VIP Chapter 218: “The Winner”
“It’s as if the Adventurer’s Guild is intentionally ignoring it, isn’t it?”
Shuna’s words startled Will. It was indeed true. Although as the founder of the Guild, he was reluctant to admit it, the reason Lucifer was so “depressed,” “sad,” and “conflicted” was precisely the Adventurer’s Guild’s intentional neglect.
“So, you, from the Hysterm Family…” Shuna, like a keen detective, had already deduced the “culprit” from the current “information.” At the same time, with her sharp senses, she moved closer to the “culprit” and stared at “him.”
“…should know the reason behind it better, right?”
“Normally, I should. But as the outside world perceives, I am the least favored. The one who never intended for me to become the head of the family… so I don’t know what they are thinking.”
“What a shame. You could have been more assertive and given Lucifer a surprise, like…” Shuna paused slightly, as if brewing an interesting tone: “‘It’s fine, with just one command from me, you can host hundreds of adventurers tomorrow’—something like that?”
Will, startled by Shuna’s imitation of a domineering CEO, flinched backward—though such a profession didn’t exist in this world.
“But if I consider it from my business perspective, at this point in time…”
This particular moment was when the Hysterm Family was being constrained by the Entak Empire’s Royal Family, unable to fully bring the dungeons into the light. They had to pay substantial taxes annually and were restricted by Entak’s government and military in various cities. Therefore…
“Carver might want to isolate and weaken the Royal Family with such actions. After all, the closer you are to the capital, the stronger Entak’s influence becomes.” Will reached this conclusion.
“Look, with the Adventurer’s Guild maintaining transportation, they’ve rarely opened up such a route.” From the perspective of time and fate, it was very logical, wasn’t it?
However… Thinking this way, the appearance of dungeons and their resources had always been “random” in this world. But if Carver could control the prosperity of the dungeons by controlling the number of adventurers, then the Hysterm Family and the Adventurer’s Guild could control much more than he initially thought.
Could this be the long, long foreshadowing laid out in the original work?
“Is that so? I feel like… things are not that simple.” Shuna propped her chin, seemingly contemplating deeper matters—things unrelated to superficial political struggles.
“Without the exploration of adventurers, this dungeon will remain dormant. Hmm… my intuition is usually accurate, but I don’t usually trust it blindly.” She shifted her gaze from the empty street outside the stairs to closing her eyes in silent contemplation.
“Why did the old witch lead us here? Even if she wanted to trap us, she shouldn’t have brought us to a dungeon that is relatively weak in strength. So, there must be some other information she wants to convey to us…”
“Let me give you a piece of advice: don’t try to understand what an experienced witch is thinking. Maybe she really just wanted to mess with us.”
“But Will, I have a feeling that this time, someone is obstructing dungeon exploration—perhaps from within the dungeon itself, and it has nothing to do with us humans.”
“This…” Will remained silent. Based solely on the information he knew from this world, he couldn’t analyze much. But… From the original work’s perspective… From the parts he took over when adapting it into a game, there did exist “organizations” within the dungeons. Some dungeons that were superficially and geographically unrelated were, in fact, unified entities within.
However, the original work had stalled at this point. At the end of the sixth volume, the Empress had spoken to another dungeon empress about this matter—speaking of which, the emperors he had met in the six volumes of the original work were fewer than those he had encountered on his current adventure. If viewed from the original work… This might be an abyss best left untouched.
“Forget it. I don’t think we should ponder these things anymore. After all, even if we wanted to interfere with matters inside the dungeon, we wouldn’t be able to.”
“Hmm…” Shuna nodded, then opened her eyes and sighed. “You’re right.”
“Alright, alright, let’s go back to sleep. Although… I can’t sleep either.”
“No, wait a moment…” Shuna grabbed Will’s wrist as he was about to turn away. Her grip was firm enough to make Will frown slightly.
“I’m thinking about some ultimate secrets deep within the dungeon, so I can’t sleep. And you—why can’t you sleep?”
“This… this is…” Will thought for a moment. He realized he hadn’t actually told Shuna.
“Hmm? Since neither of us can sleep, why not tell me?” Shuna gently nudged him with her hand, pulling him towards the window beside them, and made space for him.
“There, I’ve cleaned it for you. Let’s look out the window together and talk properly?” Will lowered his head.
Outside the window was the somewhat desolate street of Tsimat Town. There were very few shops open on the street; they were mostly residential houses. The houses were also dilapidated and looked unrepaired. It was hard to imagine that a town with a dungeon, located relatively close to the capital and even supplying it with goods, could be in such a state of disrepair. It was completely different from the prosperous cities he had seen before.
The conflict between the Entak Empire’s system and the dungeon production system had eventually interwoven into this area. A battle between them was inevitable, to be heralded by the king’s death a year later. But… If his fate were not to be changed, he might only witness the moment the horn sounded.
“I… I’m thinking about Treya.”
“You. Well, thinking about another woman in the middle of the night truly saddens me. We’ll end our conversation here for today.” Shuna pouted and turned to leave immediately.
“Ugh, I thought Shuna would be an excellent spiritual mentor, willing to listen to a melancholic young man pour his heart out under the moonlight. Especially when the recipient of his heart-to-heart was only…”
Before he could finish, Will felt a flick on his forehead. Will felt that she had held back her strength, otherwise, the pain would have been much greater.
“Alright, alright, I was just teasing you. Isn’t it common for us two to discuss problems? Don’t flirt with me like… like coaxing a woman, it’s giving me goosebumps.”
Although she said that… Will looked at her and felt that even though she claimed to have goosebumps, there seemed to be a hint of joy. Shuna sighed and rubbed the spot on Will’s head where she had just flicked him.
“Go on, what is it?”
“I’m very worried about her condition right now. The situation in the Royal Family doesn’t seem optimistic. I originally thought she was just angry like Liya because I disappeared suddenly. Now, hearing Lucifer’s information, it’s not quite what I imagined.”
“Oh?”
“Her dependence on me is far greater than I imagined, so…”
“So, you feel this burden is too heavy?”
“No, I’m thinking, if that’s the case, whether to respond to her or apologize, just giving her a weapon, wouldn’t be enough, right?” This was a question Will had pondered before. Treya was not someone easily appeased or fooled, especially now, it seemed that a weapon was not the key point for her current situation.
“You’re truly tougher than I imagined. What happened to that melancholy you were talking about?” Will scratched his head.
“Isn’t this precisely the melancholic part? I am… recalling the details of the ‘fate’ I obtained in my dream.”
“And then…”
“Standing behind her, accompanying and supporting her…”
“Making her the ‘winner’ in this royal struggle.”
