Chapter 68: Underfoot

"Why?" Marlak asked, its voice tinged with panic.

"You dumb frog, you acted like a sage and lured me into a trap that almost killed me and could have turned me into a frog, and now you're asking why?" Max stood up, glaring down at the creature.

"Young Adventurer, do not be so angry," Marlak said. "I did not lure you into anything; you came of your own free will. Keep your temper under control. Studies show that warriors die more often from legitimate dangers than from blind anger."

Max gritted his teeth as he listened to the frog's philosophy. "You shithead frog, you've lived your whole life in some crappy place, yet you're talking like a sage again."

"Though I have never left my home, I have read many books written by our ancestors, so do not worry," Marlak replied. "You tried to help me for the sake of the Hidden Things waiting to be found, so I will give them to you."

"Oh yeah? How are you going to do that?" Max asked doubtfully. These frogs were a bunch of nobodies trapped in an evil pond, living their entire lives in one place like frogs in a well. How could this dumb creature claim to know about hidden things? Moreover, what even were these hidden things?

"Like this." Marlak suddenly vomited a bundle of papers onto the table.

"These are the documents our ancestors carried with them. All the hidden things I talked about are contained in these documents. They are all rightfully yours, since that is what I promised you. Of course, along with my friendship," Marlak said with a smile, showing all its teeth.

Max's contorted expression relaxed. The frog had kept its promise; Max had gone voluntarily, partly because the creature wanted freedom, but primarily because of the hidden things it had mentioned. His only mistake was failing to ask what kind of dangers he might face. Therefore, he could not simply blame the frog; he had only his own naivety to blame. With that thought, he walked toward the other end of the table to examine the documents.

Max inspected the bundle. It was not bound like a traditional book; instead, it consisted of loose papers gathered together, and the language written on them was completely incomprehensible to him. It looked like an entirely different linguistic system. He flipped through the pages blankly, searching for any sign of a language he knew, but found none. He cast a glance at the frog, which sat there with a smug expression on its face.

"I don't understand any of this language. Where did you get all these documents?" Max asked.

"As I said, they belong to our ancestors," Marlak replied.

"If your ancestors spoke this language, how come you can speak mine? Shouldn't you be speaking whatever language is written in these documents?" Max questioned.

"That's easy. The Pond of the Blessed naturally bestowed upon us the ability to learn any language easily, so we know not only your language but otherworldly languages as well," Marlak claimed, boasting about its multilingual abilities.

Max gazed at the frog doubtfully. That evil pond was definitely not as benevolent as Marlak claimed. This thought stemmed directly from the fact that it allowed other beings to benefit from drinking its water, yet the snake had not recovered from its injuries. Thus, Max guessed that the pond was some kind of evil entity living there, manipulating others into doing things for it. However, the question remained: Was sending this dumb frog to another world also part of its plan? Max did not know what to make of the things he had learned.

Considering everything that had transpired, he could not help wondering whether it was all part of some grand plan orchestrated by the evil pond or carried out through its lackeys.

"What is this so-called hidden thing you have been talking about for so long?" Max asked.

"I don't know. It was simply called a Hidden Thing, and I thought it must be some kind of artifact," Marlak answered.

"You motherf—" Max's anger boiled over upon hearing the frog's reply.

"Okay, what does this page say? Read it and tell me," Max asked, taking a long breath.

Marlak read through the page Max had asked it to check. Max had selected that particular page because it featured a hand-drawn image that looked somewhat like a symbol he had seen before.

"The document says that a place called the [Gagiel Labyrinth] possesses some kind of pass. It will allow a person to enter a hidden place and obtain some hidden things," Marlak summarized.

"For God's sake, read what these hidden things actually are!" Max shouted at Marlak.

"I don't know. It doesn't say anything about what the hidden things are," Marlak said helplessly.

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Max now remembered where he had seen the symbol. It was when he had been inside the Level 2 world, where they had fought the Priest and obtained a pass to enter the Astral Realm. The same symbol had been etched at the top of the parchment.

"Very well, we will find out what these hidden things are eventually. Let's get out of here," Max said, realizing that Marlak knew very little about the contents of the documents.

Max collected the documents and put them into his iStorage. Those with greater intelligence usually strove to become stronger, but what granted strength or power? It was always some kind of artifact. Therefore, these hidden things must also be artifacts, and Max would eventually find them or did he even need to? He already possessed enough artifacts. However, as a once-wise frog had said, one shouldn't say no to power, because the moment one does, one's downfall begins. So Max would think about it and find out what the hidden things were when the time came.

"Ready!," Max said.

"Are you not going to kill me?" Marlak asked after seeing Max's anger.

"Not yet. I'll see how annoying you get, and when I've had enough of you, I'll feed you to some animal," Max said as he walked toward the exit.

