Chapter 28
Maybe I should head out before Malangi eats everything.
***
Dreamland, Area 2.
Today, too, the tiny camera captures the intruders.
Julius had his escape scroll stolen.
By the faceless girl.
"Hey. Madeleine, Raid."
Communication magic had been cut off.
The remaining two, including Madeleine, were probably the ones who had declared hostility.
I had anticipated some degree of betrayal from my subordinates.
I never dreamed I would be betrayed this suddenly, in this form.
They probably met that woman too.
I never imagined they'd keep it quiet and leave me in a bind.
'I was too complacent.'
This place is Dreamland.
I should have kept in mind that any fucked-up thing could happen in a place like this.
"Fuck."
Regret is meaningless.
What has happened has already happened.
What Julius needs to do now is find the escape scroll as quickly as possible.
He used detection magic once more to inspect the structure of the building.
From a rough glance, this building is about 80 stories tall.
Its width is also considerable.
Assuming he checks an entire floor, it would probably take about an hour.
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│Classroom│ │Classroom│
─────────
Hallway
─────────
│Classroom│ │Classroom│
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If you visualize it.
A structure like this repeats.
The faceless girl said this.
《Give it to me. I'll keep it in the teachers' office, so come get it after school.》
It was much kinder than the machine at the entrance.
At least it provided a clue like that.
'Teachers' office, after school.'
The two keywords I had just obtained.
Words you'd expect to hear in an academy run by humans.
'The escape scroll is in a place called the teachers' office, and the time to go get it is after school.'
Julius looked at the clock on the wall.
8:52
What on earth is after school?
The word itself was unfamiliar.
From what he'd heard, academies split classes into periods.
I guess I can think of it as after class ends.
'Then when does class start?'
Here Julius had two options.
1. Kill the subordinate.
2. Find the teachers' office.
The subordinates were probably using the rules just now.
They seemed to be trying to somehow obtain the escape scroll I have.
Their effort was commendable, but I had no intention of handing it over easily.
Julius decided to kill all of the branded elves in this place.
Finding the escape scroll afterward would not be too late.
The distance to the subordinates was not far.
If he ran at full speed, it was a gap he could close in three minutes.
Julius was an elf who had absorbed the Dungeon Master's mana stone.
Even if those guys joined forces and came at him, their chance of winning was vanishingly small.
If it were one-on-one, well.
There is no 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 he was the closest.
He kicked off the ground.
8:55
Before long, Julius found Madeleine.
"You arrogant piss-pants bastard."
Julius clenched his fist.
He had no weapon, but he only had to break Madeleine's neck with his bare hands.
"Did you think you could survive after stabbing me in the back?"
"You were scared too and used us as a shield, and now you've got a lot to say? Hey, if you'd seen a bug-man for the first time too, you'd have pissed yourself, you son of a bitch!"
Madeleine had a trump card.
In ordinary terrain, they'd lose 100 out of 100 times.
But this was Dreamland.
Outside the window was the void.
It was darkness with no end in sight.
If he could force Julius outside, there would be a chance.
Madeleine used up all of their mana and activated a spell.
At that moment, a tremendous shock struck Julius.
A giant stone hand protruding from the wall pushed Julius.
Madeleine could clearly see his startled expression.
"Goodbye, you fucking bastard."
Crash!
The window shattered.
Seeing that, Madeleine felt relieved for a moment, but soon turned to despair.
"Fuck!"
Julius had braced himself by supporting his body against the unbreakable wall.
.
.
.
Crack!
The fight ended anticlimactically.
There was a gap between the two that they could not possibly overcome.
Julius dashed in and snapped Madeleine's neck in one motion.
"I'll give that line right back to you. Goodbye, you son of a bitch."
Julius brushed his hands off.
And he threw Madeleine's corpse out the window.
Just as expected.
It didn't stray from the expected range.
Idiot bastard.
It was obvious this would happen anyway.
He was resisting for no reason.
Now there was only one left.
Julius used detection magic to track his location.
And kicked off the ground.
He suddenly looked at the clock.
8:59
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9:00.
A melody flowed from the speaker.
『♪─♪─♪』
『딩—동—댕─♪동—딩—♪』
『딩—동—댕… 댕… 댕….』
Julius stopped in his tracks for a moment.
What in the hell kind of dogshit phenomenon is this now?
A little later.
As soon as the melody ended, his senses began warning him to run from the hallway.
This was almost instinct.
Julius immediately opened the door and threw himself into the classroom, but.
He was already a step too late.
Slash──!
An enormous pain ran through his right leg.
Looking down, he saw a clean severed line below the knee.
He had lost his right leg in an instant.
…….
However.
Right now Julius was not looking at the severed leg.
He was looking somewhere else.
The hallway was pitch-dark.
Like the outside, where nothing existed.
If he had failed to hold on and fallen out…….
It gave him goosebumps.
Julius hurriedly shut the door.
"Healing potion... shit... that faceless girl took it."
He tore his clothes to stanch the bleeding in his leg, but.
The blood would not stop.
What happened to the other one?
As he used detection magic,
"I'm the only one left...."
Madeleine had been killed by Julius's own hand.
Then Raid probably couldn't avoid the hallway and died there.
"Damn it..."
Of all things, it had to be his leg.
The severed area was far larger than he'd imagined.
There was still a long way to go.
And he didn't even know where the teachers' office was.
Losing one leg was fatal.
If it had been an arm, it wouldn't have been this hopeless.
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9:40.
『♪─♪─♪』
『딩—동—댕─♪동—딩—♪』
『딩—동—댕… 댕… 댕….』
As the melody flowed from the speaker,
the hallway returned to normal.
