"A treasure chest, a treasure chest! It’s a treasure chest!"
Gray’s eyes lit up, and his pace quickened.
He ran up to the Bronze Treasure Chest, acting as if he’d discovered a new toy.
"What are you doing? That chest has already been opened," Zelir said.
"I know."
Without looking back, Gray rubbed his hands together ceremoniously. "I’m just practicing my technique."
He knelt down, placed his hands on either side of the bronze-clad lid, and solemnly lifted it open.
"CREAK..."
With the sound of wood grinding against metal, the Bronze Treasure Chest swung open.
A musty odor washed over them.
Gray peeked inside, his voice suddenly filled with surprise.
"Wait... it looks like there’s really something inside."
"What is it?" Valles asked, leaning over curiously.
Gray reached in, felt around, and pulled something out.
It was just leftover food scraps from the previous party.
There were bones, crumbs of black bread, an empty wine bottle, and some greasy scrap paper that had been used to wipe who-knows-what.
"Damn it... Have they no sense of decency?"
Gray hastily shook the junk from his hands. "Who stuffs their trash in a treasure chest?!"
"I’d say that’s pretty decent of them."
Zelir chuckled as he cast a Water Ball Skill to wash Gray’s hands. "At least they didn’t just toss it on the ground."
The party continued onward.
This area had been thoroughly explored by other Adventurers. The deeper they went, the more complex the tracks became.
It seemed the two Assassins in the Weber Squad, despite their lackluster combat skills, were quite professional when it came to scouting.
Besides the scattered stone balls on the ground, Zelir and the others found simple arrow markings drawn with charcoal at the corners of the walls.
They also saw metal probes inserted into wall cracks that looked suspicious.
In some seemingly empty areas, fluorescent powder had been scattered to reveal anything that might have been deliberately concealed.
Similarly, many traps had also been triggered.
On the ceiling in one section, a huge, square hole was jarringly conspicuous.
Directly beneath it lay a large patch of sharp metal spikes that had fallen from above, along with a pool of long-dried, coagulated blood.
In a narrow corridor, the walls on both sides were covered in human-shaped bloody imprints.
Bits of reddish-black human flesh, embedded with metal armor plates, clung to the walls.
It looked like the aftermath of a vicious crushing-wall trap.
Zelir and the others also found deep pits in the small rooms they passed.
A strong, pungent smell wafted out.
The surface bubbled, BLUB BLUB, with the remains of metal scraps, corroded beyond recognition, floating on top.
An acid pit trap.
Seeing all these remnants of death along the path, the party members felt the profound malice of the tomb’s creator.
As they delved deeper, the deathly silent and oppressive atmosphere of the underground labyrinth grew ever thicker.
The oppressive, vaulted ceilings hung low overhead, and the long, narrow stone corridors seemed to stretch on endlessly.
No matter how far they walked, the path ahead always seemed to be another identical, cold corridor, shrouded in the dim yellow light of Fluorite.
On the first and second levels of the ruins, the party had to worry about Demons jumping out at them.
On the third level, though, they didn’t have that concern. Instead, a different kind of heavy feeling took root in their hearts, and it was growing stronger.
As time wore on, this spiritual pressure would only grow more intense.
Zelir was keenly aware of this change in atmosphere.
He waved Night Peace, casting a group-wide Calm Mind Skill.
A gentle energy permeated their bodies, causing their tense nerves to relax involuntarily. The psychological strain was greatly alleviated.
"This is really my first time adventuring in a place like this..."
Marcus glanced around, casually batting aside a tripwire that had already been cut.
"They call it ruins, but it feels more like an underground tomb."
"It is a lot like a tomb... The cleverly designed traps, the complex layout—it all fits... In any case, it’s not a place for the living."
Hill’s voice drifted over.
She rapped her knuckles against the nearby wall, producing a crisp KNOCK KNOCK sound.
"Generally, the more distinguished the person buried in a tomb was in life, the grander its scale and the more formidable its defenses."
"So, you’re saying this is the tomb of some important figure?" Zelir asked.
"More than just an important figure..."
Hill chuckled softly. "Even a King’s tomb wouldn’t necessarily be this grand."
"Don’t tell me the treasure room on the map is actually the main burial chamber of that illustrious person?"
Valles frowned. "So we’re here to pry open someone’s coffin?"
"We already broke into the Wenmier Clan’s Underground Tomb, didn’t we? What’s one more time?"
Gray laughed, completely unconcerned.
"Who cares how illustrious he was in life? He’s just a dead guy now. We’re just here for the treasure."
"Besides, I bet he’d be pretty happy to have people come visit... otherwise, why put so many treasure chests here?"
"Yeah, maybe he was afraid of being lonely after he died."
Zelir also laughed. "So he’s using treasure chests to lure people down to keep him company."
The straightforward path finally came to an end.
Along the way, the party had seen a total of two Bronze Treasure Chests and five Rotten Wood Treasure Chests, all of which had been opened by previous explorers.
Now, the seven-way fork that Marcus had mentioned came into view.
Seven identical-looking arched passages, each leading to a different area.