Ranker's Return

Supplementary Story 34

[You have entered the tomb of the ancient empire.]

Lindbergh carefully removed the message window that appeared and looked around.

‘Whose tomb is this big?’

The passage where he was standing now was wider than an eight-lane road. The ceiling was so high that it just looked dark above.

‘It is definitely a jackpot...’

The worst-case scenario suddenly came to Lindbergh’s mind. He thought of a situation that he absolutely never wanted to happen. It was one where he couldn’t clear the dungeon or get the rewards right before his eyes.

“Let’s not think so ominously.”

He lightly patted both his cheeks.

‘The preparations are perfect.’

Lindbergh had discovered the dungeon and spent a week preparing to attack it. He did everything he could. He prepared potions he wouldn’t normally use and bought and learned two skill books that he hadn’t bought previously because they were expensive.

‘If I slip up here, it will be a deficit, a huge deficit.’

It meant that Lindbergh’s dream of successful retirement would be far away. He had to prevent that by any means possible.

“Let’s go slowly.”

Lindbergh regained his senses and slowly ran into the passage. This was a bold move. He was like a person who didn’t think about the existence of traps.

‘What traps will be in such a large dungeon?’

Due to his long gaming career, Lindbergh was very knowledgeable about dungeons. Traps usually appeared in narrow terrains such as mazes and caves. A dungeon with a wide length, like the tomb of an ancient empire, was extremely unlikely to have a trap.

However, this wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Dungeons without traps had many other things instead. It was just like what he was experiencing right now.

“Oh, my god!”

Lindbergh suddenly stopped as he was running with great momentum. Monsters were rushing from the other side of the passage.

“Why is it a humanoid type...?”

The running monsters were knights. At first glance, the armor worn by the knights looked very good.

‘It is obvious that the level is high, but...’

The average level of monsters near the tomb of the ancient empire was 350. The monsters in dungeons tended to have a higher level than the monsters in the field, so the knights were at least level 350.

‘I can’t escape.’

This was only the beginning of the dungeon attack. Fleeing now meant giving up the dungeon attack.

‘That can’t happen.’

Lindbergh grabbed his spear and ran toward the approaching knights. Then as the distance drew nearer, he slammed against the ground and soared into the air.

‘Falling Sun!’ Lindbergh used a skill. His spear turned red, and he threw it at the knights. The red spear flew toward them with deadly force.

The knight running at the front saw the flying red spear and swung the sword in his hand. The red spear pierced the knight’s sword and continued through the knight’s torso. That wasn’t all. It stuck among the knights that followed and exploded.

A red explosion covered the knights. When the dust from the explosion cleared, a large crater appeared in its place.

‘Umm...?’ Lindbergh shook his head at the sight that he had created. ‘They aren’t alive?’

“Is it like living armor?”

Only pieces of broken armor were found in the place where bones, flesh, and blood were supposed to be.

[The last ghost knight of the ancient empire has been defeated.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[The last ghost knight of the ancient empire has been defeated.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[The last ghost knight of the ancient empire has been defeated.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

‘The last ghost knight?’

Lindbergh’s question was answered by the message window that soon followed. It revealed the identity of the knights.

‘It would be weird if they were still alive.’

Lindbergh nodded. If it was called the ancient empire, then it must’ve existed at least a thousand years ago. It was impossible for humans from a thousand years ago to remain until now without becoming undead.

‘By the way, shall I see how much my experience has increased?’

Lindbergh smiled at the sight of the experience bar. The dungeon was definitely a dungeon. The amount of experience gained was much higher than field monsters.

‘I don’t think they’re as strong as I thought...’

The last ghost knights of the ancient empire were weaker than monsters of the same level that Lindbergh had been hunting so far. They weren’t like the monsters that usually came out in a dungeon. He didn’t know the combat power because he hadn’t fought properly yet, but one thing was certain.

‘They die well.’

This was good news for Lindbergh. It seemed like the difficulty of the dungeon might be lower than he thought.

‘This is a complete profit dungeon.’

Hunting was easy, and the amount of experience given was large. If this continued to be the case in the future, the tomb of the ancient empire would be a dream hunting ground that any Arena player would want.

‘It is really amazing.’

“Let’s level up today.”

Lindbergh smiled brightly and jumped toward the ghost knights. The concerns he had before were gone, and he only had a hopeful future left.

‘I should gain at least three levels here.’

***

It took Lindbergh 30 minutes to get rid of the group of ghost knights that he encountered after entering the dungeon. He initially killed the ghost knights with powerful skills, but he eventually changed to hunting them without using any skills.

‘They are definitely weak.’

There was one reason why he fought like this. Lindbergh needed to figure out the exact power of the ghost knights. That way, he would be able to make judgments when a situation occurred. What were the odds of success when he fought them? How many potions should be used?

