Chapter: 424
In the 99th floor of the Academy Dungeon, I returned to the entrance, feeling annoyed, and thwack struck the wall with my mace.
Even with my mace fueled with rage, the wall didn’t budge.
Seeing the tiny dent appear and vanish on the wall, I lost my patience and bang bang started hitting the wall like a madwoman until I was too exhausted and fell flat on the ground.
‘… Grandpa, what time is it now?’
[Since you entered around morning, it should be around 7 or 8 o'clock by now.]
‘How long have I been here?’
[Umm, about four hours?]
‘Four hours of wasting time here…’
Looking up at the dungeon ceiling, I bit my lip and buried my face in my hands.
I was so frustrated I couldn’t endure it.
I had figured out the gimmick existing on the 99th floor a long time ago.
There are a total of four paths at the entrance of the 99th floor, and at the end of each path exists another dungeon.
To open the way to the 100th floor, I need to defeat the bosses in all four dungeons almost simultaneously.
I say “almost” because there’s a bit of leeway allowed.
From what I’ve observed while grinding so far, it seems like they allow a grace period of about 1 minute.
After defeating one boss, returning to the entrance within a minute seems to confirm that.
This kind of gimmick is common in RPGs with raids.
In other words, it’s a gimmick that cannot be used in single-player games.
How can one player deal with two bosses so far apart at once?
There wasn’t even this kind of gimmick in the Soul Academy.
Even if there are NPCs that can be used as party members, I can’t just have them hunt the dungeon bosses on their own.
Of course, now that there are no game restrictions, it wouldn’t be weird for such a gimmick to exist.
As long as the party members cooperate well, anything can be strategized.
Since I can’t collaborate with my party members, that means I can’t strategize!
‘If I had known this would happen, I wish they hadn’t put restrictions on solo strategizing!’
Blaming my past self, I stomped my feet and let out a deep sigh before slowly getting back up.
Having figured out the gimmick of the 99th floor a long time ago, I kept trying various approaches, believing there must be another method.
The philosophy of the Academy Dungeon is that anyone should be able to conquer this place, so I believed there’d be some way presented even for a friendless loser like me.
But my struggles were in vain.
Every time I narrowed down my options, I only concluded that I couldn’t move on without four people.
No. The professors who created this dungeon really thought of everything and blocked all variables.
Not too long ago, I tried provoking the dungeon boss to lure it out.
But as soon as the dungeon boss crossed the entrance, it just poof died!
At that moment, I could only laugh out of sheer disbelief.
If it were an ordinary person, wouldn’t they have already complained about giving up on this sh*tty dungeon?
Ah. But not me.
If I were a normal person, I wouldn’t have been stuck playing a game like Soul Academy for years.
After countless failures, I developed determination and vowed to conquer this dungeon by any means necessary.
– Lady Allen. The dungeon door will close in 5 minutes.
Hearing the notification from the Academy, I took out my notebook from my inventory and scribbled down the information I just learned.
About how much damage the boss in the fourth path took before falling.
And my estimation of the boss’s HP based on everything I’ve tried so far.
What do I plan to do now?
It’s simple.
In the end, I just need to defeat the four bosses at once!
Whether one boss is slowly dying or goes down in one hit doesn’t matter.
[Lucy, no matter how I think about it, that method doesn’t seem normal.]
‘That’s true.’
I don’t think this is the standard strategy either.
Maybe if I start gathering clues from below again, there could be another way to strategize alone.
But now that I’ve gotten stubborn, it doesn’t matter anymore!
With determination, I am going to break through this dungeon in my own way!
Finishing my notes, as soon as I exited the Academy Dungeon, I dashed into the back alley.
There were several items I urgently needed to get.
*
As Arthur’s party repeated their strategies until the entrance of the Academy Dungeon would close, they succeeded in reaching the 99th floor where Lucy had been.
Since they didn’t have time to strategize, they could only take mental notes of various factors inside, but their eyes were still filled with enthusiasm.
Because Lucy Allen was still lingering around the 99th floor.
Having previously rushed ahead through various constraints, now they were even with Lucy Allen’s capabilities.
Arthur’s party gathered to discuss as soon as the dungeon door opened tomorrow morning to strategize.
