Chapter 32

Level Up Heretic Inquisitor – Episode 32 (32/227)

Episode 32: Ruins (1)

“Huh, there was a reason I didn’t know about it.”

While riding in a carriage to the destination of Blanche Plateau, Ail took the spare time to look up information on the underground ruins. He quickly understood why he’d never heard anything about them before.

The Hillsbeda Ruins located beneath the plateau had been discovered six months ago by a user who specialized in exploring hidden places.

This massive ruin had been completely concealed underground.

Naturally, sensing the vibe of a big discovery, the user thoroughly searched the place but, surprisingly, found absolutely nothing waiting for them.

Just useless junk and empty spaces everywhere.

No items, no gold, no valuable relics that required appraisal.

Not even a small clue related to other quests or any investigative leads tied to Warode’s background story—truly worthless.

Thus, after wasting their time, the user returned empty-handed, posted a lamenting thread on the community boards, and that’s how Ail found out all about the ruins’ backstory.

“Didn’t find anything… huh.”

A place that couldn’t serve as a hunting ground, quest location, gathering spot, or residential area.

Typically, ruins like these were visited occasionally by users who loved traveling just to see lifelike ancient ruins and intricate artifacts.

But the underground ruins of Blanche weren’t even useful for that.

The ruins appeared to have been destroyed by something, with only broken statues remaining.

With nothing to see, naturally there was no interest or foot traffic from people, and it made sense that Ail had no information about it in his head.

However, things had changed slightly now.

In Warode, such locations usually fell into one of two categories: either they were completely meaningless, or they were connected to future events or quests.

“Guess this one falls into the latter category.”

There was no way a high-ranking NPC would visit such a place without reason.

Whether it was a hidden quest or some personal backstory involving the NPC, there had to be a reason.

“Well, we’ve arrived.”

As the carriage stopped at their destination, Ail paid a small fee and stepped down.

“Such a beautiful place.”

Lisa followed behind, looking around as she spoke.

The wide-open plateau stretched endlessly, making you feel like your chest opened up just by looking at it.

A gentle breeze swept past under the blue sky.

Now, they had to locate the underground ruins somewhere within this vast expanse of green plains.

Though it seemed unlikely that anything could be hidden here, in Warode, that kind of logic didn’t matter much.

Pfft!

Ail pulled out a recording stone from his pocket.

A beam of blue light shot out, pointing the way forward, and without hesitation, the two began walking in its direction.

Judging by the light tilting downward, it was clear the ruins were indeed underground, just as he’d heard.

“We won’t take long to get there.”

“How do you know that?”

“The intensity of the light gives it away. The closer we get, the stronger the beam becomes.”

Ail explained while slightly tilting the glowing stone.

Lisa stared blankly, clearly surprised.

Recording stones weren’t something you’d normally see easily.

Not only were they extremely expensive, registering coordinates required a significant amount of mana.

They certainly weren’t used casually just to guide players to a single quest location.

She’d only heard vague rumors about them existing, knowing nothing detailed, yet Ail seemed to understand everything about them without having looked it up.

“Like last time when you found that passage through the mountains, you really know a lot.”

“Yeah… I was really into Warode. Just unfortunate circumstances delayed my playtime by a year.”

Ail gave a wry smile in response.

Upon seeing this, a glimmer of curiosity flickered in her eyes.

“Are you planning to become a Ranker, Ail?”

Lisa asked.

His efficiency in minimizing time for tasks, his serious approach to quests and hunting—it all felt different from the average player.

“That’s correct.”

Without hesitation, Ail nodded.

And not just that—he was aiming for the top position within Warode itself.

Realistically speaking, even if he worked his hardest to catch up after being late by a year, there was no way the Rankers would simply wait around for him. It was practically an impossible goal.

If someone unfamiliar with the Apostle system heard this, they’d probably scoff and call it ridiculous—but what could you say?

Still, Lisa shrugged confidently and said with sincerity,

“I believe you can do it, Ail.”

