Dream 1

One of the fields of the 9th Floor Star Grave, the Toxic Lava Zone.

Being the highest floor, its danger level is incomparable to the lower floors, and it also features an annoying field effect.

‘Poison resistance: 0.’

Even if you’d raised your resistance high enough to be immune to poison, in this place it becomes useless.

‘Natural MP recovery: disabled.’

Well, not completely disabled, but anyway.

With a 99% reduction, it’s basically the same as having no MP recovery.

Of course, this can be countered with skills like my ‘Soul Dive’ or a specific method within the field.

But the real biggest headache is something else.

「Warning: Beware of Explosions!」

Here, all sorts of things explode.

Like this.

“Uh… the ground’s swelling”

“It’s going to blow! Everyone, get back!”

BOOOOM!

Even while walking, toxic lava erupts from the ground and explodes.

While we moved, the ground occasionally exploded, sending bursts of poisonous lava into the air.

“W-wait! The monster’s body is swelling up!”

“Get out of the way instead of talking!”

Even the monsters we were fighting could suddenly explode like suicide bombers.

BOOOOM!

Sometimes, explosions would just happen out of nowhere — right in the air.

And the biggest problem is…

Ssshhhhh!

When something explodes, sticky poison sprays in every direction.

[The Character has been poisoned (Medium)]

It’s not the strongest poison — just intermediate — but, honestly, that didn’t matter. Because here, all poison resistance has been reduced to zero.

Ssssshhh!

Ugh, stings like hell.

Normally, my resistance would reduce it to a minor poison and fade on its own.

“Heal Poison.”

“Heal Poison.” I requested

GM rushed over and cast a spell on me, and Jayna—the party’s only healer—did the same.

“Heal.”

“……Done.”

As evident in The Toxic Lava Zone, mages and healers are indispensable.

You have to regularly detoxify to prevent the poison level from rising and continuously manage the HP drain caused by the poison.

However, this creates another problem.

“Ooh! Lava Fruit! There’s Lava Fruit over there!!”

Lava Fruit.

Small berries found occasionally on trees while wandering the Venomous Lava Fields, with only three berries per tree.

While exploring the Toxic Lava Zone, you’d occasionally come across a small tree bearing three fruits. Eating them would restore your spent resources.

“Jayna, Havelion, Gramps! Divide them amongst yourselves!”

Naturally, lava fruit had to be prioritised for the healer and mages.

“Uh… Baek-ho? I’m running out of Soul Power. I can’t use my abilities anymore…”

“So what?”

“C-could I have just one fruit? Otherwise, I’ll be useless in battle—”

“You’re just supposed to take hits anyway. Don’t get greedy.”

“……”

Most of the Lava Fruits were given to the healers and mages, so the rest of the group’s MP continued to decrease.

Except me, of course.

[The Character has cast [Soul Dive]

“Soul Power regenerates in proportion to the amount consumed.”

Thanks to the Abyss Giant’s active skill, I could periodically recover MP and maintain a certain amount.

This was unlike Rex Aures, who had chosen Giant’s Blood.

“…I envy you deeply, Baron Jandel.”

‘Then you should have eaten the green essence. MP is everything in this game.’

“The Baron is the main tank. You just play the sub-tank and don’t touch the Lava Fruit, got it?”

“…Got it.”

Aures stepped back, looking dejected. But truthfully, things weren’t going well for anyone.

“I can’t even remember the last time I just shot arrows normally.”

“I’m in the same boat, so stop complaining, okay?”

“……Ryo, Ryoukai”

“What’s that pronunciation? You sound like a Japanese soldier. Say ‘okay,’ not ‘ryokai.’ Got it?”

“Baek-ho… What’s a Japanese soldier?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

To save on MP, Baek-ho and Bright only used normal attacks.

In chess terms, it was like starting a match without bishops or rooks. Funny enough, though, we could still hunt just fine.

[You have defeated Popensys. EXP + 7]

From Level 3 monsters onwards, it became brutally difficult. If a Level 2 monster appeared, our only option was to run.

‘…Luckily, no Level 2s have appeared yet.’

Badump-Badump-!

Of course, that doesn’t mean we can let our guard down.

“Baron, I think we’ve pushed ourselves too far. How about we step outside for a break?”

“…Let’s do that.”

As we filled in the missing sections of the map while traversing the Toxic Lava Zone, we’d retreat from the area whenever exhaustion set in to take short rests.

It was the same trick I’d often used during my original exploration of the ninth floor, since the field effect disappeared the moment you left the area.

‘…Though that only works since we’re near the southern edge of the Toxic Lava Zone.’

