Chapter 49: 49. I Choose this Party
Odessa ran, arms spread wide like a bird taking flight, her silver hair streaming behind her as she closed the distance quick.
"YUKI!"
The impact nearly knocked Yuki off her feet.
Odessa’s arms wrapped around her in a crushing hug that would have toppled a less-prepared person, but Yuki managed to stay upright, bracing herself against the unexpected assault of affection.
"Oh my God! Alfred, it’s Yuki!" Odessa squealed, still clinging to her like they were long-lost sisters rather than acquaintances who had just t once in a dungeon a month ago.
Despite everything, the tension with Felicity, the weight of the mission, the darkness looming at the valley’s edge, yuki found herself smiling.
"It’s nice to see you too, Odessa."
Odessa finally released her, stepping back but keeping her hands on Yuki’s shoulders, her eyes sparkling with excitent and relief.
"Where have you been? We searched everywhere for you!" Odessa’s expression shifted to an exaggerated pout. "You’d think soone with a baby dragon would be easy to find in a kingdom where dragons are literally revered as gods! I an, how many dragon tars can there possibly be?"
Yuki’s smile beca more strained, more awkward. The ntion of kingdoms and reverence hit closer to the truth than Odessa could possibly know. Drak’thar. The dragon kingdom. The Tower of Royals. The Greater Dragons. All of it secrets she didn’t want to share, not now at least.
"Ah, well..." Yuki offered an apologetic shrug. "I had my reasons to stay hidden."
The change in her tone was subtle but present,a door closing politely but firmly.
Alfred, ever the observant butler, picked up on the social cue imdiately. He stepped forward, placing a gentle but insistent hand on Odessa’s shoulder.
"Co now, Madam," Alfred said, his cultured voice carrying that perfect balance of respect and authority that only the best servants managed. "Let Madam Yuki prepare with her party. I’m certain there will be ti for proper catching up once we’ve all survived this dungeon."
The word "survived" hung in the air like a cold weight.
Odessa allowed herself to be guided away, but not before shooting Yuki one last brilliant smile and a enthusiastic wave. Her Azure Sky-Dragon coiled through the air above them.
Alfred paused mid-step, turning back to face Yuki properly. He bowed, not deeply, but with enough formality to convey genuine respect.
"It is truly a pleasure to see you again, Madam Yuki. I do hope we both erge from this endeavor intact enough to share tea and proper conversation."
Then they were gone, rejoining Odessa’s party of dragon-kin tars near the valley’s edge.
"Friends?" Lyra’s voice ca from beside Yuki, startling her slightly. The A-rank hunter had moved so quietly Yuki hadn’t noticed her approach.
Yuki watched Odessa’s retreating form, the energetic woman already gesticulating wildly to her party mbers about sothing, her Azure Sky Dragon performing lazy loops above them.
"Yeah," Yuki replied softly. "Sothing like that."
She turned to face her own party. Isaac stood with his massive shield propped against his shoulder.
Felicity had her bow in hand with her fingers absently checking the string’s tension.
And Lyra watched everything with those sharp, calculating eyes that missed nothing.
"So," Yuki asked, "what now?"
The staging area had transford into an organized chaos. Various parties of hunters, all from the real world, all having entered this Story Dungeon with different goals and different information stood in loose clusters near the entrance to the Shadowgrave lands.
"HEY! GATHER ROUND!"
A bald-headed man with a greatsword strapped to his back pushed his way to the front of the crowd, waving his arms to get everyone’s attention.
His voice carried across the staging area with the volu of soone used to commanding attention.
"It’s obvious we all got similar information that led us here today!" he announced with a hopeful expression. "So why don’t we all share what we know? Huh? Pool our intel, to reduce casualties and increase our chances of success?"
Silence fell over the gathered hunters.
Then soone snickered. Then another. Within seconds, the entire staging area erupted into a ridiculing laughter.
"Hey! Co on, guys! I’m serious!" The bald man’s face reddened as his earnest proposal was t with mockery.
Then one of his party mbers grabbed his arm and pulled him aside, whispering urgently in his ear.
Yuki understood the laughter imdiately. It wasn’t cruelty exactly, it was pragmatism mixed with greed.
In a Dungeon as large as a story dungeon, contribution ratio determined everything. The more you contributed to the dungeon’s completion, the better your rewards, the more experience you gained, the higher your chances of ranking up.
Information was currency. Secret passages ant better loot. Discovered weaknesses ant higher kill counts. Knowledge was power, and that power was survival.
Sharing information would reduce the death toll, yes. It would speed up the dungeon clear, certainly.
