Dungeon Predator (WN)
chapter-20

"Lord Grande Loxia?" Kang Oh asked.

Give me more info on the new demon sword!

"Tch, tch. You said the family fell to ruin, so it seems like you weren't taught the Loxia family's history."

Angel clicked his tongue.

"That's right."

He'd obviously never been formally taught the Loxia family's history, and he'd never be taught it in the future either. Since he was a fake!

"Lord Grande Loxia is the first head and the founder of the Loxia family."

"Did he carry around such a peculiar sword? For example, is it similar to this jet-black sword that I carry?"

Kang Oh pointed to the sword's hilt on his back.

"It's completely different. His sword was extremely beautiful, so much so that it could be called ominous."

'This is it!'

He had a hunch, since not all demon swords looked like Ubist.

"Mmm. Was that sword passed down as a family heirloom? If that's the case, then I have to find it..." Kang Oh asked sneakily.

"It's not a family heirloom. It's the sword that Lord Grande used."

"I see. But it's still the founder's sword, so shouldn't I procure it?" Kang Oh asked, looking completely earnest, as if he were entirely selfless.

"It seems like you don't know the family's customs. That's not necessary. The Loxia family buries the sword with its owner. That sword should be buried with the first head."

[You have acquired an extremely concrete clue regarding the Loxia family's sword. A quest has been created.]

Yes!

He'd been waiting for this.

[Find Grande Loxia's grave]

Grande Loxia, the founder of Loxia, the family of the sword and leopard!

He is a hero who once defeated a demon that threatened the world.

He was called the Wise Sword and was akin to a model knight. Everyone respected him for his superb character and ideals.

If you find his grave, you will surely find something important...

Difficulty: Unknown.

Conditions: None.

Failure: Unknown.

'What kind of demon sword will it be?'

The quest indicated that the founder had killed a demon, so he assumed that the sword was a demon sword with the demon sealed within it.

However, there wasn't anything he could confirm at this very moment.

"Is the founder's grave with the other family members' graves?" Kang Oh asked.

"The founder isn't buried with the other family members; he's buried somewhere else. I'm not exactly sure where he's buried. Why do you ask?"

Angel suddenly narrowed his eyes. It was as if his eyes were saying 'You're kind of suspicious.'

"He's the founder of our family, so I need to go and pay my respects," Kang Oh hastily replied.

"I see."

"Do you know how to get there? As the last member of the family, I need to go and find the grave."

"I'm not entirely sure either. But it may be linked to the spot where he defeated the demon."

"Why do you think that?"

"I heard that Lord Loxia often said that there was something he needed to do there before he died."

"Then it's likely that his grave is there."

"It's just an assumption of mine."

"Where did he defeat that demon?"

"I don't remember. It should be mentioned in depth within The Loxia Chronicles!"

The Loxia Chronicles!

All the puzzle pieces fit.

Tino asking him to seek The Loxia Chronicles ultimately meant finding the location where Grande Loxia had killed the demon.

Then, Angel stood up all of a sudden.

"You should get going. I can feel him coming," Angel said urgently.

"By him... Do you mean Galmoss?"

"Yeah, him!"

Kang Oh tilted his head.

'He shouldn't be coming over here yet.'

"Though you possess that formidable sword, you're still no match for Galmoss. Get away for now."

"I understand."

Kang Oh followed his instructions.

There was no reason for Angel to trick him, and if he did, then his Hyper Intuition would've warned him.

Kang Oh rushed to the entrance of the armory.

"Come back here after you've become stronger. If you defeat him, then I, as well as all the other knights trapped here will be free!" Angel yelled at his back.

'Yeah, yeah. I'll think about it. Emphasize the 'think' part.'

The Galmoss was much too powerful for him to carry out Angel's wishes.

The Galmoss was notorious for killing regular users within 3 seconds.

"Umph."

Kang Oh escaped the armory and hid behind a pile of rocks.

The Galmoss was quickly approaching from far off in the passageway at a speed he'd never seen before.

"Phew. I almost died."

Kang Oh sighed in relief.

If he'd stayed in the armory, then he would've been killed by the Galmoss.

And he would've been punished by the demon sword's penalty. It was too much to even think about.

'So there was more to its roaming pattern.'

There had to be more to Galmoss's roaming pattern than what Kang Oh had witnessed.

However, there was no need to figure out that pattern at this very moment. Since he'd already gotten what he came for.

Once he confirmed that the Galmoss had disappeared into the armory, Kang Oh snuck like a cockroach and left the castle depths.

And he left the Taksen Castle, returning to Altein.

* * *

Eder was still inside the central library reading The Loxia Chronicles.

"Eder."

"Welcome back."

"I found a clue regarding the demon sword."

"Really?" Eder said happily.

He should be sick of The Loxia Chronicles by now.

"The place where the Loxia family's founder warded off the demon; that's where the demon sword should be."

He continued, "And! Apparently, the location where he defeated the demon is recorded within The Loxia Chronicles. Where is it?"

"I'll look for it."

Eder began looking through The Loxia Chronicles immediately.

