Infinite Competitive Dungeon Society

[Event Raid success! Out of a total of 117 participants, 83 survived and completed the raid! This achievement increases the reward!]

[You received 2 stat points for completing the Event Raid.]

[Rewards will be distributed in order of contribution. All guilds other than the annihilated guilds achieved the necessary minimum contribution! Guild masters will be rewarded in order of guild contribution. Leftover rewards will then be distributed among non-guild master explorers.]

[Guild Revival’s contribution is the highest! Its guild master may choose a reward.]

[1. Evil Eyes of Petrification (Legend)

2. Mega Rock Breaker (Epic)

3. Rock Tail

…]

[Guild ‘Revival’ became C rank! When challenging Event Dungeons or Event Raids, when 5 or more guild members are present, all guild members’ abilities will be increased by 7%!]

I raised my head. All the surviving members were staring at me. Then, the man who talked down to us in the beginning, Ralph, flew over to me with his cape fluttering.

“Hey! Pass over the picking right! You can’t be thinking of taking the reward before the host, right?”

“Should the host always get the first pick?”

“Yes!”

“That’s not what the dungeon’s system seems to think.”

“Fool, it’s a regulation! The host lets others participate in an Event Raid, and in exchange, the host chooses the reward first. It’s a basic courtesy in the dungeon!”

It was an interesting claim. I felt like I had experienced it before. The part where some fools are trying to press an unwritten rule!

“But you requested for help because you couldn’t have taken care of it alone. We accepted it because we had something to gain from it. There’s no reason for us to hand over what’s rightly ours.”

“You want to defy Desert Scorpion, the First Dungeon’s strongest guild? Do you need me to explain why one plus one is two?”

“Everyone understands that one plus one is two, but no one understands why we have to give up something that belongs to us.”

With that, I turned and stared at Desert Scorpion’s guild master, who was standing in mid-air without looking our way.

“What do you think? My guild was acknowledged as the first place in the contribution by the system, and probably by everyone else here. Will you not accept this result?”

“…”

He was silent. Meanwhile, Ralph tried to grab me by the collar but backed off after seeing Peika discharge a bit of lightning. Then, he shouted.

“The system is weird, too. Without Master, it would have been impossible for you to deal the final blow to the basilisk!”

“Your guild master raised contribution thanks to me too. Regardless, I want to hear his thoughts. No, before that, I want to know. Did this ‘regulation’ apply to you when you weren’t hosts?”

No one responded. The communication channel buzzed.

[Hey, Newbie. Desert Scorpion is an S ranked guild. Simply put, it’s one of the strongest guilds in the First Dungeon. I like what you’re trying to do, but if you don’t follow the rules they created, you won’t have a good future.]

[Isn’t it obvious that this rule only applies when they’re the host? Do you know how much crap they spout in the raids they’re invited to? Everyone tries their best to get the first place contribution, so who’d want to give it up? Tsk, those bastards.]

[I was impressed with your spearmanship, do as you want. With your guild’s strength, I doubt the Desert Scorpion will be able to do much. Plus, I’m looking forward to it… The day you overtake them will be the day the dungeon’s caste system changes.]

[Let me add something. Can you give one of your guys to our guild? Just one. Honestly, Just one.]

[Where is your confidence coming from, you pervert? Who are you? Don’t change your voice and use your real voice. Come on.]

I looked at Desert Scorpion’s guild master once again. He finally opened his mouth.

“I witnessed your strength. To be honest, I was impressed… My guild can make you even stronger. Throw away your title as a guild master and come to us. If it’s you, we can even make you the vice-guild master. Since you came this far on your own, you should know what the wise thing to do is.”

It was a complete non-sequitur.

“I see.”

I threw away any hesitation I had and picked the Evil Eyes of Petrification. Immediately afterward, my eye stung with a burning sensation. I could barely hold in my scream.

“Kuuuuk!”

“Ah, that bastard!”

“He chose the reward…! Damn, is that…!?”

[The Evil Eyes of Petrification tests your capability as its wielder. Peruta Circuit rotates strongly! Mad Typhoon activates! Soul Guard activates! High-rank Spirit Mastery activates! Overwhelm activates! The power of all elementals connected to you undulates!]

[The Evil Eyes of Petrification acknowledges you as its rightful owner. The power of petrification is vested in your eyes. You can draw the full strength of Evil Eyes of Petrification.]

[You obtained the Evil Eyes of Petrification! Your magic stat increases by 100. With just your will, you can petrify all targets with magic resistance under S rank. You can also turn petrified targets back to normal. You can remove petrification status effect from targets petrified through other means. At your current level, depending on the amount of mana you imbue, you can petrify targets up to SS+ rank. Even if a target cannot be petrified, its movement speed will be decreased if exposed to your gaze! Overwhelm skill strengthened the Evil Eyes of Petrification! It will increase further through intelligence stat, magic stat, and Overwhelm’s skill level.]

[Your resistance to all types of Evil Eyes increases.]

[You become the focal point of gods with inheritances related to the eyes.]

When the pain disappeared, and I regained my senses, I blinked my eyes as I thought over the messages I had heard. My eyes didn’t hurt anymore. In fact, they felt extremely refreshed. I felt like I could see all the mana in the world.

