Télécharger l’application
1.99% Gate of Revelation / Chapter 15: Rowing Without Paddles

Chapitre 15: Rowing Without Paddles

In the afternoon, just as the sun was rising, Chen Xiaolian suddenly heard a burst of loud noise originating from the ground below his feet!

After that, the entirety of the ground started shaking with severity, as though an earthquake had occurred.

Just as quickly as it arrived, it was gone the next. The encampment suddenly bustled with activity – not due to panic, but excitement!

No small number of them was cheering happily while some others were whistling loudly.

It was at this moment that Newton vaulted up onto a rock and shouted in a loud voice that spread out through the entire valley.

“The opening time for the Instance Dungeon has arrived! Everyone get ready!”

At the same time, a very conspicuous message prompt suddenly appeared before the system interface for Chen Xiaolian to ‘see’.

Chen Xiaolian carefully read the prompt and heard cursing sounds from Newton who was far away.

“Son of a bitch! Restrictions on technological types? Why didn’t it say so earlier?”

Newton angrily took out his rage on a lone soldier equipped in an exaggerated interstellar sci-fi gear, throwing him fiercely down on the ground.

It was very obvious… this restriction of technological types has a terrible effect on this Team Leader.

Similar shouts of discontent could be heard issuing out from other team camps.

Chen Xiaolian turned to look at Han Bi, only to find Han Bi wearing a strange expression. Han Bi’s thick brush like eyebrows were tightly screwed together.

“What is going on? Is there a problem?” Chen Xiaolian went up by himself.

“Hmph, don’t talk to me,” Han Bi turned his head away.

“I am sorry,” Chen Xiaolian quickly said. “It is my fault for hiding some stuff from you. But… I have my own difficulties. I do not know how to explain it to you, but… for now, we can only depend on each other.”

“… would I still dare to trust you?” Han Bi hesitated.

“If I am still lying to you, then when you return you can just go to my novel review section to curse me. After that, just expose that I am actually not a thirty-year-old fatty but an immature smelly brat, how about that?”

“Pei!” Han Bi finally could not hold it in anymore and his mouth began forming traces of a smile. He then sighed. “Forget it, you were right about one thing. Under such circumstances, we could only rely on one another.”

He turned to Chen Xiaolian. “The King Solomon’s 72 Demons … what does it mean, do you know? I have only heard of King Solomon, but am unaware of the rest.”

Chen Xiaolian was in the midst of being worried about how to ease up the tension between the two of them. Once he heard Han Bi seeking his help, he immediately replied without any reservation. “I really do know about it. Last year, while I was writing a novel, I had checked out some foreign myths and legends. I had wanted to check on some related settings. It just so happened that I had looked up on the related materials for this King Solomon’s 72 Demons.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

Chen Xiaolian pondered. “You know of King Solomon, right?”

“I have heard of the name, but I do not know what is it he did.”

“…” Chen Xiaolian thought on. “Very well, I won’t describe it in too much detail. All you need to know is that King Solomon is a Western Jewish legend, the most powerful king. Legend has it that he was a very powerful master of magic, and possesses a very powerful magic ring. Using his all-powerful magic ring, he subjugated 72 highly capable demons who fell under his control. These 72 demons each have their own mystical skills, each with their own overwhelming legend.”

“Why does it seem to resemble the Lord of The Rings?”

“En, there are some similarities,” Chen Xiaolian laughed. “The Lord of The Rings author, JRR Tolkien had indeed referred to many of the legends and myths of King Solomon.”

Seeing the silent Han Bi, Chen Xiaolian chose to not hold back and spoke out the thoughts and speculations within his mind:

“This instance dungeon is called ‘King Solomon’s 72 Demons Series and the final quest is the retrieval of a ‘Demon Pillar Fragment’. Legend has it that these Demon Pillars were used to seal the demons. If I have to guess, this item is probably similar to stone columns. Note the words ‘series’ and ‘fragment’. These two words signify that not all of the 72 demons would appear here. Likely, it would only be one of the 72.

“As for the guardians, they should be the ones who watch over and protect the BOSS.”