But it would also dilute individual contributions. It would spread the rewards thinner. And for hunters stuck at their level caps, desperately seeking that one crucial achievent that would trigger their rank-up conditions, cooperation was a luxury they couldn’t afford.
It was selfish. It was rational. It was the hunter’s dilemma in its purest form.
Unlike Yuki, whose rank-up from F to C had been almost absurdly effortless—a side effect of taming Owen, a Dragon king—most hunters fought for years to break through their barriers.
Ranking up required more than just reaching a level cap. It required eting specific conditions, accomplishing specific feats, proving yourself worthy through trials that varied wildly between individuals.
So needed to defeat a certain number of high-rank monsters. Others needed to clear specific dungeon types. So required mastering certain skills to specific proficiency levels. The system was arbitrary, personal, and often maddeningly opaque.
This Story Dungeon represented a rare opportunity, a chance to accomplish sothing significant enough to satisfy almost any rank-up condition. Of course they would keep their secrets close.
The parties began moving forward, one by one, disappearing into the mist that marked the entrance to the Shadowgrave land.
"Yuki!"
Odessa’s voice called out again. She had circled back with Alfred trailing behind her, her full party in tow.
Yuki recognized them from the B-rank dungeon expedition: Garrick with his Giant Komodo Earth-Dragon, Seraphine with her Three-Headed Basilisk and Tomas with his Wyvern.
"You wanna join us?" Odessa asked with a bright and hopeful smile. "Just like before? We worked well together last ti, right? And more tars ans more versatility in combat, and Alfred’s tanking is top-tier, and—"
She was rambling, excitedly and genuine in her offer.
But Yuki hesitated.
It was a tempting offer. Odessa’s party was capable, coordinated, and most importantly, they actually liked her and she was already used to them, with no drama.
There would be no tension, no lingering resentnt, no careful navigation of emotional landmines. Just straightforward cooperation between professionals who respected each other.
But Yuki found herself looking back at her current party. At Isaac, who had been nothing but steady and reliable and logical. At Lyra, who had defended her against Felicity’s accusations. At Felicity herself, who had now finally started the difficult process of healing.
They had lost Oak and Lucien together but that trauma is what sealed their fate together.
And maybe, just maybe, they needed to see this through together too.
"I appreciate the offer, Odessa. Really, I do." Yuki’s voice was sincere. "But I’m staying with my current party. We have... unfinished business."
Odessa pouted upon getting the rejections, it was sohow both childish and endearing. "Aww, really? You’re breaking my heart here, Yuki."
But Alfred nodded approvingly, understanding what Yuki couldn’t articulate.
"Very well, Madam Yuki," Alfred said. "We shall see you on the other side, then. Do try not to die."
"You too."
Odessa waved dramatically as Alfred guided her away, her party following. They joined the procession of hunters entering the mist,
The Azure Sky-Dragon’s crystalline form being the last thing visible before the darkness claid them.
Yuki turned back to her party. Isaac, Lyra, and Felicity stood waiting, their expressions a mix of approval and sothing that might have been gratitude.
"We wouldn’t have blad you, you know," Felicity said quietly, her tone softer than Yuki had ever heard it. "If you had chosen to go with them. They’re clearly fond of you."
"Yeah," Lyra agreed, a faint smile touching her lips. "We wouldn’t have stopped you."
"What? Speak for yourselves!" Isaac protested, genuinely confused. "I for one would have definitely felt so kind of way if she had—OW!"
Lyra elbowed his ribs as hard as she could.
"What was that for?!" Isaac rubbed his side, looking betrayed.
Despite everything: the danger ahead, the weight of their mission, the ghosts of their fallen companions—They laughed, A mont of levity before the storm.
"Well," Yuki said, a serious tone entering her voice as the mont of warmth faded into a focused determination. "This is it. Ti to clear this dungeon."
She closed her eyes, reaching inward through the ntal connection to her Beast Space.
"Owen! Uru!"
The air Trembled as space bent.
Uru materialized first, the primordial sli appearing on Yuki’s head with a happy jiggle.
Then Owen erged.
Golden light exploded outward as his juvenile dragon form took shape in the physical world. His Black scales that seed to absorb light. His Wings that stretched wide enough to cast shadows over the entire party. His Horns that curved back from a graciously. And his Golden eyes that burned with a powerful gaze.
He was massive, towering over the gathered hunters.
Isaac’s legs gave out.
The massive tank simply sat down hard on his rear end, with his shield falling beside him.
His mouth hung open as he stared up at Owen.
"Holy shit, Yuki," Isaac breathed, his voice cracking slightly. "When did he get so... big?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)