Chapter 28
Shall we get going before Malangi eats it all?
***
Dreamland, Area 2.
Today as well, the micro-camera captures the intruders.
Julius had his escape scroll stolen.
By the faceless girl.
"Hey. Madeleine, Raid."
Communication magic was cut off.
It meant that the remaining two enemies, Madeleine included, had declared hostility.
He had anticipated betrayal by his subordinates to some extent.
But he had never dreamed they'd betray him so suddenly, in this way.
They had probably encountered that woman too.
Who would have thought they'd keep that fact secret and put him in a difficult position.
'I was too complacent.'
This place was Dreamland.
He should have kept in mind that it was a place where, no matter what fucked-up thing happened, it wouldn't be surprising.
"Fuck."
Regret was meaningless.
It had already happened.
What Julius had to do now was find the escape scroll as quickly as possible.
He used detection magic once more to check the building's structure.
At a rough glance, this building was about 80 stories tall.
It was quite wide as well.
Assuming he checked an entire floor, it seemed it would take about an hour.
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│Classroom│ │Classroom│
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Hallway
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│Classroom│ │Classroom│
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Visualized,
this sort of structure repeated itself.
The faceless girl had said:
《Give it to me. I'll leave it in the teachers' office, so come pick it up after school.》
It was much friendlier than the machine at the entrance.
At least it had provided a clue in this way.
'Teachers' office, after school.'
He had just obtained two keywords.
Words one might hear at a human-run academy.
'The escape scroll is located in a place called the teachers' office, and the time when I can go retrieve it is after school.'
Julius looked at the clock mounted on the wall.
8:52
What on earth was "after school"?
Even the word was unfamiliar.
He had heard that academies divided classes into sessions.
Should he think of it roughly as the time after classes ended?
'Then when do classes start?'
Here Julius could choose one of two options.
1. Kill his subordinates.
2. Find the teachers' office.
His subordinates had probably just used the rules
in an attempt to somehow obtain the escape scroll he possessed.
Their effort was admirable, but he had no intention of handing it over easily.
Julius decided to kill all the Marked Elves in this place.
Finding the escape scroll could wait until afterward.
His subordinates weren't far away.
If he ran at full speed, he could close the distance in three minutes.
Julius was an elf who had absorbed the Dungeon Master's mana stone.
Even if they joined forces and attacked him, their chance of winning was exceedingly low.
If it came down to a one-on-one fight, though, who could say?
There was no such thing as absolute certainty in this world, but this might be an exception.
Julius was certain of his victory.
And he decided to kill Madeleine first, since Madeleine was closest.
He broke into a run.
8:55
Before long, Julius found Madeleine.
"You arrogant piss-pants bastard."
Julius clenched his fist.
He had no weapon, but all he had to do was break Madeleine's neck with his bare hands.
"Did you think you could betray me and survive?"
"You're awfully mouthy for someone who was scared shitless and used us as shields. Hey, if you'd seen the bug person for the first time too, you'd have pissed yourself. You fucking bastard!"
Madeleine had a trump card.
On ordinary terrain, Madeleine would have lost a hundred out of a hundred fights.
But this was Dreamland.
Outside the window was void.
An endless darkness with no visible end.
If Madeleine sent Julius outside, he would have a chance of winning.
Madeleine expended all his mana and activated magic.
At that moment, a tremendous impact struck Julius.
A gigantic stone palm shot out of the wall and shoved Julius.
Madeleine could clearly see the confusion on Julius's face.
"Goodbye. You fucking bastard."
Crash!
The window shattered.
Madeleine felt relieved for an instant when he saw that, but soon became filled with despair.
"Crazy!"
Julius had braced his entire body against the unbreakable wall and held on.
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Crack!
The fight ended anticlimactically.
There was an insurmountable gap between the two.
Julius dashed forward and snapped Madeleine's neck in one move.
"I'll return your words verbatim. Goodbye, you fucking bastard."