Han Bi nodded his head. “There is the prompt stating something about it being [B] class Resource Type instance dungeon. I am unclear about the class, but the meaning of Resource Type should be literal…”

“Indeed! If I am not mistaken, the ‘72 Demon Pillar Fragment’ also acts as this instance dungeon’s ‘first prize’. Besides that though, there should also be many other resources and good items that can be attained from this instance dungeon – if there is only one first prize in an instance dungeon, then there would not have been so many teams running over to participate.

“Thus, in addition to the biggest reward, there must also be many valuable commemoration reward, participation reward. That is why so many teams would choose to participate.”

Hearing all that, Han Bi nodded his head and looked at Chen Xiaolian. “Is there anything else you are not telling me?”

“… yes,” Chen Xiaolian hesitated for a moment and decided to tell the truth. “However, due to the fact that I have yet to figure out what the problem is… I am sorry, I am temporarily unable to tell you.”

“… I will grudgingly accept this explanation,” Han Bi smiled bitterly. “All is good as long as you can admit it. At least this shows your sincerity. If you cannot even admit, then I will not cooperate with you anymore. Even if the both of us are unauthorized entrants.”

“In that case… cooperation?” Chen Xiaolian stared at Han Bi’s eyes.

“…cooperation!” Han Bi directed a heavy look at Chen Xiaolian.

At this moment, Newton’s commanding voice sounded out. “The instance dungeon’s door has opened! Prepare to enter!”

At an unknown moment, a cavern hole had appeared on the walls under the tallest peak situated at the side of the valley. It was as though the stone there had oddly ‘dissolved’ away, revealing a hole of stone that resembled a city gate.

Above the cavern hole was a layer of green screen.

“Move move move! Move in!”

The teams gathered at the entrance of the stone cave. There was no occurrence of fights as they orderly entered the cave.

Newton himself was standing before the entrance towards the stone cave while the other members of the Wind Slasher Guild entered the stone cave under his watch.

Chen Xiaolian realized that whenever someone entered the stone cave, they will need to pass through the layer of green screen. The surface of the green screen will produce a layer of light that would quickly scan the person below it from top to bottom.

The only exception was when Sara was bringing TakashimotoShizuka and Soo Soo in.

As the two females were made to move through the screen of light, the screen suddenly changed its colour into that of yellowish orange.

It seemed to be a recognition of identity?

The difference in colour is the difference in identity between ‘player’ and ‘NPC’?

As the time came for Chen Xiaolian to enter, his heart became anxious. He could even hear the racing sound of his beating heart.

Newton stood to the side, seemingly narrowing his eyes as he looked at Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian braced himself and moved forward…

Thankfully, after the green light had scanned through his entire body – the screen remained green, not showing any change at all.

Chen Xiaolian gave a sigh of relief. As for Newton who was standing off to the side, his gaze eased up and he casually looked away.

The interior of the cave was simply astonishing.

It appeared as though the mountain itself had been hollowed out as there were traces indicating that the walls within the stone cave were cut. The ground below their feet was level. Moving forward, they found that a flight of stairs leading downwards had been prepared.

However, all of it was clearly reeking of a stench of decay and staleness.

A member of the Wind Slasher Guild started drawing patterns that appeared similar to flame totems. Chen Xiaolian did not know this person’s name, only that he had his face smeared with a great deal of paint.

The Pattern Man stood inside the cave. Every member of the Wind Slasher Team who walked pass him would receive a bottle of something from him.

When Chen Xiaolian and Han Bi accepted the item, Pattern Man recognized that they were newbies and indifferently spoke out a sentence. “Secretion from Firefly Frog, take it! You will be using it later.”

There were 10 members within the Wind Slasher Team. For the newbie group, there were 5, including Chen Xiaolian.

As for the veteran members, there was the Team Leader Newton, Sara, Damon, Du Ya, Pattern Man – It was then that Chen Xiaolian suddenly realized that among the veteran members of the Wind Slasher Guild, Sara was the only female.

This was very different compared to the other teams. In the other teams, the ratio between males and females was not that big.

To Chen Xiaolian’s surprise, he noticed that as Sara was retrieving the bottle of Firefly Frog secretion from Pattern Man’s hands, she had thrown him a charming glance. With a face filled with a flirtatious smile, she extended her hand out to pinch the robust arms of Pattern Man…

This woman. Why does it look as though she has a relationship going on with every male member of the team?

