Ch.65Dungeon Conquest – 5

– A perfect evaluation with no unnecessary elements.

– I have fulfilled my duty as a Gatekeeper.

– The required value section has been updated.

In the moment of catching my breath beside Alpha, now a headless lizard.

A welcome message suddenly appeared with a whoosh.

Required value section update. That’s exactly what I needed right now.

I had just barely managed to complete the student evaluations to end the waiting period for the required value.

But instead of numbers, there was a question mark floating in the unexpectedly required value.

No matter how many evaluations I conducted, no matter how many times I performed my duties as a Gatekeeper.

The question marks never disappeared to reveal numbers.

‘Has the question mark finally been erased?’

◎ Number blocked

: 97 ( 97 / ??? )

…It’s still the same? No matter how closely I look, it’s just the same.

The only change is that the number increased by one… wait a minute.

Could it be that yesterday’s 96 has been updated to 97?

‘No, seriously. That can’t be it. Shit, no way. It can’t possibly be that.’

This is a message that has never appeared while performing my Gatekeeper duties.

If this was supposed to appear after conducting a good rank evaluation, it should have shown up at least once before.

I was certain there must be something else. That this couldn’t be the end of it.

But somehow, the more I thought about it, the stronger the feeling became that this was indeed the case.

“Sigh.”

I’ve forgotten my life motto again.

When you have expectations, you get betrayed.

If you don’t have expectations, you can’t be betrayed.

I sat back down and looked around.

Since I defeated the boss, the dungeon should be recognized as cleared.

And by now, the students’ battles should have ended too.

“Examiner!”

Just as I expected, Hana Kang appeared before two minutes had passed.

Behind her, I could see students who, though not in great condition, were fortunately walking on their own feet.

“Over here.”

I raised my hand slightly to greet Hana Kang as she ran over.

“Are you insane?!”

Something suddenly rushed forward from behind Hana Kang.

It was so fast that even Hana Kang, who had been running, stopped with an “Eh?”

For a moment, I thought it was a monster. I thought I was being ambushed.

The person who rushed toward me, looking ready to grab me by the collar, was…

“D-Dasom! What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m asking if you’re insane! No matter how skilled you are, how could you disappear without saying anything! And going off without anyone to support you! What if you had gotten hurt!”

Dasom Yoo, who was usually full of mischief and always smiling.

Now she was completely serious and angry.

“Um, Dasom. I’m sorry. But this was unavoidable…”

“What if you had been seriously injured? Do you know how miserable the healing staff feels when that happens?!”

In that moment, I could see it. The urgency in Dasom Yoo’s eyes.

Those were the eyes of someone who had ‘lost something’ before.

Despite having treated and saved so many people,

She was still holding onto someone she couldn’t save.

“…Don’t do that again. Ever.”

Only after saying that did Dasom Yoo step back a few paces.

Then she quickly examined my body and let out a sigh of relief.

I pretended not to notice the slight trembling in that sigh.

“Ahem.”

Hana Kang, who had been watching Dasom Yoo, finally joined the conversation.

“Dasom is right. We were so shocked when you disappeared during the battle. We were so worried that we even searched the ground thinking you might have collapsed somewhere.”

“Didn’t you think I might have run away?”

Hana Kang shook her head saying, “No way!”

I was just trying to joke around, but her serious response made me feel a bit awkward.

“How are the students doing?”

“There were some injuries, but Dasom and the other Support Class students treated everyone.”

“That’s good. The battle was a bit touch-and-go.”

Looking at the students, they clearly showed signs of having struggled.

Their faces were covered with fatigue they hadn’t yet managed to wipe away.

“Um, Examiner.”

Hana Kang, who had been watching carefully, cautiously opened her mouth.

“That monster was the boss monster, right?”

“Yes. Alpha, was it? The Lizard Man King or something.”

“Was the boss also… like the Lizard Men we fought earlier…?”

She was asking if it was much stronger than expected, just like those creatures.

I erased my smile and put on a serious expression.

“Yes. This one was also completely different from what we knew.”

“I knew it… those specimens weren’t the only unusual ones!”

Hana Kang clenched her fists as if she had expected this.

To be precise, rather than calling them unusual creatures, it would be more accurate to call them changed creatures.

And this change will continue to occur more frequently and on a larger scale.

For now, this phenomenon has only appeared in the latter half of monsters and bosses.

But as time passes, all monsters will change like this.

Becoming stronger, faster, and more ferocious.

Only ability users who adapt will survive.

