Chapter 241 – Monotonous and Boring Grind

Chapter 241

Monotonous and Boring Grind

Date : Day 6 of Firstthaw 1024 Aethellgard Concord Year.

Freedom Party watched the Goblin Lord dissolve, their faces full of surprise.

For a moment, nobody moved. The chamber was silent except for the faint sound of their breathing.

Then Jackey shook his head.

“Wait. That's all?!”

His tabby cat ears twitched in annoyance.

“Where is the strong skulker like the other Guardians???”

Elise looked around the chamber, her emerald eyes moving along the curved walls and the floor, making sure there was no other enemy and no other complication waiting for them.

Only when she was sure did she cross the room and approach both Hyoren and Jackey.

“This is truly weird…”

She glanced at the spot where the Goblin Lord had stood.

“Even the Goblin Avengers, the enemies on the Fourth Floor, were stronger than this…”

Arianna stepped closer as well. She gripped her Quadraflux Weaver tighter, still staring at the empty floor.

“It's unprecedented…”

Hyoren tapped his chin.

Every Guardian until now was stronger than the floor before it… This one is weaker than the normal enemies on the Fourth Floor…

He turned to Jackey. 

Before he joined Freedom Party, the Cat-clan Beastkin had already been diving dungeons with his old party. If anyone here knew what was normal, it was him.

“This is definitely not normal, right, Jackey?”

Jackey sheathed his axes. The energy had drained out of him all at once, and his tabby cat ears drooped.

“No, Big Bro…”

He raised both his hands with a frustrated expression.

“A dungeon always gets harder the deeper we go.”

He scratched the back of his head.

“The deeper the floor, the stronger the monsters. Doesn't matter if it's a normal monster or a Guardian.”

Hyoren nodded.

“That's what I expected too…”

Elise slung her Moonveil Bow over her shoulder and looked up at him.

“So. What’s the plan now, Hyoren?”

Hyoren sheathed Dawn Breaker and looked around the chamber.

Where the Goblin Lord had disappeared, a golden chest now sat on the stone floor. A reward for their trouble. Though in truth, it had taken them only ten seconds to defeat.

He tapped his chin again.

One strange floor doesn't tell us much… We need to see the next one to know if this is a pattern or not.

He gazed at his party members.

“Everyone, what if we continue diving deeper?”

He gestured over the empty Guardian Chamber.

“To see if this Fifth Floor is the only anomaly or not?”

Jackey crossed his arms and nodded enthusiastically. Just like that, the light came back into his golden eyes.

“Yes, please! My blood is still boiling! I prepared for a strong skulker and I got a disappointment!”

His tabby cat tail flicked behind him.

“I want to fight more skulkers!”

Arianna smiled at her lover's sudden recovery. Then she turned to Hyoren.

“We have only been diving for six days.”

She adjusted her purple robe, the crimson lining shining under the pale blue of the magic lamps.

“We still have enough supplies and energy. We planned for nine to ten days of dungeon diving in the first place.”

She gestured over the empty room.

“I think we should continue, Leader.”

Hyoren nodded.

“Good. So everyone agrees?”

Elise tucked a strand of silver hair behind her pointed ear and nodded.

“I agree.”

Jackey raised his fist.

“Agree, Big Bro!”

Arianna adjusted the brim of her hat.

“Of course, Leader.”

With that decided, Hyoren walked over to the golden chest. It was a Guardian's reward, so there was no need for Elise to check it for traps. He knelt and opened the lid.

The moment he did, the chest dissolved into particles of Aethell. Left behind on the floor were a pair of gauntlets.

They were made of white metal. Runic inscriptions ran along their surface, and they glowed faintly.

Hyoren picked them up and turned them over in his hand. Then he smiled and handed them to Elise, who opened her storage bag. The void at the opening took the gauntlets in.

“At least we got something from this Guardian…”

Elise nodded as she tied the bag back on her belt.

“Yes. We still need to appraise it to see the effect, but the runic inscriptions tell us this is enchanted gear.”

Her pointed ears twitched.

“Whether we use them or sell them, it’s still a good reward. Fufufu.”

Hyoren smiled.

“That's true.”

His dark eyes turned to the far end of the chamber. A teleport orb had materialized there. A gateway to the next challenge.

Without waiting anymore, Hyoren walked toward it while his party members followed him a few steps away. He placed his hand on it. One by one, the others placed their hands beside his.

He closed his eyes.

Sixth Floor.

***

The familiar rush of teleportation washed over them, and Freedom Party found themselves in yet another Safe Room.

But the moment they stepped through the rippling gate into the dungeon proper of the Sixth Floor, the change was obvious.

The labyrinth was tighter here. More claustrophobic. The long, straight corridor of the Fifth Floor was gone, and so were the rows of wooden doors. Narrow passages twisted away in front of them instead, and the air was dry and dusty, smelling of old stone and rust.

Elise stopped in her tracks.

Her Mapping skill had already spread a blank canvas of the Sixth Floor in her mind. Nothing on it was filled in yet. But from the outline alone, she could guess how big the floor was compared to the previous one.

