TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
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From what I've heard from adventurers who have occasionally co down from there, including Ellis and other guild connections, the 41st floor is a rugged high mountainous area.
It's described as having razor-sharp mountain ranges, steep trails, endless cliffs whose bottoms can't be seen, and monsters that freely climb or even fly around these cliffs.
Single-horned goats and shadow leopards move across the cliffs as if they were flat ground, while harpies fly above in the sky.
There's a subtle suffocation that feels like a protest every ti you breathe, the lack of air evident.
Single-horned goats charge down the cliffs as if they were flat ground, attempting to knock adventurers off to their deaths.
Shadow leopards silently bite at the ankles of adventurers, dragging them away, and harpies use gravity to glide down and snatch their prey.
What's this now...
"Get the exact story from Rebecca."
She ca down again?
It's unimaginable how such a terrible field could beco even worse.
I can roughly understand how a marshland becos contaminated, but how does a high mountainous area with hardly any footing change?
With these thoughts, I sheathed my sword and, along with Katie who was catching her breath, headed inside the guild building.
There werent many people, but at a noisy guild table sat a familiar figure with red hair.
Rebecca's hair was all tousled like the fur of a large dog that had run around for three laps, and she was furiously yelling about sothing.
Those motherf**kers have gotten even worse!!
What, how, and why did it change...?
How the hell should I know, you idiot! Thats for you guys to find out or ask the Magic Tower!
She usually behaves like a beast following her instincts but maintains a line with the guild mbers.
Seeing her spouting curses at everyone she speaks to ant she was really angry.
Her face, as red as her hair, heaving rough breaths, looked almost like a child on the verge of tears.
She looked around, seemingly seeking soone to vent to, and then her red eyes turned towards .
Hmm, this seems like it could be troubleso.
Hey! Roland! You broke through the 40th floor, right?
Just as I thought, she charges towards , not just passing by the table but shoving it aside.
Looking at her like this, she seems more like a bear than a large dog. The adventurers and guild mbers listening to our conversation also follow in a crowd.
Regardless, Rebecca, true to her own pace, continues to speak her mind.
Whats this? The kid broke through the senior level already? Kid's got talent.
Ah, hello, Miss Rebecca!
What's with the 'Miss'? You're from a noble family, right? Since you're a senior now, speak casually.
Yes, uh, okay, yes!
Thats formal. Anyway, you greeted this ti. Good, keep it that way.
Regardless of the suffocating crowd gathering behind us, Katie starts with a hearty greeting.
Afterwards, Rebecca finally turned to speak to .
While talking with Katie, Rebecca seed to have cald down a bit, but the mont she started talking about the 41st floor again, her anger flared up.
Anyway, her story was a mix of good and bad news.
The good news was that a gate had opened on the 30th floor, a safe zone had appeared on the 35th floor, and thanks to the active intervention of the temple, the top-tier adventurers who had been stuck at the 43rd floor had advanced up to the 45th floor.
The bad news was that, perhaps due to triggering so event on the 45th floor every five levels, the difficulty of the highland terraom from the 41st to the 45th floor had beco bizarrely harder.
What changed exactly?
The harpies, those damn things, have beco incredibly smart.
Is that all?
That's it! But they're really smart! So smart that you want to catch and tear them apart!
Originally, the harpies in the tower weren't like those in certain subcultures with beautiful human-bird hybrids.
Just as goblins and orcs aren't green-skinned handso boys, the harpies had the body of a large eagle with only an old woman's head dangling.
The problem stemd from the layer enhancent event that started when the top-tier adventurers set foot on the 45th floor.
This led to the appearance of enhanced nad harpies.
These harpies had large wings with brightly colored, glossy feathers reminiscent of a macaw, and sharp talons like birds of prey.
Other than that, they looked like glamorous beauties, as per Heroes Chronicles style of harpies.
'...Those were probably 1 mobs for collection in the bestiary.'
If the black mage lich from the 40th floor appeared as a scenario boss, these harpies, as one could guess from their beautiful appearance, were characters users could draw and use.
