"Haaah…"
Eunice let out a long sigh as she rested her cheek on the table, propping her head up with one hand and gazing listlessly at the Monitor. Her golden tail, usually fluffy and well-grood, swayed with uncharacteristic lethargy. On the screen, Tsutomu stood in the midst of the ninety-fifth layer, casting [ to fend off the swarm of Dark-elent monsters.
When Milway surpassed her and descended to a deeper layer, Eunice had sulked, of course, but she had not fought it. She had accepted the difference in ability and quietly stepped down from her position in the Clan’s main party.
Since then, she had busied herself with developing new applications for existing Skills. But one day, Milway had dressed her up without warning and dragged her out of the house before she could protest. She was hauled off to Absolute Helix’s Clan House, where, much to her chagrin, she was made to attend a social gathering.
At first, she’d been thoroughly irritated with Milway’s high-handedness. But considering she had hardly left the house except for expeditions with Team 2, talking with people like Alma, whom she had not seen in ages, ended up being more enjoyable than expected.
Still, amidst all the conversation, the one she couldn’t stop thinking about was Tsutomu. He’d clearly had too much wine that evening, but strangely, the drunken version of him had a far more pleasant air. Ordinarily, alcohol made people worse. Yet sohow, with Tsutomu, the opposite was true. He remained as inscrutable as ever.
Later, at Milway’s insistence, she ended up speaking to him directly. To her surprise, he seed… defanged, even llow. He even knew she’d been demoted but did not mock her for it; instead, he calmly compared her performance to Milway’s and gave her practical advice.
[Maybe this side of him is the real Tsutomu…] Eunice thought. […and if it is, then… that’s a good thing. It really is.]
He had even said so encouraging words, which was sothing he would never normally say. He patted her head and told her to do her best if she wanted to make it back into Team 1. The gesture and the warmth behind his words nearly brought her to tears. Confused by this unfamiliar kindness, she drank more wine to suppress the emotions swelling in her chest. The rest of that night remained a blur.
But the very next day, she followed his advice. She put her experints with new skills on the back burner and refocused on mastering her current arsenal, particularly the projectile and placent-based ones.
Milway had teased her, saying, "At this rate, you’ll overtake
again in no ti," but although Eunice did feel herself making progress, she doubted she would reclaim her spot in Team 1 just yet.
Besides, watching Tsutomu now, she realized she no longer understood him at all. At first, she had despised him for how his words were always laced with sarcasm, and how he carried himself with none of the confidence or strength she associated with a proper man. Compared to soone like Leon, Tsutomu was his complete opposite. And yet, the way the two of them seed to get along had always grated her.
But now, she did not feel that way anymore. And that change… it felt like a betrayal to Leon. She tried to bury them, but they pressed against her chest like a weight she could not dislodge.
She still believed she loved Leon. She had fallen for him at first sight, watching him through the Monitors. When she finally approached him, only to discover he practiced polygamy, she had been utterly shocked. And when she learned that he was engaging in licentious behavior with nurous partners daily, even if it was for the preservation of the Golden Lycanthrope subspecies, she had been disgusted.
Yet when she voiced her concerns, Leon had respected her beliefs. He had kept his hands completely off her, and that sincerity deepened her feelings for him… and with it, her determination. She had thrown herself into training, becoming the most capable White Mage among the dozens in Golden Tune.
[I don’t know anymore…]
She still held onto the hope that, one day, Leon would choose her and her alone. But that day never ca. And while the idea of giving up on Leon and turning to Tsutomu was sothing she could never forgive herself for, part of her kept whispering: ‘How long do you plan to chase a dream that won’t co true?’
Caught in the tug-of-war between heart and reason, Eunice was drowning. Unable to bear the pressure, she imrsed herself in the only things that could dull the ache: God’s Dungeon, skill training, and the endless cycle of experintation.
▽▽
[…In the end, it seems we won’t clear this layer before Absolute Helix arrives.]
Stephanie watched the ti slip away with a bitter acceptance. Though Ealdred Crow had finally begun its assault on the ninety-sixth layer after much internal turbulence, the endeavor had proven brutally difficult. Nearly a month had passed, and still they had not managed to overco it.
