In the game <Blackout>, there was no so-called “overpowered” element.
If you had to find one, it would probably be something like taking a full party of level 8 to a level 1 field and ruling like kings.
Jun could talk endlessly about the reasons for this. He could go on all night if he wanted to.
And if he had to pick just one.
The damn compatibility system.
Just like how Jun, even with the skill [Mana Body], was powerless against a golem with the [Magic Resistance] trait.
Even warriors had counter monsters they had to face.
Clang—!
The Meteorite Sword, which had never been blocked before, was stopped by a solid shield.
The reason the erosion phenomenon was so despised by many players was because most of the eroders were difficult to deal with.
Jun who had felt that wall more keenly than anyone in the game understood that frustration well.
Surely, Aiden must have been greatly shocked too.
Yet Aiden neither despaired nor panicked in front of that wall.
He simply accepted it.
Yeah. That’s why he became the protagonist of this game.
If Aiden had despaired over facing an opponent immune to his strength, he would never have considered escaping exile in the first place.
He was someone who could look at the wall blocking his path head-on.
“Hup…!”
A spear shot out between the shields. The fourth row that was lying in wait moved.
Despite facing an enemy of a kind he had never encountered before, where most would have panicked, Aiden moved without hesitation.
“Uraaaah!!”
“Block them!!”
He knew this was no time to feel confusion or doubt.
Colton and his mercenaries, who had barely held the line for a minute, were already reaching their limit.
This was the terrifying part of <Blackout>.
Even a level 2 player could die at any moment in a level 2 field.
Enemies like these, which one could only encounter under the most extreme circumstances, introduced large variables into the game.
Of all things, the boss of this dungeon was an irregular. And of all things, for that irregular to be affected by erosion?
But there was no time to despair over such a reality.
Aiden accepted the reality of things.
With my current skill, I can’t break through that shield.
It was probably a shield with the [Physical Resistance] trait.
Unless he could awaken his aura right then and there, there was no way to break through them.
So, he needed to create a variable.
Right on cue, Jun’s magic activated.
[Enchantment: Elemental Armory]
[Transformation Magic]
[Enhancement: Elemental Body]
[Attribute Enchantment: Wind]
The game <Blackout> was a team game. Naturally, even in this world, Blackout was a place where one couldn’t survive alone.
Aiden had realized that painfully ever since his days of isolation in the imperial palace.
That was why he needed companions.
Companions he could trust.
So this is enchantment magic.
Perhaps it was thanks to his heightened magical sensitivity.
Aiden easily accepted the enchantment magic Jun had infused into his body.
And this is the image Senior holds.
Not only that, he read the intent embedded within Jun’s magic.
A typhoon was brewing.
A typhoon that allowed nothing to stand in its way, holding the power to blow away even a house with its immense energy.
Aiden felt as if he had become the typhoon itself.
The eye of the typhoon.
Only the space where Aiden stood remained calm.
He assumed his stance.
It was a stance he had practiced over and over again for the past month, so much that he could perform it even if woken from his sleep.
[Charge]
There was no need to swing his sword. His entire body had already become a storm.
All he had to do was choose his target.
Colton and his mercenaries were left speechless at the scene unfolding before them.
The red army could not ignore the typhoon that had descended upon them.
They were an army. Having lost their value as living beings, they stood firm solely for the greater cause.
Even if a typhoon were to come, they wouldn’t stop their advance.
But everything has its limits.
Jun thought to himself as he watched Aiden, who had fully accepted his magic.
Endure a typhoon?
Fine, go ahead and try. I’ll watch closely to see just how long you can hold out.
This magic isn’t just a simple phenomenon-manipulation spell.
The reason Jun chose enchantment magic was because of its efficiency.
During the past month’s journey, Jun hadn’t focused solely on his own growth.
He had also been carefully observing his companion, Aiden.
As a result, Jun had come to one realization.
Aiden had a natural affinity for elemental power.
It was a talent typically found in mages or spirit summoners, yet Aiden possessed it.
Perhaps it was only natural.
Aiden had rejected the life of exile and broken free.
Just like the wind, he chose to freely roam the world.
That was why Aiden was able to create [Bash] from his [Charge].
Because of this, rather than casting a full fourth-circle wind spell himself, Jun had chosen to embed its equivalent destructive power into Aiden.
Kwoooosh――!
A literal typhoon swept through.
Each of Aiden’s footsteps left the ground scarred with the marks of the wind.
The earth, nevertheless, silently supported Aiden’s steps.
At last, the moment Aiden’s body which was imbued with the typhoon collided with the enemy.
Crunch!
A single gear twisted out of place.
As one of the soldiers holding a shield was thrown back by the typhoon, the precise machinery of the army collapsed in an instant.
The first three rows at the front fell, then the fourth row guarding behind them, and then the second row followed.
When two-thirds of the soldiers were swept away by the typhoon.
“Now’s the time! Kill them all!”
“Raaah! You filthy bastards!!”
“Dieee!!”
“You liked stabbing away like idiots, didn’t you? You damn bastards!!”
Colton’s mercenaries, who had been unable to do anything but defend until just moments ago, threw aside their shields in frustration and drew their weapons as they charged in.
Though the spear was the most powerful weapon in the age of cold arms, it still required precise tactics.
But after a typhoon had swept through, there was no room for tactics.
