Chapter 55 : The Pyramid’s Trap

The ELT (Emergency Located Transmitter) was a device that allowed students who entered a dungeon to broadcast their coordinates to the outside.

Students entering a dungeon were required to carry an ELT, regardless of their rank, and it was customary for the party leader to hold it.

In our case, the leader was Vex — but it wasn’t because it had any special meaning.

He was simply the one who suggested the “endurance strategy,” so it was only natural he took responsibility.

After completing all preparations, our group boarded the dungeon elevator.

Instead of pressing a floor button, we inserted our access card into the control panel’s card reader.

With a heavy hum, the dungeon elevator suddenly shot downward at a frightening speed, enough to make even Zeke Wolftail, the wolf beastkin, stagger.

“Ugh! What’s going on?! I thought we’d just teleport straight into the dungeon! It feels like we’re dropping deep underground!”

“The structure of the Nightmare Pyramid Dungeon is a little unusual,” I explained.

“Once we arrive, the area we land in will be a safe zone. Make sure you absolutely do not step even a single foot outside of it.”

The safe zone was a magic circle designed to prevent students from being ambushed by monsters the moment they entered the dungeon.

Of course, it wasn’t permanent — even sticking a finger outside the boundary would cause it to vanish.

But as long as we stayed inside, we could count on it for some protection.

The elevator eventually came to a stop, and a number “6” lit up on the panel overhead.

It didn’t mean we had reached the 6th basement level; it meant there were already six students inside the dungeon.

In other words, aside from Iris’s group, there was another party here.

Most likely, they were senior division students.

After all, unless they had made similar preparations like us, there was no way any junior division student would dare to challenge an S-rank dungeon.

The doors opened automatically, revealing the interior of the Nightmare Pyramid Dungeon.

Even though we were prepared, the sheer pressure made our legs tremble.

There wasn’t a single monster — not even an ant — but the oppressive atmosphere alone could have crushed any horror movie into dust.

“What’s with all these piles of bones against the wall? D-Don’t tell me… are they human bones?”

“Hold on! Absolutely do not touch anything. The Nightmare Pyramid is not only filled with powerful monsters but also infamous for its deadly traps. First, let’s lay down the sleeping bags within the safe zone.”

In every horror movie, there’s always that one person who foolishly touches suspicious things — and for us, that person was Zeke Wolftail.

Vex, alarmed, stopped Zeke just in time.

Then, to maximize the use of space, we laid out the sleeping bags in a triangular formation.

It was a somewhat unsanitary setup, with everyone’s head close to another’s feet, but it was a necessary sacrifice to stay inside the safe zone.

“We’re laying down the sleeping bags to clearly mark the boundaries of the safe zone.

You can sit, but you must not lie down.

For the first two nights, we have to pull all-nighters purely on willpower.

If you get unbearably sleepy, take just a single drop of the special Awakening Elixir into your mouth — just to taste it — and then immediately rinse and spit it out with water.

That’s one method to shake off sleep while minimizing resistance buildup.”

Finally, Day 1 at the Nightmare Pyramid began.

Sitting atop our sleeping bags, we stayed silent as if performing a vow of silence.

It wasn’t just that we weren’t particularly close — we were also from different majors, so there wasn’t much common ground for conversation anyway.

Besides, if we made noise and accidentally attracted a monster’s attention, it would be a catastrophe.

So we naturally accepted the silence.

Simply sitting still and doing nothing turned out to be harder than expected, but since we had all gotten over 10 hours of sleep earlier, we weren’t particularly sleepy.

Thus, we managed to get through the first day without incident, and by the second day, Zeke cautiously opened his mouth.

“Hey, can we say something? Anything at all? I’ve never stayed awake without talking or hearing any sound before, and it’s honestly way harder than I thought.”

“We can probably ask basic questions just to check if we’re still sane. Something like, ‘What’s the principal’s name at Pantheon Academy?’”

“Lyn Dragos.”

“Huh? Dragos isn’t the first name? ‘Lyn’ sounds so… cute, like a girl’s name. Well, I guess it makes sense. Principal Dragos may have a terrifying personality, but appearance-wise, there’s not much difference from a girl.”

