Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Ally (5)
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16:10.
♪─♪─♪
——─♪——♪
——… … ….
All classes have ended.
Students, please return home.
Once again: All classes have ended. Students, please return….
After school.
Max's party had finished investigating the fourth floor and arrived at the fifth.
School was over.
Outside the windows stretched pitch-black emptiness.
The only way to tell time in this place was…
the clock on the wall.
They had searched from the first floor to the fourth.
Unfortunately, there were no major gains.
"Luka, is your arm okay…?"
"……."
All the party had gained so far was
thirst and hunger, fear and pain.
Luka's arm had been completely shattered, so she stepped back from the investigation for a while.
The faceless teacher didn't show up until the afternoon.
Judging by the pattern, he probably wouldn't appear for a bit.
The group left Luka to rest alone in a classroom
and agreed the rest would keep moving.
Max was injured too, but
compared to Luka, it was nothing.
He was a blessed one's companion, after all, with a sturdy body.
This was well within what he could endure.
"The faceless girl said to bring the item after school. Is it after school now?"
"Yeah."
"What's after school usually like at an academy?"
Denrid fiddled with a dried, crumpled poster on the hallway bulletin board.
His eyes were lost in melancholy, as if reminiscing about the past.
"Some students head back to the dorms, some take remedial classes, some do club activities, some play with friends on the sports field. It's varied. Think of it as time for activities or rest outside regular classes."
"So the chance of the hallways going dark…"
"Low."
Denrid argued that after school was the perfect time to freely explore the school.
In pairs, it took about thirty minutes to cover a whole floor.
No telling how long after school lasted,
but it was definitely more convenient and efficient than poking around in ten-minute bursts.
"Chance of another minion showing up?"
"High."
Jack stared at Luka.
He seemed worried about the injured member.
"So far, we've met two minions: the faceless girl and the faceless teacher. We don't know exactly how to deal with them."
"Yeah."
Zone 2 was quite vast.
Its size meant a naturally low chance of running into minions.
They'd only encountered the girl and teacher once each.
Less "no other minions" and more "we haven't run into them yet due to luck."
"Let's keep investigating anyway. It's our only option right now."
"Yeah."
"Sounds good."
Max brushed dust off the hallway wall with his index finger.
He let out a small sigh at his blackened fingertip.
Regret was starting to creep in.
Maybe he'd underestimated Dreamland.
'Should've used the escape scroll back then.'
You're too impulsive—that's your problem.
Sinclair's constant refrain echoed in his mind.
"Fuck."
His throat was parched, stomach empty.
Arm throbbing, head aching, vision blurry—mental fatigue piling up.
What if they ran into the teacher again?
Fighting was impossible, and guessing the right answer was too.
As Denrid said, maybe just say a wrong answer.
What if they met another minion?
Could they find the faculty office?
What after recovering their belongings?
Keep pushing forward?
The transfer machine? Next zone?
Enough food and water? Can they manage?
Despair crushed his dreams.
It wouldn't let him envision proving himself to Sinclair with the magic stone and getting revenge.
"Fuck."
These shitty thoughts kept coming— the shock must've been huge.
Time to pull himself together.
"Max…."
A voice called out.
He whipped around, chills running down his spine, and saw it was Luka.
"If you're gonna be a nuisance, go bother someone else."
"I'm scared to be alone… I won't get in the way."
His head was already killing him.
Tsk.
"If you can walk, do whatever."
"Thanks."
The two walked the fifth-floor hallway.
Luka didn't bother Max.
She just quietly followed behind.
When the distance grew,
she grimaced and hurried to catch up.
She really hated being alone.
Luka spoke up.
"Max. Is your arm okay?"
"You asking me that?"
"Yours is broken too."
"Not your concern."
"…Sorry."
18:00.
The investigation went smoothly.
No faculty office on the fifth, sixth, or seventh floors.
"Let's head to the eighth."
-Sounds good.
Max climbed the stairs.
Luka still followed quietly.
"Huh?"
His gaze naturally drifted to the ceiling.
The lights started flickering like a busted bulb.
A chill brushed his senses.
Click.
A button sound echoed, and every light in the school went out.
No sun, moon, or stars outside the windows.
The school plunged into total darkness.
Not like class-time hallway dimness.
Nothing visible.
"M-Max?"
"Luka. I'm right next to you. Hey. Denrid. You hear me? It's pitch black—not figuratively."
-Yes. Loud and clear. This is bad. I can handle our side with magic, but you guys….
"Neither me nor Luka knows magic. No way."
-We'll come to you.
"Stairs from seventh to eighth, far left. Hurry."
Max waited for Denrid.
No other choice.
