[Edogawa City — Rank A Dungeon Abyss]
The method for ranking up was simple. You just had to keep adding to the weight you carried and fight constantly. That was how we had managed to get from Rank F to Rank B. When it came to Rank A, however, this method did not seem to be enough.
“Which would you pick? A dangerous method that will allow you to rank-up quickly but carries a serious risk to your lives, or a relatively safe method that may end up taking a few years?” Shifu Liu asked.
In the past, we had taken his recommendation to mindlessly fight monsters, and while we had grown stronger for a while, we had finally hit a plateau. The explanation was simple: without the Rank B Dungeon Buster title, it was impossible to go above Rank B. That said, even after earning that title, it was still an extremely long, difficult journey to reach Rank A.
“That’s a foolish question. We don’t have years to waste, so we’d obviously pick the fast method.”
“Ho ho! All right. Then I shall explain the training regimen,” said Shifu Liu.
Calling the training regimen Shifu Liu proposed “insane” would still be too mild in comparison to the living hell it was.
“Keep your weighted vests as they are. You’ll constantly carry a hundred kilos, and I’ll help you out with a little pressure. Here you go!”
My body suddenly felt extremely heavy, and I had trouble breathing.
“Argh... A debuff? Dang, I feel awful,” Akira complained.
His smile was strained, and sweat was already running down his forehead. Of course, that wasn’t the end of Shifu Liu’s mad ideas.
“You’ll be fighting Rank B monsters one-on-one,” said Shifu Liu, continuing his explanation. “I will add one more rule. You are forbidden from dodging attacks. It is time to heighten your recovery speed and build resistance to physical and magical attacks.”
“Hang on, hang on! We’re just going to die, ain’t we?”
“You will have to block their attacks. If you make a mistake while blocking and take a direct hit, you will die.”
“Can’t we fight the gacha monsters?” I asked.
Shifu Liu shook his head. If we fought the gacha monsters, we would invariably end up cutting corners at one point or another. This would lead to us showing openings to real foes and losing our lives, according to him. Fighting against dungeon monsters, and keeping in mind how merciless they were, would help us stay on our toes and visualize the fine line between life and death.
“This is the furthest thing from science I’ve heard,” I started. “But the body of an A-Ranker itself is already so far removed from what science deems possible that approaching this in a scientific fashion doesn’t make much sense anyway. All right. I’ll start!”
I faced an ancient mage on Floor 5 of Abyss. It sent a fireball flying my way. I stayed still on purpose and blocked the attack instead of dodging. I felt as though my skin was burning. After becoming a B-Ranker, my body had become more resistant, but the pain of getting burnt had not changed one bit. I advanced, engulfed in flames, and swung my blade.
“This...isn’t easy.”
“Ho ho. If you were a normal F-Ranker, you would have been turned to ash with this one attack. Your current body is incomparable to how you were before. You may not notice it yourself, but your body is much sturdier. You need to keep at it now,” Shifu Liu explained.
“Aniki, do you need a potion?”
“No, I can still bear it. But this method of training will make us go through a tremendous number of potions. Let’s check our stock later.”
A regular Potion could easily heal burns. From what I remembered, we should’ve had around twenty thousand Potions in stock. I figured it would be safer to ask other members to help gather at least a hundred thousand.
“I’m starting to understand how so many worlds got destroyed. This is way too hard.”
“We’re playing on Nightmare Mode,” Akira answered before adding, “My turn.”
He stepped forward and exchanged places with me. Even at the rear, I could feel the scalding heat of the flames.
✦ ✦ ✦
[Republic of Colombian — Barranquilla]
“Time for a break!”
At Joker’s order, the men headed toward the Safety Zone and took out the food they had prepared from the Magic Pouch. They wore the same type of weight belt divers used, keeping them on as they ate. Although some of Joker’s underlings were still stuck at Rank D, others had already reached Rank C. While they ate tamales—a South Gamerican dish made from corn and chicken—Joker went through his notes again.
From what I saw on Floor 1, this dungeon should be Rank B. This will come in handy to train my troops. The only issue will be what to do after we clear it...
He threw down the banana leaf he had been holding and lit a cigarette. He squinted, watching the smoke that rose from it, and thought about his future plans.
Venisuela still lacks supplies. The first thing to do is to turn the dungeons into food farms and get rid of starvation. I also need to recruit more comrades. I’ll make sure more people get the title of Dungeon Buster and eventually send a few to Gamerica. We’ll need to use the Colombian mafia’s channels to get them inside the country. Perhaps I should go pay them a visit once we’re done here...
“Boss, it’s almost time.”
Their scheduled break had ended while Joker had been focused on his thoughts. He stood up and noisily cracked his neck.
“All right! Let’s head to Floor 3! Once we’re done here, the whores are on me. Keep ’em balls full, all right?”
Every one of his men cheered, fists raised in the air.
On Floor 3 of Barranquilla Dungeon, they encountered wolf monsters. The men in charge of tanking blocked the attacks while attackers slashed at the monsters with swords and axes. One wolf managed to jump over the line of shields and lunged at Joker. He caught the monster’s head and held it up with both hands.
“What a cute little puppy,” he cooed, a smile on his face. “If you sit like a good boy, I’ll give you a treat.”
GROWL.
“Aw. Not a good boy, I see.”
He suddenly twisted the monster’s head, and with a loud CRACK, the wolf disappeared.
“This is a good place to train D-Rankers, huh. We’re staying here for a while.”
Just as its name suggested, the Demon King’s army, Legion, made use of monsters. To be able to materialize these monsters above ground, however, one needed to have earned the title of Dungeon Buster. There were only two dungeons in Venisuela, and one was of Rank S, which made clearing it impossible. That was why Joker had decided to use the dungeons of neighboring countries to increase the number of Dungeon Busters in his army. There were four dungeons on Colombian land, one in Ekuador, and, finally, seventeen in Brezil, the most populated South Gamerican country. If the Legion could clear all of these, they would be able to establish their hegemony over South Gamerica.
This is a race against Dungeon Busters and the Crusaders. They’re ahead at the moment, but their methods won’t be accepted in South Gamerica, Africa, or the Middle East. We’ll catch up soon enough.
Joker lit another cigarette as he observed his men battling the wolves.