’Crackle. Pop.’
Night was falling. Simon sat by a campfire, waiting for the at to cook. It was from the first monster he had successfully hunted in the dungeon, and his mouth watered as the surface turned golden brown, dripping with fat. After two days of rationing calorie bars, he was ravenous.
"Should I add it now?"
He lightly sprinkled on the special seasoning from Hongfeng, then picked up a well-cooked piece and brought it to his lips. It looked plausible enough, like lumpy deer at. Starving, he took a large bite.
’Chew, chew.’
His expression turned ambiguous.
’Is this really at?’
The texture was unlike anything he had ever experienced. If he had to compare it to sothing from the continent, it was less like at and more like a plump mushroom or an eggplant. It was also almost completely flavorless.
Still, with hunger as his best seasoning, he ate. Cooked over a fire and spiced with Hongfeng’s seasoning, it was at least edible. He devoured six pieces in an instant.
"Sothing’s missing," Simon muttered, smacking his lips. The monster had been huge, but its shell made up most of its body, and much of the at was inedible, riddled with tough sinew or contaminated. His butchering skills were also lacking. He walked over to the carcass to see if there was anything left to grill when sothing caught his eye.
"Huh?"
Among the dissected remains, a long, leather-like strap was sticking out. It seed to have been in the creature’s stomach. He carefully grabbed it and pulled. What slid out was none other than...
"A bag?"
A bag had just erged from a monster’s stomach. He quickly sliced open its belly and searched the stomach thoroughly. Inside, he also found a skeleton, presumably the bag’s owner. As a necromancer and an expert on corpses, he analyzed it. The form was primate-like, with a large skull and a clavicle. Though slightly different from a human on the continent, it suggested that human-like beings might exist in this dungeon.
"That aside..." Simon frowned, examining the bag. "How did this survive without being digested?"
Monsters that swallowed their prey whole usually had stomach acid strong enough to dissolve even bone. But this one’s stomach contained no acid at all. The bag wasn’t even damp; its surface was stiff and dry.
’No, that’s not right. This is a dungeon. Don’t get bound by the continent’s common sense.’
Setting the mystery aside for a mont, he rummaged through the bag. Inside, he found a familiar object.
’This is...!’
It was a book.
---
Roc Island. Grand Auditorium.
"Everyone, thank you for waiting!" the emcee shouted into the amplifying crystal, bustling around the podium. "We are currently preparing the video from the next observer, so please wait just a mont! And joining again today is Professor Hongfeng!"
Hongfeng, seated next to him, waved cheerfully.
"Hello!"
The emcee’s face briefly went slack. Hongfeng was a true professional, a stark contrast to the other infamous Kizen professors, and her exotic looks and healthy charm were very much his type. Still, he professionally straightened his expression.
’Honey, Nelly, Daddy’s not getting distracted today!’
He turned to the audience.
"I’m addressing this because we received many inquiries after the first day! As the exam is held inside a dungeon, please be aware that we cannot focus on specific students due to issues with video quality and ti! The dungeon is vast, so we ask for your understanding. Now, Professor!"
Hongfeng smiled brightly."Yezz"
Her hair swayed, and the faint scent of exotic spices tickled the emcee’s nose. He fought to keep his expression from softening.
"Before the video is ready, please give us a brief explanation of dungeons! What exactly are they?"
"Okay!"
Hongfeng pushed her chair back, stood, and walked to the blackboard. She wet her palm with a bit of saliva before picking up a piece of chalk and drawing a circle.
"Thiz continent where we live. Many people think thiz continent is the whole world. But zcholarz believe that besidez our continent—"
She drew several much larger circles around the first one.
"—there iz another world."
"Aha! So you’re saying there’s ‘another world’!"
"Yez! And there are many fragntz that have broken off from thiz other world."
She drew countless small grains on the blackboard between the ‘continent’ and ‘another world.’
"Zo many fragntz of zpace are drifting in the dinzional plane. For zo reason, these fragntz cauze a diztortion in zpaceti on the continent and create an entrance. This is the basis of a dungeon."
"I-I see! I’ve only ever heard bits and pieces about dungeons. This is the first ti I’ve heard such a clear explanation!"
Contrary to the prejudice against her being a Combat Magic professor from the Plains, she was also well-versed in history and academia. Strong, beautiful, and intelligent. Was there anything this woman lacked?
"The origin of the word ‘dungeon’ coz from an incident where a zpatial diztortion occurred in the underground of a now-fallen ancient kingdom, and the monzterz living inside ravaged the palace," she explained, her healthy-looking lips moving as her hair flew with the passionate gestures of her arms. "The appearance of a dungeon bringz paranormal phenona. The dungeon our ztudentz are in now is also..."
The emcee was completely engrossed, listening with a dazed expression, when he noticed a broadcast assistant urgently signaling for him to cut. Snapping to his senses, he shouted, "Ah! Just as you were speaking, I’m told the next video of the students is ready! We’ll continue the professor’s lecture on dungeons right after this, but for now, let’s watch the video together!"
