I Became a Veteran Who Has to Stir Up Trouble to Survive - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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[021] New Party Member
After leaving the tavern, the boy who had set out so eagerly to purchase supplies returned with his shoulders drooping, trudging along dejectedly.
The merchants had overcharged him so badly that he’d exceeded his budget.
Still irritated by what had happened at the tavern, I couldn’t help but laugh as I pointed at the single herb bundle clutched in the boy’s hand.
“You… don’t tell me you actually bought that as a supply item?”
“…Stop it. This is all your fault anyway!”
“Don’t worry, kid. I’m confident in my skills.”
“Looking at you, I doubt you could even catch a single Goblin… and stop treating me like a child. I’m an adult, you know?”
While we were bickering, Malton returned from gathering information.
“Did something happen?”
“No.”
“No.”
“Hmm? I naturally assumed you’d be fighting, but surprisingly you’re not. Anyway, I’ve brought some rather good news, so everyone sit down.”
Once we settled down, Malton’s green eyes gleamed as he spoke.
“First… I’d heard the dungeon was vast, but it’s beyond imagination. High-rankers and guilds are exploring it, and they’ve apparently already surpassed the 4th layer.”
“Layers…? I’ve never heard of such a classification before?”
“Apparently, as you descend underground, the terrain changes dramatically, so they’ve divided it by layers. Grasslands, rocky mountains, lakes, and so on… Of course, with different environments come different monsters.”
“That’s… not something you’d call a dungeon anymore, is it…?”
The boy’s eyes widened in shock, but knowing the dungeon’s scale, I remained silent.
Each layer here was equivalent to an entire open-world game.
‘If they’re already exploring the 4th layer… it seems the S-rank adventurers I heard about are leading the charge.’
The fact that the Kingdom had dispatched elite adventurers without hesitation meant they were desperate to deal with this lair.
As we discussed various matters about the dungeon, I opened my mouth at an opportune moment.
“…In that case, it’s too late today. Let’s depart at first light tomorrow. We’ve accumulated fatigue from traveling by carriage these past few days. Any objections?”
We left the town and set up camp in a quiet clearing.
Having done this several times before, pitching the tent wasn’t difficult.
‘That takes care of tonight’s sleeping arrangements… should I check on that kid too?’
It was natural to assess party members before entering a dungeon. As I satisfied my hunger with dried meat and bread, I noticed the boy had a ship’s biscuit in his mouth.
I couldn’t help but be shocked at the sight.
‘That thing is rock-hard!’
Ship’s biscuit was flour baked multiple times in an oven until all moisture was completely removed.
While it was light and easy to store long-term, it tasted so awful that even serfs avoided it, and it was far too hard for human teeth to break.
Even adventurers avoided it unless they were truly starving—it was a last resort.
‘…Is he broke?’
But he said he was an E-rank adventurer, so he shouldn’t be so poor he can’t afford his own meals.
That meant either he had some circumstances, or he was an extremely stingy miser—one or the other.
As I observed him secretly, I suddenly sensed another oddity.
‘This guy… is definitely male, right?’
I hadn’t noticed because of the deep hood, but his features were strikingly beautiful.
Beneath ash-gray hair pulled low, eyes of such deep sapphire blue they seemed to shimmer.
Had this been a world within a different game, I might have lived happily. It was almost tragic to be born into such a dark fantasy where such a horrifying future awaited.
What caught my eye most was the markings on his face—three crimson lines painted across his cheeks, as if mimicking a mouse’s whiskers.
‘…I feel like I’ve seen something similar in an African tribal documentary.’
But while their tattoos conveyed a fierce and formidable aura, this little one’s markings were merely cute, like those of a small animal.
If he intended to intimidate his opponent, it was a complete failure!
‘Ah, now that I think about it, I need to register a new party at the Guild….’
“How much was the registration fee for three men again…?”
As I muttered to myself, something felt off. I turned around to find Malton’s lips twitching slightly.
Tilting my head in confusion, Radi stared at me with a complicated expression.
“…Why.”
Had I said something strange?
｢Your Luck increases by 1 due to the [Chaos] skill.｣
* * *
｢Adventurer ‘Radi’ has joined your party.｣
We headed toward the Dungeon at dawn, but the entrance was already packed with crowds.
I was lost in admiration at the sight of various Adventurers gathered from all directions, but the moment I saw the sign in front of the Dungeon, my idle musings were brutally shattered.
[Dungeon Entrance Fee: 2 Shillings]
“”These damn bandits!!””
Malton looked at Radi and me as if in disbelief.
“You two… bickered all day, yet your opinions align perfectly here.”
“No, seriously? They’re collecting silver coins just for an entrance fee? They wouldn’t even let us into the Town without a bribe!”
“Filthy tax collectors… all they know is bleeding the people dry. They should shove their noses in lye and drop dead.”
“I agree, kid. When did you start talking sense?”
“Interesting that you share the same opinion.”
“Well, what can we do? We have to pay since they’re asking.”
“Damn it….”
“Curse it….”
After grudgingly paying the blood-earned silver and stepping through the entrance that resembled a crack in a massive boulder, we were greeted by a slippery and steeply descending limestone cavern.
As we made our way down, clinging to the fixed pins and ropes embedded in the walls, people tumbled and cried out in pain all around us.
Before fully venturing into the Dungeon, I deliberately threw out a joke to gauge the Boy’s personality.
“This is rough… we won’t be able to carry heavy loads on the way back. Hey, kid, be careful not to slip. Don’t shrink any smaller than you already are.”
“You should watch your own footing instead.”
“There’s no way I’d— Whoa─!!”
