As I climbed the Academy Dungeon, I mentally sketched out a map.
I wasn’t preparing for the next level just yet.
The Academy Dungeon is designed with at least ten different configurations.
What difference does it make if I know one of them?
Of course, I plan to memorize all the dungeon’s layouts.
Through that, I’ll be able to optimize my route!
But the reason I’m not just rushing through and exploring the dungeon now is for the present, not the future.
By analyzing the structure of the dungeon, patterns naturally start to emerge, and from that, I try to guess what the next gimmick might be.
And as I continued, I realized this dungeon definitely had a lot of influence from my own work.
The blatant clues and the subtle hints mixed together.
The focus of the battles seems to be on overcoming gimmicks, but there are also areas where brute force can work.
And there are parts that, despite seeming to deviate from the creator's intentions, still offer a solution.
Even just looking at it now, I could tell.
On the 49th floor, when a bunch of ghouls appeared, I purified them with holy magic, and they thanked me before disappearing.
They even tried to give me a clue, though it ended up being nothing after I got annoyed and told them to stop.
Ugh. It’s really annoying when they try to spoil things I haven’t seen yet.
The excitement of conquering an unknown dungeon is what makes it fun, so why do they have to steal that from me?
Grumbling, I arrived at the boss room, and without hesitation, I opened the door and stepped inside.
What awaited me was a shapeless liquid.
It had no sense of strength, weakness, holiness, or corruption. It didn’t feel disgusting either. It was so empty that it unnervingly had a power that was frightening in its lack of definition.
I’d never seen a monster like this before.
Could this be something new?
I watched the creature crawl on the floor, and just as I saw liquid shoot out like a spear, I raised my shield.
Clang!
The shock that reverberated through my shield was fairly strong.
If someone unaccustomed to combat had taken that hit, they probably would have died right there.
I wonder if some of the first-year students tackling this dungeon will end up with PTSD from this.
I dodged the follow-up blows by twisting my body and then struck at the center of the liquid mass with my mace.
With a squelch, the liquid exploded outwards, but the attacks didn’t stop.
Physical attacks didn’t seem to do much.
I tried using holy magic next, but it was the same.
Even as the liquid dispersed, it still seemed intent on attacking me.
Hmm. This isn’t something I can just break with simple attacks.
While avoiding the attacks from the liquid scattered around me, I surveyed the rest of the boss room.
The dim, stone-walled underground scene. Shards of glass scattered around. Several faded magic circles drawn on the floor.
Taking it all in, I realized the situation had become complicated, and I bit my lip.
This place seems to require knowledge of magic, doesn’t it?
<Has the moment of struggle finally arrived, Lucy?>
‘...Grandfather, why do you sound so excited instead of worried?’
<Because worrying about you in the dungeon would be the most pointless thing I could do.>
I reluctantly accepted my grandfather’s logic after considering it from a different perspective.
Given all the trouble I’ve caused him before, it’s actually normal that he doesn’t worry.
But that doesn’t mean it’s not frustrating.
It’s annoying when the one giving advice is sitting there eating popcorn!
It’s a justifiable revenge!
‘Oops, my hand slipped~’
<...Lucy?! What the—>
Without warning, I threw my grandfather into the liquid, took out an extra mace from my inventory, and prepared to strike.
Though it was a terrible weapon compared to my grandfather, it would do the job here.
This enemy isn’t one that can be defeated with just brute strength.
Watching my grandfather flounder in the murky liquid, I dodged another wave of the liquid as it tried to press me down, and turned my attention back to the center of the room.
There was nothing to see aesthetically; everything here was revolting.
But identifying weaknesses was a different story. The boss, hiding here, had clearly shown me where it didn’t want to be found.
The problem was that this spot was right in the middle of the disgusting liquid.
Ugh, the thought of jumping into that liquid doesn’t feel right.
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What should I do?
Ah, right. I don’t actually need to jump into the liquid.
I can just hit the center of it and make the liquid explode from there.
I reached a simple conclusion and gathered holy energy at the tip of my mace.
When I first started handling holy energy, I struggled with it, but now it was second nature.
I wasn’t even thinking about it anymore as the holy power surged into the mace.
The liquid, sensing something was wrong, launched a violent attack at me.
It tried to swallow me.
It tried to crush me.
It even attempted to pierce through me.
But all of those attacks never even reached my shield.
The signs were so obvious and predictable that I couldn’t possibly take a hit from them.
Finally, reaching the center of the liquid, I jumped up and, with a strike from my mace, unleashed the holy energy.
