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nEvan D. Sherden, Cursed (1)

nThe ghost of the same aristocratic woman they first encountered in the Royal City appeared in front of the party after a long time (her name never appeared in Yo-Ma Great War 2, and Evan couldn’t have remembered it even if it did).

n“So what change did you feel?”

nHow on Earth could this ghost, which had been living in an artifact up until now, level up? And in what way could she contribute to clearing the dungeon in the first place?

nIn addition, there were countless other questions, but all of them would not pass through the realm of hypothesis, so Evan decided to accept the fact that she indeed leveled up first and asked her a question. The answer that came back was slightly amiss.

nI feel a new surge of power in my body…

n“Well, so what kind of new ability or skill have you acquired specifically?”

nWell. Uh… Yes, I got it! I can exert pressure now!

nAt Evan’s question, the ghost suddenly reached out towards him. It was quite a distance, but Evan felt a force exerted on the ladle he was holding in his hand at that moment. It was extremely weak, but it still held considerable influence even from a distance.

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n“You’ve obtained the powers of telekinesis. Older ghosts tend to have this ability which can be used to attack others.”

nThen, maybe I’ve become a monster now…?

n“To give a specific answer to that question, I will have to give you a lecture on Magi, the different types of magical powers, God, and the Devil King for about 5 hours, and so it will be annoying.”

n“Young Master, am I really supposed to be tied to this ghost woman…?”

nEvan was able to accept the change in which the ghost had evolved positively, but Shine’s complexion was as pale as it had been when he first saw her come out of the bracelet. None of them ever thought they would have to see her again, but as it turned out…. She had been leveling up with all of them!

nHe felt such anguish when he thought he had to spend a lifetime helping a ghost with power-ups and changing classes of an evil spirit.

n“Well, if she keeps getting stronger like this, her telekinesis will help you in the future. By the way, it seems rather peculiar right now. Originally, a Tamer is able to control monsters. Even then, if they go down the dungeon, their levels do not rise.”

n“As if I’m curious about that right now, Master!”

n“Of course, a ghost leveling up is a historical moment. A ghost that has submitted to you is a good thing.”

nThe phenomenon of dungeon level rising itself was a pattern prepared by God for humans, and the level of the monsters contracted with the Tamer never rose. In contrast, the level of the ghost who connected with Shine increased. This was why Evan felt confused and couldn’t understand the standards or principles of leveling up in a dungeon.

nBut honestly, there was nothing bad about it. Perhaps the bracelet where the ghost resided was also a type of artifact that improved her level whenever the wearer’s level increased. It could have been one of the artifacts that enhanced performance as its own dungeon level improved.

n“Ghost, please take care of our Shine in the future.”

nYes, leave it to me.

n“Master Evan, would you please stop giving others the responsibility of my safety without obtaining my consent first!? Oh!”

nThe ghost had replied reliably. She was then sucked into the bracelet and instantly disappeared. Evan felt like he had seen something of a dream, but their reality had not changed. Evan spoke to Shine with a terrible expression on his face as he tapped him on the shoulder.

n“Try to eat some soup, Shine, and be strong.”

n“Thank you, Master. Aaah! This is delicious!”

nShine picked up a stew bowl with his tongue sticking out, but as soon as he ate one spoonful of it, he seemed to have melted right on the spot.

nEvan then smiled as he looked at him. It was a great blessing to find shelter in the dungeon at the right time and eat safely.

nHe thought these guys who were able to find shelter in time, following a perfectly-written map, didn’t really know the importance of rest because fighting and attacking without proper rest could make the situation in a battle worse than hell.

n“After we’re done eating, we’ll get some sleep. Six hours will be sufficient. After that, we’ll pack up and move. Starting from the 3rd floor, there is a possibility that the Goblin Archer will target us from a distance, so every one of us needs to be extremely vigilant from now on. Make sure to relieve your fatigue.”

n“Yes, Master.”

nIn fact, just because Raihan was also a part of their group, who made himself the target of the incoming monsters, Evan thought they were already doing excellently and didn’t need to be too wary. However, Evan decided not to mention this. Although the dungeon was well-known to him, it was still very unpredictable at times.

n‘This dungeon trip… Well, can the dream team go back safely this time…?’

nEvan thought to himself as he snuggled into his sleeping bag and closed his eyes. When they first entered the dungeon, Evan thought there would be a lot of hardships, but it was so easy that the boy couldn’t help but smile.

nHe was worried about Shine, whom he thought that it would be very difficult to survive and grow in the dungeon, but now he gained enough stamina to clear even the 5th floor without breaking a sweat.