The ninety-sixth layer marked a paradigm shift in God’s Dungeon: a defensive battle unlike anything encountered before. Understanding the very rules of engagent had consud a great deal of ti. When a Magic Stone was offered to either the northern or southern Dragon, waves of monsters began to descend from outside. Yet these enemies did not target the Explorers directly. Instead, their aggro centered on the Ancient Castle at the heart of the battlefield.
Clearing this layer ant defending the Castle until the assault ended. Only then would the Black Gate to the next layer open. It was a completely new kind of trial, and the sudden shift in priorities caught Stephanie’s party flat-footed.
In their first attempt, unaware of the chanics, they could only watch in confusion as the monsters hamred the Castle into ruin. Portions of the area collapsed beneath them, and though they managed to hover above the devastation with [, the mont the Castle fell, the entire ninety-sixth layer began to collapse. The party was annihilated in the chaos. Afterward, they learned that they could retreat mid-battle through the Black Gate, but the sting of losing valuable equipnt still lingered.
With each new run, they grew more competent, but the necessity of splitting into two forces, ensuring their defenses sufficiently covered both the north and the south, greatly strained them. The Magic Stones required for the Dragons could only be acquired by defeating enemies in the doughnut corridor, forcing them to fight for resources while also defending the Castle.
This kind of simultaneous, divided-party coordination was completely unfamiliar to them, and it slowed them down. By the ti they had found their footing, both of Absolute Helix’s parties had already reached the latter stages of the ninety-fifth layer. It was all but certain they would progress past it tomorrow.
Knowing that, it stung quite hard, as Stephanie had desperately wanted to clear the ninety-sixth layer before Tsutomu and his party arrived. She had thrown herself into the effort to the point of developing dark circles under her eyes again. But the ninety-sixth layer demanded an entirely different approach from anything they had faced before, and sheer willpower alone was not enough to conquer it.
Their informants had scoured every possible lead in search of an alternate route to victory, but none had borne fruit.
[I wanted to be the one who saw the end first… for Mister Tsutomu’s sake,] Stephanie thought.
Though five mbers of Absolute Helix had already advanced as far as the ninety-ninth layer, they had yet to attempt the hundredth. Most believed that the reason for the delay was Tsutomu’s distrust of Diniel after she had faltered at the ninetieth layer, and they were likely correct.
But Stephanie sensed there was more to the story. What had tipped her off was Korinna. Specifically, the unnatural speed of her improvent. Many still paid little attention to Channelers, given the relative rarity of the Job, but Stephanie had been watching her closely. And what she saw now was a Healer who could stand toe-to-toe with herself.
Ever since whispers began to circulate that Korinna might be capable of clearing the ninetieth layer, Stephanie had marked her as a threat. When Korinna and her team successfully defeated the Corrupted Shell, her potential beca undeniable. From the outset, her team had displayed an uncanny level of coordination, and over ti, they had only sharpened their edge.
Korinna herself had changed, too. Day by day, her confidence grew… and with it, her team’s performance. In contrast, Tsutomu’s party had stumbled. Though they eventually caught up, Korinna’s group now had a slight lead in progression.
Stephanie believed that Tsutomu intended to send Korinna’s party into the hundredth layer first. He had been quietly building her strength as a Healer, tuning her eventual party around her capabilities. Everything pointed to that deliberate effort.
If anyone else had heard such a theory, they would’ve scoffed. The idea that soone could orchestrate Korinna’s rapid developnt as a Healer seed far-fetched, and there were far too many variables at play. But Stephanie had pieced the puzzle together through careful observation and experience. She was certain of it.
The one thing she couldn’t grasp, however, was why he would do that? Why go to such lengths for Korinna specifically?
She had hoped that, by matching Korinna’s pace and updating her own progression records, she might earn a few opportunities to ask Tsutomu directly. But no matter how hard she worked, she remained only one mber of a larger party. There was only so much she could influence on her own.
[People say Mister Tsutomu is just trying to avoid dying… but that’s nonsense. There must be sothing more. Whatever his reasons may be, I have to be the one to support him…]
Clinging to that conviction, Stephanie finally surrendered to exhaustion. She let her thoughts slip away into sleep, bracing herself for tomorrow’s battle.
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