Chapter 8: Jackpot

Chapter Eight

A helpless laugh escaped from Michael’s mouth as he stared at the newly appeared gateway. There was no doubt about it: this was another gateway, and that could only mean one thing... this dungeon was a two-gate dungeon, meaning there would be two separate dungeon areas to conquer, two sets of monsters, and, most importantly, two dungeon bosses.

And according to the few reports that existed about such dungeons, the second gate had a nearly hundred-percent chance of being far worse than the first one. Just when Michael had started believing that they might actually survive this nightmare, they had been slapped with another horrifying reality.

Terrified gasps echoed from the others, and the hope that had just begun rising within their chests was extinguished almost immediately as they stared at the white gateway before them. Aiden remained silent for several minutes, his eyes fixed on the gateway, before he slowly sighed, rose to his feet, and turned toward the remaining warriors.

"Listen up, everyone," his voice was firm. "Encountering a two-gate dungeon does not signify instant death."

The warriors looked toward him. "In some cases, the other gateway can lead to treasures instead of danger," Aiden’s gaze swept across the group. "And even if it leads to danger, we are not going to stand here and wait for that danger to surround us.

Instead, we will face it head-on... and take it out." His voice was loud, yet there was enough calmness within it to give the warriors following him a small measure of hope, because Aiden had no intention of giving up... never.

Two-gate dungeons were extremely rare, so rare that only a handful had ever been discovered and even fewer had been successfully cleared. Yet, from the information gathered about them, two things had become clear: the second gateway could either lead to an extreme danger whose level far surpassed the first dungeon they had already cleared, or it could lead to treasures valuable enough to shake the entire world.

Either way, there was only one method of finding out: they had to enter. It took several minutes before Aiden was finally able to speak enough sense into the minds of the warriors once more, and eventually, they all agreed to move forward... not because Aiden had somehow completely inspired them, no, the truth was much simpler.

If they could not clear the second gateway dungeon, there would be no leaving this place anyway; they were trapped, and their only path forward was the path through that white gateway.

The healers quickly got to work, and after several minutes had passed, the group was ready once more. Their injuries had been healed, the remaining Mana Regen Elixirs were distributed among them, and soon, everyone was prepared to move forward.

"Remember," Aiden said, his eyes sweeping across the group, "whether it is danger or treasure, we stick together."

The warriors nodded.

Michael, however, remained at the back of the group, his head lowered as he stared at his hands. They were shaking.

My instinct is telling me that the danger is near.

Michael slowly raised his head, his trembling eyes locked onto the white gateway.

The real danger that caused Hayley’s death... must be behind this gateway.

The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became. No matter how powerful the Flame Ogre King was, it was still only Level 18; there was no way it could have killed Hayley like that... not simply by looking at her.

Whatever had killed Hayley with nothing more than a glance... it had to be behind this white gateway. The thought sent another chill through Michael’s body.

Sincerely, the more Michael thought about it, the more he wanted to turn around and flee, but where could he run? They were trapped, there was no escape, and they could only move forward.

Before the group could even reach the gateway, something unexpected happened: the white gateway suddenly opened by itself, almost as if it were welcoming them inside.

The group paused, everyone stared at the opened gateway, and for a brief moment, nobody moved. Then, with steady steps and their senses fully alert, they began walking forward, one after another stepping through the white gateway.

The moment they crossed to the other side, everything changed.

The group stepped out into an entirely different place, as if they had just stepped from a low-level hell into a heaven beyond their wildest imagination. Their tense bodies immediately relaxed, the oppressive feeling that had been weighing heavily upon them disappeared, their exhaustion faded, and their wounds no longer seemed to matter.

Even their minds, which had been stretched to their limits by everything they had experienced inside the first dungeon, suddenly became calm. And then they felt it: energy.

An incredible vitality filled the very air around them, and the warriors felt their bodies becoming re-energized almost instantly. It wasn’t merely that they felt better; they felt healthy, they felt alive, and they felt as though every cell within their bodies was overflowing with vitality.

And that wasn’t even the most shocking part: their Mana reserves, which had only been partially restored by the Mana Regen Elixirs, were suddenly filled to the brim.

Every single warrior could feel their mana surging through their bodies once more, their exhausted reserves having been completely replenished.