As we neared the end of the passage, my foot slipped on a puddle of limestone water.
The problem was that instead of grabbing the safety rope, I grabbed Radi beside me and fell.
“Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!”
“Kyaaahhh!!”
Radi and I tumbled down the cavern floor like a water slide, tangled together.
｢Everyone’s attention is focused on you!｣
｢Your Agility increases by 1!｣
“Strength increases by 1!”
“Luck increases by 2….”
“Ahhhhhhh!! Damn it, damn it!!!”
I crashed hard onto the dungeon floor, passing through the cave while the Adventurers stared blankly, and a wave of excruciating pain flooded through my entire body.
But the sight that unfolded before my eyes was so magnificent it erased all the suffering.
“This can’t be… real….”
Radi, who had stopped mid-kick, lifted his head and gazed blankly upward.
Above me stretched a sky as vast as a midsummer firmament, and beneath it lay an endless expanse of verdant grassland that extended to the horizon.
Brilliant light poured through clouds like flocks of sheep, warmly illuminating the grass that grew up to my calves, and within that peaceful landscape, countless Adventurers were scattered about, taking their rest.
“You have entered Medaolinum Dungeon Layer 1!”
“A space that’s utterly unbelievable as an underground realm! Most of this dungeon remains shrouded in mystery.”
“Perhaps you, who have frequented this dungeon since ancient times, might be able to uncover the secrets hidden within this place!”
“You have achieved a sub-Quest and permanently increased Strength by 2!”
After confirming that my stats had risen permanently through the Quest completion and steadying myself, I saw Radi standing rigid with his mouth agape.
‘Well, it’s certainly shocking enough.’
When I first arrived here, I wandered around in a daze for about an hour, just gazing at the scenery.
But this pastoral landscape is nothing more than an illusion.
Descend further, and exponentially stronger monsters burst forth, stealing lives in an instant.
As time passes, those creatures will overflow onto the Surface and slaughter the Town’s inhabitants.
And as I now witnessed the familiar dungeon’s appearance clearly with my own eyes, the vague suspicion I’d harbored all this time transformed into absolute certainty.
The suspicion that had been quietly germinating during these past two weeks living here.
‘That’s right… this isn’t some game world.’
I hadn’t entered a game.
The Belheim I had played in my past life was nothing but a copy of this world.
The scent of grass carried on the wind that brushed between my fingers and rustled through the vegetation.
The temperature and humidity constantly touching my skin, the astonishingly vivid sense of perspective, and the unfamiliar smell of earth.
No game could possibly be this real.
Though status windows existed and could deceive me, this world is undeniably ‘real’.
Ding—!
“You have obtained a clue about the world’s structure!”
The game I had played on Earth must have been created by someone who mimicked this world.
‘I don’t know who did it or what their intention was….’
“…At this point, it’s stranger to think of this place as merely a game world.”
Isn’t it?
I stared quietly at the log window, but naturally, only silence came back.
* * *
“Really… you clung to me like a water ghost and made everything soaked!”
“I said I’m sorry. I already apologized earlier.”
“That’s exactly why your shameless attitude is the problem…!”
As I walked alongside Radi, who was wringing out his soaked robe hem while bickering, I soon arrived at a secluded place.
Given how vast the dungeon was, even a short walk made the surroundings noticeably emptier.
Malton unfolded a map that was barely more than blank parchment and spoke.
“Layer 1 appears to be composed of grasslands, forests, shallow marshes, and the like.”
“Hmm… then the monsters that appear here must follow certain patterns. Different species would inhabit different terrains.”
“Likely so. But given how expansive this place is, I’m uncertain which direction we should advance.”
Malton and Radi pored over the map, engaged in heated discussion.
Since the Medaolinum Dungeon had only recently opened and information about it remained scarce in this world, they seemed unable to make a quick decision.
Ding—!
「The Medaolinum Dungeon is vast enough to rival a small continent!」
「Many adventurers lose their way and wander here, but with you as a guide, they could find their path!」
As the conversation reached an impasse, I naturally interjected myself between them.
“Well, ultimately we’re going deeper to hunt, right?”
“Of course. We paid the entrance fee to come here, so we need to recoup our investment….”
“Then since the Layer 2 entrance is to the east, let’s head that way. And it’s better to travel through the forest.”
“The forest? Why the forest…?”
“Other adventurers probably hunted mainly in the open fields for convenience, so the forest should still have plenty of monsters worth experience points. Besides, see those zelkova trees over there?”
Zelkova trees have broad canopies and allelopathic properties that prevent other trees from thriving nearby.
With fewer shrubs, movement is easier than it appears.
After I briefly summarized the situation, Radi looked at me with surprise.
He cleared his throat and spoke.
“I-I must say, your judgment is quite skilled… I assumed you’d be a complete novice since you’re an F-rank adventurer. Well then, let’s proceed while exploring through the forest….”
“Right, I’ll take the lead.”
「You have chosen the forest route!」
As I entered the Zelkova Forest, the sparse woodland breeze carried through the leaves.
I drew my cutlass and advanced, cutting away the scattered branches that blocked the path ahead.
‘Still, it’s best to stay cautious just in case….’
Most monsters on Dungeon Layer 1 were weak, but exceptions always existed.
Mutants born from twisted mana occasionally emerged, and rarely, formidable predators from lower layers—driven out by survival competition—would slaughter adventurers.
Moreover, this was 2-3 years before the game’s timeline, not the present.
I couldn’t predict what variables might be lurking.
As I walked with heightened senses, Radi suddenly cried out from behind me.
“A monster! Be careful!!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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