Chapter 40
20:30.
Denrid was killed with his eyeballs ripped out.
A fatal situation: the party’s only mage was dead.
Max blamed Jack, who had been with him.
He said it while letting his rough, savage emotions show as they were.
"You should’ve done something!"
"I’ve said it over and over, I couldn’t do anything at all."
"It was a mistake to leave Denrid to you! You should’ve stayed with useless Luka!"
"It wouldn’t have mattered who had been here. That monster was that kind of existence."
Jack calmly explained what had happened then.
When the lights went out, Denrid used magic to light them.
Then, right in front of him, he heard a sound.
A lackey in shabby clothes appeared like lightning, ripped out Denrid’s eyeball, and vanished.
The communication link cut out for a simple reason.
Because he was in shock and could no longer continue the spell.
Denrid thrashed in pain and died from excessive blood loss.
It all happened in an instant.
What could Jack have done in that situation?
It was the same as meeting a teacher in class and getting your arm broken.
Denrid broke the rules.
So he paid with his life.
That’s all there was to it.
But.
Max could not easily accept it.
Which made sense, because he was emotional.
More than figuring out the truth right now,
it seemed more important to him to vent the negative emotions in his heart—anger, anxiety, and the like.
So he kept lashing out at Jack, calling it responsibility and all that.
There are people like that sometimes.
For Jack, who had lived in the slums, it was a familiar thing.
The conversation kept dragging on and on.
The heated argument did not escalate into a physical fight. That was truly a relief.
It was just two hurt people glaring at each other.
Silence spread through the hallway.
No matter whether the two of them fought or not, Denrid’s corpse grew cold.
"Max. Let’s stop here for now. And I think it’d be better if we talked again after we’ve calmed down."
Jack was mature.
It was annoying. He was human, after all.
Haa....
But.
Fighting among allies in this dungeon was suicide.
Even with Max throwing a fit about responsibility like a maniac.
He tried to smooth over this insanely frustrating situation.
Max bit his lip.
Even the most impatient, short-tempered person would be able to notice that simple truth.
"Shit."
"Wait, come to think of it, Luka isn’t here."
Jack asked one last question to Max, who had turned his back.
While picking up the rolling eyeball and closing Denrid’s eyes himself, he spoke.
"He’s probably resting because his arm hurts, or maybe he’s out investigating."
As if it had nothing to do with him.
Max left the bloodstained hallway without hesitation.
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20:40.
"……."
What now.
What should he do.
With Denrid, who had played the most important role, gone, it felt like he couldn’t breathe.
Even if they spent the whole day exploring this vast school, it wouldn’t be enough.
And with classes, teachers, the lights going out, there were far too many things getting in the way of exploration.
He had been hungry for a while, and his thirst was worse than he expected.
His mouth was dry.
His head was already hot, and now a cold glass of water felt desperately precious.
If you don’t drink water, you die.
Before he found the faculty office, the future of dying of thirst loomed before him.
"Shit."
Max swung his fist.
Crash!
The window shattered, and blood flowed from his fist.
No matter how hard he tried to think positively.
This shitty, disgusting reality kept tormenting him like this.
He felt like his head was about to go to pieces.
Outside, he couldn’t feel even the wind.
The blood dripping down the back of his hand fell into the void.
"Max."
When he heard the voice, he withdrew his arm.
Turning his head, he saw Luka.
"Why."
"I searched around and found something amazing."
"…You found something amazing?"
Luka nodded.
"Yeah. I found a place where we can get water."
"…Is that really true!?"
Luka’s lips were moist.
It was proof that Luka had already drunk water, even though they still hadn’t found the faculty office.
Max was excited.
He was already on the verge of going crazy from thirst.
At the rare good news after so long, his face briefly lit up with joy.
"Yeah. But where’s Jack? Did you reconcile?"
"He stepped away for a bit to cool off. Anyway… where is this place where you can drink water?"
Luka guided Max to the 10th floor.
The signs that marked the rooms were unusually mounted on the wall, not the doors, like in classrooms.
The gender could be identified from the pictures.
At each entrance, a person wearing pants and a person wearing a skirt were drawn.
Max went inside.
Luka followed behind him.
"If you lift the iron bar up here, water comes out."
Swoosh—
Water poured out.
Max plunged his face into the sink like a dog and drank.
His dry mouth was moistened, and a cool freshness flowed down his throat.
"……."
It felt like being reborn.
The bleak reality vanished before his eyes.
Who knew drinking water could be such a happy thing?
If he were a slightly more emotional person, he would have cried right there.
Haaah…….
"I’m glad to see you looking happy."
Happy, huh.
Normally, Max would have gone berserk and said, 'Happy? In this hopeless situation?'
But.
Like Luka said, since coming to Dreamland, this was the happiest moment he’d had.
So he brushed it off without much thought.
"Where’s Jack?"
"Who knows."
In any case, they desperately needed a person right now.
Even though he had argued with Jack.
Personal feelings were not important right now.
At least until they got the escape scroll, they desperately needed the help of others.
Max wasn’t unaware of that.
"Phew, from now on, it would be better to set a separate meeting place."
