Chapter: 326
“What in the world is happening here?”
Luca, unable to comprehend the scene on the screen, approached Jesel. Given that she had been involved in the dungeon’s design, he thought she might have some insight. But Jesel was just as perplexed.
“I have no idea.”
She didn’t know why such a phenomenon was occurring either.
After all, the academy’s artificial dungeons were constructed by human hands. No matter how intricately prepared, there would inevitably be shortcomings.
Maybe that phenomenon was just a glitch that arose during the dungeon’s creation.
What could have caused such a glitch?
While Jesel rummaged through his mental blueprint of the dungeon, the red magical energy pulsating outside the door began to dwindle.
The last desperate move of the frail being was a grand spell intended to obliterate everyone in front of it.
Even though the frail being’s specs were set high, it wouldn’t be able to maintain such a massive spell for long.
Magic that had lost its target had to dissipate without breaking anything.
As the outside fell silent, Lucy Alrn, who was hanging onto her mace, kicked down the door, revealing the frail being lying helplessly on the floor.
With eyes streaming with blood from anger and hatred, he glared at Lucy as she landed in the corridor.
“You!”
“Why? ♡ You’re the one who didn’t use magic, right? ♡ You’re the coward who stopped because you were afraid your own stage would collapse! Why are you mad at me? ♡”
Ah, that’s what it was.
After hearing Lucy’s words, Jesel finally understood the situation.
The door at the end of the corridor led to the stage created by the frail being.
To break that door meant he would be breaking his own stage.
For the frail being, who could only exert its power on stage, it was unthinkable to break that door.
Was this a trick that could be used only by someone who understood the dungeon better than anyone else?
In order to clear the dungeon in the shortest time possible, she was using every means at her disposal.
Jesel, with a bitter smile, watched as the frail being turned to ash and checked the time.
“5 minutes and 48 seconds.”
“What?”
“The time it took Lady Alrn to clear the dungeon.”
Wow! To clear the dungeon that most academy students couldn’t conquer after a week of effort—all in under 6 minutes!
Lady Alrn really can’t be measured by common sense.
“Amazing.”
“Indeed.”
Jesel nodded at Luca’s excited words.
What a pity.
If only she weren’t the last bloodline of the Alrn family, he would’ve done everything to ensure she pursued academia.
*
“Prince Arthur.”
“Joy. And the Saintess.”
“The reason Lady Alrn is showing this is undoubtedly—”
“Ah, that’s probably it. There’s no other reason to do this.”
“Ha ha. I never thought someone who turned high society into chaos could change so much.”
*
5 minutes and 48 seconds.
Hearing the time it took for the dungeon run, I pouted.
Choosing the safer route had increased my clear time.
Especially the method selected to skip the boss’s last gambit was the issue.
If I had gone inside the room and skipped the pattern instead of blocking with my shield, I could’ve cut down my time by several tens of seconds.
While I pondered this in disappointment, various alternatives flashed in my mind.
If I improved my build and tried a few more times, I could probably get it down to the 4-minute mark.
But I definitely wouldn’t be satisfied with this record. My pride wouldn’t allow it.
I need to challenge until I set a new record.
[Take it easy, will you? Others struggled for a week, and you did it in 6 minutes.]
“5 minutes and 48 seconds. Make sure you get it right—this is sensitive information.”
[…Sigh. Sure. As long as you’ve made other people’s efforts meaningless in 5 minutes and 48 seconds, what more do you want? ]
Well, speedrunning is originally a competition with oneself, isn’t it?
Even after reaching the top, players spend sleepless nights trying to shave off 0.01 seconds. How could I pass up the chance to potentially cut it down by nearly a minute!?
Recalling the chaotic days of trying to break the Soul Academy speedrun record, I raised my voice, but grandpa didn’t understand my feelings at all.
[For heaven’s sake, just stop. You must have plenty of people waiting for you outside.]
