Chapter 115

Part．12—7［Doubts, Nature, Imbalance］

Ugh ah ah ah! Tang Nuan Nuan's! We're already on the fifth layer, why haven't I found the spell I want yet!!! I hate the meat pigeon to death!! faaaaaa!!

Spear after spear was thrown, Wu Ming and Mi Na used a relatively crude combination teleport wand to dodge and weave through the underground jungle, avoiding the cave spider behind them with its black maw.

Because they are immune to ordinary projectiles, and besides not encountering any spell adjustments along the way, they also haven't found anything that can counter this type of monster—the 【Sawblade】 category (which fires a rotating sawblade, with sawblade, giant sawblade variants). So if they accidentally draw aggro, Wu Ming and Mi Na have no choice but to constantly flee using teleport bolts.

As for offensive wands, although they barely managed to combine into a usable machine gun, due to the wand's own quality it runs out of energy after a few seconds and enters a cooldown; its effect is still not as strong as the crystal spear Wu Ming throws himself, and at least so far, few of the monsters encountered can withstand a single piercing short spear.

This is probably the difference between the beginner tutorial and actual experience.

Getting back to the point.

"What are we going to do, Wu Ming? If we keep running like this, we'll inevitably drag a bunch of these spiders after us to our deaths!" Mi Na turned around, using a wand combined with a trigger double-explosion ammo box to blast away a few spiders about to bite her, and shouted hoarsely.

"I, I was also thinking, notes, notes, right! Let's go to the Dragon Cave! If it's pure physical damage, then that big worm's mouthparts also count! Mi Na, you clear the path, I'll entangle these guys!"

Anxious Wu Ming saw a bottle of frenzy magic potion collected along the way, and an idea came to mind.

So to buy Mi Na some time, she first jumped backward from her landing point to the spider's face (mouth?), and smashed a bottle of this world-unique lava bottle onto it.

Because this world lacks those rules, the bottle can almost contain anything.

Boom—boom—boom!!!

"Ugh! So disgusting! Clearly we can beat it but we can't kill it!!"

The spider, slightly slowed by the lava, redirected its aim at Wu Ming and took a few more short spears, but the spears jammed into its maw were ground to powder by the spider itself, while the spears that broke off its limbs quickly regenerated because the spider devours everything on the path.

Well, devouring, everything on the road—whether other monsters, the terrain, or the severed limbs of other spiders—gets swallowed into the mouth, then wounds are healed and everything is restored.

「Is it not ready yet over there... 」 In her peripheral vision she glanced at Mina's side, seeing that the other had already replaced the depleted explosive box generating magic stone shards with slow fireballs orbiting spark bombs to clear the road, and Wu Ming couldn't help but sigh.

There is no letter magic mentioned in the notes that can infinitely copy limited spells, nor any world correction from obtaining infinite magic from the golden sacrifice on the Sacred Mountain; Wu Ming and Mina can only desperately try every way to combine spells to help themselves descend.

「Little Wu Ming, I'm almost ready over here! Start pulling monsters! 」

While thinking, Mina's side finally sent good news.

She also began to accept the occasional strange words that popped out of Wu Ming's mouth.

「Here it comes! Damn spiders. 」 Wu Ming quickly observed, found a relatively far landing point to teleport to, and quickly adjusted the position of the 【Giant Fireball】 spell, took it out and aimed at them.

Whoosh—

Boom!!!

A purple light ball the size of a head traced a parabola and struck the spider swarm, causing slight damage—better than nothing—and drawing their attention.

Afterwards Wu Ming turned and fled without hesitation. After all, the effect of throwing the berserk potion upward wasn't just to make them attack each other; if we got too close we'd also suffer.

Squeak—squeak!

In the distance, a sound like a sharp duck (really) called came, and she knew the dragon hidden in the giant stone egg had awakened.