nThe team Evan had formed really was the strongest.

n‘Shine’s movements are extremely swift and his stamina consumption is also very low, and Belois… At only the age of ten, the levels of magical power she has control over almost seems ridiculous to even comprehend. She’s got some witch training from my mother, but I still don’t understand how she came to be so powerful.’

nShe could also alternate between flame and ice whenever necessary.

nHer mana storage, which had been a shortcoming until now, had also improved a lot by this time. Evan could bet that if she went outside and started training again, she could level up extraordinarily without a doubt! Perhaps she would be able to astonish even the Marquis’ Wife.

n‘Above all, she is our greatest attacker who has lowered the difficulty of this dungeon more than anyone else.’

nOn the other hand, Raihan wasn’t a rookie at all. No, he was actually a natural. Where was the Raihan from Yo-Ma Great War 4?

nWasn’t he the most notorious middle boss?

nUntil the way was discovered to defeat him by stealing the shield, he was a monster with a difficulty that overwhelmingly exceeded all the bosses in the Yo-Ma Great War series that had appeared so far!

n‘We were lucky to get a hold of him early and then find the most efficient way for him to practice his shielding skills. And now, none of us has to worry about enemy attacks. Even one monster’s aggro couldn’t be directed to other people easily. There is no way I’d want to be hit by a monster.’

nHaving a shield that could endure would be a very good skill, but at the rate Raihan was going now, it didn’t seem like he would need it.

nHe had already been able to block all attacks with his current shield successfully, and reduced the damage, so what could be done by increasing his defense even more?

nRather, the ‘drain shield’ ability that he got at level 3 looked much better. You could extort mana from enemies! Although admittedly, the condition was a bit harsh, Raihan would still be able to gradually evolve if he kept training his skills on targets scattered throughout the dungeon.

n‘Unlike the useless skill I got, at least my hyung got an advantageous one. If others found out that he acquired this skill after having cleared only the 1st and 2nd floors of the dungeon, then they will be really amazed. Right now, we should focus on what lies ahead of us.’

nEvan’s familiarity with the dungeon floors also proved to be quite advantageous for everyone.

nEvan couldn’t deny the role he had played in their success until now. Finding traps in advance helped them cope more easily with the monsters and definitely reduced their worries.

nHis alchemical knowledge was an all-round skill, but even after confirming Bernard’s role in Yo-Ma Great War 2, he did not fully realize it. One well-raised Bernard was enough… No, he was totally enough…

n‘When I will return, I have to get better at throwing. I’ve had immense luck until now. Oh, I will also show the Feather of the Phoenix to Grandpa… He will be very surprised.’

nEvan chuckled while imagining a horrendous expression on Bernard’s face after he would come to know the Feather of the Phoenix.

nUpon hearing some rustling, Evan carefully opened his eyes and stepped out of his sleeping bag.

nBelois was rolling back and forth in her sleep. Her eyes were still closed as she seemed to be having a dream…

n‘Could it be that Belois has a habit of moving or even walking in her sleep?‘ Evan grinned and turned to move back.

nJust as he began to move, Belois reached out, still sleeping, and grabbed his sleeve.

n‘Wow!’

nEvan stared at Belois’s face and refrained himself from bursting into laughter. It looked like she was a bit uncomfortable, and there was a slight frown on her face, but she still looked very beautiful.

nHer appearance was so fascinating that Evan couldn’t believe his eyes. He thought about how she had been when she first arrived at the mansion.

nHe still remembered everything. She had grown too fast and acquired so much strength that looking at her now, he was forced to question whether or not she was still only ten years old.

n‘She’s also very cute.’

nAs he watched her evolve, a thought crossed his mind, ‘Never make a witch angry.’ Evan didn’t know it was just a misunderstanding or rudeness on his behalf. He was still confused between his feelings of respecting her as a person and vaguely fearing her.

nShe was no longer going to be a Blood Witch, nor a bomb that might explode at any time.

n‘Belois is our Lua.’

nWhile there was still some knowledge from his past life that he had to hold onto and not let go of, there were also good memories that he couldn’t throw away so easily in this life. She was no longer a cause for Evan’s death.

nHe gently released Belois’s hand from his sleeve, then reached out and held her hand. He saw her relaxing.

nSleep overcame Evan too as he watched her fall asleep after sighing comfortably, as if satisfied.

nAfter having taken enough rest, the party went down to the 3rd floor of the dungeon the very next day and started searching for hidden treasures and achievements.

