Chapter 133: Answers
"Come on! Why are you not speaking?" innocently asked Gaia once they were all seated around a table.
When Gaia prompted the trio to ask their questions, none of them spoke. They all only had the right to ask one question and none wanted to be the first to do so. The reason was simple. It was very likely that they all had the same questions and answers and as they were able to hear each other's questions and answers, whoever went first was disadvantaged.
"I did not bend the rule and allow you three to come here for nothing! Hmmp! If it was not for the investments I made... You! Ask your questions first!" Gaia pointed at Ali after ranting. She did not care about the dungeon master's reluctance.
"Gaia... Isn't it unfair? Why do I have to go first?" asked Ali.
"Because I said so. Now, if you don't want to give up on this opportunity, then we will just forget about your question."
Ali frowned. "No, I will ask it now. I would like to go back to what you said when we first connected to New Earth, about how we would be given a chance at earning back our freedom and maybe even end up in a ruling position. I would like to ask how this would exactly happen, how will you decide on who will be released?"
Gaia briefly looked at Five and Iris before answering, "I will give you as much information as the DP you spent is worth. Have you noticed how this game does not have anything like 'Achievements' that you usually obtain upon completing certain tasks in other games? In fact, New Earth does have achievements and each of them is worth a certain amount of points. The final social classes, when you will get back to the surface, will be mostly decided based on those achievements. Naturally, the achievements are not the only deciding factor and will only give a general idea of your future standing."
"There is a wide range of achievements which ranges from earning experience and killing a certain amount of monsters to spending a certain amount of gold or building certain relationships with existing NPCs. In fact, all the dungeon masters were given a head start as one of the achievements available is to set up a village or a dungeon. "
"I cannot give you the whole list of achievements as it is continuously being updated as new content is being added to the game but I can tell you that as long as you do things that might contribute to society, you will end up with a high position in the future. Do what the system wants you to and you will definitely succeed. It is useless to try to go against the system and try to avoid setting up a dungeon like a certain someone tried. Keep in mind that you are dungeon masters and were chosen to be the villains of the game. I will just say that being a villain is not limited to just destroying everything around you. You should also look for ways to develop and take control of an area rather than destroying it."
"Furthermore, since you are the one who asked the question, I will give you an additional tip. You are now bound to a contract with the Storm Alliance but if you managed to escape from it somehow, that will give you a huge boost in achievement points! Try to get closer to some NPCs and initiate some trade. NPCs often have useful items."
Ali, Five and Iris quietly listened to Gaia's explanation. Out of the three, only Ali was really interested in it. Five did not care much about what would happen when he would return to the surface. However, it was still some useful information that could be used to influence the other players.
"May I share this information with the other members of my alliance too?" asked Ali.
"Sure, I don't see why not."
Having given one of the three answers, Gaia now turned towards Five and Iris. "I suggest that we allow the lady to go last. You wouldn't mind being a gentleman and ask first, right?"
Five did not react to Gaia's teasing. He did not mind going first or last. He had several burning questions but out of all of them, he decided to inquire about his dungeon core. He already came to the conclusion that his revenge with the Penmark family would have to wait. Even if he obtained their exact location, he did not have the strength to deal with them yet. The issue of the dungeon core was more important.
Having been reminded several times by Harriet and Dreidus, Five was worried about the potential threat that the dungeon core represented. And so, he asked: "I would like to know what exactly is the dungeon core. I know that a monster of some sort resides inside but why are my boss monsters afraid of dying?"
As he spoke, Five could feel the stares of the other dungeon masters and their monsters. They were all surprised by the question. As for Gaia, she quietly smiled and answered:
"So you discovered it? You are right. The dungeon cores all hide a monster that will eventually be released. Let's take a step back and look at the lore of the game. When they were abandoned on Zero, several demons stimulated their cores to evolve and create their dungeons. However, not all of them succeeded. A large majority actually failed and ended up dying but their cores were not lost."
"Each player was given one of the cores of the monsters who failed their evolution. To be more precise, they accomplished their evolution but ended up dying in the process, sealing their consciousness inside their cores. In order to be released, the monsters need to absorb a massive amount of energy from the dungeon monsters."
"This takes place when they die. Whenever one of your monsters die, they go into contributing to the revival of the monster inside the core. It is why once they die, it is impossible to revive them. On the other hand, your boss monsters are much stronger and cannot be completely eaten at once. This gives you the chance to revive them but if you keep them into the dead state for too long, the monster inside the core will have more time to feast."
"The monster feeds on souls and memories. After it would have absorbed enough, it would be strong enough to come out of the core and fight. However, this is where things get interesting. The monster is not necessarily loyal to you. When it comes out, it will be up to you to tame it or you might end up losing your entire dungeon in one go."
"Therefore, you should already start planning for when it would happen but each monster will react differently. You can consider it as a dating game. Each action you take will influence the relationship between you and the monster. If it is happy with what you've done, then it would side with you and help you."