"Hahaha, nice joke. Don't harbor that kind of thought if you want to turn into a frog yourself and get eaten," Marlak laughed, shrinking into a small frog and hopping onto Max's shoulder.

"Why would I turn into a frog?" Max asked as he exited the stone room.

"Because you pledged to protect me in the Pond of the Blessed. If you harm me, it will turn you into a frog," Marlak revealed.

"Oh yeah? We'll see whether that's true when the time comes," Max said with a grin.

"I'm warning you," Marlak said.

---

After walking for half an hour, Max and Marlak finally reached the exit gate of the Dungeon. Max did not know how much time had passed outside, as traveling to other worlds could cause time to pass faster or slower. Hoping that too much time had not elapsed, as he stepped out of the Level 4 Dungeon.

With a sudden flash, Max appeared outside and looked around. Before he could fully survey his surroundings, however, a violent commotion erupted behind him. Looking back, he saw the swirling Dungeon gate begin to spin wildly, shrinking at a rapid pace as if it were about to shatter into a million pieces.

"What is happening?" Max asked, shock evident in his voice.

"Well, the Dungeon remained stable because it operated on my power," Marlak explained. "Now that I have exited the Dungeon, it has no core to sustain it, so it is bound to collapse."

"Will there be any damage to the surrounding area?" Max asked anxiously.

"Do not worry. It won't cause a destructive explosion like a volatile artifact." Marlak replied.

Even so, Max quickly distanced himself from the entrance. Startled by the phenomenon, the Dungeon security guard hurried out of his booth. Max turned toward the vehicle he had arrived in, and to his surprise, it was still standing not far away, indicating that not much time had actually passed.

The security guard sprinted toward Max and stopped nearby to watch the Dungeon getting collapsed. Soon, the Dungeon's wide entrance shrank into a fist-sized orb of sinister energy before finally dissipating in a small explosion.

"What did you do to the Dungeon?" the security guard demanded once the gate vanished into thin air, leaving nothing in its place but empty space.

"I didn't do anything. I just leveled up and exited," Max said, shrugging his shoulders.

The guard looked at Max's shoulder. "What is that?" he asked.

"Oh." Max looked at the security guard and noticed that his eyes were fixed on Marlak, which was resting on his shoulder. "It's my pet," Max said.

The security guard continued to stare at the frog. However, with Marlak having lost all its power, it was just a damn frog rather than the Legendary Bull Frog it had claimed to be.

"You may have to come and report to the Adventurer's Guild regarding this matter," the security guard said.

"Yeah, no problem," Max said, having somewhat expected that he would be questioned.

While the two were talking, the academy guard ran toward them, his face filled with shock.

"What happened to the Dungeon? Did it close by itself?" he asked.

"It would seem so," the security guard replied.

"Let's go. We need to report this incident quickly so the experts can check whether the Dungeon closed naturally or whether this is some kind of phenomenon that could cause a disaster."

Saying so, everyone started moving toward the vehicle. Suddenly, however, the academy guard stepped in front of Max and raised a large golden shield.

Boom!

A heavy attack struck the golden shield, forcing the academy guard back two steps as thick smoke covered the entire area where they stood.

"Ambush!" the academy guard shouted.

Max immediately extended his mana, wondering whether he was the target. He concluded that he must be, since the attackers would have no reason to target an academy guard or a Dungeon security guard. But who could it be? Perhaps it was the kingdom's officials, since they were the ones most directly affected by the problem he had caused recently. They must be the ones targeting him.

Max extended his Mana Sense to a range of ten meters, but it detected no one. Yet the smoke still covered them, strangely refusing to disperse as it clung to a single location.

"Something is coming," Marlak whispered near his ear.

Max was surprised by this sudden warning. His Mana Sense had not detected any foreign mana signature. Furthermore, hadn't the frog's power been stripped away after leaving its world?

“Which way?” he asked, shaking his head. He was convinced that not a single word the damn frog said was true.

“Right below you!”

As soon as Marlak spoke, green energy materialized around Max's right hand. At the same time, something emerged from the ground beneath his feet. Max did not jump or run away. He simply thrust the attack at whatever was coming out of the ground.

The attack landed directly on the enemy. Looking closely, Max saw a man trying to grab him by the legs from underground. The green energy clung to the man, eating away at his Life Force. Suddenly, a wailing cry echoed through the fog. The man trying to attack Max had not expected the surprise counterattack. Exposed, he quickly tried to escape the way he had come. However, before he could get away, a second attack struck him directly in the head.

Max had created two [Basic Healing Magic Reversal] attacks just in case multiple enemies emerged or another kind of surprise attack occurred. He slammed the second attack into the man's head, and it did what it did best. Another cry came from amid the fog, and after a moment, the sound stopped. The man who had ambushed them died within seconds.

"What a weak-ass assassination attempt!" Max muttered.