How Could You Just Do That on Your Own?

“Wh-what is that..?”

The roughly twenty Hunters on site felt it at the same time. A high-output attack that far surpassed the level of an average A-rank attacker.

Once a dungeon structure passes the strength test with a very safe rating, it reaches the point where attacks from most superhumans won’t leave it seriously damaged.

And yet it sliced clean through the neck of the giant sphinx—made of the same material as the Desert Mausoleum, or perhaps even harder—and kept moving without hesitation.

Once the rolling sphinx head finally came to a stop, the giant statues began to rage. The sphinx was much larger, of course, and it made for a far more intimidating sight, smashing the floor with its thick body and heavy forepaws.

The stone warriors were also extremely durable, and even more agile than the sphinx. The ones holding weapons like seasoned fighters immediately threw themselves at Minyum.

ㅡKooong!

With a powerful leap that could clear two of the extra levels created by the collapsed ceiling, the warrior statue shot into the air and brought its mace crashing down on Minyum with both hands.

“Minyum ㅡ !!”

Before the mace head it had swung even touched the ground, it was separated from the handle and fell away. The warrior’s legs, which had been landing with a heavy thud and a puff of dusty sand, were instantly cut apart—from both ankles all the way up to the waist.

ㅡChijijijik..!!!

Minyum slowed down by planting a giant sword into the floor and dragging it. In the blink of an eye, the warrior statue had been diced into chunks and neutralized.

“Now ㅡ !!! Don’t miss the opening ㅡ !!!”

Thanks to Minyum’s performance, the Hunters who had been dazed one by one began to come to their senses. Other Hunters fought off the mummy dogs and mummies surging in like a tide.

Minyum rushed at the seven remaining warrior statues.

ㅡKwaaaaaaang!!!!!!

The sight of Minyum surging forward while blasting tremendous flames from its back looked just like a fighter jet taxiing down the runway, preparing for takeoff. The impact and sound were so intense that even veteran Hunters, normally desensitized to loud noises, were frowning and covering their ears.

The shockwave from the charge alone was powerful enough to turn the surrounding mummies and mummy dogs into bits of meat.

“Ah, right! Ophelia!”

I guess I lost my mind too, watching Ultimate Minyum’s live, unedited 1-vs-1000 mad movie. Ophelia was badly injured, and I hadn’t even thought about it.

“Are you okay?! Does it hurt a lot?!”

“I’m fine. As long as you’re safe, Princess, I can be healed at any time.”

“I see..! Got it!”

I brought Ophelia to a flat spot on the floor and gently laid her down, then placed both hands on her stomach and slowly closed my eyes.

“Ophelia..! Be healed..!!”

ㅡWuuuuung….

I could feel a considerable amount of mana flowing out through my fingertips. Even with my eyelids closed, the light beyond them was bright enough to flash through.

When I opened my eyes again, various parts of Ophelia’s body had returned to normal, and her expression looked much better than just moments ago.

“Are you okay now!?”

“Yes, I am. Thanks to you, Princess.”

“Waaahhh!!”

The places where she’d been cut or where her clothes had been torn were also completely healed. I’m never making Ophelia fight again.

“Princess, I’m fine. Please don’t cry.”

“Sniffle..”

“There is still something the Princess has to do.”

“Huh..? Me..?”

“Yes.”

Ophelia stood up, picked me up in her arms, and turned my gaze toward where Minyum was fighting. This wasn’t a joke at all; it was a fight so intense that Minyum really looked like an S-rank Hunter.

“Princess, what do you think?”

“Uh, um.. amazing..?”

Minyum’s fighting was indeed incredible. It was dodging the giant weapons they swung and carving wounds into their bodies at tremendous speed.

“That is correct. Minyum’s current combat power is formidable.”

“Right!”

“However, before long, Minyum will become unable to fight.”

“W-why is that?!”

What? From where I was standing, it looked like Minyum would just slash everything apart and win—was Ophelia seeing something different?

“It is because... there is no ‘cheering’ from the Princess.”

“Eh.”

I was stunned for a moment after hearing Ophelia. Was she seriously joking right now? She was usually so serious—why here of all places? No way. Then did Minyum really lose because I wasn’t cheering it on?

“What do you mean, Ophelia..?”

“Exactly as I said. You haven’t really made any notable progress with your second skill, ‘Powerless Princess,’ yet.”

“Th, that’s true, but….”

“Now is your chance to raise the skill’s rank. Put your heart into it and shout for Minyum to win this battle.”

“Uh, ugh..!”

Ophelia probably wasn’t joking. Words... are said to become reality, right? And I’m kind of like Minyum’s mom too. If parents cheer their kids on with all their heart, the children can do even better...

Ugh, I don’t know!

“O-okay..! I’ll give it a try..!”

I climbed down from Ophelia’s arms and walked toward where Minyum was fighting. There were so many Hunters all around, fighting back to back, that I couldn’t go very far.

ㅡCrash!!

“Ueek..!”

