Chapter 134 - Chapter 136

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: penny

Chapter: 136

Chapter Title: Secret Passage

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"This place is ridiculously complicated."

"Yeah, and the paths are so long."

The sewer we entered with Ark Non's encouragement was far more complex and deep than expected. Without a map, we would've gotten hopelessly lost.

We raced down the long sewer passages following the map's guidance.

"I've always wondered, though—what are these characters carved into the walls?"

Tiny letters were engraved endlessly along the walls beside us. They covered the floor and ceiling too, absent only where fluorescent stones were embedded.

"Think of them as magic formulas."

"Magic formulas?"

"Yeah. They're called runes in this world—ancient language infused with power. It's a lost technology now, but it maintains and preserves ruins against the ravages of time."

That's why they retain their form perfectly even after thousands of years. They're tough enough to barely scratch under most physical force.

'...Even so, the collapses throughout the sewer happened because the runes on walls, ceilings, or floors broke while wiping out intruders.'

Over time, they weathered and eventually crumbled down.

"Huh?"

"What?"

The party's eyes widened in unison.

"What the hell? We can't use our abilities? What is this?!"

Shin Seo-yeon especially looked like her eyes were about to pop out—understandably, since she, who had been keeping up fine, suddenly lagged far behind.

"W-Wait! Dickhead, my [Binding] with you is gone too! No, my stats!"

Shin Seo-yeon, who had copied 20% of my stats for respectable numbers, saw a massive drop.

In certain ruins like this in the [Mage Era], players' abilities get sealed.

'This damn debuff is why players can never raid Halaran's royal palace.'

Forget raiding—even getting caught means no escape. You'd just wait to become minotaur chow.

That's why we raised Barcus's favor to find this secret passage and get the map.

Storming the front gate was too risky.

'We could lure the king out, take him down, then loot...'

But if the king sensed danger, sealed the ruin entrance, and holed up, we'd lose out chasing his despawn timer.

All things considered, the Barcus route was ideal.

I hadn't expected the key too, though.

Whoosh!

Then Shin Seo-yeon ignited flames in both hands.

"Huh? What's going on? I can still use mine."

The others quickly tested theirs after seeing her flames.

"...Mine's not working."

Isaera looked glum.

Han So-hee drew her sword beside her and shook her head.

"Huh? Mine works too."

And the Saintess's did.

[Transcendent] abilities work no matter the interference, even overriding Trials rules. That's why they're Transcendent rank.

"What now? Is it okay to keep going like this?"

"...Not being able to use abilities is seriously bad."

"No worries. We're not here to fight. We'll hide and avoid enemies as much as possible."

"Oh."

"Yeah, now that you mention it."

If it were a fight, I wouldn't have brought the party. The goal was to give them stealth experience.

Weeeeng—

Of course, we still needed some fights before reaching the palace proper.

"So-hee, lend me your sheath for a sec."

"Here."

'Ha, even on second look, those are insane stats.'

Even surpassing a [Black Anchor Merchant] executive. No wonder Ark Non said it grabbed his ankle.

However...

I borrowed So-hee's sheath and charged forward.

Bam!

Bam! Bam! Bam!

No matter how strong it was, it was just mob trash to me.

No big deal even with [Unique Ability] sealed. I barely had one for the last 10 years anyway.

While others flaunted flashy powers, I fought silently with my body.

'Sturdy weapon means no worry about breakage—nice and easy.'

"Picking up the pace. It's past midnight; time's not on our side."

"Got it!"

I surged ahead, smashing golem heads on sight and ripping out [Magic Engineering Cores] once they stopped. Straight into inventory.

[Broken Magic Engineering Core (Medium)] × 93

Already a hefty haul from the party's sewer farming. Fix with [Fresh Core] and sell for massive profit.

"Dickhead, more ahead!"

I bashed the head of one rounding the corner.

Bam!

I smashed every enemy that appeared after. Two or three hits each, under 3 seconds.

Beat it mid-monologue—no counter, program terminated.

"Whoa, that's brutal. Like hitting mid-transformation."

"Oppa is evil."

