chapter_0072

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
72

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
72

Near the entrance to the
dungeon, there were many people. While some aimed to enter the
dungeon, most appeared to have come to witness the duel between
Arthur and me.

It’s not like the kids who
intend to enter the dungeon would just stand around empty-handed.

‘How many among them actually
want me to win?’

‘Grandpa.’

At times like this, you should
offer words of encouragement. What kind of Paladin and Hero spreads
such pessimism?

Of course, I also think there
might not be any, but you never know, right?

Indeed. Seems like the spirits
of the Underdog Betters are with me. Alright, with your hopes in
mind, I’ll show you the sight of the Regular Betters’ money burning
today.

It’s a shame there isn’t a
large river near Soul Academy. If there were a suitable place, it
would have become a water park today.

As I headed to the dungeon
entrance with Karl, I saw NPC #1 hesitantly looking around and Frey,
yawning with just a single sword in hand.

With this, we’re ready to
enter the dungeon. Now we just have to wait for Arthur.

“Lucy Allen.”

Right on cue, he appeared.—

‘Hello.’

“Nice to see you, Pitiful
Prince.”

I deliberately didn’t call him
by his name but it still referred to him as the Pitiful Prince.

Why are you so unnecessarily
diligent, [Mesugaki] Skill?

Arthur seemed to have gotten
used to me calling him Pitiful Prince. He just glanced sideways at me
without showing much reaction.

“Do you have confidence
you’ll win?”

‘I don’t know about that,
but I’ve prepared my best.’

“I’ve prepared enough to
easily defeat you, Pitiful Prince.”

Considering it’s from the
[Mesugaki] Skill, I thought it sounded quite humble, but Arthur’s
expressionless face suggested otherwise.

Ah, forget it. Who am I
kidding? Humility from me? No way.

If I’m going to blow up along
with my karma the moment I lose, I might as well stack my karma to
the heavens.

“Let’s see how far your
arrogance gets you.”

‘You won’t be able to bring
down my arrogance, Your Highness.’

“To speak like that
without the skill to back it up. Isn’t the arrogant one you, Pitiful
Prince?”

“Tsk.”

Arthur clicked his tongue for
me to hear, then changed the subject.

“Let’s confirm the rules.
We enter the dungeon exactly at 10 AM. The exit time is 6 PM. You can
forfeit midway, but that’s considered a loss. The team fighting in
the dungeon is limited to three first-year students, and no
accompanying students or professors may interfere. The winner will be
the team that reaches the highest point within the time limit. Any
objections?”

“None.”

“Then we’ll begin the
match at the exact time.”

With those words, he turned
his back and walked away towards his team members.

Let’s see. The team is exactly
as I heard.

Arthur. Jack. Matthew.

Arthur and Matthew are
characters as reliable as a hearty bowl of soup at Soul Academy, and
while Jack isn’t quite like other top-tier characters, his
performance isn’t bad either.

With members like that, it
looks like they could handle the dungeon strategy better than even
the newbies or those who played through it once before.

But who’s the person they’re
bringing along?

To tackle the dungeon, they
need to bring along either a student or a professor, right?

As I tilted my head in
curiosity, someone emerged from the crowd.

“Am I not too late?”

Combat Studies Professor Luca.

A madman who drives his
students to death with a single-minded determination to craft a
masterpiece.

Why is he here? Could it be…

With a sense of foreboding, I
watched him approach Arthur.

Of all people, they decided to
bring that guy as their leader?!

I thought it was insane, but
everyone else seemed to react differently.

They nodded, saying Arthur had
picked the right person.

Are these people out of their
minds?

How can bringing a lunatic
like Luca be seen as a brilliant move?

Then I realised these people
had no idea about Luca’s true nature.

They have no idea just how
crazy Luca truly is. Right now, on the surface, he appears to be just
a competent young teacher who has produced many excellent students.

What should I do? Is there a
way to drive him away?

Or…

Hearing Grandpa’s voice, I
came back to reality.

Phew.
Calm down.

That guy might be crazy, but
he’s a rational kind of crazy.

There’s no way he would cause
trouble in a situation under this much scrutiny.

Even if he did try something,
Arthur’s party members are more than capable of handling him.

I don’t need to worry about
them.

Yeah, I’m not in a position to
worry about others right now.

I have enough on my plate.

‘Frey…’

“Sloppy Swordsman. Do you
remember what I told you yesterday?”

“I’m not an idiot.”

Frey replied while pretending
to puff up her shoulders, but she didn’t seem trustworthy at all.

Will you follow my
instructions just so we can spar? Can I trust you? The other party
member, NPC #1, couldn’t stop wriggling her hands, probably due to
nerves.

‘NPC…’

“Hey, NPC #1. What was
your name again?”

“…You didn’t know?!
It’s Bisi. Bisi Bell.”

Bisi, was it.

I thought it was an easy name
to remember, and as I nodded, Bisi looked at me with eyes full of
expectation.

Oh, does she want me to call
her by her name?

Sorry, I’d like to do that
too.

‘I understand, Bisi.’

“Got it, NPC #1. I’ll
remember that.”

