Skull Island (4)

The Skeleton King wasn’t a boss that spawned every time the labyrinth opened. Its usual appearance rate was roughly once every seven openings, and whenever it did appear, the cave entrance would simply remain open.

It was a convenience feature for the players. Otherwise, people would farm the key every time, enter the boss room, and only then find out it was empty.

“Huh? The earthquake stopped!”

The tremors that had started after we defeated the Skeleton King had died down

It meant the path to the next chapter had opened.

The conditions for meeting the hidden boss were for the cursed one to defeat the Gravekeeper, and then the Skeleton King.

Rumble-!

The boss room entrance, which had sealed shut at the start of the fight, opened again, and my allies who had been waiting outside stepped into the cave.

“…Is it already over?”

“It hasn’t even been three minutes yet…”

They could not hide their bewildered expressions.

Well, the Skeleton King had that kind of reputation, after all.

To be fair, they had every reason to react that way. Only a handful of teams could defeat a rank-three monster with just six people.

Of course, that was before the companionship spell was upgraded. Things were much easier now.

“By the way, it seems the essence didn’t drop.”

“As you can see.”

“What about the chest?”

“Not yet. We have to look for it now.”

Usually, it’s best to do things like this together.

After all, treasure is an explorer’s greatest joy. Before moving on to the next chapter, I searched for the treasure chest with my party members. The treasure chest itself is also hidden. You have to search the floor after defeating the boss to find it.

“Ugh…! Why hide it like this? They could just give it to us!”

“It’s all due to the Achievements of Gabrielius. Only those destined for it are able to find it.”

“That Gabrilius guy must have a really weird personality!”

“Still, this arrangement is fairly famous. Anyone trying to hunt the Skeleton King knows about it. The Golden Tree Clan outside probably knows about it too.”

“Oh! Found it! I found it!”

Already?

Feeling a bit suspicious about Aynar’s excitement, I went to check, and sure enough, it was the treasure chest.

I have a good feeling about this.

Honestly speaking, Aynar is incredibly lucky.

She was the type who could live however she wanted and still somehow take care of herself. Sven Parav, the man with the hidden title of Golden Goblin, was another example of that. Still, there was something unsettling about Sven’s particular kind of luck. It was as if his fortune always placed him in desperate situations first.

“Bjorrrrn!! Can I open it? No, I will open it! Give me permission!”

“Go ahead.”

Aynar grabbed the padlock…

No, maybe it was more accurate to call it a bonelock.

Either way, she punched the lock off the bone chest, then slowly opened it.

Compared to the enormous size of the chest itself, the item inside was extremely small. Raven pushed Aynar aside, picked it up, and examined it more closely.

“Something incredibly valuable came out… If Golden Ghost finds out about this, he is going to be furious.”

“Huh? Aruru, what is that? Isn’t it a letter?”

“Ah, this is a charm-type item.”

In the game, items like these were classified as charms. Aynar’s No. 9999, Beginner’s Luck, and No. 1001, Alonso’s Travel Bag, the one I had given to Auyen, both belonged to the same category.

“Oh! Then is this also a Numbers item?”

“Yes No. 444, Daedrius’s Invitation.”

“A triple Numbers item! That is amazing! But then… what is it used for?”

Aynar looked at the wax-sealed letter and tilted her head. She seemed curious since it was a numbered item, but she had no idea what it could be used for.

Well, that’s how most charm-type items are.
It’s almost impossible to tell what they can do just by looking at them.

“If you carry this, undead monsters will not attack you.”

“Mm-hm, and?”

“That is all.”

“…Huh? Did you not say it was a valuable item? Our navigator’s bag seems better than that.”

Misha looked deflated after hearing the item’s effect.

Well, it wasn’t hard to understand.

To understand the value of that one-line effect, you had to actually use it.

“It is a valuable item. Unlike Alonso’s Travel Bag, this charm’s effect is absolute. If you carry it, you will never be attacked. Even if the owner attacks first.”

For example, there was a rift on the eighth floor called the “Necropolis.”

It was a rift where 99% of the monsters that appeared were undead. If a damage dealer equipped this, they could clear the rift alone.

There were even a few Level 1 monsters that were undead types.

“Really? That’s an incredibly amazing item… Can I take a look?”

“Yes. But you absolutely must not tear off the wax seal.”

“Huh? What happens if I do?”

“You die.”

“…Eek!”

At Raven’s short and blunt explanation, Misha hurriedly took her hands off the invitation. Watching her, I chuckled.

She always only knows half the story.

Strictly speaking, it did not mean certain death.

If you broke the seal inside the labyrinth, you would be dragged into a hidden field called “Hell.”

As for the difficulty… it was safe to assume that coming back alive was impossible.

No matter how well you had raised your character, if you opened that thing, you could not return.

Unless you opened the invitation at a specific location.

“So who should carry this?”

Hmm, good question.

One thing was certain, though. It wasn’t an item I should be carrying. A tank’s role in the labyrinth was to take hits, so I had no business going anywhere near items of that sort.

I pondered for a moment before making a decision.

“Emily Rains, you carry this.”

She seemed like the best choice to me.

In my opinion, Amelia was the best option. I trusted her far more than anyone else. If I handed it to another person, I would always feel a little uneasy, but with her, I knew she would never break the seal and would carry it with the proper precautions.

Still, we scored something pretty rare.

A triple-digit Numbers charm before even getting to the main dish. It definitely wasn’t a bad omen.

Or was it? Good things were always followed by bad ones.

Ignoring a streak of good luck would be far too naive, especially after everything I had been through.

So…

“…I should check on them once.”

“Check? What?”

“The Golden Tree Clan.”

