The adventurers began checking the number of people who had entered this place while simultaneously searching for other rocks inscribed with information, just as the message on the rock they had found indicated.
"About 150 people, right?"
"Half of the adventurers in Raider must've come here..."
"Come to think of it, no more adventurers are dropping in, so maybe everyone's who's coming has arrived?"
"I don't think so. Take a look over there."
When one adventurer pointed to the sky, they spotted adventurers plummeting down with screams.
But the adventurers already on the sky island seemed to realize something upon seeing them and started running away, shouting.
"Th-that thing bounces like crazy!!"
"Yaaaah!! Everyone, dodge!!!"
"Uwaaaah!!"
It was the same bouncy trampoline effect they had experienced upon landing!
And what if a trampoline the size of a person hit you!
It could even mean death by getting smashed by one of those giant trampoline balls.
But Balrak and the other floor bosses had prepared for such cases with one device.
Ziiiiing!!
"Wh-what?! Structures rising from the ground?!"
"What's going on?!"
Soon, the adventurers freely falling through the open sky smoothly entered these structures.
The giant ball pit balls all turned into lightweight trampoline balls and began bouncing wildly.
Boing-boing-boing-boing-boing!!
Boing-boing-boing-boing-boing!!!!
"Uh... um..."
"Whoa..."
"Th-they'll be okay, right?"
"It's better than passing out unconscious, at least—"
"Whew, glad we got here first."
And so! As soon as they arrived on the sky island, even the latecomers who spewed rainbows upon landing all reached the sky island.
Over 200 adventurers had now gathered in this mini-dungeon.
With so many people, they could explore the sky island quickly.
It wasn't long before they found a hidden altar and various rocks inscribed with messages.
"If this rock is right, we can go back by taking the randomly appearing yellow portal here?"
"Look over there. A yellow portal just opened."
"Hey~ Anyone wanna take this info back to the city?"
"I'll go, might as well soar through the skies again!"
"Y-yeah. But what does this message mean?"
"Hmm... 'Those who lose their wings and fall from the sky shall receive the wind's blessing and return to their original place.' And 'The wind's blessing from the altar lasts only half a day.'"
The adventurers were deciphering the inscriptions on the tombstones one by one, but they couldn't tell if these were riddles or just straightforward information.
At that moment! One adventurer appeared on the sky island.
"Just test it out."
"Huh...?"
"Y-you!!"
"Didn't that guy go to prison?!"
"He was released for finding the holy sword last time."
"That curiosity-driven weirdo is here...?"
It was Eric, the guy who had griefed the dungeon with catapults before.
And why was he soloing, of all things!
His insatiable curiosity meant that whenever he entered a dungeon, if something piqued his interest, he'd poke and prod everything to figure out its purpose—making him persona non grata among adventurers!
But with his extreme individualist streak, he didn't shrink from such treatment!
Eric immediately ran to the edge of the sky island to verify what the inscriptions meant.
"Not again!! He's doing it again!!"
"What the hell are you doing!!"
"Kyaaah!"
The surrounding adventurers were horrified by Eric's reckless dive off the cliff without any gear.
But as he somersaulted through the air and rode a storm-like updraft back to his starting point, everyone was utterly drained.
"These inscriptions here aren't riddles like the ones in that other dungeon—they're just info~"
"""Hah...."""
That's right! The tombstones with messages in this dungeon simply provided information.
And the entire dungeon had fall prevention measures in place!
The reason for designing this mini-dungeon this way was that Balrak, who first planned it, recalled the most infuriating and absurd death from his past games.
It was falling to your death!
Getting one-shot by spike traps or a character unable to enter water because it was a beer bottle character was ridiculous too.
But nothing was as rage-inducing as dying from a mistimed jump key!
As a result, with the mindset of always protecting newbies, he had installed these magical safeguards.
Thus, Eric, unable to resist his curiosity, began experimenting with all the inscriptions on the sky island's tombstones.
Paaaaang!!!
"Uwaaaaaah!!"
"Touching that orb on the altar makes you jump that high?"
"W-wait a sec. Doesn't that mean we can reach all the sky islands out there?"
"Yeah?"
"""Oh."""
Finally, the adventurers grasped most of the mini-dungeon's mechanics.
***************************
There were beings watching the adventurers' earnest efforts.
Naturally, it was Balrak and the other floor bosses.
The bosses, monitoring the adventurers via tiny bird-disguised surveillance drones scattered throughout the mini-dungeon, were delighted with their masterpieces.
"Hahaha! That's it, newbies!"
That one newbie seems to know his stuff.
What was adventuring, after all!
Wasn't it the thrill of discovering things one by one yourself?
And seeing the newbies, who had been rotting with dead fish eyes inside the dungeon until now, sparkle with excitement!
Ahh... this was fulfillment.
The true mindset of a great warrior....
And in his past life, when the Wright brothers invented the airplane, how people went wild!
The sky was always a place brimming with romance.
Alright, now that the newbies were heading to the second sky island ahead with such cheerful vibes.
Time to deploy the spirits and golems!
Squeeze!
As I pressed a button, golems and spirits began spawning across the sky island.
Soon, the cute and adorable spirits clashed with the newbies in battle.
They put on a chaotic, eye-searing display of combat.
But through repeated fights with the spirits, the newbies kept winning.
'W-wait, weren't spirits extinct in this world? And there are so many?!'
