chapter_0068

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
68

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
68

As usual, after finishing my
early morning training, I was on my way back to the dormitory to wash
up.

I noticed a crowd gathering
around the bulletin board.

If there’s a new announcement
today, it must be that one, right?

I turned and headed towards
the bulletin board.

‘Would you mind stepping
aside?’

“Sloppy people, move.”

The people were incredibly
kind.

They quickly made way for me
as soon as they heard my voice, though they looked at me as if they
had seen a cockroach. If not for those expressions, I would have been
quite thankful.

By now, I was used to these
situations and walked through the crowd to check the announcement.

[Notice regarding the Soul
Academy Semester Dungeon]

As expected, it was this.

Every semester at Soul
Academy, a dungeon opens.

This is an artificial dungeon
created by the Academy, roughly 100 floors in scale.

Its layout is that of a
labyrinthine dungeon, as one would typically imagine.

With a boss every 10 floors,

Higher difficulty as you
descend further,

And different themes for each
level, making appropriate preparation essential.

However, what distinguishes
this dungeon from others is its emergency escape function.

If a person challenging the
dungeon finds themselves in danger, the magic embedded within the
dungeon recognizes this and extracts them to safety.

Because of this, students at
the Academy can challenge the dungeon without any real risk.

Originally, this function
should have activated during the Academy’s entrance exam dungeon, but
Agra’s interference caused problems.

Students of Soul Academy are
not obligated to challenge this dungeon.

However, since there are
appropriate rewards based on the floor level you conquer, it’s
advantageous to attempt it.

Especially for the first 3
parties to completely conquer the dungeon, there are special rewards.

When playing the game Soul
Academy, what was most important was to be among those top 3 parties.

Depending on whether you get
those rewards or not, your future challenges could become easier.

While it’s acceptable to give
up the first semester’s rewards depending on the situation, other
rewards were absolutely necessary to get.

Of course, I have no intention
of giving up the first semester’s rewards.

As a prideful veteran of Soul
Academy, there’s no way I’d miss out on this!

While reading through the
Academy’s notice, I discovered something interesting, just in case
things might be different if this was reality.

I never expected to see this
sentence in the first notice.

Since there was no way to
obtain Agra’s Curse immediately upon entering the Academy, it was a
sentence I was never able to see this early on.

-Regarding the entrance exam
incident: We have collaborated with the Church of Armadi to prevent
any interference from the Evil God. Additionally, thorough monitoring
will preemptively prevent any accidents…

Once Agra interfered with the
Academy dungeon, this sentence always appeared in the notice, and
after that, Agra never interfered again.

So, if you wanted to get items
farmed from Agra’s Curse, you had to go to external dungeons.

There were exceptions, but…

For the time being, it’s
safe to grind in the Academy’s dungeon.

Is the rest similar
information?

No, there’s something
else… What?

-For the new students who have
just enrolled, entry into the dungeon is restricted unless it’s a
party of four, including current students or professors.

-If a professor accompanies
you, they will only ensure your safety and not assist in conquering
the dungeon, so please keep this in mind.

What? What did you say?

We can’t enter the dungeon
unless we have a party of four?

Why?!

As I looked down, I saw the
reason explained below.

The notice was lengthy, but to
summarise:

Despite their diligent
precautions, there are always possibilities for unexpected variables
or accidents.

While current students who are
accustomed to dungeon conquering could handle these situations, new
students are different.

Many of them have only
experienced the entrance exam dungeon, and such individuals are
naturally less adept at handling unexpected situations.

Therefore, this measure was
taken for their safety.

No way.

This can’t be right.

A four-person party!

I understand the intention,
but isn’t this too much?!

If it’s for safety, even a
two-person party should suffice.

With this rule, outcasts like
me wouldn’t even be able to enter the dungeon!

Why are they overreacting like
this?

In the game, they never went
this far.

You never insisted on
four-person teams unless it was for an external dungeon!

What changed? Why now?!

Is it because of the accident
during the entrance exam dungeon?!

Ah. Damn it. I don’t know.

I definitely need to conquer
the dungeon for the rewards, but how should I go about it?

Even if I take Karl as the
professor, who should I pick for the other two spots?

Who would even go into the
dungeon with me right now?

“Four people? That’s a
problem.”

Oh. There is one person.

Unlike me, who has
unintentionally become an outcast, there’s someone who has decided to
keep the world at bay on their own.

Frey, who had been reading the
notice next to me, frowned and pouted her lips as she followed along.

Should I take Frey with me?

Ugh. I can’t believe I’m even
considering this.

I have to include this
eccentric troublemaker, known for ruining parties and being a total
nuisance, in my team?

I’d rather enter alone than
make that choice.

But I can’t go in alone, can
I? Damn it!

What’s more frustrating is
that even if I take Frey with me, I’d still be one person short.

It’s not like the first
semester dungeon rewards are essential, so I could just skip them,
but…

“Lucy Allen.”

Who’s that? Right now, I feel
like my head’s going to explode from stress.

“If you called me to pick
a fight, I’ll happily crush you to relieve some stress.”

As I thought that and turned
my head, I was met with the cold, blue eyes staring down at me.

‘Arthur.’

“Pitiful Prince.”

Surprised by running into
someone I had been deliberately avoiding since the disastrous
entrance ceremony, I accidentally said his name.

And, as always, my [Mesugaki]
Skill worked its magic, making sure I didn’t miss a beat.

Why can’t I just let my guard
down for a moment?

“…Even after a week,
your filthy mouth remains the same. Well, I suppose it won’t change
after a whole lifetime.”

Arthur smirked at the term
Pitiful Prince and replied with a mocking tone.

Although I can’t see his
favorability score right now, I can guess what it might be.

It’s definitely in the
negatives.

“Blasphemous Lucy Allen.
I have a proposal for you.”

“What is it?”

“Normally, I’d hold you
accountable for your blasphemy, but this is the Academy, after all.
I’m a prince but not really a prince here; you’re a noble lady but
not really a noble lady.”

As Arthur spread his arms
theatrically, the eyes around us turned toward us.

Their gazes were starkly
different. The looks directed at Arthur were soft, while those aimed
at me were colder and heavier than ever.

The sheer number of those
stares, nearing hundreds, was so burdensome that it felt suffocating,
even though they had no physical form.

If my [Mesugaki] Skill hadn’t
forcibly made me stand tall, I might have collapsed right there.