Chapter 388
The dungeon’s mysteries were gradually being unraveled.
Simon had long been curious about how the monsters here could replenish their energy without consuming food. It turned out that when monsters exhausted all their strength, they transformed into natural elements of the dungeon, like plants or rocks.
And after waiting for a while in that state, an unknown entity would directly make contact with them using something like white nerves, transferring energy into them.
Simon believed that this unknown entity was the “dungeon master”, the boss monster. After all, if there was anyone capable of managing the ecosystem of this world, it could only be the dungeon master.
And the method to make contact with that being—
‘Just act like a monster.’
If one sat still and unmoving in place, maintaining focus, the presumed dungeon master would send out a white tentacle-like structure, resembling nerve cells.
However, the moment of contact, the dungeon master would realize Simon wasn’t a monster and flee. Still, a strong residual sensation lingered in Simon, pointing toward the direction it had escaped.
All Simon had to do was follow that direction, like a kind of compass.
Whenever he lost direction or became unsure, he repeated the process, tricking the dungeon master again to get his bearings.
It had taken several trial-and-error attempts to figure this out. At first, he’d tried covering his body in minerals, but that turned out to be pointless.
The actual conditions were: do not move for at least an hour, maintain regular breathing without losing focus, do not sleep, and do it in an area with many trees or plants.
On the 10th day.
“Hm.”
While meditating, Simon again sensed the dungeon master’s movement and opened his eyes.
He truly felt closer now. The residual sensation after contact was becoming stronger and clearer.
‘First, I should eat something.’
Starving from all the meditation, Simon filled his stomach with some leftover monster meat from a previous hunt.
It still tasted terrible. And now that he knew monsters here turned into plants, it was even worse.
‘...No wonder the texture feels more like mushrooms than meat.’
Moreover, monster flesh turned mushy and dried out like a plant just a few hours after being harvested.
It lasted only a day. In other words, Simon had to hunt at least once every day.
“Alright.”
Finishing his meal, Simon stretched lightly. He had his direction figured out, and it was time to find food for the evening hunt.
He noticed footprints scattered across the forest floor.
‘Let’s follow these for now... huh?’
Simon widened his eyes and bent his knees.
The footprints on the ground were clear—fresh, evenly spaced steps.
But what surprised him more was that these weren’t the footprints of monsters he’d grown tired of seeing.
“These are... shoe prints!”
One of the Keyzen students was nearby. Simon immediately sprinted after the tracks.
The moist ground made the trail easy to follow, and the indentations grew deeper—proof that someone had stayed here recently.
Soon, after pushing past the thick forest, following the trail—
Whooooosh—!
A dazzling wind burst through with brilliant light.
There, he saw the back of a girl with long sky-blue hair fluttering in the wind. She brushed her hair behind her ear and, sensing someone’s presence, turned around.
“...Ah?”
Her eyes widened. Shock lasted only a moment before joy and emotion burst forth, unable to be hidden from her face.
“Si...!”
“Simon!!!”
But someone else jumped ahead of her—
Toto had latched himself onto Simon, bursting into tears of joy.
“...T-Toto?”
“Bwaahh! Simon! I’m so glad to see you! It was really scary!”
He sneaked a sideways glance at Maelyn. Her face turned beet red.
“Hey!! What did I even do?!”
“Eek!”
Toto hid behind Simon’s back. Simon chuckled.
“You two haven’t changed a bit.”
“...Give me back my touching reunion moment. Seriously.”
Grumbling, Maelyn put her hand to her forehead, then looked at Simon.
It had been ten days. She expected the boys to be scruffy, faces dirty and beards growing. But Simon looked neat as ever, even freshly shaved.
Well, considering how he was during the last survival test on the island, this guy probably could survive anywhere.
“Do you have anyone else with you?”
Maelyn asked, and Simon shook his head.
“No, you two are the first I’ve met.”
With shining eyes, Maelyn offered her hand.
“Then wanna team up with us? Only if you’re okay with it, of course...”
Simon smiled and took her hand. His grip was just right—not too strong, not too weak—and it warmly wrapped around her pale fingers.
“Of course I’d like that.”
A loose smile crept onto Maelyn’s lips. Since arriving in the dungeon, everything had felt so bleak, but now that she’d met Simon, she felt genuinely reassured.
Of course, Toto was here too, but he was more someone Maelyn felt she had to protect rather than rely on.
“B-But I’m the leader! Any objections?”
“Haha! Be my guest.”
The three of them caught up and exchanged the information they had discovered.
All three already knew how to deal with the mineral monsters and that monsters could transform into plants.
Though Maelyn and Toto hadn’t figured out the dungeon master’s location, they were moving based on a personal theory.
“If you look closely, you’ll see the tree roots all point in the same direction.”
“Really?”
At Maelyn’s words, Simon narrowed his eyes and scanned the roots nearby.
“...Hmm, I don’t really see it.”
“If you really look closely, they subtly angle the same way.”
Simon scratched his temple.
“If it’s that subtle, isn’t it basically meaningless?”
“You could say that. But!”
Maelyn spread her arms wide.
“What if every tree here points the same way?”
It wasn’t unusual for plant roots to lean in a certain direction.
But if, say, 299 out of 300 trees in the forest leaned the same way, it became significant.
“It’s not a groundbreaking discovery, but it’s all we had to go on, so we just kept moving in that direction.”
Simon nodded.
“Well done.”
The dungeon master’s white tentacles traveled through the ground to nourish the monsters in their plant state. It was plausible that the roots had grown in that direction as a result.
Of course, root growth could also be influenced by slope, wind, or sunlight, so it wasn’t 100% reliable, but thanks to their steady progress in one direction, they’d been able to find Simon.