Not having time to think further, after finally glancing back at the distance between the spiders behind her and herself, Wu Ming took out a hollow egg and, using another wand to prop it up, pointed it toward the distant dragon that was extending its body and about to chase Mina.

「Try the nuclear-filled egg! 」 she whispered, and the wand in her hand with 【Triple Release—Strong Current/Strong Current/Strong Current】 blew out a gust of wind, hurling the hollow egg toward the crimson figure.

Crack—hum—Boom!!!!

A more violent explosion generated on the dragon's body, the incredibly strong impact almost biting Mina's buttocks as they flew outward.

Although no mushroom cloud could be seen underground, in an instant the light like the sun could still prove that the single spell stored in the hollow egg was a nuclear bomb.

This was found in a disordered wand picked up by the two at the Xi Xi Base; because of Wu Ming's previous explosive wand precedent, Mina strongly requested that this dangerous spell, which looks like it will explode at a glance, be placed inside the hollow egg for remote use.

Although it can only be released once, its power is clearly commensurate with its number of releases.

Rumble~~~~

Unlike ordinary explosion-type spells, the nuclear bomb's explosion also caused terrain collapse within the area.

「Er, I'm like, the nuclear bomb spell is awesome, but it's easy to hurt oneself. 」 Feeling that in her heart, Wu Ming continuously used the falling large chunks of ground and rocks to propel herself upward with teleportation magic bullets, while the spiders behind her, lacking a foothold to climb upward, were temporarily buried by rubble.

「Little Wu Ming, fast! Now! 」

Mina, at a higher place, was calculating the timing to throw the magic potion.

Hearing that, Wu Ming made the final teleport, relying on the crystal-long needle in her hand to fix herself on a vertical terrain, then took out the crimson berserk potion and threw it downward forcefully.

Clack!

Squeak—

The sound of teeth grinding against each other came from below; looking down, the monsters that had originally been straining upward together to try to kill Wu Ming were now tearing at each other.

At this moment, the spiders' relied-upon regenerative ability completely lost effect; in the giant maw of the worm-like monster dragon that crushes everything, the spiders didn't even get a chance to bite back before being swallowed whole, body and legs.

Gurgle~

Watching the super-large worm-like monster below, feasting happily, with glowing green eyes on each segment, Wu Ming gulped and called to Mina to take a detour downward.

「Although we could still have a go at fighting this dragon head-on, after all, according to the notes it only has a fearsome mouth, but it can rely on continual death to reboot the world for experiments, whereas I cannot reach that extent.... 」

Wu Ming, who originally had a bit of recklessness, became increasingly cautious after encountering the Time Worm.

This first cycle they opened didn't even go explore areas other than the Sacred Mountain. Because as the arbiter, she wasn't sure whether the route given by Mina's father was completely trustworthy.

「If I had known earlier, on the third layer I should have used the teleport wand to return to the first layer and then figure out how to get to the Lush Cavern. Although it's full of self-exploding fungal organisms, the advantage is the abundance of combinable materials. emmmm, so frustrating. 」 Wu Ming, sitting on the platform and correcting, flipped through the notes, grabbed her head, and lamented regretfully.

「Danger is common, so caution should be maintained long-term; it's nothing, worst case we just do another cycle. 」

Mina instead comforted Wu Ming.

「Ah? 」

The girl looked at her somewhat unexpectedly.

「What's wrong? I, I said something wrong? 」

Mina saw Wu Ming's surprised expression and asked softly.

「No, no, you're right, we have many opportunities, enough for us to try. Exactly, exactly, just like a real roguelike game, all we need to do is ensure we survive to start the cycle.... 」

Wu Ming murmured, finally understanding Mina's current state. She had already gained the awareness of a roguelike game player, and this also gave Wu Ming a drive. She suddenly felt she could do it, perhaps she should let her thoughts wander a bit... like a player.

Thinking, her gaze fell on a green and a light blue bottle in her pack.

Teleportation Magic Potion and acid.

"Not having a good magic wand doesn't mean we can't quickly kill enemies."

She thought, then spoke the calculation in her mind.

"Can this really work!?!?"

Listening to Wu Ming say that, using teleportation magic potion like a horse galloping through the sky, ignoring everything on the road, they instantly teleported all the way to the source substance's location, then used acid to corrode and kill the Three-Eye, directly opening a new cycle, she widened her eyes.

"It's hard to make any progress exploring further now; let's try an experiment we haven't done before. Don't let the conventional wisdom you've accepted blind your eyes!" Wu Ming patted her shoulder, her eyes flashing with that familiar light.

Back when they were together at school, whenever she had a new idea, she would always act like this.

"Good!" Instinctively, Mi Na responded.

"Come on!" After saying that, Wu Ming pulled out the remaining half-bottle of teleportation magic potion, took a sip herself, then handed it to Mi Na, waved her hand, and disappeared.

Appearing and disappearing perilously in the monsters' sight, the two reached the deepest layer of Holy Mountain—the source substance's location—relying on a single bottle of teleportation magic potion.

"Is this the true form of the Three-Eye? Can this half-bottle of acid really work?"

Mi Na looked at the huge creature, like a pillar wedged between the ceiling and the platform floor, and asked uncertainly.

This time they saw a living Three-Eye; overall it seemed to be in a dormant state, with several limbs converging into two supports holding its body aloft in midair, its three eyes all closed, or rather, not emitting red light so its color matched the surrounding skin, while its spine, under gravity, sagged onto the ground, linking to the source substance on the platform.

It seemed its relationship with the source substance was not merely guardianship but also some kind of connection.

"Ready, I'm starting."

The two exchanged a glance; Wu Ming signaled Mi Na to ready her area-of-effect magic wand for attack, while she herself held an acid bottle in one hand and reached out with the other to grab the source substance...

!!!!

Suddenly, when Wu Ming's hand approached the source substance, the conjoined limbs instantly unfurled like a radiant flower pointing in all directions, and the Three-Eye's three eyes began to flicker.

"Whoa! This guy isn't asleep; he's on standby?!"

The girl shuddered in fright, quickly pulled her hand back, then noticed the Three-Eye had returned to its previous state.

Thus, the skeptical Wu Ming reached out again, then pulled back.

Whoosh~, pant~, whoosh~, pant~

Although it looked asleep, as soon as Wu Ming expressed the intention to take the source substance, the Three-Eye would enter a state akin to preparing for battle.

"What a diligent guardian, even though I don't understand why something that drives the world's operation would appear so simply in the world, I still must take it."

After several experiments, the now-disinterested Wu Ming stopped worrying about the Three-Eye fetching back its legs and snatched the source substance.

Hum!!

Like a switch being turned on, at the moment the source substance was taken away, the Three-Eye's eyes blazed with red light, and a similarly scarlet mouth split open from the middle between its three eyes.

At the same time, its body sprang into action, lunging toward Wu Ming.

Boom—boom—boom—boom—boom....

Moreover, as it no longer supported this underground platform, some stones on the cavern ceiling began to break and fall, and magma poured down through the cracks.

This seems to be the source of those magma waterfalls they saw here during the previous cycle.

Yet this did not panic Wu Ming; she calmly secured the source substance in one hand and flung the acid flask from her other hand onto the Three-Eye's head.

Sizzle——

A large amount of gas instantly enveloped the Three-Eye's main body, and then Mi Na's strike—a fireball combined with a corrected spark bullet magic—successfully hit the Three-Eye, instantly detonating the flammable gas produced by corrosion.

After merely struggling for a few dozen seconds, the Three-Eye, covered in pits, collapsed onto the platform, appearing lifeless.

Poke-poke~

After crouching and watching for half a minute, even though they had sawn off a few legs, the Three-Eye showed no reaction, leaving them somewhat speechless.

"Why does this feel off? Is the Three-Eye in the notes really this easy to deal with?" Wu Ming frowned; though her unorthodox method had succeeded, the success was truly too simple.