“This floor… it’s even smaller than the Fifth Floor…”

Hyoren furrowed his eyebrows.

“Smaller? Then we should be wary of traps. Just like on the Fourth Floor?”

Jackey, who could not wait any longer, had already drawn his Bloody Axe.

“Please, enough talking, Big Bro! I can’t wait to whack more skulkers!”

Everyone laughed.

Hyoren smiled and shook his head.

“Well, someone is eager.”

He turned to Elise.

“But he’s right. Let’s not waste any time.”

Elise nodded. She crouched and took point, walking at the front of the formation to scout for any traps or monsters.

So they walked. And walked.

There were almost no traps. After the Fourth Floor, where nearly every step had to be checked, it felt strange. 

There were no monsters either. They only walked, turning corners, choosing one path at every intersection, then turning back from dead ends to take another corridor.

Before long, Jackey started clicking his tongue. He had already sheathed both of his axes again, and now he followed Elise with his arms crossed.

“What does this dungeon want? This is even more boring than the Fourth Floor!”

Hyoren smiled wryly.

“Patience, Jackey…”

The Cat-clan Beastkin scowled at him.

“But Big Bro!”

Hyoren chuckled.

“Well. This is starting to get on my nerves too…”

He looked at the narrow corridor in front of them.

“But this is an even-numbered floor, so the enemies should be sparse. We just have to be patient…”

They continued on.

After about an hour of walking, they rounded another corner. And there, at last, they found their first monster.

It was almost identical to the Guardian they had just fought. A single goblin, muscular but hunched, with a longsword in one hand and plain leather armor.

Hyoren’s Magic Eyes showed the appraisal result.

Goblin Lord — Level 21

Weak Point : Brain (Head), Heart (Left Chest)

State : Healthy

Hyoren narrowed his eyes.

“It’s the same goblin…”

Beside him, Jackey’s tabby cat tail went still.

“One hour of walking… and what we find is a weak skulker again? What is wrong with this dungeon?”

Before anyone else could speak, Jackey charged, drawing his Bloody Axe and Blackmaw Tomahawk as he ran.

He jumped.

“Cross Slash.”

SCREEECK!

The Goblin Lord was cut down before it could even swing its sword. It dissolved into particles of Aethell. The monster had gone down almost effortlessly.

Jackey swung his axe in irritation.

“It’s the same weak skulker as the last Guardian!”

He shook his head.

“This dungeon is mocking us!”

Elise lowered her Moonveil Bow.

“What’s wrong with this dungeon? It got harder and harder up to the Fifth Floor. Then suddenly, the difficulty dropped considerably.”

Arianna lowered her staff as well.

“What a weird dungeon.”

Meanwhile, Hyoren was thinking.

That bored voice of Gidol… Did he really…

He meticulously crafted this dungeon from the First Floor to the Fifth Floor… Would he really abandon all of that and make the Sixth Floor and above half-heartedly…?

He shook his head.

There’s no need to overthink it… This might be a trap to catch us off guard…

He gripped his shield tighter.

“Everyone, we shouldn’t be careless. This might be the dungeon’s way of making us relax. Then it will throw another absurd situation at us.”

Elise’s emerald eyes sharpened, and she nodded.

“Hyoren is right. The dungeon is always wicked.”

Arianna nodded too.

“Understood, Leader.”

Jackey was only half-convinced. But he nodded anyway.

“Well… if Big Bro says so…”

After that, Freedom Party continued their dive into the Sixth Floor.

Corridor after corridor, intersection after intersection, dead end after dead end, Elise’s map slowly filled in. The traps stayed sparse. So did the monsters, and each one went down after one or two attacks from Freedom Party.

Hour after hour, they continued without any significant obstacle or complication.

***

At the end of the day, Freedom Party stood in front of a familiar archway once again.

Hyoren checked the pocket watch hanging from his neck. 

16:31. 

He sheathed Dawn Breaker and stared at the gate. The runes along its curve pulsed with the same slow, pale blue glow.

“Wait. It's only been one day, and we're already at the Guardian Chamber?”

Behind him, Jackey peeked past his shoulder at the archway.

“Huh? Already? We barely did anything today, Big Bro!”

Hyoren furrowed his eyebrows and turned to the silver-haired elf beside him.

“Elise, how's the mapping?”

Elise slung her Moonveil Bow over her shoulder and closed her eyes. When they opened again, her emerald eyes widened slightly as they met Hyoren’s dark ones.

“It's… done. One hundred percent. We fully mapped this floor within a day…”

Hyoren blinked.

“Fully mapped… Within a day…”

He tapped his chin.

A small floor. Almost no traps. Sparse monsters, and every one of them weak…

He looked around the narrow corridor, as if a trap might finally spring now that he said it out loud.

“I really thought there would be some kind of catch after that weak Fifth Floor Guardian. But the Sixth Floor was a disappointment too?”

Jackey, who had not drawn his axes in hours, looked up towards the ceiling. His golden eyes rolled in frustration.

“This is booooriiinggg.”

Arianna glanced at him with a small smile.

