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Chapter 26: The Loki Familia's Conjecture
Although these new monsters were exceptionally troublesome and the difficulty of clearing the floors had risen sharply—causing many adventurers to pay a painful price, some even falling forever in the Dungeon due to ignorance of the attack patterns—the high-value magic stones and materials dropped by the new monsters still brought the survivors astonishing returns, several times higher than before.
Humans die for wealth, and birds die for food.
The warnings from the Guild's female advisors fell on deaf ears.
Facing the wealth that was within easy reach, countless low-level adventurers spontaneously formed parties and flooded into the Dungeon.
The entire upper zone was plunged into a carnival mixed with blood and Valis.
As the source of all this, Aiden spent the whole day in the Dungeon, causing the spawn rate of the new monsters to reach its peak, far exceeding the respawn speed of ordinary monsters.
This undoubtedly added fuel to the fire of this frenzy.
Meanwhile, Ais and Lefiya had entered the lower floors.
They explored downwards but discovered a strange phenomenon.
The further down they went, the scarcer the new monsters became.
By the 13th Floor, the entrance to the middle floors, the new monsters had completely disappeared. It was as if their existence was limited solely to the upper floors.
"So strange..."
Lefiya looked at the empty 13th Floor, where only Hellhounds prowled, and revealed a puzzled expression. "Why do these new monsters only appear on the upper few floors?"
Ais also stopped, a trace of confusion flashing in her golden eyes.
But neither of them was a strategist-type character.
Faced with such a complex puzzle, aside from feeling confused, they couldn't come up with any explanation.
In the end, the two decided to abandon the exploration, return to the surface, and report this important discovery to their Captain, Finn.
Twilight Manor, the Loki Familia's meeting hall.
Around the huge circular conference table, the core members of the Loki Familia gathered.
Captain "Braver" Finn Deimne, Vice-Captain "Nine Hell" Riveria Ljos Alf, and "Elgarm" Gareth Landrock—these three Level 6 giants sat at the head.
Beside them were the executives: Bete, Tiona, Tione, and others.
And the Goddess Loki, with her modest figure and squinty eyes, sat cross-legged on the table without a shred of divine image, swinging her legs.
"...That is the situation."
Ais reported their findings in her usual flat tone. "The new monsters are concentrated only in the upper floors. They completely disappear starting from the middle floors."
Hearing the report from Ais and Lefiya, Finn leaned his small body forward, resting his chin on his hands, and fell into deep thought.
The atmosphere in the entire hall became heavy.
"Pfft-haha! Isn't it simple?"
Loki's cynical laughter broke the silence.
She jumped down from the table and paced around it, a smile of 'I know everything' on her face.
"Although we haven't encountered this situation before, for the Dungeon to spawn new monsters so specifically on certain floors, it's most likely related to a specific adventurer."
She extended a finger and wagged it in the air.
"I've even guessed it. This is eighty percent likely caused by some adventurer's Rare Skill triggering a change in the Dungeon."
She explained, "The Dungeon is alive, ya know? That guy often makes targeted moves because of certain behaviors of adventurers, like 'Irregularities.' If a God like me accidentally slipped in and got detected, it'd cause a riot straight away."
"And adventurers' skills... some of that stuff even we Gods can't fully decipher. We can only guess the effects vaguely based on intuition. So I reckon it's some guy with a Rare Skill who triggered this anomaly. I'm not the only one who guessed this; that old geezer Ouranos at the Guild probably figured it out ages ago too."
Loki stopped pacing, put her hands on her hips, and proudly announced her conclusion.
"And the target range is clear too. It's one of the low-level adventurers, and they've been active in the upper floors recently."
Among Gods who had lived for hundreds of millions of years, there were very few pure idiots.
They might not match a genius like Finn born in the Lower World in terms of wisdom and strategy, but when it came to experience and knowledge, they had forgotten more than the people of the Lower World had ever learned.
In other words, as long as they investigated the low-level adventurers who had entered the Dungeon in the past two days, it was very likely they would find the one with the Rare Skill.
"Oh, oh! A Rare Skill holder!"
Tiona immediately shouted excitedly, her eyes shining. "Let's go find him! I want to see what kind of person he is."
She had no malice; she simply thought it was fun and was filled with childlike curiosity about the unknown.
"It's not that simple."
Riveria shook her head, pouring cold water on the idea.
"The number of low-level adventurers is the largest in Orario. Countless low-level adventurers and Supporters go to the Dungeon every day. Even if we asked the Guild to investigate each one, it would be a massively huge project. It might even cause dissatisfaction and panic among the majority of adventurers."
"I don't care, I don't care! I wanna find him and play!"
Loki completely ignored Riveria's advice. As a Goddess who pursued entertainment, she was most interested in such rare occurrences.
"If you guys find that Rare Skill holder, you gotta tell me first thing! I wanna see 'em with my own eyes."
Even for Gods, those who had truly seen Rare Skill holders were few and far between.
While everyone was discussing, the silent Ais suddenly recalled the duo she had met on the 6th Floor of the Dungeon today, the pair that had left a deep impression on her.
The white-haired young man with a versatile fighting style, sharp swordsmanship, and domineering magic.
And the silver-purple-haired girl with tacit coordination and beauty that did not lose to a Goddess.
Could it be them?
Ais recited silently in her heart.
However, this thought only flashed by for a moment.
Because it was just a baseless guess, she didn't say it out loud.
After all, this could very likely bring huge trouble to the other party.
She knew better than anyone how much her patron deity, Loki, loved to join in the fun and how troublesome she could be.
She wouldn't bring unnecessary trouble to unrelated people just because of a momentary guess.
By the time Aiden and Robin returned to their lodging, dragging their exhausted bodies, the moon hung high in the night sky.
The generous income, far exceeding the first day, brought joy to both their faces.
Furina had been waiting for a long time. As soon as she saw the two return, she immediately welcomed them excitedly.
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