45 - Dungeon Survey Drill (3)

The exam began, and our party moved through the magic tower to the Heln Mine.

Heln Mine. As the name suggests, it's a mine. This place used to house a kobold mine, with so many caves that it became a temporary monster lair at one point. Of course, now that the major holy artifacts in the area have been purified, any remaining monsters have lost their power.

In any case, we were assigned to one of the many mine traces that hadn't been fully investigated yet, tasked with checking the progress of the purification. Cull the appropriately weakened monsters, collect a sample of the black mana concentration from the dungeon core, and done. That's what the academy calls a "Dungeon Survey Drill."

But what kind of mess would the main characters stumble into? Big incidents, big accidents. In other words, this place was absolutely not some picnic spot for freshmen.

...

-Whoooong!!!

-BOOM!!!!

-Pssshhh...

The ground shattered. A crater nearly two meters wide. Two golems with a faint greenish tint to their earthen hue began massacring the spiders.

"See? That's how you break through spiderwebs! Yeriel sunbae! Burn 'em with fire magic!"

-Whoosh!!

Yeriel's elemental magic incinerated the haphazard webs. The golems had fire resistance anyway, and with her precise control, our side took zero damage.

Not bad... a proper strategy, I guess.

"Who the hell's gonna catch 'em all with some lame-ass~ attacks like that?"

"Lily, ease up on the trash talk..."

"Huh? Lily... wasn't pointing fingers at anyone specific~."

'...'

Obviously aimed at me, but Edwin—with his lower rank and zero contributions—must've felt the sting, keeping his head down in silence.

And there we stood at the first fork.

"Huh...?"

Like Lily's twintails, paths split left, right, and both ways. As everyone pondered, I—who already knew the answer—jumped in first.

"Left. See those stalactites on the right? Earth spider tracks. They're too fast for golems to handle."

I activated 1-circle Light magic and swept the cave surface for show. Lily bit the bait hard.

"Hold up, who asked for your opinion?"

In a standard party, the tank leads, but scouts or archers checking ahead first is textbook. Still, Lily was firm.

"Lily's going right."

"Let's hear Lev out this time..."

"You doubting Lily right now? That jerk dissed my golems!"

"She was really just a kid..."

In the end, Lily threw a tantrum, and we headed right.

...

-Chiiiiiissssh!!!

-Sssshhh!!!

"Gah... eugh!!! What the hell are these creepy bastards!"

-Thud!

-Thud!

Palm-sized, fluffy black-and-yellow striped earth spiders. No wonder Lily hated spiders—straight from the setting bible.

"G-get away from me!"

And they were faster than expected. Even weakened by purification, monsters crave survival and reproduction. Let one latch on and block your vision, and it'd drain your life force into a dire situation.

"Die! Die already!"

-Thump!

-Thump!

The golems' sluggish moves couldn't block them all.

"Uwaaaah!"

-Slash!

Even Edwin's spirited swing fell short.

-Chiiiiiik!

-!!

Spiders breaching the front line—golems and Edwin—charged toward mid-line Yeriel and Aria.

"Everyone, fall back!"

Yeriel, true to her upperclassman status, summoned a blazing wall of fire.

The spiders' advance halted momentarily. I loaded my crossbow. Gotta earn those points.

Deep breath. Activate Wind Archery.

What we needed now...

As if reading my mind, spiral winds gathered at Gray Scatter's firing position.

"You, I said stay put! What're you doing?!"

"Hide behind the golem. You too, Edwin."

"Huh?"

-Pew-pew-pew!

I pulled the trigger, and azure wind streams poured out refreshingly.

-Whoosh...

The winds fueled Yeriel's Fire Wall into a wave of flames engulfing the spiders.

It happened in an instant. The cave lit up, hot winds blew, then—

-ROOOARRRR!!!!

-CHIIEEEEEEK!!!!!

-Chiiiii...

Only the stench of burning spiders remained.

"Ugh... *cough*!"

While Yeriel cast ventilation magic, Lily—hiding behind the golem to dodge the flames—poked her head out to check. Then she stormed up to me, fuming.

"That was dangerous, you idiot!"

"If we'd gone left like I said, none of this."

"What? Blaming Lily?!"

"Almost did."

"...Grrr."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

No comeback, so her face flushed red as she whipped her head away. Childish brats get childish responses—that's just human nature.

...

Dungeons are mazes by design. Losing your way is par for the course. So, another fork appeared.

"...Ugh!"

Enjoying Lily's flustered backpedal, I struck first again.

"Left again. That echoing wall on the right screams trap."

"...I told you to shut it..."