“You have said that six times today, Jackey.”

The Cat-clan Beastkin puffed his cheeks.

“Because it's true!”

His tabby cat tail swished lazily behind him as he pointed at the archway.

“Let's just fight the Guardian, Big Bro! If I don't whack a strong skulker soon, I'll be bored to death!”

Hyoren looked from Jackey to the other two.

“Well, Jackey has made his opinion very clear. What about you two?”

Arianna adjusted the brim of her hat.

“I only cast low-tier spells a few times today, Leader.”

She smiled.

“And our pace was slow, too. I think I have enough energy for a Guardian fight.”

Elise traced the silver wood of her Moonveil Bow with her fingertips.

“I know it's frustrating. The dungeon always gave us a challenge. But now…”

She trailed off and glanced at the archway. Even she sounded a little disappointed.

Hyoren grinned.

“When did all of you become battle freaks?”

Elise tilted her head, and the corner of her lips curved.

“Says the one who's grinning right now. Fufu.”

Hyoren scratched his cheek. He couldn't deny it. His eyes went back to the archway, and his grin only widened.

“Fine. I feel the same… This boring floor made me crave some challenge.”

He looked back at his party members.

“Let's at least take a look at the Sixth Floor Guardian.”

He rolled his shoulder.

“Based on the pattern, it should be a horde type. If we can manage it, we fight. If I decide we can't, we retreat first. Okay?”

Jackey shot up his fist so fast his ears perked.

“Yes! Please be a strong Guardian!”

Elise checked the string of her bow with a soft thwang.

“Okay, Hyoren.”

Arianna gripped her Quadraflux Weaver tighter.

“Understood, Leader.”

Hyoren stepped forward and touched the archway. The moment his palm met the cold stone, Gidol's voice echoed in his mind, heavy with tired contempt.

You actually managed to endure the boredom? I wish I could too… Xixixi…

He narrowed his eyes.

Even Gidol is bored…

Hyoren answered in his mind, as always.

Yes.

The world twisted. Then solid ground returned beneath their feet.

They stood in a large, circular chamber. It was similar to the Guardian Chamber of the Fifth Floor, only a little bigger. Behind them, the retreat archway glowed faintly.

At the far end of the chamber stood thirty goblins—normal goblins. They wore rags and held crude weapons. Rusted short swords, wooden clubs, sharpened sticks.

Hyoren activated his Magic Eyes.

Goblin — Level 16

Weak Point : Brain (Head), Heart (Left Chest)

State : Healthy

Hyoren narrowed his eyes. He scanned the rest of the chamber, wall to wall, looking for anything else. A Goblin Caster in the back. A runic array on the floor. Anything at all.

There was nothing.

Only thirty weak goblins? No dungeon-exclusive variant again? No complications again?

What…?

Jackey was already tugging at his sleeve.

“Big Bro? What are they? They're strong, right? Tell me they're strong!”

Hyoren turned to his party, and his expression said everything before he did.

“They're normal goblins… Level 16. Lower than even the mobs on the Fifth Floor…”

He glanced back at the goblins.

“And this is supposed to be a Guardian.”

For a moment, Jackey only stared at him.

Then he drew his Bloody Axe, threw it onto the ground with a loud clang, and sat down right beside it.

“I give up. I hate this dungeon. Thirty weak skulkers? What kind of sick joke is this?”

Elise looked down at him, then back at the goblins. Her emerald eyes narrowed as she scanned the chamber one more time, as if she hoped Hyoren had missed something.

“No elite variant… just a horde… Yes, it's still a horde, so the pattern holds…”

She shook her head slowly.

“But thirty? Every room on the Fifth Floor had a hundred, and they were Level 20. These are only Level 16?”

Hyoren nodded.

“That's what I'm saying.”

Beside them, Arianna had not said a single word. She simply stood there, her light blue eyes fixed on the goblins, as if she could not make sense of what she was seeing.

Hyoren looked at her.

“Arianna. Just…”

He shook his head.

“...end them.”

The crimson-haired mage blinked and snapped out of her daze.

“Ah. Right… Forgive me for daydreaming, Leader…”

She looked at him, then at the small group of goblins that was supposed to be the Guardian, and let out a small sigh.

“Let me deal with it quickly, then…”

She raised her staff.

“Ring of Flame.”

A small crimson orb appeared in the very center of the goblins. It expanded outward in a blazing ring, then rose into a towering circular wall of fire that swallowed everything inside it. It wasn't a fight. It was an execution. 

In less than five seconds, the horde was gone. All thirty goblins dissolved into particles of Aethell.

Arianna lowered her staff.

“Well. That's a letdown.”

From the floor, Jackey groaned without even looking up.

“See? I told you. Sick joke.”

Hyoren shook his head and offered him a hand. Jackey grabbed it and let himself be pulled to his feet.

“Let's just move on… and hope the Seventh Floor isn't a disappointment too…”

He paused, looking at the empty spot where the goblins had stood.

“Though I have a bad feeling about it…”

Elise glanced at him.

“A bad feeling?”

Hyoren shrugged.

“Just a hunch.”

