[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]
Chapter 73: Time Attack (3)
6.
Legendary rank Item.
“So, what’s your answer?”
The moment the question was asked, El Pam didn’t hesitate.
“I’ll do it.”
The value of a legendary rank item is beyond words, and it was worth the gamble of one’s life.
At that sight, Prince Kashan’s eyes narrowed.
“I like that.”
The conversation with Prince Kashan ended there.
Prince Kashan withdrew, and Salman appeared next.
His face looked as if he was about to die, no, as if he was already dead.
In fact, his fate was as good as dead.
Prince Kashan had to step in himself because Salman failed to carry out the task he was given.
Because Salman made Prince Kashan risk revealing his face, his identity.
And Prince Kashan was not the kind of leader who warmly embraced a subordinate who made repeated mistakes.
“I will explain from now on.”
Nevertheless, Salman came out to finish his role in order to save his life.
“The location of the Mystic Gate will be announced unexpectedly. You will move there quietly, and a total of 99 adventurers will enter the Mystic Gate at different times, not knowing each other.”
After finishing the explanation, Salman gave a final warning.
“Never speak of Prince Kashan if you want your head to remain attached to your body.”
El Pam nodded at the warning.
El Pam then returned to his colleagues and said.
7.
“Conquer the Mystic Gate? Within a week? No matter what?”
El Pam, the moment he returned to his colleagues, told them everything.
“Just surviving gets us a Unique rank item?”
Literally everything.
“He was Prince Kashan? The third prince of the Ariant Kingdom, Kashan?”
El Pam even told them what Salman had explicitly forbidden them to speak of, without any hesitation.
“Boss, are you sure we can talk about this? Isn’t this dangerous?”
“Isn’t this a secret?”
“Are you crazy?”
“So, there was no talk of money? How is that possible? You spoke with the third prince Kashan?”
His colleagues were all surprised by this fact.
They knew how dangerous it was for El Pam to mention Prince Kashan.
On the other hand, El Pam didn’t hesitate to reveal Prince Kashan’s identity; he hadn’t even considered it.
“Clearly understanding the situation is the foundation of any adventure. It’s impossible to understand the upcoming situation without mentioning Prince Kashan. That’s how different this adventure is from the ones we’ve had before.”
This Mystic Gate adventure was different from other adventures from the start.
They had to move secretly without knowing the location, and they couldn’t even see the faces of the other adventurers entering.
They weren’t entering simultaneously, but sequentially, and the order wasn’t even set.
It was a chilling situation for the adventurers.
It was something that would inevitably leave them bewildered when they faced it.
El Pam wanted to eliminate that bewilderment as much as possible.
So he told them.
“The reward is a Unique rank item, and if we find what we’re looking for, we’ll be given a Legendary rank item.”
Even the reward.
“L-Legendary?”
Everyone was shocked at that statement.
It was no wonder.
For most adventurers, even Epic items, let alone Unique ones, were hard to come by.
[TL/N: So here’s the thing, I had always assumed that it was Rare→Unique→Legendary but after this chap I went and did some research and found out that the item tier is actually Rare→Epic→Unique→Legendary]
Especially now, with the advent of the Mystic Gate, and the resulting surge in the number of adventurers, they were even rarer.
“Boss, seeing that an unbelievable item is at stake, this task must be anything but ordinary.”
This quest was on a level incomparable to any they had received before.
“That’s why you told us.”
That’s why Divo and the others thought.
“To give us a sense of urgency.”
That was the reason El Pam revealed the existence of the Legendary rank item.
To make them tense up.
To make them more determined than ever.
They were right.
El Pam had that intention when he revealed all of this.
“That’s one of the reasons.”
“Huh?”
But that wasn’t the real reason.
“One of the reasons? Are there others?”
El Pam, the biggest reason he revealed all of this was one thing.
“I’ll take the Legendary rank item. So let’s make a deal.”
At those words, Divo and his colleagues let out a dumbfounded laugh.
As mentioned earlier, the difficulty of this Mystic Gate raid was beyond imagination.
Moreover, a Legendary rank item wasn’t something that could be obtained simply by completing the raid.
El Pam’s way of talking about it as if he already had that kind of item in his hand was inevitable.
So everyone thought.
‘The boss is trying to boost our morale this way.’
‘It’s better than showing weakness.’
‘That’s something to learn from. That’s what a boss should be like.’
They thought El Pam was acting this way to lift their spirits.
In other words, none of them believed him.
“How much are you willing to pay for it?”
Of course, Ralph was the exception.
He responded to El Pam’s offer more seriously than ever, as it was an opportunity for him to make a huge profit.
And that look made the others curious.
‘Now that I think about it, what will the boss offer us? The boss wouldn’t rip us off, would he?’
If a Legendary rank item was such a big deal, the price would be too.
El Pam spoke to them seriously.
“If you yield the Legendary rank item to me, I’ll take responsibility and make you all 4th Circle Awakening Agents.”
At that remark, everyone stifled a laugh.
‘Of course.’
Because it was an outrageous offer.
‘That’s ridiculous.’
On the other hand, it was reasonable in a way.
For adventurers, a Legendary rank item was something that couldn’t be bought with money, and for adventurers, circle awakening was also something that couldn’t be bought with money.
In any case, none of them took El Pam’s offer seriously.
“Alright.”
Everyone except Ralph agreed.
“I’m in too.”
“That’s enough.”
“Well, let’s give it a shot.”
So, without hesitation, everyone accepted El Pam’s offer.
Then, the next day.
“El Pam party, let’s move out.”
8.
“Huh? Isn’t that a black camel?”
Everyone had the same question when they saw the black camel, their means of transportation to the Mystic Gate.
“Aren’t we supposed to be moving stealthily? Why are we riding something that stands out so much?”
