Chapter 1245 – Minaga’s Awesome and Illustrious Labyrinth Complex Dungeon-5

The three of them stood in front of the gate leading into the dungeon as Minaga turned to Jake and Casper.

“Do remember to take notes and submit a proper report once you’re done, alright?” Minaga said. “Especially you, Jake. You are coming in with fresh eyes and a unique ability to exploit and ruin any good dungeon you enter, so your feedback should be absolutely devastating yet unique.”

“I’m honestly unsure if you actually want my critique or not,” Jake muttered.

“Want is definitely the wrong word to use,” Minaga shook his head. “But sometimes, one has to hear things they don’t want if they want to improve. Just be nice in how you deliver the critique, and all should be fine. The problem usually isn’t the critique itself but its delivery. As long as you communicate in a respectful manner and show kindness and understanding for the work that has gone into something, critique can only be useful. Also, more effective to relay information that way, as if you come off like a nasty person, the other party will instantly be put on the defensive and thus be far less likely to actually listen to anything you say.”

Jake stared at Minaga for a little while before turning back to the gate. “I’m going to relay everything through Casper. Unless you added too much damn water to the place. If you did, I’ll gladly come off as a massive asshole.”

“Now that’s totally fair, and don’t worry, I’m not that incompetent,” Minaga said, crossing his arms.

“I would also have heavily opposed it,” Casper chimed in. “Water levels suck, and I hate fighting inside of them. Doesn’t help that life and water are often tied together, making it a horrible environment for my magic. As the life energy is embedded in the water, turning life into death is also far harder than usual, meaning even my abilities to exploit the presence of life energy are heavily nerfed.”

“How much work did you actually do on the dungeon?” Jake asked curiously. He had believed Casper had been busy with growing in power and the establishment of the Risen Island on Earth.

“Not much,” he said, shaking his head. “As Minaga said, I mostly consulted and gave some advice occasionally. He did all the actual groundwork and designed everything, but my involvement was at least enough to net me a few profession levels here and there.”

Jake nodded as another thought struck him. “Say, how hard is your profession to level? Don’t you kind of need to make or maintain dungeons to get experience?”

“I do,” Casper nodded. “But it’s not that bad. I already made a couple of smaller dungeons on my own and manage a few minor adjacent worlds, which offer me a lot of experience over time. Rather than my profession, it’s more my class that’s lagging behind, as finding time for hunting has been difficult with everything else going on.”

“Going by your level, it doesn’t seem that bad,” Jake said after using Identify on his old friend.

[Risen – lvl 333 – Divine Blessing of the Blightfather]

Jake also genuinely couldn’t remember what kind of Blessing Casper had before. He didn’t think it was divine, but seeing as he wasn’t sure, Jake didn’t bring it up.

“Nah, I never said it was horrible, just that finding time has been hard,” Casper shrugged. “To spend some quality time with Lyra, I have been doing some hunting, though. In fact, while I may be a little behind in levels, Lyra is more than making up for it. But I guess you’ll see that once we enter.”

“I guess I will,” Jake nodded before turning to Minaga. “Anything else to add before we enter?”

“There will be no hazard pay,” the Unique Lifeform informed him. “Oh, and I recommend not dying. While it worked out well for a common acquaintance, I doubt you’d enjoy the experience.”

“Won’t really say I died in the traditional sense; it was more ritualistic suicide transforming me into a Risen,” Casper kindly clarified.

“I was talking about Lyra, but okay,” Minaga said with a deadpan expression.

“In that case, I can inform you that Lyra very much didn’t enjoy dying either,” Casper said, his look severe enough for Minaga to entirely change the subject.

“Anyhow, that’s about all I have to add! Remember notes, don’t die, and, perhaps most importantly, have fun!” Minaga said as he tried to pat Jake and Casper on their shoulders, his hands once more just phasing through their bodies.

Jake nodded and, side-by-side with Casper, put his hand on the gate.

You have discovered the dungeon: Work-in-Progress, unauthorized visitors or personnel not allowed.

Requirements to enter: Minaga

Requirements to enter not met.

WARNING: Only 5 challengers are allowed per party attempting the dungeon.

“Minaga, I thought you said the dungeon was ready,” Jake said, glaring at the Unique Lifeform.

“Oh, right, yeah, forgot to flip a switch. Give me a second,” the goofball said as he waved his hand. “Try again.”

Jake sighed and moved his hand on and off the gate, this time making a different prompt pop up.

You have discovered the dungeon: Minaga’s Awesome and Illustrious Labyrinth Complex Dungeon-5: Test Run 1

Requirements to enter: Lvl 325+

Requirements to enter met.

WARNING: Only 5 challengers are allowed per party attempting the dungeon.

Finally, the place seemed to work, and ignoring the stupid dungeon name, Jake turned to Casper. “You ready?”

“Of course,” the Risen nodded, and without further ado, Jake accepted the prompt as the two of them disappeared, whisked into Minaga’s likely questionable creation.

—

Minaga, who stood outside with his arms crossed, smiled upon seeing the two enter his dungeon; however, just as they were about to leave, a horrible realization hit him.

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“Oh no,” he said, his eyes opened wide. “Oh, no no no…”

Only now that it was too late did he realize the terrible mistake he’d made. He began pacing back and forth, panic rushing through his mind after having sent them into the dungeon way too early.

Clenching his fists, Minaga could only hope Casper could somehow save the situation, but the Unique Lifeform doubted it, as he couldn’t possibly make up for the gross error Minaga had made.

Closing his eyes, all he could do was pray that the two would forgive him and make it through as he waved his hand and summoned an incredibly important item he’d failed to give them. An item that he feared the two of them would experience a very bad time for not having, but at this point, all he could do was sigh and apologize.