Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?
Chapter 370 - 272 Ornstein’s Dream Girl

Chapter 370: Chapter 272 Ornstein’s Dream Girl

Explore the Dungeon with full force?

The last time Sali heard the Captain using the term "full force" was three years ago, during the battle to reclaim a crucial fortress for the Yanor Kingdom from the Warrior Country.

In that battle, six thousand members of the Light Eagle Group were fully deployed. After paying a great price, they successfully killed the enemy general, reclaimed the fortress, and ensured the safety of the border.

It was also that battle that elevated Eliphas’s status within the Kingdom. Not only was he promoted and given significant titles, but the Light Eagle Group also became an official legion of the Kingdom, though the mercenaries out of habit still called themselves a mercenary group.

In their opinion, being mercenaries was far more carefree than being soldiers.

However, it’s foreseeable that the Light Eagle Group’s status in the Kingdom will rise higher and higher—as Eliphas deepens his relationship with the Princess and future queen named Selene.

In the future, the Queen of the Kingdom will likely be called Selene I.

The Captains exchanged glances, completely surprised at how much Eliphas cared about the Dungeon.

"Alright," Sali clapped his hands, "since the Captain values it so much, we must also achieve some results before he returns. Let’s discuss how to go about it."

Speaking of which, mercenaries’ specialties are completely different from adventurers’. They train their battlefield intuition, and all their techniques are geared toward war.

On a battlefield, the Light Eagle Group is among the top combat forces, but what if this group of killing experts were to explore a Dungeon?

Not to mention their lack of techniques for dealing with Monsters, mercenaries do not have the common adventurer’s "intuition for Dungeon traps." Some traps that adventurers might faintly perceive would go completely unnoticed by the mercenaries, which is a significant flaw.

Moreover, a very ordinary rule of a Dungeon would bring great trouble to the mercenaries—the limit on the number of explorers.

The simultaneous exploration limit upon entering the Casas Underground Tomb from the Teleportation Gate of the Light Eagle Group is twenty, and they might encounter a group of adventurers from Bed City, totaling no more than thirty people exploring at the same time.

Thirty people, aside from executing decapitation tactics, have minimal impact on a battlefield.

The Light Eagle Group’s tactical characteristic lies in advancing with large formations, forcing them into small squads of a dozen people might prove maladaptive.

So, despite Eliphas’s order, the Captains debated these issues for a long time.

The final conclusion was that external reinforcements with rich Dungeon exploration experience were necessary.

"Leave that to me,"

The Logistics Captain—Aston stood up proactively and said, "If it’s about Dungeon exploration, I know many renowned masters. With our reputation, we can invite them."

Sali looked somewhat worried and said, "I’m more inclined to seek help from the adventurers in Bed City; they are already accustomed to..."

"No need, absolutely not!"

Aston, who seemed to look down on adventurers, stood upright and said:

"How could adventurers from a mere small city compare with already famous masters?"

Naturally, they viewed Eliphas’s orders as paramount. On that day, Aston went to the Royal City to visit the so-called Dungeon Exploration Master.

In a grand mansion in the expensive area of the Royal City, a white-bearded elder with a somewhat shrunken but noble figure received him.

"Good afternoon, Master Kent." Facing the legendary elder, Aston showed utmost respect.

The elder, with hands behind his back, revealed a sharp gleam in his eyes.

Kent, a long-time renowned Dungeon Explorer, had been involved in various Dungeons since his youth, spanning seventy years. Now approaching ninety, he had become an exemplar in the eyes of Dungeon explorers.

The widely circulated "Dungeon Exploration Guide," known as the "textbook," was authored by him. It had become essential reading for anyone aspiring to explore Dungeons, comprehensively summarizing the common patterns of all Dungeons, the so-called routines.

If one thoroughly understood these routines, most Dungeons would no longer pose a problem!

Master Kent hadn’t taken action for decades, and it was uncertain whether the fame of the Light Eagle Group could persuade him to come out of retirement.

Aston was also anxious, but having already committed the words, he could only brace himself to try.

"Sain Dungeon..."

Kent chewed over the term, his attitude hard to read.

"Yes, exactly that name. It has undergone a sudden transformation in recent months, becoming very popular among adventurers."

Aston sneakily glanced at Kent’s expression, pondered, and said, "It’s said that Sain Dungeon is filled with unprecedented things, and the usual routines seem somewhat... inadequate there."

"Hmm?"

Kent caught the keyword, raised his eyes to stare at Aston, who immediately smiled ingratiatingly.

"Hmph," though knowing the other was deliberately provoking him, the knowledge of an antithetical Dungeon’s existence...

"Sounds interesting."

Not long after, news of the cooperation between the Light Eagle Group and the Legendary Dungeon Exploration Master spread.

Under Master Kent’s guidance, those mercenaries with relevant talents were selected to form exploration teams, and related supplies were being massively procured.

This cooperation was highly anticipated, with everyone looking forward to the Light Eagle Group making a stunning impact in their new venture.

