Chapter 38
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Supporter (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
13:05
A faceless teacher appeared in the classroom.
Max had broken the teacher's rule, and as punishment, one of his arms was fractured.
"……."
Max was breaking out in cold sweat.
The pain was excruciating.
The situation was equally horrific.
But.
He couldn't scream or cry out.
He recalled Yuben's guide.
Follow the rules, and you won't get hurt.
Follow the rules, and you can move forward.
Think back to Maharaubara.
There were no rules back then.
He had just been unilaterally crushed.
At least this dungeon was giving them a breathing space.
Wasn't it insisting there was a way to survive?
Don't stop thinking.
Somehow figure out the rules and get through this time unscathed.
"Hoo, haa, hoo……."
Luca, sitting next to him, looked unwell.
Terrified, she seemed deeply shaken.
It was understandable.
Her arm had broken the moment they arrived in Zone 2.
Even Max, who had experienced it, never wanted to feel that bone-snapping pain again.
She, already knowing the agony, must have found that entity all the more terrifying.
One fortunate thing.
-Max. The communication spell is still holding, so we're considering you alive for now. If you can't speak, give a fake cough. If even that's impossible, press your Adam's apple once.
Quick-witted Denrid had been reaching out to him nonstop.
"There are a lot of absentees today. Are Max and Luca the only ones present…."
Fortunately, the teacher seemed unaware of the communication spell.
Max gently pressed his Adam's apple.
-From now on, YES is press Adam's apple. NO is don't. I'll wait 10 seconds for answers... If you agree, press once. Agreement confirmed.
-Is the minion in the classroom a student? No. Then a professor? Correct.
Of course.
It was questionable whether meaningful results could come from proper communication with Denrid using only yes/no.
-High chance it's during class? Confirmed. Hard to judge your side with just YES/NO, but if I can figure something out from your voice and help, I will. Stay calm always.
.
.
.
.
.
13:20
The teacher scribbled something on the blackboard.
【■◈＠◆□◎●】
Unfortunately, he couldn't read the writing.
It looked like random scribbles.
What's more.
"This problem is, you see, the male serial killer's kitchen knife is very large, and the big knife's length is the dead victim's width times 'relative growth.' Got it? To estimate the big victim's length using the kitchen knife's width, I measured kitchen knives of various sizes and big skulls' lengths to secure multiple gut sequences. And using graphs like asdfjlkasdjfoia graphs, plotting meat chunk widths on the x-axis and big bone lengths on the y-axis for analysis, then……."
What the hell was that?
It felt like watching an unrealistic dream sequence.
Listening to that voice made his mind go hazy.
And Luca was the same.
"Hoo, haa, hoo……."
Luca's face had turned pale blue.
Her breathing had been irregular for a while.
She was hyperventilating from anxiety.
She kept trying deep breaths.
But she couldn't calm down properly.
'The only thing I can do right now is...'
To avoid warnings.
Pretend to listen diligently like a model student.
Act.
"Luca?"
Luca's body jerked.
With unstable breathing, she gathered her trembling hands on her lap and barely nodded.
"Answer the teacher's questions."
"Y-Yes, T-Teacher, haa……."
"For the problem the teacher just explained, Luca, stand up and say the answer?"
"Th-The answer?"
Luca froze solid.
'The answer?'
To the absurd nonsense that thing just spewed.
There was no way an answer existed.
Luca stayed still.
She had to stay still.
Her mind went completely blank.
What should she say in this situation?
How to avoid broken bones?
Even Max didn't know.
"Could Luca be not paying attention to my class?"
At least, Luca's choice of 'do nothing' wasn't the right answer.
"THIS FUCKING SHITTY BITCH WON'T GET IT EVEN WHEN I'M EXPLAINING SO HARD RIGHT IN FRONT AAAAAAAAAAA!!"
Crack!
Luca's broken arm snapped again.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
"HOW MUCH DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN FOR THAT?! IS MY CLASS THAT BORING?! I'M ALWAYS WORKING HARD FOR YOU KIDS AS YOUR TEACHER, AND YOU DO THIS?! WHAT THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?! AAAAAAAAAA!!"
Screams and roars mixed together.
Losing her mind from the horrific pain, Luca rolled on the floor.
