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

22 – 1st floor (3)

A considerable amount of time had passed since they entered the labyrinth.

During that time, the party composed of mercenaries, soldiers, and Elena had explored the labyrinth smoothly without any casualties.

Even though several mutant monsters appeared that seemed unlikely to be on the 1st floor, the exploration team did not face any major dangers.

No, there were no situations where they could be in danger at all.

Because every time a mutant appeared, Elena would quickly kill it by stabbing it in the head with her axe.

That’s why.

“How on earth…?”

Alta looked at Elena with a expression that seemed unable to comprehend.

As far as he knew, Elena was weak.

She wasn’t just weak, she was so weak that she was given the nickname “Failed Hero”.

Even she was well aware of Elena’s weakness, not only through rumors but from having witnessed it several times.

Certainly, it would be like that.

‘How did she become so strong in just a few short months?’

The Elena she remembered was undoubtedly weaker than Alita.

Even without fighting, one could easily predict the outcome, and the difference between Elena and Alita was significant.

However, the Elena that Alita currently sees undoubtedly does not appear weaker than her at all.

Rather, when seriously considering the possibility of Elena winning in a fight against her, it becomes a matter of genuine contemplation.

“…”

No, actually, within Alita’s mind, the belief that she might not be able to win against Elena, even if she were to fight her, was steadily growing.

So.

‘Just how…’

As Alita was pondering this unanswered question once again.

“We’ve arrived.”

The expedition reached the end of the first layer, right in front of the boss room with the layer boss.

####

The layer boss of the first layer in the Lartania Territory is a ‘Mutant Orc.’

However, this fact is known only to Kim Hyun-woo, who has already cleared the Lartania Territory’s labyrinth, and no one in the expedition thinks of what they see in front of them as a Mutant Orc.

Even Elena, who came after roughly hearing the story from Kim Hyun-woo.

“…”

As the expedition’s gaze fell upon the monster that could hardly be called an orc, revealed with the opening of the boss door.

The first thing noticeable was the pulsating red skin that seemed about to explode at any moment.

Next, a physique even larger than the mutant bodies seen while exploring the first layer until now.

Lastly, two monstrous heads that would be hard to describe as orcs.

■■■■■■■■-!

Along with the boss’s chilling scream, the expedition fell into panic simultaneously.

They all seemed to have lost their composure as if realizing that they were not dealing with something they expected.

However, Elena, who was directly facing the boss’s fierce gaze, remained calm, although her face was tense.

Soon, as the boss roared and approached Elena, the battle began.

The boss’s fist, swinging recklessly to kill Elena, who seemed as if she could be obliterated the moment she was hit.

Crash!

It was a moment, but with a force capable of shaking the ground, the soldiers collectively grimaced as Elena narrowly avoided Boss’s attack, accompanied by a swift movement.

Immediately after, Boss’s relentless attacks ensued.

The sheer power contained in each strike, even without hitting Elena, caused the soldiers’ faces to scrunch up just witnessing the force.

The soldiers, almost mesmerized by Elena’s near acrobatic maneuvers, managed to evade Boss’s attacks by a hair’s breadth, eliciting expressions of involuntary admiration.

Even in the moment when it seemed Elena would falter under Boss’s assault, some soldiers went as far as tightly shutting their eyes, thinking she would be hit.

However, the expressions of those soldiers changed gradually over time.

Thud!

As time passed, a transformation began.

Thud! Thud!

Although Boss’s attacks had occurred dozens of times by now, Elena not only avoided each one but also displayed a sense of composure, different from the earlier struggle.

So, the soldiers who had recently lost their composure now looked at Elena with expressions of awe.

■■■■■■■■■■-!!!!

Annoyed, perhaps by her continuous evasion, Boss raised both hands to the sky.

Crack!

Seizing the moment Boss gathered frustration towards Elena’s relentless evasion, she didn’t miss the opportunity. Elena leaped up and thrust her hand axe directly into the left eye socket of the monster.

Squelch!

The boss began to convulse with a sound resembling an explosion.

However, Elena didn’t stop there. Riding on top of the orc’s head, she showcased a level of balance almost akin to acrobatics. As Boss’s eye burst, she maintained control, causing the creature to wildly leap around the boss room, banging its own body against the walls.

And then…

Like a madman, Boss, with wounds covering its entire body from the chaos, even pounding its own left head wildly with fists, ended up killing itself.

Squelch!

As Elena plunged a pair of hand axes into the right head, she brought about complete annihilation.

And…

“What…?”

“To face that monster alone-“

“Impressive…!”

“There’s a nickname going around, calling her the fallen hero, right? That one?”

Elena, who had single-handedly dealt with that colossal boss, received eyes filled with admiration and awe from everyone.

*Swoosh-!*

At the sound of a rough exhale, I unconsciously turned my gaze toward the soldiers, where I could feel unfamiliar stares.