As I reluctantly emerged from the dungeon, the gazes of those in the exam hall turned to me.
Hmm. They all seemed to look at me with that bitter expression.
Wasn’t there any praise like “Incredible!” or “Of course, it’s Lady Alrn!”?
With all the jealousy in the community, if I posted a speedrun video, I’d receive plenty of compliments.
How come the reactions from real people were so cold compared to those online?
[Didn’t I tell you? You made the struggles of others meaningless.]
“Did it look like I was mocking them?”
It seemed they thought I had toiled through such an easy dungeon.
Well, I couldn’t deny I didn’t mean to send that message.
I had to accept the karma I had created.
While I was contemplating this, Luca appeared with the dungeon studies instructor.
“That was truly impressive, Lady Alrn. You left everyone speechless with what you showed.”
“Exactly! Lady Alrn, I never imagined you would breeze through that last gambit so effortlessly.”
Heh. Didn’t I tell you? It was astonishing, wasn’t it?
As I reveled in the two’s praise, a booming voice rang out from the group of students.
“I think the same! Lady Alrn! I was truly moved by what you showed!”
Seeing Rukhbi Kurten flash a smile as he spoke about how he witnessed something great almost made me choke on my words.
Calm down! Any answer I gave would only come across as a thought process like, “Of course, someone like you, who only thinks with muscles, wouldn’t understand!”
I don’t want to increase the number of people who dislike me among those who are already abundant!
I wouldn’t want to provide any ammunition to those who view me with disdain!
As I had those thoughts and mumbled to myself, Kurten turned to the back.
“What do you think? Isn’t the dungeon created by Lady Alrn truly remarkable?”
Huh?
Excuse me?!
Do you not see the mood of the people right now?!
Everyone looks like they’re in a funk!
Why would you ask such a question in this kind of atmosphere?
The people’s reactions weren’t so different from what I had anticipated.
They chose to remain silent in response to Kurten’s question.
While they may not be too fond of me, it was only natural that they wouldn’t voice any dissent against a prince.
Looking at the awkward atmosphere, it seemed Kurten seriously didn’t grasp the situation.
He really must have the brain muscles just like in the game.
Just as I was staring pityingly at Kurten, students began to part. Arthur, Joy, and Phoebe stepped forward.
What? Why are you suddenly appearing? Do you have something to say…
Wait a minute. Are you switching what you wanted to tell me?
You don’t expect to make me do something in front of all these people, do you?!
No way, right?!
You can’t be serious!
You wouldn’t suggest anything outrageous that a pathetic and perverted god would, right!?
I might have done wrong… well, not wrong, but still!
I believe in you!
I believe in your character!
“Lucy Alrn.”
“Yes!”
“What’s this? Do you have something to say, poor prince?”
“We didn’t need to demonstrate the clarity of our method of clearing the dungeon like this.”
…Eh?
What do you mean by that, Arthur, you snob?
I thought I was just fed up with those clueless ones criticizing my dungeon, and that’s why I showcased a speedrun!
It’s just that unless they’re better than me at clearing dungeons, I want them to keep their mouths shut!
“Indeed. Lady, we could have resolved this ourselves without your demonstration.”
Joy? Why are you saying that?
I never thought that deeply!
Come on! Just think of me!
Do I come across as someone with that much consideration?! No way!
“What do you mean? You didn’t figure out the proper way to tackle the dungeon?”
Maybe Kurten felt something strange about Arthur’s words as the first conqueror of the final exam; he tilted his head in confusion.
“Embarrassing, really.”
Phoebe chimed in to answer that question.
She, usually awkward, spoke with a persuasive voice she had honed as a saint of the Church of the Lord.
“We didn’t realize the dungeon’s gimmick. We never thought to return to the starting point.”
“That’s strange what you’re saying, but how did you conquer the dungeon then?”
“We faced the boss head-on and defeated him.”
“…What? Is that even possible?”
