The Last Adventurer

Chapter 33

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]

Chapter 33: Hell of Snow (1)

1.

Parties consisting of dealers, tanks, supporters, and adventurers typically have three main positions.

In this setup, supporters, as the name suggests, play a supporting role. They can be warriors, mages, archers, rogues, pirates, or anyone else.

However, most often, bishops, or healers and buffers, take on the supporter role.

Naturally, everyone thought,

“The supporter is the one who must be protected until the end. More precious than anyone else. More precious than their own life.”

The supporter must be protected at all costs.

In other words, supporters were treated as weak beings. They were seen as those who could never protect themselves on their own.

And indeed, this was often true.

“Healing and buffing skills consume more mana and have longer cooldowns than other skills.”

In fact, the skills used by bishops required a significant amount of time to cast. For example, the casting time for Heal, the most basic 1-circle skill, was around 10 seconds.

This was by no means a short time. In the midst of fierce battles, 10 seconds could be the difference between life and death for an adventurer.

Casting also required a lot of concentration.

Therefore, it was not easy to perform other actions while casting.

It was also not easy to move.

Moving while casting was like walking around with a full cup of water balanced on your head.

The more vigorously you moved, the more likely you were to spill the water.

Furthermore, when a bishop cast a skill like Heal, it meant that a party member was bleeding or injured.

While other spells or skills could be attempted again if they failed, there was no second chance to heal an injured comrade.

This meant that there was even more pressure to avoid failure.

But that wasn’t all.

“Bishops don’t sweat. And they don’t even try to sweat.”

Bishops, who were always treated with respect and nobility within the party, did not try to overexert themselves.

They couldn’t help it.

After all, adventurers were the ones who valued their own lives the most.

However, there are always exceptions to everything.

There were those who were so talented that they could dance without spilling a drop of water from a cup on their head.

There were also those who were more skilled in fighting than even some of the best warriors.

And there were those who genuinely enjoyed fighting.

And then there were those who had all three of these qualities.

Ralph was one of them.

First of all, he fought better than any ordinary warrior.

Bam!

His fighting skills were more than just good.

Crack!

With his fist, he knocked out the teeth of the Evil Eye, a ferocious monster, from its mouth with a scream.

The force was more intense than a blow from an ordinary hammer.

Stunned by Ralph’s attack, the Evil Eye naturally did not see the massive poleaxe of Dibo, the giant, descending upon its head.

Swash!

Dibo cleaved the Evil Eye’s head in half in one swift motion.

“Heal.”

Despite the intense fighting, Ralph did not fail to cast his skills.

“Let’s go in!”

As he said this, Ralph seemed to be enjoying the situation.

It wasn’t just his words that made it clear. A genuine grin was plastered on Ralph’s grim face.

“This is all about money, money!”

At his smile, Dibo and Kiri felt more of a chill than amusement.

‘Is he a battle maniac?’

‘He’s not normal. Absolutely not.’

In many ways, he was a man of common sense.

However, Dibo and Kiri agreed on one thing.

‘He’s crazy, but he’s not kidding around.’

‘We’ve never seen a supporter like this even in the Order.’

Ralph was an extremely skilled supporter.

Of course, El Paume was aware of Ralph’s abilities.

‘He doesn’t just fight well, that’s not all. His real value lies in his ability to move on the front lines.’

Moreover, what made Ralph’s abilities so great was that they could change the existing strategies of adventurers.

Most adventurers employed a strategy where the dealer and tank fought on the front lines while the supporter was placed in the rear, in a safe location.

And if they took damage, they would bring the dealer and tank back to the rear.

The lives and time lost in this process were more deadly than anyone could imagine.

‘It’s an adventure now, but in three years, it will be all war.’

In particular, the world after the monsters emerged from the Mystic Gate was far more brutal than anyone could imagine.

And in such a brutal world, the existence of a supporter like Ralph who could fight on the front lines shone even brighter.

‘Just three years.’

That’s why El Paume didn’t stop.

‘There’s not much time left.’

Considering what needed to be done, there was no time to spare here and now.

So El Paume said,

“Let’s start hunting in earnest now.”

At his words, Dibo, Kiri, and Ralph all looked around at the same time.

And they saw the countless corpses of Evil Eyes.

Kyaing!

They also saw Mano moving diligently among the corpses of the Evil Eyes, breaking down Magic Stones.

Seeing this, the three of them looked at El Paume with puzzled expressions.

“Hey, Boss, what have we been doing until now?”

At Dibo’s question, which came out after a while, the other two nodded in agreement.

They had been hunting more seriously than any other party, so why were they only now starting to hunt in earnest?

To their question, El Paume said,

“What we’ve been doing so far is getting our breath in sync.”

The real hunt had begun.

2.

There were several differences between raiding Red-rank and Orange-rank Mystic Gates.

One of them was the raid speed.

“The first adventure should be done as quickly as possible.”

Starting with Orange-rank Mystic Gates, adventurers were given a time limit.

“Before we run out of food.”

This was because they didn’t know how long the adventure would last.

Therefore, when raiding Orange-rank Mystic Gates, most parties focused on finding the first exit.

And as soon as they found it, they started the next adventure as quickly as possible.

“It’s already the sixth day.”

Despite this, El Paume’s party had been continuing their first adventure for a full six days.

And it wasn’t just any adventure.

It was a hunt to exterminate the Evil Eyes, a hunt to annihilate the countless Evil Eyes.

In fact, it was crazy.

No matter how great a party’s abilities were, there was a limit to their stamina.

And there was no time when adventurers were more dangerous than when they reached their limits.

