I Gain Infinite Gold Just By Waiting-Chapter 246: Episode 50_The Demons’ Banquet (2)

2.

The first thought that crossed his mind when he entered the dungeon was simple.

’This looks familiar.’

A pitch-black sky, barren ground, and a massive castle spread out above it.

Creatures of darkness flew through the air, and demons in all shapes and sizes were heading off to enjoy the banquet. The scene was faint, like an old film strip in his memory, but it was undeniably similar.

’Nightmare Castle.’

’How could I possibly forget?’

It was one of the few dungeons that remained vivid in his memory.

Perhaps that lingering memory was what had guided him to choose “The Demons’ Banquet” out of all the countless dungeons in the world.

It was a dungeon with a familiar concept, one of the few he could still recall in detail.

Of course, a similar concept didn’t guarantee an identical layout, but having a rough sense of how such dungeons flowed was undeniably helpful.

In that sense, the moment he saw the landscape and the demons marching toward the castle, Kim Buja knew he wouldn’t need a new plan.

“I’ll just take down a few demons on their way in, steal their souls, transform, and then sneak into the banquet.”

“Kyuu!”

Figuring out what to do with the massive dragon was a new problem, but he wasn’t particularly worried.

“Polymorph.”

“Kyuu!”

After all, there would have been no point in bringing Hwangdo into the dungeon if he couldn’t hide that enormous body.

While Hwangdo couldn’t take on a human form like Keshios or Lerbel, he could shrink down from his first-evolution size to that of a sparrow. For the first time in a while, he perched on Kim Buja’s shoulder and rubbed his head against his cheek.

“This is good enough.”

It was a new skill he’d gained after his promotion to SVIP. He’d been a little concerned about using a freshly purchased ability for the first time, but at this size, moving around with Hwangdo would be no issue.

He let out a small breath of relief and looked back at the castle.

He had already plotted a rough method of entry and a way to join the banquet.

The problem was what came next.

Just because the concept was similar to Nightmare Castle didn’t mean it would progress in the same way.

The dungeon’s level and its penalties made that obvious.

[All stats are reduced by 11%.]

[Holy Power is sealed.]

[The power of Holy-attribute skills is reduced by 66%.]

[The effectiveness of items related to Holy Power is reduced by 88%.]

These were not simple penalties.

The restrictions befitting an 8-star dungeon—and a special one at that—filled his vision.

From a certain perspective, one might even think they weren’t as harsh as expected.

Most of the holograms that appeared were penalties related to the "Holy" attribute.

Some of them didn’t affect Kim Buja at all, since his Holy Power was already sealed at zero.

[The item level of “Heavenly Earrings” is higher than the dungeon level, so it ignores the penalties.]

On top of that, his most important item was powerful enough to ignore the dungeon’s penalties altogether.

Even so, the terrifying part was the hidden penalties—the ones that would swallow a player whole before striking like a sniper.

’So it’s a dungeon that counters players who commit too hard to the concept.’

Maybe it was because it was an 8-star Legendary dungeon, or maybe because it was a special dungeon above 8-stars, but either way, if he had come in half-prepared, even Kim Buja might have despaired at penalties that would have effectively chopped off all his limbs.

He had cleared one hurdle.

He hadn’t planned for it, but the penalties weren’t as severe for him as he’d expected. All that remained was figuring out how to wreck the demons’ banquet and clear the dungeon.

The best way, as always, was to charge head-on.

So he started walking.

He didn’t have to go far.

There were plenty of demons heading to the banquet, and it didn’t take long to pick one.

“Hey!”

“...A human?”

When he called out to a passing demon, it turned toward him with a look of disbelief.

It was a natural reaction.

This was a place where humans shouldn’t exist. Even if one somehow did, they would never dare show themselves before a demon unless they had a death wish.

But he had shown himself, and in the Demon Realm, that sent a very specific message.

“How dare you!”

The reason humans or demons picked fights was always the same.

The demon shot toward him like an arrow.

It must have been a fairly strong one, because it was in front of Kim Buja in the blink of an eye, swinging its fist.

The demon was twice his size. Even without a weapon, that punch looked powerful enough to knock him out cold.

However, Kim Buja didn’t dodge.

Vwoomm—!

He had already drawn his sword and was swinging it.

Slice!

In a split second, the sound of something being severed was followed by a scream.

“Aaaaargh!”

The scream was so loud that other demons passing nearby turned to look.

It was a bizarre sight.

A demon, screaming just because it had lost a single arm.

Normally, plenty of demons would have clicked their tongues, declared it unworthy of the name, and stepped in to cut off its head themselves.

But now, no one even dared to click their tongue.

They could only stare in shock.

Faced with a sight that should have been impossible here, the demons’ thoughts stalled as they struggled to process what was happening.

Fortunately, their confusion didn’t last long.

Vmmm—!

The fierce resonance and brilliant light pouring from his longsword, Gold Ring, struck the demons’ instincts long before their reason could catch up.

"How dare you!"

