Chapter 39
16:10.
『♪─♪─♪』
『Ding—dong—dang─♪dong—ding—♪』
『Ding—dong—dang… dang… dang….』
『All classes have ended.』
『Students, please head home.』
『Once again, we announce that all classes have ended. Students, please head home…….』
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After school.
Max's party had finished investigating the 4th floor and arrived on the 5th floor.
School was over.
Outside the window was a pitch-black void.
The only way to check the time in this place was
the clock attached to the wall alone.
They had investigated everything from the 1st floor to the 4th floor,
but unfortunately, they hadn't gained much.
"Luca, is your arm okay...?"
"……."
What the group had obtained so far was
only thirst, hunger, fear, and pain.
Luca, whose arm had been completely shattered, was temporarily kept out of the search.
The faceless teacher had only barely shown up sometime in the afternoon.
Judging by the cycle, they figured it probably wouldn't appear for a while.
They left Luca resting alone in the classroom,
and the remaining members agreed to move quickly.
Max was injured too,
but compared to Luca, it was nothing.
After all, he was the Blesser's companion, so he had a sturdy body.
This was well within the range he could endure.
"The faceless girl told us to bring the item after school. Is this after school now?"
"Yeah."
"What does 'after school' usually look like at an academy?"
Denrid fiddled with the dried-out poster stuck to the hallway bulletin board.
The wistful look in his eyes made him seem as if he were reminiscing about the past.
"Some students go back to the dorms, some take remedial classes, some do club activities, some play with friends in the yard. There are all kinds of things. You can just think of it as time for activities or rest outside regular classes."
"Then the hallways are less likely to go dark……."
"Right."
Denrid argued that after school was the time when they could freely investigate this school.
Split into pairs, it took about thirty minutes to cover an entire floor.
I don't know how long after school lasts, though.
But this was certainly more convenient and efficient than roaming around in ten-minute bursts.
"What if another minion appears?"
"High."
Jack stared at Luca.
He seemed to be worried about the injured one.
"So far, the minions we've met are the faceless girl and the faceless teacher, two in total. We still don't know the exact way to deal with them."
"Right."
Area 2 is fairly large.
The larger it is, the lower the basic chance of running into a minion.
Neither the girl nor the teacher had been seen again after that first encounter.
So rather than thinking there aren't any other minions,
it'd be better to think we were lucky and simply hadn't run into them yet.
"For now, let's keep investigating. It's the only option we can take right now."
"Yeah."
"Understood."
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Max brushed the dust stuck to the hallway wall with his index finger.
Looking at his blackened finger, he let out a small sigh.
He was starting to regret it.
Maybe he had taken Dreamland too lightly.
'I should've used the escape scroll then.'
You're too impulsive. Sinclair always said that to him.
"Fuck."
He was thirsty and hungry.
His arm hurt, his head hurt, and his eyes were blurry; his mental fatigue was definitely piling up.
What should he do if he met the teacher again?
Fighting was impossible, and giving the correct answer was impossible too.
As Denrid said, he'd have to give the wrong answer instead.
What if they ran into another minion?
Could they find the faculty office?
After they got their belongings back, what then?
Should they keep going?
What about the transfer mechanism? What about the next area?
Do they have enough food and water? Can they somehow manage?
Helplessness trampled his dreams.
It kept him from imagining a future where he'd bring back the mana stone, prove himself to Sinclair, and take revenge.
"Fuck."
The fact that such shitty thoughts kept popping up meant the shock must be severe.
I need to stay sharp.
"Max…."
A voice came from behind him.
Startled, he turned his head and confirmed it was Luca.
"If you're just going to get in the way, go bother someone else."
"I'm scared of being alone... I won't get in your way."
My head already hurts like hell.
Tch.
"If you can walk, do whatever you want."
"Thanks."
The two of them walked down the 5th-floor hallway.
Luca did not interfere with Max.
She simply walked quietly behind him.
When the distance between them widened,
she frowned and hurried to catch up.
It seemed she really didn't want to be alone.
Luca opened her mouth.
"Max. Is your arm okay?"
"You're the one asking that?"
"You broke yours too."
"That's not something you need to worry about."
"...Sorry."
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18:00.
The search was going smoothly.
There was no faculty office on the 5th, 6th, or 7th floors.
"Let's go up to the 8th floor."
-Let's do that.
Max climbed the stairs.
Luca was still following silently.
"Huh?"
His gaze naturally moved to the ceiling.
The lights began flickering as if the bulbs were failing.
A chill of foreboding brushed past his senses.
Click.
At the sound of the switch being pressed, all the lights in the school went out.
Outside the window, there was no sun, no moon, not even stars.
This school, stripped of every light source, was complete darkness.
It was on a completely different level from the hallway going dark during class time.
Nothing could be seen.
"M, Max?"
"Luca. I'm right next to you. Hey. Denrid. Can you hear me? It's pitch-black in front of me, and I mean that literally, not figuratively."
-Yes. I can hear you. This is bad. I can somehow handle our side with magic, but Max's side…….
"I don't know how to use magic either. Neither does Luca. Impossible."
-We'll head over to you first.
"It's the stairs going up from the far-left side of the 7th floor to the 8th. Hurry."
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Max waited for Denrid.
There was no other choice.
He was the only one in the group who could use magic.
Together, they could probably keep exploring even in this darkness.
'As with other dungeons, this dungeon absolutely needs a mage.'
If Denrid hadn't been here,
the search would have been slower and the mood much worse.
Even Max, who usually didn't readily acknowledge others, felt Denrid's presence strongly.
-Jack. What's wrong?
But.
Did something happen?
Static crackled over the communication.
