“Bbook, bboo-bbook!”

‘I feel a strong energy from somewhere bbook!’

Bbookbbook, who was deliciously eating a meatball right after battle like any other time, suddenly jerked his head up.

He had felt a strong energy that he had never felt before up until now calling him.

After shoving all the meatballs that were in front of him into his mouth, Bbookbbook nodded his head at Ian.

“Bboo-bbook!”

‘Owner, I’m just going to take care of some business for a moment bbook!’

Of course, there was no way that Ian, who was distracted, would have heard Bbookbbook’s report(?), but Bbookbbook didn’t care.

Since reports were just formalities anyways.

With excited footsteps, Bbookbbook began to crawl off.

‘Energy as strong as this means that there’s probably quite a delicious elixir bbook!’

Was it ever since he obtained Halli and Pin?

At some point, there were a lot more cases when Ian left Bbookbbook alone during battle.

Since he had a lot more Familiars, and they mostly fought battles using long-ranged skills, unless it was a very dangerous situation, he hunted without putting Bbookbbook on his back.

‘Because it’s been awhile since I’ve been hanging on his back for such a long time, I feel stifled to death bbook!’

However, ever since they came to the central continent, because the hunting grounds themselves were incredibly high-level and there was no leeway to be careless for even a moment, Ian had Bbookbbook on his back constantly.

Because of that, it was the first time in an incredibly long time that Ian had let Bbookbbook down, and Bbookbbook, who received freedom for the first time since entering the central continent, couldn’t help but feel excitement.

‘My heart is fluttering bbook! I hope it’s something more delicious than meatballs bbook!’

Ian didn’t really know about this, but once Bbookbbook obtained freedom(?), he went out without Ian knowing and dug out and ate elixirs.

And in this giant dungeon that Bbookbbook came to for the first time in his life, elixirs that he would desire were scattered here and there.

The scents of the unknown that could be sensed more strongly as Bbookbbook moved made his short legs move even faster.

‘I’ve found one for now bbook!’

Bbookbbook, who successfully crawled up the wall with his chubby body, dug out the multi-coloured grassroot that was growing out of the cave wall and began to eat it.

“Bbook! Bboo-bbook!”

‘Hm, this aroma! This texture that can be felt on my tongue is beyond comparison bbook!’

To Bbookbbook, tasting all the elixirs that scattered here and there across the continent was an incredibly enjoyable job.

Of course, it was hard to find something that satisfied Bbookbbook more than meatballs, which had a stimulating taste that filled his mouth, but there was a different charm in tasting medicinal herbs.

‘I feel the energy of Mother Nature in my stomach bbook!’

Whenever he ate medicinal herbs, a new energy blew vigor into Bbookbbook’s whole body.

After completely gobbling up the large medicinal herb root, Bbookbbook started walking again.

However, an annoying message popped up in front of Bbookbbook’s eyes.

• You have ingested the Thousand-Year Multi-coloured Grass. The information can be shared with Owner ‘Ian’.

This annoying message popped up every time he ate a medicinal herb.

With a flat expression, Bbookbbook shook his head.

‘I don’t want to bbook! If my owner knows, then he’ll tell me to bring him one for himself as well bbook! I’m going to eat it all by myself bbook!’

As he did so, the message disappeared, and Bbookbbook began to move his feet quickly again.

‘Soon, my owner will figure out that I’ve disappeared and come looking for me bbook. I need to eat as much as I can before then bbook!’

Bbookbbook moved quickly to the point it was hard to believe that a speed like that could come from such short legs, and he went around consuming medicinal herbs inside of the dungeon.

And shortly after.

Just like Bbookbbook worried, an unknown strength began to wrap around Bbookbbook’s body.

His owner Ian had let out a command to Summon Release him.

Bbookbbook began to stubbornly resist the powerful, unknown strength.

‘I don’t want to bbook! I’m going to eat more bbook!’