"Yeah…."
Troublesome.
With Denrid’s death, the communication spell could no longer be used.
"From now on, I’ll have to think of a new way to explore."
Max took Luka and began searching for Jack, who had split off from them.
Then.
He was able to find him without much trouble.
"There you were. I’m really glad Luka’s safe too."
"Sorry."
Jack looked relieved.
"Next time, don’t disappear without saying anything. I was worried."
"Yeah, but that…."
Luka let the end of the sentence trail off.
Jack was wearing the leather armor he usually wore.
He was carrying a backpack with water and food in it, and he even had a knife in his hand.
"Did you find the faculty office?"
Jack nodded.
"Yeah. The faculty office was on the 8th floor. Our supplies were in the storage locker, so our water and food problems are completely solved now."
Another sweet piece of good news.
The corners of Max’s mouth quietly lifted.
.
.
.
.
.
Jack had really found the faculty office.
After leading the others there, the protruding sign read 'Faculty Office.'
Max cheered inwardly.
He had already decided to run away.
Denrid was dead.
Luka’s arm was crippled, and Jack was fine, but.
There was no way they could clear the dungeon like this.
They still had to clear Area 1.
They had two escape scrolls.
One had been stored in a safe place.
Even though it was a shame to have to use one now.
'Let’s bring in the slaves. We need to bring as many as we can.'
This exploration taught him a lot.
Next time, he silently vowed, they would tackle Dreamland more efficiently.
But.
Thump—
A stinging sensation shot through his back.
Before he could even turn his head, his body toppled forward.
Thud—
Max tried to stand up.
He couldn’t move even a single finger.
It wasn’t a dungeon trap.
The ambush just now was understandable.
"Max. You have an escape scroll, don’t you?"
The culprit was Jack.
"……."
"You were definitely planning to slip out on your own. Watching you throw a fit after Denrid died, I was 100% sure of it."
Jack tucked the syringe into his inner pocket.
Purple liquid clung to the tip of the long needle.
It was probably poison.
But.
As a helper, Max had the ability to revive once.
If the poison spread and his heart stopped, his broken arm would ironically regenerate as well, so there was no problem.
Jack was strong, but Max was stronger.
"It’s just a paralytic poison. It won’t cost you your life, so relax."
"Jack…."
"I’m sorry for showing you an ugly side of myself, Luka. But I thought that if we wanted to increase our chances of surviving in this dungeon, there was no other way. For now, trust me and watch. It won’t be bad for you either."
Jack lifted Max by the nape of the neck.
Then he dragged the burly man’s body along as he headed for the faculty office.
"Mm…."
Luka’s expression looked complicated.
But Luka didn’t try to stop him.
'Damn it! Damn it! My body won’t move!'
If it had been a lethal poison, he could have simply died, revived, and killed Jack afterward.
But what Jack had administered was truly a paralytic poison.
With his consciousness intact but unable to move his body properly.
The only thing Max could do was watch helplessly.
In front of him were four white cabinets.
Nameplates labeled Jack, Denrid, Luka, and Max were attached to each one.
Of them, only Jack’s cabinet had been opened.
"In the faculty office, you can only take your own belongings. I’ll borrow your hand for a moment."
"……."
Jack directly controlled Max’s arm.
He successfully opened Max’s cabinet and took out the escape scroll inside.
"Max. You definitely planned to get out of this dungeon. And then come back in with a few more people next time. You were definitely thinking that, right?"
Jack wasn’t a mind reader.
Still, Max’s thoughts were simple enough to read.
"Denrid, me, and Luka all trusted you and followed you… You can’t just try to run off alone like that."
Jack did not use the escape scroll.
Instead, he threw it to the floor like something useless.
Without hesitation, he lit a match.
Whoosh!
Right before Max’s eyes, the escape scroll burned.
The very essence of the Space School.
The most expensive piece of paper in this world burned away without a trace.
Max blinked hard.
He had no idea what the hell that crazy psychopath was doing.
It wasn’t even his to use, so why burn it?
"You said it. That I ran away after abandoning Denrid… I may have been born in the slums, but I don’t betray people. No matter what happens. I’m not someone who even thinks about escaping alone like some people do. So I burned it. Because I thought Luka, Denrid, and even you with your awful personality were all in the same boat."
"……."
"Hey, Max. We can make it out alive with the mana stones we have."
"Ah…."
"I thought this was the best thing for our party. Some people work hard because they only have one life and one chance, but if someone else doesn’t work hard because they’re thinking about the ‘next’ time, that’s pretty unpleasant, isn’t it?"
There is no next time for us.
We’ll clear the dungeon with everything we’ve got on this expedition.
Jack kept emphasizing it over and over.
Until the paralysis wore off.
"Max. We’re finally on the same boat in the truest sense. And for the record, don’t think pointless thoughts. You’re not someone who doesn’t know that cooperation is the likelier option."
Max stared blankly as Jack walked away.
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"Huh?"
Jack looked down at the floor intently.
He must not have noticed it earlier because his attention had been on the faculty office.
He reached out and picked it up.
【Exploration Log of the Strange School】
【Written by: Newbie】