Chapter 347: A phase comes to an end (Part 2)

The Radiant Squad walked back and forth at the edge of the abyss, filled with curiosity, but every time they glanced down, an instinctive fear would arise.

“Be careful, don’t fall. If you fall, you’re definitely dead,” Blue Ghost cautioned.

Not long after, Red Ghost and Cresia also arrived at the spot.

The new Radiant Squad reunited. Everyone exchanged greetings, caught up briefly, had a simple breakfast, swapped information, and then gathered around the abyss to observe.

Especially Samimi. She stared at the abyss for a very long time, more concerned about it than anyone else.

To be honest, this so-called “abyss” was a bit disappointing to her—it really was just a pit.

Wasn’t this cutting corners too much? It was impossible to explore in a short time. Who knew what was actually down there?

This bottomless giant pit was practically the embodiment of a lazy author—not having figured out the setting, just digging a hole.

“Pastoralist, come down with me. We found something strange.”

Blue Ghost patted her shoulder.

“Something strange?” Samimi was taken aback.

Blue Ghost called over Red Ghost and a few burly adventurers and began operating a crude makeshift lift.

“This kind of thing is exactly why we should have Aoi make a magical elevator,” Samimi complained.

But for now, they could only use this rough, manpower-powered device, which didn’t look very reliable.

“We can only take three people down at a time at most,” Blue Ghost said.

“The Hero of the Gale, you’re the Royal Capital Hero, come with me to see something,” Samimi called out.

“Okay,” The Hero of the Gale nodded, completely missing the subtle jab in Samimi’s words about her “lack of experience.”

Red Ghost operated the lift from above as the wooden platform slowly descended.

There were no safety measures, just a single swaying wooden plank, entering the abyss like that.

The walls of the abyss were made of stacked stone bricks, unevenly pressed and warped by tree roots—clearly a man-made structure.

Samimi couldn’t help but wonder: What kind of technology could build such a deep pit?

But then she thought, if a blacksmith like Aoi, who could handcraft mechas, existed, then nothing was too strange anymore.

“How can it be bricks? Is the abyss man-made?” The Hero of the Gale wondered.

No one could answer.

Even after finding the “abyss,” it remained a mystery to them.

Soon, the platform reached its limit.

They were already over a hundred meters deep. Looking up, the figures above were just black dots.

“Mimi, look,” The Hero of the Gale said.

“Mimi?” Blue Ghost frowned.

“Shalum was just my disguise. I am actually the Hongyi Grand Archbishop—Samimi Feiling.”

Samimi simply laid her cards on the table.

She waited for everyone to be shocked—

However…

“Hmph, I knew a pastoralist couldn’t have that kind of strength,” Blue Ghost said with a look of ‘of course.’

Samimi was instantly speechless.

Why wasn’t anyone surprised?

That’s not how it goes in the stories! Shouldn’t it be—”Wow! So you’re a big shot!” or something like that?

She’d been acting for so long, and this was the reaction?

“Forget it, status is useless here anyway,” she waved her hand dismissively. “What did you want me to see?”

“This.” Blue Ghost pointed at the side wall.

Samimi turned her head and saw a black, stele-like structure protruding from the wall.

Looking closely—it was a pedal.

Her heart tightened, instantly recalling some painful gaming memories.

Could it be—Hell Jump-Jump Joy?

The so-called “Hell Jump-Jump Joy” was making people jump from one high point to another small platform; one mistake meant falling to your death and starting over.

Extremely torturous.

She leaned over and looked down—sure enough, dozens of meters below were similar black stone pedals.

Wasn’t this the standard design?!

“You want me to jump down from here?”

She immediately refused.

“The Hero of the Gale, you try. You can definitely land steadily.”

“What are you talking about?” Blue Ghost looked confused.

“Huh?” Samimi was stunned.

“There’s a door here,” The Hero of the Gale said.

“Hah?”

Only then did Samimi notice—on the wall next to the stele, there was actually a stone door.

The Hero of the Gale tried to push it, but it didn’t budge.

“We’ve tried. It won’t open. There’s a magical fluctuation on it,” Blue Ghost explained.

Samimi stepped forward and probed it with her magic.

The next moment, her expression changed.

“Such a strong magical barrier…”

This was no ordinary magic; it was rule-level power.

Unless the world itself permitted it, no one could open it.

She could even judge its duration through her probing—

“One thousand two hundred and forty-one days.”

Over three years.

“Before that, this door cannot be opened,” Samimi said solemnly.

The abyss was indeed not that simple.

The Mage King… could he be related to this place?

But that didn’t seem right—the Mage King was a product corrupted by abyssal power, not born from here.

Then what was behind the stone door?

Completely unknown.

Soon, the lift pulled them back up.

Samimi informed everyone of the situation.

No one questioned it.

Everyone trusted her judgment completely—if she said three years, it was three years.

Three years…

A period not too long, not too short, but full of variables.

After visiting the abyss, the Radiant Squad left the restricted zone and moved around the outer camp.

A large base had already been established here, right next to the abyss.

Everyone entered the conference room to discuss.

“I think this is a dungeon entrance,” Blue Ghost proposed her view.

Hearing this, Samimi crossed her arms and fell into thought.

—That actually made some sense.

Dungeons were originally ruins left by powerful beings.

Not limited to humans, any creature with powerful magic could create one.

Like the Vampire Empress Space they had once cleared.

As the setting developed, dungeons were no longer just mazes but complex spaces that could fuse various elements.

This “abyss” did indeed resemble a dungeon entrance.

“We plan to establish a main camp here to monitor the abyss long-term,” Red Ghost said.

“The invisible abyssal power might spread through the air,” Samimi analyzed. “Sealing the entrance can reduce the birth of magic beasts, but it can’t completely stop it.”

“However, having no magic beasts isn’t necessarily a good thing either.”

“You still say things like that?” The Hero of the Gale frowned. “Didn’t you see the tragic state of Camp No. 20?”

“It’s a fact,” Samimi snorted coldly. “Without monsters, there are no adventurers. Humans would just become vassals of the knights.”

“Your thinking is too extreme,” Cresia spoke up.

With the Sword Saint speaking, Samimi immediately shut up.

She just gave The Hero of the Gale a cold look.

“What do you think?” Blue Ghost asked Cresia.

“I agree with your judgment. That door does indeed resemble a dungeon entrance.”

Blue Ghost nodded, but felt a bit disappointed.

She envied the kind of noisy yet inseparable relationship that Shalum and the others had.

In comparison, her own side seemed too “mature.”

Perhaps—

They had already passed the age where they could form lifelong bonds.