‘There aren’t many rewards.’

The only reward Lindbergh got for killing over 20 ghost knights was gold; he didn’t see any items.

“Still, this is nothing.”

Lindbergh wasn’t very disappointed. It was satisfying to just be able to raise his experience.

‘In any case, the real reward comes when clearing the dungeon.’

Lindbergh had something to believe in, so his heart was really relaxed. Thanks to this leisure, he was able to have unexpected luck.

[A quest has been created.]

[Uncover the Secrets of the Ancient Empire]

[The knights of the ancient empire became ghost knights for some reason. Find out why they became ghost knights.

Rating: S+

Conditions: Kill the last ghost knights of the ancient empire 0/333, discover the secret of the ancient empire 0/1.

Rewards: Experience, ancient empire’s XXX.]

‘A quest?’

Lindbergh rubbed his eyes again and again. It was hard to believe the message window that popped up in front of him.

‘Is this a quest I can just get?’

The quests that appeared in the dungeons were usually related to clearing the dungeon. This meant that if he cleared the dungeon, he could clear the quest as a bonus.

‘It isn’t the time for this.’

Lindbergh quickly removed the quest window, grabbed the spear, and started running again. There could be no hesitation when it came to a confirmed jackpot.

***

[Killed the last ghost knight of the ancient empire 1/333.]

[Killed the last ghost knight of the ancient empire 37/333.]

[Killed the last ghost knight of the ancient empire 86/333.]

[Killed the last ghost knight of the ancient empire 137/333.]

[Killed the last ghost knight of the ancient empire 263/333.]

Lindbergh broke through the dungeon at a rapid pace. He would normally rest, but he chose combat over rest. The rewards in front of his eyes were too attractive to rest.

‘Now I just have to kill 70 more?’

It wasn’t long until he reached the goal. He would be done after a few more months of hunting. Therefore, Lindbergh was able to concentrate on hunting with a smile despite his extreme fatigue.

‘What?’

Lindbergh was walking without a break when he stopped suddenly. The scene before him had changed. The originally wide passageway had expanded by several times, and the light from the ceiling became a bit brighter.

“It is very uncomfortable...”

The change wasn’t good. In particular, it wasn’t good to have this type of large space.

‘If the remaining 70 come out at once...’

“Won’t it be terrible?”

Lindbergh shook his head. It was horrifying just imagining it.

‘As it stands...’

If he were in a normal condition like when he first entered the dungeon, he was confident that he could kill 70 at once even if it was a bit difficult. The ghost knights were that easy to defeat. However, he had already been hunting for around 18 hours now. He was half out of his mind.

‘Should I rest?”

Lindbergh was momentarily distressed. Should he log out here and return to a normal mental state before continuing the dungeon attack? Or should he keep going?

‘If I was going to rest, I should’ve rested earlier.’

Lindbergh spat on the ground and started moving.

“I will rest when it is the boss monster raid.”

Before that, he would not rest—absolutely not.

***

“You crazy bastard. You are a jerk blinded by greed.”

Five minutes after making this choice, Lindbergh cursed at himself. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to get rid of his anger.

‘I should’ve just rested. I was crazy.’

The worst situation that Lindbergh had expected unfolded. In the huge space, nearly 100 ghost knights appeared at once. He would’ve run away unconditionally if they had simply blocked his path. However, the ghost knights showed up in unison when Lindbergh was already in the space, and they were everywhere. They surrounded him and left no room for him to escape.

‘I have to get out of here...’

Lindbergh’s mind spun as he looked at the ghost knights approaching him. He started to look for ways that gave him a high probability of escaping.

‘I can’t go back.’

It was impossible to get out of the place he had entered. There were dozens of ghost knights there. He would be besieged and killed many times faster than he broke through them.

‘It can’t be helped.’

The place with the fewest ghost knights was right in front of Lindbergh. He rushed forward with the feeling of crying while eating wasabi.

‘Falling Sun!’

Lindbergh brought out the skill he first used when he entered the dungeon. He threw the red-colored spear at the ghost knights in front of him. The red spear broke through everything that stood in its way. Then Lindbergh quickly jumped into the space that the red spear cleared.

‘Where should I go?’

He shook his head from side to side and looked around as he ran.

‘I need a small space.’

Lindbergh needed a space or structure that could reduce the number of ghost knights he dealt with simultaneously.

‘Over here.’

He finally found a favorable space to fight. It was an altar that looked around five meters high.

‘Now I just have to deal with three or four at a time!’

Lindbergh jumped onto the altar without hesitation.

“Eh?”

The moment he put a foot on the altar, the altar was engulfed in light.