Chapter 179
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nAfter pulling the green crystal out of his forehead, Kairos contemplated for a moment before deciding to put it into the side of his head. He didn’t want to give up his mana vision, though it would definitely be a burden once he got too close to whatever that high concentration mana was.
nAnd so, remembering how the green crystal worked, he put it far away from the swirling ball of mana in his head. He noticed that the mana he had seen became incredibly faint, to the point that if he stopped focusing, he would miss the mana.
nHowever, when he turned to look at the large concentration of mana, it was still fairly bright, but bearable to look at.
nAs for the injuries in his head, they healed over rather quickly, just becoming reddened skin which gradually turned back to its natural color. Kairos was honestly a little surprised his regeneration had become this strong, but he definitely wasn’t complaining.
nAfter that Kairos got out of the building.
nAlmost immediately, Nicole walked up to him.
n“What’s wrong?”
nKairos shook his head.
n“I don’t know. I’m just getting this weird calling, like something wants me to go somewhere.”
nPablo raised an eyebrow when he heard that.
n“Isn’t that what the devil does? I’m pretty sure he calls out to you with fake promises and things like that.”
nKairos narrowed his eyes.
n“Perhaps… for some reason though, it feels gentle. Am I going crazy or something?”
nNicole grabbed onto his hand.
n“I believe you!”
nKairos shot Nicole a glance. He didn’t know if she understood what he was trying to do, but regardless she was helping his case so he remained silent. As for Chen, he furrowed his brows deeply.
n“You said something or someone was calling out to you?”
nKairos shot him a glance and hesitatingly nodded.
n“I guess so. Is this what schizophrenia is?”
nChen rubbed his chin in thought.
n“Well, maybe we should go to it.”
nPablo frowned.
n“But what if it’s some sort of devil calling for him?”
nKairos shrugged his shoulders, quickly speaking after Pablo had finished.
n“It could totally just be me losing it too. Maybe there’s nothing even there.”
nChen let out a soft sigh.
n“It’s not like we have any other destination. If it really is the devil calling out to him, then we will know not to follow wherever he is being called. And if we find out that it’s actually nothing, then we can just ignore it.”
nKairos gave a nod and spoke before Pablo.
n“That sounds reasonable.”
nPablo hummed.
n“But we have to be very careful. It could be something dangerous leading us to a trap.”
nKairos nodded.
n“Alright then.”
nNicole looked down at the ground.
n“I think it must be something good. As long as I’m with Kairos, everything feels like it will work out.”
nChen let out a sigh.
n“Then let’s hope it works out. Lead the way man.”
nKairos gave a nod and began walking towards the large concentration of mana in the distance. As it would turn out, it was extremely far away. They had been walking for roughly an hour, yet they still hadn’t made it anywhere.
nPablo scratched the side of his head.
n“I guess it really was nothing. There were no damn grocery stores here either it looks like…”
nChen sighed.
n“Well, this path was as good as any.”
nKairos shook his head.
n“No, no. I can definitely feel it now. It’s definitely getting closer. It was weak before, but now I can hear it very clearly. It shouldn’t be too far away now.”
nNicole clapped twice.
n“Oh, really? Then let’s go!”
nBefore Chen or Pablo could protest, she excitedly began walking forwards. Kairos walked forth two, and in the end, the other two decided to follow along.
nAs they continued to walk at a pace normal people would consider running, Pablo was continuing to lose patience every second, as was Chen, though he seemed to be more in control. On top of that, they were getting to the outskirts of the city.
nEventually, Pablo let out a sigh.
n“How about we look inside nearby buildings as we go? We can find food along the way.”
nChen nodded.
n“That sounds good.”
nKairos shook his head before pointing up in the sky.
n“It’s fine to do that, but look over there. I don’t know what it is, but something is there.”
nThat was actually a complete lie. Because the thing he was pointing at was the top of what looked like a giant blue crystal. Something he was quite familiar with.
nA dungeon.
nIt was perfect, as it would get Chen the points that he would need to reach the peak of D rank. In fact, perhaps even Pablo could get to that rank as well, then the both of them could complete the third part of the promotion mission.
nNicole let out a small gasp.
n“What is that thing?”
nPablo blinked a few times.
n“That… is very large. I’m surprised you were able to make it out despite needing glasses.”
nKairos coughed.
n“I’m far-sighted.”
nChen blinked a few times.
n“Though it doesn’t seem to be food related.”
nKairos shrugged his shoulders.
n“I figure it probably has a better chance of having something than any nearby building. If there really isn’t anything, then we can just leave.”
nChen sighed.
n“I guess so.”
nWith that, the four of them got closer to the dungeon and went faster than usual. After a bit, they were able to make it. They saw a massive blue crystal in the center, and all around it were countless skeletons.