nThe 3rd floor of the dungeon was the one which was actually ‘occupied’ by the monsters. The first floor was more like the monster trial version, and the second floor was like a trap trial version of the dungeon.

nThis was the place that deserved to be called a full-fledged ‘dungeon floor’.

n“Everyone, be on constant vigilance. Ready your bodies to counter any attacks. You’ll get tired much faster here, as this place is a lot more dangerous. We will be encountering a lot of monsters than before.”

nMost of the explorers were able to pass through the first and second floors, but the place where the largest number of explorers died was on the dungeon’s third floor.

nThere were many cases of explorers who thought they had adapted to the dungeon by now, but whose necks ended up getting pierced by the arrow of a Goblin Archer that suddenly flew out of nowhere.

nMany other explorers stepped on traps that were hidden a little more secretly than the second floor and died.

nA large number of explorers could not properly grasp the power of the reinforced goblins, compared to the first and second floors, and couldn’t run from them, which resulted in their death.

n“Has the dungeon become even deadlier than before, Master?”

n“I don’t think so. The severity of the dungeon has calmed down to some extent now. When the dungeon was first discovered, it was really malignant. There are even statistics that showed that more than 15% of all humans who entered the dungeon died in it.”

n“We are Rookies, so we have to enter to gain strength. But why are other people so crazy that they want to risk their lives in the dungeon, Master?”

n“The answer is simple. Think of the treasures and riches they get from entering the dungeon.”

nAfter thinking for a moment at Evan’s words, Shine immediately nodded, “There are times when some people would put more value in money than their own lives.”

n“You’re right. The fact that the security of the dungeon city, where all such people gather, is still being maintained is only because the lord of the dungeon city is my father who is working hard, day and night,” Evan was really proud of the Marquis.

nWhen he was exposed to this story vaguely in the game, he just thought, “If you increase the affinity with this baby, the difficulty of this game will drop sharply!” He could fully understand the weight of karma the Sherden family was bearing now.

n“What?!” Raihan shouted suddenly.

nHis gaze was fixed in the corner of the alley ahead… Or, more precisely, on the stairs leading to the next floor.

nEvan had been expecting to find these.

n“Master Evan, I seem to have found the stairway going down to the next floor.”

n“I see. But here is the problem. Even when we found the steps down to the next floor, why didn’t our levels rise up?”

n“Oh, that’s right. Master, is it because of the lack of our achievements?”

n“If we didn’t have enough achievements, we would’ve heard the message that would have told us that we are not good enough in order to proceed further.”

n“That means…” Raihan suddenly seemed to realize something as his eyes popped wide open. “Is that a trap?”

n“Yes. It’s the worst trap in the Sherden Dungeon, where explorers who have no knowledge about this trap die if caught in it.”

nRight now, they were standing at a little distance from the stairs, so they were able to calmly assess their situation. If Evan had found that in the game, he would’ve already stepped on them inadvertently.

nNo matter how much someone looked at them, those stairs looked exactly like the ones that actually led to the dungeon’s lower levels.

n“This staircase doesn’t lead the 4th floor but instead… they lead to the 75th floor.”

n“…What?”

n“That is a staircase leading to the 75th floor. Once you go down them, you can’t come back. Even if someone realizes that something was unusual, and goes up the stairs again, they will find themselves on the 74th floor, and even the stairs would’ve disappeared by then.”

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nNo one knew why this bug had been created. Maybe even the developer didn’t know about it. Anyway, if you went down that staircase, you would arrive at the 75th floor. The game ended as soon as you stepped on the stairs.

nSo, what did gamers call that staircase? Wasn’t it obvious?

n“This is the stairway to heaven…”

nAs Evan muttered, Shine broke into a cold sweat. Belois and Raihan instinctively took some steps back.

n“I heard about this from my father. Of course, various institutions in the dungeon city regularly warns the adventurers and explorers of a trap staircase on the third floor, but a few teams still fall prey to that staircase every year. So, don’t approach it at all. It would be better if we didn’t look at it.”

n“Thank you, Master…”

nAfter Evan stopped speaking, the party nodded.

nAfter that, the party cleared all remaining achievements on the 3rd floor and was able to find the stairs which safely led down to the 4th floor.

nNo one acquired a new skill this time, but everyone acquired dramatic improvements in both movement speed and strength. It was as if God was voluntarily showing His favor.

nEvan and his party had to fight through hordes of monsters, which expected to take more than two weeks. This meant that Evan could explore the 4th floor of the dungeon to his heart’s content.

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