With a resounding crash, the liquid exploded and scattered, revealing the weak point I had identified.
There didn’t seem to be anything obvious on the surface.
Is it below? Alright, let’s try again with the mace.
...Wait, why is the head of my mace gone?
Did it break when the liquid exploded?!
I chuckled in disbelief, staring at the remaining handle of the mace. I threw it aside and gathered holy energy into my fist.
When I slammed my fist into the ground, a hidden space appeared, and with it, the boss controlling the liquid from a magic circle.
Aha, I couldn’t sense it before because there were all sorts of spells on the floor to block detection.
They really put a lot of effort into this.
But now it’s useless.
The wizard, who had been manipulating the liquid, tried to cast a spell when he saw me, but I was faster.
Before he could even move, I had grabbed his neck and crushed it.
With the liquid controller gone, the murky liquid flowed into the hole where the boss had been.
I looked down, my face twisted in disgust, as I watched the mess unfold.
I grabbed my grandfather by his fingertips as he started to fall with the liquid.
Ugh. Should I purify this with holy magic?
I was worried that it might not work, but fortunately, the purification magic did its job and cleaned up the mess.
Seeing my grandfather looking clean again, I nodded to myself and held him tightly.
‘Grandfather, I’m sorry. I made a mistake.’
<...A mistake? A mistake?!>
‘You must have had a hard time. But it was only for a moment, and now you’re clean again.’
<Is that what you call an apology?!>
"Ugh!?"
I yelped as my grandfather’s loud shout rattled me to my core, and before I knew it, I was forced to sit on the filthy floor in seiza, listening to his lecture.
<Lucy! You have no respect! No respect! Back in my day...>
Ugh. I think I went too far this time.
Next time, I’ll try my best not to let it look intentional.
If I just take a hit and act like I had to let go, it should be fine, right?
<Are you listening to me?!>
‘I’m listening! But please don’t shout so much. My head hurts.’
After falling out while tackling the boss of the 99th floor of the Academy Dungeon, Arthur opened his eyes outside the dungeon.
The sky, which had been bright when he entered the dungeon, was now bathed in the glow of the setting sun.
Has it really been that long? Stumbling to his feet, Arthur felt his stomach growl with hunger and let out a deep sigh.
He hadn’t rested since entering the dungeon after breakfast, so it was no surprise he was starving.
Should he grab dinner and continue exploring until the dungeon entrance closed?
As he stretched, he glanced at the board with the students’ rankings.
Just this morning, his group’s name had been at the top, but now another name was etched there.
Lucy Allen. She had entered the dungeon a day late due to restrictions, but now she had surpassed Arthur’s group.
Even with all the restrictions they had imposed, it seemed like this was the result.
“Looks like I should’ve ignored Lady Allen’s complaints and imposed even more restrictions.”
As they exited the dungeon, Joy saw Lucy’s name and let out a hollow laugh.
They had been moving at an overwhelming pace compared to the other students, but Lucy had overtaken them all by herself, which left them feeling deflated.
“She’s already at the 99th floor.”
“Even if we fight back now, it’s impossible to catch up, right?”
“Probably.”
“Ugh. Well, it can’t be helped. Let’s eat first and worry about what kind of awful punishment Lucy Allen might give us later.”
Arthur’s group, realizing they couldn’t catch up, decided to eat while they waited for Lucy to come out.
However, Lucy Allen didn’t appear even after they finished their meal.
When they returned to the dungeon entrance after eating, Lucy Allen’s name was still fixed at the 99th floor.
Arthur tilted his head in confusion as Joy, nearby, asked a noblewoman when Lucy’s name had first appeared there.
The noblewoman blinked and guessed it had been there for a couple of hours.
A nearby male student corrected her, saying, “It’s been exactly two hours and twenty minutes. Something must be wrong.”
After hearing the male student’s words, the four of them exchanged silent glances and rushed back into the dungeon.
The bet between them and Lucy Allen wasn’t over yet.
At the 99th floor of the Academy Dungeon, determined to conquer the dungeon in one day, I found myself blocked by a wall just before the final stretch.
What’s the problem?
It’s not that the monsters are impossibly strong.
After all, the dungeon’s motto is that all Academy students should be able to conquer it, so there’s no way I can’t handle it.
It’s not that I don’t understand the gimmick.
Even if the professors at the Academy are creative, they’re still just NPCs from the game.
For someone like me, who has overcome all kinds of absurdities outside the game, this is nothing.
So what’s the problem?
Simple.
The 99th floor.
This damn place is built in such a way that it can’t be conquered without a four-person party!