---
Dungeon, Day 2. The students had split into two distinct groups.
"Th-The attacks aren’t working!"
"What is this thing?!"
First, there were the students who still hadn’t figured out how to defeat the dungeon monsters.
"Hey, loser! Throw it straight!" irin barked.
"O-Okay!" Toto squeaked.
And then there were the students who had.
’Tat! Tatatat!’
In this promotion exam, irin had sohow ended up with Toto from her class yet again.
"Now! Loser!"
"Okay!"
At Toto’s command, his skeletons hurled the mineral fruits they were holding high into the air. irin extended her arm, her eyes gleaming with focus.
‘Pierce of Blizzard.’
Precision aiming was her specialty. The perfectly fired ice spikes struck the fruits, guiding them forward to slam into a charging, buffalo-shaped monster.
’THWACK! THUD!’
The monster let out a pained roar as the fruits hit, shattering a part of its mineral armor and exposing bare flesh. irin then unleashed the blazing fireball she had prepared in her left hand.
‘Dark Flare.’
’BOOOOOM!’
The follow-up blast of firepower roasted the monster, which collapsed with a heavy thud.
"Yay!" Toto cheered, jumping up and down.
irin snorted, "Hmph’," and swept her hair back.
’...I never would have imagined a strategy like this.’
For a mont, the misery of the first day flashed through her mind. She’d been so desperate, unable to fell a single monster, that she had taken to climbing trees and trembling until they passed. Now that she’d t Toto and learned the trick, it was ridiculously easy. Her face burned with embarrassnt at the mory of spending an entire night hiding in a tree.
"See, I was right, hehe," Toto said, puffing out his chest.
irin shot him a glare, and he imdiately whimpered and lowered his head.
"Thanks for teaching the strategy, Toto. I’ll be going now."
"M-irin! Let’s go together!" he yelped, scurrying after her.
irin growled, about to chase the dead weight away, but then a thought occurred to her.
"Ah."
She stopped.
"You said you’re in the sa club as Simon, right?"
"Y-Yeah! I’m in the Mutants Club."
"Then do you know Senior Benya well?"
At the ntion of Benya’s na, Toto’s face flushed crimson.
"I, I, I know her! Well! ’Hahaha!"
Seeing him blush and stamr, irin let out a knowing, "Hmph’."
A sly smile played on her lips.
"Hey. You don’t happen to ’like’ Senior Benya, do you?"
"No!!" Toto shrieked, his face beet red. A strong denial is a strong affirmation, as they say.
She chuckled.
"Nice~ You and I might just beco friends."
"R-Really?"
An upgrade from servant to friend! Toto looked up, his eyes wide with hope.
"Of course~ If you end up dating Senior Benya, we could beco even better friends. I’ll help..."
irin trailed off as her eyes fell on Toto’s short, unimpressive stature and, more importantly, his utter lack of self-esteem. She tried to picture the cool, slender second-year standing next to him. No matter how she frad it, the image just didn’t work.
"On second thought, let’s just go our separate ways."
"M-irin! Let’s go together!"
---
anwhile, in the Kizen Grand Auditorium, the footage of irin and Toto hunting a monster with ‘Pierce of Blizzard’ was being shown.
Watching, Hongfeng clapped her hands. "What a great combination! A dizastrouz dizplay of teamwork!"
"Huh?" the emcee asked, startled.
"A dizastrouz dizplay of teamwork!"
"Ah, ahhh...! A ’fantaztic’... display of teamwork...! ’Haha!"
The emcee broke into a nervous sweat.
"Ahem! More importantly, I’m surprised by how few students have figured out the strategy, Professor."
The screen then cut to a montage of students fleeing in terror.
"Wouldn’t it be worth a try to find so ore and hit a monster with it?"
Hongfeng smiled faintly.
"Fighting for your life in a dungeon where you could die at any mont is completely different from watching from a zafe place with a third-perzon’z broad perzpective."
"Ah! O-Of course! That was a thoughtless comnt on my part!"
"Moreover," Hongfeng said, holding up her palm, "you have to conzider the tendenciez of necromancerz. The ztudentz have learned zo, zo much black magic at Kizen. When you are ard with great zwordz and treasurez, it is not eazy to think of picking up a roadzide pebble to attack."
"W-Well, that’s certainly... true."
"Of courze, there are ztudentz who are doing well!"
Just then, Dick appeared on the screen. By the second day, he was already cackling as he strode about, a dozen ore weapons strapped to his back and waist. He had been the first in the entire student body to figure out the strategy.
"Well now! It looks like it’s only a matter of ti before the students figure out how to take down the monsters! So, Professor, in your opinion, are there any students in the footage who have gotten even a little bit closer to the Dungeon Lord?"
As the cara panned away from the various students fighting across the dungeon, including irin’s group, Hongfeng’s smile remained.
"Not a zingle one."
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