"As you asked the question, I will give you some tips. Each dungeon core is unique. Yours is the Core of Madness that once belonged to the Mad King Lavenus. Maybe you should make some research about him and learn about his character. Look for things he likes and he might very well join you."
"You should have noticed that as your dungeon core leveled up, you obtained a special skill. This skill belonged to the Mad King. As your dungeon core levels up, you will obtain more skills and bring Lavenus closer to his revival. Even if you don't level up, it will eventually happen."
"That's a lot of confusing information. I hope that helps," concluded Gaia.
"Very interesting. I did not expect that the greatest threat would actually be hiding right inside the dungeon," commented Ali, rubbing his chin.
"Indeed. May I ask if you can tell us who our dungeon core belonged to?" asked Iris.
"Is that the question you want to ask? It would be a waste if you did so. I especially bent the rules because of the question you absolutely wanted to ask," answered Gaia.
Five frowned. What exactly was the relationship between Gaia and Iris for her to bend the rules? He had a bad feeling about this.
However, unbeknown to Five, Iris was equally confused. 'Bend the rules because of me? Why would Gaia do that?'
"No, I will find out soon enough to who my dungeon core belonged to based on its name. My original question is more important."
"Good. I have been waiting for this." Gaia excitedly smiled as she readjusted her position.
"My question is simple and is not really related to the game. I would like all the information about one person, what happened to him, where he is right now and how can I find him. That person's real name is Christopher Hathorne."
Five instantly froze as he heard the question. His hands trembled as he shifted his gaze toward Iris.
Next to him, Ali lightly laughed, "Very interesting. I never thought of using the questions to ask about someone. It should be a great way to obtain information about an enemy and destroy him. I wonder just who is that poor Christopher Hathorne."
Gaia did not immediately answer. The corner of her lips gradually curved as she maintained a playful attitude. Her eyes shifted toward Five as she rubbed her hands, wearing a teasing expression.
Five naturally noticed Gaia's strange attitude but he did not have time to think about it. His mind was a mess. The name of Christopher Hathorne was very familiar to him. Simply because it was none other than his very own name!
'Calm down, Five. It is possible that it is just a coincidence. Christopher is a very popular name and it is possible that someone else happens to have the surname Hathorne,' said Five to himself. He tried to calm down but he felt that something was not right.
It was this precise moment that Gaia chose to answer, "Five? Do you want me to answer or are you going to do it?"
Iris was confused by Gaia's original actions. But when she heard her replied, she was stunned. She slowly turned her gaze toward Five.
At that moment, the latter knew that it was not a coincidence. He was the very person Iris was looking for. He started assessing Iris, trying to remember if he had seen anyone with a similar build who would be interested in looking for him. Unfortunately, Iris' features were hidden by the red cloak and the clown masks.
Then, it struck him. Her voice was definitely familiar. It was one he had heard countless times and would always remember! It was her! The woman who had caused his downfall.
"You B*tch! It's you!" exclaimed Five. He jumped off his seat and rushed toward Iris. He did not care about the decorum. He did not care about the rule that forbids dungeon masters from attacking each other at the venue.
He jumped forward, raising his hands and aiming for Iris' throat. However, before he was able to reach her, a powerful hand grabbed his arms, preventing him from moving.
The succubus firmly pulled his arms, preventing him from attacking. "Hmmp... If you were not my mistress' lover, I would have already killed you."
"Chris? Is that you?" asked Iris. Her voice trembled. She was visibly shaken as she hesitantly stood up.
Five's eyes burned with fury. He shifted his gaze to the sexy succubus. He could not see her level but that did not mean that Five was afraid. He did not care about the strength of his opponent. As long as he could reach Iris, even if he died, it would all be worth it. He was about to activate [Frenzy] when he suddenly felt someone pull his sleeves.
It was Angela. The innocent harpy knew she did not stand a chance but still needed to protect her master. "Master... She is at least as strong as Mother..."
As he heard the harpy's timid voice, Five immediately cooled down. He had indeed lost his cool in the spur of the moment. He pulled his arms from the succubus' grip and took a step back. Iris once again appeared in his field of vision.
"B*tch! Even after destroying my life in reality, you are still looking for me here? That's good! Saves me the trouble of looking for you. Looks like you also got into jail. Use all the information you can get out of Gaia about me! When time comes, you will need it! This time, we will see who will end up losing everything!"
He angrily spoke as his burning eyes landed on Iris. He then pulled Angela's arms. "Let's go. We have nothing else to do here." Five did not wait for an answer and hurriedly left the library.
Seeing his departing figure, Iris seemed to wake up. "Wait! Christ..." Without a care for her appearance, she quickly chased after him. She still could not believe the man she had been looking for had been sitting right next to her. The red cloak and the clown mask were really effective.
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