Grace was originally a member of the developing team so she knew quite a lot about the game. She even made her own character to play the game. She hated fighting so she always chose the Priestess class.
The Sky God Mountain was a dungeon which nearly all the lower to mid-ranked players hated. No one could beat it. Let alone the lowest tier monsters.
The dungeon was crawling with monsters out of nightmares. Even a level 1 monster could pose a threat to unsuspecting newbies.
As a member of the team, Grace was ordered to find any bugs or glitches in the game. The dungeon itself could be considered a mistake that was irreversible.
As usual, Grace chose a healer class and followed a party of players into the dungeon. By doing this she was able to interact with the world they created.
It wasn’t even one floor that she realized that going there was a mistake. A monster killed them in a blink of an eye so she wasn’t able to collect any useful information.
That was why she decided to call players who were considered the best in the game. The top ten, to be specific.
Two of them were none other than Alecs and Bardolt.
Although they were able to survive dozens of floors of monster-infested environments, they couldn’t quite beat the bosses or the guardians that prevented all the deviants from leaving.
Grace remembered one of those players mentioning that they couldn’t even put up a fight against the last ten bosses at all. They also said that it was possible for one to pass by a floor without even fighting a boss.
Grace found this suspicious. How could a dungeon have this aspect? Dungeons in general had certain conditions before a player was allowed to enter the next floor. One condition was to kill or immobilize the boss monster.
Players would be transported to the next floor entrance or a trap door would open up. This was the norm for dungeons. Considering the sheer scale, diversity or monsters and the ecosystems inside the dungeon, it was known as one of the most bizarre natural phenomena.
Grace could understand why Arnold was shaken up. Heck, she was shaken up as well.
Why didn’t she vouch for him? Well, that was because she was afraid that there was an enemy player among the students. Exposing herself when she wasn’t even capable of protecting herself was a dumb move.
Those demihuman shadow guards she has will also be useless against players.
‘But why does Arnold know about this dungeon as well? His reaction to its name in the school hall is suspicious. If my memory serves me right, this dungeon was only discovered a few years ago so no one had been able to fully explore it. Someone who wasted away his life in alcohol and women like Arnold shouldn’t have even heard about it. Also, he mentioned the Star Beast… An ancient monster. Don’t tell me…’ Grace had a thought as to why he knew. ‘A potential transmigrator?’
Was he her enemy? Grace was weak so she would never be able to win in a fight. Most of the artifacts that could grant her power was located in impossible to reach places.
If he really was a player then why wasn’t he making full use of Arnold’s power? It would’ve been easy for this mysterious player to rule the continent. He knew everything about the game so why wasn’t he making use of it?
‘…Unless he’s being careful of his death flags. But if he knows about the death flags then he should also know how to get rid of them.’
Of course, this was only legible IF he knew the entire story which Grace was unaware of.
There were many people who could pose a threat to Arnold at the moment. One wrong step towards villainy could mean his end. He doesn’t know who his enemies were but he knew that he had a lot of them.
‘How should I ask him if he’s a player?’
It was pretty much certain at this point so Grace was only looking to ease her doubts. A weight would be lifted if the person who was transmigrated into Arnold was a good person.
That meant that the two of them could work together to make sure none of the bad endings occur.
It was easier said than done.
First she had to confront him without having her head sliced off.
If she told him she was a player then he would definitely be suspicious of her intentions.
What does she want by revealing this to me?
Is she the only one in this world?
Is she intentionally asking if I’m a player so that I expose myself?
Those were probably the questions he would ask himself before ultimately killing Grace.
‘All I have going for me is the fact that I worked on the developing team…’
She knew secrets that not even the D.O.P’s knew of. This included the content in the DLC storyline as well.
‘Let’s see… He met Flora and brought her to his residence to train the hero, killed a noble, and lastly he freed an Archmage candidate. He couldn’t have done all this because he just felt like it, right?’ Grace thought to herself as she glanced at Arnold, ‘Luke can now become one of the strongest swordsmen and Lauran is free which means that she can pursue her discovery for the truth about magic. This way the hero party would definitely be established. Yes, including these, all the other things he’s done must’ve had reasons behind them.’
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There was also the fact that Arnold accepted becoming the lord of a ruined city. He wasn’t even aware of the value of the city—he only judged it by looking at the surface; the city was a wasteland after all.
But the current Arnold became the city lord just like that?
Grace was convinced that her suspicions were true.
‘I feel like Anna. Always thinking too deeply into matters.’
“—The Fairy Province’s queen gave us the right to visit her lands after we graciously welcomed their strongest ally into our empire, which established an alliance that would last centuries. Our seventh year students were the first humans to enter the lands of fairies and high elves. They stayed there during the time that the academy was closed.”
“So they left soon after the third term ended?” Arnold asked.
“Yes. This was to prepare them for what was to come. As you all know, normal dungeon preparation is quite an arduous process. Can you imagine having to prepare to enter the biggest dungeon we’ve ever seen? They had to stock up on two years’ worth of food into their magic bags. The academy had to provide blacksmiths as well since there was a chance that many of their weapons would break.”
“How did they prepare against monsters then?”
Arnold asked yet again.
Grace thought that that was a good question. He also knew about the monsters lurking down there. He was probably asking to verify whether their preparations were enough.
‘This guy is putting a target on his back by being this nosy. I have no idea if enemy players transmigrated with the two of us. I have to warn him about this.’
She wasn’t sure how long he had been here. She had been here for a year by now. Meaning that she came here before the DLC’s story was supposed to start.
