The descent was smooth.

Before long, we arrived at the D-floor where a teleportation portal stood open before us.

[No.482] [Old Sapphire Temple]

Shin Byeong-cheol glanced at it briefly before asking,

“Want me to wait up front, or should I come by later?”

“Come later, at dawn. I’ll be training for quite a while.”

“Okay, see you then.”

With a grin, Shin Byeong-cheol vanished like the wind.

After exchanging a glance with Hong Yeon-hwa, I stepped into the teleportation portal.

In the next moment, a vast, snow-covered mountain range unfolded before my eyes.

Soft snowflakes drifted down, settling into the profound silence.

“......”

Perhaps because of that, Hong Yeon-hwa stood still for a while and looked blankly at the snowy landscape.

There was no need to rush, so I gave her a moment to take in the view before taking the lead.

“Follow me.”

“M-Mhmm!”

Startled out of her daze, Hong Yeon-hwa quickly scurried after me.

As we approached the snow-covered mountain, the uneven outline of stairs became faintly visible beneath the white blanket.

I looked up along the stairs and a snow-covered building, or rather the remains of the building, came into view.

That was the Sapphire Temple.

Whooosh—

Casting Wind Force sent the accumulated snow flying away, revealing the stairs beneath.

However, since a thin layer of ice coated them, I gave Hong Yeon-hwa a warning.

“Be careful. It’s slippery.”

“Mhmm...”

She cautiously glanced down at her feet and began climbing the stairs.

But her efforts were in vain. Within moments, she slipped sideways and tumbled into the snow.

“........”

“You okay?”

“I-I’m fine...”

Hong Yeon-hwa took my outstretched hand and pulled herself up.

Her face was slightly flushed which was likely from a mix of embarrassment and frustration.

Perhaps that was why, the moment she got up, she began chanting a spell. The ruby embedded in her staff became engulfed in flames.

Whoosh.

The fire melted the surrounding snow within a certain radius, making it vanish without a trace.

With each step up the stairs, the next step naturally came into view.

This is incredibly convenient.

As expected, a portable bonfire was the way to go.

We murmured our admiration, continued our ascent, and soon arrived at the snow-covered temple.

Though the structure had been severely weathered, leaving behind little more than a few pillars, the temple still retained an air of solemnity and reverence. RA?o???E?s?

It’s probably because of that.

A single important relic had the power to dictate the entire atmosphere of a place.

At the end of my gaze stood a grand statue of a goddess carved from solid ice.

She wore a benevolent smile as if welcoming us.

But that didn’t bother me. I pointed to the statue and gave Hong Yeon-hwa an order.

“Burn that.”

“...Burn it?”

She blinked as if questioning whether such blasphemy was truly allowed.

Still, trusting that I had my reasons, she conjured a ball of fire in her hand and hurled it straight at the statue.

Boom!

An explosion erupted, engulfing the ice goddess in flames.

Considering the overwhelming power of Aqua Flame, it should have melted away in an instant just like the snow Hong Yeon-hwa had cleared on our way up.

But the statue remained intact. The surface had become slick with moisture, but its shape held firm.

The only noticeable change was its face.

The once-gentle smile had vanished. It was replaced by a grotesque snarl as it glared down at us.

“It’s mad.”

“Y-Yeah... I guess so?”

Thud!

The statue stepped forward, breaking free from its pedestal to stand before us.

At the same time, a swirling blizzard gathered in both of its hands, freezing into solid weapons.

As I watched this unfold, I spoke in a calm and casual tone.

“Today, we’re taking that thing down.”

“Mhmm. Got it.”

Hong Yeon-hwa’s voice had settled into quiet determination.

The main objective of this dungeon was a boss raid. That is to defeat the Sapphire Goddess Statue.

To elaborate on that,

“As you just saw, it doesn’t melt easily. It has fire resistance.”

“What’s its rank?”

“D.”

The statue was the guardian of the Sapphire Temple.

When I pulled out the Book of Chaos, an exclamation mark practically appeared over Hong Yeon-hwa’s head.

She turned to me and asked,

“Are you planning to use it now?”

“It’s the most efficient way to farm.”

Hong Yeon-hwa stared at the Book of Chaos with a mix of anticipation and unease.

But since her excitement outweighed her worry, she didn’t object.

Without hesitation, I tore out the first page.

Fwoooosh!

The space around us trembled, sending ripples of energy in all directions.

I kept my eyes locked on the Sapphire Goddess Statue, watching closely to see what kind of effect the Book of Chaos would have.

And then, I noticed it. The parts that had melted were now regenerating at a visibly faster rate.

“It’s got a healing boost now.”

That actually worked out in our favor.

If it healed quickly, that meant less downtime between fights.

Soon, the fully restored statue shed its icy cocoon and stepped forward.

“Let’s use it now. The boost.”

“Mhmm.”

We both activated Rank Boost at the same time.

A bright light flared from the magic scroll, and a system notification popped up.

[Activated ‘Rank Boost’.]

[Skill and trait growth speed has greatly increased.]

Farming officially started now.

We planned to keep repeating this cycle until Rank Boost wore off.

Swish!

The goddess statue lunged forward, thrusting its trident while launching a flurry of ice spells.

I countered with wind magic while red magic circles formed beneath its feet.

Kwoooom!

***

After repeatedly pummeling the Sapphire Goddess Statue, letting it recover, and pummeling it again...

[The rank of ‘Wind Force’ has increased. (C+ → B+)]

At last, Wind Force had broken through its wall.

Now, there was no one in the first-year class who could match me.

I turned to Hong Yeon-hwa and asked,

“Did any of your skills rank up?”

She hesitated before answering,

“...No, not yet.”

Hong Yeon-hwa slowly shook her head.

Reaching B-rank was never going to be that easy.

My goal was to raise Twister as well, but there was still no sign of progress.

The only option was to keep going.

Meanwhile, even though the Book of Chaos accelerated the Sapphire Goddess Statue’s recovery speed, there were still occasional gaps in the cycle.

Especially when Hong Yeon-hwa misjudged her firepower and left the goddess statue on the brink of death; it took much longer to recover in those cases.

During those breaks, we took the opportunity to rest and chat about random things.

At one point, something came to mind, so I asked,

“Before we left, you were about to ask me something but stopped.”

“......”

Hong Yeon-hwa instantly looked startled and her eyes started darting around.

But soon, as if she had made up her mind, she laid some groundwork before speaking.

“Well... I was just curious about something, that’s all...”

“Yeah? Go ahead.”

“Um... are you... dating Seo Ye-in?”

So this was what it was about.

I immediately understood why the Hong Yeon-hwa and Hon Ye-hwa sisters had been acting so cautiously.

Of course, there was no reason I couldn’t answer.

“No, we’re not dating.”

When I shook my head, Hong Yeon-hwa’s eyes widened slightly.

It seemed like she had leaned more toward believing that we were.

“Th-Then... what about Senior Dang Gyu-young...?”

“We’re not dating either.”

Hong Yeon-hwa’s expression grew even more confused.

But perhaps thinking she might as well go all the way, she continued asking questions.

“Then... is there someone you like...?”

“There are plenty.”

“P-Plenty...?”

Hong Yeon-hwa’s pupils wavered from side to side.

I smirked and added,

“I’m a greedy person, you know.”

***

TN: Lol! I wasn’t familiar with your game, young monarch~