-Ahead of us, uh, yeah? What in the world is that? Huh!? It's coming this way!?
Denrid's voice sounded frantic.
Though he couldn't see it, he could tell the situation was turning very bad.
"Hey. Denrid. What's going on?"
"What's wrong all of a sudden...?"
"Something happened to Denrid and Jack. The communication's cut off…."
Denrid's voice could no longer be heard.
Maybe they had run into a minion like the teacher and the girl.
Or maybe a jamming trap had been triggered.
Various possibilities flashed through his mind.
"……."
Please don't let it be the worst-case scenario.
He was anxious.
Of course he was.
The party's only mage was dead?
Communication, detection, and all that stuff would be unusable from now on.
Trying to continue dungeon exploration like that would be no different from hell.
And Denrid was always the one who came up with good ideas.
He was quick on his feet, too, and had the brightest disposition among the gloomy bunch.
There was nothing Max could do in the dark.
He could only stand there motionless until the lights came back on.
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20:00.
The lights came on.
The school's scenery once again became visible normally.
When he checked the clock, two hours had already passed.
Whether that should be considered fortunate or unfortunate.
"For now, let's move. Jack and Denrid were also heading from the 7th floor to the 8th, so they should be nearby."
"Okay."
Reuniting with the others came first.
Luckily, Jack and Denrid were nearby.
Luca and Max hurried over to them.
But.
Denrid's condition was a little strange.
He was lying down.
He was usually talkative and liked taking care of others.
Seeing Denrid not moving at all even after the group arrived,
it was clear he had fallen into a deep sleep.
"……."
Max checked Denrid's face.
He had fallen asleep without closing his eyes.
But.
Even saying he was awake was a little awkward,
because Denrid had no eyes.
Only a dark, reddish abyss remained where his eyes should have been.
Something was rolling around on the floor.
Looking over, he saw Denrid's blue eyeballs rolling down the hallway.
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20:10.
"Denrid is dead."
"Yeah. He's dead. But why did only Denrid die and you survive?"
"Cut it out with that tone, Max."
"Answer the question. Why are you alive and Denrid dead?"
"Are you saying Denrid's death is my fault?"
"Fuck, of course you would've ditched him and run! You're fast, and Denrid's a mage, so his legs are slower! Don't you know how important a mage is in a situation like this!? You should've protected him somehow!"
Max was worked up.
It made sense, because to his rash eyes,
it looked as if the slum's knife-wielder had ditched the mage and run the moment things got dangerous.
"I was in a situation where there was nothing I could do."
"Not a situation where you couldn't do anything, just one where you were too busy looking out for yourself?"
"By that logic, while Luca was hurting like that, there wasn't anything you could do either, was there? That's how it feels."
"Hah, you despicable, petty bastard. So that's how you want to play it?"
"Hey, Max. I'm not trying to fight you. I just wanted to explain that the situation was that constrained."
The hallway was in an uproar.
Max's agitated voice filled the space.
It was a vicious noise that numbed the mind.
Luca was dizzy.
Her head throbbed.
Denrid's death,
the fact that her arm could no longer be used properly,
water, food,
the life ahead of her.
None of it mattered anymore.
She just wanted to get away from the noise.
She didn't want to think about anything anymore.
Luca staggered away from the group.
Whether Luca disappeared or not,
Max and Jack's argument did not end.
Until she could no longer hear the noise,
she kept moving her tired legs.
Suddenly, she looked out the window.
It was pitch-black.
Like the reality that had slammed right in front of her eyes.
Being lured in by the mana stone and stepping into this dungeon in the first place had been a mistake.
If there was no way to correct that mistake,
what choice did I have?
She wanted to live, but death was all that was waiting for her.
She couldn't take her eyes off the window.
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Luca let out a sigh.
There was no way she could take her own life.
She turned her head.
Only then did she check the place behind her.
"What is this place…."
She paused for a moment before moving forward.
***
Magic Hero: W-w-w-well, at least the mage who was the last ray of hope is dead lol...
ㄴNight Raven: From here on it's hell ON... though I guess it's a shame the faculty office is so close...
ㄴKongKong: You said Max had an escape scroll, right?? It's a shame the info leaked, but hey, the EXP and points from this run should be sweet ㅇㅇ
Ant Queen: By the way, now I get why Max was cut off by Sinclair ㅇㅇ If that bastard had been my own kid, I'd have strangled him to death...
ㄴAnt Queen: When things go well, it's thanks to him, and when things go badly, he immediately starts blaming other people. You can tell without even seeing it ㅋㅋ
ㄴOnlyIHaveNoMinions: Disgusting, disgusting...
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The school's only drawback is that the faculty office's location is random.
When Julius came, it was on the 2nd floor,
and now it has even spawned below the 10th floor.
Why can't it just spawn on the 80th floor all at once?
Then it'd mean total annihilation, escape or not, but oh well.
"They're lucky."
The school gets much harsher starting on Day 2.
Because the frequency of minion appearances increases sharply.
"The escape scroll is the problem…."
In fact, I think wave defense is guaranteed.
Once Denrid, the mage, is dead, clearing it becomes impossible.
They probably know that too.
What matters is that bastard Max is carrying the information.
Given the distance between the intruders and the faculty office, and the way they're searching, there's no way he won't reach the faculty office.
Max has an escape scroll.
Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about that.
Even as a dungeon master loved by bizarre phenomena,
there are clearly areas I can't touch.
I already confirmed that during Julius's wave.
I failed to strip the intruder of their belongings in the faculty office.
"Well, I'll just have to accept some losses."
I had 300,000 points on hand.
If it gets dicey, I'll just make another area.
By the way,
the place that girl Luca is heading to right now is the bathroom.