Surviving in my Own Unpublished Failed Novel

"...Boss, where would the Guild Master use the mineral mined here?"

A man with a rough face, short black hair, blackish eyes, and a slightly big-boned body, the warden of the cleared Strayed Dungeon that has a mining vein that produces Urum (UR), asked with slight curiosity the branch manager of the Shadow Guild, stationed in the hidden parts of the Western Olympia.

The man with brown hair, brown eyes, burly body, sitting on a desk, in his renovated underground office looked at the man and said with a twisted smile.

"It's confidential, but all I can say is that you made a good choice by pledging your allegiance to the Guild Master.

The man with a rough face didn't inquire any further and attempted to go back to the entrance of the Strayed Dungeon that falls into the rank of F-, the weakest, lowest of ranks, but inside, it contained riches that would make billions or might be trillions annually if the mining operation goes smoothly.

But before the man walked through the door, he heard the voice of the branch manager, prompting him to turn his head.

"...Harold, did you know that Dan, Rad, and Murock are dead? It happened more than a month ago but was only reported recently.

"Sir Reinhardt, one of the allies of Sir Arthur, reported it, along with Ms. Ruina."

The man with a rough face had his eyes dilate as he processed the words that came out of the branch manager.

"Sir Arthur... Guild Master's nephew, did he say what happened?"

He said in a serene tone, but his heart was palpitating because Dan, Rad, and Murock were his buddies that entered this guild together.

"They were given a task to send a warning to an Obelisk student, but they never came back."

Harold, the warden, clenched his fist, he was just about to say his next words when an employee rashly barged in through the door

Bang-!

"Ha... Ha..."

The employee who rashly barged through the door caught his breath for two to three seconds before he looked at the branch manager and Harold who wore a look of confusion and said with a tone of urgency.

"Sir Markim, Sir Harold, there are intruders!"

...

"Stay behind us, Maya."

Amelie said while holding the taller-than-them staff with a black spade shaped on its tip and a deep purple body with a deep black handle.

Maya, as an assassin, has a rank of D- at this point in time because she hasn't reached her full potential yet which makes her capable of massacring an entire guild on her own.

Russell signaled them as they entered through a secret metal door inside a certain restaurant that was already closed at this very late at night.

"It's underground. Be ready."

Bang-!

Russell kicked the door with immense strength, shattering the metal door into pieces, then he and Amelie received the notification regarding the concealment of the surroundings.

They scrutinized the interior of the underground hideout where a Strayed Dungeon was erected. It's a very spacious place that was constructed to contain the Strayed Dungeon's size. There are lights in the wide hallway, and numerous doors from either side that contained the tools for mining, and lodgings of the slaves, but what attracted their attention the most was the gigantic metal door with at least 15 meters in height, 20 meters in length, and almost 10 inches wide.

"There's no one here aside from those people that look like guards... But what the hell is that door?"

Lurking around near an inconspicuous railing to avoid notice, Amelie whispered, to which Russell responded casually.

"Probably, it's an entrance to the Strayed Dungeon."

"..."

Maya was silent all the time, but her heart was beating quite fast with anticipation.

"Amelie, scout the surrounding area first, and come back quickly."

Russell ordered, to which Amelie responded with a nod.

She used her Unique Skill: Shade Transformation, which left Maya's mouth agape, then Amelie vanished from her spot, only Russell could see her unless there was an individual in this place with a spiritual perception-related skill.

After a few minutes, Amelie came back with pieces of information.

"100 guards, 10 wardens, then at least 50 that looked like office employees, then at the far end, there's an office where the branch manager is in, he's talking with a warden which is included among the 10...

"The warden he's talking with is B- rank, but the Branch Manager is A- rank, it might be dangerous for us."

Amelie said in a firm tone as if he was reading a manuscript or presentation, she also added her opinion in the end.

"What are they talking about?"

Russell asked curiously, then as if a certain memory flashed in his head, a chuckle escaped from his mouth upon hearing Amelie's words.

"...It's about someone named Dan, Rad, and Murock, I also heard Arthur's name... Did you know he's the cousin of the Guild Master of this place?"

Russell nodded, not hiding anything.

"This is a wide area, at least a hundred of square meters across. With that many guards, there's probably a thousand people locked in here, or forced into a contract."

Russell looked around, they also saw the carts for mining, the mineral called Urum (UR) that was dyed in deep black.

"Let's go before the prisoners where Maya's parents might be coming back, so we'd avoid collaterals."

Amelie nodded at Russell's words as she added softly.

"They might even use them as hostages."

Russell smiled at Amelie's thinking as they proceeded to take action at this moment.

...

Harold and the branch manager named Markim walked through one of the hallways from the second floor and saw the ground floor filled with bodies, fighting three figures, but a strange thing caught Markim's attention, the two of them are young, probably in their early teens, and the other one is in the late twenties, and they didn't even bother to disguise themselves.

"You... evacuate the others through the Emergency exit, and report it to the Guild Master... go now!"

Markim ordered, he's a branch manager who was trusted with this place, and he intended to protect it.

He and Harold jumped from the second floor, landing on the ground floor unscathed, prompting Russell, Amelie, and Maya to stop fighting the remaining guards who surrounded them.

"Bold of you to barge into this place with only three of you. Youngsters, too. You three are probably out of your minds."

Markim spoke arrogantly while assessing the strength of the intruders with a general Status Appraisal Skill that was given to him for his job to be more efficient when recruiting people.

