Normally, the students of Glory Cael Magic Academy lacked enthusiasm for exploring dungeons.
Magic was used to display strength, win honor, engage in elegant duels, or complete glamorous missions, not to fight for one's life against hideous monsters in dark, dangerous caves—this was the consensus among most noble students.
Therefore, even the shallow layers were usually sparse, with only a few students who needed practical combat or specific materials coming in teams, leaving hurriedly after finishing their objectives.
However, in recent days, the situation seemed somewhat different.
Several days had passed since Greg defeated Lady Eight-Legs.
After the Student Council's investigation concluded, the dungeon, which should have returned to being quiet, saw an abnormal increase in foot traffic instead.
From morning till evening, small student teams of two or three, or five or six, could often be seen holding illuminating magic crystals or simple weapons, weaving and exploring through the passages.
They didn't look like they were completing regular class assignments or gathering materials; their movements held an unmistakable intent to search, their eyes constantly scanning rock walls, forks in the road, and concealed corners.
This anomaly caused some inconvenience for Greg, who had chosen to make his home in a hidden cave in the shallow layers.
He had no choice but to use nearby clumps of dirt, rubble, and leftover canvas to better conceal his dark gray tent and the simple smoking rack beside it, ensuring they were difficult to spot at a glance from the main passage.
"That's really weird..."
Greg crouched on a large boulder in his camp, chewing on homemade jerky while frowning slightly.
"Has some Special Bounty regarding the dungeon been posted recently?"
In the academy's task system, a so-called Special Bounty usually referred to requests where the difficulty rating wasn't high, but the reward was exceptionally generous.
These tasks often attracted a large number of student teams to compete, creating a situation where demand far exceeded supply.
Just like right now, many teams were repeatedly searching the target area, hoping to be the first to find the objective or a clue.
Greg tried hard to recall his playthrough of the original game.
In his memory, Special Bounties targeting dungeon areas rarely appeared on the academy quest bulletin board.
This was because the dungeon's value was mostly reflected in the rare materials and drops from powerful monsters in the deep area, which were obviously not things ordinary student teams could easily reach.
"So what is their task objective this time? If it really is super simple and pays well..."
Greg rubbed his chin, feeling a genuine flicker of interest.
After all, he was penniless right now. The three gold coins Allie had lent him were mostly spent, and he still needed funds for his future survival and development.
If he could easily earn a bit of extra cash, why not?
However, that thought only flashed by fleetingly. He quickly calmed down.
Without going to the quest bulletin board on the academy ground, or even knowing the specific details of the task, trying to get a piece of the action was pure wishful thinking.
Moreover, his current lay-low lifestyle in the dungeon was largely to avoid attention from above and potential trouble. Rashly showing his face for an uncertain bounty wasn't worth the risk.
Shaking his head, Greg jumped down from the boulder and walked back to his small campsite.
The sky above ground had darkened completely, and no students could be seen in the distant passage anymore.
Greg deftly stamped out the small campfire—now reduced to embers—that he had used during the day to smoke meat, wrapped the new batch of jerky with its faint scent of spices and smoke in oil paper, and stuffed it into the tent.
Having finished this, he lifted the tent curtain and crawled inside.
The inside was small, but with padded cushions, it was dry and warm, forming a sharp contrast with the cold and damp environment outside.
He let out a comfortable sigh, pulled another piece of jerky from his pack, and chewed on it lazily.
"Hajimi, do you want some too?" Greg casually asked his shadow.
Strangely enough, when this Goddess of Night moved in the form of a cat, she seemed to have little interest in fish, preferring instead the jerky Greg smoked using dungeon monster meat and simple spices.
Whenever Greg made a batch, she would always crouch nearby, her dark green eyes unblinking, staring until Greg offered up a portion.
Though Greg occasionally complained about having an extra mouth to feed, he would still instinctively prepare a bit extra every time he made jerky.
After all, in this dark and sunless dungeon, Nightmare was the only presence who could frequently talk and bicker with him.
In such an extremely lonely environment, that companionship held an indescribable value.
However, in recent days, that fellow's whereabouts had been somewhat unpredictable.
She would occasionally vanish without a sound, running off alone into deeper areas of the dungeon.
Greg had solemnly warned her several times about this, emphasizing that they were now bound by a shared fate—rising together and falling together—and running off recklessly was bound to cause trouble.
Nightmare's response was usually nonchalant, bearing the laziness and slight impatience unique to a deity:
"Rest easy, my other half. The reason I have survived for such long ages is precisely because I cling to life more than any other creature and know how to avoid true danger. So, you need not worry."
Greg had no choice in the matter; after all, he couldn't truly restrict a goddess's freedom of movement, so he was forced to choose to believe her.
At first, he really had been on edge, terrified that one day while eating jerky, he would suddenly drop dead without warning.
But after several days, Nightmare always returned safely, sometimes even bringing back strange small stones or stone fragments that Greg had never seen in the original game, emitting faint pulses of mana.
Over time, Greg gradually grew accustomed to the fellow's elusive behavior.
"Hey, stinky cat, are you in the shadow? If you don't come out, I'm eating it all myself!"
Greg repeated his call to his shadow, but there was still no response.
Only the sound of his own breathing filled the tent.
"Looks like she ran off wild somewhere again..."
Greg shook his head and paid it no further mind.
He pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time.
Ten o'clock at night.
At this time, there was practically no one else in the dungeon besides him.
Most student teams who entered would leave successively around four or five in the afternoon, or seven at the latest.
After all, unlike Greg the unemployed vagrant, they needed to attend classes on time the next day and follow the academy schedule.
Dungeon exploration was an extracurricular activity for them, not daily life.
Greg relaxed his body and lay down on the padded cushion.
The comfortable feeling beneath him made him feel once more that gritting his teeth to buy this tent back then was an extraordinarily wise decision.
Compared to lying directly on the cold, hard, damp, and unforgiving rock floor, the conditions here were practically luxurious.
Good rest was the foundation of maintaining combat ability and mental readiness; this investment was well worth it.
As his thoughts drifted, Greg began calculating his upcoming plans.
"Counting the time... the final event of Chapter One should happen tomorrow night."
He was referring to the wrap-up event of the original game's Chapter One main storyline.
The core of this event was boosting the affection of the Secondary Heroine, Silvia.
The event summary was simple: Silvia would be kidnapped by an associate professor of the academy who worshipped the Goddess of Light, and then Victoria would go to rescue her.
Rate on N.U.
