Time rewinds to just before the closing bell of the dungeon rang.

"Just by defeating a head boss and obtaining a Great Rune, does the dungeon undergo so many changes?"

Uffie watched the slowly opening large door and saw the figures of the Two Fingers and Granny Enya through the crack.

She couldn’t help but recall that at the round table, she had three more bosses to choose from in her memory, and she even saw the Elden King’s obsession with the guardian dragon head. Now, even the previously closed large door was open.

How should I put it, though there wasn’t any substantial reward, it gave her a sense of great achievement, like she had done something incredible, and the whole world was celebrating her.

The design of changes in the Sain Dungeon probably came about because Gong Qiying was the type of player who loved experiencing a series of game content changes after completing an important event in a game, so when creating the dungeon, he unknowingly incorporated that element.

Who wouldn’t like a game with diverse changes?

"Ordinarily speaking, wouldn’t a normal person rush over to take a look once they see that large door open?"

Uffie looked at the door where the Two Fingers were, and a youthful rebelliousness suddenly arose within her.

"However, I refuse!"

When exploring Stoneveil Castle, she had acquired a War Ash called [Determination], and also collected some Forging Stones. She thought it was only right to strengthen her beloved weapon, and felt that the Twin Old Women might have new merchandise due to the change, making her want to take a look.

There were so many errands to run, with the dungeon’s closing fast approaching, and that newly opened door seemed likely to lead to something very time-consuming.

So, she wanted to rebel a bit against Sain Dungeon and not go there first!

"Mr. Shigu, I must trouble you again."

Uffie first ran to the blacksmith Shigu, attaching the War Ash of Determination to her most used spear, but did not use the Forging Stone to strengthen it.

Some time ago, she had posted a commission at the adventurer’s guild, asking someone to help hunt monsters in the forest area, and then find the Elu cat forging master to forge a spear using monster materials. She suddenly took an interest in that kind of weapon and heard that using Forging Stones to strengthen weapons produced in Sain Dungeon would work better, so she decided to save the stones for now.

After retrieving the spear with the War Ash replaced from Shigu, Uffie wandered around to another door, but the other doors were still unopened....

"Huh?"

She suddenly stopped, as she discovered another room’s door was open!

Not far from the Twin Old Women, a room’s door was open, revealing bright firelight and a room full of books, and even a person dressed in skeleton armor standing guard at the entrance.

"Is it a residual shadow... Hello?"

Uffie tried talking to the person at the door, but got no response; the person looked at her briefly but said nothing.

"Sorry, he doesn’t like to speak, please come in."

A voice slightly aged but full of seasoned wisdom came from the study, magnetic and calm, reminiscent of a knowledgeable wise man.

Uffie was immediately interested in the person in the study; she made a face at the silent "bodyguard" at the door, and then walked into the room.

As soon as she entered, she was instantly captivated by the abundance of books piled inside. What were their contents? If they could really be read, wouldn’t it be an unprecedented treasure trove for scholars?

Uffie bent down, picked up a book, and eagerly began to read, but... it was all blank.

"Eh, what’s going on, are there no words?" She skimmed through a few more, which were either blank, had blurred writing, or simply fell apart.

She was utterly baffled; so many books couldn’t just be for display, right? Why couldn’t she see any content?

Suddenly a flash of inspiration struck her mind; she thought of something.

"Where I am now is in the memory of the Elden King, specifically the memory of the fight with Latan, and since the contents of these books can’t be viewed, could it be because..."

"The owner of the memory hadn’t actually read these books!?"

Uffie felt she had uncovered the truth.

Gong Qiying thought her imaginative reasoning was excellent and worth a thumbs-up.

"Have you heard the Two Fingers’ advice?"

The voice came again, and only then did Uffie notice that there was someone behind the pile of books as tall as a small mountain.

The person was fully clad in armor, with his face obscured by the shadow of a helmet, giving them an air of mystery.

The Two Fingers referred to that thing behind the door? Uffie shook her head; actually, she hadn’t been yet.

"No matter, since you carry a Great Rune, I welcome you to join and become a true member of the Round Table Hall."

The person didn’t seem to be bound by any formalities, speaking in an even tone:

"I am Gideon Ofniel, known to the world as the Hundred Wisdom Sir."

"My mission as a Faded is to visit the Elden Ring and become the Elden King, and also as a seeker of knowledge, yearning for omniscience... one of the few comrades, I hope we can work together for a long time."

Just this self-introduction gives off a very impressive feeling, something about yearning for omniscience—if Uffie had to introduce herself, she probably wouldn’t use such words, because it’s a bit embarrassing.

At this time, she also remembered why the person in front of her seemed familiar—because she had seen the Hundred Wisdom Sir in the images at the beginning of the Sain Dungeon, although at that time he was still lying in a coffin.

So, is this the first person I’ve seen that appeared in the images? After obtaining the Great Rune, the dungeon indeed undergoes many changes!

The Hundred Wisdom Sir then continued:

"You probably want to get more Great Runes, right? For the sake of camaraderie, I’ll share some information. The Fragment Kings who possess the Great Rune pieces—including the one you’ve defeated—the Round Table Hall has already found the whereabouts of five of them."

He waved his finger, and the figures of the Fragment Kings appeared in the air, looking very visually impressive.

"The Lord of Stoneveil, ’Limb Attachment’ Greg, General Latan, who fought to a tie with Marionia in the Galide Plains, the master of Grimir’s Volcano Mansion, Judge Rakad, the City Lord of Royal City Roder, the ’Blessed King’ Mungot whose figure is nowhere to be found, and the ’Full Moon Queen’ Renala of the Magic Academy Reyalucaria."

"Among them, whose Great Rune do you wish to obtain?"

Your words make it sound like the Fragment Kings are like a buffet, free for anyone to pick from... Uffie really wanted to make a snarky comment, but she was most interested in Latan, so she directly asked for information about Latan.

"General Latan, the ’Shattered Star Red Lion’, is an invincible martial artist."

Yes, yes, of course, that’s it. Uffie wasn’t surprised at all by this assessment, because the records found in the Sain Dungeon were all like this.

"However, to the east of Nimgefo, on the vast Galide Plains, he fought to a draw with the corruption that Marionia brought. Since then, Galide has been consumed by Crimson Corruption, making it difficult to approach."

"Hm?" Uffie’s expression froze on her face, her eyes widening suddenly.

What did the Hundred Wisdom Sir just say?

The Crimson Corruption brought by the Valkyrie Marionia?

"I’ve heard that the remnants of Latan’s army are still there, using fire to combat the corruption. It seems Latan should still be in Galide, but his current appearance might daunt people."

The Hundred Wisdom Sir finished speaking and looked at her as if inquiring with his eyes if there was anything else she wanted to know.

"Um... the toxin that makes Galide red is the Crimson Corruption, right?" Uffie asked.

The Hundred Wisdom Sir nodded.

"And the Crimson Corruption was brought by the Valkyrie?"

He continued to nod.

"Hiss—"

Uffie took a sharp breath, her expression changing.

Regarding the toxin covering the entire Galide, there had long been widespread speculation. Initially, some people said the corruption might have been brought by Marionia, who fought against Latan, but this statement was quickly opposed by most, because Marionia seemed to be a strong martial artist, so how could she use poison or anything like that.

The Crimson Corruption that covered all of Galide, destroying life, must have been brought by someone more despicable, maybe this thing was originally a specialty of Galide!

Of course, a significant portion of the people who opposed this statement... were Marionia’s appearance fans.

However, now, the Hundred Wisdom Sir’s casual words directly ended the externally debated topic!

"Why is it like this? I quite liked her appearance..."

Uffie’s shoulders slumped, feeling her admiration shatter.

It’s unimaginable how many people will be shattered once this news spreads, but it might also spawn a group of even more extreme fans, who knows.

Holding onto the shocking news, Uffie, preparing to spread it once outside, saw that the Sain Dungeon had yet to close, so she simply stayed with the Hundred Wisdom Sir, asking in detail about the information of each Fragment King.

Accompanied by the magnetic voice of the Hundred Wisdom Sir, Uffie felt knowledge flowing into her brain, making her feel almost smarter.

Meanwhile, in the distant Yanor Kingdom, inside the Lake of Lienia.

The adventurer’s guild building within the Lake of Lienia was filled with adventurers who had come to relax after a hard day’s work, the air thick with the smell of their hard-earned sweat.

At this moment, everyone was chatting while looking at a dim stone hanging on the wall, seemingly relaxed, but their eyes never left that spot.

It was left by Leon from the strategy group, who reportedly went to find a new path in the Lake of Lienia that likely connects to a new area.

This stone is a signal light.

If it lights up, it means Leon has found the path and it does indeed connect to the new area.

At this moment, a cry of surprise came from the crowd.

"It’s lit, it’s lit!"

The adventurers, who had just been relaxing, suddenly boiled over at this moment.