Victor Seeks a Party #1

The name D&A says it all. This game is, for the most part, about conquering dungeons. You build a party composition tailored to each dungeon’s concept and push through it. The real charm lies in the synergies between party members—the deeper you dig into those combinations, the higher the ceiling you can reach.

One thing I should mention: I had most of those party synergies memorized. No matter the situation, I could always assemble the optimal lineup to clear a dungeon. In that sense, the dungeon I was heading to this time—the Snow Mountain Labyrinth—had a rather peculiar structure.

If you knew the strategy, you didn’t even need to worry about party synergy. Just filling the headcount was enough. Matching synergies was the annoying part; filling seats wasn’t that hard—

—Or so I had thought ten minutes ago.

“I have no friends.”

After the group project, I was reminded of it all over again: Victor’s personal network was painfully narrow. Unlike the protagonist Luke, who approached everyone without hesitation, the rigid and formal Victor only had a handful of acquaintances you could count on one hand.

Everyone he met greeted him with a grimace and lines like “Ugh, Victor,” making it difficult to even bring up the idea of tackling a dungeon together. And yet, I only needed three people.

I decided to ask the ones who seemed most promising. After all, I already knew exactly when and where most of D&A’s characters were likely to appear.

First stop: the café Fairy’s Teacup, located near the student dormitories. If you went there around seven in the evening, you were almost guaranteed to run into them.

And my prediction was spot on.

“A dungeon? You want us to go together to a place crawling with monsters and all sorts of bizarre things where one life is never enough?”

Student number 11 from Class A-1: Melvin. He was a battle-loving, hot-blooded guy who lived for combat.

“Of course I’m in! A dungeon? My body’s been itching for a fight! I was just getting bored, and here you come with something fun, Biego!”

“It’s not Biego. It’s Victor.”

“Same thing!”

His only real downside was that he was clumsy at anything that wasn’t fighting. Like Victor, he was the type who specialized in one thing and lacked versatility in others. Still, his straightforward personality meant he accepted the offer without much hesitation.

“What about you, Diarmuid? You’re obviously coming too, right?”

“Me? Ah, I’m kinda lazy about it. We have class tomorrow, so I don’t really want to stay out too late.”

A handsome blond boy lounging on the café’s soft sofa with a languid expression. This was student number 9, Diarmuid.

“What are you saying, Diarmuid! A hero destined to leave his name in legend can’t back down from something like this! It’s a dungeon! Doesn’t your heart race?”

Melvin grabbed Diarmuid by the shoulders and hauled him to his feet. Diarmuid shook his head as if he couldn’t be bothered to resist.

“Guess I have no choice. I’ll tag along for a light stroll, then.”

Though he didn’t show it, this guy was also quite the fighter at heart. Both of them dreamed of becoming heroes. There was no way they’d turn down a dungeon raid—I had been certain of that.

With those two secured, I only needed one more person. I decided to ask the duo first.

“We need one more for the dungeon party. Do either of you know someone nearby who could fill the spot? It doesn’t ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠matter how talented they are—just someone to take up space.”

“Nope!”

“Not really?”

I see. These two weren’t exactly social butterflies either. You know the type—kids who have one friend they eat lunch with, and everyone else can go hang. The kind who only talk among themselves during breaks. That was exactly them.

In the end, it looked like I’d have to find the last member myself. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I scanned the café. Fairy’s Teacup at dinner time was a hotspot where various characters frequently appeared to trigger events.

As I casually looked around, my eyes landed on a strikingly familiar head of red hair.

“You’re Enio’s lackey.”

“Who are you calling a lackey, you idiot!”

It was Megaira. Enio’s close friend and subordinate. If Enio was Chunhyang, this girl was the chatterbox Hyangdan who followed her around.

It was a little strange to see her alone in a café like this. I glanced around to see if Enio was nearby, but there was no sign of that distinctive black color anywhere.

“Where did Enio go? Why are you here by yourself?”

“…W-why should I have to tell you that?”

“You don’t. There’s no obligation.”

The usually prickly and loud Megaira looked unexpectedly flustered. Was asking about Enio’s whereabouts really that startling a question?

“…Now that I think about it.”

“W-what?”

“When Enio came to the club room today, you weren’t there. I thought it was odd. Don’t tell me… you’ve been abandoned by Enio?”

“That’s not it at all!”

“Megaira, so you’re not even Enio’s lackey anymore?”

“…I seriously want to punch you.”