Now it was Simon’s turn to share what he had discovered.
“You can make contact with the dungeon master?”
Maelyn and Toto’s eyes went wide.
“I wanna try!”
Maelyn quickly sat down cross-legged and closed her eyes. Toto, curious, leaned against a tree and did the same.
But—
Fidget! Fidget!
Maelyn’s shoulders began to twitch with boredom before even thirty minutes passed. Toto, meanwhile, had drool dripping from his mouth as he snored.
Simon let out a bitter laugh.
"Both of you failed."
Even knowing the method, it seemed nearly impossible for someone with a distracted nature or a tendency to doze off.
Though the two of them had failed, Simon had already made another successful contact with the dungeon master to confirm the direction.
"I’ll lead the way. Let’s move."
"Okay!"
First and foremost, they had to go there themselves to prove Simon’s hypothesis and confirm the dungeon master’s exact location.
The three of them moved diligently.
The closer they got to the direction of the dungeon master, the more numerous and larger the monsters became. If spotted, they would persistently attack, so they had to take detours through areas without monsters as much as possible.
"Simon! The trail ahead is swarming with monsters!"
Toto, who had gone ahead to scout, reported back. Simon gave a nod.
"We need to conserve our mineral weapons. If we climb this hill, we might be able to avoid a fight. What do you think?"
Simon pointed upward. Maelyn looked up in that direction, her brows knitting together.
"...It’ll cost us a lot of stamina, but there’s no helping it."
"Hold on."
Simon opened his subspace.
Six skeletons emerged and split into parts, which then clung tightly to the three of them.
"Here, wear these. Climbing should be easier now."
"Full-body Bone Armor?!"
Toto’s eyes sparkled with admiration as he looked at Simon.
Whoosh, whoosh.
Once fully equipped in Bone Armor, Simon swung his arms and took the lead to demonstrate.
He reached out with both hands to grip protruding rocks, then stepped with his right foot onto a stable surface and climbed upward with ease.
"Follow me, Maelyn!"
"Ah, okay!"
Maelyn quickly tested the exoskeleton effect of the Bone Armor and began climbing using the angled outcrops of the slope.
"This is great! I can climb smoothly without using too much strength!"
Maelyn adapted instantly. Though not the most athletic, with Simon providing direct assistance through the Bone Armor, there was no problem.
"Hey! Slowpoke!"
Excited, she turned back and shouted,
"Why are you so slow? Hurry up!"
But as Toto, who was following behind, made eye contact with her, his face turned red and he quickly looked away.
"What are you—..."
Maelyn’s expression shifted as she realized something.
Thud!
And with a clean back kick, she sent Toto sliding down the cliffside.
Toto had to climb again, this time beating Maelyn to the top.
"...Simon, I’ve been through hell."
Toto, with a shoe print on his face, spoke with a miserable expression.
"...Haha."
Knowing Toto’s timid personality, it was clear he had a hard time handling Maelyn.
"D-Do you think Maelyn hates me?"
Toto, confidence thoroughly crushed, asked while looking deflated. Simon shook his head.
Despite all this...
Maelyn was a results-driven perfectionist who prioritized grades above all. For someone like her, who was aiming for first place in this advancement exam, to continue sticking with and protecting Toto—a potential burden—spoke volumes.
Just that fact was proof enough.
"Maelyn’s just not good at expressing herself. Sometimes she says or does things she doesn’t mean."
Simon continued.
"If you get a little more comfortable around her, you’ll see that—"
"T-That’s already impossible!"
Simon burst out laughing at Toto’s complaint.
With the Bone Armor’s help, the three of them made it to the top of the cliff.
"Wow, we’ve really reached a place worthy of a final boss!"
Maelyn bounced excitedly. They now had a panoramic view of the dark mountain range, the likes of which they hadn’t seen anywhere else in the dungeon.
"Alright, let’s head down. Be careful."
Just as Simon stepped forward to descend, Toto pointed to the sky.
"H-Hey, guys. Something’s coming?"
"Hm?"
Simon lifted his head.
He thought it was a bird—but it wasn’t.
"...!"
It was a black dragon.
Flap!
With tattered black wings flapping violently, a massive dragon descended, stirring up fierce winds with each beat of its wings.
"Kyaaah!"
"Get down!"
Simon summoned Darkness and shielded Maelyn and Toto, who dropped to the ground.
The black dragon landed on the very top of the towering hill where the three stood, folding its wings.
‘Of all places...!’
Simon bit his lip.
The dragon’s body began to shrink, its tightly embedded scales loosening and dangling from its form.
The snout typical of reptiles retracted, transforming into a smooth human face, and even the sharp fangs straightened out.
"Simon Follentia."
It soon returned to the familiar form of Hector.
"...Hector!"
Maelyn jumped up, summoning magic circles in both hands.
"You know that student combat is prohibited inside the dungeon, right?"
"Combat is banned, yes, but... a little tumble down this hill wouldn’t really count as combat, would it?"
"You—!"
Maelyn lunged forward, but Simon raised his arm and stopped her.
"What do you want?"
Though Hector was overly competitive and reckless when angry, Simon didn’t think he was someone who acted without reason.
Hector looked at Simon as well.
"You must’ve found the boss’ location by now."
"..."
"Lead the way."
Was he trying to cooperate to clear the dungeon?
Simon was secretly pleased, but Maelyn crossed her arms and scoffed.
"Why should we do that just ‘cause you’re pretty’?"
Hector curled his lips silently into a smirk.
He’d probably follow them even if they didn’t guide him. Simon looked at him and spoke.
"Even one more fighter will help. Let’s cooperate for this boss fight, Hector."
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters