Before Balak remodeled the dungeon with the spirit of a true craftsman, pouring his heart into every careful detail.
The heroes outside the dungeon developed all sorts of thoughts about this failed raid.
"No way, raids aren't some guaranteed win! It would've been better to just have individual parties tackle it freely!"
"We should've never done this in the first place. Ugh, what the hell? Charging in all together just to get wiped out? Worst experience ever..."
"For the first time, I felt like my comrades were getting in the way. Damn... is this what distrust feels like?"
Heroes who believed the raid concept itself was the problem.
"We paid the price for underestimating that boss called Balak. But... I can see the path forward."
"That boss is unpredictable. We need to revise our strategy to match him."
"Yeah, this whole raid thing is straight out of ancient texts. We need to rearrange it for the modern era."
Heroes who thought the raid format was fine, but their strategy wasn't.
And finally—
"""..."""
Heroes who simply realized their own 'weakness' and fell silent.
With all these heroes gathered in the meeting hall, the atmosphere heated up fast.
Soon, the faction calling raids idiotic clashed with the faction defending raids.
Just as the meeting hall was descending into chaos.
One hero burst in with new information.
"Hey!! Th-the dungeon entrance just closed!"
"What?"
"What kinda bullshit is that?"
It was the effect of the scroll Balak had used—the entrance to the Abyssal Pit had been sealed shut.
Rushing to confirm, the heroes arrived at the dungeon entrance.
They couldn't hide their bewilderment at the undeniable truth.
"Wh-what the hell."
"The boss of an open dungeon is still alive, and it got resealed...?"
"What in the world is going on?"
"I'll head to the church and check if the Celestial God has issued any oracle."
"Wait, that barrier. Let me take a swing at it."
"Good idea. Count me in."
"What are you two gonna accomplish? Hey! All you big guys with the massive weapons, get over here!!"
The heroes who pounded on or investigated the sealed entrance soon realized no method could open it.
As the heroes were thrown into confusion over what this all meant, the ones who had last faced Balak finally awoke in the church and arrived at the meeting hall.
"The dungeon's closed for the next three days?"
"Yeah, looks like that Balak boss can open and close the entrance at will."
"Ugh..."
"And that's not all."
They shared the extent of Balak's prowess that they had witnessed last.
The heated meeting hall froze in an instant.
"You're saying that wasn't even his full power so far...?"
"Yeah. And that Balak boss definitely has more up his sleeve."
"""..."""
The heroes were dealt a massive shock upon learning the boss they'd fought wasn't even at full strength.
So just how strong would he be if he went all out?
It was the epitome of unreasonableness...
But they didn't break.
These were warriors who worshipped strength itself, tempering themselves long before they were heroes.
So what happens when such people confront an overwhelmingly superior foe they can never hope to reach?
Would they collapse in place, cursing their own disappointing talent?
Despair at the world and abandon everything?
Or forcibly turn their fear into rage and deny that existence outright?
If none of that...
Then beyond all those choices.
Would they...
'Admire' that powerhouse?
They weren't the common rabble scattered across the world.
They were the select few personally chosen by the Celestial God from the lofty heavens—true chosen warriors, heroes.
And now, these two identities synergized intensely, driving the heroes to reach even a fraction closer to the ultimate powerhouse.
'A chance to challenge the world's strongest for free, endlessly? Hahaha! This is the best!'
"I'll draw out that boss's full power, no matter what!"
'A being worth giving everything to fight... have I finally found it?'
'So that's why the Heavenly Martial Hero was holed up in the city training grounds. Training, huh...'
'This is the ultimate trial from the Celestial God... I might keep failing, but I'll press on.'
A being you have to push yourself to the absolute limit just to fight.
A being that grants infinite battle opportunities once you reach it.
Above all, a being who could become their 'goal.'
That being's name was the warrior Balak.
The heroes of this world grew once more, thanks to confronting an absolute wall they'd never encountered before.
Completely forgetting the fact that Balak was on the dungeon's first floor.
******************
Not long after the heroes realized the boss could freely open and close the dungeon entrance, making him the ultimate existence.
They decided the order in which to challenge Balak before the dungeon reopened.
No hero feared this ultimate trial, which let them reaffirm and elevate their skills further.
Their comrades knew full well that battling Balak would make them better, so they prepared even more seriously to enter the Abyssal Pit.
