I Entered a Gacha Game That Had Been Abandoned for 10 Years

36 – 2nd Floor (4)

Right after conquering the 2nd floor.

Kim Hyunwoo began receiving reports from Elena about the 2nd floor.

Listening to her report, Kim Hyunwoo wore a satisfied expression.

Of course, Kim Hyunwoo could roughly understand the situation by checking that the number of soldiers hadn’t decreased through the military window. However, hearing Elena’s report made him feel like the job was truly finished.

So, for a while, Kim Hyunwoo silently listened to her report.

“And this came out when we defeated the boss on the 2nd floor this time.”

With Elena’s words, he glanced at the blue bone placed on the desk.

“…This?”

“Yes. Although there wasn’t an imminent crisis, it seemed to help me defeat the boss quickly this time.”

She explained that when she turned back to target the boss’s Achilles’ heel, it pierced through Nol’s ankle, preventing him from moving. Hearing Elena’s explanation, Kim Hyunwoo silently stared at the blue bone.

It was slightly larger than the blue bone Elena had brought before.

Staring silently at it, Kim Hyunwoo thought.

‘Is the commander sorcerer of the Blue Forest still alive?’

In reality, Kim Hyunwoo’s thoughts were somewhat unrealistic.

It was understandable because the commander sorcerer of the Blue Forest met his death in the labyrinth, and Kim Hyunwoo ultimately gave up on gathering resurrection materials and couldn’t revive him.

However, the reason Kim Hyunwoo made such an unrealistic assumption was because the blue bone, a trace of her skill, had been found two consecutive times.

‘What could it be?’

Kim Hyunwoo lifted the blue bone and examined it from various angles.

Maybe there was some clue.

Therefore, after looking around the blue bone for a while, Kim Hyunwoo soon confirmed that there were no special traces on the blue bone.

‘…I guess I need to go down further into the labyrinth to find more clues.’

Kim Hyun-woo, who reached that conclusion, placed the blue bones without hesitation in a corner.

Because he knew that the issue wouldn’t be resolved just by him pondering alone.

So, leaving the bones in one corner, Kim Hyun-woo thought, “Well, let’s check the rewards first.”

With that thought, he descended into the underground.

####

For the rewards of the second layer this time, Kim Hyun-woo obtained about 130 low-grade magic stones and 70 intermediate-grade magic stones, similar to the rewards from the first layer, unfortunately, no artifacts came out.

“Well, that’s a bit disappointing.”

Actually, from the second layer onwards, it’s customary for artifacts to come out one by one. However, feeling a strange mood in a situation where not even a usable weapon came out, Kim Hyun-woo soon brushed off his regret.

After all, artifacts from the second layer weren’t that useful, and what he needed now was not artifacts but magic stones.

“Well, since the processing level isn’t high, it doesn’t consume magic stones that much. I can use them quite comfortably for now.”

The processing facility Kim Hyun-woo built this time inherently consumes more magic stones and improves resource production efficiency as the level increases.

However, since the level of the processing facility Kim Hyun-woo built is still all at level 1, it was more than enough to handle with the magic stones harvested from the first layer. Satisfied with the accumulated magic stones, Kim Hyun-woo thought as he came back up to the first floor.

“Now, if I develop up to the third layer, I can officially open the labyrinth city… Can’t I do it a bit faster?”

In fact, even now, Kim Hyun-woo knew that things were going quite smoothly.

The Larthania territory was growing day by day, and Elena was growing even faster than Kim Hyun-woo had anticipated.

In addition, with the addition of Rani this time, it was clear that the pace of labyrinth exploration would develop even more rapidly.

However, for Kim Hyun-woo, who had the goal of creating a labyrinth city, impatience was a fact, so he habitually opened Elena’s information window.

—–

Hero

Name: Elena

Title: X

Star: 2 stars ★★

Affection: (Being measured)

Stats

Strength: 33↑ Agility: 44↑

Intelligence: 22 Luck: 19↑

Magic: 16 ↑

※ The hero trusts you.

Thanks to the successful breakthrough of the second level this time, Elena’s abilities had grown a bit more compared to just a day ago, to the extent that she could now be considered a respectable 2-star hero.

In addition, although her camp level was not yet at 3, making it impossible to properly measure the hero’s proficiency, considering her innate talent with the battle axe, Elena had likely become almost a different person compared to when she was first recruited.

Because of this, Kim Hyunwoo, who had been closely scrutinizing Elena’s stat window for a while, thought seriously:

“…Should I just go down myself and try to break through the third level? If I can control the third level well enough, I wonder what would happen.”

With such thoughts in mind, he continued to stare intently at Elena’s stat window for a while.

####

Gula had no proper knowledge of how Elena had become stronger.