He looked at his party members.

“Anyway. Let's sleep in the Safe Room of the Seventh Floor tonight, and continue our dive with fresh minds and bodies.”

At the far end of the chamber, a teleport orb had appeared. Hyoren walked over and placed his hand on it, his mind already on the next challenge. The next pattern to figure out. The next floor to conquer.

***

The next morning, after a night's rest and a quiet breakfast, Freedom Party left the Safe Room and stepped through the rippling gate into the dungeon proper of the Seventh Floor.

The sense of repetition was immediate. The same narrow corridors. The same cracked walls, close on both sides. The same dry, dusty air that smelled of old stone and rust. The architecture, the oppressive atmosphere—it was all a carbon copy of the Sixth Floor they had just cleared.

Hyoren stopped a few steps past the gate and looked around. Then he shook his head.

“The dungeon is recycling its design.”

He looked down the corridor in front of them.

“From the First Floor to the Fifth Floor, there was always some variation, despite the similarities… but this…”

He did not finish. He didn't need to. Anyone could see it.

Elise nodded slowly. Her emerald eyes had gone distant for a moment as she checked the blank map in her mind.

“And the size of the map… My Mapping skill shows this floor is… even smaller than the Sixth Floor.”

Jackey's tabby cat ears perked.

“Smaller? Again?”

He looked from Elise to Hyoren, and his ears slowly flattened.

“Don't tell me this floor is going to be boring too!”

He raised his fist toward the ceiling, as if he could shake it at the dungeon itself.

“Please give me back the Goblin Avengers! Or the Goblin Rider! Or anything strong!”

Arianna did not say anything.

She stood a little behind them with one finger resting against her chin, her light blue eyes fixed on the corridor wall. It looked as if she was putting something together in her mind, piece by piece.

Hyoren glanced at her, then decided not to interrupt. Instead, he smiled at the other two.

“Well. All we can do is move forward.”

He gestured to Elise.

“Let's go.”

Elise crouched and took point.

So Freedom Party moved forward. But their steps were heavier than usual. Each of them could feel it. The challenge that had always been waiting for them in this dungeon was gone.

Their first encounter confirmed it. They rounded a corner and found a group of goblins standing in the corridor. Normal goblins. Rags and crude weapons.

Hyoren's Magic Eyes showed the appraisal result.

Goblin — Level 16

Weak Point : Brain (Head), Heart (Left Chest)

State : Healthy

He counted them.

Hyoren gritted his teeth.

“Only… ten Level 16 goblins?”

Beside him, Jackey threw up both hands. He had not bothered to draw his axes since they left the Safe Room, and he did not reach for them now.

“I'm out. I don't want to fight rats.”

So he didn't.

The fight was a rote exercise. There was no tension. No strategy. No danger.  After that, the hours began to bleed together.

The traps were sparse. The monsters were sparse. Every encounter was the same: ten goblins at Level 16, gone almost as soon as they appeared. It was the Sixth Floor all over again. The only difference was ten weak goblins instead of a single Goblin Lord.

Meanwhile, Hyoren kept thinking.

The First Floor to the Fifth Floor… each one built to test us in a different way…

Then the Sixth Floor… and now this Seventh Floor. Copied. Almost like he stopped trying…

He thought of Gidol's bored voice at the archway, and his frown deepened.

Then, in the afternoon, they turned another corner and found another archway to the Guardian Chamber.

Elise stopped in front of it and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her voice was completely flat.

“One hundred percent. The floor is fully mapped, within a day of walking. Again…”

Hyoren nodded.

“Let's just rest, for now.”

Nobody answered him.

They were not tired physically. Not even close. But mentally, all of them were worn out. It felt as if the dungeon was mocking them. 

***

The next morning, Hyoren touched the archway.

Gidol's voice came into his mind as a bored, monotonous drone.

A big one with a big sword. How original. Just kill it already. I'm getting bored…

The world twisted, and solid ground returned beneath their feet.

The Guardian Chamber was large and circular. In the center stood a single Goblin Lord, gripping a two-handed greatsword. It had no army and no guards. It was just—there.

Hyoren activated his Magic Eyes.

Goblin Lord — Level 16

Weak Point : Brain (Head), Heart (Left Chest)

State : Healthy

Freedom Party stood in silence.

Hyoren's mouth twitched in disbelief.

“A single… Goblin Lord. Level 16…”

Nobody reacted. Jackey did not even groan. Elise's bow stayed lowered at her side. Arianna only stared. None of them could believe it anymore.

So Hyoren simply charged.

He did not use Provoke. He did not need to. The Goblin Lord raised its greatsword and brought it down on him.

CLANG!

Hyoren took the blow on his Steel Kite Shield. Then he countered.

“Quick Slash.”

SQUELCH!

Dawn Breaker cut through the Goblin Lord, and it was over. A few seconds, and Hyoren had done it alone. Behind him, his party members had not even moved. They could not be bothered.

The Goblin Lord dissolved into particles of Aethell.

Jackey kicked a loose stone across the floor. It skittered away and clattered against the chamber wall.