Dust from the floor stuck to her body, but she didn't care.
"Warning."
"Aaaah... eeeh......"
"If you don't sit right now, another warning. 10, 9, 8, 7…."
Shedding tears and babbling incoherently, Luca barely clung to sanity and sat back in her chair.
Max could hardly bear to watch this cruel scene with open eyes.
"Let's start class again. This time, please focus on my voice."
The enigmatic teacher's questions continued after that.
.
.
.
.
.
13:40
『♪─♪─♪』
『Ding—dong—dang♪ Dong—ding—♪』
『Ding—dong—dang… dang… dang….』
The teacher vanished with a "see you next time."
Max had received 1 warning.
Luca had received 3.
Luca's right arm was now grotesquely twisted and swollen, unlikely to ever return to its original shape.
Luca slid powerlessly from the chair to the floor.
Max checked her condition.
Fortunately, she was conscious.
"It huuurts so muuuch......"
"Luca."
Luca's mentality seemed completely shattered too.
Max sighed.
-Max, are you alive!?
"Yeah."
-Sorry. We couldn't help properly...
"Let's regroup for a bit, rest, and discuss what just happened. Judging by the appearance time, the teacher won't show up right away."
.
.
.
.
.
14:40
4th floor classroom.
The party had safely regrouped.
"Aigoo, that arm... We need to get a healing potion fast."
"Ugh......"
While Denrid checked Luca's condition, Jack and Max discussed the teacher.
"Just like that bitch who confiscated our stuff. But wearing a suit, taller, and that... what do they call mood swings?"
"Mania?"
"Yeah. Like manic, extreme emotional swings. Though calling it mood swings for a faceless teacher feels off."
Jack crossed his arms.
"Make noise, breaks a body part and warns. Same for failing to answer questions in class?"
"Yeah. The class felt utterly incomprehensible. Not like teaching any subject, just spouting verbose nonsense......"
"Hm."
Jack eyed Max suspiciously.
What was that look?
"No matter how poor my education, I can tell if this is normal teaching."
"Sorry for misunderstanding. Arm okay?"
"Don't worry unnecessarily. First, figure out that teacher's rules. Anything come to mind?"
Rules.
Or, in terms dungeon experts preferred.
"Hm... Bring a grand mage?"
"Why?"
"...A guy that smart might figure it out?"
"Knowledge and wisdom are different. And unusable now anyway."
"Really no idea. Anyway, don't talk in class. Focus. Sit? Accumulate warnings and die?"
Denrid chimed in to Jack and Max.
"Next time we meet and get questioned, just say anything."
"Huh?"
"That teacher asked impossible-to-solve problems. Meaning, inversely, the answer isn't giving the solution. Think of all possibilities during class. Wrong answers are answers too."
Made sense.
Max stroked his chin in admiration.
"Genius?"
"Not a mage for nothing."
"Thanks for the praise. But big trouble. Throat's getting dry already..."
"Get mana stones, I'll buy cold beer. Hang in there."
"Hey Max. Beer? Wine."
"Left money with me?"
"In the slums, others' money is mine."
"Ridiculous."
The mood was still normal.
But.
Luca hadn't said a word beyond groans since earlier.
Water and food were uncertain now.
Couldn't delay longer.
'Somehow have to reach the staff room.'
Not just Max.
Everyone thought the same.
— Chief Mental Patient
I prefer the former, but for someone whose job is physical labor, the latter might be better.
What now with the arm? Can't hunt monsters anymore...
It's their chosen dungeon, so tough it out with grit. High risk, high return.
Dungeon Masters don't go easy based on who you are. Once in, you're just intruders.
The key is how the intruders treat the injured...
If they care, exploration slows more, and the board goes to Newbie.
But no water or food now, so... Might leave her alone?
Honestly, from DM's view, keeping her alive seems more efficient lol.
Mentality broken too, so accident risk rises.
I lay sprawled atop Malang-i, gazing at the monitor.
Their teamwork was surprisingly solid?
First time it felt like this in my dungeon.
Not thinking something weird, right?
No way lol;;
Well, that's how it was.
Regrettably.
Since those guys came as intruders to steal my life with malice.
As Dungeon Master, it was my duty to lead them to hell with full power.