Julius had to keep walking somehow.
He used the burlap sack in the classroom as a support.
He moved forward one step at a time.
The bleeding still wouldn't stop.
Even strong pressure didn't help.
There was no time.
He had to drink the healing potion as soon as possible.
.
.
.
How long had he walked like that, about ten minutes?
Julius's face lit up.
Fortunately, the teachers' office was nearby.
Once he got the scroll from there, he could escape this gloomy dungeon.
But.
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.
.
9:50.
The speaker emitted that same quiet melody once more.
『♪─♪─♪』
『딩—동—댕─♪동—딩—♪』
『딩—동—댕… 댕… 댕….』
Then.
Julius's face was filled with despair.
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『♪─♪─♪』
『딩—동—댕─♪동—딩—♪』
『딩—동—댕… 댕… 댕….』
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16:10.
『♪─♪─♪』
『딩—동—댕─♪동—딩—♪』
『딩—동—댕… 댕… 댕….』
『Class is over.』
『Students, everyone
……』
The classroom door opens.
Julius crawled along the floor and barely got out of the classroom.
Making it this far was a miracle.
He had endured on nothing but the determination to survive.
"Ah……"
His head was spinning.
He had lost too much blood.
To think he'd suffer such humiliation in a newborn dungeon.
It had been a long time since he felt this way.
It was probably the same back then.
I still remember it vividly.
I entered the dungeon to get a mana stone.
And I encountered a Dungeon Master wearing a conical hat.
As if he were above me.
The Dungeon Master's gaze from above was so irritating.
So I killed his minion in the most horrific way possible.
I burned it alive right in front of him.
Watching the minion scream in agony.
The Dungeon Master's twisted expression was a delight to behold.
After that, the Dungeon Master lost his reason.
Dealing with him became easier.
In the end, I cut off the Dungeon Master's head and seized the mana stone.
Dreamland's Dungeon Master.
He's probably looking down on me from somewhere too, isn't he?
Wait.
Just keep waiting.
Look forward to it.
Really look forward to it.
I'll come back.
I'll make your expression exactly the same as that Dungeon Master's back then.
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16:13.
In front of the teachers' office.
Someone is standing in front of the door.
He is neither a trap nor a dungeon minion nor one of his subordinates.
Judging by his appearance, he seems to be neither more nor less than human.
Only then does Julius realize.
This is Dreamland.
Dreamland is a dungeon.
A dungeon naturally has a Dungeon Master.
Why had he foolishly not considered that possibility?
The veiled figure approaches.
The one who had never once shown himself until now is holding a weapon.
It felt like seeing the Grim Reaper from legend.
"Goodbye."
A familiar phrase.
Had he been watching everything until now?
"S-save me───"
And with that.
Julius's vision went dark.
***
The wave ended.
The school disappeared in an instant, and what lay before my eyes was an ordinary hollow.
I manipulated the hologram and left a comment on the live thread.
Newbie: Newbie's revenge was a success... hehe.
ㄴIHaveNoMinions : Thanks to you, Chongchong Sage can rest easy too. Thank you so much for avenging him. Should I give you a kiss if we meet later...?
ㄴShibganLover : Nabu, wanna die ㅎㅎ?
ㄴIHaveNoMinions : Ah...
ㄴOrange★ : They really weren't kidding when they said a gentleman's revenge waits a hundred years; I'm so relieved I could cry. Today I'll even send weird pics and song uploads straight to the hot posts... seriously, thank you.
ㄴKongKong : Chongchong Sage RIP
ㄴDIP : Chongchong Sage RIP
ㄴGolemKing : Chongchong Sage RIP
ㄴAntQueen : Everyone who said Newbie-nim might be in danger this time, bow your heads ㅇㅇ I'll go first ㅋㅎ
ㄴAntQueen : (photo)
ㄴGolemKing : This bastard really bowed his head? LOL
ㄴDIP : You bow too, you fucking bastard.
ㄴGolemKing : (photo)
ㄴSkullBones : To think I'd get to see GolemKing and AntQueen bowing their heads at the same time... is this Newbie's power?
ㄴMagicHero : I said you were overreacting... but having your belongings extorted would really wreck your mental state... a normal person would've been done for there....
ㄴAnonymousButcher : If they'd only been careful with the hallway rules, they could've gotten out. Of course, I'm not saying I support Julius or anything... dying does feel satisfying.
ㄴSquintyCharacter : Julius still wasn't at a level where Newbie could beat him one-on-one, though.
ㄴNightCrow : Anyway, he won, didn't he?
ㄴCowHead : This live run was another all-time blast...
ㄴWorldIsCold : Cut down those elf bastards!!!!!!!!!!! Watching those elf bastards get wrecked is so fucking fun... this is the real vicarious satisfaction...
ㄴKingJjangGhost : Newbie, angel-like... scary, but well done...
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A satisfying wave.
Chongchong Sage's revenge was a success.
May he rest in peace in the underworld with his cherished minion.
That said, there was one thing I was disappointed about.
I couldn't see the true nature of the minions located in Area 2.
Well, I'll be able to check them out later anyway.
【We have successfully defended the wave.】
【There is a large level gap between the intruders and the Dungeon Master.】
【Rewards will be calculated according to difficulty.】
【Difficulty is determined by the points acquired, the level gap from the highest-level intruder, and the number of entities.】
【Calculation complete.】
【This wave's difficulty has been rated as Madness.】
【Level up.】
【Level up.】
【Level up.】
【Level up.】
【Points have been awarded.】
Mourning and condolences end here.
Now then.
Let's check the rewards.