“I’d strongly advise you not to say that within the academy. Seriously, you might get killed. I’m not joking.”

Once the conversation started, Zeke — contrary to his rugged appearance — turned out to be quite the chatterbox.

He said he had an older brother who, except for lacking a Stigma, was the perfect golden boy, excelling at everything compared to him.

In terms of size, looks, martial arts — his brother was superior in every aspect.

Zeke had grown up constantly being compared to him by their parents.

So starting from Day 2, it felt like we had entered a sob-story session.

Still, neither Vex nor I were in any position to share anything personal.

We simply nodded along to Zeke’s stories, and when it came time for us to speak, we gave vague, evasive answers.

And finally, by the time the third day arrived, the limits of our bodies began to show.

“My head feels heavy and my body feels like a waterlogged sponge.”

“So it’s already Day 3.

You’ve both held out well.

From now on, we’ll be taking turns napping.

Let me remind you again: if someone doesn’t wake up after 30 minutes, you must slap them awake, no mercy.

Trying to be gentle out of kindness will only cause bigger problems.

Once you fall into a nightmare here, you won’t be able to wake up without a priest’s help.

I’ll take the first watch, so you two can sleep now.”

When Vex volunteered for the first watch, Zeke collapsed and fell asleep on his sleeping bag.

I occasionally activated the Constellation’s Ceremony, so I wasn’t incredibly tired, but I still lay down on my sleeping bag and pretended to sleep.

If nothing happened and time passed without incident, I thought I might make it into the mid-high ranking just by enduring.

But life doesn’t always go as planned, and by the time the watch had made a full circle and it was once again Vex’s turn, problems arose.

“Ugh… stop…”

“Zeke? Please tell me you’re not sleep-talking. You’ve been sleeping really deeply since earlier. Try putting a drop of the special awakening potion in your mouth, like I told you before.”

If one person’s mental state collapses, it can lead to a domino effect, so Vex opened the cap of the special awakening potion and used a dropper to put it into Zeke’s mouth.

It was just one drop, but the effect was significant — Zeke’s pupils dilated greatly, and his ears even twitched.

After Vex finished his watch, he passed the turn to Zeke, and though I lay in my sleeping bag, I was watching everything through the Constellation’s sight.

It hadn’t been long since Day 3 started, and relying on the awakening potion so early wasn’t a good sign, but at least we had survived the first crisis.

I was also starting to think I’d need to keep an eye on Zeke from now on when suddenly something strange happened on Vex’s side.

He was lying with his body turned outward, but his fingers kept writing something on the dungeon floor.

I wondered if he was recording what had happened in the dungeon in some kind of handwritten form, so I zoomed in on the ground.

But suddenly, Zeke let out a horrific scream.

“Aaaargh!

Stop!

I know, okay?

I know.

He’s better than me!

If the Stigma had manifested in my brother instead of me, our family would be much better off.

But what am I supposed to do about it?

I can’t just do skin grafts or anything, so stop, just stop leaving me alone!!”

Without overthinking it, I immediately realized what had happened when I saw Zeke’s eyes, which were so dark that even the whites of his eyes were black.

While standing watch, Zeke Wolftail had fallen asleep and was now being consumed by a nightmare.

It was the worst-case scenario I had feared, and I hurriedly tried to subdue Zeke, but his strength after transforming into his wolf beastman form was stronger than expected.

Despite his usual laziness, he had the potential of beastkin blood, so it wasn’t easy to overpower him.

Because of that, I was simply pushed slightly, and I ended up being pushed out of the safe zone and triggered a pit trap buried in the ground.

The situation escalated so quickly that I fell into the pit without being able to do anything.

In desperation, I quickly jammed my right index finger into the dungeon’s outer wall.

Creak… creak… creak!

“Byakuya, summon the paper crane!”

When I had tested it on a tree, my ink pen pierced through like tofu, but the dungeon’s outer wall was so hard that it only caused sparks without digging in.

Still, I managed to slow down my fall to some extent and urgently called Byakuya.

I climbed onto the paper crane he had made.

Thanks to that, I avoided falling to my death, but when I regained my senses, the pit trap was seamlessly sealed, and considering the distance I had fallen, it felt like I had dropped at least four or five floors.