'That's not all! After some time, spirits respawn in the same spots!'
'Does that mean this place has aggressive spirits constantly appearing? Then we can farm infinite spirit stones—'
'That's not all! Everyone, come here!'
'Ugh! Gui, why are you making such a fuss?'
'It's spirit grass! That super expensive herb you can't get anymore!'
'What?!'
Heh heh heh... Newbies these days are sharp.
Since various types of spirits continuously spawned on the sky island.
To match the theme, on the skeleton merchant's advice, we placed similar grasses and plants all over the sky island.
The skeleton merchant said the sky island's internal mechanisms supplied some mysterious fertilizer continuously, preventing soil depletion.
And the seeds would automatically plant themselves.
In about 20-30 days, those plants would regenerate, providing newbies with funds to settle in this world!
So, newbies! Grow strong aiming for top ranks!
Now I could take my eyes off the mini-dungeon.
Time to check the renewed first room!
Oh ho! The oldbies heading into that first room must have improved a lot.
They were pushing through over half, even with the added traps!
But there was something odd.
Why weren't those guys moving elsewhere to level up?
Honestly, if I entered a game like this, I'd want to clear it at level 1 too.
But even hardcore gamers wouldn't bash their heads against it for months, right?
Unless...
This place raises stats through proficiency, not levels?
"Oh?!"
Right! It was silly to think a god-tier game like this had a level system!
The outside world must have advanced a lot too. I was judging it with outdated thinking!
Skip the boring, pretentious process of grinding mobs for EXP bars.
Gain expertise and raise stats through direct training in the field!
This was true immersion gaming!
Aah!! What a romance-filled game!
This explains why those guys keep charging my dungeon.
In games, the harsher the challenge, the faster proficiency builds!
And this place has insane freedom!
Mages swinging wooden staves like bats to shoot down magic bullets!
Warriors using spells to block knockback traps.
Archers or thieves smashing golems with swords or blocking arrows with giant shields!
Aah... this is the god-tier direction of a masterpiece game.
With classes and jobs meaningless like this.
Most players would become jacks-of-all-trades like that.
"Then I need to make it even more brutal!"
I already made a newbie mini-dungeon for latecomers and klutzes.
Time for another dungeon renewal to help those oldbies grind proficiency.
So, players!!! I'll help you raise your stats!!!
******************
As the adventurers joyfully explored the sky island.
And the hero and his companions pulled off stunt shows to breakthrough the madhouse.
Besides the dungeon bosses, there was another watcher.
The Heavenly God of the Lofty Sky.
And she was currently entranced by the scene inside the dungeon.
'That works?'
The Heavenly God of the Lofty Sky pitied her children barely conquering that first room—which even she saw as absurdly difficult—with freakish stunt shows.
But since they were growing stronger far faster than expected, she could only watch with tears in her eyes.
Her sore spots, the dungeon bosses, were also living peacefully without issues, so she felt relieved.
Thus, she held great fondness for Balrak on the 1st floor.
However—
The themes for each floor, painstakingly crafted by beings like her over years, had all become obsolete.
'Why does it keep getting stronger every time I look?!'
To the Heavenly God, Balrak was... something.
Still, after some war in the Middle Realm ended.
Her sister, who created the Demon Realm and secluded herself there—appearing in the Middle Realm only once—doted on the demons.
Seeing them thrive even alone was a relief, so she turned to the mini-dungeon where adventurers played happily and fell deep into thought.
The Heavenly God, glancing back and forth between her Heavenly Realm and the sky island in the mini-dungeon.
Her expression twisted subtly, dissatisfied.
The Archangel watching beside her cautiously asked the reason.
'Radiant Glory that Illuminates All Things, Holy Mother of the World, dare I ask? Is there something discomforting or displeasing?'
"Ah, Archangel. Take a look at this for a moment?"
"Yes?"
The Archangel, shown the sky island in the mini-dungeon by the Heavenly God's power.
Soon began glancing repeatedly at his own Heavenly Realm.
Before long, he wore the same expression as the Heavenly God.
She wanted to say something to the Heavenly God beside her.
But—
This was blatant blasphemy, so he couldn't voice it.
Not wanting to bear the log alone, the Archangel gathered the other Archangels and showed them the mini-dungeon.
They too began glancing between the sky island and the Heavenly Realm.
Soon matching the Heavenly God and first Archangel's expressions.
Indeed, the Archangels thought something!! Something!! about the Heavenly Realm being outda—!
Ah, no!
Judging it definite blasphemy, the Archangels called upper angels to share the burden.
Upper angels called mid-tier, mid-tier called lower.
Thus, all beings in the Heavenly Realm wore the same expression, reaching one conclusion....
'You all think the Heavenly Realm looks boring too, right?'
"No!! It's not that, Mother!!"
"Th-this is the exalted heavens!! Please, such worldly—!"
That's right!! Compared to the sky island, the Heavenly Realm looked downright rustic and outdated!
With such a blatant comparison, the Heavenly God saw her bland, trendless Heavenly Realm.
And imagined what her children would think upon seeing the current Heavenly Realm.
The result!
'Ah... I expected more from Heaven, but it's nothing compared to the sky island in the dungeon.'
Ah, no good! This won't do!
Anxious at the thought of her children being disappointed by the Heavenly Realm.
The Heavenly God, sensing crisis, decided to remodel it.
And so, the world remained ever peaceful today.