“It is! Just as Lady Alrn demonstrated, if you can dispel the final spell…”
With her clear voice, Phoebe seized the attention of all in the exam hall, explaining how they had managed to defeat the frail being.
A frail being that was relatively weak for a freshman dungeon, faced by Arthur and his companions who surpassed the first-year level.
They had been given unlimited opportunities.
“After countless attempts, we reached the conclusion: If we can’t block the spell, why not prevent it from being cast in the first place?”
Although their method wasn’t a proper strategy, Arthur and his friends firmly believed in their concept and, through desperate effort, succeeded in turning their wrong answer into the right one.
“Regardless of the success or not, that’s still a failure in terms of the exam. We didn’t grasp the intent of the examiner.”
Sure. Even Jesel said he couldn’t give them high marks.
But how does this relate to my speedrun?
“Professor Jesel.”
At that moment, as I filled my mind with question marks, Phoebe turned her head.
“Lady, before going into the dungeon, you mentioned you would show us the clearing method, didn’t you?”
“…Oh, my. I hadn’t considered that. In a way, using brute strength is also a tactic.”
Only after hearing Jesel’s words did I realize what they were getting at.
So now they were interpreting my speedrun as a valid clearing strategy alongside their own?
Wait, but that wasn’t my intent at all?!
It made sense but only in theory!
“Oh, Professor Jesel. Of course, we understand our mistakes. We know it’s fair to receive a penalty in our grades. But we just wanted to defend this clumsy person out front.”
“Right! We don’t want to see the lady be hated because of us.”
Arthur peeked at me, while Jesel shot them a satisfied glance.
I had this feeling it was heading down an increasingly irretrievable path.
“Although the dungeon was made well, it was still wicked.”
Suddenly breaking the silence, I turned my gaze to see a familiar face amidst the students.
Even with all those eyes on me, Avery shrugged nonchalantly.
“What’s with the looks? I merely responded to the question posed by Prince Kurten.”
Why is she saying that?
Trying to say nice things won’t change my perception!
“Indeed! It was one of the better dungeons I’ve seen among the many I encountered while in the mercenary group.”
Toby?!
Why are you joining in on this?
Are you expecting something from me?
“I never thought there would be that many clues.”
Visi?
Did Adria put you up to this?
Are you trying to thrust me into debt of gratitude?
“I noticed that you took care to craft the dungeon very meticulously.”
Now…
Who the heck are you?
Who are you to speak in compliments?
“I felt I lacked experience.”
“I felt embarrassed to complain about the difficulty.”
Why are they doing this?
Those who usually regard me with disdain suddenly are speaking kindly!
Wait. Could it be you’re trying to charm those around me?!
Are you trying to create a good image for yourself here?!
That makes sense. There’s no way they’d praise me out of pure goodwill!
“There’s no denying Lady Alrn designed the dungeon.”
“Exactly. If she weren’t the designer, there’s no way she could’ve shown us such incredible sights.”
“…I don’t think being a designer guarantees such a feat, though.”
“Well, Lady Alrn’s prowess in dungeon clearing is well-known.”
They’re completely bowing down to me.
Well, I’ll quietly accept your praises.
Quietly…
I can’t stand it!
No way!
How can I endure this embarrassing atmosphere?!
I’d rather take a verbal lashing!
Why do they keep prattling on about my creativity while avoiding their own shortcomings?
I want them to call me characteristically troublesome!
Agh!
No! I can’t stand this awkward atmosphere!
Since I always faced disdain since stepping out into this world, I lacked resistance to compliments and sought an emergency escape.
But the Mesugaki skill blocked my path.
Why are you doing this to me too!
No, wait! You’ve always been like this! I should wonder why you’re acting this way!
That overconfident Mesugaki should never flee in such a situation! Isn’t that right?!
[Why? Isn’t it you who’s been wanting the praise?]
‘That’s not what I was asking for!’
Someone please get me out of this hell!
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