Chapter 80: Game Breaking Changes

Before, Raive had thought their current members were enough. They have those who could fight, a dedicated healer, a porter, and even a few support specialists.

But now, he was sure they were far from being enough.

Not only were they missing skills that would prove useful during the trial, they also lacked the numbers and strength to properly handle the eight dungeons on their own.

But this was only the second trial, so there was still time to improve.

And gathering more members was part of that.

After getting Hercy’s address and phone number, they headed out of the dungeon quickly, promising to come get her soon.

"Just sit tight and wait for me." Raive said to her confidently as he jumped into the portal.

What he didn’t know was how much would change the moment they stepped back outside.

As soon as they left the portal, they found themselves standing right back outside Hershey’s home. All of them were still in the same position from the start, a circle with everyone facing the center.

Looking up, they saw a new timer showing roughly 168 hours—a full week—counting down toward the start of the third trial. But that wasn’t the real problem.

"Ugh...!"

Without warning, their heads all throbbed painfully, as if someone were forcing information directly into their skulls. It felt like it might split open from the inside, or even explode!

Those with weaker tolerance crumpled to the ground, curling up like infants, groaning like cattle in pain. The kids were unable to hold on and even fainted immediately.

It took about a minute for the pain to finally fade.

Once Raive had enough of his senses back, he began processing what they’d just absorbed—and what he found left him stunned.

Two things had changed.

First, the dungeons left uncleared from the previous trial period had "overflowed." The monsters inside them were now loose, wandering the surface.

Raive thought of the red dungeon he’d cleared last.

The kind of monsters that lived there.

If creatures like that had gotten loose, the entire area around them would turn into a no-man’s-land. And thanks to Raive having cleared every nearby dungeon himself, Hershey’s area was still relatively safe.

But everywhere else—especially anywhere with an uncleared red dungeon—people there were royally screwed.

Boss-level monsters would now be wandering near their old portals, their territory slowly expanding outward.

Sooner or later, even their current location would no longer be safe.

It was a headache for everyone present.

But Raive was worried about something else entirely.

His Auto-Load skill.

[Detecting Advancement to the Second Trial’s Waiting Period.]

[Deleting all saves before the Second Trial’s start.]

His save from right after clearing the first red dungeon after the first trial had apparently been wiped!

He couldn’t confirm it until they reached a nearby dungeon, but he was already planning his next steps around the assumption that it was true.

"Forget that for now..." Raive sighed, shaking his head. "First, I need to go get our newest member."

Hercy.

She’d just asked to join the team, but her place was more than ten stations away.

Although it was still within Raive’s dungeon-clearing range, probably, but there was no telling what might be lurking on the far end of it.

"I’ll go grab her real quick." He said, and took off running.

While Raive was gone, the rest got moving too. There was no point staying idle.

"First, let’s see how much the stat cap went up." Hazel said. "Khamish, break out our stock of stat-up candies."

"Got it, ladies!"

Thanks to Raive’s repeated red dungeon runs, they had thousands stocked up. Even with a 100-point jump in the limit for everyone, they had more than enough to cover the whole group.

So they ate, one candy after another.

One... ten... fifty... a hundred... a hundred fifty!

At 150, Hazel finally hit her cap. The new stat limit was +250!

Once that was confirmed, everyone followed suit, eating through 150 candies each until they hit max. It put a dent in their supply, but it wasn’t like more candy was hard to come by.

They just need to repeatedly clear dungeons for it.

But for now, they decided to stay put and wait for Raive. It shouldn’t take him long just to fetch someone, after all.

Meanwhile, Raive had already covered the 15-kilometer distance in under three minutes. Arriving near the address he’d been given, he started scanning the area.

A few people wandered nearby, some eyeing him warily, as if he might be some spy sent by a rival organization.

He had no time to deal with them, though.

He pulled out his phone and dialed the number Hercy had given them.

Two rings, and she picked up.

"H-Hello...?"

"Hercy?" Raive answered. "It’s Raive. I’m standing by the entrance to this... Kaunka Building? Are you nearby?"

"A-Ah? You’re already here?!"

Her voice came through, shocked. "P-Please wait. I’m coming down now!"

She didn’t hang up, though.

Whether it was intentional, or her just being clumsy, he didn’t care.

Raive had nothing better to do, so he kept the line open too. He listened to her hurried footsteps, a slamming door, and a mix of other noises.

Piecing together what he could hear through the phone, and sharpening his senses to pick up everything around him, he quickly traced where she was coming from.

The building across the street, near the rooftop.

"So that’s your place?"

Raive smiled, crossing the street toward the entrance, standing in place.

He could still hear her nervous breathing through the phone, guessing she was holding it against her chest.

Then the elevator chimed in the background, and something changed.

"H-Huh? Who are—?!"

"...?"

Hercy’s voice turned scared, panicked. A loud crack followed, as if the phone had hit the floor. Then silence.

Raive’s expression hardened instantly.

"Something happened to her. Definitely." He grumbled. "No choice but to go save her now."

Thankfully, he’d been tracking her presence the whole call, so he caught the assailants’ presence right alongside hers.

"Fifth floor..." Raive whispered, crouching down.

He gathered his strength and leapt, catching the windowsill of a fifth-floor room with ease. A twelve-meter jump, as effortless as breathing!

Finding the room empty, he didn’t hesitate to shatter the glass and climb inside. The moment his feet hit the floor, a strange light flickered in his eyes.

"Now then..." He muttered, grinning darkly. "Which bastards dare touch what’s mine?"