Those who can’t will perish, just like during the first Gate incident.

“So… if it weren’t for you, Examiner, our 3rd Division might have been in serious trouble.”

“Huh?”

“Think about it. In the middle of an intense battle, if a boss monster much stronger than usual had attacked from behind. If that had happened… ugh!”

Hana Kang shuddered as if the thought alone was terrifying.

The other students seemed to agree, whispering “That’s true” among themselves.

“Thank you, Examiner. Thanks to you, we could focus on the battle and avoid danger.”

“No. This was just what I was supposed to do. And since I acted on my own, rather…”

“That was the best choice at the time. Dasom will understand too, right?”

Hana Kang’s words made me feel a bit strange, and I just scratched my cheek.

That alone was embarrassing enough, but suddenly all the students’ sparkling gazes focused on me.

Feeling like I was receiving some strange attention, I quickly changed the subject.

“Anyway, since we’ve cleared the dungeon, let’s exit quickly. I need to report what happened today, and more importantly, I’m worried about what situations the 1st and 2nd Divisions might have encountered.”

“Ah! That’s right. There’s no guarantee that only our area was affected…”

Dasom Yoo, startled, began urging everyone to leave quickly.

She didn’t usually act like this, but she clearly had some history.

*

“Hey, why are you so late?”

“Whoa, why do you all look like that?”

After rushing out of the dungeon worried about the 1st and 2nd Divisions,

What we encountered were perfectly fine 1st and 2nd Division students.

They had bewildered reactions seeing the completely disheveled 3rd Division students.

But the more bewildered ones were probably our students.

“Hey, were you guys okay?”

“What do you mean? The dungeon? It was fine except for the annoying swamp area.”

“No, no! The monsters! The Lizard Men!”

“What about them? Why? Did you have a lot of archers and shamans?”

“No! I mean! Didn’t you encounter creatures stronger than the usual ones?”

The 1st and 2nd Division students shook their heads at the 3rd Division’s questions.

Even the boss monster, Alpha, was exactly the same as what they had faced before.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen to you?”

The two divisions seemed to sense something was off after our barrage of questions.

“Did something happen? You bet!! Our Lizard Men suddenly became super strong!”

“I thought I was going to die. When one of them struck, I thought my arm was going to fall off.”

“Are you sure you haven’t been slacking off in training? That’s what it sounds like to me.”

“Come on! I’m not joking around. It was really serious.”

The first to sense the gravity of the situation were the Platinum rank students who had led each division.

They turned their gaze to me after listening to the students’ conversation.

Their eyes asking if this was real and not just a joke.

“What the 3rd Division students are saying is all true. The monsters on our side were different from the usual specimens.”

“Um… really?”

“But on our side, everything was just the same as usual…”

That’s because the monster upheaval hasn’t fully begun yet.

It’s a kind of transition period. And our 3rd Division just had bad luck during this time.

‘The problem is, there’s no guarantee that only this dungeon was affected.’

We need to return to the Superpower Academy quickly.

I hope nothing similar has happened among the other teams.

“Are you finished?”

The ability user I had greeted earlier waved at us from ahead with a smile.

Neither his appearance nor that of the other ability users showed any signs of hardship.

They too, like the 1st and 2nd Divisions, didn’t seem to have experienced the upheaval.

“Good work, Examiner. But… why is the 3rd Division in that state?”

“Well…”

I briefly fell into contemplation, wondering if I should be honest.

I was concerned that speaking frankly might cause unnecessary confusion.

But soon I was able to make a decision.

They need to know the current situation to be able to respond to it.

“Actually…”

And at that point, my memory suddenly cut off.

*

“What exactly happened?”

Another Platinum rank student approached Hana Kang.

Hana took a breath and explained what had happened in the dungeon.

When they first engaged the monsters, they were identical to the usual specimens.

But the Lizard Men they encountered in the latter half were completely different from the others.

She said they even withstood her magic sufficiently.

“…Is that even possible?”

“It shouldn’t be. But it really happened. That’s why the other students, me, and the Examiner…”

Hana Kang’s words were cut short.

There was a loud noise followed by an explosion that engulfed them.

True to their Platinum rank, both Hana Kang and her fellow student

Managed to cast defensive magic at the last moment.

It was a sudden event that no one had anticipated.

But Hana Kang and the Platinum rank students’ response was incredibly fast.

“Battle positions!”

After completing the dungeon raid, there was only one group that would create such a situation.

It was the appearance of villains whose activity had sharply increased recently.