“This is it? This is the ‘Elite’ Guardian?”

His tabby cat tail lashed behind him.

“A big, dumb rat that dies in one hit from Big Bro alone? What a joke!”

Elise said nothing. But her emerald eyes were fixed on Hyoren.

She knew him better than anyone, and she saw past the surface-level disappointment. She saw the stillness in him. The way he stood unmoving, his eyes unfocused, staring at the spot where the Goblin Lord had fallen.

He wasn't just disappointed. He was thinking.

The rest of the party noticed it too. One by one, they fell silent, and all their eyes turned to him. They waited. They knew that look. It was the look he got when he was taking a problem apart.

Jackey was the first to step closer.

“Big Bro? What's the plan? Do we just keep going?”

Arianna tilted her head, watching his face.

“Leader? Are you okay?”

Elise simply placed a hand on his arm. A silent gesture of support. She didn't press him. She just waited, trusting that when he was ready, he would share whatever conclusion he was reaching.

Hyoren said nothing. He stood there in the silent chamber, the glow of the newly appeared Teleport Orb reflecting in his dark eyes.

The monster levels… The patterns… The rewards… The difficulty…

The first five floors were a brilliant, escalating challenge… Each one harder than the last…

But the next ones… They're a plateau. A boring, predictable, unrewarding plateau…

At last, Hyoren stirred. His gaze shifted from the empty chamber floor to the faces of his waiting party. The silence had stretched on, but none of them had broken it.

He looked at them.

“This dungeon is truly an anomaly…”

Then he looked at the silver-haired elf beside him.

“Elise, do you remember what Harvengald's Dungeon Specialists said during our first scouting run with them and Guild Master Fiona?”

Elise traced the silver wood of her Moonveil Bow as she remembered. Then she slowly nodded, her silver hair swaying with the motion.

“They said this is officially classified as a Bronze dungeon… but it has more floors than a typical Bronze-tier one.”

Hyoren nodded.

“Exactly. Robert and Fris said the depth is almost like a Silver-tier dungeon. More than thirty floors. Maybe even fifty.”

Jackey and Arianna exchanged a glance, then nodded in understanding.

Hyoren continued.

“I think this dungeon is Gidol's idea of a crude joke.”

He gestured over the empty Guardian Chamber.

“But maybe that's just the way it is. Other dungeons have a clear, progressive difficulty, right? The early floors are easy, and the deeper you dive, the harder it gets.”

His companions nodded again.

Hyoren grinned.

“But this dungeon is special. I have a hunch. The next floor will be a total letdown too. It will still follow the horde-elite-horde pattern.”

He looked at each of his party members.

“But I think the hardest fights in this entire Bronze section, the real test, were the first five floors. Think about it. Since then, the difficulty has been getting lower the deeper we dive, right?”

The realization dawned on his party members.

Hyoren tapped his shield.

“We'll still proceed as usual. Map the floor, defeat the Guardian, advance. But we shouldn't expect any good fights for a while. Maybe not until we reach the complications of the deeper floors.”

Then his expression turned serious. 

“But the dungeon is wicked. We can't truly relax. The pattern could break at any time. The difficulty could spike back up without warning. So we stay sharp, we stay ready, and we never get complacent.”

His words settled over them and shifted the way they saw everything.

Jackey's scowl faded, replaced by a look of grudging understanding. He scratched the back of his head.

“So the big fight is already over? And the rest is just… cleanup?”

Hyoren nodded.

“Basically.”

Then Arianna suddenly murmured, almost to herself. One hand had gone to her chin, and her light blue eyes were wide.

“A dungeon that grows weaker after the Fifth Floor instead of stronger… That's fascinating! And terrifying!”

She looked up at them.

“It's designed to lull you into a false sense of security before hitting you with something unimaginable later!”

Her eyes gleamed with a sudden, fierce intellectual light. In an instant, the frustration of the letdown had turned into the thrill of a new academic challenge.

She gripped her Quadraflux Weaver with both hands.

“I will write about this!”

Her expression had completely changed. The composed noble lady was gone, and in her place stood a magic fanatic who had just stumbled onto a brand-new piece of knowledge.

“On the Inverted Progression of Monster Strength in the Akela Dungeon! It will be a groundbreaking paper for the Academy!”

The switch was so absurd that the tension in the chamber broke at once. Jackey let out a loud, booming laugh. Elise covered her mouth and chuckled softly, shaking her head. And even Hyoren felt a genuine smile spread across his face, the weight of his thoughts lifting for a moment.

He chuckled with amusement.

“Alright, Professor Akela. You can write your paper. But first, we get the data. Let's continue our dive.”

He walked over and placed his hand on the Teleport Orb. His party members followed and placed their hands beside his.

He closed his eyes.

Eighth Floor.

The now-familiar rush of energy washed over them, and deposited them in the Safe Room of the Eighth Floor.

***

Freedom Party stepped through the rippling gate into the Eighth Floor.

It was, just as Hyoren had predicted, another letdown.

The labyrinth was identical in design to the previous two floors. The same narrow corridors. The same cracked walls. The same dry, dusty air.

