CHAPTER 67: CHAPTER 67: GROUP OF 4 [2]

"Hey, hey, what am I seeing?"

"Are they crazy? Why did they choose that door?"

"Can’t they see that the percentage is worse than the winning percentage at a casino?"

Mutters began to rise and spread.

’For real?’

Kael thought.

If standing in front of this door right now were only him and Hans, who were completely unpopular, then no one would care.

However, right now, standing here with them was Kaede Shirayuki.

The guildmaster of the Shadow Viper guild.

The murmurs sounded unpleasant.

It felt like being indirectly bullied.

"It’s all your fault, Master."

He whispered into her ear.

"Huh? Why is it my fault?"

She replied innocently, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Kaede was acting, right?

Chatting together, the three of them didn’t notice the approach of a person.

It wasn’t until that person came closer and spoke that Kael’s group realized his existence.

"Yo, the party looks pretty special, huh?"

It was a familiar voice.

The three of them stopped, then turned towards the source.

Sure enough, standing there, was Alaric Valthor.

The strongest.

The King.

But, before he had a chance to reply, Kaede spoke first:

"What now? What are you doing here, you bastard? If you like to cause trouble, then get lost."

"...?"

Both he and Hans were shocked by her way of speaking.

’So this is what they call a competition between the top 2 and top 1?’

Kael rubbed his chin, smiling with interest.

Meanwhile, the protagonist was ready to use [Sword Saint] if Alaric had any intention of attacking.

He truly loved his girlfriend very much.

However, Alaric did not react as they expected.

The King only smiled wryly to reconcile.

"Come on, calm down, both of you."

"...!"

Hans was shocked because Alaric could feel the murderous aura radiating from him.

"I came here with only one purpose, and that is to join this party of yours."

"You want to be the 4th member?"

"Yes."

"Refuse."

Kaede replied bluntly.

"Accept."

But Kael had another answer.

The Shadow Viper Guildmaster immediately glared at him.

"What do you mean, my disciple?"

He returned her with a gentle smile.

"We need more power, and he willingly offered them without asking for anything in return. Isn’t that great, Master?"

"...Are you still not satisfied with the second strongest being me?"

"The more, the less, Master. When you pass through that door, you’ll understand my reasons."

"Tsk."

Although annoyed, Kaede didn’t say anything more.

Then, Kael turned to The King, saying nothing.

"Thank you for letting me join. You really are a good person. Kael, right?"

Alaric was still the same.

It was really hard to read him.

’A good person?’

He sneered inwardly.

"It’s nothing."

***

Utter darkness.

That was all that entered Kael’s vision after he stepped through that door.

It was so dark that he couldn’t even see the quest notification sent from the Tower.

’How unpleasant.’

And since his vision had become useless, he had to rely on his other senses.

Touch.

Currently, it seemed that Kael was sitting on a stone wall, with his back against a wall.

It was really cold.

It gave him the feeling of a prison.

Next was hearing.

"..."

There was no sound, except for a few groans of pain at a very low volume.

This gave Kael goosebumps.

There was no normal place where such groans could be heard.

’That’s clear.’

He didn’t know exactly where he was, but he knew that he was trapped in a place that looked like a prison.

"Hey, are you guys around? Master? Hans? Alaric?"

Kael spoke up in a small voice, yet carried quite a distance.

He didn’t dare say it out loud.

Because he didn’t know what was lurking in the darkness.

"This voice... Are you Kael?"

It was Alaric’s voice.

He sounded fine.

"What’s going on? What kind of situation are we in?"

Next came Kaede’s voice.

Both her and Alaric seemed to be quite close to Kael.

And finally, Hans’s voice:

"Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, but we can’t see anything. It’s too dark."

"Don’t worry, I have an Ability that can see in the dark."

The protagonist said smugly.

’...You can’t do that.’

That was what Kael wanted to say.

But never mind.

He wanted to let them experience it themselves.

"Hm?"

"What’s going on?"

In the darkness, Kaede raised her eyebrows slightly.

"I can’t use my Ability."

Hans replied, his voice starting to panic.

"What?!"

Following that, there were rumbling sounds from three different directions.

’They’re checking.’

Kael thought, still sitting in the same place.

’But it’ll definitely only be disappointment.’

"What is this? I can’t use my Ability."

"Me too."

"What’s going on?"

Sure enough, everything turned out just as he had predicted.

Seeing this as his chance, Kael opened his mouth:

"Stop it, no matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to use your Ability."

"What do you mean?"

The King asked back.

"From the 22nd to the 23rd floor, all of us won’t be able to use Ability."

That was the reason Kael had tried everything to be accepted as Kaede’s apprentice.

Because he had the power to see the future!

"It seems like what you said is true. But how did you know that in the end?"

"...That’s the privilege of someone who became the MVP of the 21st floor."

A blatant lie.

But fortunately, everyone believed it.

"So what should we do now, Kael?"

The protagonist asked.

"...To be honest, I don’t know either."

"Huh?"

From the moment Kael chose that door, accepting to deviate from the plot, he was completely cut off from the power of foresight.

"But, don’t give up yet."

He didn’t know if those words were meant to comfort them, or to him.

"There are four of us, and the four of us are all very strong, right?"

"...Indeed."

The King replied.

"Yeah."

Kaede nodded.

"Of course!"

Hans gave Kael a thumbs up.

"So, for now, I think we should wait until morning."

Just now, he felt a gust of wind blowing by.

Proving that there was a window here, and they weren’t trapped underground.

Just like that, the conversation between the four of them came to an end.

Everyone decided to rest before dawn, and then check together what they should do next.

"..."

And then, at the moment when all the noise seemed to have disappeared...

"Are you guys finally quiet? Good. To be honest, you guys were being really noisy just now. But what can you do, I’m a generous person."

A voice rang out from a very close distance.

And it sounded a little... arrogant.

But there was no malicious intent.

Startled, Kael and the others completely woke up from their fatigue.

"Who are you?"

"Who am I?"

The owner of the voice chuckled.

As if he had just heard a funny joke.

"I’m only introducing myself once, so listen carefully."

"..."

"I am Erza Dicathen! The first prince, the only prince, and the heir to the throne of the Dicathen kingdom!"