Anyway, after spending a long time exploring and filling in the map, and with the Hans effect probably wearing off—

“Look! A stone monument!”

We found a stone monument similar to the one in the Primordial Land.

“There’s a strange drawing on it!”

“That’s not a drawing. it’s probably writing.”

“Hahaha! Look at this mage. Do you think I’d mistake that for letters? Nonsense!”

“……”

Although it resembled the one we’d found in the Primordial Land, we stopped searching and started examining the stone monument — it had been a while since we’d come across anything new.

But…

“The characters inscribed are different from the monument in the Primordial Land, but I can’t decipher them, so it’s meaningless… Other than that, everything else is the same. It’s sturdy, and we can’t get any information from it other than that, just like last time.

There was no way an investigation that failed last time would succeed this time. Having learned from our last waste of time, we finished things up quickly.

“So basically, there’s nothing more to learn?”

“Yes, for now.”

After that, we roamed the surrounding area to fill in the empty spots on the map.

Eventually—

“In the end, we only discovered that single monument.”

With that, our exploration of the Toxic Lava Zone came to an end.

“So, what will you do now?”

At Brights the scout’s question, I smiled faintly.

Despite his experience as a scout, hearing Bright say that made me smirk.

What will I do?

There are still two more places we haven’t looked around.

“We’re heading to the Dreaming Waterfalls.”

I really didn’t want to—but there was no other choice.

「Your character has entered a special area.」

「Field Effect – Dreaming Waterfalls is applied.」

Dreaming Waterfalls.

This field is practically the final trial of the ninth-floor Star Grave.

Beyond it is the portal to the tenth floor… and it’s pure hell.

‘This place is fucking ridiculous.’

There’s no better way to describe the concept and difficulty of this field.

「Characters periodically fall asleep.」

Just a single line, one field effect.

However, when you actually play, nothing is as annoying as this.

Swoooooosh.

A tranquil lake, gleaming as though it holds the Milky Way.

We’re sailing across it in a boat with three of our allies fast asleep.

“This time it’s three who’ve fallen asleep.”

“Jayna, Gramps, Harvellion… of course, it just had to be the three most important ones.”

“Let’s hope no one else nods off until they wake up.”

“That’s assuming all three actually wake up.”

Once you enter this lake, characters periodically fall into sleep.

They’re not just napping peacefully, though — in their dreams, they’re trapped alone and forced to fight off illusions until they either endure or perish.

It’s similar to the effect of Soul Prison used by Kariadea, the special boss of Ice Rock.

‘The biggest difference, though, is that even if you can’t wake up on your own, you can be awakened from the outside.’

Just like the Lava Fruit, there is an item in the Dreaming Waterfalls that can wake sleeping characters.

The problem is that it’s far harder to find than the Lava Fruit.

Swoooooosh.

The boat slowly moved across the picturesque lake.

By the way, this boat belongs to Lee Baekho.

I thought about using my own boat, but remembering the last time I rode his, I knew his was a bit better.

Honestly though, it wasn’t that much better — just a few minor differences. Besides, if I took out my own boat and it got damaged, I’d have to spend money repairing it.

“Baekho, can’t we pick up the pace a bit?”

“Did you learn nothing from the last time we passed through here? If we go faster, monsters will wake up.”

“Ah, right. Forgot about that.”

It’s one of the irritating parts of Dreaming Waterfalls.

It’s possible to increase your speed, but if you do, the sleeping monsters underwater will wake up and swarm you.

The only method is to use a specially crafted boat to move quietly and quickly…

‘Though his boat doesn’t have that feature.’

Well, even when exploring the 9th floor, you don’t need to come to the Dreaming Waterfalls unless you’re going up to the 10th floor. And originally, even if you come, you can just move slowly, so it’s not a big problem.

“Anyway, keep quiet. If you make noise and monsters appear, it’ll be annoying.”

“Ah, understood……”

Aures lowered his voice, afraid of Baek-ho’s scolding.

Meanwhile, the archer leaned towards me and whispered quietly.

“Baron, what will you do if we find nothing at Dragonbone Mountain?”

“Then we’ll have to investigate under the lake.”

“…That will raise the difficulty tremendously.”

“Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Yes, Baron…”

After that, we slowly moved forward, steering the boat and didn’t encounter any monsters.

The calmness of the surroundings almost made you forget how dangerous this place was.

Of course, that was only the case for those who were awake.

‘Phew… Finally woke up. I thought I was going to die there.’

“Gramps, you slept soundly and woke up, so why that expression?”

“Just… had a somewhat unpleasant dream.”

“Heh… Now that you say that, I’m curious?”