Wouldn’t riding such a conspicuous camel be like advertising that we’re coming?
El Pam answered their question.
“If something can survive in the desert despite being easy to spot, there’s a reason to trust it.”
There’s a reason for everything that survives.
“It’s faster than any other camel, and it’s quiet.”
This was thanks to the black camel’s incredibly fast and quiet footsteps.
“Almost as fast as a horse.”
Their speed was astonishing.
“More importantly, black camels look like shadows in the desert. They’re easily mistaken for fast monsters.”
Additionally, black camels were often mistaken for monsters other than camels in the Nihal Desert.
In many ways, it was perfect for a stealthy move.
“That’s amazing.”
“That’s why you said they were rare. I get it now.”
“This is why the desert is such a hassle. If it were the sea, how simple would it be? Just get on a boat and there’s no chase or anything!”
“They must be quite expensive.”
Everyone nodded at the explanation and shared their thoughts.
El Pam, on the other hand, was different.
‘Only the Sand Painting Group can tame black camels.’
The Sand Painting Group.
‘The ones trying to overthrow Queen Areda.’
El Pam focused on the fact that the rebel group in the Ariant Kingdom was currently supporting Prince Kashan.
‘If Prince Kashan knew the identity of the Sand Painting Group, he wouldn’t have joined hands with them.’
What was certain was that Prince Kashan didn’t know much about those who sponsored the black camels.
No matter how much he wanted to become king by replacing Queen Areda, would he join hands with a group trying to destroy the kingdom?
Impossible.
On the other hand, from the Sand Painting Group’s perspective, Prince Kashan was a good partner.
He was one of the surest cards to overthrow Queen Areda.
Of course, El Pam wasn’t interested in that kind of thing.
‘The Sand Painting Group will fail.’
The important thing was that in the history El Pam remembered, Queen Areda remained the ruler of the Ariant Kingdom to the end.
‘Because of the enemy within.’
And the reason behind that was the Sand Painting Group’s internal problems.
What was important to El Pam now was that part.
‘This is why they failed this time.’
Prince Kashan’s plan this time failed not simply because of a lack of skill, but because there was a traitor among the gathered adventurers.
‘As expected.’
Of course, this was also within El Pam’s expectations.
There was no need for expectations or anything like that.
‘Because there are followers of the Black Mage behind Queen Areda.’
Because the one who truly controls the Ariant Kingdom now is not Queen Areda, but a greater existence.
He had known this for a long time.
In other words, El Pam knew that the moment he sided with Prince Kashan and acted in his favor, he would be targeted by the followers of the Black Mage.
But he didn’t care.
‘I’m already targeted anyway.’
Even without this, the followers of the Black Mage had plenty of reasons to kill El Pam.
Moreover, El Pam was now certain.
‘And for some reason, the followers of the Black Mage can’t move right now.’
The Black Mage’s followers were incredibly vast.
They were powerful enough to try and swallow the world right away.
Nevertheless, they tried to hide themselves as much as possible.
‘If that weren’t the case, the Kania Guild wouldn’t have disappeared like that.’
The proof was the Kania Guild.
The moment they were about to be caught by the Gold Richie Guild, they cut their tail without any hesitation.
Because they didn’t have the power?
That couldn’t be it.
‘Those ill-tempered bastards.’
The possibility that they did it because they were patient was even more unlikely.
‘There’s a reason they have to wait until that day comes.’
That meant there was something else going on.
‘This is an opportunity.’
For El Pam, it was an opportunity that would never come again, and one that he couldn’t afford to miss.
Of course, El Pam didn’t dwell on complicated thoughts here.
He didn’t worry about the circumstances of the Black Mage’s followers or what their reasons might be.
Because at this point, it wasn’t a problem he could solve by worrying about it.
Even if he found out the answer, the important thing was this:
‘Get stronger before that.’
Without power, he couldn’t choose that answer.
That was the reason.
The reason El Pam accepted Prince Kashan’s request.
“We’ve arrived.”
The El Pam party, riding swiftly on black camels, soon arrived.
“The Mystic Gate is inside. Remember, one week. You have to finish the adventure within a week.”
At the Prince’s Tomb.
“Go in now.”
9.
A small oasis.
The moment they passed through the small Yellow-rank Mystic Gate located there, the El Pam party was greeted by a forest.
An ordinary forest.
“Boss.”
That was all.
“There’s no one here?”
Not a single adventurer could be seen.
“That’s strange.”
Divo raised a question at that fact.
In a place where the raid was more important than any other Mystic Gate, shouldn’t adventurers be gathering and cooperating?
But there’s no one here?
“It seems we’re the first ones.”
The only answer they could come up with was Kiri’s suggestion that the El Pam party was the first to enter.
“Well, then let’s wait.”
“Since we’re the first ones in, we should have gotten hazard pay.”
The others agreed.
Of course, El Pam was an exception.
He looked around and said,
“We’re the last ones.”
“Huh?”
“94 adventurers, excluding us, have already entered this place.”
It was an incomprehensible statement.
“But why can’t we see anyone? Shouldn’t we be cooperating for something like this?”
The more difficult the Mystic Gate raid, the more they cooperate, that was the unspoken rule of all adventurers.
That’s why.
“Because it’s something like this.”
“Huh?”
What El Pam could say for sure was.
“This is a Legendary rank item situation. The unspoken rule doesn’t apply.”
“Ah.”
Only then did the other colleagues understand.
“Well, if people risk their lives for a single Unique rank item, there’s no cooperation or anything like that when it comes to something more than that.”
What kind of stage this was.
“Some might be facing the second floor by now.”
“Then we should move quickly too!”
It was time to adapt to this stage.
“No.”
“Huh?”
El Pam said to his colleagues,
“We’ll spend six days here on the first floor.”
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]
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