"It should generate a magic shield to resist spells, and have resistance to many spells; even after breaking the shield, it would be hard to inflict effective damage."

Mi Na flipped through the notes, constantly searching for different places.

"A shield...." Wu Ming recalled there was a magic that, when inserted into a wand, would produce a long-lasting shield against projectile-type magic.

Wait....

"It seems not just a shield?" Wu Ming suddenly remembered something, hurriedly snatched the notes, and shook out all the magic stone shards from her backpack.

"Ring-emitted spherical magic bullet... that's probably it; if you look at just a single magic bullet's pattern, this magic can be fully reproduced."

The girl kept swapping stone shards into the wand for test shots while looking at the diagram; finally she found a magic that could release a barrage like the Three-Eye's.

Moreover, she also found a weakened version of this magic and a similar one with reduced power.

"I used to think these magics were just tools, and your father in the notes thought so too. But I believe we're all wrong; that's not what they mean."

After saying that, Wu Ming laid out the three magics she had found, each with different power, then the second one similar to the Three-Eye's attack, the third, the fourth, and so on.

"These things... what's special about them?" Mi Na hadn't realized anything yet.

"Mi Na, I ask you, how does civilization develop?" Wu Ming used her magic wand as a pointing stick, tapped the arranged stone shards in front of them, and then sketched simple drawings of fire, gears, and electricity on the ground.

"Ah... this is about utilizing energy?" Mi Na strained to recall her knowledge and managed a sentence.

"At first, primitive humans discovered fire in the natural phenomenon of thunder and lightning, and gradually learned to preserve it until they created fire. Later, people understood that fire represented heat, so they began deeper research, grasping fire's essence. All subsequent technological development can be seen as different 'fires' continually discovered by humans, learned, reenacted, and manufactured into ever stronger 'fires'."

"Wait, could it be that... these magics in this world are the same?!" Through simple demonstration, Mi Na also arrived at Wu Ming's conclusion on her own.

"Fireball, this magic simply releases a fist-sized fireball, only able to destroy some softer materials; but this, the large fireball. Once loaded into a wand, its release effect is already no different from the Three-Eye's attack recorded in the notes."

"And this, the giant fireball. Although it can be used only ten times before the magic stone shards are damaged, its power is enough to shatter one-tenth of this platform. It has far surpassed the Three-Eye's original strength."

"This understanding is indeed impressive, but it seems of no help to our exploration, sigh." Mi Na's gaze wandered; she didn't grasp what use this understanding had.

"Then what about adding this?" Wu Ming pulled out the shattered "nuclear bomb" magic.

"Merely having its form, or rather imitating its appearance."

"Re-reproducing, or rather creating again through our method. It means complete control."

"And finally, the blue producing indigo surpassing indigo, creating a stronger reproduced product, thereby achieving transcendence."

As for what to transcend.... Think it over carefully—who are the ones doing this, and what are they learning and reproducing?

"This...." Mina opened their mouth, wanting to say something, but then closed it and attentively listened.

"Got an idea? No worries, I'm not that sure either, so we still need to take another look. In the next cycle, we can go and attentively explore everything in this world."

Wuming finally wrote her idea in the blank space at the back of the notebook; before Mina came over to look, she closed it and knocked away her restless hand, then walked toward the final teleportation gate.

The needed potions are already ready.

"Gold.... Although it's said to be favored by the gods, it always feels like a scam. When would those creatures born of nature ever need material things? Unless...."

Wuming returned to the Chamber of the Great Work, looking at the golden statue on the stairs and speaking softly, her suspicion in her heart grew ever more certain.

Hum———

Gears meshed, the machine operated, and all things turned to gold under a wave—yet at the final moment, Wuming clearly felt a sorrowful aura clinging to her.

"You came to me in such a hurry? Never mind, since you've already made it clear, I'll do it. Anyway, I was also thinking of creating everything natural."