Julius shook out his hand.
Then he threw Madeleine's corpse out the window.
Just as expected.
Nothing ever went beyond the range he'd anticipated.
"You moron."
It was obvious this was how it would end.
And yet he was pointlessly rebelling.
Now only one bastard remained.
Julius used detection magic to track his location.
And he broke into a run.
Suddenly, he glanced at the clock.
8:59
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9:00.
A melody flowed from the speakers.
『♪─♪─♪』
『Ding—dong—dang─♪dong—ding—♪』
『Ding—dong—dang… dang… dang….』
Julius stopped walking for a moment.
What the hell kind of bizarre phenomenon was this now?
A moment later.
The moment the melody ended, all five senses began warning him to flee the hallway.
This was closer to instinct than anything else.
Julius immediately opened a door and threw himself into a classroom, but.
He was already a step too late.
Slaaash──!
Terrible pain shot through his right leg.
When he turned to look, he saw a cleanly severed edge below the knee.
He had lost his right leg in an instant.
"……."
However.
Julius wasn't looking at his severed leg now.
He was looking somewhere else.
The hallway was dark.
Just like the outside, where there was nothing at all.
If he hadn't managed to hold on and had fallen….
A chill ran through him.
Julius hurriedly closed the door.
"Healing potion… fuck… that faceless bitch took it."
He tore his clothes and staunched the wound, but.
The bleeding wouldn't stop.
"What happened to the other one?"
Using detection magic,
"I'm the only one left…."
Madeleine had been killed by Julius's own hand.
Then Raid must have been unable to evade it in the hallway and died on the spot.
"Damn…."
Of all things, his leg had been cut off.
The severed area was larger than he could have imagined.
He had a long way to go.
He didn't even know where the teachers' office was.
Losing one leg was fatal.
If it had been an arm, he wouldn't have been this desperate.
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9:40.
『♪─♪─♪』
『Ding—dong—dang─♪dong—ding—♪』
『Ding—dong—dang… dang… dang….』
When the melody flowed from the speakers,
the hallway returned to normal.
Julius had to walk somehow.
He used a mop from the classroom as a crutch.
He advanced slowly, one step at a time.
The bleeding wouldn't stop.
Even strong pressure did no good.
He had no time.
He needed to drink a healing potion as soon as possible.
.
.
.
He walked like that for about ten minutes.
Julius's face brightened.
Fortunately, the teachers' office was nearby.
Now, all he had to do was take the scroll from there, and he could escape this gloomy dungeon.
But.
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9:50.
Another quiet melody flowed from the speakers.
『♪─♪─♪』
『Ding—dong—dang─♪dong—ding—♪』
『Ding—dong—dang… dang… dang….』
Then.
Despair spread across Julius's face.
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『♪─♪─♪』
『Ding—dong—dang─♪dong—ding—♪』
『Ding—dong—dang… dang… dang….』
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16:10.
『♪─♪─♪』
『Ding—dong—dang─♪dong—ding—♪』
『Ding—dong—dang… dang… dang….』
『Classes have ended.』
『Students,
……』
The classroom door opened.
Julius barely crawled out of the classroom.
It was a miracle he'd endured this long.
He had held on through sheer determination to survive.
"Ah……."
His head was spinning.
He had lost too much blood.
To think he'd suffer such humiliation in a newly created dungeon.
How long had it been since he'd felt this way?
It had probably felt like this back then, too.
He still remembered it vividly.
I entered the dungeon to obtain a mana stone.
And I encountered a Dungeon Master wearing a conical hat.
As if he were above me.
The Dungeon Master's gaze as he looked down at me from above had irritated me so much.
So I killed his minion in the most horrifying way imaginable.
I burned the minion alive right before his eyes.
Watching the minion scream in pain,
the Dungeon Master's twisted expression was a wonderful sight.
After that, the Dungeon Master lost his reason.
The fight became easier.
