Chapter 9: Relay Dungeon

Following Princess Prisia Lily into the dungeon, this notification window appeared. I naturally assumed this was an F-rank dungeon.

But when I defeated the boss monster of this F-rank dungeon, the [Triangle Snake], a new notification window appeared.

The difficulty of the F-rank dungeon had risen to E-rank, and the appropriate level had jumped from 5 to 30. The moment the dungeon exploration ended, the changed information left me bewildered. I immediately recalled the absurd notion that dungeon difficulties increased so rapidly they were treated as normal. "This can't be... a relay dungeon?"

"A relay dungeon? What is that?"

"....."

I stared at Princess Prisia Lily with a grave expression as she asked me about relay dungeons. She still had no idea how serious the situation was.

[Relay Dungeon] was an event-type dungeon created by the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠developers of Fairy Masters to satisfy both veterans and newcomers alike. Players would first tackle an F-rank dungeon. Clearing the boss of that F-rank dungeon would then generate an E-rank dungeon. New fairies could be added at that point, but existing ones could not be withdrawn. Each time a boss was defeated, a higher-grade dungeon would appear, eventually culminating in an S-rank dungeon. Players simply obtained rewards matching their party level and ended the exploration, which made the relay dungeon satisfying for both veterans and newcomers.

From this alone, there was no reason for me to panic. Like in the event, I could simply end the dungeon exploration and return to Indigo. 'The exit notification hasn't appeared.'

A relay dungeon issued an exit notification after clearing one stage to challenge the next difficulty. But right now, that notification had not appeared; the difficulty had simply jumped to E-rank. 'If clearing the E-rank dungeon also leads straight to D-rank...'

With Princess Prisia Lily here, I could utilize my full knowledge to strategize the clear. But with my current stats, even a D-rank dungeon would be impossible. If the exit notification still failed to appear after clearing the E-rank dungeon and it jumped straight to D-rank...

'I must not jump to conclusions yet.'

In Fairy Masters, once a dungeon exploration began, the party could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not retreat until it ended. But this was reality with the game system applied, so perhaps leaving the dungeon was possible. It was still too early to despair.

"Alan?"

"... Nothing. More importantly, the monster I just killed seems to be the boss monster of this dungeon. I defeated it and obtained a class."

"Oh, really? What class did you get?"

"[Voodooist] class."

"Voodooist... Not bad at all. You use a sword, after all. I would have preferred a mage or healer class... This is my mistake for not telling you earlier."

Princess Prisia Lily smiled while looking simultaneously pleased and regretful. Looking at the class distribution of her faction, Princess Prisia Lily was [Voodooist], Ivan here was [Voodooist], and Kyle who remained in Indigo to guard the mansion was [Warrior]. All were close-range classes.

Right now, what Princess Prisia Lily's side most needed was a healer or ranged dealer to support allies from the rear. 'And that side belongs to Prince Bison Trilly's forces.'

Prince Bison Trilly's class was [Mage], and one of his fairies was [Healer]. Unlike Princess Prisia Lily who lacked rear support, that side lacked frontline power. That was why the two princesses and the prince had joined hands to confront Hwaryongwang by filling each other's gaps.

And from that conversation, I had gained one important piece of information.

'The princess and prince have no intention of staying allies until the end.'

Right now, with Hwaryongwang as a common enemy, they had joined hands. But once he was dead, they would be ready to put a knife to each other's throats at any moment. And that applied to me as well.

'I need to prepare for being eaten by my own prey.'

I had no intention of becoming the hunting dog that gets boiled and eaten by its master after the rabbit hunt ends. Rather, I wanted to become the hunting dog that eats the master.

'Of course, the most important thing right now is to survive and leave here.'

"By the way, did you just call that fellow the boss monster?"

"Yes, that's right."

I nodded at Princess Prisia Lily's question. There was no need to hide the information. Moreover, she knew more about this dungeon than I did. She had far more actual dungeon exploration experience.

But suddenly, Princess Prisia Lily uttered words I had not expected.

"That fellow is not the boss monster. We call it a pre-boss monster. It's a kind of key to enter the real dungeon. The real boss monster is separate."

"... Huh?"

What kind of nonsense was this?

*****

Since I could not stay here any longer, we moved to the corridor beyond the collapsed wall. It was not my opinion but Princess Prisia Lily's decision.

"From here on, Ivan and I will lead. No matter how much Alan-ssi obtained a class, the monsters appearing now are on a different level."

"Leave it to me, Master! I'll show you a far cooler sight than that little runt!"

'That bastard?'

Ivan's words grated on me, but I decided to ignore them. Since he promised to make things easier from behind, I had no reason to refuse. Moreover, in an E-rank dungeon, my attacks would not work on the monsters.

I watched the alluring hips, or rather the back, of Princess Prisia Lily walking in front of me while gripping my sword.

'What the hell is going on?'

The gap between the knowledge I had from my previous life and reality here was far greater than I had imagined.

The notification window I should have seen had not appeared, and Princess Prisia Lily, who had explored this dungeon far more than I had, claimed the Triangle Snake I had just killed was not the boss monster.

'It was definitely the boss monster.'

If Princess Prisia Lily had seen this notification window, she would have known the Triangle Snake was the boss monster. But if she did not know that...