Three days after the seal, as announced.
Balak opened the dungeon right on schedule.
"Go get 'em~!"
"...Do your best."
"Don't wipe too fast since it's your first time~"
Amid everyone's encouragement, one hero party entered the Abyssal Pit.
Leading this party was Remis, the Blazing Hero who had first broken the silence at their initial meeting.
"Huff... huff..."
"You okay?"
"Yeah, let's do this."
Comforting each other, Remis's group entered the Abyssal Pit—and were immediately thrown into confusion.
"What is this place?!"
"The dungeon layout... it changed?!"
The plain, straightforward labyrinth they had first encountered was gone.
Before them stretched a narrow, twisting path so precarious even two people walking side by side would struggle.
Beside it yawned an endless abyss, its bottom lost to sight, like a black maw.
"So that's why it took three days to reopen?"
"My god, a boss remodeling his own dungeon..."
"R-Remis, what do we do?"
"Straight through. If we get spooked by something like this, we'll never get anywhere. Plus, looking at this setup..."
"Sigh... it's obvious it's crawling with traps."
Entering the first room Balak had meticulously crafted, Remis's group instantly spotted the pitfalls perfect for sending someone plummeting.
Normally, spotting traps means moving cautiously to avoid them, so they rarely inflict major damage.
But this room was coated in the world's sticky malice!
It was rigged with traps designed purely for utter bullshit, rendering such predictions meaningless.
As Remis's group walked the narrow path, they triggered an arrow trap.
They smoothly dodged or blocked the arrows.
But the moment their eyes locked on the arrows' source!
That triggered another trap.
Bang!
"Huh?"
"Kyaaah!!"
"No!!"
It was a knockback trap blasting high-density compressed air—enough to easily hurl a person away.
Having stopped in place to defend against the incoming arrows, Remis's group was perfect prey.
Fired from right there, it blasted two of the five straight off the narrow path into the abyss.
And if your precious comrades are shoved toward the cliff?
Of course your eyes dart that way.
So—
Ping!
Thud!
"Urk?!"
"Guh?!"
"Guys!"
Arrows from behind struck, wounding everyone except Remis.
In the end, with just one move.
Standing still to block the frontal arrows—that single decision.
Wiped out everyone but Remis.
Stunned by the triple trap that preyed on human psychology, Remis snapped back and tried to reach her wounded comrades.
But...
Plop.
"...?"
Turning toward the sudden sound, Remis's eyes widened at...
"Squeee!!"
A small golem charging straight at her.
*****************
Watching Remis's group, who had just entered this madhouse.
Who else?
The warrior Balak, admiring his masterpiece.
Having asked Karian to install video relays in this new room.
He was gleefully observing his first guests, Remis's group.
"Hahaha!! That's it!"
Ahh... Director, is this the pleasure that drove you to make such traps?
Just a JOAT.
I hate your guts.
Anyway, with the traps confirmed working, next up: handling the corpses of enemies who entered and died.
A warrior must honor even his foes.
So for those bastards who insist on coming to kill a stationary me, I've even built a crematorium for their funerals.
To keep bugs away, he sent cleaning golems into the abyss to dispose of the bodies.
Huh?
No bodies at the bottom?
"Hmm...?"
Laser beams had clearly hit the heads of those two just knocked off by compressed air.
But no corpses left...
As he puzzled over this frustration.
A fight broke out on the narrow path, and with cute little mobs swarming, he saw an enemy fall alongside them.
Soon—
Squeee!
That one vanished without a corpse too?
The dungeon's training phases should all be done by now, yet they disappear like the virtual enemies from before...
Come to think of it! That redhead whose head just exploded from the laser!
That face looks familiar!
Wasn't it one of the virtual enemies we fought?
I shrugged it off back then since they were virtual, even with identical faces, but past the final raid training phase the dungeon provides, same faces again?
Th-that means!!
Yeah! I knew something was off!
"Damn it! How did I not realize this like an idiot?!"
This world was a game or a novel from the start!
Virtual enemies who don't leave corpses when killed, just vanishing into blue dust!
Virtual enemies with recurring similar faces!
Virtual enemies greeting me with varied tactics!
They even felt like they were getting stronger bit by bit.
I'd been thinking wrong from the beginning.
What I'd faced until now weren't virtual enemies!
They were!!!
"Players all along!!"