Time flows on regardless, as they say.
Whether Lily's insect screen was punctured or mine was melting away, the hunt continued. No one was going to abandon the journey just because of some bug bites. We circled around the perimeter, slaughtering bugs and monsters in all directions. The women were particularly aggressive in battle, as if they were taking out all their bug-induced stress on these creatures.
"Burn! Burn everything to ashes!"
"Damn it, there's a limit to how many I can cut down with a sword at once... Isn't there a way to slash these things more widely...!"
Sometimes they can be quite frightening.
I worry that their irritation might turn toward me... In their current state, they might actually draw blood.
Of course, I was accumulating stress too.
Bugs crawling on my skin while I slept, the sound of wings buzzing in my ears.
Even with the Saintess's "Purification," there was a limit to how much filth could be cleansed from our bodies.
With no drinkable water nearby, we had no choice but to purify stagnant puddles over and over.
Pushing aside the bug carcasses floating on top and bending down to suck up the water...
It was beyond pitiful—it was downright miserable.
Despite appearances, I'm a person who came from a comfortable life in modern society.
I can't say I lived particularly well... but at least better than people in medieval times.
And now I'm suddenly living worse than medieval beggars... naturally, frustrations pile up.
The reason I can endure it all is because there's still satisfaction in growth.
A month has passed since we entered Chunghoe Castle.
I've learned a lot during this time.
["Multitasking" has activated!]
[Your thinking accelerates due to "Combat Focus"!]
When I activate "Multitasking" and "Combat Focus" simultaneously, the swarm of bugs rushing from all directions becomes crystal clear.
The buzzing of bees from the left. The creeping sound of a centipede cleverly approaching from behind. The clicking pincers of the stag beetle monster right in front of me.
Attacks from three directions at once.
I wasn't flustered. With my accelerated thinking, I'd already decided how to act.
First, that big monster in front.
["Mana Blade" has activated!]
Woooong.
The magical energy flowing through my body smoothly envelops the Holy Sword. After a month, my "Mana Blade" has increased by 2 levels, and the density of the mana has completely changed.
It might just be a 2-level difference, but in this game, level gaps make an insane difference.
Shwack!
The Holy Sword imbued with magical energy cleanly cuts through the monster's chitin armor. Its charging body is bisected, splitting in two. I dash through the gap between its severed halves, avoiding the attacks from the bees and centipede.
Next.
I spread my palm toward the swarm of bees rushing in.
I focus the magical energy flowing through my body into the center of my palm.
Then I convert the magical energy into a single attribute.
What I visualize is a blazing fireball.
["Fireball" is being cast!]
[Efficiency increases due to "Mana Control"!]
A large fireball flies into the swarm of bees.
Whoosh!
The fireball that directly hits the bees burns fiercely.
The flames made of magical energy use the bees as fuel, briefly illuminating the surroundings.
This is magic I learned from our team's mage, Lily.
Finally, I can use magic too!
Of course, she didn't teach me directly. I just naturally picked it up from watching her constantly burn bugs while grumbling.
How could I not copy when she's throwing fire magic all day?
Of course, when Lily saw me using the same magic, she frowned saying it was unpleasant... but that's a minor issue.
After dealing with two threats, I could see the remaining one.
A poisonous centipede. A centipede as thick as a human forearm bends its body and launches itself at me.
I'm aware of it and fully prepared.
I could block it, dodge it, or slice it with my sword. But I chose none of those options.
Instead, I let it bite me...
After all, I hadn't been bitten by one of these yet.
Crunch!
Eventually, it bit my forearm and injected its poison.
With a stinging pain, a status window appeared before my eyes.
[WARNING!]
[You have been poisoned with neurotoxin!]
'Oh.'
I let out a small gasp of admiration. So this one had neurotoxin.
And judging by the "WARNING" display, it must have quite potent poison.
Slash!
I quickly cut down the creature that had served its purpose and observed my condition.
Breathing becomes increasingly difficult, and I feel slightly nauseous.
If left untreated, I might die from respiratory failure.
But these reactions were neutralized before long.
