This is not an MMO game copy

"I think I guessed how the dungeon maze appeared?!"

Xia Yan glanced at the seemingly ordinary ground beneath his feet, and his expression became slightly solemn.

"Remember the question Irena asked when we entered the city yesterday?"

"..."

"..."

"If it really is 'Gaia,' it would explain why Uranus, after descending to the mortal world a thousand years ago with other gods simply seeking pleasure, responsibly built Orario from scratch and bound himself beneath the guild, using himself as a stake to pin down and suppress the dungeon."

Xia Yan said:

"And now, can I understand this way, that this entire dungeon maze is the body of an immortal god who once lived in the [Heaven], or... a corpse that has transformed after death?"

"Or perhaps—"

Asthesia added quietly:

“—More than one!?”

(PS: 40 draws Haji M ~ I haven't read the plot yet. For the sake of the later plot, I have to continue to make some magical changes to the settings of the secondary creation, but this chapter is indeed rather watery and dragged out, (＞人＜；) I'm sorry orz)

The fourth instance: 117. Uranus's conspiracy

In Dicuo's worldview, gods are immortal.

Therefore, gods will not die. Even in the lower realms where they have to seal their own divine powers, even if the bodies they use to walk in the mortal world are killed and the restraints of forced repatriation by some external force are ineffective... it can only be considered that they are trapped in a kind of "seal", but in essence they will not die.

Since there is no real death.

Then there shouldn't be any so-called corpses.

"If they won't die, how can there be a corpse?"

Irena looked at Asthesia curiously.

"Well, that's not impossible."

Asthesia said:

"Ultimately, the immortality of the gods residing in the [Heaven] stems from the [Heaven], not from the gods themselves."

"If one were to somehow immobilize one's body, so that even if the flesh walking the mortal world were killed, the godhead and divine nature would not be recalled by the [Heaven], effectively being 'sealed' in disguise. In theory, it would indeed be possible to leave behind a 'corpse of the god'."

"Fixed? Wait, the Adventurer's Guild headquarters in Orario is actually a temple. That Uranus used himself as a stake at the altar beneath the temple, pinning and fixing the energy in the earth veins to suppress the dungeon maze..."

Irena said:

"...Now it seems that what was truly suppressed wasn't the dungeon maze, but the god's corpse. The so-called dungeon maze is just... some kind of product of the corpse's decay. The monsters bred by the dungeon maze are... uh, maggots?"

"No wonder Xia Yan said you were a zombie."

"But why would the 'corpse of a god' appear in the netherworld?"

"Who knows?"

Xia Yan disagreed.

"From what I can tell, the dungeon labyrinth definitely didn't appear in the netherworld three thousand years ago. It must have existed on this land before the generation before, the generation before, the generation before... or even before countless generations of society and civilization."

"Then, feeding on each era, society, and civilization, it gradually grew stronger during a period when the gods of the [Heavenly Realm] diligently fulfilled their duties and paid little attention to changes in the Underworld. It wasn't until three thousand years ago that it bared its 'fangs,' and the 'worms' bred from its bodies transformed into flesh-eating insects and flies, which invaded the surface of the Underworld, where civilization had ceased to exist and began anew."

"And, if I'm not mistaken, the nails that this rotting, mutated 'corpse of the god' in the dungeon maze uses to secure itself from being recalled by the [Heaven] are, unsurprisingly,—"

"—the entire crust of the netherworld." X3

Xia Yan, Irena, and Asthesia looked at each other as they spoke the same conclusion.

"Uranus must be knowing and hiding something."

Then, Asthesia smiled sweetly and said jokingly:

"A thousand years ago, he didn't follow the others to the underworld for fun. No, it would be more accurate to say that he was the one who 'encouraged' the other fools to go to the underworld for fun. He used those first group of fools who only wanted to have fun as a cover to deceive the other gods who were still in the [Heaven]..."

"Similarly, after the lower realm sealed their divine power, the gods could only walk in the mortal world with the physical qualities of ordinary people. They were unable to detect the abnormality of the dungeon maze. They were only amazed at the dungeon maze, something that even they could not 'understand'. They did not realize that the dungeon maze might be the 'remains of the gods' fixed in the lower realm..."