The enemies were sparse, too. Solitary Level 16 Goblin Lords, one at a time. They were tougher than the fodder on the Seventh Floor, but they were still no match for Freedom Party. Each encounter was a brief, one-sided affair.

By the third pointless encounter, Jackey had found the perfect words for it. He watched the Goblin Lord dissolve and rested his Bloody Axe on his shoulder with a long sigh.

“This is like fighting rats in a sewer.”

Elise did not even try to argue. She only nodded and slung her bow back over her shoulder.

And again, at the end of the day, they arrived at another familiar archway.

Elise stopped in front of it and closed her eyes. When she opened them, her voice was as flat as the day before.

“The map is one hundred percent complete.”

A collective sigh seemed to pass through the party. 

Arianna, however, perked up. She pulled a small notebook from her storage bag and tapped it with her finger.

“Well. At least I have plenty of new data for my paper.”

She cleared her throat.

“Chapter One: The Profound and Soul-Destroying Tedium of the Eighth Floor.”

Jackey grunted in agreement. He swung his axe once, lazily, through the empty air.

“Let's kill the Guardian and get this over with. I think my axe is getting bored.”

Elise looked at Hyoren.

“Do we fight the Guardian now? Or rest first?”

Hyoren shook his head.

“Let's rest first. We face the Guardian tomorrow.”

He glanced at the pulsing runes.

“No matter how easy it's likely to be, we don't take chances.”

So they set up camp in front of the archway. The routine was so familiar by now that they could have done it in their sleep.

The next morning, they ate a quick, silent breakfast and broke camp.

Hyoren touched the gate. Gidol's voice came into his mind as a flat, uninspired drone, utterly devoid of its usual malice.

Ten rats again. Swat them for me so I can go back to my nap. Xixixi…

Hyoren answered.

Yes.

They were teleported into a large, circular chamber. And there they were.

Ten Level 10 Goblins stood in a disorganized horde, their rusty swords and dull eyes a pathetic sight. No commander, no elite guard. Just a mob of the weakest enemies they had faced in this entire dungeon, gathered in one place.

Arianna groaned out loud.

Her noble composure was gone. The repetition and the inverted difficulty had finally drawn out her bratty side. She stamped the butt of her staff against the floor.

“This is an insult, Leader! Ten Level 10s!”

Jackey crossed his arms beside his lover and nodded hard.

“This isn't a boss fight. It's pest control.”

Elise let out a long sigh, her pointed ears drooping.

“Let's just get this over with.”

Hyoren nodded.

“Arianna. End them.”

Arianna simply pointed her staff toward the horde. A massive Fire Ball erupted in the heart of their formation.

It was over in seconds.

Jackey crossed the chamber and kicked at the magic stones scattered across the floor. They skittered away and clattered against the wall.

“It's a waste of time!”

He spun around, his tabby cat tail lashing behind him.

“We're getting stronger, but for what? To fight rats in a maze?”

Elise said nothing. But her shoulders were slumped.

One by one, they turned to Hyoren, expecting him to share their frustration.

But he was standing perfectly still. His expression was unreadable as he looked down at the pathetic loot on the floor.

Then he raised his head.

“Don't. Don't give in to it.”

He looked at each of them, his gaze steady and intense.

“This is part of being an adventurer.”

He gestured around the chamber, at the fading remnants of the goblins.

“Not every fight is a great battle. Not every dungeon has treasure. Most of the time, it’s just this.”

He scratched his cheek with a wry smile.

“If we only enjoy the exciting parts, we’ll get frustrated. And frustrated people get careless. In a dungeon, being careless gets you killed.”

His expression turned serious, and he gripped his shield.

“So think of this as a different kind of test. Can we still do our job properly when it’s boring? That’s what makes a real adventurer.”

He looked at Jackey.

“This is what separates an adventurer from a thug who likes to smash things.”

He looked at Arianna.

“This is what separates a master mage from a magic freak who just loves explosions.”

He looked at Elise.

“And you already know this better than any of us, Elise.”

He straightened, gripping his shield.

“We are Freedom Party. We are professionals.”

His words hung in the air.

A slow smile touched Elise's lips. The weariness in her emerald eyes was replaced by a familiar, fond amusement. She had seen this side of him before. The side that found a strange, deep joy in the brutal logic of survival and growth. He wasn't just enduring the grind. He was reveling in it.

She tucked a strand of silver hair behind her pointed ear.

“He's right. It's a different kind of challenge. A mental one.”

Arianna tilted her head.

“So… the boredom is a variable in the equation? A trial of patience, meant to weed out the undisciplined… ”

Her light blue eyes widened.

“That's… fascinatingly cruel!”

A spark of her old excitement returned. She flipped open her notebook again.

“I have to add a new chapter to my paper! 'On Repetitive Floor Construction and Its Effect on Adventurer Vigilance'!”

Even Jackey, the most straightforward of them all, seemed to grasp Hyoren's logic. He scratched his head.

“So… being bored and still whacking things… makes us better whackers?”

Hyoren nodded.

