—
The na “Morning Star” carried a story far more complex than it seed.
Morning Star was once a team created by Hugh, his school friends, and a few companions they had adventured with.
Their record wasn’t weak—Hugh and his close friend were both deeply passionate about dungeons and possessed a wealth of knowledge about them.
But…
During a dungeon expedition a year ago, the team, realizing the situation was dire, decided to retreat. However, they were unexpectedly pursued by the dungeon boss.
Initially, they had retreated due to insufficient information about the boss. During the pursuit, they discovered that their logistics were woefully inadequate.
In the end, Hugh was the only one who survived.
He didn’t even walk out of the dungeon—he crawled out, severely injured and barely alive.
From that day forward, Morning Star was extinguished, never to appear in the dungeons again.
After painstakingly rebuilding his ntal state and returning to the world of adventuring, Hugh found that his forr team no longer existed. This realization turned him into a man consud by guilt and obsession.
He believed it was his and his friend’s overconfidence in their judgnt that had dood the team. Both of them had taken on the roles of frontline fighters and logisticians, leading to a catastrophic failure in both intelligence and supply lines.
Thus…
Hugh ca to revere the role of logistics, to the point of obsession. He convinced himself that his only purpose was to serve as a logistician.
For the mories he could never reclaim, he was willing to endure and work tirelessly for the sake of that void team na and the once-passionate adventures they had shared.
—
Wow, what a tragic story…
—Not!
A tale of a lone survivor burdened by guilt, haunted by mories of their fallen comrades, spiraling into depression and self-bla… this trope was so overused.
Especially when dramatized with scenes of teammates being torn apart by the boss, dying before his eyes while he reached out helplessly.
Every night, haunted by dreams of their deaths…
Every morning, waking up in a cold sweat, staring at his hands, vowing never to let it happen again.
Wow, such a knife to the heart!
—Or not!
Honestly, it felt like a cheap, mass-produced sob story.
This backstory was revealed in the latter half of the original story, serving as a justification for why soone as capable as Hugh would tolerate the incompetence and oppression of his original team.
—
Now, across the table from Will sat his three teammates, eyeing him curiously. The table was adorned with a few freshly served dishes.
“Young Master? Why have you been so quiet? This is such a big mont—we finally got our team na!”
“Though, to be fair, the na doesn’t really seem like your style. But, well… it does have a nice aning. I’ll give you that.”
“I like the na. So, Will-sensei… don’t look so down.”
Will looked at the three girls, who seed unexpectedly concerned for him.
If one day, he were the only survivor, would his ntal state… be worse than the original protagonist’s?
Of course, that was just a hypothetical.
As a lighthearted story, anyone destined to die had already done so before the plot began. From here on out, it was all smooth sailing, and the three girls before him would live long, peaceful lives.
Still, the thought of that scenario had caused Will’s chest to tighten montarily.
For a world that existed as a “story,” a world he knew better than anyone to be riddled with “flaws” and “inconsistencies,” a “fictional” world he had helped shape and expand…
Will had always been a spectator.
That’s why he didn’t resent the “fate” he couldn’t break. That’s why he had written the Task System as a form of self-mockery. That’s why he had lowered his expectations for his role as a side character.
But…
After spending three fulfilling and unforgettable years with them…
“Sigh…”
Will took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and carefully composed his thoughts and emotions.
Finally, he rested his forehead on his hand and spoke with feigned gravity—
“You don’t understand. By forming this team, we’ve taken on a monuntal task and mission. We’ve embarked on a thorny, arduous path from which there is no turning back.”
The three girls stared at him, wide-eyed and silent, as he froze in his dramatic pose.
“Your large vegetable and fruit platter is here!”
The waiter’s interruption shattered Will’s mont of gravitas.
“Young Master! You’re fine after all! Just like always!”
Eir stood up cheerfully and, like the attentive maid she was, imdiately grabbed Will’s bowl to serve him the newly arrived dishes.
“Alright, I guess it’s been a while since I’ve seen you like this. If sothing this trivial is enough to get you down, you’ve got a lot to learn.”
Leah sighed in relief, looking sowhat reassured.
“Are you sure you’re okay? Should I let… it take a look? It’s very sensitive to emotions.”
Treya’s fingertips emitted a faint, ominous black mist.
“No, no, no, let’s not involve the demon! I’m really fine.”
Will hurriedly shoveled food into his mouth to prove he was perfectly okay.
—
“Um… so, what do we do now that we’ve ford the team? Eir’s not really sure…”
After serving everyone and pouring juice, Eir sat down, tilting her head in curiosity.
Will wasn’t surprised by her question. In the original story, Eir’s goals were the vaguest… as for the other two…
“To uncover more clues… about my mother.”
“To achieve a higher team ranking and prove the Ninth Princess’s capabilities.”
They answered without hesitation!
“As an adventurer team, the purest goal is to conquer dungeons—not for any particular reason, but because they exist. Because they’re filled with adventure. Even if it ans risking your life, you take one step forward, then another. As long as there’s another floor below, you keep going. Simply to conquer it.”
As Will spoke, he raised his glass toward the light, as if delivering a profound speech.
It was the kind of explanation that seed aningful but ultimately said nothing—classic and cliché.
How cliché?
This line had lost all aning seven or eight years ago when dungeon economics bood, and the resources they produced drove comrce and industry.
Let alone now, when even casual tourists could wander through dungeons like sightseeing spots.
Still…
It probably captured the original spirit of dungeons.
“Wow, Young Master, that was amazing!”
“As expected of my brilliant student, so well-versed in the textbooks.”
“I’ve learned sothing new!”
“Don’t mind . Just focus on achieving your goals. Pretend I didn’t say anything.”
“But… if that’s the case, why did we stop after the tenth floor? We didn’t really lose anything… I think we should conquer dungeons for the sake of conquering—!!!”
Uh-oh. Will had been bluffing, and Eir had taken him seriously.
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