The Ultimate Glitch ～One Man Conquers a Dungeon That Humanity Couldn’t Conquer for Hundreds of Years, in Only Two Hours～ - Chapter 4

Prologue

Chapter 4

On that day, the first people who felt something strange, felt like something had shifted, was a group of adventurers.

“What the hell? The monsters just disappeared!”

It was already late but a group of top-ranking adventurers left the resting area to go down to the dungeon.

What they saw was a strange sight.

The monsters and plants that usually populated the dungeon, even the smallest of insects, were gone. Such a thing had never happened before. There were no lights either. The dungeon was plunged into total darkness.

One man advances further into the dark cave, followed by another man with a

lamp.

“What do you think this is, Gustav?,” asked the one shining the path ahead. “Don’t know,” Gustav replied. “It’s like the dungeon died.”

“Please, don’t say things like that. It’s bad luck.”

Gustav Morgan was a tall and strong adventurer, with black hair swept back. He

had a deep scar on his left cheek. He was the leader of the “Black Sword” group, a top- rank adventurers’ group.

The one who followed him was his vice-leader, Carl. He had a muscular physique

with dark skin and a shaved head. He was eye-catching.

“This is a first,” said Carl, “what should we do? With the monsters gone, we could advance to the lowest levels-”

“No,” Gustav cut him, “it could be dangerous to keep going. Some of us should go back up to inform the military and the Guild. Let’s wait for the Guild’s instructions, and then we’ll see.”

“Alright.” Carl went back to the camp.

Because this was a first for Gustav, he had trouble assessing the situation. He had never heard of this kind of situation, even from foreign countries…

There was only one reason for something like this to happen, but Gustave refused to admit it.

Could it be..?, he thought.

****

The Adventurers’ Guild established a base next to the entrance of the dungeon to manage and support the adventurers, but also collect information, so they could report on the dungeon’s abnormal state.

“What do you mean by the monsters disappeared?”

Koda, the Guild officer, couldn’t believe his ears. The environment inside the dungeon had never been disturbed. The disappearance of all plants and animals was an unheard of occurrence to say the least. “How many adventurers are in the dungeon right now? There must be a lot of military men, right?”

“Yes, four parties are on a long-term expedition on floor 10 down to 20.”

It was the middle of the night, so only the adventurers who were still conquering the dungeon were down there, along with the military.

“The Black Sword was on the 20th floor, right?,” asked Koda. “Yes.”

An idea goes through his mind.

“Oh my… do you think someone succeeded? That someone actually conquered this dungeon?”

“It must be the Black Sword then!”

The Black Sword was one of the best adventurer parties in the Principality of Morgalea. It was also recognized throughout the world as such. Therefore, it wouldn’t be surprising if they became the first Dungeon Conquerors.

Being present on sight was a great honor and historic achievement for the Guild.

Koda was over the moon and couldn’t wait to congratulate the Conquerers.

But, just a few hours later, his excitement and joy were shattered. “What,” said Koda, “Black Sword’s Marco and Daitos have just arrived?”

“Yes! They want to know the Guild’s instructions concerning the dungeon’s current situation…”

“So Black Sword wasn’t the origin of the incident?”

“So it would seem. Their leader, Gustav, is still perplexed by the whole thing. Would you like us to investigate Black Sword, too?”

“Yes, please.”

Koda didn’t know what to think. If even Black Sword, who was on the lower levels, had no clue about what had happened, then there was no way for him to figure the whole thing out.

His earlier excitement turned sour. Although this case had become way more complicated than he had anticipated, he knew he was the only one who could investigate it.

No matter how costly this would turn out to be, he decided to formally request an

investigation.

“Call Marco and Daitos,” he ordered, “Black Sword’s gonna investigate further down.”

****

Marco and Daitos went down to level 20 to inform the others about the investigation. They weren’t the two strongest adventurers – they needed to work on their stamina – so the way down to the 20th floor took some time. Hopefully, Gustav had gotten his instructions by noon, the next day. All he said was “alright, understood”, before thanking the two out-of-breath adventurers.

Gustav, Carl and Daya, the three veterans of the group, eyed the unexplored path.

“Wait,” said Marco, “let us go. Please, I want to go, too.”

Gustav shook his head. “No, you’ve done enough. You should rest.” He looked at his two friends. “This time, let us do this.”

Carl slapped Marco’s shoulder with an apologetic look for the two adventurers, who seemed frustrated with their leader’s choice.

It was how things had always been – blunt and rugged Gustav, and cheerful and

caring Carl. They balanced each other out.

On that note, Gustav, Carl and Daya advanced to the bottom layers.

****

The floors below level 20 were still unexplored. No one even knew how many floors there were in the first place.

Gustav, Carl and Daya were now leaving the 29th floor. They soon realized that the 30th floor was the last one, due to how different it was from the previous levels. With a lamp in hand, the three of them advanced with extra caution. After a while, Gustav found a door. He glanced at his two partners and gave them a single nod. He laid his hand flat on the door until he found a knob. He pulled on it and the door made a creaking sound as it opened.

He thought something would jump out and attack them, but nothing happened.

The room was silent.

Still holding their lamps before them, they inspected the room. Save for an empty round platform in the center, it was empty.

“What the hell,” groaned Carl, “where’s the treasure everyone keeps talking about?”

He was very disappointed by the turn of events. On the other hand, Gustav was calmly studying his surroundings.

Until he found something. “This is…”

“Did you find something, Gustav?” “Footsteps. Someone was here before us.”

He squatted and brushed the evidence with his fingers. They seemed fairly new, not more than a few days old. They seemed to have been made by a tall man and a four- legged animal. Most likely a dog or a wolf.

“There’s no mistaking it.” The three adventurers took a big breath. “This dungeon

has been conquered.”