“Exactly, Jackey. It makes you the best whacker.”

Jackey's tabby cat ears perked, and a grin slowly spread across his face.

Hyoren grinned and turned toward the newly appeared Teleport Orb.

“Alright, time to move on. The Ninth Floor is waiting. I can't wait to see what new and exciting way Gidol has thought up to bore us next.”

He strode toward the orb, his step light and confident. His party followed.

***

The Teleport Orb deposited them in the now-familiar Safe Room of the Ninth Floor.

They stepped through the rippling gate into the dungeon proper. A few steps in, Elise stopped and furrowed her eyebrows. Her emerald eyes went distant as she checked the blank map in her mind.

“This Ninth Floor… It's so small… Maybe less than half the size of the previous floor.”

Jackey let out a long grumble, his tabby cat ears drooping.

“Great… Now we get to fight rats in a closet.”

Everyone chuckled. Even Elise covered her mouth with her hand.

After that, they continued the grind.

The Ninth Floor was full of nothing but Level 10 normal goblins. Freedom Party cut through them. There were no traps to slow them down, either.

By late afternoon, less than a full day after they had started, they stood in front of the Guardian archway with the floor fully mapped.

Elise smiled. But it was a tired smile, and her voice was weary.

“Well. At least the monotony is efficient.”

Hyoren nodded and looked at the pulsing runes.

“Let's camp. We will fight the Guardian tomorrow morning.”

He smiled wryly.

“I'm almost looking forward to seeing how pathetic it's going to be.”

The next morning, they stood before the Guardian gate of the Ninth Floor.

Hyoren placed his hand on the gate.

The psychic voice of Gidol that echoed in his mind was not just bored. It sounded half-asleep, utterly drained of any creative malice.

Ugh. Another one. Just… get it over with. I don't even care anymore. Xixixi…

The sigh in that voice was so deep that Hyoren almost felt sorry for the Demon God.

Yes.

They were teleported into a small, circular chamber.

And in the center, standing alone, was a single goblin.

Hyoren activated his Magic Eyes.

Goblin Fighter — Level 12

Weak Point : Brain (Head), Heart (Left Chest)

State : Healthy

It wasn't a Goblin Lord. It wasn't a dungeon-exclusive variant. It was just a Goblin Fighter.

It looked at them, its beady eyes full of dull, witless confusion. It held a rusty short sword, but it didn't even raise it into a guard. It just stood there, breathing.

The party stared at it in stunned silence for a full ten seconds.

Then Jackey moved.

For once, he didn't say a word. No "WOHOO". No complaints. He just walked forward, his expression one of deep pity. He raised his Bloody Axe and brought it down in a simple overhead chop.

The Goblin Fighter's head popped off. Its body then dissolved into particles of Aethell, leaving behind a single, small, translucent magic stone.

Freedom Party stood in the silent chamber, looking down at the lone, pathetic magic stone on the floor.

There was no golden chest. No reward. Nothing.

The silence was broken by Hyoren.

He started to chuckle. It was a low, quiet sound at first. Then it grew, and grew, until it became a full, booming laugh that echoed off the stone walls. He laughed until tears were streaming down his face.

His laughter was so infectious that his party members started laughing too. They were laughing at the sheer audacity of it all. 

Hyoren wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand, still gasping.

“Gidol isn't even trying anymore!”

He walked over, picked up the single magic stone, and tossed it to Arianna.

“Here you go, Professor. Add this to your paper. It's a key piece of evidence.”

Arianna caught the stone. Her laughter slowly subsided, and she shook her head, holding the tiny stone up to the light.

“I'm going to title it 'On the Diminishing Aethell Investment of Guardian Manifestation in the Akela Dungeon.'”

Hyoren was still chuckling. 

“Well, that’s another floor done. Let's go. The Tenth Floor is waiting. I can't imagine what fresh hell of mediocrity it has in store for us.”

***

They didn't even bother to rest.

The "fight" on the Ninth Floor had been so pathetic that it hadn't even counted as a warm-up. 

Hyoren placed his hand on the Teleport Orb without hesitation and closed his eyes.

Tenth Floor.

The rush of teleportation was instant. They arrived in the Safe Room, and without a word, they walked toward the shimmering gate. Their steps were filled with a new, cynical curiosity.

What will it be this time? Five goblins? Three?

They stepped through the gate. And stopped.

All four of them stood frozen. Elise’s emerald eyes widened. Jackey’s tabby cat tail stilled. And Arianna’s mouth hung open in a most unladylike manner. 

There was no Tenth Floor.

There was no labyrinth. No corridors. No intersections. There was only a short, straight corridor, about a hundred meters long, lined with the same oppressive stone as the previous floors. And at the end of it, stood the Guardian Chamber archway.

Hyoren narrowed his eyes.

The sheer, brazen laziness of it was staggering… The dungeon hadn't even bothered to build a floor. It had just given them a hallway to the next Guardian…

Arianna was the one who finally snapped.

She stamped the butt of her Quadraflux Weaver against the stone floor. 

“This is utterly unacceptable!”

Her cheeks puffed out.