* * *

Following the recording stone’s direction, it didn’t take long before they reached a part of the expansive plateau, just as Ail had expected.

When the bright light pointed downward, they carefully examined the surrounding ground and found artificial traces near a crack in the rocks that looked like a mere fissure.

There were signs that someone had dug around the crack, along with a hole just large enough for one person to squeeze through.

It was easy to guess that this was where the user who originally discovered the ruins had entered.

Located behind the rocks and extremely dark inside, it was impossible to see much from the outside.

But with the location confirmed and the entrance found, there was no reason to hesitate.

Ail carefully stepped in first, while Lisa got down on all fours, gripping his hand tightly in case of emergencies.

If the drop was too deep or if hostile monsters attacked before they landed, she’d pull him back immediately.

Thud!

Fortunately, they heard the sound of feet hitting solid ground before fully descending.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, seems fine.”

Once on the ground, Ail lit a torch from his inventory, illuminating the surroundings.

He stood on the edge of a massive rocky cliff.

Directly in front of him, steep crevasses stretched out to both sides.

One wrong step and it would be game over—a truly terrifying depth.

Though player senses were adjusted to develop some tolerance for fear, the spine-chilling sensation remained unfiltered.

‘How do I get down from here?’

Ail pondered, looking below.

Without proper explorer gear or ropes, and no obvious path down, he was stuck.

Then Lisa, who had followed him down, pointed at something.

“That should work.”

At the edge of the cliff was a thick, long green vine.

It looked sturdy enough to support a person and long enough to reach the bottom.

After extinguishing the torch to avoid burning the plant, they carefully descended using the vines.

Navigating the dense vines in the pitch darkness without misstepping wasn’t easy.

But they managed carefully and eventually met the softly glowing floor.

“Phew!”

Standing safely at the bottom of the cliff, Ail looked around.

Thanks to the soft blue glow emanating from the ground, they didn’t actually need the torch.

While climbing down, Ail had wondered where the light was coming from, but upon closer inspection, he realized it was originating from the floor itself.

He knew cases like this were common in Warode’s old underground dungeons or structures, but this was his first time experiencing it firsthand.

It was a strangely fascinating sight.

“Looks like we’re in the right place.”

Facing the entrance of the ruins, Ail raised his head and spoke.

On either side stood towering giant statues holding axes planted in the ground, flanking a grand door in the center.

Though ancient and rusted, it had an imposing presence that made you question whether human hands had truly crafted it.

It looked magnificent, the kind of structure you’d expect to guard an ancient dungeon—but tragically empty.

Thinking about the poor user who found it, filled with excitement only to discover nothing, Ail felt sympathy.

Apart from maybe getting a pittance from some related NPCs, they likely left empty-handed, which explained the complaint posts online.

Similarly amazed by the grand entrance, Lisa had already taken out her camera and started snapping photos.

The camera wasn’t a separate purchase; every player had it built-in to capture moments anytime, anywhere. But Ail, lacking any interest in photography, walked straight through the partially open doors instead.

Inside, the structure was a long corridor.

It felt more like a passageway leading to the actual ruins than the ruins themselves.

Yet even stepping inside revealed why people avoided this place.

Despite the impressive entrance, the interior was a complete mess.

Clearly neglected for hundreds of years, it was decrepit and crumbling, radiating a desolate atmosphere.

It felt like just another generic underground dungeon, with nothing of note except for rows of humanoid statues lining the walls.

Even those statues were shattered beyond recognition, barely holding together.

“Doesn’t seem like there’s anything useful here… why did we come to such a place?”

Ail reached out and brushed against one of the broken statues.

With no people or monsters around, it was unclear why Sebera had come here or why she’d called him.

Swoosh!

“Hmm…?”

A low wind swept past Ail’s legs from deeper inside.

At the same moment, an odd energy swirled around, and the statue he’d touched suddenly snapped its eyes open with a bright flash.