Grace had a responsibility to ensure whoever transmigrated into Arnold knew the dangers of revealing oneself.
“Well, there isn’t much we could do besides send them off with all monster traps, repellents and magic for specific species of fire breathing monsters. The professors will protect them if worse comes to worst.”
There were many monsters inside those dungeons—few having lord rank—that hadn’t been seen on this continent before.
The offspring was the least of their worries. If they pissed off even the gentle giants protecting the floors then even the professors are dead meat.
Guardians were monsters that prevents floor bosses from leaving their chambers. The dungeon masters create these beasts as a sort of countermeasure if the monsters are deviants.
Meaning, if the monsters don’t have a core stopping them from leaving.
“Will a rescue team be assembled if what Arnold said came to pass—that they all might die?” Grace asked her own question.
Arnold glanced at her.
“Yes, if necessary. We will ask help from the senior wizards and swordsmen. And we will request S-rankers if we can’t find an SS-rank party.”
“How many in total?”
“The party should be limited to 30 people. This is because they have to keep the food stocks in mind when saving the expedition group. We can’t give out more expenses than necessary.”
‘Why not ask the Great Nobles to just clear it…’
If the four of them were together then clearing a dungeon like that would take only a few weeks. Well, assuming they can beat the final bosses.
Grace heard from Alecs and Bardolt that the last five floors had bosses that ranged from level 92 to level 100.
There was no way ordinary people could fight those things. Perhaps that vampire lord could but Grace wasn’t exactly sure what kind of powers the vampire had. If those high level bosses had divine powers then the vampire lord had no chance in hell.
“Is that all the questions you have about the expedition?” Scarlett looked at everyone, “Then I’ll go over the basics that you need to know before your final exams.”
She took out stickers of different colors. She stuck different colors on the board. Each sticker group had five stickers.
“These stickers represent the students. The reason I chose five is because this makes a balanced party. Can anyone tell me what that means?”
Grace put up her hand, “Magician, two vanguards, tank, archer and healer.”
“Huh? Doesn’t that make six?” one of the students asked in confusion.
“Not in some circumstances.” Scarlett said, “For example: two vanguards are placed right behind the tank. They must act as one and can’t stray from their formation. Thus, they aren’t two. If they were six then that means that one has to be in front while the other is at the back. It’s all about formation. That’s how we win wars after all.”
“Won’t that weaken the party if there’s only one at the back?”
“Monsters with stealth abilities typically attack from behind which leaves the magician in danger. But the archer is there for a reason. They can pick up any scent of monsters and signal the mages who would then cast a barrier around themselves and the healer. This way the tank and vanguards wouldn’t need to focus on protecting them if monsters attack from behind. Their main focus would be the front. Monsters are predictable if you know which type they are.”
“Ah…”
“That makes sense.”
“I never thought dungeon raiding could be this difficult…”
The students were writing everything down that Scarlett said in their notebooks.
“Next comes the problem of guarding and camping. If five or more people are in the team then two can take shifts each time. Monster repellents are useful to a certain degree but they aren’t omnipotent. Any questions regarding this?”
No one spoke.
“Good. It seems you all understand that. Finally comes the biggest problem of all. What is most important thing when fighting long battles? Especially battles that require taking more than one try.”
One of the students raised their hands, “Healing your injuries or taking potions to recover stamina and mana?”
“That is what everyone would think, yes,” but Scarlett shook her head, “This is a myth started by magic store owners so that they get more customers and money.”
Grace and her classmates alike were confused. What else could be more important than healing and recovering mana?
Players would always stock up on potions before attempting to raid a dungeon.
“There exist potions for nearly every human need. Be it for sexual stimulation, diseases or even cognitive power… You can simply buy a potion for all those. But in a fight we need our mana and stamina most of all. But potions are only temporary boosters. Think about it. How much mana do you think you’ll get from a tiny bottle of liquid? It might probably last you a few minutes and that’s it. Therefore, the best thing to do when fighting long battles is to rest.”
‘Ah. That makes sense. I’m not the kind who thinks about fighting tactics but I’ve heard this from one of my friends in-game.’
“Energy gained from sleeping and eating will be far more beneficial in battle than the energy you get from potions. All of you will understand this when you go to a dungeon and experience the difficulties.”
“What about the issue of running out of food and water?”
“There are many edible things in a dungeon. Even if we don’t like the taste, many dungeon crawlers have enough protein that could serve as backup food. About the water, well, you can always try drinking from a waterfall or river. A moving body of water means fresh water. If you find a lake then boil the water first. Getting killed by the parasites is a fate I don’t wish on even my enemies.”
Scarlett looked at her watch, “Time is almost up. If anyone has any questions then you can stay in during lunch break. If not then you may pack up—”
Most of the students rushed out of the class before she could even finish.
Scarlett sighed, “I’ll see you guys next time. We’ll be discussing dungeon cores and its crystals at our next class.”
Grace looked at Arnold after standing up. She opened and closed her mouth multiple times. She wanted to say something but couldn’t find the right words to use.
Arnold stood up after packing away his things.
“Grace, what’s wrong?” Rachel asked curiously when she saw Grace was still standing at the desk.
“Ah… Nothing.”
Fear overwhelmed her body when she thought about telling Arnold—or whoever reincarnated into him—that she was just like them.
“Then let’s go, Grace.” Rachel linked arms with Grace and dragged her out of the classroom.
Grace’s gaze stayed on Arnold until she left the classroom.
‘I’ll… tell him when the right time comes.’
Question was when the right time would be.