Chapter: 423
I was mapping out the Academy Dungeon in my head as I ascended.
It wasn’t like I was already preparing for the next.
The Academy Dungeon has a minimum of over ten configurations.
Knowing just one of them, what’s going to change right away?
Of course, I plan to memorize all of the dungeon’s layouts.
I intend to devise an optimized route from that!
However, the reason I’m currently wandering through the Academy Dungeon is not for the future, but for now.
As I analyze the structure of the dungeon, trends naturally become apparent. I’m trying to guess what the next gimmick might be based on that.
And what I felt while doing this is that this dungeon has certainly been heavily influenced by me.
There are parts where blatant clues and subtly inserted hints are mixed together.
It’s a battle focused on breaking the gimmicks, but there are aspects where brute force can break through.
Even in areas where I’m sure I have strayed from the examiners’ intentions, there are conclusions prepared.
Just look at right now.
When I purified the ghouls that swarmed on the 49th floor with Divine Magic, they thanked me and then vanished.
They even tried to throw me clues.
Thanks to my irritation telling them not to mess around, it ended as a close call.
Ah. Now that I think about it, it really annoys me. Why do they try to spoil the fun when I didn’t even ask for it?
Dungeons are supposed to be about conquering the unknown, so why do they try to steal my enjoyment?
Grumbling, I arrived at the boss room and opened the door without hesitation.
What awaited inside was a shapeless liquid.
It had strength. Weakness. Divinity. Corruption. Grossness. Nothing. It felt so empty that it instead possessed the power to terrify a person.
What a monster I’ve never seen before.
Could it be a new creation?
As I watched it slithering on the ground, I moved my shield when the liquid shot out like a spear.
Clang!
The impact felt through the shield was fairly strong.
If someone not used to fighting had taken that hit, they would have died right away.
I wonder if the first years of the Academy will end up traumatized while strategizing in dungeons.
I dodged the incoming series of strikes by twisting my body and tried to smash the center of the liquid with my mace.
With a splash! the liquid sprayed everywhere, but its attacks didn’t stop.
So physical attacks are meaningless, huh?
Next, I tried attacking with Divine power, but it was the same this time.
Even while scattered, the liquid aggressively continued to attack me.
Hmm. This doesn’t seem like something that can be simply smashed by hitting it.
As I dodged attacks shooting from the splashed liquid, I looked around the boss room.
A dark cellar made of stone. Shards of glass scattered here and there. Several magic circles on the floor, now blurred.
Taking all of this in, I realized the situation had become troublesome and murmured to myself.
This looks like a place that definitely requires magical knowledge.
[So, the moment of truth has finally arrived, huh?]
‘…Grandpa. Why do you speak as if you’re excited and not worried at all?’
[Because worrying about you inside the dungeon is the most pointless thing to do.]
I couldn’t help but agree with my grandfather’s words when thinking about them from the opposite perspective.
Considering the extraordinary conduct I’ve shown him so far, it’s normal for him not to worry.
But despite the rational acceptance, my annoyance couldn’t be helped.
If the one who should be advising me is munching on popcorn, it’s only natural to get heated!
That’s fair revenge!
‘Oh dear. My hand slipped~’
<...Lucy?! What the…>
I subtly tossed Grandpa into the liquid and grabbed a spare mace from my inventory.
Compared to Grandpa, it was truly a trash item, but it was nothing that would hinder fighting this boss.
This guy is not an opponent that can be dealt with brute force.
Watching Grandpa wriggling in the goo, I chuckled as I avoided the mass of liquid trying to crush me and turned my gaze back inside the boss room.
For now, nothing looked visually appealing to me. All I could say was that everything here was disgustingly repulsive.
But the weakness detection was different. It was clearly highlighting a spot where the boss did not want to be exposed.
The problem is that it’s right in the middle of that filthy liquid.
Ugh. Just thinking about jumping in there is a bit much.
What should I do?
Oh, right. I just remembered there’s no need for me to jump into that liquid.
I can just blast it away from the center!
Having concluded simply, I gathered divine power at the tip of my mace.
A regular mace struggled to absorb divine energy, but for me now, it was a piece of cake.
Back when I had just learned to handle divine energy, I stumbled around with it.
Now, handling divine power is as easy as breathing.
As divine energy gathered at the tip of my mace, the liquid seemed to sense something and launched an aggressive attack towards me.
It tried to swallow me.
It tried to crush me.
It attempted to pierce me.
However, all those attacks couldn’t even touch my shield.
The signs of attack were so obvious that they were impossible to dodge.
Thus, reaching close to the center of the liquid, I jumped up and struck down on its center while unleashing the divine energy contained in my mace.
With that, the liquid, unable to withstand the impact, splattered everywhere, revealing the spot identified by my weakness detection.
