Chapter 39. Corpse Gallery (5)
“Haa, haa.”
Adelia was breathing heavily.
In front of her lay the corpse of a grotesque, fleshy golem.
Its filthy apron was stained with blood, and it held a giant double-edged saw in each hand.
To top it off, its body was covered in crude stitches, as if it were patched together like a ragdoll.
“…Flesh-Dismantler Brute.”
That was the name of the golem, as told to her by Sir Gaon.
As the gatekeeper guarding the exit of the first room, the creature was incredibly difficult to deal with.
Staring down at the horrific corpse, Adelia composed herself and asked,
“Is it… really over now?”
nod.
Gaon silently nodded.
Only then did Adelia finally let out a sigh of relief and collapse to the ground.
“…Haa, thank goodness.”
It had been an exhausting battle.
The chimera was manageable, but the real problem was the countless traps installed throughout the room.
Each device posed a constant and immediate threat to their lives, leaving her mentally drained.
“Especially when those ceiling hooks would suddenly strike from a blind spot…”
Adelia bit down hard on her inner lip.
Just imagining that moment was enough to make her dizzy.
She shook her head to chase away the unpleasant memory and looked over at Gaon, deep in thought.
“If Sir Gaon hadn’t been here, this would’ve been so much harder.”
Gaon hadn’t even fought directly.
He had simply stood back and given orders.
And yet, the one who had made the biggest contribution in this battle—undeniably—was him.
“Just like always. Every one of his decisions was scarily sharp.”
He had predicted the movement of the intricate mechanisms in the room…
…as well as the next attacks of the Flesh-Dismantler Brute.
It was as if he had seen it all at once—and every command he gave was accurate.
Almost like he could see a future others couldn’t.
“Could this also be the power of divine revelation?”
Whether it was or wasn’t, either way, it was astonishing.
Normally, divine revelations only offered insights about the grand course of the world.
But this?
The great Elder giving specific, detailed instructions about the enemy’s moves?
That would mean Sir Gaon was under extraordinary divine favor.
“Even if it’s not divine revelation, that in itself is shocking.”
Because it would mean he resolved everything based solely on his own abilities.
Had Sir Sikan Bauer realized this too?
He was staring at Gaon with visible surprise.
“Of course…”
…There was still something she didn’t quite understand.
“Like the order he gave during the fight with Brute.”
“Make sure the corpse isn’t damaged. Kill it in as intact a state as possible.”
Don’t damage the corpse?
That bizarre condition had made the battle unnecessarily complicated.
Had they been free to strike without restraint, the fight would’ve been so much easier.
They could have disabled the golem by simply cutting off its arms or legs.
“But Sir Gaon had strictly forbidden such methods.”
Because the Brute’s body needed to remain as intact as possible.
“That’s why we had to go through so much trouble just to strike its vital points.”
Even so, Adelia had followed his orders without question.
As always, Gaon had his reasons for such strange behavior.
“Phew…”
Adelia let out another sigh.
“We really have to go through three more of these?”
According to Camilo, the special gallery consisted of four rooms total.
Meaning they would have to repeat this kind of fight multiple times.
Worse yet, in between those rooms were mental torture chambers like the “Slaughterhouse Maze.”
“Ugh.”
Just imagining it was overwhelming.
This wasn’t just about stamina anymore—there was psychological pressure too.
“No.”
swoosh—
At that moment, Gaon answered calmly, looking up at the ceiling.
Above them was a complex network of hooks and rails, endlessly interconnected like a giant spider’s web.
The transport mechanism covering the ceiling glowed ominously in the dark.
Gaon’s eyes sharpened.
“There’s no rule saying we have to follow Camilo’s intended path.”
Ding!
[StrawberryLatte]: Ugh…
[StrawberryLatte]: I give up. I’m quitting the Merryrose Dungeon.
The Corpse Gallery was the graveyard of many players’ hopes.
Sure, the brutal difficulty was part of it—but for those who couldn’t stomach gore, the place was simply unbearable.
‘StrawberryLatte’ was especially weak to gory content.
Why someone like that started a dark fantasy RPG like Lost Elder in the first place was a mystery.
[MiddleFinger (Me)]: You stuck on Floor 2?
[StrawberryLatte]: Yeah.
[StrawberryLatte]: I somehow held on through Floor 1, but starting from Floor 2… I can’t even look around.
By now, you might wonder—
Why bother clearing the Corpse Gallery if it’s so disgusting?
Wouldn’t it be better to enjoy other content in Lost Elder?
Well, the reason was actually simple.
[StrawberryLatte]: Sucks though.
[StrawberryLatte]: I really wanted that item…
[StrawberryLatte]: Why did they make it the reward for this dungeon?
Because the item you could get here… could bring massive rewards depending on how you used it.
“That’s why I’m here, too.”
Like most games, the Corpse Gallery had its hidden easter eggs.
A shortcut—a trick to clearing this brutal dungeon faster and easier.
