Chapter 23

Chapter 23 :  The Gorge Where the Stars Do Not Set

After walking for about half a day longer, when the sky had grown dim, we finally reached our destination after several encounters with Monsters.

It was a place where the stars of the night sky seemed to pour endlessly between the long, stretched-out valley walls.

That was the reason this place was called the “Gorge Where the Stars Do Not Set.”

Ancient trees that hinted at the passage of time stood here and there throughout the valley, and thickly spreading moss covered the ground like a natural carpet.

Small streams branched and flowed along the lower ground, and from far away, I could faintly hear the sound of a fairly large waterfall crashing down.

Radi let out a small sigh as he watched a swan leisurely preening its feathers on the water’s surface.

“Honestly… no matter how I look at it, I cannot get used to the scale of this dungeon… It feels as though I have come to another world.”

“Indeed. To think such a place was hidden away in a corner of the First Layer… I heard it was suitable for camping, and though it is somewhat remote, the scenery is certainly beautiful. The air is clear as well.”

“…….”

“Doran, are you listening?”

“Hmm? Ah, of course. Just as I heard, it really is a wonderful place.”

I responded appropriately while quickly scanning the area around the gorge.

I had subtly guided the group here, but in truth, I had been thinking quickly from the moment we arrived.

As I carefully observed various parts of the gorge, I could see the glint of reflected light from shining armor and the glow of campfires.

It was proof that other Adventurers had already scattered and taken up positions.

The fact that combat-capable Adventurers were loitering in such a remote place at this timing meant….

‘…There are definitely other Reincarnators mixed into this world besides me.’

Either they were hiding among those people, or someone had quietly leaked information.

A new dungeon had opened, so it would not have been enough even if they were frantically hunting rare Monsters and harvesting materials. Yet they had come all the way to a remote place like this and were idling around. That made it certain.

They were probably aiming for the event that would soon happen here.

But even among Reincarnators, there should not have been many people who knew about this place….

Surely all those people had not come here after receiving quests too, right?

‘…No, I do not think that is it.’

If they had gathered here because they had received quests, it would have been far more crowded than it was now.

Most of all, I could not feel the unique tension of players carrying out a quest at all.

Players who had grown weary of Velheim’s malice would have suspected the system message first, just as I had, the moment they saw it.

To confirm, I approached a group of shabby-looking Adventurers and listened in on their conversation….

“I heard the fishing guild beside us caught a big one here last night. They said its body was as thick as an Ogre’s forearm….”

“But have we not come too far in? I am not confident in a fight… What if we run into a Monster in a place like this…?”

“It is fine. They say the most that appears in this gorge is a Horn Rabbit or so. Instead of worrying about things like that, check whether you have a bite.”

“…….”

It was clear that they had no idea what was about to happen here.

As I was diligently analyzing the Adventurers, Malton, who had been climbing a slope in the distance, shouted.

“Doran, what are you doing over there? If we are going to pitch the tent before sunset, we should hurry.”

“Just leave him alone. It is obvious he is thinking about something pointless. …But by what principle does this dungeon grow dark and bright?”

“They say there are luminous plants stuck to the dungeon ceiling.”

“Really? Are they rare plants that grow by feeding on the dungeon’s mana…? Artificial cultivation would be difficult, right? It would be nice if we could put them in a lantern and carry them around….”

We found a suitable spot and quickly finished preparing camp.

However, even after laying out his sleeping bag, Radi busily moved around the tent.

He hung bells on silk threads, and on the paths where Monsters were likely to approach, he drove blades into the ground and set up traps.

‘He is incredibly meticulous… and he seems to handle all sorts of traps too.’

Since he volunteered to handle the annoying guard work that we were originally supposed to divide among ourselves, it was honestly extremely convenient.

Despite his young appearance, I could certainly feel that he had been active alone for a long time and had built up experience as an Adventurer.

But as I watched him, an ominous thought slowly raised its head.

‘If I were to blow up the traps he put so much effort into setting….’

I would probably be able to raise my stats all at once, right?

I had felt it when I bewildered the Beginner Adventurers in the Radgit cave, but I did not necessarily need to shake enemies in order to make use of the [Chaos] skill.

Sometimes, just bewildering my allies would let me enter battle with my stats greatly inflated.

Besides, from what I had seen, this guy had a rather rigid side, so I would probably be able to secure many stats if I startled him.

The fun of messing with him would also be quite satisfying.

“…What is it? I suddenly felt a sinister gaze.”

“It is nothing, so keep going. …Do you want help with the traps?”

“No. Even if a Beginner helps, it will only get in the way… Wait! Why would you pull that out?! I worked hard to fix it in place!!”

“Whoops, my mistake.”

｢Intelligence has temporarily increased by 1!｣

As I tussled with Radi, who immediately kicked me in the shin, Malton laughed and yawned.

“Then… I am tired, so I shall sleep first. Ah, and this is the pocket watch you asked for.”

“Thanks. I will take the first watch, so go to sleep.”

“Very well. …But why do you need that watch? Unlike an ordinary watch, it is not suitable for measuring time….”

“Ah, it is just… When you are standing in the Night Watch, it gets boring. It is nothing.”

“Is that so? Then I shall rest easy.”

Not long after Malton crawled into the tent, I heard him snoring.

***

In this world, there existed a concept known as “Mages’ Time.”

It was a system that tied together events that affected magic at specific cycles, like the Gregorian calendar.

For example, during the Week of Fire, fire spirits might run wild and frequently cause forest fires, or mad mages might go around committing serial arson.