“Hmm… Wouldn’t they have left by now? They must have known we wouldn’t fail.”

True.

I thought the same.

But…

“Aynar, I’m sorry, but fighting that guy will have to wait a little longer.”

“…Huh?”

“Let’s go outside and check on them one last time before we come back to fight.”

The next chapter after the Skeleton King wasn’t accessed through a portal, nor was it sealed like the cave entrance. It was simply there for the taking. If they wanted to, they could follow us inside.

“We are going back.”

I didn’t ignore the inexplicable uneasy feeling and made my way back up the cave to the outside. However…

“They aren’t here?”

The area in front of the cave was completely empty.

***

“What will you do?”

There were two possibilities.

Either they had really left without looking back…

“Or they are deliberately hiding and waiting.”

If it was the latter, there were two more possibilities.

One, they knew about the hidden boss, and that was their goal.

Two, they did not know anything, but since I had come here, they suspected something might be here and were waiting.

Well, ignoring all that, they might also turn into plunderers and try to attack us…

But that possibility was extremely low.

Wasn’t that obvious? Even if they succeeded in killing all of us, how would they silence so many people?

Secrets were bound to leak, and someone like Golden Ghost would never be able to handle the aftermath.

“If it bothers you that much, going all the way to the coast is also an option. If they left by ship, there should at least be some traces.”

Amelia suggested it, but I shook my head.

Even if we did that, we would not know anything for sure. Traces could be fabricated, and if they were truly set on staying hidden, we didn’t have the skills to detect them with our current abilities.

“We are going back in.”

I quietly re-entered the cave.

Of course, that didn’t mean I did nothing.

“Marone, Raven. Set up detection magic along the path. Make sure we know the moment someone enters.”

“Will that work? Those people’s stealth abilities were no joke.”

“It will work. Their stealth abilities all come from equipment.”

It would be a different story if they were stealth specialists who owned that specific gear. But a large group like that entering the cave is bound to be spotted. The condition for ‘absolute stealth’ is that you must remain motionless.

“It’s done.”

“How long will it last?”

“It should easily last up to 12 hours. But won’t the other side also realize that detection magic has been placed here?”

Right, there is that…

“It does not matter. Even if they disable it, we will know that they did.”

“That is true.”

“Now, let’s hurry.”

I gathered the members and quickly moved into the cave, not toward the boss room but through the paths near the entrance.

“It is convenient now that all the lights are on.”

“The annoying monsters are all gone too.”

“But… when does the curse placed on me disappear? I heard it goes away once you defeat the Skeleton King… Does it have something to do with what we’re looking for right now?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

We kept moving through the early paths of the cave until we reached a dead end.

“Is it here?”

I didn’t answer Raven’s question.

I simply turned around and looked behind me.

Beyond the blocked wall was a long, straight, empty path.

Alright, this should be enough…

“Wait here a little longer,” I ordered. “A special condition has to be met for the hidden path to appear.”

After ordering my clan members to wait, I approached the blocked wall.

Then I touched the wall and pretended to do something.

Because this was not actually the entrance.

Slip.

I secretly handed Raven a note.

I had written it secretly on the way here while hiding it behind my shield.

After reading it, she gave a faint nod and tucked it into her pocket, her expression turning to mild exasperation and resignation.

“So this is what I need to do to open it? Got it. I’ll get it ready right away.”

From her immediate response, I could tell Raven understood what I was trying to do.

“This is why I like veterans.”

Because we had spent so much time together, we understood each other without needing long explanations.

“Huh? Raven, what are you doing?”

“Mr. Jandel requested a special spell.”

“Oh? What spell?”

“It is a secret. If Ms. Phneline finds out, she will go around telling everyone.”

“Wh-what are you talking about! I am an honorable warrior who knows how to keep a secret!”

“If you are really curious, I will tell you later. You are not that interested anyway, are you?”

“Mm, that is true. It looks like it will take a while, so I will go over there and eat some jerky.”

While everyone waited, Raven drew a magic circle on the floor. I continued touching the wall while occasionally speaking to Marrone to check the status of the detection magic.

Then, after some time had passed…

“It is done.”

Raven’s spell was complete.

“Now then, let’s go.”

When I gave the signal, Raven poured mana into the magic circle.

And then…

Flash!

Light burst out from the magic circle, and our field of vision changed.

After all, the spell I had requested was not some magic to find a secret door.

「Alluva Raven has cast Level 4 spatial magic, [Mass Teleportation].」

Mass Teleport, sending all of us back to the crossroads linked to the long corridor we’re in.

Because I believe. Even though we can’t see them right now.

“BEHELAAAAAAA!!!”

I was sure the rats had followed us.

[The character has cast [Transcendence].]

[The character has cast [Gigantification].]

As soon as the teleportation ended, I maximized my body size, and the narrow passageway was filled entirely by me alone.

It was so cramped it was hard to even walk properly, but…

Put another way, it meant that no one could pass by me.

Boom! Boom!

I pushed my shield, which now spanned the entire width of the path, forward and charged towards the dead end.

However, I didn’t feel anything catch on it.

Was there really no one there?

The thought suddenly occurred to me, making me doubt whether I had just done something stupid again.

But it didn’t matter.

It’s better to be an idiot who isn’t followed by rats than a smartass who gets a rat tailing them.

Boom! Boom!

Therefore, whether something got caught or not, I stubbornly held my shield and pushed forward.

And…

Boom! Boom!

The moment I reached the wall at the end of the path, a smirk spread across my face.

Boom!

Wasn’t the sound I heard…

Crunch!

…the sound of something being smashed?

Yeah, I knew it. Got you, you bastard.

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