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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Dungeon Practical
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"Whew... Did I really get away?"
Shiu leaned his back against the dungeon wall to cool his flushed body and rest.
He had run for a long time and, before he knew it, arrived at the boss room.
He kept his eyes glued to the entrance, ready to go in immediately if anyone approached, and took a brief moment to rest.
"Th-that was really scary..."
He could feel his body gradually cooling down, but his heart was still pounding with untamed excitement.
And why wouldn't it be? He never expected them to openly pick a fight.
He wasn't sure why, but if it weren't for his instinct, which had grown stronger without his knowledge, that male student might have been saying goodbye to his head and body by now.
"That girl, she's out of her mind."
The teacher clearly said there were surveillance cameras.
What on earth was she thinking, attacking like that?
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't understand.
But that was a minor question.
It was something that would be revealed once Shiu escaped this dungeon.
For now, he needed to focus on the new information he'd gained.
"Those guys, they weren't on the same side..."
He'd thought Lyla and Arte were allies.
That murderous atmosphere.
No matter how much he thought about it, it was too full of killing intent for them to be on the same side.
Was it an act? A ploy to deceive him?
He considered that for a moment, but no matter how he looked at it, it wasn't an act.
He'd glanced back while fleeing, and Lyla had been swinging her sword at Arte.
When Arte dodged the attack, the dungeon wall was sliced through like tofu; there was no way that was an act.
They weren't on the same side.
Even if they were, their relationship must be extremely bad.
Shiu concluded.
"...Hmph, alright. Shall I go in?"
Honestly, he wanted to go back.
He wanted to forget about the boss room, turn back the way he came, leave early, go home, and sleep soundly.
But someone once said the shortest path is often the longest way around.
The only path left for Shiu was the boss room.
Because once someone entered the boss room, it wouldn't open again until the raid was complete.
First, he needed to defeat the boss here as quickly as possible, then use the shortcut that appeared after clearing the boss room to get out.
And then, he'd quickly escape to where the teachers were and report the situation.
Good.
If even one of them gets seriously injured, that's enough.
Once he exited the boss room, others could enter, but by then, he would have already left the dungeon.
He caught his breath, pushed open the heavy door, and entered the boss room.
"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"A Minotaur... So this is the Palace of Knossos."
A half-human, half-beast monster.
A human with the head of a bull. The Minotaur.
A thought flashed through Shiu's mind as he saw that famous monster.
Come to think of it, this is a boss that's supposed to be cleared by four people, together.
That's the difficulty the teachers set.
But he had to face a boss meant for four people, alone?
Shiu's face filled with injustice as he watched the Minotaur snort and charge at him.
Shiu cried out, full of the indignation in his heart.
"Come on! I'll make mincemeat out of you, you bull-headed freak!"
"MOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Uh, wait a minute.
Faster than I thought?
While Shiu was completely flustered, the Minotaur charged towards him.
"Whoa?!"
His instinct rang an alarm bell, startling him, and he scrambled out of the way.
Fortunately, he succeeded in dodging, but Shiu couldn't close his mouth.
Because he'd just witnessed the aftermath of the Minotaur, having lost its target, smashing its head into the dungeon wall.
CRASH!
The boss room shook as if an earthquake had struck.
The cracking and crumbling dungeon wall easily illustrated what would happen if he took a direct hit.
"Ha, haha... One hit would probably hurt enough to kill me, wouldn't it?"
Mincemeat, my foot.
Can I even survive without becoming ground beef myself?
If there were others, even if one fell, they could buy time, but Shiu was alone.
Even a single hit would be a critical injury.
With no time to recover now, the moment he sustained a crippling critical injury, Shiu would be finished.
Shiu swallowed his tears at the sight of the Minotaur charging with its massive battleaxe.
Even so, it seemed better than that hallway with Arte and the traitor.
"Hah, hah..."
How did he survive?
Shiu's face was full of questions.
And why wouldn't it be? He still couldn't understand how he'd managed to survive.
He'd faced death several times.
How on earth had he dodged so well with his stamina so low that he couldn't even avoid things his instinct warned him about? Was he just lucky?
The Minotaur, which had left behind a magic stone much larger than those of goblins, vanished.
As he collected its magic stone, Shiu chuckled, his tension finally easing.
After all, he had survived.
For now, that was enough.
"Oh, this is it."
Leaving the Minotaur, now turned to ash, behind him, Shiu began searching for the shortcut to exit the dungeon.