Victor. That lackey of Victorica’s. ‘Wait, wasn’t he not even a lackey anymore?’ Whatever. The fact that this guy had shown up at the café she’d come to for some peace of mind and was now picking at her nerves was infuriating.

His face was stiff and his tone was rigid, but it was obvious he was mocking her.

“…G-get lost!”

“You were abandoned by Enio, weren’t you? Because of what happened with Enrique. You laughed at me when I was cut loose, but you never thought it would happen to you too, did you?”

“Ugh.”

Had Victor always been this talkative? Without his restraints, his tongue stabbed into Megaira’s heart sharper than any blade.

“I-I told you I wasn’t abandoned!”

“Sure, of course. But you’re in a similar situation at least, right? Otherwise there’s no way you’d be sitting here all alone.”

Megaira swallowed her rage. She had once mocked Victor when his engagement was broken off.

‘If I think of this as karma, I can endure it somehow.’

But then Victor dropped a bombshell.

“There’s a way to solve the problem you’re carrying. Want to come with me to a dungeon? We happen to be short one person.”

A dungeon. Megaira knew exactly how dangerous they were. Truly perilous places. But if you succeeded, the glory and rewards were equally great.

If she cleared the dungeon as Victor suggested, it might resolve some of the issues weighing on her. But the offer was so good that it only made her more suspicious.

Victor. She and this guy were enemies. It was only natural to be wary and suspicious when an enemy suddenly made such a tempting proposal.

“…Why are you offering this to me? We’re enemies.”

“Have you forgotten? I am no longer the Arclight family’s fiancé. There is no reason for us to be enemies.”

It was a logical point, but something about it still didn’t sit right with her. While Megaira ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was pondering with that feeling, Victor continued.

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine. I didn’t ask specifically because it was you. Anyone else would work just as well for this dungeon. Well then—”

Victor and the two men turned to leave the café. At that moment, something like a spark flashed in Megaira’s eyes.

‘Maybe this really is a good opportunity, just like Victor said.’

It would be a shame to let it slip away.

“W-wait!”

The combination of Melvin and Diarmuid was excellent in a party. They were designed from the start to be used as a duo.

As for Victor… even I found it hard to evaluate him. I had never used him in a party before.

But I knew the last member very well.

Megaira. A well-rounded balanced character. She slotted nicely into almost any party. On the flip side, the downside of such a perfectly hexagonal character was that she had “no standout strengths,” which sometimes caused her to be left out of optimized parties.

However, veteran players like me tended to prefer bringing Megaira along. It had nothing to do with her base stats or skills.

The reason was simple…

She had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a lot of dialogue.

Whether it was about the dungeon, food, or items, she had rich interactive lines for everything. She kept things from ever getting boring. I was experiencing that firsthand right now.

“So where exactly is this dungeon? Victor, you’re not lying to us, are you? It’s going to be completely dark soon. A dungeon in that kind of situation—”

She really never shuts up for a second.

“This is the third park near the student council building, isn’t it? Parks are for people to relax. There’s no dungeon here.”

“Be quiet. I need to concentrate.”

I focused on locating the dungeon entrance. The moment Megaira closed her mouth after my sharp rebuke, I took advantage of the brief silence to tap each tile on the park floor one by one.

It felt like spamming the G button all over the place to find hidden interactions.

“It should be near this fountain.”

Tap. Tap.

As I continued tapping the tiles, one square gave off a subtly different sound from the rest.

A faint noise so delicate you’d miss it unless you were listening carefully.

“Here it is.”

All that remained was the incantation to activate the dungeon. Normally you’d have to type it on the keyboard, but since this wasn’t a game, I had to recite it myself.

“—I conceal knowledge upon the white snowfield.”

It was an unfamiliar sentence, but since I had typed it many times during gameplay, remembering it was easy.

Flash—.

The space above the tile I had tapped began to ripple, and a strange blue oval distortion appeared.

The first to react was the warrior Melvin.

“A dimensional gate? No way, something like this was hidden inside the park! I ate lunch here today and had no idea!”

Diarmuid narrowed his eyes at the sight as well.

“Victor, I’ll be honest—I was only half convinced. But there really was a dungeon inside Ludens. So that bizarre chant you just recited was the activation phrase?”

It was too early to be impressed. Once we went inside, they would be even more shocked.

I reached my hand toward the dimensional gate.

The floating text before my eyes felt familiar. It really was just like the game.

As the party leader, I had only one thing to say.

“Once everyone is ready, we will enter.”