Dungeon Hunter
Chapter 78's

Wisdom Canyon

Kang Oh's entourage enters Turu Canyon.

The land is dry and cracked inside the canyon. A sculpture was sculpted on the surface of the canyon wall, about 20 meters high. 

The statue was sculpted in a simple way, so that only the eyes, nose, and mouth were visible. It also carried a question mark-shaped staff in both hands.

No other features visible. Although it was large, it did not seem like a work of art.

"This is the Statue of Turu. Turu is known as the God of Wisdom in the Baritone Desert" Grano explained.

"Is he one of the Baritone Desert folk gods like the Rain God, Dalla?" Kang Oh asked.

"He's much older than Dalla. People in the Baritone Desert believe that Turu and the Baritone Desert appeared at the same time."

"I understand."

Kang Oh's entourage got off their camels. They slapped their buttocks, causing them to leave the canyon and disappear.

"Please follow me."

Grano took the lead, walking towards the Statue of Turu.

There is an entrance that leads into the cliff between the legs of the statue.

"It's in here."

Kang Oh's party went into the entrance.

Grano took the neon stone from its subspace.

"Luminescent Rock," he chanted, and the stone began to emit light.

Its shape and the brightness of the light it emits are exactly the same as that of a light bulb.

Grano let the glowing rock float into the air through magic. With that, they could see the inside of the cliff.

It was a natural clay-red tunnel. The walls were clearly composed of hard rock.

However, there were unreadable letters etched on the wall.

"This?"

Kang Oh stroking the wall. He could feel the shape of a foreign letter with his fingertips.

"These are ancient letters of the Baritone Desert" Grano said.

"Can you read it?" Kang Oh asked.

"Yes I can."

Grano was clearly the leading expert in the Baritone Desert. After all, he was able to decipher the ancient letters of the Baritone Desert.

"What did they say?" Eder asked what was on Kang Oh's mind.

"This is a quiz created by the God of Wisdom, Turu, to test the wisdom of mankind."

"A quiz?" ask Eder.

"The place you touched Mr. Kang Oh asked this: 'What do humans have that gods don't?'," Grano said.

"What does man have that god does not?"

Kang Oh thought about the question.

He thought of several possible answers, but he did not feel any of those answers were the right ones.

"Someone answered death" Grano said.

Kang Oh and Eder nodded. Indeed, humans die while gods do not.

"The other person answers a mother."

"A mother?"

Kang Oh tilted his head.

Even the gods have mothers. In Greek mythology, a god was born from another god. Like how Zeus was born to his mother, Rhea.

Then why do they claim that the gods have no mothers?

Kang Oh can't understand it.

"The desert gods were not born. The desert people believe that they have been around since the beginning of this world" Grano explained.

"Hm. I see."

Kang Oh said 'Oh, so' and continued.

"So what is the correct answer between the two: death or mother?" ask Eder.

"The God of Wisdom, Turu, is the only one who knows the answer because the correct answer is not written here," Grano smiled and said.

"Ughs. We've seen the quiz, as well as the answer, so not knowing which one is right is awkward enough."

Eder's face was wrinkled.

If you are going to give a quiz, then you should have the decency to tell us which answer is correct!

"There's one quiz here that the answer can be checked," Grano said.

"Ah, really?"

Eder and Grano looked delighted. Time to move on from the unanswered quiz!

"Yes. And that quiz answered is also our final goal."

* * *

Kang Oh's entourage follows Grano, continuing to walk deeper and deeper into the tunnel.

In the end, they reached the end.

"It's..."

There were two giant stone bowls in front of them.

Kang Oh approached the stone bowl.

One of the bowls was filled with an identical stone the size of a thumb.

Kang Oh took one of the stones. There was one ancient letter engraved on it.

He also examined the other stones.

"Every stone has something different written on it."

All the stones were identical in terms of size or shape, but the engraved letters were different for each stone.

"Hm."

Kang Oh put down the stone and checked the other stone bowl.

The other bowl was completely empty. However, there was an ancient letter engraved on the bottom of the bowl.

"What's written here?" Kang Oh asked.

"'What's my name?'" grano.

"I'm sorry?" Kang Oh asked back, wondering if he heard wrong.

"What is my name?' it's written on the bottom of the bowl."

"Thank you?"

Kang Oh grinned.

"Yes, really."

"Then do we answer the quiz with these stones?"

Kang Oh checked the stone he was holding.

"Yes. You just need to put the stone with the right lettering into an empty bowl" Grano explained.

"Then do we just need to spell our own names with stones? Let's see..."

Eder pretended to pass through the rocks.

"Do you really think you'll be able to spell your name with a stone?" 

Grano smiled.

"I'd guess. That's not the right answer, is it?"

Eder stopped his search and smiled.

"This is a quiz you can't finish unless you know the ancient letters of the Baritone region" Eder said.

To complete a quiz, one must not only be able to read the question, but also choose the correct letter.

"That's not necessarily true" Granos said.

"Why is that?"

"Because it was created by the God of Wisdom, Turu. Even if you don't know how to read letters, you should be able to finish the quiz."

"Thank you?"

Eder looked surprised.

"Yes. Would you like to try it?" Grano asked.

Just then, Kang Oh raised his hand.

"I'll try it."

Kang Oh wants to see if he can pick the right stone through his Hyper Intuition.

"alright. Please."

Kang Oh started to inspect every stone.

