Currently at Floor 93.
As I was shortening the time by jumping off the cliff, I realized that free falling was much more thrilling than I had anticipated.
When I first threw myself off the cliff, I was lighthearted, thinking it was just like this. But as I continued to fall endlessly, my thoughts gradually changed.
If something similar happens next time, I should choose a safer route.
This is not something I want to do twice.
<Hey, girl. I want to ask you something.>
As I was watching the long hair fluttering in the air above, the old man spoke up.
‘What is it? Make it quick. I need to time this right, and it’s a bit intense right now.’
Even I can't stay intact after the impact of the fall. If I can’t offset it midway, I’ll take the fall damage and end up retiring.
Since it’s the academy dungeon, I would be thrown out of the dungeon the moment I take the impact, but I don’t want to experience this fall twice, so I’d like to succeed in one go and finish it.
<Then I’ll ask after we’re done.>
Now that I had jumped off the cliff, twenty seconds had passed. It was time to pull a scroll out of my inventory.
I prepared in advance, and before long, the seemingly endless fall was nearing its end.
I spotted the ground made of gray rock.
Not yet.
It’s not time to release the scroll yet.
A little lower.
Lower still.
After waiting and waiting...
R𝑒ad lat𝒆st chapt𝒆rs at free𝑤ebnovel.com Only.
...
Now!
I timed it perfectly and released the magic contained within the scroll.
What I was summoning was a storm.
A massive wind from the valley below surged upwards.
As my body accelerated with gravity, it gradually began to slow down.
Eventually, when my falling speed approached zero, I was about three meters above the ground.
Not long after, the magic from the scroll ended, and I found myself back under the influence of gravity, landing on the ground.
I must have written it a bit hastily due to my fear. If this were a game, I would have taken fall damage.
It’s certainly a huge difference between clicking a mouse through a monitor and doing it in reality.
If it’s not a moment where my life is at stake, it’s better to choose a safe path. A little mistake here could mean instant death.
I organized my hair, which was a mess from the fall, and called out to the old man.
‘So, grandpa, what do you want to say?’
<Is there a professor among the academy’s faculty who manages this place?>
‘There is.’
<Then that person must have seen your entire strategy.>
‘...Um, I guess so?’
<They will surely ask you various questions in the future.>
Hearing the old man’s words, I imagined it.
I, the one who created the dungeon, having someone else strategize in an outlandish way to conquer it.
First, they would probably wonder what they were seeing. It would be so amazing it would border on absurdity. Eventually, they would become curious about who that crazy girl was. And when she comes out, they would pull her aside and interrogate her about this and that.
They’d ask how on earth she could come up with such a strategy.
‘How should I explain this?!’
I lacked the confidence to explain my strategy. If this were a game, I could proudly boast about how I conquered it in this way and that, but this isn’t a game world!
<Why are you asking me? I don’t know. I have no confidence.>
‘Exactly!’
Ugh. There’s no way to turn back what’s already been done.
Once the matters related to the idiot prince are over, I’ll think about it slowly.
If it doesn’t work out, I’ll go with the unlucky genius concept.
Can’t believe I couldn’t even come up with this idea? It’s fitting for a mediocre academy’s mediocre professor. That kind of thing.
I would surely look like someone who needed a slap in the head, but what could I do? There’s no other way.
With a sigh, I kept my feet moving forward. Toward the end of the academy dungeon.
Having skipped the strategy from floors 93 to 99 by falling off a cliff, now there was only one remaining.
Floor 100.
The place where the boss guarding the dungeon awaits.
<Are you sure you can go without resting?>
As I grabbed the handle leading to the boss room, the old man voiced his concern.
His judgment was correct. My current state was far from perfect.
No matter how good my stamina is.
No matter how I didn’t take the normal route and indulged in all sorts of antics.
I had rushed from the first floor to the hundredth in barely half a day.
I wasn’t exhausted to the point of not being able to move, but it wasn’t the best either.
Normally, it would be right to take a sufficient break to regain my strength before moving forward. However, I didn’t do that.
I wasn’t obsessed with records. I’ve done speed runs to the point of disgust in the past. I had long since let go of that obsession.
So why was I so eager to move forward without resting?
The answer to that was quite simple.
Because facing the boss that exists ahead was something I could handle in my current state.
‘Don’t worry. It’ll be over soon.’
<What kind of antics are you planning this time?>
‘It’s not antics.’
While there are glitches here, those methods are only possible in games. They cannot be applied in reality.
<Then?>
‘It’s the straightforward method.’
Since it’s the end, I should swing my mace a bit.
Having grasped the handle of the door, I skillfully prepared for battle.
I spread the divinity throughout my body.
Strengthening myself with various divine spells.
Restoring my health and magic by drinking potions.
And finally, draping divinity over my mace before opening the door.
As I did so, a dark figure appeared in the center of the room.
The final boss of the second-semester dungeon that informs about various gimmicks.
A being combined with corruption.
That creature tests whether I have properly conquered the numerous gimmicks that exist so far.
Originally, it was a troublesome boss that needed to be defeated after overcoming all the gimmicks from the first to the ninety-ninth floor, but there were other methods.
Looking at that ominous exterior, it was clear; that guy is a boss of the necromancer type.
So if I possess a certain level of divinity, I can simply drag it down in a direct contest of strength.