Conversely, during the Week of Water, floods might occur and keep the beaver Beastkin busy, the Merfolk Race might wage war, or graduate students of the Magic Tower who failed their exams might throw themselves into the river and make the water level overflow.

And the approaching week, the Week of the Blue-Tailed Star, was the period when a blue comet passed near the planet.

Occasionally, “special lifeforms” affected by the comet would awaken.

“It should be about time for it to begin.”

I took out Malton’s pocket watch, which had been made with the precise craftsmanship of Dwarves.

Click. When I opened the brass lid, countless reliefs modeled after stars and planets rotated by means of clockwork.

As I quietly killed time with only the campfire for company, the needle, which had remained motionless, began to move.

And at last, the moment the thin iron hand of the pocket watch reached its proper position─.

THUD─!!!!!

At the same time that the blue comet model appeared across the face of the watch, the dungeon shook violently, and a change occurred in the pitch-black night sky.

Like a tidal wave, blue flames left long tails behind as they split the darkness at the edge of my vision and approached.

“Doran, what happened? I just heard a thunderous noise…!”

“Is it a Monster?!”

When Malton and Radi rushed out of the tent in a panic, I silently pointed at the sky.

“Oh, is a meteor shower falling? That large one looks like a comet!”

“Wait…! We are inside a dungeon, yet we can see a comet….”

“Could it be that the sky above the surface has been reproduced exactly? How astonishing…!”

Malton and Radi looked up at the night sky, exclaiming again and again in wonder.

The dungeon shimmered around the comet, radiating a beautiful glow.

Throughout the gorge, faintly shining luminous plants sprouted, and fireflies startled by the sound took flight all at once, creating an incomparable spectacle.

It was a scene as though the Milky Way were flowing through the entire valley.

However….

‘From now on, we have to move quickly…!’

If we were enchanted by that light, we would meet a miserable end.

I hurriedly packed my things and rose to my feet.

“Malton, something feels wrong about the atmosphere. Let’s leave.”

“Hmm…? Very well.”

“Kid, you hurry up and recover the traps too.”

“What? Where are we going in the middle of the night…? Fine.”

Radi looked reluctant, but when he saw my face, he packed his things without another word.

After collecting our sleeping bags and tents and heading down into the valley, we found that the place was already noisy with Mercenaries and Adventurers who had awakened from sleep.

“What is this…?! Light is suddenly coming from everywhere….”

“It could be an attack! Everyone, stay alert!! Wake up everyone who is still sleeping over there!”

“Oh, mage! Mana is surging from the ground around us! What in the world is happening right now?”

“How would I know? Hurry and take out the parchment, then record everything that happens from now on without missing a single thing! This is huge… It is my chance to escape being a Magic Tower researcher!!”

While people shouted in confusion, the light surrounding the valley grew stronger and stronger.

Soon, blue crystals overturned the thick moss and wriggled up from the ground.

They were unidentified Monsters whose entire bodies were made of blue crystal.

At the same time, a new notification updated in the Log Window.

Ding─!

｢The Week of the Blue-Tailed Star has begun!｣

｢Abnormal phenomena are appearing in various places! Please be careful!｣

｢You have encountered [Cerulean Golems], beings imbued with the energy of the stars! ｣

｢The nearby Adventurers have grown excited! Stats increase due to the [Chaos] skill.｣

‘As expected, you bastards were the true cause of the advance party’s destruction.’

I twisted one corner of my mouth upward and glared at the Golems with a cold gaze.

[Cerulean Golem]

A Rare Monster that appeared only during the Week of the Blue-Tailed Star.

Back when I had been playing Velheim, I had once come across the records of the exploration party that first entered the dungeon.

In that journal, it was written that when a comet appeared in the night sky, unidentified crystal Golems poured out in this gorge and caused massive casualties.

At the time, there was no way to know the Monsters’ true identity, so it had been treated as an unsolved case, but now that I had come to the past, I was facing their true form.

It was the moment I saw with my own eyes the scheme of a malicious quest that had tried to kill me.

‘Damn quest… This was just openly meant to kill me, was it not?’

As I pressed down the anger rising from my lower abdomen, the Cerulean Golems slowly raised their bodies as though awakening from a long sleep, then began wandering through the gorge with heavy steps.

“W-What are those… Golems?”

“I have never seen Golems made of crystal before….”

When a few Adventurers tried to approach the Golems with gazes mixed with curiosity and wariness, Malton stopped them.

“You had better not approach carelessly. There is no telling what sort of abilities such rare Monsters possess.”

“But… it looks as though just catching one of those would be worth a tremendous amount of money, does it not?”

One Mercenary licked his lips as he looked at a Golem with greedy eyes.

I clicked my tongue inwardly.

‘What an idiot. Does that look like a simple lump of crystal to him?’

The Cerulean Golem was a Monster that boasted a hard outer shell and powerful strength.

If one attacked it carelessly, one would likely end up as scraps of flesh.

And it also had one more extremely troublesome trait.

“Cowardly bastards! Everyone, move aside! That one’s materials are mine! O flames of inferno, O fire, dwell within this sword….”

When one Mercenary recited an incantation, crimson flames surged along the blade of his Longsword.

He charged forward with a confident expression and drove his sword into the Golem’s head, but─.

｢The Cerulean Golem nullifies magic!｣

｢As a lifeform born from magic, the Cerulean Golem is unaffected by low-grade spells!｣

｢The Cerulean Golem absorbs mana and prepares a powerful strike!｣

“H-Huh…?”

The Golem, which had not even been scratched, brought both arms down as they were.

The Mercenary who had stepped forward so boldly turned into a lump of blood in an instant, and the pale-faced Adventurers scattered in every direction.