Chapter 177: Successful Chaos
"Boss! We did it! We really did it!" Hawk shouts.
His teammates are screaming and cheering, ecstatic that their leader, Ethan Barlett, has killed the Dungeon King with his fire magic.
Ethan is panting hard, on the verge of passing out.
From Hawk’s point of view, Ethan looks high on adrenaline, drunk on victory. The Dungeon King is dead, and with its death, the King heartstone appears, replacing the fallen King. The most valuable heartstone a dungeon can produce.
But inside, Ethan feels sothing very different.
He is both terrified and relieved.
He had never imagined a dungeon could be this dangerous.
When he first entered, the sheer abundance of mana shocked him to the core. For a brief mont, he almost lost control, nearly overwheld by it. He had to force himself to suppress the mana, diverting it away, then carefully absorbing it little by little.
It took everything he had.
The strain was enormous. His vision blurred more than once, his body screaming for him to stop. He nearly collapsed from sheer exhaustion, but he refused to give in. He couldn’t afford to embarrass himself in front of his team.
On the other hand, Hawk and his eighteen teammates were completely awestruck when Ethan first summoned his fire magic.
That single display shattered their fear.
Their courage skyrocketed, replaced by a sense of invincibility. They charged forward, slaughtering every haelion in sight with reckless enthusiasm.
That was when Hawk and the others decided to na their team.
The "Hunters."
Ethan didn’t argue. He didn’t have the energy to care.
The Hunters then spent five full days clearing the dungeon.
Twenty people clearing a level four dungeon was already an impressive achievent. Normally, it would take at least two full teams of twenty to accomplish the sa feat.
When Ethan sees the pale yellow King heartstone materialize, his exhaustion slowly gives way to joy. Then pride. Then a swelling sense of accomplishnt, edged with cockiness.
I really did it! I’m the first magus who cleared a dungeon! I’m IT!
The thought explodes in his mind.
Ethan’s overwhelming joy spills over. He throws his head back and yells, and a massive pillar of fire erupts skyward, scorching the air above them.
The Hunters freeze in shock.
Then, in the next second, they erupt into even louder cheers.
Their voices echo through the dungeon, raw and triumphant.
They remain inside, waiting as the dungeon finishes its collapse, watching as everything around them crystallizes into heartstones.
Ethan stares at the glowing remains, his chest heaving.
I really did it!
I’m rich!
I made it!
The thought repeats again and again, burning brighter than the fire he summoned.
------------------------------
"YEAAAHHHH!!!"
"Shut up! That doesn’t count!"
"Yes, it does!"
"No, it doesn’t!"
"Yes, it does!"
"No, it doesn’t! Art!" Julian shouts, calling Arthur.
Julian and Liam are sprawled in the living room, playing on Liam’s hologram ga console.
They’ve been living together since the Montroses arrived in Solarys three days ago. Liam had prepared a shared living space, complete with a proper gym. Julian imdiately installed HB there, of course.
Now, on their third day in Solarys, Rhaenas is taking a break after spending the entire morning practicing against haelions in HB.
Arthur is working at a makeshift office he set up in one corner of the spacious living room. He glances toward his younger brother for half a second before his eyes return to his laptop.
He shakes his head and mutters,
"I can’t believe this. I feel like I’m living with university students in a dorm."
The main door of the apartnt opens, and Claudia enters with Theo and Maeve, carrying several shopping bags.
"Hey, a little help here?" Claudia calls out.
Liam and Julian imdiately get up and move to help them.
"Sis, what’s all this?" Liam asks as bags are dumped into his arms. "Why did you buy so many things?"
Claudia glares at her older brother like he has just asked the stupidest question imaginable.
"What do you think all of this is?" she snaps. "It’s because of your brilliant brain that prepared an apartnt without basic anities."
Liam wants to scratch his head, but his hands are already full of shopping bags.
"I can’t believe this," Claudia continues, clearly not done. "Didn’t you check the apartnt properly? How could you let Thea sleep in a room with no bedsheets and no blanket? I can’t. I just can’t."
She storms toward Theo’s bedroom, grabbing Liam by the arm and dragging him along.
"You’re lucky I didn’t say anything to Mom," Claudia scolds. "She would’ve skinned you alive. Now help
put on the bedsheets, blankets, and pillowcases. You’re hopeless. Co on, walk faster!"
Theo can only laugh as he watches a tall Liam being dragged like a rag doll by a woman whose height barely reaches his shoulder.
Maeve, on the other hand, heads toward the kitchen with Julian, both of them carrying shopping bags.
"I’m afraid to ask what’s in those bags," Julian says.
Maeve laughs, but only for a few seconds. Then her expression shifts, mirroring Claudia’s earlier glare.
"Inside these bags," she says, not slowing her steps, "are plates, eating spoons, serving spoons, eating forks, serving forks, pots, pans, woks, cooking oil, groceries, milk, eggs, fruits, at, vegetables, cooking salt, table salt, pepper, and other kitchen utensils I can’t even na anymore."
She finishes all of that in one breath.
Theo struggles to keep a straight face.
"OH MY GOD!" Claudia’s yell suddenly echoes from Theo’s bedroom.
Arthur doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t even glance in that direction.
He simply says to Theo, still focused on his laptop, "Ah. This must be the mont she discovers that besides bedsheets and pillowcases, the room also doesn’t have a wardrobe. Or even a single pillow."
He says it completely matter-of-factly, fingers still typing.
Claudia strides back into the living room at a fast pace, her phone already in her hand. She’s clearly speed-dialing soone.
"Hi, Louise? It’s , Claudia. I need your help," she says briskly. "I’ve got a new apartnt, five people are living here, and the problem is, it’s empty. Like, completely empty. Can you co over and make sure it’s livable? Now. I need it ready, like yesterday. Oh, you’re a lifesaver."
She paces once, nodding to herself.
"Yes. The usual style. Minimalistic, but complete. I want this place to be the coziest apartnt anyone’s ever lived in." She pauses, then adds casually, "Budget? Louise, it’s . Since when have I had a budget. But this ti, bill my brother. It’s his apartnt, and it’s his friends living here."
Another pause.
"Perfect. Ten minutes at the lobby. See you. Bye."
She hangs up and imdiately turns to the residents.
"Alright. You all have ten minutes to get ready and leave this apartnt," she announces. "You will stay away from this place for the next four hours. If you want to shower or sleep, we’ll use one of our guest units."
She claps her hands once.
"Chop chop, people. You have nine minutes. Move."
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