After a sequence of teleportation animations—specifically, various distorted visual effects blurring their vision—Ai Yue and the others arrived inside the Dungeon Instance.
It wasn’t a black loading screen, of course. In this day and age, true seamless loading had long since been developed. The reason for the animation was simply because the mechanics of this Portal worked that way.
“Is this what it looks like inside a Dungeon Instance?”
Although Bululu had reached Level 82, she actually had no experience entering a Dungeon Instance. She had always been farming mobs in the wild or training, so everything inside the dungeon felt very novel to her.
Of course, the same applied to Kurimu. After all, they were both just children; it was normal for them to lack worldly experience.
“It’s completely different from the outside! Even the Magic Power concentration and flow are totally different!”
Kurimu’s battle instincts allowed her to immediately sense the difference in the dungeon’s environment.
“For this Dungeon Instance… the environmental effect should be a High Mana Environment. The Magic Power recovery efficiency for both us and our enemies is greatly increased, but it seems the terrain and enemies here have quite high magic resistance.”
Recalling the data she had set originally, Ai Yue explained the details of this dungeon.
A High Mana Environment was easy to understand—it meant the Magic Power consumed by spells and skills would recover faster, increasing endurance. However, this applied to the enemies as well, which naturally led to battles of attrition.
Contrary to an environment suited for mages, the terrain, traps, and enemies all possessed high magic resistance, reducing the power of magic.
In fact, to avoid being suspected of knowing too much, Ai Yue didn’t mention that the enemies here could also use energy—specifically Magic Power—to repair themselves. This meant that not only magic but also ordinary physical attacks would lead to a battle of attrition unless they dealt a finishing blow in one hit. Furthermore, it would be a one-sided suppression because the enemies here were machine types; in other words, they would be constantly produced.
At first glance, the design of this Dungeon Instance seemed like absolute garbage. Magic didn’t work well, physical attacks were lackluster, and a battle of attrition would mean being buried by the endless swarms of enemies. It was clearly designed to force Players to rely on level and equipment suppression to deal burst damage.
…If they were Players who didn’t understand the game mechanics, that is.
[Intruder detected. Commencing elimination.]
Just then, an announcement echoed throughout the Dungeon Instance. Immediately after, a mechanism in the hallway walls was triggered, and two rows of cubes were deployed into the corridor.
The side of the metal cubes facing the entrance emitted a red light from the center, and they quickly transformed into the shape of small robots.
Don’t be fooled by their small size; despite looking like little trinkets one might keep as digital pets, they were Level 60. That meant they were at the peak of C-Rank, just below B-Rank. Even the Imperial Guard Maids of the Demon King Castle couldn’t guarantee an easy victory.
And this was only the appetizer for this Dungeon Instance—mere cannon fodder used everywhere to test an intruder’s strength.
“They’re actually kind of cute…”
Kurimu was in the middle of speaking when the Cubic Mini-Robots collectively aimed at them. Red lasers then shot out from what looked like their eyes.
It was as if the AI system of this dungeon had already adapted to their heights and body types; the lasers fired by each robot at their vital points didn’t interfere with each other, forming an unavoidable, dense web of lasers.
“Ugh… Not cute at all.”
Seeing the small robots suddenly attack, Kurimu’s happy face immediately soured. She reached out and casually swiped away all the lasers—including the attacks aimed at Bululu and Ai Yue that should have been beyond her reach.
It couldn’t be helped. Although these robots weren’t weak and possessed various resistances and regeneration abilities, they were still somewhat lacking when facing Kurimu—the Second Demon King with a level above 90 and a member of the Devil Race who could subvert laws to a certain extent.
Facing the robots’ second laser attack, Kurimu simply took a calm, deep breath.
“…Naaaaaah!!”
Kurimu let out a roar that sounded somewhat cute, though its power was anything but. Massive Magic Power and sound were blasted out in an instant; the enormous energy was compressed and released at extreme speeds, creating a powerful shockwave.
With just that one roar, every robot in front of them was blown away and torn to shreds without exception. Even the corridor, made of unknown materials, couldn’t withstand it; it was blasted into a twisted mess, and the mechanisms used to deploy the robots broke down.
“So weak.”
Seeing the robots disposed of by a simple roar, Kurimu’s expression turned bored again.
At this level, they weren’t even qualified to be her punching bags.
“Those were just small fry. If I had to use an analogy, they’re just a bunch of cannon fodder. There will be stronger ones later.”
Noticing Kurimu was starting to get bored, Ai Yue offered a reminder.
Because the Level Difference was too great, things like resistance and regeneration hadn’t been shown at all, but it might be different later on.
According to Ai Yue’s calculations, the enemies appearing deeper inside would be difficult to clear quickly even for a top-tier Player team above Level 80 in the late game. At the very least, it would be hard to wear them down; they would have to be dealt with through special means, such as accumulating damage and detonating it all at once, or hiding their presence and forms to bypass combat.
Of course, none of those were the best methods—or more accurately, none of them were the strategy Ai Yue had intended.
“That’s great! Let’s go!”
“Wait a moment. Let me warn you first: the enemies ahead will be more dangerous. Don’t just charge in recklessly. Wait until I give the word.”
“Okay, I got it, Mama.”
“…”
Though she had prepared herself mentally, being called that still made it hard for Ai Yue to keep it together.
‘Do I really look that much like a mother?’
Watching Kurimu skip ahead, Ai Yue muttered to herself.
“It’s true. Master Ai Yue is as gentle as a mother.”
“Uh, Bululu, I recall your mother should still be alive, right?”
Putting aside Kurimu, who lacked maternal love, Bululu had only been separated from her mother for less than a few years.
This game wasn’t an FPS… strictly speaking, not entirely an FPS, though parts of it could be called a first-person shooter. Regardless, calling someone “Mama” out of the blue like that was definitely weird, right?
“Did Master Ai Yue forget? I’m only 8 years old.”
“…”
She usually says she’s an adult, but now she says she’s only 8 years old. ‘Is she some kind of Schrödinger’s Goblin? Existing in a superposition of adulthood and childhood?’
Ai Yue complained secretly in her heart. However, thinking that for the 8-year-old Bululu, those few years already accounted for about half of her life, she didn’t argue further.
Sigh, who told her to be so kind-hearted?
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.