Chapter 112: Salimaru Bandits (3)“Yeah, I need to be flexible in my thinking. If l feel it"s not right, I have to change it fast for bigger gains later. And I don"t have to waste time anyway,” I muttered, getting out of the southern tunnel using Blink to avoid being charcoaled by huge flames.
Then I moved toward the western tunnel in the 9 o"clock position, the only one I hadn"t yet stepped in.
A message rang sometime after I kept using Blink just like I did in the other tunnel.
[Congratulations! You have entered the right way.]
“Of course, I know it is the right way because this is the last tunnel.”
This was the last tunnel I entered after confirming I entered the wrong tunnel three times.
Since the process of me coming here was too painful for me to express joy, I just continued down it, rather embarra.s.sed. And then I entered a huge cave from which eight tunnels diverged.
After looking around blankly, I could not help but spit out, “This is really driving me nuts!”
I didn"t move this time and reflected on what I had gone through to check if I had missed any clue.
But there really was nothing. There was a huge cave and four tunnels with no unique signs or features.
In fact, I carefully looked around to check if there was anything unusual before I entered the tunnels in the direction of 12, 3, 6, and 9 o"clock.
And it was the same this time. There was an empty cave and eight tunnels connected to it.
At that moment, an ominous thought flashed through my mind.
“I wonder if 4 becomes 8, then 16 then 32…”
Of course, unlike others, I wasn"t afraid of the penalty traps from entering the wrong path.
Moreover, I could check all eight tunnels within 16 minutes, a.s.suming it took me two minutes to go in and exit each tunnel compared to others who would take over an hour. More precisely, I could cover the eight tunnels within 15 minutes, given that I would enter the right way on the eighth tunnel no matter what.
However, I didn"t like the quest itself because it was controlled by luck and not by one"s skill or ability. When I thought about it, however, I burst into laughter before I knew it because I was a lucky man as far as luck was concerned. For example, I received Blink with zero cooldown just in time before getting this quest from Chairman Suh.
“Okay. I don"t care if it"s 8, 16 or 32, or whatever. Let me beat you guys no matter what.”
So, I designated the northernmost tunnel as No. 1, then designated the others as No. 2 and No. 3 and so in a clockwise direction. Then I immediately entered tunnel No. 1.
At Monte"s mansion in Hackiss Castle.
Monte, who had already done his job, moved around inside the mansion, but Chairman Suh remained still.
He decided to wait for one more hour because he would know whether Asriante cleared the quest or not by that time.
Moreover, Suh knew that Asirante had Blink and that he moved far quicker, compared with other wizards. Chairman Suh decided that it would not take Asirante more than an hour to complete the quest.
But it had already pa.s.sed an hour.
Now, Chairman Suh had no choice but to admit that Asirante had beaten the one in four chance of success.
“Sure, Asirante could easily beat the one in four chance of success in one try because this probability cannot exactly be called large or small. But what comes next is very tough. It is very difficult to call one in eight simply double of one in four.”
So, Chairman Suh did not move. He wanted to confirm with his own eyes that Asirante failed and felt devastated. When two hours and thirty minutes pa.s.sed, he could not help but admit that Asirante had also beaten the one in eight chance of success. Otherwise, there was no reason for Asirante not to show up. At that point, even Suh inevitably became nervous and restless.
Of course, he knew that that was not the end because Asirante would have to face 16 tunnels after pa.s.sing 4 and 8 tunnels.
However, the fact that Asirante had already succeeded the 4 and 8 tunnels in succession meant that he could even beat the 1/32 probability.
Chairman Suh could not believe that Asirante beat such a difficult probability by sheer luck, given that he had beaten the previous tests of probability consecutively.
Now he thought there was something special about Asirante.
“d.a.m.n it! What the h.e.l.l do you have, Asirante!”
Chairman Suh vented in anger and resentment while also feeling anxious and fearful when Asirante did not show up for more than two hours.
If Asirante cleared this quest in one try, it would be like giving wings to tigers that should be trained and bred. And the tiger can bite him, of course.
Three hours later.
