With our strength significantly bolstered by the powerful accessories we’d just obtained, Aoi and I decided to take the opportunity to challenge a high-difficulty dungeon.
That said, many of the high-difficulty dungeons in this MMO imposed entrance restrictions, often requiring players to be Fourth Job or higher. Since I was still in my Third Class, our options were limited to the dungeons I could actually enter, meaning we weren't exactly tackling the absolute peak of the game's difficulty.
Furthermore, those top-tier dungeons demanded meticulous builds focused on attribute and status ailment resistances. Having only just returned to the game, I lacked the sub-equipment and specialized gear necessary to survive them anyway.
"I didn't know this place because the Third Class didn't even exist back when I played, but this dungeon is quite difficult, isn't it?"
"Yes. It was the highest difficulty until the Fourth Job was implemented, and even now, it’s the kind of difficulty where a Fourth Job party can easily be wiped out if their gear isn't up to par. I was worried it might be a bit too much for just a duo, but looking at the resistances required, I figured this would be a safe bet. This dungeon doesn't feature special status ailments, difficult-to-resist poisons, or Holy-attribute magic, so your current equipment should hold up fine, Kaito-san."
"I see. It’s common sense that even in dungeons accessible to a Third Class, high-difficulty areas require a specialized equipment build. But if those requirements are loose yet the difficulty is still high... does that mean the enemies themselves are just purely strong?"
"Exactly. The monsters' stats are so high that even a front-line player with decent gear will take massive damage in a single hit. However, since many of them are simply monsters with high raw firepower, I think we can manage quite well if we combine your class and gear with that accessory from earlier."
As a side note, my current equipment was focused entirely on defense. This wasn't because I had obtained the Accessory of the Heavenly God, but because I had already assembled a set based on Aoi’s advice before that.
Since Aoi was a Fourth Job back-line caster with overwhelming attack power, we had decided I should act as a tank. Additionally, the Third Class I had transitioned into featured a variety of defense-oriented skills.
"Well, let's give it a shot for now. If it looks too tough, we'll just switch to a different dungeon."
"Understood. Let's do our best."
After a brief discussion on our tactics, Aoi and I plunged into the high-difficulty dungeon.
We spent about thirty minutes progressing through the area, and to my surprise, we were faring much better than I’d expected.
Just as Aoi had warned, the enemies' attack power was formidable. Even with my defense-focused gear and skill build, I was taking significant damage—but honestly, it stayed at a level where my recovery could easily keep pace.
More than anything, the Accessory of the Heavenly God was proving to be absurdly powerful. The 30% damage reduction against both physical and magic attacks was useful, but even more impactful was the effect that had a 5% chance to nullify damage entirely. It triggered far more often than I expected.
There were several moments where a large number of monsters spawned and things got dangerous, but we managed to pull through thanks to this effect triggering several times in a row.
I started to wonder if there was some hidden mechanic not mentioned in the item description—perhaps the activation rate increased as my health dropped.
Furthermore, because Aoi—who already boasted incredible firepower as a Fourth Job—was now equipped with the Accessory of the Demon God, she was putting out terrifying damage, allowing us to progress at a brisk pace.
"We're moving along incredibly well. At this rate, don't you think we can handle the boss too?"
"Maybe. For now, it feels like we can at least make it to the deepest part of the dungeon."
In this game, dungeons were generated for each party by speaking to an NPC at the entrance, so there was no risk of running into other parties or competing for the boss.
While the fields outside were shared across the server—meaning you would encounter other players and have to fight for world bosses—there was no such concern regarding dungeons. As long as you reached the deepest area, the boss was yours to fight.
Defeating the boss counted as a dungeon clear; after receiving the additional rewards, you would be ejected from the dungeon and barred from re-entering the same one for the next twenty-four hours. Because of this, some players chose to keep hunting without killing the boss if their primary goal was earning experience points.
In our case, since this was mostly a trial run, we intended to challenge the boss once we reached the end.
"Then let's try the boss once we reach the deepest part."
"Right. Even with these strong accessories, I didn't think we could win as a duo... but let's give it our all."
When we finally reached the dungeon boss and engaged it in combat... somehow, we actually managed to win.
"...We won."
"...We really did win. I mean, aren't you a bit too strong, Kaito-san? I had revival items ready, but you didn't die even once, did you?"
"It felt like the accessory's effect triggered at exactly the right times."
"I suppose your luck manifests in those ways too. It triggered perfectly during the boss's powerful skill timings... Well, putting that aside... Kaito-san... what color does the treasure chest look like to you?"
"...Gold."
When a dungeon boss is defeated, a treasure chest appears as a dungeon clear reward. Naturally, the contents are random, and rare items are difficult to find, which is why top players desperately grind through these maps.
However, on extremely rare occasions, the reward chest would be gold. That indicated a guaranteed drop of the single rarest item available in that specific dungeon's loot table.
This system had existed since the old days, but a gold chest wasn't the only way to get the highest rare, and because the probability was so incredibly low, this was the first time I had ever seen one with my own eyes.
Yeah... I really do feel like there's some weird correction being applied to my luck.
Bugged Luck Value: "I thought people might suspect a cheat if it was at 100% all the time, so I just set the activation rate to 100% only during critical pinches! Oh, the ultra-low probability Golden Treasure Chest? It's better to get something good, right? So I've guaranteed that for you."
Serious-senpai: "...That's quite the 'thoughtful' luck correction..."