"Then, Uranus took the lead in building the predecessor of Orario, a fortress used to control the dungeon maze. When the original group of fools formed their clan, at great sacrifice and cost... well, even in the process, Uranus used the ties of the clan to make many fools obsessed with character development voluntarily release their divine power and self-destruct because of the death of their favorite 'children' and 'game characters'... In short, after deceiving more than a generation of people in the lower realm and causing many unfortunate people to fall into a ten-thousand-year slumber, Uranus finally achieved his true purpose in coming to the lower realm..."

"He concealed the truth about the dungeon maze, gradually blocking most of the entrances and exits between the dungeon maze and the surface. He then left behind the maze city of Orario, which was converted from a fortress, and continued to use the clan game to trick other gods into coming and working for them for nothing, thus eliminating the possibility of other gods discovering the truth..."

"At the same time, he also nailed himself to the throne of the altar as a 'sacrifice', constantly suppressing the counterattack of the dungeon maze... Is this, atonement?"

"Not only that, he might still be waiting for an opportunity. Don't forget that the divine path of [Essence] has been transformed into [God's Gift]."

Xia Yan said:

"Because as long as he has enough time, as long as he can suppress the counterattack of the dungeon maze through the ritual of using himself as a 'sacrifice', he will be able to wait for a level 10 adventurer to appear sooner or later."

"In fact, he's already very close to success. The Level 9 Empress of the Hera clan is arguably the darling of the era, born from the accumulated experience of the adventurers of the entire Lower Realm over the past thousand years. He's just one tiny step away, a single step away. Not to mention that both the Hera clan and the Zeus clan have multiple Level 8 candidates."

"Two of the three most powerful monsters ever bred by the dungeon labyrinth have been defeated. If it weren't for the black dragon, which is practically the dungeon labyrinth's 'ultimate weapon' and the voice of its will, the first Level 10 adventurer, the first to traverse the divine path of [Essence], a 'demigod' infinitely close to the gods of [Heaven], would have been born."

"Of course, even if the Hera and Zeus families are destroyed, and the LV9 Queen and the other LV8 candidates are wiped out, there is still a 'backup'..."

"So he's the protagonist of this 'copy' world!?"

Irena said thoughtfully:

"But the problem is that Uranus wants to do—hmm, I see, I understand~!"

As she spoke, she suddenly hammered her palm, a look of sudden realization appearing on her face.

"Astecia, you said 'or maybe more than one' before, right?"

"Ah."

Asthesia nodded.

"According to our current speculation, the dungeon maze is the 'God's regret.' It uses the entire crust of the netherworld to secure itself from being recalled by the [Heaven], meaning it has already merged into the earth's subterranean soil... If it were the 'Gaia' I know, who has a close personal relationship with Uranus, as the Earth Mother, she could indeed have merged her 'corpse' into this land. Assimilating the architectural ruins of a bygone ancient civilization is in keeping with the deity and divine nature of the [Earth]. However, she absolutely does not have the ability to breed monsters from corpses, nor is it possible for her to assimilate ancient creatures into dungeon maze monsters..."

"So, the corpse in the dungeon maze that transformed into a divine corpse is composed of at least two corpses that have rotted and mutated. In addition to the goddess of the Earth, there is also a goddess of Life..."

"now it's right."

Irena's eyes flickered.

"The prerequisite for a god to return to the Heavens is to use divine power, causing the Heavens to notice and recall the god. The dungeon maze anchors itself with the earth's crust, and Uranus has nailed himself to the dungeon maze. Does that mean that if Uranus triggers the forced return to the Heavens, he will also be dragged along... with him the 'remains of the god' that he has forcibly nailed and fixed, and be 'captured' by the Heavens?"

"!"

Asthesia was stunned.

"He, no, He has been thinking of harming others and not benefiting himself since the beginning."

As a scumbag, Irena was very sensitive and knowledgeable about scumbags. She said confidently:

"He's tricking us. He's already dug a massive crater, ready to drag a divine corpse back to the [Heaven] himself. But there's also that goddess of [Life] you mentioned. She also needs a 'god' to drag the other divine corpse back to the [Heaven]."

"However, He doesn't trust other gods. He only trusts himself. And what He awaits is a Level 10 adventurer, a 'demigod' who has walked the divine path of [Essence] and is infinitely close to the gods of [Heaven], a carrier who can theoretically be infused with godhood and divinity... a 'sacrifice' like Him."