Lily's volume had dropped since last time. Of course, the "echo" was just my plausible BS.

This time, Edwin piped up first.

"Lev, you sure...?"

"Probably."

I kept it vague on purpose. Sentiment leaned my way, and as Edwin moved left...

"Then, left it is..."

"Nope!"

Lily blocked him.

"Lame-o's just guessing! This time it's really right..."

"Lily, accepting party input counts toward teamwork score."

Even Yeriel sided with me. I approached Lily stone-faced.

"If we go right, you taking responsibility?"

"Wha...?"

"Even if shit hits the fan?"

"O-of course!"

With that, she marched ahead. Yeriel shot me a worried glance, but I just nodded.

* * *

Reincarnated Hero's Hell difficulty is no joke. Every moment's a kill-or-be-killed, not just monsters but betrayals and schemes lurking. Like any roguelike, players face endless "choices." Survival hinges on them, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠especially in loot-tempted dungeons.

And this run—me possessing the body—is a step beyond Hell mode.

Per the novel, Selena would've scouted true paths instead of me, and an A-rank frontliner replaced Lily for a smooth clear. The issue was only the raid-boss "Flame Oni" later.

...

Lily's choice's consequence: zombie kobolds.

'EXP, sweet EXP.'

Goblin-dog hybrid looks. Lucky for us, numbers high but mostly melee—no full party comp.

-Kyaak?

They spotted us and charged.

Normal kobolds obsess over loot like mad; black mana made 'em goblin-tier vicious.

Sure enough, they swarmed the easiest target: small-framed, big-hatted Lily.

-Kyaarr!

"Kyaa!"

Lily's scream as a golem punched one flying.

-Kuuuung!!!

-Keeeak!!!

Edwin followed up, slamming his sword vertically for the kill.

"Uwaaaah!"

-Squelch!

-Keguk...!

But just one.

-Scraaaape!

Kirrik!

Chilling stone-scraping from the front. Kobolds surrounding and slashing.

One slipped the golem's blind spot and lunged at Lily.

"...!"

Her panicked face in the rearview—

-Swoosh!

-Splat!

A crisp shot, wind pressure ringing. Wind Blade - Burst Shot pinned its corpse dangling on the cave wall.

-Fwooo...

The gust unbalanced nearby kobolds around the golem.

-Keherr??

Aria whispered, "Now."

Her holy chant lit the area.

-Kerruk?

-Kerrrr!!!

Long in the dark, off-balance—they tangled and collapsed.

-Pew-pew-pew-pew-pew!!

Wind streams poured from Gray Scatter again.

...

'No named bosses yet.'

Our AoE skills plus one golem sacrifice cleared the kobold zombies. Less EXP than hidden dungeons, but solid stat gains.

Exhaustion from the forced march killed chit-chat.

-Pause.

"Again...?"

Final fork.

I went first, as usual. "Left..."

"I know! I was gonna go left anyway..."

Cutting me off, Lily bolted.

No asking opinions now.

She stepped in—and

-Shoooo!

-Krunch!

-Uwoooo...

Her last golem crumbled like ash.

"Ah...?"

Cumulative damage plus trap, probably.

-Shiver...

Like a kid post-horror flick, Lily's shoulders trembled. Then she rounded on me.

"...Y-you said left! Why'd this happen?!"

"Listen all the way next time. Was gonna say left's the trap, right's correct."

"...!"

Shocked by my wordplay, she hung her head.

"And didn't you say you'd ignore me?"

"..."

"You'd take responsibility, right?"

"..."

Thoroughly cowed. Just clutching her skirt folds desperately. Pitiful, even.

"Lead on. Dungeon core's farther now thanks to you."

At my prod, she glanced around. Maintaining two golems guzzles mana. Aria burned holy power assisting. Edwin was spent, slumped recovering. Yeriel seemed okay but tired from babysitting Lily.

Lily, facing her mess, whimpered to herself. "Just... resummon..."

Straight up. Golems respawn easy. But that's why she ditches summoner for dragon tamer.

Summoner Lily: pampered rich girl, spoiled with the best, bratty exterior but soft-hearted—shaken each time a familiar dies. Hence seeking unkillable summons: dragons.

(Kaeran's schemes and gaslighting, of course.)

This arc crushes her spirit.

"Hmm. Ten more golem sacrifices to the core, maybe...?"

"Guh... guh..."

"...?"

Her oversized hat bobbed twitchily.

"WAAAAAH!"

My deadpan line broke her dam.

"I h-hate you! Waaah... I hate you! *sob* B-but why'd you do this to meee?!"

...That was the reason?