Seemingly aware of Chen Xiaolian’s suspicions, Han Bi moved close beside him and chuckled in a low tone. “That Sara is not a simple person. She fawns left and right within this guild, skilfully currying favours with her assets, she must certainly be a top grade socialite.”

Chen Xiaolian recalled how abnormal this woman was when she was dealing with TakashimotoShizuka and the remarks of how she would like to put Soo Soo in a cage as a pet…

He gave a light sigh and muttered a phrase.

Han Bi asked. “What is it that you were muttering to yourself?”

“A veteran whore can row the boat without paddles…”[1]

“Eh? What does that mean? What will she use then?”

“The waves of course.”

“…” Han Bi rolled his eyes. “You really are a writer!”


Chapitre 16: Xiaolian’s Discovery

They went deeper down the caves.

After walking for around a few hundred metres, a vast expanse suddenly appeared before them.

Everyone entered this wide-open space.

This wide-open space is about as big as a school field. Although there were around a hundred people entering into this place, it did not feel crowded at all.

Many people produced illumination devices, many of which were of the sci-fi type of tactical flashlight. There were also items that could light up by itself, akin to magic wands. Others began starting a fire by themselves.

In just a moment’s time, the wide-open space became as bright as day thanks to the illumination.

Everyone stopped here, because…

This wide-open space has several passages.

Every team members stopped moving here. After which, no small number of them turned to look towards Newton.

Newton sneered and shouted loudly. “What are you looking at me for? I am only a Navigational Staff. From the moment the plane landed, my task has been completed. As for how to complete the quest, do you expect me to help? Now that you are here, you are on your own!”

The other team members all dispersed. Many of them spread out as they carefully searched around the wide-open space, trying to find anything that could serve as clues.

Chen Xiaolian saw that the Wind Slasher Guild did not show any intention of restricting him from taking actions on his own; he went towards Han Bi. He pulled Han Bi together and went around to make their own observation.

After looking around for a while, Chen Xiaolian stole a glance at his surroundings to ensure that there was a big distance between him and those from the Wind Slasher Guild… and others. He then tugged Han Bi.

“I need to ask you something.”

“En?”

“About this instance dungeon, King Solomon’s 72 Demons,” Chen Xiaolian carefully selected his words and slowly asked. “The name of this instance dungeon, did you just find out about it from the announcement earlier, or… have you known about it a long time ago?”

“Naturally, I knew about it a long time ago,” Han Bi frowned. “After using the steel ball, I already knew about the name of this instance dungeon. However, as we were leaving the aircraft, I heard them discussing something about the King Solomon’s 72 Demons. It seemed as though they had already made preparations before coming here. They had already known what this instance dungeon is a long time ago.”

“All right, I understand.”

A foundation was formed within Chen Xiaolian’s mind. He nodded and maintained his silence.

“What did you find?” Han Bi looked at Chen Xiaolian who was wearing a calm expression.

“There is one more factor that I need to examine.”

As the time began ticking away, some teams had rapidly made a choice of entering one of the passages and moved out by themselves.

As the other teams left one after another, the number of people within the wide-open space gradually declined.

The members of the Wind Slasher Guild then grouped together.

“Did anyone find anything?” Newton played the role of a Team Leader effectively. “Everyone speak out, we will discuss it for a moment. With so many passages, I believe that choosing the correct one would be the only way to complete the quest.”

“Why don’t we divide our forces?” Du Ya spoke out.

Newton’s expression turned heavy and he coldly replied. “Divide our forces? We only have a total of 10 members. If we are to spread our forces, what are we to do if we need to compete with the other teams to snatch the treasure? Divided we fall. When the time comes, how are we to fight back?”

Du Ya became disappointed and stayed silent after giving a “heng”.

Chen Xiaolian secretly glanced at him. He had originally lumped Du Ya into the ranks of idiots with disdain. However, he suddenly had another train of thought. For such a simple-minded person to be able to garner a spot in this team, this Du Ya must have a certain specialty somewhere!