"As expected ..." Grano watched Kang Oh, slightly nodded his head, and muttered.

"Hm."

Every time Kang Oh checked the stone and felt nothing, he would immediately move on to the next stone.

'Oh, as expected!'

As he grabbed the stone, his Hyper Intuition flared up.

It was a feeling that there was something more than this stone! No, it was more accurate to call it a premonition.

Kang Oh put the stone into an empty bowl.

"Ooh."

Grano looked at which letter Kang Oh chose and could only look at it in awe.

The stone he took had to do with the correct answer.

Kang Oh put the wrong stone to the side and continued his search.

'The second.'

Kang Oh soon finds a second stone through Hyper Intuition. He placed the stone into an empty bowl as well.

'Three.'

He also found the third stone easily and placed it into an empty bowl.

But as soon as he put the third stone into an empty bowl, the stone started to tilt slightly.

"Huh?"

Kang Oh stopped checking the rocks and continued watching.

Ticking.

He heard something suck, and saw a hole forming in one of the walls.

One could pass it if they lowered their heads.

[You have found a hidden dungeon, the Wisdom Testing Place.]

[You were the first to find him.]

[Truth has increased.]

[When you hunt at Wisdom's Testing Ground, then you receive 2 times the experience. The item drop rate is also double.]

The hole in the wall was the entrance to the hidden dungeon. He was also the first to find it!

"Wow. How are you...?" Eder asked Kang Oh.

"Well, that..."

With his intuition, Hyper Intuition!

Kang Oh will explain that he used his intuition to complete the quiz. Anyway, it's the truth.

However, Grano interrupted right then and there.

“That's because the weight of the stone varies,” Grano said.

"Excuse me? Weighing?"

Eder opened his eyes wide.

"There were three stones of which were heavier than the others. That's the right answer. Isn't that right, Mr Kang Oh?"

Kang Oh just scratched his nose.

'Now that you mention it, the stone I picked does seem heavier than the others... Well, I guess it doesn't really matter.'

Breaking the quiz using weights rather than intuition seems like a better answer here.

"Fright."

Kang Oh smiled awkwardly and nodded his head.

"Ah, that's why you said the quiz could be completed even without knowing what's written in it."

Eder slapped his palm.

"Hoo, you're amazing, Mr. Grano. How do you know that?"

Eder looked at Grano with eyes full of admiration and respect.

Grano began, "When I first came here, I couldn't find the right stone. I tried and tried to make a few words with a stone, but nothing happened."

He took a breath for a moment.

"I sat down, thought of the correct answer, and suddenly found the answer."

"Which?" ask Eder.

It was as if he said 'Hurry up and tell me. I'm dizzy here.'.

"It doesn't matter in what order you put the stones. In other words, all you need to do is place the correct stone into the bowl."

"Ah."

Eder nodded his head.

Kang Oh remained silent and listened with interest.

"That's how I know that there must be a difference between a right stone and a wrong stone. And eventually found that despite their identical size and shape, some stones were heavier than others" Grano completed his explanation.

"As expected! I admire you, Mr. Grano."

Eder grabbed Grano's hand with sparkling eyes.

Grano's personality and intelligence are all superior. Contrary to others he knew.

"Mr Kang Oh could tell after he heard my clue, that you didn't need to be able to read his letters. Isn't it?" Grano asked.

"It's absolutely right."

Purpose of making way. It didn't matter whether he completed the quiz with his intuition or his weights.

"Ahems. You're pretty impressive too, Mr. Kang Oh."

Eder could not deny Kang Oh's achievement and gave him a thumbs up.

“This is nothing,” said Kang Oh proudly.

"But what do all these letters mean?" Eder pointed to the three stones inside the empty bowl and asked.

He knew how to complete the quiz now, so now he wanted to know what the answer was by himself.

"It means nothing" Grano said.

"It means nothing?" Eder asked back.

"Yes. It doesn't matter how you combine the letters; it doesn't mean anything" Grano said.

“Yeah, they're really trying to get us with that one,” Kang Oh smiled and said.

The God of Wisdom has directed the test takers to focus too much on the question 'Who is my name?', although the three correct letters cannot make a coherent word.

In other words, it doesn't matter what word is chosen; they won't get the correct answer.

"This quiz signifies that anyone who is smart enough to look beyond letters and see what is invisible is a person who has true wisdom" Grano said.

"I think it might be true."

Kang Oh violently nodded his head.

Then, he saw the entrance to the hidden underground chamber.

“After all, we are done with the quiz, so are we going to focus on the hidden dungeon now? Hey, Eder. Put the stone down,” said Kang Oh.

Eder held the correct stone in one hand and the wrong one in the other, comparing the weights of each.

"okay."

Eder put down the stone and came to Kang Oh's side.

"Mr Grano, have you ever been inside that dungeon before?" Kang Oh asked.

"Yes I have."

"Then please tell us about the monster and its boss."

"If I remember correctly, there are no monsters in it."

"There's no monster in the basement?"

Then it's not a dungeon?

"Yes. Once you enter, you'll find yourself in the boss room and have to face the boss directly."

"Ah. So it's a dungeon with a boss but no monsters."

There are different basements. An underground prison with only a boss could exist.

Well, it's not bad.

Because he could instantly kill his boss and take all of their treasures.

"What's the boss of the monster?" Kang Oh asked.

"Gollem. Stone Golem." 

THANKS FOR READING