Chapter: 40
It was practically a given that Agra would come to interfere with me.
He’s an evil god, after all, and he will never let anyone who could cause him trouble off the hook.
Just look at his pettiness trying to curse someone blessed to eliminate the very seed of their potential!
He never stands idly by and watches his adversaries grow stronger.
I was well aware of this fact.
Yet, I was bewildered because I never expected to be under Agra’s watch so soon in the academy dungeon.
The academy dungeon is different from a regular dungeon.
This space has been artificially created by the academy.
While it presents itself as a dungeon, Agra’s influence here is minimal.
For that reason, intervening in this place must be a burden even for Agra.
In the game, Agra only interfered in the academy dungeon after having someone break more than three curses, completely marking them as his adversary.
Just dispelling one of Agra’s curses shouldn’t have warranted his interference in the academy dungeon.
So why on earth is Agra already eyeing me?
How could he perceive me as a person who annoys him enough to intervene in the academy dungeon?
Could it be because Armadi is keeping an eye on me?
Is he assuming that his blessing is somehow reaching me?
Seriously, what an utterly useless god.
While Agra is trying so hard to stomp out his adversary, how does he just leave the person he’s supposedly watching to their own devices?
No matter what blessing or opportunity he grants, shouldn’t he be obstructing Agra’s interference?!
Right. It’s my fault for expecting a god who didn’t do anything in the game to act differently now.
Just as I was indignantly praying to the worthless god, a strange sound echoed from a corner of the boss room, and a door shot up from below.
That ominous door clearly led into a dungeon.
“…Could a dungeon appear inside another dungeon?”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing either.”
[That’s definitely… Agra’s.]
Seeing the bewildered faces of Joy and Benedict, I felt a pang of guilt welling up inside me.
Both of them were caught up in this mess because of me.
They had no ties to Agra, but Agra’s interest in me had adverse effects on them.
With things having come to this, it was clear that I had to take responsibility.
If anything happens to either of them from now on, it would all be my fault.
‘Calm down for now.’
“Hey, lowly folks. Calm down.”
“How on earth can we calm down in this situation?”
‘The academy must have noticed something. So…’
“No matter how incompetent the academy may be, they must have caught on to this situation. They’ll come to rescue us before we get our heads chopped off.”
Right now, standing here are the young lady of the Arlen family and the young lady of the Partran family.
It’s big news if anything happens to either of them that could turn the academy upside down, and now something is going wrong for both?
If things escalate, there could be a bloodstorm within the academy.
So, if they want to survive, they will do their utmost to resolve the situation.
“…You’re right. They must be observing what’s going on inside.”
“If it’s the professors of Soul Academy, they’ll solve the problem quickly!”
In the game, when issues cropped up during the academy’s exam, users had two choices.
One was to deal directly with Agra’s curse.
No matter what new dungeon or bizarre monsters appeared, it meant overcoming the curse with one’s own hands to survive.
The other option was to wait it out.
If one did not have confidence in overcoming the crisis caused by Agra’s curse, they could simply hang around inside the dungeon.
Soon enough, help from the academy would arrive, allowing one to exit without any danger.
If Joy and Jacob weren’t here, I might’ve chosen to tackle the dungeon myself.
The phenomena triggered by Agra’s curse certainly boasted high difficulty, but that also meant there would be substantial rewards.
But right now, I didn’t plan to make that choice.
What I had at stake wasn’t just my own life.
I couldn’t bear to see Jacob die because of me or see Joy, who was one of my dear characters, perish.
So, I must choose the safest option possible.
At least the current situation wasn’t the worst.
The dungeon created by Agra was manageable.
Had it been another monster or some other curse within this dungeon, enduring it would have been far more exhausting.
But since it’s a dungeon, it’s fine.
No matter how dangerous the place is, it’s still just a dungeon.
As long as we don’t step inside, there shouldn’t be any problems.
So, we just have to wait leisurely outside the dungeon for the academy’s rescue.
“There was really no need to worry. I overreacted.”
‘Nothing will happen.’
“Foolish Young Lady. You’re more frightened than you look? Don’t worry. Nothing will happen.”
“Who said I was scared?!”
Just a moment ago, you were bewildered and didn’t know what to do, yet now you’re trying to pretend otherwise.
Well. Fine.
I suppose I’m a generous enough person to look the other way.
As everyone heaved a sigh of relief, suddenly, Grandpa raised his voice.
[Girl! This isn’t the time to relax! The ground is!]
The ground? Hearing Grandpa’s words, I looked around and heard something cracking.
Crack crack. It seemed like the ominous sound was gradually revealing visible fissures.
Shit!
I moved before I even thought about speaking.
‘Run!’
“Jump!”
While grabbing Joy beside me, I yelled at Jacob to run.
We had to escape this room before the floor collapsed.
Otherwise, we would be forced to fall into the dungeon!
But it seemed that we had realized the room was off too late to escape.
Before we could step out, the floor crumbled beneath us, and we…
*
[…sigh.]
Ah, damn. My head aches like hell.