En, as of now, he was akin to a sheep amidst a pack of wolves. Everything must be done with caution. He could not afford to be careless or turn a blind eye to anything!

“Let us discus about what we discovered,” Seeing nobody speak up, Newton become slightly dissatisfied. “Before we came, we have already known that this time’s quest is the 72 Demons Pillar Series instance dungeon. Could it be that none of you made any preparations? Everyone should have understood the background story of the quest, right?”

Observing the increasing dissatisfaction on Newton’s eyes, Damon coughed out and spoke. “Newton, before this, Sara and I had just followed the Guild Leader to participate in another instance dungeon. You knew just how narrow of an escape we had. After we returned from that instance, we did not even have the time to rest. Instead, we hastily accepted this instance dungeon. How were we supposed to find time to make preparations… Besides, isn’t this just a [B] class instance dungeon? We have completed no small amount of instance dungeons of a higher class. Also, amongst all the instance dungeon types, Resource Type instance dungeons are widely acknowledged as having the least amount of danger, so…”

“So you all became negligent?” Newton’s face turned grim.

“Come on, Newton. To begin with, our members for this instance dungeon were assembled on the spur of the moment,” The Pattern Man tried to ease the atmosphere. “In addition, this instance dungeon is also not the guild’s most important target. Let us not stress out too much…”

“Why don’t we just pick a random passage?” Sara had produced a dagger from who knows where and was trimming her nails at the side. She said in a languid manner. “In the end, if the Quest Reward Fragment is acquired by some other team, we can just snatch it over. Even though we are not allowed to kill… we could always leave them alive. This instance dungeon’s class is not that high and the ones participating are just a group of trash. Which of them could be our match?”

“…” Newton did not say anything. Judging from the circumstances, he is not the number one leader in the Wind Slasher Guild and only a temporary Team Leader for this team. It would be unwise for him to keep reprimanding.

Being unable to vent out his anger, he could only turn around to look at the few people in the newbie group.

After a moment of silence…

“How about… I say a few words?”

Chen Xiaolian slowly spoke out in a calm voice.

In an instant, everyone from the Wind Slasher Guild turned their gazes onto his figure. This was especially so for Han Bi who was right beside him, his face revealing his exceptional surprise.

“Oh?” Damon looked at Chen Xiaolian and sneered. “You? What do you have to say?”

As though he had not heard the other party’s words of mockery, Chen Xiaolian slowly continued. “Did everyone realize, this underground wide-open space actually has an equilateral six sided shape? I have walked around earlier and found that each side has a length of roughly fifty steps, the minor differences could be ignored.”

“En, what about it?” Damon asked.

“Let him continue!” Newton frowned as he declared, giving Damon a stare.

“Ahem,” Chen Xiaolian cleared his throat. “As everyone can see, it has an equilateral six sided shape. Every side has a passageway. In total there are six passageways… if we were to observe this place from the skies, we will find that this place is a big six sided star.”

This time, no one interrupted Chen Xiaolian. Newton and the other veteran team members looked around thoughtfully and confirmed that what Chen Xiaolian said was correct.

“The six sided star, also known as the hexagram. It is the iconic symbol of Judaism. And the current instance dungeon that we are in is ‘King Solomon’s 72 Demons’. Who is King Solomon? He is the legendary king of the Jews!

“There are several nicknames in Judaism for the hexagram. It has been called ‘Solomon’s Seal’ or ‘Sealed Star’.

“Look, are they not connected?”

“So what if it is connected?” Du Ya seemed to be showing some hostility towards Chen Xiaolian. It was probably due to Newton’s earlier reprimand. Now that a newbie is talking eloquently, he felt his face falling. He sneered and asked. “Does this have anything to do with which way we should take?”

“Yes there is!” Chen Xiaolian replied with calmness and certainty!

Newton looked at him. “What is the connection?” He paused before adding. “If what you say is of value, I will give you a reward.”

“Thank you Team Leader,” Chen Xiaolian smiled and slowly said. “In the Jewish doctrines, there are various descriptions for the hexagram. I recall reading one which states: The six edges of the hexagram represents the six eternal existences within this world. According to some occult teachings, these six edges are given code letters of A, D, O, N, A, I. When these six letter are put together, they form the word ADONAI. In the Hebrew language, this means… God, the representation of the unity of everything in this world.”

