I stood there, stunned by what the man had just said. Over a century? That worn-out piece of paper made sense now.

My thoughts immediately went back to the conversation I had with that protagonist-looking guy before entering the dungeon—the one who had told me that my Bloodzerker had died a century ago.

Had this request been placed right after his disappearance? And since then, nobody had been able to unlock the pouch.

"How can it have been uncompleted for that long?" I asked the man.

The man gave me a look like I should already know the answer. "No one knows the code to unseal it." he said simply. "And no one’s got the ability to break the seal otherwise. That's why it's been sitting there all these years."

"I see!"

I knew exactly what he meant. The pouch he was talking about was no ordinary item; it was a dimensional pocket of sorts. Not infinite, but very similar to the Goo-Hoarder Pouch I had seen offered as a reward for killing the Overfiend boss.

The only difference was, instead of the recall passive the Goo-Hoarder had, this pouch had a special passive called Lockbound.

The Lockbound passive allowed the owner of the pouch to set a code.

Only when that code was spoken aloud would the pouch unlock, granting access to its contents. No force could break it otherwise.

https://i.imgur.com/UCwgkBd.png [https://i.imgur.com/UCwgkBd.png]

[Lockbound]

[Lockbound allows the owner to set a verbal code that locks the pouch, preventing access to its contents unless the correct code is spoken. The seal is unbreakable by any conventional means, and the pouch remains inaccessible to anyone who does not know the code.]

[Usage: This skill provides high-level security for the pouch’s contents, making it impossible for others to steal or access the items inside. It is ideal for protecting valuable loot and equipment.]

[Mana Cost: 0]

[Cooldown: None]

I had purchased that pouch myself, after learning some hard lessons from betrayal attempts within my own party from my numerous playthrough.

I couldn't help but remember the grim fate my Weaponmancer had faced because of such mistake.

At the time, the pouch had become my insurance for my Bloodzerker.

But now that pouch was in the hands of the Steelheart Guild, sealed shut for over a century, and no one had been able to unlock it.

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That meant my code was still holding strong, even after all these years.

The more I thought about it, the clearer the situation became. My Bloodzerker had been considered dead the moment I entered the last floor of the dungeon. All my equipment had been lost with me... except for the pouch.

That’s where things gets interesting. You see, my party was built around support classes.

We had a team of four different supports, each of them contributing to my bloodzerker strengthening and quality of life.

One of them was a Chef class. His role? Not only was he in charge of cooking during our expedition to the 100th floor, but he also handled most of the loot—picking through monster corpses, scavenging anything of value. That made him our party's porter as well.

The pouch had been entrusted to him while I focused on combat.

The Steelheart must’ve gotten their hands on the pouch through him, which meant one thing—my Bloodzerker was the only one who had perished inside the 100th floor.

Then, a thought crossed my mind. Maybe the reason they managed to survive and escape the dungeon was because I had been the first to enter the 100th floor.

Perhaps something happened—something that stopped them from proceeding with me.

The more I thought about it, the more questions piled up, but one thing was clear: I needed to find out how my pouch ended up in their hands, and what really happened that day.

I turned back to the man standing beside me. "How did the Steelheart family get their hands on a legendary figure’s pouch like Valerian Steelheart’s? I thought he perished inside the 100th floor."

The man scratched his chin, looking thoughtful. "The story the Steelheart family told the public, and what’s recorded today, comes from Valerian’s own party. He wasn’t alone when he ventured into the dungeon. He had four companions with him, all powerful support classes. They were known as the Four Pillars."

"The Four Pillars?" I repeated, intrigued.

"Yeah, they were the ones who provided the story of Valerian’s last moments to the world. According to them, Valerian died deep within the 100th floor, but they escaped somehow. That pouch you’re asking about was left in their care. Since none of them could figure out how to unseal it, they handed it back to the Steelheart family after they returned."

Something didn’t sit right with me.

The story they told the world about my Bloodzerker—it couldn’t be the real one. It just didn’t add up.

The so called 'Four Pillars', as rediculous as it sounded had been part of my party, and they knew exactly what went down between my Bloodzerker and his family. Yet, they were the ones to relay my story to the public?

It had to be the Steelheart doing. They must have twisted the truth, crafting a narrative that suited their agenda just as they did with my character. Elevating their status, making Valerian Steelheart out to be some legendary figure whom loved his family, and his party members—the so-called Four Pillars.

But I knew better.

It wasn’t just a simple embellishment; they had rewritten the entire history.

The Four Pillars… pillars of what? That title was likely invented to further increase the standing of the Steelheart Family, making them look like descendants of a great adventurer with a legendary party. But the truth was far messier than that.

I needed answers.

I turned to the man beside me and asked, "What can you tell me about the Four Pillars?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could answer, a shout came from behind us. "Hey! Come on back, we’re starting without you!"

It was his friends, calling him over to join them. He looked back at me apologetically. "Sorry, can’t stay. But if you’re really interested, the library’s got all sorts of lore on them. Kids love hearing about their old tales. Might be worth checking out if you want to know more."

And with that, he was gone, leaving me standing there with even more questions swirling in my head.

But he had a point. The library. That was a good idea. If the answers I needed weren’t out here, maybe they were buried in some old book.

For now, that seemed like the best course of action.

Maybe the library could shed some light on what had really happened, and why the Steelheart Family had gone to such lengths to hide the truth.

I had no other choice but to dive into the stories they wanted the world to believe.