A human—worse, a human wielding Holy Power—had appeared at the demons’ banquet!

The demons were enraged.

Their rage spread like a contagion, infecting the demons around them.

To them, this was a sacred place.

The banquet, held once every few thousand years, wasn’t just a time for feasting and revelry; it was a festival to celebrate the birth of a new Demon King.

And some filthy Holy Power was going to taint it?

Absolutely unacceptable.

Even as he watched the demons gather, Kim Buja remained unruffled.

"Well, damn. I was planning to slip in and stir things up from the inside, but that didn’t work out."

—Feels like he did that on purpose.

—You’re the one who used Holy Power without thinking.

—That was way too staged.

If he thought back to Nightmare Castle, the right move would have been to enter quietly, fulfill the conditions one by one, and then blow everything up at the end.

That was the best way to minimize variables and avoid the worst-case scenario of fighting the entire dungeon at once.

But that was for Nightmare Castle.

The Demons’ Banquet was different.

The dungeon itself was fundamentally different, and his reason for entering it was different as well.

"I went into Nightmare Castle to clear it cleanly..."

Vroooom—! 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Holy Power poured from the Heavenly Earrings, flowed into the Gold Ring, and roared with a violent resonance.

Thanks to the Heavenly Earrings, the only item free from the penalties, Kim Buja was armed with overwhelming Holy Power despite having none of his own.

For him, this dungeon was a testing ground.

"The Demons’ Banquet is where I test just how good these earrings are at killing demons."

Sneaking in to cut the enemy’s throat from the middle of their ranks was a tactic that only really worked in dungeons.

If he tried that on the Demon King, his heart might get pierced by an attack mid-transformation.

He dismissed the idea that the Demon King could be so easily fooled.

If it had been a "try it and see" option, he would have gladly attempted it, but failure here would have had irreversible consequences.

There was only one answer.

Any other method could only be considered after he had the power to take down the Demon King head-on.

That’s why he played this card.

"Come at me, all of you, you bastards."

"Kyuuuuuu—!"

Right in front of the demons’ stronghold, he raised a sword brimming with Holy Power.

* * *

—Insane.

—That’s the Kim Buja I know.

—Is he dodging all that by sight? He’s not using some kind of movement-assist script, is he?

—There’s no such thing.

—It’s crazy how the monsters die in one hit. Is this really an 8-star Legendary?

Countless people were watching the live broadcast from the 8-star Legendary dungeon.

The concept alone was enough to draw in every player, but shattering that concept from the very start to launch an all-out war against every demon was pure, unadulterated catharsis for the viewers.

This was the kind of content most people wanted.

Exhilarating combat instead of boring, efficient runs.

People said that even combat got dull with repetition, but that only applied to videos of someone toying with weaklings. A fight against powerful monsters in a high-level dungeon like this had a gripping charm that made viewers sweat just from watching.

—Holy crap. What’s with that lightning that keeps striking?

—Looks like a Legendary dungeon penalty.

—Wow, damn. He really didn’t see that coming, huh?

—How are you supposed to predict lightning? Looks like it’s actually doing damage. Is he gonna be okay?

—Damn... He got hit once and then started dodging it. Is that even possible?

On top of that, the absurd penalties of an 8-star Legendary dungeon made players feel like this was a world on another level entirely.

So they cheered him on.

—Hang in there.

—This is endless. He keeps killing and killing, but they just keep coming.

—One of the clear conditions is 10,000 monsters, so there are at least that many.

—Yeah, and it looks like more because demons and magical beasts are mixed together. The scariest part is that these are just the small fry. The demon commanders and the strong ones are probably all inside that castle.

—Is this even clearable?

—No idea.

They cheered, yet they also felt despair.

Anyone could see how difficult this was.

Dodge and kill. Block and kill.

Kim Buja’s performance was now undeniably worthy of being called the absolute best, but as the endless waves of demons continued for one hour, then two, people grew more and more worried.

His breathing had, in fact, started to grow a little rough.

It was proof that this was by no means an easy dungeon.

One by one, attacks began to graze his body, and there were now blows he couldn’t fully block.

It wasn’t because he lacked skill.

It was proof that he had chosen the greatest possible difficulty for his current specs.

—Shouldn’t he bail?

—Bail where? He’s surrounded.

—Man... doesn’t he have some kind of trump card?

As the situation began to look increasingly hopeless, the viewers grew restless.

There was no visible escape route, and the end of the dungeon was still far away.

He had already done more than enough to earn a standing ovation, but was it really going to end here?

Just as everyone was thinking that—

"Haah."

Kim Buja let out a sigh.

Then he spoke.

"Trying to do this with just gear is rough. Time to lean on my class a bit."

As he spoke, he pulled out a sheet of parchment and tore it.

The moment it ripped, a brilliant, pure-white light exploded outward, spreading as if to engulf the entire world.

"Aaaaah!"

Through the light that filled the screen, the demons’ screams could be heard.

When the light finally faded, all that remained was an empty space, cleanly cleared out with Kim Buja standing at its center.