"The 'ritual' beneath the temple at the Adventurer's Guild headquarters allows him to pin down and fix one 'remains of a god.' Naturally, it can also allow another 'sacrifice' who sits on the throne to pin down and fix another 'remains of a god.'"

Xia Yan also added at the right time:

"At the same time, the will of the dungeon labyrinth was also rebelling. This 'living' corpse, transformed from a god, realized what Uranus was planning, and therefore became extremely hostile to the god. I have a very bold hypothesis: at least two 'remains of gods', one of 'Earth' and one of 'Life', together constitute the dungeon labyrinth. Perhaps Uranus was the original witness and planner... For some reason, He collaborated with 'Gaia' and other gods to carry out some grand plan, but the plan changed, and He regretted it. However, 'Gaia' and the other gods who participated in the dungeon labyrinth plan insisted on going their own way, and eventually the two sides parted ways. Uranus has spent the past thousand years 'atonement' for ending this plan."

"but……"

Asthesia frowned.

"...Doesn't this assumption sound a bit too far-fetched?"

"Then we can experiment."

Xia Yan said:

"Go to the 17th floor, where the main boss of the dungeon floor is born. Asthesia, unleash a little divine power and actively stimulate the dungeon's maze will, causing it to temporarily breed monsters that will target you... Then, we will begin searching for clues from the monsters born in response to the dungeon's maze will."

"If all of this is true, then we can make a deal with Uranus. I believe the Adventurer's Guild he controls must have amassed a considerable collection of high-level magic stones over the past millennia. We can make a killing out of it!"

(PS: hell orz... Mainly because this part of the magic modification is a bit brain-intensive. In order to filter out the cause and effect, I burned a lot of ideas to get it done. I don't know if you like it... Anyway, please don't substitute it into the original work. By the way, I'll make a patch. The magic modification will not end up as a dark conspiracy theory. Instead, it will be more, uh, decent, and in line with the principle of "God loves the world" that is a case of the wrong god~)

Fourth instance: 118. Skill = The prototype of Godhead and divinity (5k+)

Dungeon mazes are generally divided into floors. The lower you go, the larger the floor area becomes, and the environment and structure of different floors are also different.

而经过千年以来一代代眷族冒险者的探索，如今对于地下城迷宫的楼层大致划分为：上层（1-12）、中层（13-24）、下层（25-36）和深层（37-未知）四种。

Ordinary LV1 adventurers can only stop at the upper level of the maze. From the middle level onwards, they are only suitable for LV2. Even for the first-level adventurers of LV5, going deep into the lower level maze is already the limit based on their personal ability.

As for the deeper layers, only by having multiple LV6s leading the team, multiple LV5s acting as vanguards, and a large number of LV4s and LV3s as the backbone, and launching a long expedition as a team, can one have a chance to reach the deep underground.

This is because the monsters bred in the dungeon maze tend to follow the basic principle of getting stronger the deeper you go.

In other words, monsters that could threaten high-level adventurers would normally not appear in the middle and upper levels of the maze.

Of course, there are exceptions to everything. There are special monsters called Floor Masters, which only appear regularly on specific floors. They are super monsters with strength two levels higher than the monsters on that floor.

For example: The first floor master appears on the 17th floor of the maze, and the monsters in the middle maze are comparable to LV2 adventurers. Therefore, the strength of the first floor master is LV4, which is comparable to the monsters in the deep maze.

Therefore, whenever the Goliath Giant, the lord of the 17th floor of the maze, is born again, if there is no LV3 adventurer who intends to accumulate great achievements to upgrade and break through to challenge him, on average a first-level adventurer will be required to go and defeat him every half a month.

In a sense, the floor master - Goliath Giant is also the standard for measuring whether an adventurer has the qualifications and potential to enter the first-level team.

Anyone who can defeat it can at least reach LV4, but half of the adventurers in the labyrinth city of Orario are only LV1, and if they are lucky, they will only reach LV2 in their lifetime. As a result, most of the time, the floor master - the Goliath giant is dealt with by high-level adventurers, and few low-level adventurers dare to come and challenge it.

As for the 17th floor of the maze, where the Goliath giant, the floor master, regularly spawns, few adventurers stay there. Even if there are adventurers passing by, most of them will rush to the 18th floor, the 'Maze Paradise (Safe Level)' where monsters will not spawn.