“The biggest clue for us is that Lucy Allen couldn’t conquer that dungeon.”
At Arthur’s words, Joy and Phoebe nodded.
Lucy is a person who knows everything about the dungeon.
The chance that she is stuck there not knowing the gimmick of the Academy Dungeon is practically nonexistent.
After all, it was Lucy who entered alone and reached the 99th floor in just one day.
Surely, the reason Lucy was stuck at the 99th floor was something she couldn’t solve alone.
“The most likely scenario is if there’s something that requires magical knowledge.”
“Hm? Isn’t Lucy Allen good at magic?”
As Arthur expressed his confusion, Joy shook her head with a laugh.
“I thought so too, but I found out I was mistaken.”
Not long ago, when Joy attended a magic class with Lucy, she realized she had been under a misunderstanding.
There was a clear look of confusion on Lucy’s face.
She could provide a pathway for wizards but didn’t actually know much about magic herself.
Even after sharing this anecdote, Arthur still looked puzzled.
“What’s strange about it?”
“But you know, that Lucy Allen always got excellent grades in magic-related tests during her first year.”
Since Arthur was directly below Lucy, he recalled that fact, making Joy tilt her head in confusion.
It certainly was strange. How could someone not understand magic yet perform well on tests?
“We’ll ask Lady Allen directly later. It wouldn’t make sense for us to discuss it now.”
Paying no mind to their doubts, Phoebe suggested that they opened their minds to all possibilities and shared her opinion.
“For now, the most likely possibility is that the structure is one she can’t conquer alone.”
“I also agree with the saintess’s opinion. If it weren’t something unreasonable, she wouldn’t seem to be stuck.”
The structure of the dungeon that Arthur observed lent weight to Phoebe’s opinion.
The four branching paths and the underground existing at their ends.
If we pass through the easy underground that one person could tackle, we would encounter various mechanisms.
Every time we activated those mechanisms, the paths changed.
It’s still hard to draw a conclusion since there are a few tests yet to try, but Arthur thought there was a high chance Phoebe was right.
However…
“But then it wouldn’t match the ideology of the Academy Dungeon.”
The purpose of the Academy’s dungeon is that any student should be able to conquer it.
While lack of strength is unavoidable, not being able to use magic, not being able to wield divine powers, or not being able to lift a curse isn’t permitted as an excuse for failing.
“That shouldn’t change for this time either.”
“Oh.”
Just as Arthur frowned, Joy suddenly gasped.
“Did you figure something out, Joy?”
“It’s not about the dungeon strategy. I think I understand what the Dungeon Studies professors are thinking.”
“What does that mean?”
“Third Prince, think about it. Is there anyone besides Lady Allen who wants to see the end of the Soul Academy Dungeon alone?”
“Not really. Who would have such a crazy idea?”
While it’s true that those entering the Soul Academy are the elite of the kingdom, the difficulty of the Soul Academy dungeon is also tailored to those elites, so individual prowess doesn’t carry much meaning.
Even Arthur would shake his head if asked if he could ascend from start to finish alone unless he’s Lucy Allen, the exception.
Having thought that far, Arthur understood what Joy was getting at.
“The professors intended for it to be impossible to overcome the 99th floor alone?”
“Exactly. Last time Lady Allen showed them a splendid dungeon; this time, the professors prepared something fun for her.”
There’s only Lucy Allen who can deliver herself to the 99th floor alone.
So the Academy professors prepared something for Lucy Allen, and she was currently wandering on the 99th floor without noticing it.
“… Something tailored for the exception that is Lucy Allen.”
Arthur shook his head, thinking whatever awaited them seemed dreadful.
“If this assumption is correct, we can lay the premise that the 99th floor of the Academy requires personnel.”
“Yes. Let’s narrow down the possibilities based on that.”
While the three of them began a heated discussion, excluding Frey who seemed bored and was sleeping slumped over the desk, Lucy Allen found the back alley of the Academy street and began telling Alsatine’s subordinate about the things she urgently needed right now.
“… Are you planning some sort of terror?”
The subordinate of Alsatine expressed a voice filled with disbelief after looking at the list.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.