As he did so, surprisingly, the blue light that wrapped around Bbookbbook began to disperse into the air.

And Bbookbbook, who had successfully rejected Ian’s Summon Release command, began to move his feet again.

‘Nobody can stop me bbook!’

With a confident appearance, Bbookbbook began to ingest the elixir he found again.

At first, Bbookbbook originally had no strength to reject Ian’s command.

However, as he ingested elixirs and slowly became stronger, it became possible for him to reject this unknown energy.

Bbookbbook also had a small dream.

‘If I consume more elixirs, it’s possible that I could run away from this wicked owner bbook!’

Bbookbbook was a turtle labourer that dreamed of escaping his wicked owner that was cheap with his wage payments.

In many ways, gathering elixirs was an incredibly important(?) job for Bbookbbook.

However, just then, a different kind of voice was heard.

And the content couldn’t help but pull Bbookbbook’s attention.

• Who are you, this is the first time I have seen a turtle that has such a cool appearance ever since I was born!

At the appearance compliment, which could even make whales dance, Bbookbbook forgot about the medicinal herb he was chewing on and turned his head.

‘No, I never knew there would be someone that would recognize my handsome appearance from such an out-of-the-way spot bbook!’

And at the gaze that met his own, Bbookbbook couldn’t help but become taken aback.

This was because for an instant he was blinded by whatever was shining gold in colour.

“Bbook- bboo-bbook-!”

Shortly after, Bbookbbook’s vision, which was clouded, returned to normal, and after checking the other, Bbookbbook’s two eyes rounded.

‘Bbook! This is my first time seeing such a cool turtle bbook!’

In front of Bbookbbook, a golden turtle that had a shell shining gold and a large, beautiful head was crawling towards him.

Even for Bbookbbook, the narcissist turtle, it was a perfect appearance that he couldn’t help but acknowledge.

There was one word that hit Bbookbbook’s memory hard for a moment.

• Bbookbbook, you, do you know who is the most handsome and cool turtle in the world?

It was the story he heard from his wicked owner a couple months ago that he had a hard time believing.

• There is a turtle called Bbakbbak in the northern continent, and apparently, that turtle is the coolest turtle in the world.

Bbookbbook, who remembered the cool turtle story that he heard from Ian, wore a determined expression as he glared at the golden turtle.

His opponent was for sure the Bbakbbak that Ian spoke of.

‘Bbakbbak…! I had no idea that I would meet you in a place like this bbook!’

Bbakbbak was the wicked turtle that introduced Bbookbbook to the world of dieting and portion control.

Bbookbbook couldn’t forget that name.

And internally, he hardened his determination.

‘If I can just eliminate that greasy-looking turtle guy, then I should be able to eat meatballs to my heart’s content again bbook…!’

And just before the two turtle’s combat was about to begin.

Ian and his party had appeared behind Bbookbbook.

* * *

The central continent’s ancient historical site was in the middle of the desert.

Because of that, tons of sand hills existed around it, and on the corner of one of those hills, a large flag was flapping.

It was a guild flag with a white background and a black crescent moon drawn on it.

That was the flag of DarkRuna, the guild that was 1st place in rankings.

“Sollin, how long must we wait until?”

At the words of the user next to her, Sollin placed her index finger against her lips as she replied with a quiet voice.

“Let’s wait a little bit more. It’s best to not act rashly until Master arrives.”

Sollin was a high-level female Warrior user that was the group leader of scouting team no. 1 of the DarkRuna Guild.

She was lv 139.

And at this current moment, lv 139 was a high enough level to be close to the top 50 in the general rankings.

‘I feel like it’s time for them to come out now…’

Sollin searched the information of the dungeon.

• Grave of the Ancient, Giant, God-like People

Dungeon Rank: Heroic

Dungeon Level: 170

Dungeon Boss: Holdream Lv 270

Cleared or Not: Dungeon that has been cleared

First User that Cleared: Unknown

The grave of ‘Holdream’, the leader of the ancient, giant, god-like people.