"You truly show no mercy."

...10 years of bullshit killed any romance for me.

I led the party onward relentlessly.

A place no player or resident could enter. Even Isaera took 4 hours creeping; we did it in 40 minutes.

"Huff. Huff. Hey, Dickhead, you okay?"

"?"

"My stats dropped, so yours must've tanked too. Not uncomfortable?"

The Crimson Flame Witch, weakened without [Binding], panted as she checked on me. I slung the sheath over my shoulder and checked my status.

'No real difference.'

Magic power dropped a lot, but it's useless to me anyway.

"Ah, no [Binding] makes it freaking tough!"

It would be. Strength and agility regressed to tutorial levels. Lowest stamina too. Pure mage trash physique.

Her staff and book wobbled precariously in her hands—real struggle.

"Seo-yeon, hang in there."

The Saintess healed constantly—truly constantly.

"If it's that bad, sub those into sub-space."

Staff and book look light but weigh a ton. Running with them ain't easy.

"No way!"

Shin Seo-yeon refused flat out.

"?"

"My pouch is stuffed with valuables!"

...Right, our Seo-yeon would sooner die than drop money. Money grubber to the end. I pointed at skull debris on the ground.

"Use the [Necromancer's Book] to summon."

"Huh?"

"Tell the skulls to carry you."

"They've got infinite stamina."

"!!"

Shin Seo-yeon wiped sweat from her brow and lit up.

"Our Dickhead is a genius!"

"Min-jun, but you said abilities don't work here."

"Items do."

Sure enough, mana flowed into the spellbook, turning black and rising like haze. It shot into nearby bone debris and vanished inside.

Clatter. Clatter.

Two skeletons jerked up immediately. One hoisted Shin Seo-yeon; the other grabbed her staff.

"Woo-hoo!"

"Comfy ride, auntie?"

"Totally!"

"I want one too."

"Hey, no way! One's carrying my staff! No hands left for you?!"

"Sneaky much?"

"Yup. Jealous? Summon your own."

"...Keep being stingy and I'll whine to Oppa. Jerking off in the rest area sniffing Oppa's panties..."

"Hey!"

Han So-hee's voice cut through the bickering kids.

"Skull debris everywhere, huh. No cleaners here?"

"...Maybe they skipped a sector, or a cleaner got trapped somewhere."

Like this.

The sole cleaning golem got buried when the ceiling collapsed mid-patrol.

Stranded for good.

'Sounds like a joke, but back when I didn't know [Magic Engineering Core] value, I'd induce accidents to stop their respawns.'

Herded them, collapsed paths, trapped 'em en masse.

Easier than refighting.

'Come to think, Isaera handled mob herding back then too.'

Recalling old memories, I skirted the collapsed side passage and grimy floor, pressing on.

The filth didn't last; the sewer cleaned up soon. Stairs upward appeared shortly after.

"End of the sewer, looks like."

The trickling water had shrunk to a stream. Probably the start point.

Meaning upstairs was our target: ancient ruins and palace.

"Let's head up."

Nod.

I led them up the stairs. A long ladder at the top led to a manhole cover waiting.

Confirmed no presence outside, then telekinetically lifted it quietly.

Peek.

Tall grass everywhere. Flowers, big trees—hard to spot us. I went out first, scouted safe, then pulled the party up one by one.

"Huh, this is... a garden?"

Yeah, looked like it at first glance.

"Wrong exit."

"Yeah. Thought secret passages led to dank, shadowy spots."

"Right? Games usually hide 'em in dungeons, wine cellars, that stuff."

This path Barcus taught was the royal escape route. For sneaking kings out.

Only Commander Barcus knew, hence my favor grind.

'Garden hides the entrance.'

Manhole even grassed over perfectly.

"Garden, whatever. We're in the palace safe. So, Dickhead—where are we?"

I checked the map.

But clearer evidence came live: music, laughter, moans.

"Palace banquet hall."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Read 273 more chapters ahead on NovelDex!

https://noveldex.io/series/ive-been-preying-on-s-tier-women-since-i-was-a-newbie

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━