Reaching this point, Chen Xiaolian looked around at the group and saw that everyone was looking at him and listening attentively. He then continued.

“When translated, these six corners represents: Kindness, Wickedness, Love, Hate, Life, Death.

:Kindness and wickedness, love and hate, life and death – these six concepts are considered to be the absolute basic and eternal of existences within this world.

“Six types of concept, which forms the six-sided star.

“Using the six concepts as guide, I believe that we can select the appropriate path to go.”

Most of the surrounding members’ faces remain confused. Only Newton appeared to be deep in thought. He then looked at Chen Xiaolian, his eyes showing traces of approval and appreciation.

“You have been talking for so long, so now… this kindness and wickedness, love and hate, life and death, six concepts, six passageways… how are we to differentiate them? I have already checked them before, none of the passageways have any markings! How are we to identify which one is Kindness, which one is Wickedness, which one is Love or Hate?” The Pattern Man asked, his question did not contain any tone of mockery, rather it was filled with objectivity.

Chen Xiaolian smiled.

At this moment, the smile on his clean and clear face looked calm and relaxed.

“Indeed, I do not know which passageway is Love or Hate, nor which is Kindness… but I know which passageway we should take!

“Do not forget, what is our objective for coming here?

“Demon Pillar! In most legends, demons are the symbol of Hell, death… thus, to find the Demon Pillar Seal, which passageway should we take? The answer should be self-evident, right?”

“You mean to say, by choosing the ‘Death’ passageway, we will be able to find the Demon Pillar Seal!” Newton’s eyes lit up!

Sara frowned. “But, the problem remains… there are six passageways here, which passageway is the one that signify ‘Death’? There are no hints or markings upon it.”

Chen Xiaolian gave a faint smile. “Which way did we come in from then?”

It was then everyone understood!

“The passageway that took us here is also one of the passageways of the six sided star… A passageway that connects to the outside, I believe that this passageway must signify ‘Life’!

“Six types of concepts, Kindness and Wickedness, Love and Hate, Life and Death. It just so happens that they are located on the opposite of one another. It signifies the opposing concepts, Kindness against Wickedness, Love against Hate, Life against Death! Since we all know that the path of Life is that way, then… the path of Death…”

“The path of Death, must certainly be located in the opposite direction of the path of ‘Life’!”

Everyone suddenly came to an understanding. At this instant, their gazes towards Chen Xiaolian had turned different.

Newton earnestly assessed Chen Xiaolian and nodded his head. In a deep voice, he said. “Not bad! It seems you have done well to prepare for this. In addition, you are also smart. A newbie like this is a promising one… en, if you can maintain this standard of performance later on, then once the quest is complete, I will recommend to the Guild Leader to make an exception and accept you as an official guild member.”

With the exception of Han Bi, the other three newbies gazed at Chen Xiaolian, traces of envy appearing within their eyes.


Load failed, please RETRY

Cadeaux

Cadeau -- Cadeau reçu

    État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire

    Chapitres de déverrouillage par lots

    Table des matières

    Options d'affichage

    Arrière-plan

    Police

    Taille

    Commentaires sur les chapitres

    Écrire un avis État de lecture: C15
    Échec de la publication. Veuillez réessayer
    • Qualité de la traduction
    • Stabilité des mises à jour
    • Développement de l’histoire
    • Conception des personnages
    • Contexte du monde

    Le score total 0.0

    Avis posté avec succès ! Lire plus d’avis
    Votez avec Power Stone
    Rank 200+ Classement de puissance
    Stone 0 Pierre de Pouvoir
    signaler du contenu inapproprié
    Astuce d’erreur

    Signaler un abus

    Commentaires de paragraphe

    Connectez-vous

    tip Commentaire de paragraphe

    La fonction de commentaire de paragraphe est maintenant disponible sur le Web ! Déplacez la souris sur n’importe quel paragraphe et cliquez sur l’icône pour ajouter votre commentaire.

    De plus, vous pouvez toujours l’activer/désactiver dans les paramètres.

    OK