But the reason why it was possible was simple.

“Then let’s get some rest.”

As soon as El Paume finished speaking, the remaining three fell asleep like puppets with their strings cut.

This was the reason why it was possible.

The fact that everyone could fall into a deep sleep at El Paume’s words.

That was something that was originally impossible.

On the stage beyond the Mystic Gate, where no one knew what lay ahead, they fell asleep with their guard down?

It was like begging for death.

But El Paume made it possible.

He showed them that it was okay to trust him and fall into a deep sleep.

It wasn’t just that El Paume showed them superhuman fighting prowess.

A lion by your side doesn’t mean you can fall into a deep sleep. What El Paume showed was his ability to ensure safety.

The ability to find safe places by understanding the habits and terrain of the monsters, and to identify and respond to any problems that might arise.

And even more importantly, the ability to detect monsters before they detect you.

In fact, from El Paume’s point of view, it wasn’t anything extraordinary. In the world three years from now, those who survived that world all had it.

To be precise, those who didn’t have that ability couldn’t survive.

After all, those who didn’t get enough rest and secure their skills eventually couldn’t hold on and died.

So, there were adventurers who could sleep soundly even with monsters running around right next to them.

Of course, even among them, El Paume’s abilities were unique.

The fact that he was the Last Adventurer was proof of that.

Koooool…

The three of them fell into a deep sleep under El Paume’s protection.

But it was only a deep sleep, not a long one.

Before long, they opened their eyes one by one.

“Boss.”

Dibo was the first to wake up.

“No matter how I look at it, he’s crazy.”

As soon as he opened his eyes, Dibo looked at Ralph and stuck his tongue out.

“His eyes roll around whenever he sees a monster. How much is this one worth, how much is that one worth? I mean, I like money too, but this guy is a real money-mad kid.”

To that, El Paume replied,

“Money is clear.”

“Huh?”

“Because with money, you can clearly calculate how difficult an adventure is, how many adventures you’ve been on.”

“Well…”

“And it’s better to be crazy about money.”

As he spoke, El Paume thought back to how the world had become because of the Black Mage and his crazed followers.

“Well, that’s true.”

Dibo nodded in agreement with El Paume’s words.

“So, Boss, when are we going on our second adventure?”

Naturally, Dibo followed up with his next question.

“Could you give us a general idea of when we’ll be moving on? I think I’m going to go crazy if we just keep killing Evil Eyes.”

To that question, El Paume replied,

“We can go now.”

“Huh?”

Surprised by the sudden answer, Dibo looked at El Paume, who then looked at Dibo’s left wrist and said,

“Because you’ve reached the 2nd Circle.”

“2nd Circle? Who? Oh? Oh? Oh!”

Only then did Dibo notice the second black ring that had appeared on his wrist, and his expression turned to one of astonishment.

“I’m at the 2nd Circle? When did that happen? Wow! Boss! I’m at the 2nd Circle! I’ve leveled up in one go!”

At the commotion, Ralph and Kiri, who had been asleep, opened their eyes at the same time.

“Looks like everyone’s up.”

That was the end of their rest.

They had all already had a deep enough rest.

“Let’s go on the next adventure now.”

Ralph and Kiri showed a welcoming expression at his words.

The two of them were also getting tired of the endless Evil Eye hunting.

Of course, Dibo was the most excited.

“Let’s go! Boss! Let’s just wipe them out!”

He looked like he was itching to explode the intense power that filled his body right away.

In fact, it was a dangerous look.

Getting drunk on power you can’t control is like giving a sharp knife to a child.

“Let’s start by finding the exit.”

However, El Paume didn’t seem to be trying to cool Dibo down.

“Boss, there’s the exit over there.”

“Oh? Boss?”

There was no need for that.

“Why are there so many wounds here?”

The moment they saw the exit gate leading to the second adventure stage, filled with wounds, everyone, including Dibo, couldn’t help but turn cold.

“One by one… even at a rough count, there are over fifty?”

“Are you kidding me?”

Dibo was shocked by the fact, and Kiri was suspicious.

The wounds were so unbelievable that it had to be a joke.

“What are you doing playing around like this?”

But no adventurer in this world would do something like this as a joke.

There was no reason to.

It meant that there was nothing to gain by playing this kind of prank on adventurers who had already entered the Mystic Gate.

In other words, these wounds were real.

They meant that as many adventurers had been wounded as there were wounds on this side of the Mystic Gate.

The bigger problem was that none of these many adventurers had been able to return to the next stage, to the world.

“Didn’t you say that there can only be three failures?”

The moment they put their skills to the test, the once-appropriate Mystic Gate turned into a hellish realm of unprecedented difficulty in the blink of an eye.

As this realization dawned upon them, Dibo, Kiri, and Ralph all froze in their tracks.

Their minds were filled with a jumble of thoughts.

El Paume, on the other hand, remained calm.

He spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, “Let’s go in.”

At his words, the other three responded with grim expressions.

“Boss, it’s too dangerous.”

“There are too many wounds. Going in like this is suicide.”

“I don’t think we should rush into a decision like this.”

All three tried to dissuade El Paume, but he looked at them and said,

“Are we going to get any answers by waiting?”

He reminded them of a fundamental principle that all adventurers should uphold.

With that said, El Paume, without hesitation, took the first step into the Mystic Gate.

Seeing this, the other three followed suit, without any hesitation.

And so, the El Paume party arrived in the land of their second adventure.

“…Damn it, Boss, what do we do?”

Whoosh!

“It’s a snowstorm.”

What greeted them was a forest shrouded in snow.

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]