"This feels like..." One of the warriors stared around in disbelief, his eyes widened. "...heaven..."

His legs suddenly gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground. Yet there was no pain on his face; instead, a blissful expression appeared as his body sank against the smooth white marble beneath him, which was so soft and comfortable that it felt almost like he had fallen onto a heavenly bed.

For a moment, even Aiden was lost in the sensation of stepping into what felt like heaven, but he quickly regained his senses, his eyes narrowed as he began looking around.

They seemed to be standing inside a massive palace, and the sheer scale of the place was enough to leave anyone speechless. The ground beneath their feet was made entirely of flawless white marble, each enormous tile smooth enough to reflect their figures, yet this wasn’t ordinary marble... a powerful but soothing aura constantly radiated from it, and just standing upon the floor made their bodies feel lighter and their minds calmer.

Massive pillars stood throughout the palace, each one rising so high that their tops seemed to disappear into the endless distance above, and the pillars were breathtaking.

Some were deep blue, others were crimson red, some were golden, while others had colors Aiden had never even seen before, and each pillar radiated an immense amount of energy.

The warriors cautiously looked around, searching for any sign of danger. Nothing.

As far as their eyes could see, there was no monster, no trap, no killing intent... nothing. Even the intense feeling of danger and unease that had been gripping them since entering Dungeon X had vanished without leaving the slightest trace, as if they had truly entered heaven: a place where danger did not exist, a place of peace, wealth, and abundance.

"Everyone, be careful," Aiden warned, and despite the breathtaking scenery, he didn’t allow himself to become careless. He led the group forward, soon stopping before one of the countless massive pillars that reached high into the sky.

And speaking of the sky, Aiden slowly raised his head, his eyes widening. Above them was an endless expanse of darkness filled with countless stars, with galaxies stretching across the enormous sky and their magnificent shapes glowing with colors that Aiden had never seen before.

Massive celestial bodies floated in the distance... some appeared to be worlds, others looked like enormous balls of burning fire, and there were even vast rivers of starlight flowing across the darkness, forming breathtaking cosmic patterns.

It was so realistic that Aiden could almost feel the vastness of space pressing down upon him.

"Whoever made that design is a genius..." Aiden muttered unconsciously, respect filling his eyes, because just looking at it made him feel incredibly small and insignificant, almost as if he were truly standing beneath an endless universe.

Aiden shook his head.

Absurd. There was no way something like that could actually exist inside a dungeon; it had to be some kind of painting... an incredibly realistic painting, that was all.

He reached out and placed his palm against one of the massive pillars, and the instant his hand touched it, Aiden’s expression changed.

His eyes widened, he slowly withdrew his hand and stared at the pillar, and he stepped closer, his fingers trembling slightly as he examined the material. Shock unlike anything he had ever experienced filled his eyes.

"This is..." His breathing became heavier. "...Magic Crystal."

The warriors nearby immediately turned toward him as Aiden’s voice trembled.

"The purest Magic Crystal I’ve ever seen..."

He couldn’t believe what he was looking at. He had seen Magic Crystals before... even high-grade Magic Crystals, and he had seen crystals worth fortunes... but this was on an entirely different level.

And then Aiden noticed something that nearly caused his heart to stop: the entire pillar was made of it.

The massive pillar standing before him, so enormous that Aiden looked like nothing more than an ant beside it, was composed entirely of the purest Magic Crystal he had ever encountered, without a single ordinary material mixed into it, not even a tiny portion.

It was pure Magic Crystal from top to bottom.

"How..." Aiden staggered backward, his hand moving to his forehead as he genuinely felt as though he might pass out. "This is too absurd... too absurd to even imagine..."

But then he looked around, and his expression completely froze. There wasn’t just one pillar; there were countless pillars... blue, red, gold, purple, white, black, and countless other colors.

Every single one was made entirely from the same impossibly pure Magic Crystal. Aiden’s breathing stopped for a moment.

This is too much treasure. If they could somehow excavate just one of these pillars... Forget becoming the richest guild in the continent, the Scourge Guild could become the richest guild in the entire world.

And yet, they were standing in a place where countless such pillars existed.

Aiden took a deep breath, then another, forcing himself to calm down.

We’ve hit the jackpot.