The [Mesugaki] Skill rarely
calls people by their names.

Perhaps she was disappointed
to be called NPC #1 again.

Bisi slumped her shoulders.

Sorry. But it did help you
relax, right?

“It’s time, Lady Allen.”

At Karl’s signal, we stopped
chatting.

‘Okay, everyone. Let’s go.’

“Alright. Come on,
weaklings, let’s move out.”

It’s been a while since I got
to show off my skills as a veteran.

As we stepped through the
dungeon’s entrance, the surroundings changed.

A cave with luminescent stones
embedded in the walls here and there.

It took us months to get to
this point.

Back when I used to play this
as a game, I saw this every day.

From the way these stones are
placed, I can guess which starting point this is.

Good, I’ve got the map in my
head now.

‘As I mentioned yesterday,
everyone…’

“Weaklings, as I said
yesterday, I’ll say it again. Aside from clearing the Boss Room,
we’re not going to fight.”

Because this is a speedrun
competition, right?

The most important thing in a
speedrun is to avoid all avoidable events.

When Bisi first heard Lucy
Allen’s strategy, she wondered if Lucy had lost her mind.

Avoiding all battles while
clearing a dungeon? Something like that wouldn’t be possible, right?

Clearing a dungeon involves
dealing with random monsters and navigating through traps to find
your way forward.

You can’t just avoid fights
because you don’t want to.

The reason Bisi was persuaded
by Lucy Allen, despite her initial doubts, was because of the
detailed example Lucy gave.

“When you enter the first
floor of the first semester dungeon and turn a corner, two trashy
goblins will jump out…”

Lucy Allen explained the
dungeon strategy as if she were observing everything on a chessboard.

First floor. Second floor.
Third floor. And finally, the tenth floor.

Lucy Allen described how to
ascend without a single fight.

Her explanation was so
detailed that even Bisi, who had never set foot in the Academy’s
dungeon, could visualise it.

“Do you really think
everything will go as you said?”

After listening to all the
explanations, Bisi asked Lucy Allen. She responded with a confident
smile.

“Of course. Unlike a
sloppy person like you, I have divine favour.”

Normally, that smile would
have been irritating, but for some reason, it felt reliable this
time.

Had just anyone else given
such an explanation, Bisi would have dismissed it as delusional.

But Lucy was the top scorer in
the Academy’s entrance exam.

‘If her perfect score in
dungeon strategy wasn’t due to the Academy’s manipulation but
something innate in her…’

With that thought, Bisi
decided to trust Lucy.

And today.

It’s the moment to prove if
Lucy’s plan is real or not. Surprisingly, the dungeon strategy was
proceeding exactly as Lucy Allen had described.

“When you turn the corner,
two trashy goblins will pop out…”

Two goblins appeared.

Lucy Allen charged forward
with her shield, knocking them down and avoiding the fight, and then
sprinted ahead.

“To the right, there’s a
trap set by an idiot…”

Sure enough, there was a trap
there.

Lucy Allen used it to knock
down the group of goblins blocking the path and moved forward.

“As you go further, a stinky
pig will show up. Don’t get scared like a wimp…”

Indeed, there was an orc
blocking the way.

However, the orc was so
sluggish that it couldn’t catch the rushing party led by Lucy.

Everything.

Everything inside the dungeon
was unfolding just as Lucy Allen had described.

The dungeon path.

The monsters appearing in the
dungeon.

The traps.

None of these variables
escaped Lucy Allen’s control.

“Sloppy people. You’re not
tired already, right?”

It had only taken 10 minutes
to clear the first floor of the Academy dungeon.

That too without even
sprinting all out, considering they had to carry along Bisi, who was
a burden.

Bisi looked up, panting, to
see the stairs leading to the next floor.

Lucy Allen’s rigorous pace was
fairly harsh for Bisi, a necromancer.

‘Are you saying we have to
keep doing this until 8 PM?

I…Can I endure this?’

“Hm. This isn’t going to
work.”

Lucy Allen, showing a hint of
discomfort, stood in front of Bisi.

“Deadweight.”

“Excuse me?”

“With weak stamina and
weak legs, how did you even get into the Academy? You look dumb but
you must actually be smart, huh?”

Bisi lowered her head at
Lucy’s sharp words.

‘It was true that I was a
burden during our first-floor conquest.

If those two had moved at
their original speed, we would have gotten here much faster.

But you dragged me into this
because you needed someone!

I never intended to join this
strategy in the first place!’

Bisi complained inwardly but
was just trembling on the outside.

The power dynamic between the
two was clear.

There was no choice.

‘I have to run until my
lungs burst.’

“Get on.”

Completely taken aback by the
unexpected command, Bisi lifted her head.

Lucy looked at her with
disdain and repeated herself.

“Deadweight. Are your
hearing skills also sloppy? Get on.”

“But, uh…”

“Sigh.”

Lucy sighed, walked up to
Bisi, grabbed her by the waist, and hoisted her onto her back as if
she were carrying luggage.

“We’re going like this.
Got a problem, deadweight?”

“…No, I don’t.”

Not wanting to hear another
tirade, Bisi just nodded her head without arguing.

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