nKairos’ eyebrow twitched, as he completely forgot about that aspect of the dungeon. Seeing that probably would discourage them from going any closer. He also thought that perhaps he should let Nicole stay outside, but after a bit of contemplation, he remembered that Nicole’s inborn ability should help quite a bit in surviving.
nPablo immediately spoke up after seeing all the corpses.
n“Fuck! This is definitely a trap! Look at how many people have died there.”
nChen shook his head.
n“It does look like a trap. We really shouldn’t test it.”
nKairos blinked a few times.
n“Maybe there’s some sort of monster guarding a treasure. Let’s get a little closer to see if there’s anything around. If that many people died, then there must’ve been something worth dying for nearby.”
nHe slowly walked forwards, hoping to get the others to do the same. He remembered last time when he got within a certain radius of the dungeon, he was forced to go inside.
nNicole happily went with him, slowly stepping forward. As for Chen and Pablo, they didn’t seem to be budging any time soon.
nChen sucked in a cold breath.
n“I don’t believe that doing this is worth the risk.”
nPablo nodded.
n“I agree fully.”
nKairos’ eyebrow twitched when he heard that.
n“But aren’t you guys basically the strongest? I doubt there’s anybody above the D rank, and if there are, there must be incredibly few.”
nChen clicked his tongue.
n“It’s best not to underestimate other people. Especially when they are other people that are stronger.”
nKairos took a deep breath.
n“But both of you said before that we have to take risks. Whether we just want to survive ourselves, or if we want to bring back food to the others.”
nNicole pouted.
n“You did say that! Are you taking it back now?”
nPablo frowned.
n“…But there’s a difference between taking risks and walking into a trap.”
nChen narrowed his eyes.
n“If… if we only scope out the general area, then I’ll accept it. Otherwise, I’m not joining you in this endeavor.”
nKairos internally let out a relieved sigh and nodded.
n“Of course. That was already the plan.”
nHe steadily got closer, along with the others.
nSoon enough, he saw a notification appear before his eyes.
nPlease enter the dungeon. You have no other choice, so please hurry up.
nKairos’ eyebrow twitched. He felt that this was definitely a different message from what he first saw. It seemed that whatever this system was, it was tired of him trying to be cautious.
nAfter a few moments, Kairos let out an exaggerated gasp.
n“A dungeon! We… we need to get to the center now!”
nPablo began to panic.
n“What? Why the hell would we do that?”
nKairos ran forth without waiting.
n“We have no other choice! I can feel it!”
nChen narrowed his eyes before trying to back up, but found himself slamming into a wall.
n“Damn!”
nPablo pulled his mace all the way back and threw it forth without abandon. Unfortunately, after a clear bang, it rebounded.
n“Fuck…”
nChen rushed towards the center after seeing that, and Pablo hurried after. Pablo yelled out with indignation.
n“I knew it was a god damn trap! We never should’ve come here!”
nChen shook his head.
n“It’s too late to complain now!”
nBy the time Kairos was right next to the crystal, he could see a strange green mist coming down from the air. He pressed his hand onto the crystal before it reached him, and he saw that Nicole did the same thing as well.
nHis vision warped.
nIt was quite different from what he last remembered, as his entire vision was filled up with strong concentrations of mana, making him feel quite uncomfortable.
nBut eventually, that disappeared, and he found himself in a room. Looking around, he noticed the entire place seemed to be made out of mana, as it was flowing through every single part.
nThere was also a familiar holographic projection on one side of the room, with a corridor on the other side.
nYou have entered the first floor of the dungeon. You know the drill.
nKairos blinked a few times. He didn’t remember the system having that much sass before, but decided to ignore it. He didn’t even glance at the holographic projection before cracking his neck.
n“Alright then. Let’s get back to it.”
nHe extended his future vision to two seconds just to see what kind of traps would be in the corridors. When he stepped forth, he felt his leg get cut off by a gale spell.
nKairos stopped himself and narrowed his eyes.
n“…That’s inconvenient.”
nWhile he could use his future vision to get through, he would probably have to keep it extended to two seconds for it to work. The problem with the gale spell was that it was rather hard to detect. Other than a somewhat light whistling sound, there was nothing else to indicate that they existed.
nKairos rubbed his chin.
nHe remembered how Nicole was able to sneak up on him. If it wasn’t for his future vision, she would’ve been able to kill him. As for the gale spell, while it was hard to detect, he probably wouldn’t die from it.
nIn other words, his awareness was somewhat lacking.
nHe decided he was going to try to make it through the corridor without relying too much on his future vision. After glaring down the corridor, he closed his eyes.
nAnd took a step forward.
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