The moment I stepped into the room, the door closed behind me, and the boss in the darkness smiled with a red grin.
Seeing him, I also smiled back.
“Just by smiling, you can make someone sick!♡ Is it true that the more repugnant the opponent in this dungeon, the higher they are placed?♡ It suits the top floor well!♡”
It’s time to smash some skulls.
Confirming the door leading to the next floor, Seasil retracted his aura and let out a long sigh.
Having moved almost nonstop for nearly half a day since entering the dungeon, he felt exhausted.
No matter how physically capable Seasil was, he couldn’t help but feel tired.
For the other party members, their condition was even more serious. After confirming the boss’s death, they collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath, finding it hard to utter a single word.
Seasil, observing them, was convinced that continuing the strategy any further was impossible.
But this was enough. They had conquered more than half of the dungeon on the first day. Tomorrow, they would see the end of the academy dungeon.
Ha. Am I setting a new record that will go down in academy history?
Crushing Lucy Alrn and erasing the record that my brother had set in the past, inscribing my name above it?
Imagining that scene, Seasil leaned against his sword and chuckled before addressing his party members.
“We’re going back. We’ll rest thoroughly today and finish this tomorrow.”
As Seasil stepped outside the dungeon, he enjoyed the sunset before turning his head the other way.
He wanted to check the rankings.
Naturally, my name should be at the top, but where exactly was Lucy Alrn’s name?
Considering her abilities, it was highly likely she was following closely behind me.
As he thought this and shifted his gaze towards the rankings, Seasil froze at what he saw written there.
His expectations were off.
To be precise, part of it was right, and part was wrong.
Seasil’s name and Lucy’s name were written side by side in first and second place, but the order was reversed.
[Lucy Alrn. Current Floor 100. Conquest Completed] [Seasil Soladin. Current Floor 60. Conquest in Progress]
Above was Lucy Alrn. Below was Seasil Soladin.
Seasil, who had resorted to every dirty trick to seek victory, had lost to Lucy.
Conquest completed?
Completed the conquest?
Before even a day had passed?
...What kind of nightmare is this?
The moment Seasil, who checked the rankings, froze, a voice came from behind him.
It was a slightly high, clear, and beautiful voice, which made it sound even more irritating.
“Have you finally come out? To keep a lady waiting is truly rude. No, you’re so incompetent that you can’t even manage to be polite, can you?”
Lucy Alrn.
The rival Seasil had decided to compete against.
The one he was determined to defeat at any cost this time.
She was staring at Seasil with a perfectly neat appearance that was hard to believe she had just entered the dungeon.
“...How.”
Seasil’s voice slipped out naturally upon seeing her.
How had she already conquered the dungeon?
Isn’t that impossible?
The path through the dungeon?
Seasil knew that too.
The strategy?
That was the same. He had prepared for the conquest.
The method for hunting the boss?
He knew all that.
So the conditions should have been exactly the same. Then it would be normal for their superior specs to allow them to be faster, right?
So why?
Why?
How did Lucy Alrn surpass us, me?
Why on earth!
“Did you bring the professor with you?”
“I’m sorry, but unlike you, the idiot prince, I don’t need help to conquer such a pathetic dungeon. I can handle it alone. I’m a competent genius, you know, unlike anyone else.”
“Did you use underhanded methods?”
“Underhanded? I just told you, I’m different from you, idiot prince!”
She had entered the dungeon alone.
She hadn’t used underhanded methods.
But then how did she conquer the dungeon faster than me, than us?
It didn’t make sense.
No matter how capable she was, there were limits.
All other conditions being the same, there shouldn’t be this kind of gap!
There could only be one reason for such a difference!
Unless she possessed greater fighting power than me, this shouldn’t happen!...
With veins showing in his eyes, Seasil glared at Lucy Alrn, who was now drawing her sword from her waist.
“Prove it.”
“What should I prove?♡ The incompetence of the idiot prince?♡”
“That you are stronger than me. Therefore, it’s only natural that you have such overwhelming results.”
I would like to declare a duel.
Lucy, who had been staring at the tip of Seasil’s sword, suddenly burst into laughter.
A laugh filled with disdain, containing ugly thoughts, that seemed to dig into his ears and stick to them.
Ignoring even the frown on Seasil’s brow, she continued to laugh before covering her mouth with her hand, her eyes smiling as she said:
“I don’t want to.♡”
“...What?”
“Why should I?♡ The incompetence of the idiot prince has already been proven; I don’t want to drive that point home.♡ It’s called consideration.♡”
“...”
“Well, if you want to make a request, shouldn’t you show some proper politeness?♡ Would you like to lick my feet?♡ Oh, that won’t do either.♡ That would be disrespectful.♡”
Seasil’s face turned redder than the sunset as he moved his feet, and the black aura surrounded his sword.
The overwhelming power of the sword that had split countless enemies’ heads.
Even if it had weakened compared to the past due to many expenditures during the dungeon conquest, it was still a powerful sword.
The sword Seasil was most proud of.
That sword was thrust towards Lucy Alrn.
“Surprising an opponent like this?♡ There’s a limit to how filthy one can be, don’t you think?♡ Ah, so the idiot prince is such a fool that he doesn’t even know that?♡ Heh. I understand now♡.”
The sword did not reach Lucy Alrn.
Before it could touch her, the shining white shield she had summoned blocked Seasil’s sword.