He turned the pages with his glove clad bone fingers.

And soon found what Kang Oh was looking for.

"It's the Parmarl Underground Labyrinth!" Eder yelled.

"Parmarl?"

This is the first he'd heard of it.

"I've never heard of it before either."

Eder was the same.

"Eder. Forget The Loxia Chronicles; look through other books on info regarding the Parmarl Underground Labyrinth," Kang Oh directed.

"I understand."

"I'll go find information my own way."

Kang Oh logged out of Arth.

* * *

Jae Woo turned on his computer.

He immediately accessed Arth's largest community site, Arthtory.

Arth was a huge world.

And recording all of that world's information was this site's ultimate goal.

"It's here."

The community site had info on the Parmarl Underground Labyrinth.

[Parmarl Underground Labyrinth]

An underground labyrinth rumored to be somewhere within the Great Forest. The exact location is unknown.

If the exact location is known, please provide the information.

Apparently, the Parmarl Underground Labyrinth was somewhere in the Great Forest.

'The Great Forest, huh...'

The Great Forest, which was called the Sea of Trees, was a giant forest in the southern area of the continent.

Powerful monsters, demi-humans, and bosses lived there.

"I can't go there right away."

Arth had been released for more than 1 and a half years already.

The top rankers were close to level 200.

One of the hunting grounds the top rankers frequented was the Great Forest.

"I'll hold off on it for now."

Kang Oh, who had just reached level 60, couldn't go there yet. It was unfortunate, but he had to take a rain check.

"Now then."

Now that he'd put off finding the demon sword, Kang Oh returned to his main task.

His main task was making money as a pro-gamer!

"Now that I'm here, I might as well look up some info posts."

There was a user info message board on Arthtory.

If a post surpassed a certain number of hits, then ads would be added to it, and the poster would be paid based on the number of hits.

'A hidden dungeon's pretty much worth 100,000 won.'

The terms 'hidden class' or 'hidden dungeon' were terms that drew the player base's attention.

If the information was correct, then the post could receive several hits.

'Let's reveal Alishi's Nest.'

Kang Oh had found two hidden dungeons: Alishi's Nest and Eder's Secret Laboratory.

Of the two, the secret laboratory no longer spawned monsters, so it no longer had any value.

Ultimately, Alishi's Nest was the only hidden dungeon with value; he'd received more than 80 gold from that dungeon.

What if no one was able to find it?

Then the boss room would continue to accrue riches, and Kang Oh could one day return and take all those riches for himself.

'That's only if no one finds it, that is.'

There was a chance that another person found it while it was accruing riches.

If that happened, then Jae Woo wouldn't receive anything.

So instead, he'd rather reveal the hidden dungeon for additional income.

"For starters..."

Jae Woo created a new account for Arthtory, not his old account.

His nickname was Gladiator Oga.

It was the name he'd used during the Fight Against 100 Men feature broadcast.

In a way, it was like he was marketing himself!

He finished making his account and immediately clicked 'create post'.

His cursor blinked.

"Hoo."

Kang Oh took a deep breath and began writing about his conquest of the hidden dungeon, Alishi's Nest.

Typing up the post wasn't very hard.

He'd written several info posts during his Warlord days, so he knew exactly what to do.

"First, I need to draw their interest."

First, he would use the name Oga to draw people in, and then keep people's interest by showing a proper concept.

"Hmm. Let's go with 'The Man Who Conquers Dungeons' as the title."

Click. Clack.

Click.

His hands moved busily, his left typing and his right moving the mouse.

And a while later, his post was finished!

[The Man Who Conquers Dungeons - The Hidden Dungeon, Alishi's Nest]

Poster: Gladiator Oga

Hello. This is Gladiator Oga, the one who cleared the Fight Against 100 Men.

This is an original unedited recording of the Fight Against 100 Men that wasn't shown on the feature broadcast; this should prove my identity.

A short while ago, I coincidentally found a hidden dungeon, the Spider Queen, Alishi's Nest.

And I also defeated the boss of the highest difficulty.

I will now tell you where the hidden dungeon is, as well as what you should expect when you enter it.

Oh, right. If you're like the final gladiator, Darion, of the Fight Against 100 Men, then please press back. I don't want idiots here.

Now, shall we begin with the basics of the dungeon?

The hidden dungeon, Spider Queen, Alishi's Nest, is hidden within the Shade Spiders' Colony (the monsters that appear are between level 10 - 15) that is located inside a dead Agrashi Tree.

It's said that this dungeon has no boss, but the boss is actually just hidden.

...

Once you've defeated all four named monsters, you will face Alishi, who uses all of her skills. Once you have defeated her, you will have to fight her again at the highest difficulty.

You should be able to clear it with ease, so long as you don't act like Darion.

The items it drops are...

That's all. This was Gladiator Oga's .

P.S.

Regarding the Fight Against 100 Men... I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you about the rewards.

It's a huge amount of Adamantium. (I'm not selling. No inquiries allowed)

"I'm done."

Jae Woo checked everything one last time and pressed the enter button.

Post complete!