At first glance, there was nothing visible.
Is it somewhere below? Alright. Then let’s use my mace once more.
…Huh? Why is the head of my mace missing?
Did it just explode along with the liquid when it burst?!
As I chuckled in disbelief, I discarded the weapon with only the handle left and gathered divine power into my fist.
And then, the moment I slammed my fist into the ground, the hidden space and the boss manipulating the liquid above the magic circle appeared.
Hmm. So that’s why I couldn’t detect the presence below. There were all sorts of magic to hinder detection on this floor.
Quite a bit of effort went into this.
But now, that’s meaningless.
As the mage controlling the liquid saw me, he tried to cast magic himself, but…
It was faster for me to grab his neck and pound him.
With the controller of the liquid gone, the gooey substance flowed into a hole.
Watching him grimace as he fell, I quickly caught Grandpa with my fingertips.
Ugh. Seriously. I wonder if purification magic can clean this up.
What if it doesn’t? But luckily, purification magic played its role in cleaning the goo without issue.
Confirming the now pristine state of Grandpa, I nodded vigorously and held him tightly in my hand.
‘Grandpa, I’m sorry. It was my mistake.’
<...Mistake? Mistakeeeeee?>
‘You really must have had a tough time. But at least it was for a moment, right? Now you’ve cleaned up.’
[Are you really saying that now?!]
“Ugh!?”
I jumped in shock from Grandpa’s booming voice, and I had to reluctantly sit cross-legged on the dirty floor while receiving his scolding.
[Lucy! You lack respect! Zero respect! Back in my day! …]
Ugh. I guess I was a bit too reckless this time.
Next time, I’ll do my best not to let it be obvious that it’s intentional.
If I just pretend I took a blow and casually drop it, it should be fine.
[Are you listening to me?!]
‘I’m listening! I’m listening! So please don’t shout too loudly. It gives me a headache.’
*
Arthur, who had fallen while strategizing against the boss on the 90th floor of the Academy Dungeon, opened his eyes outside the dungeon.
The sky, which had been bright before entering the dungeon, was now tinged with sunset.
Is it already this late? Staggering to his feet, he sighed heavily, feeling hunger pangs from his empty stomach.
He had been moving non-stop since he entered the dungeon after breakfast, so it was natural for him to be hungry.
For now, maybe he should eat dinner and continue the strategy until the entrance of the dungeon closes.
Thinking this, he stretched and shifted his gaze to the board showing students’ scores.
Just this morning, Arthur’s group was at the top, but now another name had replaced it.
Lucy Allen. She had entered the dungeon a day late due to restrictions and had now surpassed Arthur’s group.
Despite various restrictions imposed, she had still reached that point.
“Looks like ignoring Lady Allen’s complaints and imposing more restrictions should have been the way to go.”
Joy, who had been kicked out of the dungeon, spotted Lucy’s name and let out a self-deprecating laugh.
They were already moving at an overwhelming speed compared to the other students, yet Lucy had surpassed them all on her own, leaving them feeling defeated.
“Already at the 99th floor, huh?”
“I guess it’s impossible to turn things around now, no matter how hard we try?”
“Probably right.”
“Ugh. Damn. There’s nothing we can do. Let’s just go eat. We can worry about what kind of harsh punishment Lucy Allen will unleash later.”
Arthur’s group, realizing that the difference was not something they could catch up with through speed alone, decided to wait for Lucy to return while eating.
However, Lucy Allen did not come out until they finished their meal.
When they returned to the entrance of the dungeon after finishing their meal, Lucy Allen’s name remained firmly at the 99th floor.
As Arthur tilted his head, Joy asked the young lady nearby how long Lucy’s name had been there.
The young lady from the Rumley family blinked in surprise and stated it seemed to have been for about two to three hours, but a male student next to her corrected her.
“She’s been stuck on the 99th floor for exactly two hours and twenty minutes. There must be a problem.”
After hearing the male student’s words, the four exchanged silent glances and rushed back into the dungeon.
The bet between them and Lucy Allen was far from over.
*
In the Academy Dungeon on the 99th floor.
I was running through the dungeon with the momentum to conquer it in a day but found myself blocked by a wall just before the end.
What’s the problem, you ask?
It’s not that the monsters are impossibly strong.
The motto of this dungeon is that all academy students should be able to conquer it, so there’s no way there’s something I can’t handle.
It’s not that I don’t understand the gimmick either.
No matter how creative the professors of the academy may be, in the end, they are all NPCs in the game.
To someone like me, who overcame all the nitpicking from outside the game, it’s nothing.
So what’s the issue?
Simple.
99th floor.
This damn place is structured in a way that cannot be conquered without a four-person party!
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