["Poison Resistance" is resisting the poison!]
My "Poison Resistance" level has increased quite a bit.
Since it's essentially the most important skill for defeating the Insect King, I've been grinding this skill whenever I had the chance.
And by "grinding," I mean injecting poison into my body...
Honestly, it was often painfully disgusting, but thanks to that, I was able to raise it by 3 levels.
This should be enough to withstand the Insect King to some extent.
Anyway, continuing to fight like this, the battle was soon over.
Phew—
Camilla sighs once and opens her mouth.
"The quality of monsters definitely increases as we go deeper inside. Now they're hardly even cut by my sword."
"I just want to end this miserable life... It's already been a month, how much longer do we have to go?"
"We still have quite a way to go. According to my detection arts... at least another month."
"Sigh... We have to do this all over again?"
A month is nothing.
The longest I've spent here was over half a year. The game was really difficult then.
Valkan wasn't the first boss like this time, but the fourth, and the castle was much more developed, making it harder to move around.
Compared to then, this is heavenly.
As I listened to my teammates talking, I looked around.
The corridor seems darker than usual, probably because we've come quite far inside. The monsters appearing now are so strong that taking down five or six leaves us breathless.
Gradually, sword blades stop cutting through and magic stops working.
When hit with terrible poison, sometimes even the Saintess's purification can't dispel it. We're slowly entering that phase.
But I wasn't particularly worried.
The designer seems to have anticipated this and placed items for upgrading around here.
'It should be about time for the hidden piece to appear.'
Near the center of Chunghoe Castle, there's a hidden piece.
Valkan's Library.
Hidden in a corner of the corridor, it contains all kinds of skill books and brief information about insect monsters.
Of course, being a half-abandoned book storage, it probably doesn't contain many important books...
But value always changes depending on who uses it.
For us now, it will definitely be an opportunity to increase our strength.
"Let's think positively. We've already come halfway, right? We've gotten much stronger during this time, so let's keep going."
"That's true... Sigh, no. Maybe it's because I haven't bathed in so long. I keep complaining, I'm sorry."
I looked around while listening to the voices behind me like background music.
"It's alright, Lily. Anyone would get irritated in this situation. To be honest, I'm quite stressed too. There's no joy in exploring this place. Really, how can a royal castle not have even one common treasure chest..."
Let's see, it should be around here somewhere.
Something far more important than any treasure chest.
After walking around for a while, I spotted an unusual wall. A wall with such subtle differences that most people would never notice.
In the center of the dark wall, strangely placed exactly in the middle, was a squashed housefly.
Particularly strange was the absence of bugs around it, giving it an odd feeling.
Like someone had left a marker.
In the darkness, it was a mark that could never be noticed without careful observation.
But if you were aware of it, finding it wasn't too difficult.
I inwardly rejoiced.
'Found it.'
One of Valkan's hidden pieces.
Valkan's Library, located exactly at the midpoint of Chunghoe Castle.
Here, I will decide how to develop myself today and lay the foundation for my class.
"But if we look around, wouldn't there be at least one hidden treasure chest somewhere?"
"I doubt it... I've been periodically using detection while we walked, but nothing's showing up. Seems he didn't make any secret rooms either."
I secretly approached the wall without my teammates noticing.
Starting from the marked brick in the center, three spaces to the right, then five spaces down. Then, using the center as a point of symmetry, I pressed the same pattern on the opposite side.
The wall, which looked solid, gave way surprisingly smoothly.
And then.
"It seems there's nothing hidden here after all. Just an ordinary castle where bugs live..."
Rumble!
A loud sound interrupts Adel's words.
The wall I pressed according to the pattern willingly opened a door, as if confirming I was correct.
What appeared was a staircase extending downward.
"..."
"...?"
Perhaps because a hidden passage suddenly appeared in the corridor, everyone's gaze turned toward me.
Adel, who had just said there were no hidden rooms, was looking back and forth between the stairs and me with a dumbfounded expression.
Under all those stares, I calmly said:
"Hahaha, I accidentally pressed something and this opened up?"
Everyone gave me looks of disbelief.