If the boss is killed, the treasures of Holdream can be obtained with a low rate.

*’Holdream’s Holy Grail’ has been obtained the first time it was cleared.

*Item ‘Holdream’s Holy Grail’ is only dropped in the very first clear.

Sollin, who checked through the information thoroughly, wore a puzzled expression.

“What the hell? Why is the First User that Cleared popping up as Unknown?”

Usually, for a dungeon’s First User that Cleared, the name of the user that hit the boss last before the boss died popped up.

Because, even if it was a user that left their information on private, it was marked down similarly to something like ‘*** (Private)’, Sollin was taken aback.

And a different guild member that was nearby solved her question.

“Ah, if an NPC dealt the last hit on a boss, it seems that it gets written down like that. I’ve seen it before.”

“Ah…”

Sollin, who finally understood, nodded her head.

‘Either way, since it’s popped up as a dungeon that has been cleared… whether it’s an NPC or a person, someone will probably come out.’

And her expectations weren’t off.

“Sollin, there is someone coming out from over there.”

At a guild member’s words, Sollin’s gaze turned towards the exit of the historical site’s grave.

“Shall we attack right away?”

At that question, Sollin lifted one of her hands and stopped them.

“Let’s wait a bit. I don’t think it’s a user.”

Royal knights began to come out one by one following the exit of the grave.

And Sollin, who checked the symbol drawn on the armor of the knights, could figure out immediately that they were knights affiliated with Luspel Empire.

‘No wonder… There’s no way that a guild affiliated with Luspel Empire could enter this quickly into the central continent alone.’

Splendor Guild, the guild that was the highest rank amongst the ones affiliated with Luspel, was ranked 3rd place.

However, compared to DarkRuna Guild or Titan Guild, who quarrelled over 1st and 2nd place, their fighting power was much lower.

This was because most of the users that were in the top 50 were affiliated with the two giant guilds.

Sollin momentarily contemplated.

‘If they are royal knights, then they’ll at least be over lv 140… Will we be able to fight them with our current fighting power?’

However, she didn’t take long to think about it.

Because there was no room for selection.

‘If we just send them off here, then we will definitely not be able to get the Holy Grail.’

It wasn’t even a normal guild, but the royal knights, and if they lost the Holy Grail to them, there was no way to find it back.

Sollin thought that the royal knights would definitely have the Holy Grail.

She wasn’t even able to think about the fact that someone was remaining inside a completed dungeon and was hunting.

‘With a guild fighting power of about 50 people now… And since Ilahan will be coming with the main force soon…’

It seemed there was roughly about 100 Luspel royal knights, and if that was the case, she felt they would even be able to fight them somehow with numerical superiority.

Since, if the main force all arrived, there would be about over 200 users even just counting the users that were over lv 130.

“How long did Master say he would take?”

“He said he would arrive in about 10 minutes.”

Sollin nodded her head.

“Alright, let’s fight them, then.”

At Sollin’s words, the guild members that were sitting down, hiding their bodies, simultaneously stood up.

“Understood.”

Seu-reu-reung-.

As she unsheathed and lifted the long greatsword from her waist, from the back of the line, the loud sound of a horn rang out.

Blare-!

• Through the ‘Morale Support’ effect of the ‘Horn of Victory’, the combat abilities of all of the guild members will increase by 5%.

• The movement of all of the guild members will increase in speed by 10%.

• The ‘Morale Support’ effect will last for 10 minutes, and whenever an opponent is killed, the duration time will increase by 5 seconds each time.

And the gazes of the Luspel royal knights, who heard the sound of the horn, turned towards the top of the sand hill at the same time.

“Charge…!”

Waaah-!

Like that, the first battle between both empires in the central continent began with the battle between the DarkRuna Guild and the Luspel royal knights, and in the future, it was the beginning of the disaster called the ‘Nightmare of the Central Continent’ amongst the DarkRuna guild members.