'... Could it be that she cannot see the notification window?'

The hypothesis that had flashed through my mind. If that were true, it was only natural that Princess Prisia Lily did not know the Triangle Snake was the boss monster.

'The notification window only appears for me?'

If this hypothesis was true, it would be an enormous advantage for me. It was only natural and familiar for me to learn dungeon information through the notification window that appeared upon entering the dungeon.

While others had to experience it with their bodies, I could obtain the information simply through the notification window. Naturally, I would always have an advantage in preparing for dungeon explorations.

'No matter what, I will finish the dungeon exploration following Princess Prisia Lily. I will temporarily forget about Fairy Masters' dungeons and focus on learning in this reality's dungeon.'

Having organized my thoughts, I focused on the two people in front of me.

While I had been an expert in dungeon explorations in my previous life, this was my first experience in this reality.

*****

Although the dungeon's difficulty had risen, the dungeon name had not changed. What this meant was that the appearing monsters remained unchanged.

Shhh—! Shiiick—!

Snake monsters rushed toward Princess Prisia Lily. Because the grade had increased, they were overall larger than the snake monsters I had killed.

"Hah!"

Princess Prisia Lily swung her rapier aggressively at the charging snake monster. Every time she swung her sword, a sweet fragrance was released.

'It was the Lily Sword Art, wasn't it?'

From the sweet fragrance, I realized she had used the Lily Sword Art skill. This world allowed skill use without even naming the technique!

The Lily Sword Art was a rare-grade skill. When activated and swinging the sword, a floral scent was released. Monsters under the influence of the scent had reduced accuracy, and the skill user gained +1 to mana stat for 5 minutes.

'The overall difficulty has increased.'

The boss Princess Prisia Lily in my memory from Fairy Masters did not have such a skill. She was an easy boss with only two normal-grade skills.

But the reality's Princess Prisia Lily possessed three skills, one of which was rare-grade. She also had the normal-grade trait [Calm Strategist] that allowed her to maintain composure during combat. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Her level and grade were also higher than what I remembered.

'This is a reality advantage or something?'

"Hah!"

Princess Prisia Lily took a deep breath and thrust her rapier at the snake monster. It was an attack aimed at the eyes. The snake monster, unable to respond in time to the surprisingly fast attack, simply received the eye strike.

What was surprising was what came next. White mana spurted from her sword, manifesting an exact replica of the rapier's blade that simultaneously pierced the opposite eye.

It was the effect of one of her skills, [Double Thrust].

Shaaak—! Shaaaaaaaak—!

In an instant, the snake monster that had lost both eyes writhed in pain. Princess Prisia Lily did not finish it off but retreated. The monster was over 2 meters long, so if it writhed, she might have been injured. I would have retreated as well.

Thud—!

Shaaaaaaaak—!

Seizing the opportunity, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Princess Prisia Lily struck the gap between the eyebrows with her rapier once the snake monster's writhing had calmed. The snake monster trembled and then collapsed.

"Uha ha ha ha ha! Die! Die! Dieeeet!"

Next to Princess Prisia Lily, her fairy Ivan was wildly swinging his double-headed axe at two snake monsters.

Because he possessed the rare-grade trait [Earth's Blessing] that increased vitality stat by 2 points while standing on the ground, he showed no signs of fatigue despite swinging the axe so fiercely.

Krung—!

"Where do you think you're going, you cheeky bastard!"

When the snake monster lunged, he used the normal-grade skill [Pillar of Stone] to erupt the ground and block the attack.

Clang—! Clang—!

Ivan quickly chopped the heads of the two snake monsters with his axe.

"Hee hee! How was it, Master? Did I fight well? I'm far stronger and cooler than that little runt, right?"

'That little runt' Ivan meant, of course, was me. Damn little brat.

"Heh heh. Yeah, you fought well. Good job."

"Hee hee hee!"

Princess Prisia Lily smiled sweetly and kissed Ivan on the forehead. Ivan looked overjoyed, as if about to leap.

'That bastard's status window...'

'As expected, he's far stronger than me.'

After confirming Ivan's status window, I let out a bitter smile. How many dungeon explorations and growth stones did I need to be able to say 'damn little brat' or 'cheeky little brat' to Ivan's face?

"Let's keep moving, Alan."

"Yes, Princess."

The dungeon exploration continued. All I had done was follow behind them.

"Hah!"

"Die! Die! Die!"

How much time had passed? Princess Prisia Lily, who had defeated at least fifteen snake monsters, looked at me.

"Now let's return to Indigo."

"Huh? You didn't defeat the boss monster?"

"Yes. Embarrassingly, with my current skill, I cannot defeat the boss monster of this place."

I nodded at her words.

Indeed, though she was rated 2-star, Princess Prisia Lily at only 21 levels and Ivan at 1-star 16 levels could not defeat a 30-level boss monster.

'As expected, unlike the game, you can just leave here.'

It was truly fortunate for me. If the party could not retreat until all members were wiped out, this place would become my grave.

We returned to the dungeon entrance, having collected only the snake monsters' horns.

And,

"T-this is...!"

I saw the soldiers guarding the dungeon entrance dead. An arrow was stuck in each of their heads.