"Where're my parents!?"

Maya shouted while holding a pair of daggers in an offensive stance.

"Parents...? I see... you came here for someone, but don't you know there are a thousand slaves here."

Markim said, admitting that this place was harboring slaves. He looked at the intruders, the man with an average look, deep black hair, and deep blue eyes extended one of his hands to stop Maya from acting rashly.

Markim saw the ranks of the intruders, two E+ and one D-. But little did he know that Amelie's rank is C-, almost reaching C rank, while Russell reached the same after making his younger sister and Amelie a Chaos Companion with the use of Chaos Buff, and with the effects of a fourth of Fruit of Chaos.

As he observed the intruders, Markim, Harold, the other 9 wardens, and the remaining guards whose ranks range from E to D-, heard Russell speak in a casual, but kind of provocative tone.

"Do you know Dan, Rad, and Murock? You see... I'm the one who killed them."

...

Harold's veins in his forehead budged as the words of one of the intruders tapped into his auricular sense. Without any words, he lunged at Russell as he quickly took out a shield and a spear from his Dimensional Inventory.

"Stop!"

Markim shouted at him but overwhelmed with his emotions, Harold heard nothing from behind as he continued his offensive to quickly reach the meters of distance between him and Russell.

But at least a meter or two away from Russell, a scream reverberated throughout the whole secret underground which can be called prison.

...

Shriek of the Shade (Max – Amplified)

Rank: Unholy

Cost: 100 Mana

- Let out a shriek that will cause faintness if the 'target player' has tenacity and willpower stat 50% lower than you; will cause 'disorientation' if 25% lower than you. This condition is only applicable within 30 meters of the skill effect.

- This skill can also be used during 'Shade Transformation'

- The farther the 'player' with the shriek, the lesser the impact.

...

Amelie used for the first time the skill she acquired by becoming a Dark Shade after making a contract with the Lady of Shaded Spade.

Her cheerful, womanly voice turned deep that seemed to scratch the soul of those people in close proximity as she screamed. Most of the guards in the area with low Tenacity and Willpower fainted instantly, while the wardens including Harold, and the branch manager, Markim was the only one unaffected as his Tenacity and Willpower stat reaches four digits, but the others seemed lost about what course of action they should do next.

Maya — who became their party due to System's authority — was still quite affected by Amelie's skill, she seems to feel something scratching her very being, causing chills to run down her spine, but Russell's and Amelie's trait of Nihility mitigated the effect by letting Maya to be partially concealed against the effect Amelie's skill.

"Alright, it's 11 vs. 3..."

Amelie didn't finish her words as Russell swung the Sword of Shad to the staggered Harold, who was unable to quickly recover from the shock caused by the shriek.

Bam-!

The Sword of Shad infused with a great amount of Mana, turning it into a blunt weapon like when he used it against Bailey Clarkson before, slammed into Harold's back, causing a very small crater in the ground.

<Amelie, the employees, take care of them. I'll handle this.>

Russell quickly asked Amelie via telepathy, she then quickly vanished from her spot as a Shade under the gaze of Markim and the other wardens waiting for orders from their branch manager.

...

"I see... you two are not normal people, but you know very well it's a mistake barging in here, not knowing the difference in ranks and power."

Clang-!

"Easy now..."

Markim blocked the Russell attack of Russell as he instantly took out a sword from his Dimensional Inventory.

'A kind of agility that reaches A rank... I don't know how, but I need to be on guard.'

He assessed the speed according to his experiences.

Clang-! Whoosh-! Bam-!

The two exchanged swords while Maya started to hide because she knew that she was not capable of handling the wardens, which made her wonder about the strength of the Obelisk students who approached her.

The wardens also watched the battle between the two, then an order entered their ears thru the telepathy skill that Markim has.

<Split into two groups. Secure the Urum. Forget the one in hiding, while the remaining ones go after the woman who's chasing the employees.>

The 9 wardens, excluding Harold, who was having a hard time getting back up, scattered and quickly obeyed the order.

...

'Without the Cull and Cut (EX), we'd never barge in here openly.'

Russell lampooned inwardly as he defended himself from the ongoing attacks of Markim as his arms felt like detaching from his body.

Due to the additional effects of his upgraded Weapon Mastery, that's exclusive to him as the Mediator of Chaos, his Agility or Strength stat could reach 4999 when he's holding either a sword or scythe weapon respectively as his original Agility or Strength stat will increase by five times.

And as of this moment, he's wielding the Sword of Shad which he bought from Thorn of Rose, but realizing the predicament he's in, he quickly stored back the Sword of Shad in his Dimensional Inventory and took out the nameless sword that came from the Ancient Treasure Chest of Chaos that he acquired in the Oldest Root of Yggdrasil.

'He's an A- rank, and only my Agility is on the realm of A- rank because of Cull and Cut (EX)...'

Russell knew that he was at a disadvantage when it comes to Strength stat, but the reason he chose to wield the sword instead of the scythe was that it might become more dangerous if he was unable to match the speed of the opponent.

"That's a fine sword, I'll take it from you."

Markim said, cutting off Russell's thoughts, but Russell's lips curled up during that moment as he thought of something plausible to win this battle. His deep blue eyes seemed to contain deep luster as he responded to Markim's words with a casual tone.

"Thank you for taking the time of admiring this sword."