“This isn’t a dungeon. It’s an insult! A single corridor with a Guardian at the end? Not even a proper floor?!”

She pointed accusingly at the archway, as if Gidol himself were standing there.

“Did the Demon God simply grow tired of designing floors? How dreadfully lazy!”

Jackey just stared down the corridor, his mouth hanging slightly open. His tabby cat tail had gone completely still.

“Big Bro… Arianna is right… I think this is the laziest thing I have ever seen.”

Elise said nothing at first. Her keen emerald eyes scanned the corridor from wall to wall.

“This breaks the pattern completely. The horde-elite-horde pattern is gone.”

Her eyebrows drew tighter.

“This is… an aberration.”

Hyoren, however, was not shocked.

He was delighted.

A slow, wide grin spread across his face.

“No, no, no…”

He chuckled and shook his head.

“You're not looking at it the right way. This isn't laziness. This is efficient! Gidol has streamlined the process!”

He spread his arms toward the empty corridor.

“Why bother with a whole floor of boring trash mobs when you can just get straight to the slightly-less-boring Guardian? It's the ultimate grind! We've grinded so hard that the dungeon itself has given up trying to challenge us with anything but the Guardian!”

He started walking down the corridor, his step light and energetic. Then he glanced back over his shoulder at Arianna.

“Come on, Professor! This is a whole new chapter for your paper! 'On the Corridor Floor: The Complete Absence of Floor Construction in the Akela Dungeon'!”

Arianna stared at his back. 

“That is… actually a good title, Leader.”

Elise let out a small sigh and followed him. Jackey and Arianna fell in behind her.

They walked the short length of the corridor. Their footsteps were the only sound in the dead silence. It was the most surreal, anticlimactic "floor" they had ever experienced. It was a hallway. Nothing more.

They arrived at the Guardian archway. Its runes pulsed slowly with the same pale blue glow as always.

Hyoren rolled his shoulder and grinned at his party.

“Well… Let's see what fresh new disappointment awaits us behind door number ten.”

He placed his hand on the gate. The cold stone met his palm. 

But the voice that slithered into his mind was not bored. It was not tired. It was a crackling, venomous surge of pure malice, so potent and so full of ancient hatred that it made him flinch.

So you enjoyed my little game, did you, pretend heroes? You liked my jokes? You liked my boredom?

Well… the joke is over. Let's see you laugh now. Xixixi.

XIXIXI.

The grin dropped from Hyoren's face. A chill crawled up his arm from the stone, all the way to the back of his neck.

That laughter… It's different…

Alarm bells rang in his head. But it was too late to pull back now. He decided to go with it.

Yes.

The world dissolved.

They didn't arrive in a stone chamber. They arrived on a floating platform.

It was circular, made of dark, weathered stone, about fifty meters across. The air was warm and carried the scent of grass and wildflowers. Above them, a brilliant blue sky stretched out in every direction, dotted with fluffy white clouds. In the distance below, they could see a vast, beautiful expanse of grassland, swaying gently in the breeze.

It was idyllic. It was peaceful.

But it was a lie.

The platform was an island in the sky. Its outer edge was a sheer cliff that dropped away into an abyss so deep they couldn't see the bottom. There was no way down. No way to reach the peaceful grassland below. They were trapped.

Behind them stood the retreat archway, glowing faintly. Their only way out.

And in the center of the platform stood the Guardian.

A cold, primal fear washed over Freedom Party.

It was a hulking mountain of muscle, standing a terrifying four meters tall. Its thick green skin was crisscrossed with old scars. It wore no armor, only a pair of crude leather pants and heavy boots. It was a creature of pure, physical power.

It should have been a goblin. It had a goblin's face.

But everything else was wrong. The aura it gave off. The oppressive pressure that pushed down on their shoulders even from across the platform.

In its left hand was a black obsidian greatsword. It was three meters long and impossibly wide, its surface jagged and cruel, like a shard of volcanic glass. In its right hand, it held another greatsword, just as long and just as wide. This one was made of black metal, covered in pulsing red runes that seemed to drink in the light around them.

Hyoren's hand trembled on his shield. He forced himself to activate his Magic Eyes.

Goblin Devastator — Level 60

Weak Point : Brain (Head), Heart (Left Chest)

State : Healthy

For a long moment, Hyoren could not speak. His throat had gone completely dry. Behind him, nobody moved. They were waiting for him.

He finally found his voice.

“A dungeon-exclusive variant… named… Goblin Devastator… and its level is…”

He paused and swallowed hard.

“It's Level 60…”

A collective shudder ran through Freedom Party.

For a long time, none of them moved. Jackey's tabby cat ears flattened against his head, and his tail went rigid behind him. Arianna's knuckles whitened around her Quadraflux Weaver. And the arrow in Elise's hand was forgotten, hanging loose against the string of her Moonveil Bow.

This was not an enemy they could take. This was not a joke. This was not a letdown. This was a monster. A true, high-level Guardian, dropped into the middle of their Bronze-tier dungeon.

It was Elise who found her voice first. Her lips were trembling.

“This is impossible…”