Chapter 88 – Conquest Team

Information gathering in the dungeon city of Viceroza.
The result of this was discovering the presence of a large team that was being called the ‘Conquest Team.’

“A request from the Conquest Team.”

“Someone from the Conquest Team visited today.”

“That was because the Conquest Team…”

I would hear the name all over the city.
“Who are they?” I asked, and so Luke explained it to me.

“It’s an alliance of the best Adventurers in the city. Apparently, they formed this team in order to beat the 79th floor’s boss, which has overwhelmed Adventurers for twenty years.”

The high wall that had crushed the dreams of Adventurers for twenty years.

In order to defeat this great enemy, it was said that the Conquest Team were going to bring some new strategies to the dungeon.

They would make base camps on the 38th, 59th, and 75th floors, preparing an environment where they could rest and restock on supplies in the dungeon.

While sharing information with each other, they would search for the best routes that would deplete their resources the least.
After gathering statistics on the monsters of each floor, they would craft equipment that would be most effective when fighting them.

Their preparations were thorough, and they continued to optimize.

As a result, they were finally able to defeat the boss of the 79th floor.

The newly discovered 80th floor was too difficult for smaller parties to enter. And so you could not go unless you joined the Conquest Team.

“How can you join the Conquest Team?”

I asked Luke.

“You have to pass an exam and prove your ability. But the exam is very difficult.”
“Really?”
“I heard that one of the best knights and court magicians from a certain country failed yesterday.”
“You must be joking…”

It seemed ridiculous for someone of that level to have failed.

“Apparently, it’s not just about combat ability or skill with magic. There are other abilities that you need as an Adventurer. Experience with exploring dungeons…knowing how to deal with traps and be able to adapt to unexpected situations.”
“Ah, I see. That would be difficult if you were not an Adventurer.”

Those were skills you could not acquire outside of dungeons.
And so even these powerful individuals that achieved great feats in their countries, ended up failing.

“But we have to join them, in order to investigate the 80th floor, right? What should we do?”
“We’ll enter through the front.”

“Huh?”
“We’ll enter the front door and pass this exam.”

Luke said.

“We just have to get through a special dungeon that was prepared specifically for this exam. It is quite troublesome, and has malicious traps that even first-rate Adventurers have trouble with. Less than one percent have passed so far. It will not be easy.”

But he was smiling with confidence.

“Of course, we will be able to. Isn’t that right?”

How reckless…
I sighed inwardly.

Indeed, Luke was a record-breaking genius. So it would be no surprise to me if he passed. But I didn’t have that much power yet…

No, that’s wrong.

I had decided that I would not be left behind.
I would not lose as he moved ahead of me.
I wanted to be able to compete against him like old times.

And so if Luke was going to pass, then I had to as well.

“Fine. At the very least, I will not do worse than you.”

The very best had gathered at this place in order to reach the unknown floors of the hardest dungeon.
And yet, only a small percentage of them were able to pass this test.

It was clear that I did not have enough of the necessary experience or knowledge as an Adventurer.

Still, giving up was not an option.

I didn’t want to lose to him. And if he said that he would make it through, then I could not just stand around idle.