The Golden Experience Point [Part 1]

Chapter 155: "Erntal"

"Is this Erntal? Quite a few people here, huh?"

"Well, it's a ☆3 dungeon. Considering that the highest is ☆5, it's perfect for investigating dungeon difficulty right in the middle."

"...Although, I don't know if the actual difficulty maximum is equivalent to ☆5 just because it's the maximum value in notation."

Wayne, Gi1gamesh, and MentaList were in front of Erntal as planned.

After leaving the town of Carnemonte, they continued their leisurely journey, checking equipment performance and earning experience points. However, with the official implementation of the dungeon, they had immediately teleported here.

"Since the disaster-stricken Old Hiers capital is ☆5... If we tentatively assume the calamity is ☆5, I think our party at ☆3 might find it a bit tough, you know?"

"A bit tough might be good in terms of experience points, right?"

"Yeah, it might be. But before that, we don't really know if the actual maximum difficulty is ☆5. Even if the setting allows for difficulties beyond that, if the notation can only display up to ☆5, there might be a wide range of difficulties within ☆5. If that's the case, there's a possibility that the disaster is even higher than ☆5, and ☆3 might be a bit easier."

It was something Healthy had mentioned on social media. That possibility certainly existed.

Even if they were to face the disaster without artifacts, gathering the same members as back then wouldn't guarantee victory, even with their increased strength. They might not even be able to remove its armor. They had been lucky to cast MentaList's Mental Magic at that time, but it seemed to have been at the very edge. After emerging from the armor, it had been completely ineffective.

In any case, their focus was on Erntal for now. They didn't plan to conquer it immediately, but as Gil said, it would be a good opportunity to test their skills. If they couldn't handle it here, the dream of reaching the Hiers capital would be even more distant.

"...Oh, it seems like the difficulty of the La Colinne Forest has decreased. It's also ☆3, just like here."

"Oh, damn. If that's the case, maybe we should have gone there. It's closer to the Hiers capital too."

"Just go after finishing here. Hey, are you still checking social media? Come on, let's go."

Gil urged MentaList, and they entered the city of Erntal. Wayne followed suit.

The inside of the city was quiet, with nothing particularly strange except for the complete absence of residents.

Doors and windows of houses seemed to have been forced open, but everything had been repaired. Perhaps after the monsters attacked here, someone had fixed it.

"Let's be careful not to run into other players while exploring. It's okay if they're cooperative, but if not, it could be troublesome. Also, mistaking each other for monsters and attacking might happen, or be attacked."

Although Wayne didn't trust players as much as before, trusting them wouldn't reduce player killing (PK). Trusting and being cautious were completely different matters.

Avoiding clashes with other parties and not hindering them seemed to be a common understanding among the surrounding players, so fortunately, they didn't encounter other players. But they also didn't encounter any monsters.

"Just turned into a stroll in the town, huh?"

"Yeah. There may not be monsters, but there's no guarantee."

"That large building over there is probably the mansion where the lord originally lived. If that's the boss area, it's common to place monsters to prevent getting close."