[…ow!]
And it wasn’t just my head that hurt.
It felt like there was no part of me that wasn’t in pain.
It reminded me of how I’d feel after training with the knights all night and waking up sore the next morning.
[Lucy!]
Who keeps calling me?
Just let me sleep!
I’m filthy tired and aching right now, alright?
I’m a rebel young lady, so surely sleeping in a bit is acceptable!
[Lucy! Wake up!]
The moment I heard Grandpa’s shout, I opened my eyes urgently.
Right below me was Joy, breathing easily with her eyes closed.
What on earth is happening now?
[Have you finally regained your senses?]
‘Grandpa. What on earth…’
[I worried because you lost consciousness from the impact of the fall.]
The moment I heard the word ‘fall’, I recalled what had just happened.
I had fallen because the floor of the dungeon collapsed. Realizing this brought my senses back to reality.
Every part of me felt bruised, and something heavy was pinning me down.
‘Grandpa, is there something on my back?’
[It must be debris from the floor. It’s quite heavy, but you can manage it now. Try pushing it away.]
In times like these, Grandpa’s words were never wrong, so I gritted my teeth and pushed off whatever was pressing down on me.
Before long, with some thud thud sounds, the weight on my back vanished.
Finally free from the rubble, I took in my surroundings.
The scenery of the dungeon looked reminiscent of a place where an alchemist once stayed.
The difference was that previous dungeon was a ruined backdrop after the alchemist had vanished, whereas this dungeon still didn’t have that look of decay.
Wow… crap. This is truly a nightmare, isn’t it?
This is where the alchemist stayed!
At a glance, it seems similar to the dungeon I just occupied.
But the difficulty level between the two could not be more apparent.
So much changes depending on whether or not the alchemist is present.
To put it plainly, this isn’t a place I could conquer with my current abilities.
I simply don’t have the stats for it.
Just like I couldn’t even muster a fight against the Minotaur before, this dungeon carries an equal threat that could turn me into similar monster chow.
Damn Agra.
Did you really want me dead that badly?
“Ugh.”
As I pondered how to survive, Joy suddenly stirred and opened her eyes.
Thanks to having been cushioned by me, she wasn’t badly hurt and slowly rose, scanning the surroundings before speaking in a hoarse voice.
“Lady Arlen, where are we?”
‘Just now…’
“It must be that horrid dungeon that just appeared.”
“…Where’s Young Jacob?”
‘Not sure.’
“I don’t know about that brat either. I just woke up.”
He’s probably somewhere nearby.
He didn’t land too far from us.
Shouldn’t be too hard to find him as long as he doesn’t panic and flail about.
“We need to find him quickly. Ow!”
As Joy hastily tried to stand up, she suddenly screamed and sank back to the floor.
Looking down, I saw that her ankle was completely twisted.
Did she injure herself while falling just now?
‘Joy…’
“A useless young lady. It’ll hurt, but just stay still.”
“W-what?”
Kneeling down, I gently placed my hand on the twisted ankle of the foolhardy young lady.
Who’d have thought I’d need to use Armadi’s mercy during an academy entrance exam?
As a miracle of healing unfolded from my hands, Joy’s ankle instantly returned to normal.
“What on earth is this?”
‘Try moving it.’
“Lady Fool, give it a try.”
Joy carefully stood up again and, unlike before, had no problem moving her foot.
Thank goodness I had the Healing skill.
Otherwise, I’d have to carry Joy around this dungeon.
“Thank you, Lady Arlen.”
‘It’s nothing.’
“Don’t mention it.”
“But…”
[Girl, something’s approaching. Get ready to move.]
As soon as I heard Grandpa’s voice, I turned my gaze to the door.
Who could it be?
A chimera? Or a perfectly assembled golem? Maybe even a beast tamed by an alchemist?
Whichever it is, they’re undoubtedly a dangerous threat to our lives.
Right now, we don’t even know our position, making it hard to run.
Then, something entered through the door—a humanoid thing dotted with countless eyeballs across its entire body.
A waking guard.
Chimera Argos.
That thing won’t do.
I hastily covered Joy’s mouth and whispered to her.
‘Stay quiet.’
“Shut it, Lady Fool!”
The countless eyes of Argos couldn’t see clearly due to their sheer number.
No matter which eye he looks through, he’d see a myriad of afterimages, preventing him from focusing on any single one.
Thus, he wouldn’t suspect still objects.
Because he can’t distinguish between furniture that was already there and a standing user.
At least that’s how it worked in the game.
It should hold true in reality too.
It must be so.
Argos scanned the room before coming to a halt right in front of us.
Countless eyeballs bore down on us.
Go away. Just vanish.
Please don’t gaze at us with those grotesque eyes!
Perhaps my pleas reached him.
Without any provocation, Argos simply left the room again.
After his footsteps faded into the distance, I took my hand off Joy’s mouth, and she collapsed to the floor as if all her tension had vanished.
Tears welled in her eyes that had been struggling desperately against her fear until just moments ago.
“What is this… What is this place?”
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