I even ended up toppling over when something went kaboom right next to me. Fierce fighting was breaking out all around, and my legs had gone weak, so I couldn’t get back up. Was it because I’d been rolling around wildly in the hamster ball? My legs hurt too much.

But..!

“Minyum ㅡ !! You have to win ㅡ !!!!”

At that moment.

[Battlefield morale has been bolstered. The rank of Powerless Princess has increased. Powerless Princess: F -> D]

“Ugh..?! My mana..!!”

Suddenly I felt my mana being drawn out, and Minyum’s movements, far away in the battle, changed. Its attacks became much faster and far stronger than before.

Enough to split a gigantic shield charging straight at it cleanly in half and pierce the solar plexus of the huge statue standing behind it.

ㅡKugwa-gwang!!

Although Minyum’s sword was sent flying by the combined attack of two statues, it still did not stop fighting.

A huge heat haze rippled behind its calves. The blue flames blasting out at tremendous speed worked together with Minyum’s booster.

“H-huuaaahhh!!! It’s a jet kick!!!!!”

ㅡPung!!!!

The chest of the stone warrior caved in from Ultimate Minyum’s Hyper Ultra Super Mega “If You Believe It, It’s a Jet Kick” Jet Kick, and with an “oh my god” it toppled over in a clatter together with another statue behind it.

ㅡKoooung….

Through the thick, billowing sand mist, Minyum emerged, swinging its sword.

“Sn-sniff..! So cool..!!!”

The battle had by then reached its end, and most of the trash mobs had been sliced apart with pop, pop, pop. Normally, when this many monsters clustered in one area, bodies would pile up so much that normal combat would become impossible.

But because the stone warriors periodically went berserk and cleared away the corpses, we were able to hold our ground and keep the back-and-forth fight going.

“Minyum!! Is that really you!!?!”

ㅡClack!

“You’re seriously amazing!!! Wow!!!”

I walked up to Minyum, who had become a giant robot knight, and hugged it. It was now almost twice as tall as me, enough to wrap both hands around my waist and lift me up effortlessly.

“Eve! Is that friend Minyum?”

“Yes! That’s right!”

“That’s incredible!”

Chaerin unnie, who had been helping the injured recover, lifting heavy debris, and putting her strength into rescuing the missing, also came to find me after the rescue work was almost finished.

“Eve, thanks to you, I can say everyone survived. Really.”

“I-is that so..? Eheheh….”

The long battle finally came to an end. With two full raid parties made up entirely of A-ranks combined, healing could keep up, and we were able to withstand their full-scale assault.

Team A and Team D, who had been separated from us, also seemed to have encountered stone warriors somewhere and fought hard.

At least five of the spiral staircases leading up to the upper floor where the exit was had been broken, and everyone was agonizing over what to do.

“Chaerin, if you don’t mind, would you like me to enchant you?”

“Ah, Hunter Lee Yuna.”

Thanks to Hunter Lee Yuna’s ultra-ultra-ultra-rare skill for boosting other people’s awakened abilities, and to Chaerin unnie’s power to create wooden vine stairs that could carry everyone to the upper floor, everyone was able to get out safely.

Of course, I was able to escape in Minyum’s arms...

“Wow, little lady! This is really something!”

“Heh, it’s every man’s dream. Is that really a summon?”

The veteran Hunters kept showering me with praise from the side—how could I leave before them? I was going to savor this precious praise to my heart’s content.

* * * * *

“Oh, my! Welcome! I never expected something like this to happen..!”

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

The owner of the company that handled the dungeon inspection was sweating heavily near the entrance, his face completely pale. The reporters had turned into full-on obsessive paparazzi, shoving huge cameras everywhere and trying to get past the restricted area.

The atmosphere among the Hunters inside the dungeon structure was extremely grim. They were stomping around with such murderous intent that if anyone touched them wrong, they looked ready to take someone out on the spot... like soldiers who had just survived a war.

“Hunter Eve! Please look over here once!!”

“Huh, me..?”

But there was one strange thing: for some reason, all the reporters had turned their cameras toward me.

We’d only just come out, and we still hadn’t even explained what happened inside. Since we’d come out before the other raid parties, they couldn’t have been informed over the radio either. Besides, everyone was so busy fighting that they hadn’t even been able to receive communications.

Of course, they were monitoring things, but that was only because the rearline Hunters inside were relatively free enough to show the footage themselves. Two raid parties had lost contact at the same time, so I could understand why things outside were so serious.

ㅡDing

[You have partially recovered the princess’s dignity. Command Issuance has increased in rank. Command Issuance: B+ -> A]

“Huh..?”

A sudden rank increase. Sure, I had fought well in this dungeon raid, but it was still too soon for rumors to spread... wasn’t it?

ㅡBeep!

“Hmm? What is it, Dangdang?”

ㅡBeeep-beep!!

Dangdang kept wiggling its butt wildly and clinging to me. Thinking it might be hurt, I picked it up to heal it, but—

“W-wait.. what is this..?”

When I looked at the monitor, Dangdang pulled up an SNS screen for me. And not just any screen...

“A live broadcast..?”

SNS followers. Over 180,000.