At the same time, he also had no idea about the abilities of the Lord. The only thing he knew for sure was that Elena, who was weak enough to be called a dropout hero, had become strong in an instant, and it was somehow related to the Lord of Lartania.

Of course, all the assumptions Gula was making were closer to speculations, but that didn’t mean they were entirely unreliable.

Since the rumor about the weak hero becoming strong had started circulating, Gula’s speculations had gained some credibility.

Therefore, Gula decided to investigate how the Lord of Lartania influenced the strength of heroes at this point.

“If I can get a little more detailed information than the rumors circulating among mercenaries, this information will undoubtedly be worth money.”

And it wouldn’t just be any money; it would be a significant amount.

At the moment, it was just a rumor circulating among mercenaries, and no one paid much attention. However, if it turned out to be true, Lartania’s territory would attract attention from various countries.

Lartania’s territory was about to become noisy, whether in a positive or negative sense.

“If the territory has grown a bit, it shouldn’t be anything other than noise.”

Assuming that Gula could sell proper information to the information guild, the Lord of Lartania, who had not yet properly grown, would likely face various hardships.

“That’s not my problem.”

Even if this information, once proven true, led to Lartania’s territory getting involved in political struggles among nations and falling into disfavor, Gula was not concerned.

His goal was simply to sell information and make money.

With that in mind, despite receiving compensation from Kim Hyunwoo, Gula had been attached to Lartania’s territory for two days, investigating information.

“Hey, long time no see, Elena.”

“Gula.”

Today, he met Elena, who had been the protagonist of the rumors and was once called a dropout hero.

Fortunately, Gula remembered that his relationship with Elena was not particularly bad.

Unlike other mercenaries who mocked her as a dropout hero, he didn’t bother making fun of Elena.

“Come to think of it, Elena, you’ve become quite strong lately—”

Therefore, with a hearty laugh, Gula was asking her how she was, intending to inquire more about her, but—

“I haven’t become stronger; I was originally at this level.”

“…Yes?”

Without realizing it, I couldn’t help but ask myself in response to the story that followed right after.

“LiteralIy, what I meant was that my strength was originally at this level.”

“That’s a bit-“

Gula tried to ask in response to Elena’s continuation, but…

“Gula, do you think it makes sense for a mercenary who has been doing mercenary work for a long time, like you, to have similar skills as a typical mercenary?”

…”

Gula closed his mouth at Elena’s continuation.

Her words were definitely not wrong.

After all, the reason why the mercenaries called him a failed hero from the start was because she was too weak to be considered a hero.

“But even so, why did you pretend to be weak until now?”

However, despite that, something made him feel uneasy about her question.

“There’s no reason to tell you that. Well then, goodbye.”

Elena bid a short farewell, as if she had no obligation to answer any further.

And Gula, who had been watching the door she left for a while…

‘…Certainly, if I were to say which one has a little more realism, it would be that. But still-‘

At that moment, when he had such thoughts.

Elena…

“…Huh.”

She came out of the bar and let out a sigh.

Of course, every single word Elena said was a lie.

However, the reason why she lied to Gula was because she knew that he was quite a famous information hunter.

Knowing that, Elena vaguely sensed the intention behind Gula’s question and deliberately lied.

She took action to prevent the Duke from getting into trouble in case Gula sold information.

Even though he denied being the Duke, if rumors like ‘The Duke has the power to make heroes stronger’ spread, the Duke will have a really hard time.

That’s why Elena stopped it.

…On the surface, at least.

“Honestly, I don’t understand why you’re thinking so hard. Isn’t it obvious that it would be much better for me to help you rather than that ‘failed hero’?”

Grip.

Elena clenched her fist, recalling Alta’s voice that came to mind without her realizing it.

In fact, there was another reason why Elena blocked Gula.

Rather than calling it a reason for blocking, it was more like an instinctive thought that occurred to her.

The moment she heard Gula’s words, she not only thought that the lord would be in trouble but also envisioned the emergence of a new hero for the lord.

And.

Because those heroes were stronger than herself.

In the lord’s eyes.

She involuntarily began to imagine herself returning to the way she was before.

‘No…’

That was something that shouldn’t happen for Elena.

She needed the lord.

He was absolutely necessary.

He couldn’t disappear.

Elena cherished the lord.

Ironically, she instinctively realized this when Gula questioned her.

Therefore.

‘I need to become stronger. So that I won’t need a hero—’

Elena thought.

‘—even if another hero emerges, they should still look at me with unwavering eyes.’

…Her heart felt heavy.

And.

[Elena’s affection has been renewed!]

[Affection Level 4]

“…Huh?”

Kim Hyunwoo, who was scratching his head about how to conquer the third level, unintentionally made such a remark at Elena’s affection level, which was measured unbelievably high.