Time passed, and one by one, the others woke up, starting with the GM. Not long after, they began to fall asleep again.
and not long after, others began to fall asleep again.

“This time it’s Bright, Aures, and Baek-ho.”

Baek-ho collapsed into sleep, unable to resist the field effect.

Watching him sleep so soundly, I felt an impulse well up.
If I just throw him overboard now, I could easily solve the problem.

‘……Getting out of here comes first.’

Shaking off the thought, I looked at the map and focused on steering in Baek-ho’s place.

And after a while…

“Ugh… Seriously, this pisses me off every single time ”

“Yes… unlike the illusions on the 4th floor, this one feels all too real.”

Starting with Lee Baek-ho, the other members woke up, and the next group fell asleep.

And…

‘Wait. What the hell?’

I’m the only one not falling asleep.

Well, falling asleep is completely random, so it’s not an impossible situation…

‘It’s not bad, right?’

Since falling asleep means suffering through nightmares, I took it as good luck…

Thump!

…No, wait. Isn’t this too suspicious?

Once the thought crossed my mind, I grew even more anxious about the fact that I couldn’t fall asleep—and that uneasiness only deepened as time went on.

Amazingly, I still didn’t fall asleep—not even by the time we reached the edge of the map.

“Baron, why do you look like that?”

“……It’s nothing.”

If I said it out loud, it would only make it an omen. It was better not to say anything.

“Anyway, we’ll be arriving soon.”

I decided to stop thinking anxious thoughts and focused on something else.

Swoooooooosh-!

The faint sound of rushing water grew louder and louder —

Soon after, the reason this place was called Dreaming Waterfalls instead of Dreaming Lake appeared before our eyes.

“Wow, it’s always a spectacular sight, no matter when you see it.”

What the ancients might have imagined as the end of the world.

A massive hole had opened at the center of the lake, plunging downward to form an enormous waterfall. However, the gray boundary cut through it, stopping about two-thirds of the flow.

“Stop gawking and boost the engine. The noise won’t matter here. If we get sucked in, it’s over.”

“Roger.”

Starting from this point, we planned to steer the boat around the entire lake to complete the rest of the map. So, just as we were about to move according to plan…

“……Something’s coming from below.”

In place of Bright, who was fast asleep, the Ruin Scholar quickly muttered something under his breath.

At first, it was hard to hear because of the waterfall’s sound, but…

“Turn the bow!”

His voice and expression were enough to understand that something was urgent.

And almost immediately.

[Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!]

A massive, serpent-shaped monster rose from the waterfall. Although the GM, who usually explained everything, was still asleep, I didn’t need his commentary this time.

Because it’s an incredibly famous bastard.

“…Draizen.”

A Level-1 Illusion type monster.

Similar to Kariadea the Glacier Mage, it’s a special boss that only appears in this area.

“We’re screwed, this is……”

This time, I didn’t even have to say it.

Vrooooooooooom-!

The moment he saw the monster, Baek-ho maximized the output of the propulsion device.

The noise became tremendous, but now wasn’t the time to worry about such things.

「The monsters that have been asleep for a long time are awakening.」

Doesn’t matter if the mobs start attacking if we stay here, we’re finished anyway.

「The character has entered the range of [Dreaming Pond]」
「All harmful effects and damage dealt to Draizen are nullified.」

We can’t kill that thing, not with our current power.

Even compared to Kashan, the library boss, this one’s on another level.

This is its home turf.

Honestly, I can’t even be sure we can escape safely.

Is the Hans effect only kicking in now…?

That was the first thought that filled my mind the moment I saw the Draizen.

“…Like hell.”

Who cares about Hans or whatever.

“Phew……”

I steadied my breathing and pulled myself together.

From now on, I need to be fully alert.

Only then will we be able to overcome this crisis properly.

Just as I was bracing myself—

“…Huh?”

I was suddenly hit by a wave of drowsiness, as if I’d just taken a sleeping pill.

At the same time—

「Field Effect – Dreaming Waterfall is activated.」

My vision spun and blurred.

“This… shi—…”

It was the same feeling I’d had when we got closer to the Dreaming Waterfalls during that long walk around the perimeter.

No wonder it didn’t trigger all this time.

“Why… now… of all times…”

With that, I lost my balance and fell forward.

As the boat rocked violently from the increased speed, I swayed from side to side before losing my grip on the edge and being flung overboard.

“Baron…!”

The sounds around me grew faint.

Splash-!

After plunging into the water, my body sank rapidly.

But even in that dangerous situation, there was nothing I could do.

「Your character falls asleep.」

……Goddammit.

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