A thought crossed my mind; I immediately asked Ruyue.

“Can you make me a mirror?”

[Un!]

A large mirror of ice instantly appeared, reflecting my entire body. I put up my helmet’s visor and checked my eyes. I spat out.

“Ah, shit.”

My black Korean irises had become golden. Although the center of my irises took a hint of gold after contracting Peika, it had been barely noticeable. Now, however, it was easy for anyone to see.

Plus, almost as if the entire milky way had been stuffed inside my eyes, countless particles of light were sparkling within.

No, my eyes became anime! It looks like I have eighth-grade syndrome! What am supposed to do when I use these eyes!? Yell, ‘Banishment, this world!’???

[Master became like me!]

Peika deactivated Spirit Aura on her own and coiled around my arm. It seemed she was thrilled. Wait, this meant my eyes were like Loretta’s. Perhaps it wasn’t so bad…

In any case, the members of Desert Scorpion didn’t look so happy.

“That bastard got Evil Eyes…!”

“I can’t believe it. Evil Eyes…”

“We must have our revenge! What guild was he from?”

“Revival! From here on now, guild Revival is banned from the Residential Area!”

After realizing what I obtained, Desert Scorpion’s guild members became enraged and caused a ruckus. Meanwhile, the guild master slowly descended from the sky toward me. I could see his eyes flashing with subdued anger.

However, what he said next was completely unexpected.

“You, are you an explorer of Beyond?”

“… How did you know?”

“Because Revival isn’t a guild within the First Dungeon. I looked at the list of guilds this afternoon, so I’m sure. The only way your guild could be here is if your guild was of Beyond’s affiliation. After all, only Beyond’s guilds can be invited to the raids from all dungeons.”

That’s… amazing! I thought we could participate in the First Dungeon’s raid because I was originally from the First Dungeon, but it seemed that wasn’t the reason. However, after confirming that I was from Beyond, he continued with an even more enraged voice.

“You Beyond explorers always act so rampantly. Evil Eyes… You dare take Evil Eyes from the Event Raid I hosted!?”

“Sorry, but this belongs to me. I’m just saying this in case you somehow believe otherwise.”

“How arrogant. Even if you came to possess Evil Eyes, do you think you could wield it properly with your low level?”

“Mm, if you want to continue talking, can you pick your reward first? Other people are waiting to pick theirs, you know.”

I then added.

“Also, can you get out of my face? You’re even uglier up close.”

“You and your guild won’t be able to enter the First Dungeon’s Residential Area. You’ll pay for taking Desert Scorpion lightly.”

“How?”

He snorted at my innocent question.

“You won’t be able to use any shops or auction houses. My guild has the power to make that happen. Also, you won’t be able to see Event Dungeons or Event Raids for the rest of your life.”

“Oh, that’s quite surprising!”

I wondered since when non-administrative guilds could do such a thing. I suspected that an administrative guild was backing them up.

However, even if what he said was true, we could simply use other dungeons’ shops and auction houses. Event Dungeons and Event Raids? We could simply go to other dungeons’ Event Dungeons and Event Raids. At this moment, I became certain. That was, becoming a Beyond explorer had freed me from the conflicts between the explorers and guilds of the First Dungeon.

Since I knew that, I smiled lightly.

“That’s very scary.”

“Kuk…! Know that no explorers will participate in any Event Dungeons or Event Raids, you host. Let’s see how long you can continue to climb the dungeon alone… One more thing.”

He grimaced.

“Don’t become involved with Daisy Ectradion. Otherwise, what I just said will only be a child’s play compared to what you’ll go through.”

With that, he turned around and left. I grabbed the Chaotic Spear, which had fallen after the effect of Gigant wore off, then tilted my head.

“Daisy Ectradion? Who’s that?”

His words remained in my mind. My intuition told me that the name would come up again. I looked over at the explorers, who were talking amongst themselves to choose their rewards, while I thought I should go back and ask Loretta about it.

That very night.

[An announcement to all explorers of the First Dungeon. It has come to light that the First Dungeon’s S ranked guild, Desert Scorpion, violated the First Dungeon’s rules and bribed an administrative guild to oppress other explorers for personal reasons. Four out of five administrative guild masters have testified. Thus, Desert Scorpion has been demoted to D rank, and will eternally be restricted to 10 maximum members.]

[Please hurry. Unless guild members withdraw until the maximum member limit is met, guild members, including the guild master, will be randomly kicked out. Also, all members that withdrew will be unable to enter another guild for ten years, and will forever lose the right to become a guild master.]

[The guild master and members of Desert Scorpion will be unable to participate in Event Dungeons and Event Raids for 50 years. They are also forbidden from hosting Event Dungeons or Event Raids. Furthermore, their contribution points in Floor Master battles will be deducted, and they must pay 1.5 times the average amount for all items in the Floor Shop.]

[Desert Scorpion members who withdraw within the next one hour will only face the first penalty.]

That night, Desert Scorpion completely collapsed. From what I heard, the vice-guild master was the first to leave.

Isn’t this too much, Loretta!? I appreciate the sentiment, but… the love is too much!