“Wow…oh my G.o.d…”
Starting with the first 4 tunnels, I kept pa.s.sing through 8 tunnels, 16 tunnels, 32 tunnels, 64 and 128 tunnels. When I finally faced 256 tunnels, I could utter only one word ‘wow".
What"s more, I wasn"t sure whether these 256 tunnels were the final test of this quest.
Of course, like the first four tunnels, I didn"t find the right way immediately during all the previous tests..
For example, in the cave opening with 64 tunnels, I luckily found the correct way at the 4th tunnel.
However, in 128 tunnels, I could find it only after pa.s.sing the 100th one.
Anyway, I shouted out loud in front of the huge cave opening with 256 tunnels.
“d.a.m.n it! Let me confront monsters, not tunnels! What the heck is this?”
Be it 512 tunnels or 1024 tunnels, or even more, it wouldn"t matter as long as they were the last.
But when I thought I had finally reached the end of the caves, they kept coming out which made me so frustrated and depressed. So, I vented out such frustration by shouting loudly.
After that, I arbitrarily designated the northernmost tunnel as No. 1, then approached it because I didn"t have the luxury of complaining now.
It"s something I had to do since I had received the quest.
Aside from all the other rewards, I really wanted to obtain the two cooldown removal charms.
Exactly an hour and a half pa.s.sed after I confronted the 256 tunnels.
It took me two minutes to get in and out of one tunnel.
So, I was really happy when a message different from the previous one rang in the 45th tunnel which I randomly chose.
[Congratulations! You have entered the right way.]
Given there were 256 tunnels, finding the correct way in the 45th tunnels was really quick.
However, my joy didn"t last long because 512 tunnels might be waiting for me at the end of the road.
Nonetheless, I continued to use Blink because I had no intention of giving up.
And as soon as I reached the end of the 45th tunnel, I encountered another huge cave opening.
I could not help but swear at first. However, when I completely exited tunnel No. 45 and entered the huge cave opening, there were no more tunnels. Instead, it was a perfectly enclosed s.p.a.ce.
Of course, that didn"t mean that I had found the token I was looking for or the Salimaru Bandit"s treasure, but I was happy because it meant I didn"t have to find the right way in the caves that were completely subject to luck.
And I could confirm it through a message that rang immediately.
[You have cleared the first out of a total of two steps to move to the Salimaru Bandits" last hideout.
-If you clear the 2nd stage, you can move to the Salimaru Bandits" last hideout .]
“Alright! Let me start quickly!”
Looking at the message, I shouted in the brightest voice I had since I entered the dungeon of the Salimaru Bandits.
I thought the next step would definitely be related to the appearance of monsters.
In other words, I thought that it would have monsters regardless of whether stronger monsters would appear in each successive round, or whether I would have to get rid of the monsters within a given time. That was the most common way of proceeding with a quest based on my experience so far.
However, as if poking fun at my expectations, a message that appeared before my eyes showed something completely different.
[Showing off.
-The legendary bandits, the Salimaru Bandits.
*Ingrid, the leader of the Salimaru Bandits, possesses several abilities that were incomparably excellent. And the most outstanding one of them was showing off to others.
Ingrid"s skill at bragging was so perfect that it had almost everybody in st.i.tches. So, people even said that Ingrid"s biggest weapon was none other than his mouth.
The road to the last hideout of the Salimaru Bandits.
Before confronting Ingrid, you should be able to knock him down a peg or two or have him recognize that you are as good at bragging as him.
: However, if you brag falsely, you will be immediately subdued and killed.
: An appropriate level of bluffing based on facts is acceptable, but if you bluff more than is allowed, you will be immediately subdued and killed.]
“….”
I"ve often heard the phrase “I am speechless”, but I haven"t yet felt it myself.
Of course, I felt like that a bit when I confronted 256 tunnels, but I didn"t go that far because I had Blink with zero cooldown.
Right now, I acutely realized what it meant when somebody said he was speechless.
The current message was completely beyond what I had ever imagined.
Show off to others?
While I was dumbfounded, agonizing over that message, a human figure emerged in front of me, with the name tag “Ingrid, the leader of the Salimaru Bandits” on top of his head.