Chapter 110

Everyone was brought outside.

It goes without saying that there was a reason for bringing everyone out like this.

The Dungeon of Wisdom rewards you primarily with experience points and a significant boost to your basic stats… in other words, talent.

And since there is no limit to the number of people entering, it’s beneficial to have as many people as possible go in.

There’s no guarantee that the hero party members will increase here, so I brought them along to allow for faster growth.

‘It seems like everyone is quite disappointed.’

After all, while inside the dungeon, time wouldn’t pass, so it wouldn’t really matter if I went later.

But it was better to go early rather than be pressed for time if we went later.

It seemed they understood my words.

However…

“…”

“It’s disappointing, but what can we do… Everything you said, Lady Aria, is correct.”

“That is true, but feeling disappointed is something I can’t help.”

Everyone was unable to hide their feelings of disappointment.

Well, I can understand Stella pouting like that.

For her, this was essentially the first time in her life she had come to hang out with friends, yet just as she was about to enjoy herself, we were headed off to face trials…

She must know deep down that this was the right thing to do, but it couldn’t be helped that she didn’t feel great about it.

“[We’ll finish quickly and come back, so don’t be too disappointed.]”

“Hmm…”

Though I said not to be too disappointed, it seems difficult to take a positive stance when we don’t know what kind of trials await us in the dungeon.

If I continued talking here, I might end up being suspected, so I couldn’t say more.

“Well, then after this, we can enjoy ourselves, right?”

“[Of course.]”

“Then that’s fine.”

It’s not like I’m trying to console them… what’s this?

I chuckled silently.

“So, how do we get to the Dungeon of Wisdom?”

Suddenly curious, Evan turned to me and asked.

Thinking about it…

That much I could have mentioned beforehand.

“[As far as I know…]”

Since we had just arrived, I could inform them now.

I turned my gaze toward the ocean.

The three people who followed my gaze wore blank expressions.

“Uh… Aria?”

“[Yes?]”

“You do know that the direction you’re looking at is the ocean, right?”

Of course I know that.

“[Yes, that’s correct. We are under the sea.]”

“… It looks dangerous no matter how you look at it…?”

That’s right.

If an ordinary person were to enter, they would immediately be swept away by the strong current and meet a horrific death crashing into things.

However, that tremendous current was created solely to prevent ordinary people from entering.

“[Evan, could you throw the Sacred Sword filled with Divine Power into the center of that whirlpool?]”

“Uh… this?”

– W-wait! Are you abandoning me?

At my request to have the Sacred Sword thrown into the center of the whirlpool, I heard a near-scream from Esther.

It’s unfortunate, but there’s no other way to enter the dungeon without doing this.

Well, in the game, there were other methods.

The problem was that those involved using bugs or teleporting coordinates with a glitch engine.

This is reality, so while it’s not impossible to forcefully push through that barrier with overwhelming strength, it’s uncertain whether doing so would lead to entering the dungeon.

There’s a chance that the space could twist, sending us somewhere bizarre.

In situations like this, entering through conventional means is definitely the safest approach.

“[You don’t have to worry; once the path opens, the Sacred Sword will be retrieved.]”

“Ugh…”

– Hey, Evan… You aren’t really thinking of throwing me in there, are you?! I’m a girl, you can’t just throw me away!!!

“Sorry, Esther.”

After hearing my words, Evan appeared to hesitate for a moment before unleashing his magic power into the Sacred Sword and throwing it directly into the whirlpool.

Esther’s voice cursed us, but that was probably just in her head.

Splash!

After entering the whirlpool, about 30 seconds passed.

The raging waves began to calm down gradually.

“Oh…”

“The waves…!”

As the waves receded slowly, a path started to appear toward the sea.

“The path… has opened…”

“[Let’s go in.]”

First, let’s enter.

At my words, the three of them nodded and stepped forward as if entranced.

As we descended the stairs, the path we had opened closed behind us, returning to an ordinary beach.

Soon, the once calm waves began to whirl again.

*

– How could you do that, Evan! That was bad, bad, bad!!

“I-I’m sorry… I won’t do it again next time…”

Evan immediately took out the Sacred Sword that was stuck nearby as soon as we entered.

Once in his hand, the voice of Esther, which had been silent until now, hit me like a truck.

‘It’s so noisy…’

Geez.

Due to the characteristic of speaking through thoughts, and since I can perceive their thoughts, I had no choice but to hear Esther’s complaints.

Well, it isn’t strange for her to react like that since she was suddenly thrown into a whirlpool; but still, I couldn’t help but feel it was annoying.

After all, we would be parting again once we entered.

The Trial of Wisdom, as the name of the dungeon suggests, isn’t something to be accomplished through brute force, so the Sacred Sword isn’t necessary.

No, rather, it’s more accurate to say that no weapons at all are needed.

– Don’t abandon me next time…

‘It wasn’t technically abandoning you.’

It could be perceived that way depending on how it’s received.

Above all, it was Evan’s Sacred Sword, not mine, so I had no role in that situation.

“Wow…”

“Is this… really under the sea?”

As we walked through the incorporeal pathway, everyone looked around with wondrous expressions.

To the people of this era, the sights here must feel incredibly beautiful.

Even in modern times, seeing such a view is rare, so what would the inhabitants of this world think?

It could be likened to walking through a transparent glass tunnel and looking at the sea below.

It was natural for them to react like this.

‘It looks the same to me though…’

The transparency of objects cannot be perceived through this, so…

All I could feel was the passage and the existence of fish swimming beyond it, which was somewhat disappointing.

As we walked through the passage, we eventually arrived at…

“Is this… the dungeon?”

“It looks really interesting…”

“…”

Uriel and Stella were gazing around in amazement as it was their first time seeing it, while Evan seemed tense as he gulped, finding it almost identical to the dungeon he entered last time.

“[Shall we go in?]”

Since our qualifications were already proven above, as soon as we arrived, the dungeon door opened.

Everyone watched in awe as the door opened automatically without us doing anything, but the realization that we were truly inside a dungeon started to make everyone nervous.

Thus, with a sense of tension, we proceeded into the dungeon.

As we walked through the dark entrance, blue flames began to rise, spreading as if to guide us.

Following the path indicated by the flames, we reached a narrow plaza.

“Is this…?”

“Didn’t they say it was a dungeon? For a dungeon, it seems…”

– […… have you come to receive the Trial of Wisdom.]

Everyone looked around in confusion at the voice that seemed to resonate in their heads.

However, the voice continued its dialogue without caring about our surprise.

– [I will test your wisdom.]

“What exactly does testing wisdom entail?”

Evan asked, but the voice did not provide any answer.

It merely conveyed a platitude wishing us well in successfully overcoming the upcoming trial.

– [Well then… I will begin.]

Immediately after the voice spoke,

The ground began to tremble slightly.

“W-what…!”

“T-this is dangerous…!”

“The ground…!!”

Just as Stella rushed toward us trying to grab hold of everyone, the ground of this place, which resembled a narrow plaza, began to sink, dropping us down.

“Ahhhhh!”

“Uaaahhh!”

Somehow… it felt familiar to be falling…

It felt like I had fallen like this not long ago.

I continued to let meaningless thoughts flow through my mind as I waited for the Trial of Wisdom to arrive.

The further I fell, the more my consciousness began to fade.

I closed my eyes, surrendering my body to the fading awareness.