With Xia Yan and Irena's speed, it didn't take much time to reach the 17th floor, which was considered the middle level maze, from the shallow maze close to the surface. However, because Asthesia claimed to have divine power, even if she completely integrated herself into the intelligent NPC Xingji, she only had the physical fitness of a LV2 adventurer and could not compare with the two of them.

In order not to waste time, Xia Yan simply hugged Asthesia in a princess hug and used his lightness skills to travel together without any effort.

Asthesia didn't feel like she was holding back at all, but rather enjoyed it.

When they reached the 17th floor of the labyrinth, entered a rectangular hall made of rough rocks and put her down, Asthesia still had a look of regret on her face.

Seeing this, Irena couldn't help but roll her eyes. She was speechless about how Asthesia, the free 'Meteor Goddess', was always trying to cling to Xia Yan and throw herself away. She asked, "What's the use of Asthesia?"

"Are you concerned?"

"I'm very."

Asthesia looked at the Witch of Trash with envy.

"I can't do anything right now. The most I can do is kiss Xia Yan, or take off my clothes and hug him. Unlike you, I can just go straight to the plate whenever I want, and do all kinds of in-depth communication postures and do whatever I want..."

“…What are you talking about!?”

Irena yelled with her face flushed.

"Isn't this the truth?!"

"Even if it's the truth, you can't say it out loud!"

"..."

While Irena and Asthesia were briefly engaged in a very obscene and violent exchange over the topic of pornographic waste, Xia Yan cast his gaze towards the left side of the rock hall. That side was different from the other corners of this level. It was a smooth wall that seemed to have been polished by countless stonemasons, without a single rough bump or crack.

That is the wall separating the 17th and 18th floors, named the Wall of Sighs by the Adventurer's Guild. There is a cave leading to the next floor under the wall, and it is also the spawning location of the floor master - the Goliath giant.

Whenever the smooth, flat surface of the wall begins to crumble and crack, a 7-meter-tall Goliath giant bursts out of the wall and indiscriminately attacks all living things on the entire floor.

In the main storyline of Dicuo's novel, when the protagonist Bel Granny and his two teammates passed by the 17th floor for the first time as LV2, they happened to encounter the refresh of the floor master - Goliath. They fought hard to escape into the cave leading to the 18th floor, but were still blown away by the shock wave generated by the Goliath's punch that missed. They were hit around in the tunnel like a ball until they fell outside the 18th floor with serious injuries and almost died on the spot.

And this was just an ordinary Goliath giant, a floor master with a strength of only LV4. Later, because of the divine power released by Hestia, it caused a fierce hostile reaction in the dungeon maze. The black Goliath giant that appeared in the safe area of ​​the 18th floor even rose to the LV5 level.

If it weren't for the protagonist's halo, the protagonist group, who were almost killed by the LV4 Goliath giant in one blow, would not have been able to cooperate with the other adventurers on the 18th floor. With the help of the LV4 Liu, they killed the stronger black Goliath giant by fighting in a group.

But that doesn't mean the Black Goliath can only appear in the safe area of ​​​​the 18th floor.

In contrast to the anime and novel plots, both the ordinary Goliath and the black Goliath actually came out of the Wall of Sighs that separates the 17th and 18th floors.

Then, the 'Meteor Goddess', Asteria, who is also a deity, can also trigger the appearance of the Black Goliath giant, a monster of the 'God Assassin' series, which is a special attack against gods, by releasing her divine power on the 17th and 18th floors to stimulate the dungeon maze.

"Okay, stop discussing those obscene things in public."

Xia Yan interrupted the two girls who were talking in increasingly obscene ways, and after they had already turned to talking about the kind of postures that would make them lose their minds, he gave Astesia a look.

"Cough cough."

Asthesia instantly stopped talking about pornographic content, and her expression became more and more excited as she spoke. After a light cough, she regained the ladylike demeanor and temperament that an intelligent NPC Xingji should have. Then, a blue light suddenly appeared in her eyes, and a layer of holy fluorescence covered the surface of her body.

The scene of activating a little divine power that Xia Yan had witnessed last night in the interior space of the [Great Holy Grail] reappeared before his eyes again.