These were not the mocking looks Elena had always received, but rather gazes filled with admiration, even from the mercenaries.

“Oh.”

Elena felt something fluttering in her chest.

Thinking about it, these were the kind of looks she had always wanted to receive from the world.

That’s why Elena unconsciously recalled the Lord.

In fact, the reason she could capture this boss so quickly was because of the patterns and weaknesses of the boss that Kim Hyunwoo had told her.

She unknowingly remembered Kim Hyunwoo’s words.

“Remember, if the boss on the first floor is not a mutated orc, retreat as it is. But if a mutated orc comes out, remember my words.”

“A mutated orc has low intelligence and can only perform basic attacks. Probably 90% of its attacks will be swinging its fists randomly. The fists it swings may look very threatening, but Elena can easily dodge them.”

“Remember. Just properly dodge the fist that it stretches out. You don’t need to worry about anything else. If it shows signs of kicking, just move straight back. It takes a very long time for the orc to kick.”

“By avoiding its attacks, it will eventually raise both arms in anger. That’s the opportunity. When it lowers its arms after the previous attack, jump up and burst the orc’s eyes.”

“If it’s too dangerous, you can jump down as you like, but if conditions permit, blind all the orc’s eyes. Then the orc will roam around on its own and self-destruct.”

“Of course, if the boss behaves even slightly differently from what I’ve described, immediately retreat.”

Each piece of advice fell perfectly without any errors.

Elena wondered how the Lord knew this fact.

Of course, she knew that Kim Hyunwoo was a figure who had dominated the Larutania territory in its prime ten years ago.

But even so, the doubt did not disappear.

After all, Lords don’t come down into dungeons.

Descending is only for heroes and soldiers belonging to the territory, and of course, it’s natural for a hero to defeat the boss in the dungeon.

In other words, it was amazing that Lord Kim Hyunwoo knew the boss’s pattern in such detail.

The advice Kim Hyunwoo gave Elena was something she couldn’t obtain without directly descending into the dungeon and facing the boss.

But that doubt only lasted for a moment.

Elena still, with soldiers looking at her with awe, thought unknowingly.

“Once again, thanks to the Lord.”

She didn’t know how Lord Kim Hyunwoo knew this fact, but one thing was clear.

The reason she could receive admiration at this moment, the reason she could regain her confidence when she had lost it, the reason she could handle numerous monsters effortlessly on her way here, the reason she could defeat the boss of the first floor and receive the admiration of soldiers and mercenaries, all of it was because of the Lord. That’s what she was clearly aware of.

That’s why.

“If I’m under the Lord, it might really be possible.”

‘Becoming a hero who shakes the continent.’

Elena muttered to herself, genuinely grateful for meeting the Lord, and smiled faintly.

A while ago, Altar, who was staring intently at Elena’s unbelievable prowess, responded, “Indeed.”

Recalling the words she quietly muttered since entering the labyrinth, Altar smiled faintly.

Shortly after, Elena, who was looking at a fairly large magic stone that appeared along with the disappearance of the boss’s corpse, noticed something near the boss’s foot.

“…?”

She discovered that something was falling there and picked it up.

“…A bone?”

She soon realized that it was a bone.

Not just an ordinary bone but a bone emitting a blue light.

‘What is this?’

Looking at the bone fragment about the length of her forearm for a while, Elena suddenly remembered the moment when she defeated the boss a while ago.

Just before, when she briefly stumbled and a dangerous situation was staged, thanks to the boss suddenly stepping on her left foot, she had completely avoided an attack that she had to defend against.

Thus, Elena, who saw the blue bone fragment from the boss’s left foot, recalled that in this labyrinth, there were no remains of monsters after they died.

While recalling this fact, she realized that she could avoid the boss’s attack because of the bone fragment that appeared somewhere.

After thinking about the bone fragment for a while, Elena decided, ‘Let’s go back first.’

With the blue bone fragment, she decided to return to the territory.

####

Upon returning to the territory, Elena first went to the room to wash off the bodily fluids that splattered when dealing with monsters.

“Is there anything strange?”

After casually not paying much attention to her appearance, she walked to the study where Kim Hyun-woo was for the report.

And standing in front of the study, the moment I tried to grab the doorknob, I couldn’t help but hesitate unknowingly.

“How about it? If the Lord desires, I’d like to enter this territory. Oh, due to the size of the territory, the lord’s seat is small, so if you want to recruit me, you’ll probably have to exclude Elena.”

The reason is.

“Oh, you don’t have to offer a lot of earnest money just because I want to enter. In other words, if the Lord chooses, I will be immediately affiliated with this territory. Well, if you’re worried about the contract period, you can specify it, too.”

Because the voice was heard.

“In fact, it might be difficult to get a hero of my caliber under these conditions. What do you think, my lord?”

The voice of Alta, who had explored the labyrinth with her.

“…”

…Elena swallowed her breath.