But this would take a few days, as preparation also required time.

And in these few days, some might stir up quite a scene.

————————————

Three days later, Bed City, Bookstore.

Gong Qiying put down the book in his hand, wearing an expression that seemed like he wanted to laugh but couldn’t, overall appearing very strained.

It was all because of the book he was reading, a so-called "novel" titled "The King’s Four Knights Chronicle".

Yes, it was about the King’s Four Knights under Gwyn, including the legendary characters of the Wolf, Lion, Eagle, and Bee, with Artorias as their representative.

When he found this book in the bookstore, he thought it was quite absurd.

Because, up to now, the King’s Four Knights were just a concept, and adventurers could only catch a glimpse of them in easter eggs within the pages of the "Golden Stone Oath" and bonfire illusions.

Except for Artorias who had a clear story, the other three knights were only depicted by their images and names, and everything about them remained a mystery.

Under such circumstances, what kind of divine person could conjure up a biography out of thin air?

With a mindset akin to "witnessing a wondrous creature," Gong Qiying opened the book, and his expression tightened.

Overall, this was a book disguised as a biography but was actually a somewhat exciting self-indulgent story written by a dream man or dream girl.

The book fictionalized a Fifth Knight, fighting alongside the Four Knights under King Gwyn, going through various legendary and moving stories together, forming deep bonds, and even some developed romantic feelings.

The more Gong Qiying read, the more he felt the author had inserted themselves as the protagonist.

The author arranged a CP (character pairing) for their protagonist, writing very passionately about it, but the protagonist had unrequited love.

So who was this CP? It must be Artorias, after all, he was the only one people knew—

No, actually, it was Ornstein!

Yes, "Dragon Slayer" Ornstein!

Gong Qiying almost spat out a mouthful of soda, thinking this author was really something.

The depiction of Ornstein in the book was extremely cheesy, like a domineering CEO, with the protagonist continuously trying to win his favor while Ornstein kept rejecting, claiming a lifelong dedication to Fire Transmission with no time for other matters.

Though out of character, there was a hint of rationality...

And this book was published and selling well. Who were the people buying this stuff?

Gong Qiying flipped to the front, and the novel’s author was named "Star Little Linai."

It’s obviously a pen name and sounds like a woman’s name too.

Aside from some slightly melodramatic romance plots, the book’s depiction of the world during the peak of the Flame was somewhat interesting, reflecting a high esteem for Fire Transmission, suggesting the author was a big fan of Sain.

If given the chance, Gong Qiying would love to meet this talented person who seemed like Ornstein’s dream girl.

Unfortunately, the book was discontinued, and when he asked the bookstore owner, they said they had no idea why they couldn’t reach Star Little Linai anymore, which was quite a strange incident.

"Coming to another world and still encountering an unfinished book..."

Gong Qiying packed up the remaining novels, leisurely heading towards the item shop, listening to passing adventurers discussing commissions along the way. The term "Casas Underground Tomb" appeared frequently.

Whenever Sain revealed a new area, it was always a prolonged celebration for the adventurers.

And it was also the ultimate overtime day for Gong Qiying.

With the large inflow of adventurers, various problems of the new area would surface, no matter how perfect he felt his initial design was, problems always appeared in practice.

Like the Cannibal Sister who was pursuing Hero Elsa and the others. After discovering this major bug, Gong Qiying overnight modified the Cannibal Sister’s mechanisms, limiting invasion attempts to a maximum of ten times.

Additionally, he fixed some minor issues, mostly involving unreasonable terrain, monsters, etc. Compared to the beginning, the problems now were much fewer.

This indicated that Gong Qiying’s design skills were gradually improving.

"However, I didn’t expect the Teleportation Gate to open near the Light Eagle Group’s territory."

He had no goodwill towards this mercenary group. If not for them and Count Philip, Sain wouldn’t have experienced a rampage.

He had no psychological burden in tormenting these people.

But if raising the dungeon’s difficulty to torment them would inadvertently affect innocent adventurers, it required careful consideration.

Currently, he hadn’t seen any further potential damage the Light Eagle Group could cause to Sain Dungeon, so he decided to treat everyone equally for now.

Speaking of which, there had been frequent news of conflicts between the Light Eagle Group and adventurers recently.

The most attention-grabbing news was the Skyrim Strategy Group led by Luluwo declaring war against the legendary Dungeon Exploration Master Kent.

Luluwo really knew how to keep the hype alive every time.

The reason was nothing more than the fact that with Kent’s addition, the Light Eagle Group’s mercenaries became arrogant, looking down on Bed City adventurers and various strategy groups.

This was the confidence brought to us by Master Kent.

And as one of the top leaders among adventurers, Luluwo naturally stood up to respond to the mercenaries’ provocation, which eventually turned into a competition.

Competing to see who could create the strategy for Casas Underground Tomb the fastest!

This scenario seemed very familiar...

"If I recall correctly, the competition starts tomorrow?"