They were minor characters from gacha draws, appearing in the free draws up to a maximum of 3, not the paid ones that went up to 5.
At most, they should've been 1 but their appearance had more impact than expected.
Now those b*tches dont co down at all!
You an they attack from a distance?
Yes! They throw rocks or seem to have tad single-horned goats because they play sothing like a flute and monsters around swarm in!
Even if they're minor gacha characters, it ans they've gained intelligence.
The harpies, with eagle bodies and old woman faces, used to dive down in a simple, brutish manner to attack with their talons.
However, the beautified harpies from Heroes Chronicle dont engage in close combat but throw stones without descending from the sky.
Since they're starred, they treat the old harpies as minions, and with newfound intelligence, they've even tad single-horned goats to use as at shields.
And those b*tches even throw sand in your eyes!
From above the cliffs, the old harpies dive down with their sharp talons, while from below the cliffs, single-horned goats climb up and charge.
anwhile, the beautified harpies command from the sky, pelting adventurers with stones, making it infuriating for those on the receiving end.
Monsters harboring infinite malice towards humans now possessed human-level intelligence.
"Really, it's infuriating to the extre."
That was why Rebecca's eyes were rolling back in fury, hissing in anger.
When a startled Rebecca slaughtered a harpy, the harpies started throwing heavier single-horned goats to block the narrow paths.
When even this tactic failed, they picked up gravel and rocks to throw, but even these were blocked by Rebecca's sword.
Then, as if resigning themselves to not being able to kill her, they switched to throwing sand instead of rocks.
...Seriously, did they have to make nad mobs this vicious?
"About a dozen old ones were led by one smart one. When they played a flute, single-horned goats would co, but after being blocked once, they wouldn't play it again, so I'm not sure how many there were."
Ah, just hearing about it is daunting.
Right? I feel like setting fire to the mountain, but it's a rock mountain. This is when we need so skilled mages.
Isnt there a mage in your rcenary group?
They dont bother with rock-throwing if they see a staff-bearing mage, just watch from a distance. Our guys are not enough. Should we bring in an old mage from the Magic Tower?
Listening to Rebecca's story, the adventurers and guild staff around us visibly darken.
Only top-tier adventurers can deal with these assailants, but if they don't attack and escape to the sky, there's no way to handle them.
If the mages are out of range, the only option is for a skilled archer to successfully snipe them.
While mages excel in firepower and versatility, archers have much longer range.
As we were having this gloomy conversation, Han Se-ah, who had gone towards the alchemy workshop with Grace, entered the guild.
Three brightly colored heads blonde, silver, and red soon gathered at one table, easily found by the following cara.
Whats going on, Roland?
Hmm, theres a problem on the 41st floor.
Knowing about it but wanting to hear the explanation, Han Se-ah casually moved closer to .
Pretending not to notice the cara positioning itself in front of my face, I began to explain.
Rebecca, the original bearer of the information, still not fully appeased, abruptly left the guild after venting to .
Shes likely going to drown her stress in drink, so explaining to Han Se-ah and her viewers falls to .
-Seriously, this ga is ridiculous lol
-Will it take like 3 years to complete this ga?
-Even with a born 6 it looks awful. What are we supposed to do??
-Feels like it'll take half a year just to beat the boss on the 40th floor
-Well, they said they'd give you the company if you clear the ga, so they made it this difficult because they dont want to give it away, right?
[Chat deleted by the mod]
So, we have to face monsters on a high mountain trail on a cliff thousands of feet high, ones that are trying to knock us down with rocks?
Yes. We're up against monsters as smart as humans, harassing us the whole way through.
...Hey, should I learn so alchemy before heading to the 41st floor? I think I need to prepare a bunch of alchemical arrowheads for Grace.
Han Se-ah, having heard the entire story, and her viewers showed a similar reaction to mine.
Regardless of the temple's support or the royal family's recognition, if we can't find a way to deal with those harpies, a hard ti is surely in store for us.
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