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Chapter 155: Floor 2 of Phantom Castle

I teleported to a stone labyrinth area on the 2nd floor.

At first glance, the floor looked like nothing out of the ordinary, but I don’t think Nelfie would create such an ordinary dungeon.

《Nelfie, Barbaru, are you there? I came to see how things are progressing on the 2nd floor. Could you guide me through it?》

《Aun-san, I’ll be there soon! No matter what, don’t move from there!》

《I will there soon too.》

Judging from Barbaru’s tone, there must be something set up beyond the entrance room where I was currently. Considering that Nelfie is in charge of this floor, it’s probably some sort of trap.

I’ll know what traps are set up using the Ruler’s Authority, but that wouldn’t be fun. I would rather be surprised.

「Sorry for the delay. Knowing Aun-san, I am sure you have not used your Ruler’s Authority right?」

「You know me well, Barbaru!」

「After spending this much time together, it’s only natural…」

「I see… I’m glad you do!」

「Honestly speaking, this floor is pretty dangerous. If you don’t want to use your Ruler’s Authority, please don’t move until Nelfie-san arrives! Absolutely not, okay?」

Hearing that just makes me want to move, but it would be better to listen to Barbaru this time. Observing carefully, I could sense a dangerous atmosphere coming from beyond the corridor.

After talking with Barbaru for a few minutes, I realized Nelfie teleported behind me.

「Sorry to have kept you waiting.」

「No, it wasn’t that long. Then please show me around this floor.」

「Understood. I’ll set all the traps on this floor so that they won’t trigger. I’ll explain while walking.」

「Ok, let’s go.」

I found various types of traps set up as I walked along with Nelfie, listening to her explanation. Among them, there were many light traps set up to tease scouts.

For example, the slope in front of us. There is a trap that rolls down a huge rock from the front, but the rock itself is fragile. A level 30 vanguard should be able to break it easily.

However, if you were deceived by its appearance and tried to run backwards to escape, the huge rock would push the trap activation switch and activate all the traps that you had avoided until now without question. Moreover, all the traps were non-lethal such as arrows that inflicted status ailments, pitfalls filled with slime, things that just made a loud noise, and teleportation traps that returned you to the starting positions… It’s the kind of thing that completely makes the scout a fool.

This setup cannot be underestimated, however. Not only does it reduce the cost of setting up traps and guide the scouts to the main traps, it also plays a role in causing mental stress and irritation to them and reducing their attentiveness. On the other hand, it’s practically impossible to remove all these traps.

「This is… dangerous…」

「Indeed! Nelfie-san set up all the traps. I’m honestly fascinated with the superb placements. It’s kind of an art itself!!」

「Is this sort of a Dark Elf specialty?」

「We used to set these up around our settlement in the forest. And I just set up traps that I wouldn’t want to run into as a scout.」

「If it’s traps that even Nelfie hates, then it would be quite difficult to break through this area without a scout who is as good as you… Speaking of which, I haven’t seen any monsters yet. Do you plan to summon them later?」

「No monsters will be placed in the first half of the area up to this point. We plan to summon them in the latter half of the area and in the boss area.」

「Latter half of the area?」

「Yeah, we plan to increase the number of traps that inflict fatal injuries instead and deploy monsters in tandem.」

「By the way, what kind of monster are you thinking of?」

「I’ve left the monsters on the path to Barbaru. He will choose monsters that have synergy with the traps I have set up.」

「I see. Have you found any good monsters?」

「I’m still in the process of choosing, but I’m thinking of mimics or wraiths at the moment.」Barbaru.

Mimics would be very compatible with this trap floor. They are also excellent in breaking the spirit of an exhausted opponent. Wraiths are weak against magic attacks, but they can pass through walls in the dungeon they belong to, taking intruders by surprise.

「It’s not a bad combination. However, I would like you to increase the types of monsters a little more and place A-rank monsters.」

「Okay, I’ll think about it a little more.」

「We still have time, so you can take your time. Next is the boss room. Do you have any candidates?」

「I plan to summon an Arachne. Also, I’m thinking of placing several A-rank or higher spider-type monsters that set traps.」Nelfie.

Arachne is an S-ranked monster with a unique appearance; a human upper body and a spider lower body. It has a cunning, ferocious and cruel personality, and a troublesome monster that also has high intelligence.

It can cover not only close, medium, and long-range combat with magic, spider threads, claws, and fangs, but its fangs can also inflict poison status ailment. It also has the ability to use traps set by other spider-type monsters. I guess Nelfie thought of adding A-rank spider monsters taking that into account

She is planning to make a floor that’s thoroughly all about traps…

「A very good concept, indeed. Facing an Arachne after being exhausted both physically and mentally on the path, can become a pretty brutal floor by itself. Even more so if the traps are Nelfie’s choice and the monsters are Barbaru’s choice. I’m looking forward to the completion of this floor!」

「Yeah, I’m going to try out various combinations of trap installations. It’s going to take some time to complete, but I’ll definitely create a trap floor with the highest level of difficulty.」

「I shall also do my best while researching various monsters! Seriously, creating a dungeon is so much fun! I think I might get hooked.」Barbaru.

「I agree. Creating a dungeon for the first time definitely feels fun. And I’m also polishing my ideas of how I would capture it.」Nelfie.

「I know right! That’s why I wanted everyone to help me with the dungeon creation. Moreover, my and the cores’ ideas might be biased, so I’d like some advice on the expansion of the Plainevelt dungeon in the future as well.」

「I shall definitely lend a hand! But… let’s finish this floor first!」Barbaru.

「Of course. It seems that you are saving up on dungeon points while setting up various things, but please let me know if you run out. It will be periodic, but I’ll supply it.」

「Okay. I will not hesitate to consult with you at that time.」

All right. This floor looks great!

Rather, everyone is better at creating a dungeon than I expected. Each of their individuality and strengths are utilized in their concepts.

I’m looking forward to seeing Shinku’s 3rd floor of the Phantom Castle!