Of course, it required meeting two very tricky conditions first.
[MiddleFinger (Me)]: Latte.
[MiddleFinger (Me)]: Can you clear the Maze in under 30 minutes?
First: Clear the Slaughterhouse Maze within 30 minutes.
“And second…”
[MiddleFinger (Me)]: Can you kill Brute with less than 5% corpse damage?
…Second: Defeat the Flesh-Dismantler Brute without damaging it more than 5%.
[StrawberryLatte]: ?
[StrawberryLatte]: How’s that even possible? LOL
[StrawberryLatte]: Just ask me to kill Butcher Barbar instead, LOL
As expected, StrawberryLatte didn’t take my advice seriously.
He stuck to the standard approach.
As a result, he only managed to clear the Corpse Gallery for the first time nearly two years later.
“I give him a golden tip and he ignores it. Unbelievable.”
This is why they say: “If you lack brains, your body will suffer.”
He could’ve cleared the dungeon way faster using the method I told him.
Anyway—
Shaking off the memories, I gave the next instruction.
“Hook Brute’s corpse onto that.”
swoosh—
I pointed up at the ceiling.
A large steel hook was connected to a central rail.
Below it hung a sturdy basket filled with high-quality corpses in relatively good condition.
“We’re going to ride that all the way to the final room.”
“…?”
“…?”
Adelia’s expression turned puzzled.
“Sir Gaon? What do you mean…?”
“Camilo’s art uses corpses as materials. And that rail system is his delivery line.”
I laid out the information I’d learned from clearing this dungeon multiple times.
“If that’s the case, isn’t it obvious where those rails lead?”
I pointed downward and glanced at Adelia and Sir Sikan Bauer.
“The place that needs the most corpses.”
“…”
“Camilo’s personal workshop at the bottom floor.”
CRASH—!
With an earsplitting boom, the hook began its descent.
We zoomed past the second and third rooms of the Corpse Gallery in the blink of an eye, a crimson blur in our wake.
Riding atop Brute’s corpse, we steadily headed toward the deepest section of the special gallery.
“No way…”
Adelia muttered in disbelief.
“W-We really can pass through like this…?”
I smiled inwardly.
“Success.”
This transport system was designed to send Brute’s harvested bodies directly to Camilo.
Once a certain weight was reached, the rail would activate.
It was a logistics system linking the first floor’s Slaughterhouse to the bottom-floor workshop.
“But being the artist he is, Camilo was extremely picky.”
If a corpse was too old and decayed, or too badly damaged, it would automatically be filtered out.
“Which is why those two conditions were necessary.”
After 30 minutes, the corpses in the baskets began to rot.
And Brute’s body had to be intact enough to meet the weight threshold and still be accepted.
Too damaged, and the system would discard it.
“But we satisfied all the requirements.”
As expected, the rail took us straight to the bottom floor.
BOOOM—!
Before long, we arrived with a thunderous crash like the ceiling had collapsed.
The vast underground workshop lit by eerie red magic lights.
The walls were lined with countless blades and surgical tools.
Grotesque runes drawn in blood covered the floor.
Thick dust clouded the air as I landed gently on the ground, stepping off Brute’s corpse—and locked eyes with Camilo.
“What a pathetic gallery this is.”
…And so, we found ourselves face to face with the current situation.
“Y-You…!”
KOOOOOM—!
A thick, murderous aura filled the air.
Camilo’s voice trembled with rage.
“How dare you—how dare you defile the art I prepared with such care!”
His furious shout shook the entire gallery.
“Every floor, every room, every mechanism held my artistic intention! You were supposed to walk my path and savor my work!”
His expression—when he looked at me—was filled with a sticky sort of betrayal.
“But you… you…!”
shing—
As Camilo screamed in agony, I slowly drew my Feather Sword from its sheath.
And let my thoughts drift for a moment.
“Camilo von Taribas.”
One of the five most notorious bosses in Lost Elder.
Five phases in total.
In between, you had to fight undead minions and finally survive the “Trial.”
Killing an immortal lich who had lived for centuries was no easy task.
“Why? Why would you ignore my carefully laid intentions? You were the only one who understood my art! The only comrade I met in centuries…!”
KUGUGUGU—!
Camilo’s rage materialized, compressing the air with its pressure.
Adelia and Sikan Bauer were frozen in place, unable to move.
But I—
—I walked forward, undisturbed.
“Why did you ignore my path?! WHY?!”
Ding!
〔Mental Strength ‘MAX’ resists the opponent’s overwhelming pressure.〕
step, step—
I took slow steps forward, recalling Camilo’s attack patterns.
Summoning undead legions, flesh chimeras, cursed sigils, and deadly traps…
Yeah.
Every single move he had was a nightmare for players.
“Your ‘intention’?”
But for me now, none of that mattered.
“Why should I follow something like that?”
〔MP: 1/1〕
tick
〔MP: 0/1〕
…Like I said before, there’s no rule saying you have to follow someone else’s script.
