The aftermath of the dungeon was louder than the dungeon itself.
Groans echoed across the staging area. Healers moved briskly between the injured, their expressions tight with concentration. Armor lay discarded on the ground, bent and cracked, stained dark with dried blood. A few adventurers sat with their backs against the stone wall, heads lowered, breathing shallow and uneven.
I stood apart from it all.
Someone glanced at me, then looked away. Another stared openly, eyes lingering on my unmarked armor, my steady breathing. Whispers spread—not loud enough to be disrespectful, but not quiet enough to be hidden.
"He came out alone.""Not a scratch.""Did he even fight?"
The overseer approached, still holding the crystal tablet used to record dungeon results. His brows furrowed as he checked the readings again, then a third time.
"You cleared the dungeon," he said finally. "Solo."
"Yes."
No embellishment. No pride. Just fact.
"…Time recorded is well below projection," he added, hesitant. "Did you encounter resistance on the lower floors?"
I considered the question.
"Minimal."
That seemed to unsettle him more than if I had claimed none.
He nodded slowly and marked the result. "There was another party inside. Five members. They entered ahead of you."
I remembered the mention from earlier. A brief note. An inefficiency.
"They were delayed," the overseer continued. "We lost contact midway through the run."
I met his gaze. "Was intervention requested?"
"No," he said. "By the time we realized—"
"Then it was already resolved," I finished.
He didn't argue.
I turned away before the conversation could continue. There was nothing else to gain here.
As I walked past the injured, one of them looked up at me. His face was pale, sweat beading along his temple as a healer worked to seal a deep cut along his side.
"Hey," he called weakly.
I stopped.
"You cleared it already, right?" he asked. There was no bitterness in his voice. Just exhaustion. "Guess that means we don't have to go back in."
"Yes."
He laughed quietly. "Figures."
I left before he could say more.
Efficiency mattered. Lingering did not.