BTOG 284 – Encounter in the Perpetual Ore Mine

After swiftly taking on a quest at the Adventurer’s Guild, I found myself in one of Griffith’s underground dungeons, the [Perpetual Ore Mine].

“The target is Va-ri… umm, Variable, a Metal Golem. A mid-boss… a rather tough mob that resides on the 7th underground floor.”

<Such a transformable name.>

<It’s quite well maintained, isn’t it?>

<So it’s not a boss?>

<I saw a golden string sparrow at the entrance earlier!> {tried looking for its meaning, still have no idea}

<Looked it up, Variable → means changeable~>

<How long will it take?>

“I bought a map at the Guild and I know the location of the stairs, so if I don’t get sidetracked or lost, it shouldn’t take more than an hour.”

<Are you gonna be okay? Can you read the map?>

<That seems impossible.>

<This is the one who’s going to get lost.>

<You’d better prepare for four hours.>

“Can’t you trust me a little!? Even if things go south, I can just use my ears. There’s even the flow of the wind to guide me.”

Getting lost in a cave with a clear entrance and exit is not so common, unlike a landmark-less forest. After all, there are many factors other than sight to judge the path.

“And look, there are even some other players around.”

<Tch>

<Boring.>

<It’s tough when your favorite’s too skilled.>

<Even though she’s usually such a klutz in weird places.>

“I wish you guys would expect such things from others instead…”

“To be honest, this place doesn’t really feel much like a dungeon.”

Around the time I smoothly advanced to the fourth floor of the dungeon, I found myself muttering that.

<True.>

<It’s been well maintained all along.>

<Well, it’s the production site for the specialty products, of course, it’s maintained.>

<Hardly any monsters appearing!>

<Reminds me of the initial dungeon stroll.>

“The dungeon I struggled the most in was the Trillia’s Demon Forest. Well, that was mostly because I stepped on a trap.”

<Ah, the episode with the first appearance of Lady Kohaku.>

<Back then, the number of viewers was small.>

<Now she’s a celebrity.>

<She could easily handle it now.>

<I miss the time when Sukuna was still weak.>

“It’s only been about two months, hasn’t it? Feels like the most intense time of my life… Huh?”

While reminiscing about the past, I saw something flying towards me from the front and tilted my head to dodge it. It must have been going around 300 km/h.

<What was that?>

<What happened?>

<Something flew by really fast, huh?>

<Don’t dodge it nonchalantly.>

<Cool.>

<Did you catch a glimpse of it?>

“Yeah, I saw it… but what was it?”

I didn’t get a good look, but it wasn’t something like a stone or an arrow, and it didn’t seem to be a living thing. It was…like a bullet with golden hair spiraled around it.

As I cautiously stopped, I saw a humanoid figure approaching from the front.

“fumu fumu fumu. Crossing boundaries brings unexpected encounters, doesn’t it?”

Standing before me was a woman with blonde hair, donned in thick armor reminiscent of a medieval knight. Yet, oddly enough, she bore no weapons, despite her heavily armored appearance, though it was but a trivial observation. Just one look and it was clear – she was not of human kin.

Protruding from her head were large canine ears, or perhaps more accurately, ears akin to that of a wolf. A bushy tail lay low behind her. Her eyes were mesmerizing – deep, dark pupils set within silver orbs that bore a piercing gaze.

Every element of her visage was decidedly non-human. However, something else about her was more attention-grabbing than her distinctive looks. A sense of familiarity swept over me. I’ve seen an entity bearing a striking resemblance to her before.

“Nocturne…?”

Yes.

Her equipment was different, and her color scheme was the complete opposite.

Even so, I saw a striking resemblance between the wolf-eared woman and the Lunar Wolf Nocturne.

“That’s the name of my younger sister, oh child of the Oni-folk who defeated [Red].”

“Sister… you mean, you’re siblings?”

“Indeed we are. Fumu fumu, you seem to have honed your strength somewhat, but still not quite there. I was impressed at how well you responded to the fur bullet I threw as a preliminary test. Ah, it was a fur bullet is like this…!”

With a very light movement, the woman swung her fluffy and large tail, and several bullets flew out from the tail.

“Whoa!?”

I was prepared, so I was able to dodge it easily, but if these were hurled at me unexpectedly, it might be difficult to completely avoid them.

Perhaps surprised that I had evaded, the woman opened her eyes a bit, laughed for a moment, then immediately returned to her expressionless face.

“Well, that’s fine. Either way, it’s the turn of [Black] or [White] next. As it’s not my stage, it’s still too early to judge. …See you around, child of the Oni who defeated [Red].”

“Wait!”

“What is it?”

“Your name… what’s your name?”

“Hmm? My foolish sister didn’t talk about me? Then again, she probably only thinks about fighting, so she wouldn’t bother to mention me. Fumu, considering that this city is far from my territory, it makes sense that you don’t know about me.”