The remaining soldiers tried to fight back with their spears, but one by one they were inevitably cut down by Colton and his mercenaries.
And then.
Thunk.
In the rear of the battlefield.
Maya, who had swiftly made it to the enemy’s backline, finally beheaded the commander.
It was a flawless victory.
***
After the fierce battle ended, what followed was rest.
Colton and his mercenaries had already fallen into a deep sleep.
Amidst all this, Jun left Aiden to stand guard for a while and headed toward the tip of the dragon’s skull.
“Is it here?”
The location of the dragon’s jawbone.
Each tooth resembled a giant, ancient tree. This made it impossible to even imagine the majesty this dragon must have displayed in its prime.
As Jun carefully examined the space between the teeth, he noticed that a portion of one tooth was deeply indented.
“Bingo.”
When he reached inside, his hand grasped something.
And when he pulled it upward,
Rrrrumble…
With a faint tremor from behind, a staircase leading underground was revealed.
It was the hidden piece, one of the objectives of this dungeon.
“Phew… I didn’t expect it would take more than a month just to find this.”
Once the dust fully settled, Jun activated a [Light] spell and looked around as he entered.
A small room with clear traces of someone having lived there.
The only things present were a simple shelf and the remains of what once might have been a book that was now completely crumbled to dust.
And in the center of the room.
Jun nodded as he looked at a cauldron sitting there alone.
“A witch’s cauldron. Just like in the walkthrough.”
[Scaltridge’s Poison Sac]
[Cockatrice’s Tail]
[Cockatrice’s Eye]
[Viper’s Fang]
[Bentwolf’s Vocal Cords]
More than a dozen other spoils spilled out of Jun’s bag.
Each one was a part of a monster’s body.
Once nothing else came out of the bag, Jun threw everything he had taken out into the cauldron at once.
Then, a sinister light began to flow from the cauldron that had shown no reaction until now.
The light devoured the ingredients that had been tossed inside.
It seemed to slowly grow in size before suddenly flashing and vanishing altogether.
“With this, all the conditions are met…”
The past month’s journey had included training and mercenary missions, but the main goal was this.
It was all to meet the conditions for the hidden piece in the level 2 dungeon of [Eternal Slumber].
However, unlike previous hidden pieces, this one did not offer an immediate reward.
“About a week from now.”
In one week.
As a result of meeting the hidden piece conditions, the hidden dungeon would open.
It was Jun’s final destination.
***
The checkpoint of the level 2 dungeon’s Ashen Wasteland, the Wilderness Village.
Jun and the others had exited the dungeon and secured this place in advance for their upcoming journey.
Maybe because it’s such an unpopular field, there’s really nothing here.’
Only a few merchants occasionally passed through the village. Overall, the place was quiet.
The only sound in the tavern’s dining hall downstairs was the chatter of Colton and his companions.
With the quiet atmosphere, Jun took the time to sink into his thoughts.
It had already been two days since they returned from the dungeon.
He had focused on resting during that time, so his condition was nearly at its peak.
“Eroders, huh…”
The first thought that came to mind was the existence of the Eroders.
The game <Blackout> often threw players into unexpected crises.
While it led to much frustration for many players, there were still veterans who persisted.
That was because every “unexpected crisis” had a clue leading up to it.
As a result, countless Easter eggs emerged the more you dug into the game, which made veteran users dizzy.
The erosion phenomenon that Jun had encountered earlier was no exception. There had to be clues.
But this time, I didn’t notice the presence of any Eroders.
This was strange.
Of course, in the later stages of the game or depending on the story’s progress, Eroders could appear without warning.
But even in those cases, while players might have missed them, the necessary details were always hidden somewhere.
If I didn’t catch it, it’s likely because something in the story itself has changed.
The user who had posted the walkthrough for [Eternal Sleep] in the community hadn’t mentioned such a scenario either, so this had to be a change caused by Jun’s presence.
A change caused by me, huh…
Where could the beginning of this change have been?
Various possibilities came to mind.
At first, I thought it was because of Maya.
Maya was basically an NPC that was hostile to the Eroders.
So I assumed the change was due to her appearance, but that turned out to be wrong.
While she might have played a part, she wasn’t the main reason.
When Eroders show up, they usually have a clear target.
For example, if their goal was to “eliminate a certain being”, the game would display it like this:
[The Eroders are watching NPC Maya.]
Something like that.
In that sense, the Eroders this time had clearly been watching Jun.
Which meant the root of the issue was Jun.
Was it because I tried to resolve the dungeon’s hidden piece? But there was no mention of that in the walkthrough.
Occasionally, veteran players would set up elaborate traps just to mess with unsuspecting newbies.
But forums like that usually ended up flooded with downvotes, leaving a clear trace behind.
However, the walkthrough he had read didn’t mention anything like that, so it couldn’t have been a trap.
So it must have been related to the actions I’ve taken so far… wait, actions?
A memory suddenly flashed through his mind.
But only for a moment.
Before Jun could follow the thought any further, he heard a knock at the door.
“Uh, come in.”
“Um, senior. This letter came to the counter.”
“…? From Chloe?”
He could sense a faint flow of magic from the letter.
It had an effect that would cause it to self-destruct if opened by anyone else.
“…….”
Just as the uneasy feeling he’d experienced many times before began to creep in,
A commotion could be heard from outside the village.
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