Chapter 28

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 28

Chapter Title: Dungeon Master

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Before Malang devoured everything, it might be time to head out.

Dreamland, Zone 2.

Today, too, the micro camera captured the intruders.

Yulius had his escape scroll taken.

By the faceless girl, no less.

"Hey. Madeleine, Raid."

The communication magic had been cut off.

That meant the remaining two, including Madeleine, had declared hostility.

He'd half-expected betrayal from his subordinates.

But never this sudden, in this pathetic form.

They'd probably met that woman too, with high likelihood.

To think they'd keep it from him to put him in a bind.

'I was too complacent.'

This was Dreamland.

He should have anticipated that any bullshit could happen here.

"Fuck."

Regret was pointless.

What was done was done.

What Yulius needed to do now was find that escape scroll as fast as possible.

He cast detection magic once more to scan the building's structure.

Roughly speaking, the building was about 80 stories tall.

And quite spacious too.

Assuming he checked every room on a floor, it'd take around an hour per level.

Visualized, it was a repeating structure like this.

The faceless girl had said:

《Hand it over to me. I'll leave it in the staff room, so come pick it up after school.》

Far kinder than the machine at the entrance.

At least it gave him a clue.

'Staff room, after school.'

Two keywords he'd just acquired.

Words straight out of some human academy.

'The escape scroll's in the staff room, and I can retrieve it after school.'

Yulius glanced at the clock on the wall.

What the hell was "after school" anyway?

The term was unfamiliar.

From what he'd heard, academies divided classes into sessions.

Probably sometime after classes ended.

'So when do classes start?'

Here, Yulius had two choices.

1. Kill his subordinates.

2. Find the staff room.

His subordinates had likely just used some rule to try snatching his escape scroll.

Commendable effort, but he had no intention of handing it over easily.

Yulius resolved to kill every Branded Elf in this place.

Finding the scroll could wait.

His subordinates weren't far.

At full sprint, he could close the gap in three minutes.

Yulius was an elf who'd absorbed a Dungeon Master's magic stone.

Even if they ganged up, their odds of winning were minuscule.

One-on-one? Well.

There was no such thing as absolutes in this world, but this might be an exception.

Yulius was certain of victory.

And he'd start with the nearest: Madeleine.

He broke into a run.

Soon enough, Yulius spotted Madeleine.

"You piss-pants little shit."

Yulius clenched his fist.

No weapon, but he could snap the neck barehanded.

"Thought you could backstab me and live?"

"You fucking coward who used us as shields, and now you talk big? Hey, if it was your first bug-human, you'd have pissed yourself too, you bastard!"

Madeleine ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had an ace up his sleeve.

In normal terrain, he'd lose a hundred out of a hundred.

But this was Dreamland.

Outside the window: empty sky.

An endless void of darkness.

If he could shove Yulius out there, victory was possible.

Madeleine burned all his mana to activate the spell.

In that instant, a massive shock slammed into Yulius.

A giant stone hand burst from the wall, shoving him.

Madeleine clearly saw the panic on his face.

"Bye, you fucker."

Crash!

The window shattered.

Madeleine relaxed for a split second—then despaired.

"Crazy bastard!"

Yulius had braced against the unbreakable wall with his whole body.

The fight ended anticlimactically.

An uncrossable gap existed between them.

Yulius charged in one breath and snapped Madeleine's neck.

"Right back at you. Bye, fucker."

Yulius shook out his hand.

Then hurled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Madeleine's corpse out the window.

Of course.

Right within expectations.

"Retard."

It was obvious it'd end like this.

Wasting time resisting pointlessly.

One left.

Yulius used detection magic to track the position.

Then bolted.

He glanced at the clock.

A melody flowed from the speakers.

Yulius halted for a moment.

What fresh hell was this phenomenon?

Soon after.

As the melody ended, his senses screamed to flee the hallway.

It was near instinctual.

Yulius flung open a door and dove into a classroom—but too late.

Slash—!

Agonizing pain from his right leg.

He looked: a clean cut below the knee.

He'd lost his right leg in an instant.

"……."

But.

Right now, Yulius wasn't staring at his severed leg.

He was looking elsewhere.

The hallway was pitch black.

Like the void outside.

If he'd failed to hold on and fallen…

Chills ran down his spine.

Yulius hurriedly shut the door.

"Healing potion… fuck… that faceless bitch took it."

He tore his clothes to tourniquet the leg.

But the bleeding wouldn't stop.

"What about the other one?"

Detection magic.

"Just me left…"

Madeleine died by Yulius's hand.

So Raid must've failed to escape the hallway and died.

"Damn…"

Of course it was the leg.

The wound was worse than imagined.

The road ahead was long.

He didn't even know where the staff room was.

Losing a leg was fatal.

An arm would've been less dire.

The speakers played the melody again.

The hallway returned to normal.

Yulius had to move somehow.

He used a mop handle from the classroom as a crutch.

One agonizing step at a time.

The bleeding wouldn't stop.

Tight pressure did nothing.

Time was running out.

He needed a healing potion ASAP.

About ten minutes later.

Yulius's face lit up.

Luckily, the staff room was nearby.

Grab the scroll there, and he could escape this gloomy dungeon.

But.

The speakers played the quiet melody once more.

Yulius's face twisted in despair.

The classroom door opened.

Yulius crawled out, barely escaping.

Surviving this long was a miracle.

Pure willpower to live had carried him.

"Ah……."

His head spun.

He'd lost too much blood.

To suffer such humiliation in a newborn dungeon.

When was the last time he'd felt this?

Probably back then.

He still remembered vividly.

I'd entered a dungeon for its magic stone.

And encountered a Dungeon Master in a conical hat.

Looking down at me like he was superior.

That gaze pissed me off.

So I killed his minion in the most gruesome way possible.

Burned it alive right in front of him.

The Dungeon Master's twisted face as it screamed in agony? Priceless.

After that, the Dungeon Master lost his mind.

Easier to handle.

Ultimately, I beheaded him and claimed the stone.

Dreamland's Dungeon Master.

He's probably watching me from somewhere now.

Wait.

Just wait.

Look forward to it.

I'll come back.

And twist your face just like that one.

Staff room entrance.

Someone stood before the door.

Not a trap, not a dungeon minion, not one of his own.

Appearance suggested human—nothing more, nothing less.

Only then did Yulius realize.

This was Dreamland.

Dreamland was a dungeon.

Dungeons have Dungeon Masters.

How had he overlooked that?

The veiled figure approached.

The one who'd never shown himself until now, weapon in hand.

It felt like facing the Grim Reaper of legends.

"Farewell."

Familiar words.

Had he watched everything?

"Sp, spare—"

With that, Yulius's vision went black.

The wave was over.

The school vanished in an instant, leaving a plain cavity before me.

I manipulated the hologram to comment on the live thread.

A satisfying wave.

Totot Sage's revenge: success.

May he rest in peace with his cherished minion.

One regret: couldn't see the true faces of the minions in Zone 2.

Well, I'll check later anyway.

Mourning ends here.

Now then.

Time to check the rewards.