Perhaps recalling Nocturne from my question, the woman nodded in satisfaction after debating with herself and then turned her attention to me.

“My name is Oratorio. I was given the name of the Radiant Wolf by the king, and I am the embodiment of sunlight.”

With the first hint of her fighting spirit directed at me, her name icon, which had probably been hidden in some way, became visible.

《Radiant Wolf Oratorio Lv2■■》

“As long as you aim for our king, the day will come when we meet again. You must become stronger by then, child of the Oni who defeated [Red].”

The level display was garbled, a strange phenomenon I had never seen before, different from Apocalypse whose level was simply hidden.

Before I had time to consider its meaning, Oratorio calmly headed towards the exit.

“Phew, that was close. I almost died there.”

<You’re too laid back.>

<LOL.>

<Don’t let your guard down suddenly.>

<So… you couldn’t win, huh?>

<Why does Sukuna always encounter strong enemies?>

<I wonder why…>

Radiant Wolf Oratorio.

She appears to be a roaming named boss monster that randomly appears in fields after Sephira… or something like that.

The only information I knew was that much, and the only impression left by the people who actually fought her was the word ‘impossible’.

“Speaking of which, there seems to be a setting that because I have the [Proof of Solo Subjugator], formidable enemies are more likely to come… But I feel like it was purely coincidence that she was here, where I just happened to come today.”

Asked if I could win in a fight now, I’d answer no.

In the first place, Oratorio is at least 50 levels higher than Nocturne, whom I struggled against.

If she has special abilities comparable to Nocturne, there’s no way I could win one-on-one, no matter how much I struggle.

“Well, never mind. It surprised me, but it’s not like she did anything to me.”

<But you were attacked, weren’t you?>

<”Does not count if you can dodge” principle>

<I won’t nitpick anymore.>

<Sukuna is big hearted (distant look).>

<Anyway, even if she had been hit, she wouldn’t have been killed, so it’s all good..>

“Exactly. I also throw knives at monsters to keep them at bay, so it’s something similar.”

<Sukuna, the habitual killer.>

<You only have murderous intent.>

<Targeting vital points just for a test run is a bit…>

<She knows every creature’s weak spot.>

“Huh? The conversation seems to be going in a strange direction?”

With no significant hiccups along the way, I successfully navigated my way to the seventh stratum of the Perpetual Mine. While my haul lacked any sought-after rarities, I did engage in some mining and skirmished with the odd monster that dared to cross my path.

The Variable Metal Golem I had come for was precisely where it was rumored to be, on the seventh layer. However…

“Uhh… it’s weak…”

<You’re too strong.>

<I remember seeing this in the first dungeon.>

<Time to move on to the next town.>

<You’re already at the level of the 7th town.>

<What happened to the dignity of the strong mob!?>

<I’ve seen enough.>

<Don’t worry.>

<It’s either too easy or too hard, quite extreme…>

“I might not need to update my weapons…”

[Variable Metal Golem Lv70]

It’s by no means weak. The average level of players in Griffith is between 60-75, so from their perspective, it’s a reasonably formidable enemy.

However, my level is over 100, and due to my race-specific equipment, my stats are 1.4 times higher.

The status difference in a level double score is difficult to overcome… When I hit the core of the golem, which is a vital spot, with a powerful art, the Variable Metal Golem crumbled into dust without showing any of its ‘transformation mechanisms’ as suggested by its name.

“Yayy, I got [Alloy Clay].”

<Your attempt to misdirect us isn’t working.>

<It seems like it’s not going as planned.>

<Just move on to the next one quickly.>

<Poor golems are getting wrecked tonight.>

“It’s okay, this Sukuna will do her best…”

Following this, in a somewhat reckless spirit, I expanded my search area to its maximum. Thus, all the Variable Metal Golems that were appearing in the seventh layer – a total of twelve – were decimated by me. With my task completed, I then returned to the surface.

===*

The appropriate level for conquering the Circulation Mine is basically 65.

However, the deep layers are a different story.

Oratorio visited the deep layers for some purpose.

The only unique entities that exist only on the main server are special NPCs and the like.

By the way, named boss monsters are found on all servers, so there are other Oratorios on other servers. And since they are roaming named ones, they can appear anywhere in the fields beyond Griffith.

However, Oratorio is a special named. Basically, they share records between servers, so they behave as if they remember, as the same individual.

Share

You may also like...

4 Responses

  1. Liedral says:

    Yay, an update! Had thought you had quit translating.

  2. aditue says:

    thanks for the update
    hope your fine and continue translate this novel

  3. phoj says:

    oh my god welcome back! It was just a few days ago i was thinking about where this novel went, im glad its updating again.

  4. D says:

    your alive!!! I hope you are doing well

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *