" downwards, divided into different layers.

Each themed layer accompanied several sub-layers.

The perimeter of the themed layer was an open map, with liveable "major safety zones" and the area’s "ecology." One might encounter some [Events].

The center possessed a "maze", which along with several sub-layers below, formed the core part of this major theme and the primary challenge for adventurers.

Themed and sub-layers were connected via a Teleportation Treasure Box.

Sub-layers also had safety zones, but these places required adventurers to overcome challenges to unlock.

Moreover, in the future, they could face Monster attacks, so these safety zones were designated as "temporary resting places during adventures."

However, if one could permanently stay here and repel Monster attacks, there might even be extra rewards.

After conquering the entire maze, people could then move to the next themed layer and embark on new adventures.

An important aspect was, once someone cleared a maze and moved to the next themed layer, a Teleportation Gate would appear in the major safety zone of the previous layer, connecting the two themed layers.

This allows those who couldn’t defeat it to delve deeper into the dungeon!

As for the cost, once you go down, it isn’t easy to come back up; ascending requires suffering certain things.

Unless one commits suicide, which returning to the Resurrection House could also be a strategy.

But would you really want to give up the footprints you left in the dungeon, the safety zones you opened potentially occupied by others, the rare treasures found falling into others’ hands, among other concerns...

Indeed, dying could bring back a few minor items, but if one earnestly abides by the dungeon rules and ascends step by step, the benefit of bringing back all items while alive is far greater.

Moreover, casually leaving the Val Underworld might cause you to miss out on certain things.

These are the basic elements for now.

Taking Lake Lienia as an example, its "maze" is the Reyalucaria Magic Academy, and the "major safety zone" is Academy Gate Town.

As for the normal safety zones in sub-layers, taking Platinum Village as an example, unlocking this area requires defeating the Evil Omen Hunter gang, with subsequent intermittent attacks, including but not limited to Evil Omen Hunters, perfumers, and Soul-sucking Ghosts.

"How far can Sword Saint and his group explore, I hope they don’t end up like the previous two batches, dying before even seeing a safety zone."

Gong Qiying yawned, straining to keep his focus on Gapar and their movements.

He decided to go to sleep after watching this batch... well, perhaps he should have a drink first.

Though the alcohol consumed by his exterior body wouldn’t affect his body in the dungeon.

After treating the construction of the dungeon as work, he discovered that one truly needs a drink to relax after busy work.

No wonder adventurers love to frequent taverns; now he understood why.

"Let’s see, their current location... Oh, they are quite close to Academy Gate Town."

The more safety zones adventurers have stepped into, the more options they have when transferring to the Val Underworld via the Magic Classroom Seal.

If they haven’t entered any safety zones, it would be a random teleport, though it wouldn’t result in being stuck in a tree.

Similarly, even those who have unlocked many safety zones can choose random teleportation for the thrill of it.

Random teleportation would be limited between the first layer and the deepest reached layer, but there would be some special areas where teleportation isn’t possible.

Also, mazes wouldn’t be included in the random teleportation scope.

Gong Qiying yawned again, rubbing the corners of his eyes, and continued to watch the Crystal Ball.

Behind him, a letter silently appeared on the altar. A letter with a color he had never seen before.

——————————

The lake was blue, the clouds were white, the crystal was bright, and the distance was foggy.

This was Gapar’s first impression upon seeing Lake Lienia, forgive him for not thinking of more elegant and beautiful adjectives.

But after a long minute of darkness, when such a "shocking" scene suddenly appears before his eyes, only gods have time to think of adjectives.

What does it mean to suddenly see the light? This is it.

What he saw was an endless deep blue lake, different from the usual deep blue or dark green lakes, the surface here displayed a phosphorescent blue similar to Huishi Magic, as if Luminous Stone had melted.

It was afternoon, and the sunlight was still strong, the lake water mirrored like a mirror, and if at night when the spots of phosphorescent light lit up, this place would undoubtedly gain many dreamlike colors.

