Chapter 166. Double Crisis (2)
"Originally, the invasion process is extremely slow. After all, there"s a limit to the number of times that the pathway can be used before it can be used again. But once a Double Crisis occurs, the dimensional pathway widens and the invasion speed accelerates. The world that faces a Double Crisis then faces more enemies more quickly."
Loretta"s explanation validated Lin"s words. Just like he said, Earth looked pretty f.u.c.ked.
"Shin-nim, tell me. How many Event Dungeons appeared this time?"
"About 300."
"300… 300… The invasion of Earth began 1 year and 8 months ago, and it was about two and a half months ago that the Demon Army from the conquered Luka continent began to reach out to another world…"
The woman who was talking to Lin responded instead of Loretta.
"It looks like one of the forces invading will completely arrive in 2 years at least… Isn"t your world over?"
"Shut it, Eleine."
Loretta said with a smile. The woman, Eleine, flinched. With that, their relative positions were made clear.
"It"s fine. If it"s Shin-nim, he might be able to do it… He"s completely rewriting the dungeon"s history. If he can climb to the end of the dungeon within 2 years…"
"Ha? You think he can conquer the First Dungeon, which has never been conquered, in just 2 years? What floor is he in? 98th?"
"54th."
"Pfft."
"And he"s an explorer of Beyond."
The woman called Eleine had a dumbfounded expression.
"Loretta, are you saying that for real? Or have you finally lost your mind? Fine, as an explorer of Beyond at just the 54th floor, it is true that he is a genius. I"ll admit that. Even so, it"s impossible. It"s physically impossible. He can perhaps barely achieve it if he"s given 200 years."
"Just 1 year and 8 months ago, Shin-nim was on the 5th floor."
Oh, I knew that expression. That was the expression Ye-Eun had when I first told her about the dungeon. It was the, "What the h.e.l.l is this person saying?" kind of expression. However, Loretta gestured at her, as if it was a waste of time to explain things to her.
"Eleine, sorry, but leave. I don"t want non-guild members to hear what I have to say from now."
"You should know this, but Loretta…"
"Leave."
With that, Loretta gestured strongly with her hands. Eleine"s words were interrupted and she faded away. With a harrumph, Loretta snorted and explained.
"That woman"s is the guild master of the administrative guild, "Lost Valley." Ever since she fell for Lin, she would ignore her status as a guild master and visit Fairy Garden. You don"t need to pay attention to a fool like her."
I had the feeling I knew a similar woman, but I didn"t say it aloud. Loretta then began to drink her tea again. Meanwhile, I asked Lin to fix my equipment. As I hadn"t done any equipment maintenance for one month, they were quite bruised. Lin scowled, but still accepted my armor and began to work on it.
Loretta, who was drinking tea, suddenly grit her teeth after seeing my armor.
"Lin, Shin-nim"s equipment is old. For how long are you going to let him wear such lousy equipment?"
"Noonim, it hasn"t been that long since I made them for him. Plus, they"re Epic-grade items…"
"Don"t make me say it twice."
"Tsk… Understood. I"ll make him better ones."
I had felt it before, but perhaps Loretta was quite a tyrant to those working for her. While I was thinking about their subordinate-superior relationship, Lin glared at me and spoke.
"But I won"t do it for free. Bring me some reasonable material, something that would make me hit my knees and yell, "That"s it!""
"What would Lin be impressed by? Flame Drake?"
"Please. Where would I use that lizard? If you want to impress me with the type of creature, bring me a dragon or a peak-rank demon."
Lin snorted and answered. He made me remember something. I took out the corpse of the Demon Army Commander Shatuno, which I had just stuffed into my inventory.
"How about this, Lin?"
The moment Lin saw Shatuno"s corpse, he bit his lips and clenched his fists. Then, he muttered like he hated it.
"d.a.m.n, this is it…!"
"Why aren"t you hitting your knees? Go on, I"ll be watching. Do it."
"Agh, how annoying!"
Besides Shatuno"s corpse, Lin took parts of the Evil Rhinoceros Beetle"s carapace, the Cyclops Lord"s skin and blood, and other monsters which were stuffed in my inventory. Then, he took Red Dragon Felixes" Cape, which was originally attached to the armor set.
"I"ll refine the cape by adding the demon"s skin. It looks like I"ll be busy…"
"Great! It looks like you found yourself a job to do, Lin!"
"I already have a lot! Do you want to kill me, noonim!?"
"Ei, how could my Lin die from something like that? So hurry up~"
Loretta pressured Lin with a bright smile. Lin scratched his head and let out a deep sigh before he got up.
"d.a.m.n it… Then I"m going to go work on these. Oi, Kang Shin. It"s going to take me a while, so live without a cape for a bit."
"Thank you, Lin."
"Hmph!"
He gave me a snort and left the cabin. Seeing his back, Loretta snickered.
"Lin must really like Shin-nim."
"Which part of that conversation gave you that idea!?"
"Don"t you know? No matter how much I plead, Lin never makes equipment for someone he hates."
I thought what Loretta did was more like threatening with authority than pleading, but I must have misunderstood. I was certain. It definitely wasn"t because I was afraid of her Last Bullet of Extermination.
"Then, Shin-nim, let"s go back to talking about the matter at hand."
Loretta put down her teacup, placed her hands on her knees, and looked at me intently. Her mystical eyes that occasionally flashed with light seemed to be examining me with worry.
"Um, don"t worry too much about what Eleine said. It"s not over yet."
"Ah."
I remembered what we just talked about. However, the fact that 20 years had turned into 2 years didn"t really strike me as real.