Denrid was the only one who could use magic.
Together, they could explore even in this dark.
'Like other dungeons, this one really needs a mage.'
Without Denrid,
investigation would've been slower, mood worse.
Even Max, who rarely acknowledged others, valued Denrid greatly.
-Jack. What's up?
But.
Trouble?
Static crackled in the comms.
-Up ahead, uh, yeah? What the hell is that? It's coming this way!?
Denrid sounded urgent.
Invisible, but things were going south.
"Hey. Denrid. What's happening?"
"What's wrong all of a sudden…?"
"Something's up with Denrid and Jack. Comms cut out…."
Denrid's voice was gone.
Maybe met a minion like the teacher or girl.
Or a jamming trap triggered.
Various possibilities flooded his mind.
"……."
Just not the worst case.
He was anxious.
Of course.
The party's only mage dead?
No more comms or detection—exploration impossible.
Pure hell.
And Denrid always had good ideas.
Quick on his feet, brightest among the gloomy bunch.
In the dark, Max could do nothing.
Just stand still until lights returned.
20:00.
Lights came back on.
The school looked normal again.
Clock showed two hours passed.
Fortune or misfortune?
"Let's move. Jack and Denrid were heading from seventh to eighth too, so they're nearby."
"Yeah."
Rejoining the group first.
Luckily, Jack and Denrid were close.
Luka and Max hurried over.
But.
Denrid's condition was off.
He was lying down.
Usually chatty, always looking out for others.
Yet no movement even with the group there.
Deep sleep, clearly.
"……."
Max checked Denrid's face.
Eyes closed? Not quite.
But.
Not fully open either.
Denrid had no eyes.
Where they should be: reddish-black voids.
Something rolled on the floor.
His gaze shifted: Denrid's blue eyeballs rolling down the hall.
20:10.
"Denrid's dead."
"Yeah. He's dead. But why'd only Denrid die and you live?"
"Cut the accusatory tone, Max."
"Answer the question. Why'd you survive and Denrid die?"
"You blaming me for his death?"
"Fuck, obviously you ditched him and ran. You're fast on your feet, Denrid's a slow mage! Don't you know how crucial a mage is right now!? You should've protected him somehow!"
Max was furious.
To his impulsive eyes,
it looked like a slum knife-fighter ditching the mage at the first sign of danger.
"It was a situation I couldn't control."
"Not 'couldn't control'—you were too busy saving your own skin?"
"Then what about you during Luka's injury? Same vibe."
"Ha, you slimy little shit. That's how you wanna play it?"
"Look, Max. I'm not trying to fight. I just want to explain how unavoidable it was."
The hallway grew noisy.
Max's heated voice filled the space.
A vicious, mind-numbing racket.
Luka felt dizzy.
Head pounding.
Denrid's death.
Arm unusable forever.
Water, food.
Life ahead.
Whatever now.
Just escape the noise.
Didn't want to think anyway.
Luka staggered away from the group.
Whether she left or not,
Max and Jack's argument raged on.
She kept moving her weary legs until the noise faded.
She glanced out the window.
Pitch black.
Like the reality crashing down.
Chasing the magic stone into this dungeon was the mistake.
If no way to fix it,
what choice did she have?
Want to live, but only death waits.
She couldn't look away from the window.
Luka sighed.
She couldn't end it herself.
She turned away.
Finally noticed the place behind her.
"What… is this?"
She paused, then stepped forward.
lol the mage who was our last ray of hope bit the dust...
Now it's hell mode... but kinda disappointing since the faculty office is so close...
Didn't Max say he had an escape scroll?? Sucks about the info leak, but exp and points will be sweet this time lol
Now I get why Sinclair dumped Max lol. If that was my kid, I'd strangle him myself...
Everything goes right? His credit. Wrong? Blame others. Classic lol
So cringey...
The school's only downside is the faculty office's random spot.
Julius had it on the second floor; now it's in the tenth-floor underbelly.
Why not spawn it on the eightieth for a clean wipe?
Escape or whatever—no chance. Shame.
"They're lucky."
School gets brutal from day two.
Minion encounters spike.
"The escape scroll's the issue…."
Wave defense is a given, I think.
With the mage Denrid dead, clear is impossible.
They know it too.
But Max leaking info is the problem.
Distance to faculty office, their scouting style—they'll hit it 100%.
Max has the escape scroll.
Unfortunately, I can't touch it.
Even a dungeon master loved by anomalies
has untouchable zones.
Confirmed during Julius's wave.
Failed to snag their gear from the office.
"Some losses expected."
With 300k points in hand,
worst case, make another zone.
Oh, by the way.
Luka's heading to the bathroom right now.