As far as the eye could see, mountains surrounded the area, shrouded in mist, and on the distant waters rose crystal pillars of varying sizes, twinkling in the thin mist.

Looking further, the silhouettes of some broken buildings appeared faintly.

Suddenly, a creature resembling a horse flashed through the mist, and Gapar’s keen eyes caught more details, like a person lying on the horse’s back.

Monster? Anyway, it didn’t feel safe.

The dreamlike lake, the danger hidden beneath its beauty, and the towering mountain ranges in the distance...

In the first half of his life, Gapar had been to many places, seen the burial grounds of the Barbarian ancestors, the hidden forests and Moon Well of the Elf Clan, and the Land of Ten Thousand Demons rumored to bury hundreds of dragons...

All those were scenes that stimulated the senses significantly, and Lake Lienia was no less impressive in his heart.

It was a map that would only appear in legendary ballads in the outside world.

People reacted differently, but they all shared an appreciation for the beautiful scenery.

Anyone with discernment could see that the night here must be even more beautiful than the day, making one yearn to stay until nightfall.

Gapar looked ahead, the uniform color of the lake water combined with the mist.

He looked back, the same scenery; in all directions lay boundless lakes.

Now, the problem came, which way to go?

They discussed briefly and randomly picked a direction.

In the City Lord’s room, Gong Qiying covered his face, "These guys are going the wrong way, Academy Gate Town is on the other side."

So he operated on the City Lord panel, and suddenly Gapar and the others heard a Dragon Roar, looked up, and saw a giant dragon flying over their heads towards the opposite direction of their movement.

People exchanged glances and chased after it.

After a while, they reluctantly declared they had lost the dragon. The apareance and disappearance of the dragon was mysterious, making it unclear what its purpose was.

Actually, Gong Qiying had just temporarily deployed a Luminous Stone Dragon from a certain area.

"pitter-patter..."

Shoes stepping on the shallow water surface, occasionally bringing up a string of water droplets that wet the trouser legs, the shoes got wet, walking felt soggy.

Which Mage could endure such grievance? Therefore, Turci immediately released the Water Avoidance Technique, and when they stepped, an invisible force field pushed the surrounding water away.

"Just water, nothing else," Roger shook his head and kicked a small stone.

The stone hit a raised rock on the ground, falling into the water and making a splash.

"There’s a building over there." Gapar pointed ahead, and so the group headed towards the small pavilion in the mist.

Seconds after they left, the rock trembled slightly, the animal known as the Ember King who once fought with Leon raised its head.

Then it woke up its disguised companions.

"It’s just a pavilion."

Turci sounded disappointed, walking for so long only to see a building that only had stone benches for resting.

Well, they had walked for quite a while, resting a bit was also fine.

The professors took out potions to replenish their energy, glugging them down. Roger, after drinking the potion, although his energy was restored, still felt empty in his stomach.

He turned to look at Gapar, the Sword Saint who insisted on traditional ways of energy intake by chewing food.

Gapar looked at Roger eyeing his jerky, and fed him a sandwich of almond cabbage with roasted whole pig.

Although it was cold, having this in the Dungeon was already an unparalleled delicacy.

"Ding-a-ling..."

Suddenly, an ethereal ring of bells sounded in the air, and everyone resting immediately became alert.

The bell kept approaching, a Spiritual Horse broke through the mist charging towards them with a knight jingling the bell, and immediately, black and gold mixed aggressive magic formations appeared in the air.

[Ghost Rider]

As the Ghost Rider appeared, ripples arose on the nearby water surface, and numerous smaller ghosts emerged.

"So, it’s a trap."

Gapar drew his Linked Star Sword, leaped up and struck at the Ghost Rider.

"Whoosh—"

"Snap!"

"Ah!"

At that moment, Roger suddenly screamed.

He was headshot!

Hit squarely in the face by a Water Cannon that nobody knew why it was there, he instantly fell to the ground.

Turci fiercely turned towards the direction from which the Water Cannon had come, spotting in the distance several giant Aliens approaching.

It seemed like... lobsters?