2 years? I had to face someone like that Demon Lord in 2 years? Compared to the Luka continent"s countless number of warriors, Earth was too ill-prepared. The ability users were not finished growing yet and there were only a few dungeon explorers. We could only now begin to look for trustworthy allies, but to think we only had 2 years left…
Not to mention, the one behind this crisis was none other than the Demon Lord who attacked the Luka continent… I asked the suspicion I had since a while ago.
"Loretta…"
"No, it"s a coincidence."
Loretta interrupted me.
"It"s not because Shin-nim went as a Dimensional Mercenary. If that was enough to cause a Double Crisis, no one would want to be a Dimensional Mercenary."
"But I"m Earth"s Hero. Could that have affected—"
"No. Shin-nim, I can promise you. That"s not it. Do you not trust me?"
Loretta brought her face up to mine. Her golden eyes were shining like two bright gems. She was close enough for me to feel her breath. Seeing Loretta"s resolute eyes, I shook my head.
"I trust you."
"The Demon Lord probably doesn"t know about Shin-nim"s existence. He will only realize once he crosses over. He simply invaded another world through a pathway, which happened to lead to Earth. Please, trust me, Shin-nim."
"Like I said, I trust you."
"Un… Good."
Loretta moved back with a satisfied expression. Then, she suddenly clapped.
"Alright, then think about what you should do now!"
"What should I do?"
"You should finish climbing the dungeon in 2 years!"
She said it as if it was simple.
"If possible, your allies, too."
"That sounds extremely difficult."
"But Shin-nim is the only one qualified to enter Beyond, right? If it"s just the First Dungeon, Shin-nim"s friends might be able to succeed with a monopoly over the blessings."
"I"d like it if that were the case."
"If that happens, you have a great chance to succeed. I can guarantee it."
"You want us to do in just 2 years what other explorers couldn"t in hundreds of years?"
"Otherwise, Shin-nim"s world will come to an end."
When I became silent, Loretta also became silent. This time, the silence continued for a long time. When I couldn"t handle the atmosphere anymore and was about to get up, Loretta opened her mouth.
"Shin-nim."
"Yes?"
"If… If Shin-nim is scared… I…"
"… Loretta?"
"Even if you abandon your world, I won"t blame you."
I doubted my ears.
"Loretta."
"It would go against the dungeon and the Lord"s philosophy… but Shin-nim is more important to me. I, I won"t blame you, so if… if the burden gets too heavy… if Shin-nim can"t bear it anymore…"
I cut her off and asked.
"What happens if I run away?"
"… If a Hero stays in the dungeon for too long, it will be the same as his world losing its power."
"In other words, the same thing that happened to the Luka continent will happen to Earth."
Her silence was the strongest affirmation. Seeing her reaction, I felt alleviated.
Running away… It wasn"t that I hadn"t considered it. But if I did, what about my parents? Even if I made mother and Yua into dungeon explorers and brought them to the dungeon, what about my friends? Would they think the same way as me? If they didn"t, would I be able to leave them behind and abandon Earth?
No, of course not. I didn"t plan to in the first place. Why did I have to abandon my friends and escape to the dungeon? Because of the Demon Lord? Because of the other unknown enemy? I should stay put in the dungeon because I was afraid of them? If I threw away what was important to me and survived, would the life I have be worth living?
I was certain that the answer was no. I hated losing my freedom the most. No one could tie me down. I hated the people trying to restrain me because I was a Hero, but what I hated the most was throwing away my freedom because i was afraid of monsters.
I grinned.
"You already know my answer, right?"
"But Shin-nim…"
"I decided. 2 years, right? Are you sure about that?"
"Y-Yes. It"s 2 years at the earliest. But—"
"I"ll do it within 2 years then."
I said lightly and smiled. Then, I wiped Loretta"s eyes, which were beginning to tear up.
"Short and simple. If I can conquer the dungeon in 2 years, I can destroy whatever comes my way, be it the Demon Lord or anything else."
"B-But it doesn"t have to be Shin-nim that does—"
"But there"s only me."
"I"ll do it. I know I can. So don"t worry and just watch over me. I"ll break through the dungeon and save the world. I"ll be the coolest guy in the world."
"Shin-niiim…"
Loretta was still frowning. So, I continued.
"For Loretta, I"ll make sure I succeed."
"For… me…?"
"Loretta, I"m going to be different. Trust me."
"Shin-nim."
Loretta widened her eyes. With her already big eyes, she looked slightly scary.
"How did you…"
"It"s easy to see."
"N-No, Shi, Shin-nim, I, Shin-nim is the only, ah, uuk, did you perhaps meet, ahuk!"
Loretta ended up biting her tongue. I couldn"t help but laugh seeing her clumsiness.
"I already know. Don"t worry about something like that and wait. The First Dungeon"s 54th floor and Beyonds" 4th floor. I"ll first clear them and come back."
"Shin-nim."
I patted her head and continued.
"You don"t trust me?"
"… I trust you. I trust in Shin-nim"s potential. So… let me keep supporting you."
"Of course. Then, I"ll be off."
I smiled and left the cabin. I heard Loretta"s sniffling, but I didn"t turn around.
Now, it was the time to conquer the dungeon! Just you wait, 100th floor!
… By the way, I didn’t propose to Loretta, did I!?
Author"s note:
You waited long, everyone. This chapter was of Loretta, for Loretta, and with Loretta! This is what everyone wanted, right!?
Shin"s heart has been slightly revealed as well. If the others don"t try harder, the fight for the heroine position might just end! We need those popularity contest votes!
From the next chapter, we"ll go full-speed to the upper levels of the dungeon. There will be Event Raids, other administrative guilds, other strong/famous guilds, etc. along the way, but those aren"t important!
Editor"s note:
Wooo loretta x shin ship is real