It didn't take that long.
He felt like he'd only walked for a moment, but suddenly he was in a forest.
The noisy sound of moving stones as the shortcut door closed seemed to celebrate the fact that Shiu had survived.
But his joy was short-lived.
A question lingered in Shiu's mind.
"...What? Why is no one here?"
His speed wasn't slow.
He had been moving through the dungeon at a very fast pace until Lyla suddenly attacked him.
No students being here, well, yes.
That could happen.
But this was the designated exit point after clearing the dungeon.
Does it make sense for no one to be here?
Just as he was pondering that question.
His instinct suddenly screamed, and he threw his body forward.
"Wh-what?!"
With a *CRACK*, he finally realized why his instinct had screamed.
An axe.
The same axe the Minotaur had used.
That axe had flown straight for his neck.
"Ugh, what the heck. It was perfect. And you dodged it."
"Lyla."
"Hey, would you just die nicely? You're annoying me."
Step, step.
Lyla was casually walking towards him, her sword, stained with blood, resting on her shoulder.
"You, how did you..."
"How did I what? I just killed the boss. Can't you tell?"
She scratched her head, annoyed, and gestured with her chin.
Towards the battleaxe that had just flown past him.
"That bull-headed bastard, he was weak. Well, I guess that's why he's a punching bag for students like this."
Weak?
Of course, if several people faced it, it was just a simple enemy, a little tricky.
But if you faced it alone, its overwhelming power wouldn't be easy to handle.
No, wait.
There was something he was more curious about than that right now.
"Arte. What happened to Arte Isis?"
"Huh? She died. Can't you tell?"
Her blood-stained sword glinted in the sunlight.
...And on that sword, broken threads came into view.
"Hah, that bastard. Said she defeated a Grade 3 demon beast, but she was a bit annoying."
"...Arte is dead, then."
"Yeah. It wasn't as easy as I thought. I'll admit it. She was tricky, wasn't she? Still, she's probably buried under a pile of rocks in the dungeon by now."
Lyla said, scratching her head.
"She was annoyingly persistent, you know. I had a bit of a tough time, but... she's dead, and you're about to die now too."
"Even if you kill me now, another student has already gone to inform the teachers. You're finished. ...And I have no intention of dying easily."
"...Huh? Ah, ahahahahahahaha!"
What?
Shiu couldn't for the life of him understand why Lyla was laughing.
A feeling like his instinct was screaming.
Something, an inexplicable unease, was creeping over him.
"Hey, that was funny. Do you know why there's no one here?"
"...Huh?"
"Why are you so dumbfounded? Looks like you don't know. ...Alright, I'll tell you. Infiltrating the academy itself is hard, but a dungeon isn't."
Infiltrate a dungeon?
He couldn't understand Lyla's words.
What on earth did infiltrating a dungeon even mean?
"The academy has truly excellent security, but thoroughly checking external dungeons isn't easy at all. They wouldn't detect us digging a new shortcut the day before, one that appears after a dungeon clear."
"…!"
"In other words, right now, it's just you and me here."
As Lyla leisurely walked towards him, Shiu felt his instinct ringing an alarm bell.
...He didn't even need his instinct to tell him. This situation was dangerous.
"Calling a teacher was unexpected, but... it doesn't matter. I just need to kill you before they arrive, and then I can leave."
Shiu's body was pushed to its limits from fighting the Minotaur.
Honestly, it was hard to say he had any strength left to escape now.
But Lyla's appearance?
Far from being tired, she looked perfectly fine.
Seeing her relaxed demeanor, Shiu tensed his body.
Not to run away, but to stand against her.
"...What, you're still going to fight?"
"I don't have a hobby of begging for my life right before I die."
No, actually, he probably would have begged.
If it had been Shiu before meeting Arte.
Having experienced a situation far more terrifying than this, Shiu was able to overcome his fear.
At least, that's what Shiu thought.
"...Ugh, how annoying."
Lyla, who had been watching Shiu and scratching her head, clicked her tongue, her face twisted in a frown.
Was something bothering her?
"Can't be helped. It's an order from the organization. I don't dislike people like you, but please die."
"…!"
Was it because he fought the Minotaur?
Despite his instinct's warning, his muscles wouldn't move, and his reaction was delayed.
...Ah, I'm going to die.
With the sword rapidly approaching his neck, Shiu instinctively knew death was upon him.
"Not on my watch."
Until that sword was instantly bound by threads.