In the end, I cut off the Dungeon Master's head and seized his mana stone.
The Dungeon Master of Dreamland.
He must be looking down at me from somewhere now, too, right?
Wait for me.
You'd better wait.
Look forward to it.
You'd better look forward to it.
When I come back,
I'll make your expression exactly like that Dungeon Master's back then.
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16:13.
In front of the teachers' office.
Someone was standing in front of the door.
That person was neither a trap, a dungeon minion, nor his subordinate.
Judging by the figure's appearance, they seemed to be nothing more or less than human.
Only then did Julius realize.
This was Dreamland.
Dreamland was a dungeon.
And a dungeon was bound to have a Dungeon Master.
How foolish of him not to have considered this possibility.
The enigmatic figure approached him.
The figure, who had never shown themself until now, held a weapon.
It felt as if he were looking at the Grim Reaper of legend.
"Goodbye."
It was a familiar phrase.
Had he been watching everything all this time?
"P-please, spare───"
With those words.
Julius's vision went dark.
***
The wave was over.
The school disappeared in an instant, and what spread out before my eyes was an ordinary open area.
I manipulated the hologram and left a comment on the live thread.
Newbie : Newbie successfully got revenge... hehe
ㄴI Have No Minions : Thanks to you, Chongchong Sage can rest in peace now. Thank you so much for avenging him. Should I at least give you a kiss if we meet later...?
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : Nabu, do you want to die? hehe?
ㄴI Have No Minions : Ah...
ㄴOrange★ : They say a gentleman's revenge lasts a hundred years, and I feel so refreshed. Today, even if I post truly weird memes and upload songs, I'll send them all to the front page... Thanks, seriously.
ㄴKongKong : Chongchong Sage RIP
ㄴDIP : Chongchong Sage RIP
ㄴGolem King : Chongchong Sage RIP
Ant Queen : All you bastards who said Newbie-nim might be in danger this time, put your heads to the floor, yeah. I'll start first lol
ㄴAnt Queen : (Photo)
ㄴGolem King : This bastard actually put his head down? LMAOOOO
ㄴDIP : You too, asshole.
ㄴGolem King : (Photo)
ㄴSkeleton Bones : I never thought I'd see a picture of Golem King and Ant Queen putting their heads down at the same time... Is this Newbie's power?
Magic Hero : I-I-I told you it was just people overreacting... But having his belongings stolen really must've shattered his mental state... An ordinary person would've been finished there....
ㄴAnonymous Butcher : If he'd only been careful about the hallway rules, he might have gotten out. Not that I'm saying I was rooting for Julius... I'm just relieved he's dead.
ㄴSlit-Eyed Character : Julius still wasn't at a level where Newbie could beat him in a one-on-one slugfest, though.
ㄴNight Raven : Anyway, he won, so isn't that enough?
Cowhead : This live run was insanely fun too...
ㄴThe World Is Cold : Elves cut!!!!!!!!!!! Watching those elf bastards get what they deserve is so fucking fun... This is true vicarious satisfaction.
ㄴKingjjang Evil Spirit : Newbie's an angel, yeah... Scary, but good job, yeah...
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A satisfying wave.
Chongchong Sage's revenge was successful.
May he rest in peace in the afterlife with the minion he cherished.
One thing that was disappointing was
that I didn't get to see the true nature of the minions located in Area 2.
Well, I can check them later anyway.
【Successfully defended against the wave.】
【The level difference between the intruder and the Dungeon Master is significant.】
【Calculating the reward according to the difficulty.】
【Difficulty is measured based on points acquired, the level difference between the highest-level intruder and the Dungeon Master, and the number of individuals.】
【Calculation complete.】
【This wave's difficulty has been rated as Madness.】
【Level increased.】
【Level increased.】
【Level increased.】
【Level increased.】
【Points awarded.】
Silence and mourning end here.
Well, then.
Shall we check the rewards?
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