Live Dungeon!

Following the Stampede, when Eunice returned to Dungeon City from the Royal Capital, the changes awaiting her were enough to leave her momentarily speechless. The members of Golden Tune, those whom Leon himself had deemed unfit for the expedition due to their relative lack of skill, had somehow leveled themselves up significantly in the space of a single month.

Their transformation was undeniable, and it gnawed at her. She now realized they were edging dangerously close to her own rank. They’d even mastered the basics of the Dumpling-style skill essential to supporting Leon, leaving Eunice herself with almost no remaining advantage. She understood all too well that if she eased her grip on her standing for even a moment, they’d surge past her without a second thought.

Meanwhile, Silver Beast continued to blaze ahead of Golden Tune as a whole. Among them was Lorena, the Mobile Healer in their top unit, whose reputation had now nearly equaled that of Stephanie. And in fact, both of them, as Tsutomu’s apprentices, had swiftly risen to dominate the city’s hierarchy of Healers.

Though some murmured that Tsutomu himself had been outpaced by these two, the Dungeon Maniacs remained insistent to the contrary. In their eyes, he stood above the rest in a crucial respect — unlike those of Ealdred Crow and Silver Beast, Tsutomu’s party had never once been wiped out in God’s Dungeon.

Even Stephanie, largely considered the very best, had suffered multiple wipes in her career; even Lorena, the close runner-up, had experienced similar failures. In contrast, Tsutomu’s team had not only avoided full-party losses, but they’d seldom even lost a single member. Credit was due in part to their exceptional Tanks, but the Dungeon Maniacs knew it was Tsutomu’s precise support and healing skills that made the difference. After all, for a Healer, the primary goal was to keep teammates alive and prevent fatal errors from the outset.

Yet, in the eyes of most spectators, a Healer’s worth lay in their ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat — to resurrect and heal in the face of disaster. These grand, high-stakes maneuvers were what awed the crowds — and thus, in their opinion, what truly showcased a Healer’s prowess.

‘Tsutomu? He’s just average. Third place at best.’

‘Average? You don’t get it! Tsutomu doesn’t even let his teammates die. If you’re a Healer, letting someone die is practically a failure!’

[Good God, how annoying…]

Some spectators, barely grasping the depth of Dungeon Maniacs’ wisdom, began parroting Tsutomu’s exploits to gain social currency in debates about Healers. The result was that Tsutomu was, paradoxically, lauded as a strategic genius while also labeled ‘annoying’ by those who overheard his admirers. And yet, despite the divided opinions, he held firm in his place as the city’s agreed-upon third best Healer.

Eunice’s name, on the other hand, was nowhere among these top ranks. For too long, it had nagged at her, and now her standing within her own Clan felt shakier than ever. She could feel the pressure mounting, the sensation not unlike being squeezed from all sides, as though her personal empire was under siege during a civil war.

[If I don’t keep pushing forward with skill research, I’ll be left behind in the main team soon enough…]

Resolute in advancing her Dumpling-style skill, Eunice had, even before the Stampede, been toiling on her own. Her perseverance had borne some fruit; she had developed a healing sphere that did not degrade over time, unlike the spheres of other skills, by encapsulating an [. She was also making promising strides toward storing a [ within the Dumpling — though that remained only a proof of concept for now.

But skill research was a ravenous beast, consuming vast stretches of time. There was no way to keep pace with her driven peers while continuing her solitary work. And now, talks of an alliance with the Scarlet Devil Squad stirred yet another question, pulling her further into the uncertainty of what lay ahead.

[…Why am I even researching skills in the first place, anyway?]

The question drifted up unprompted one random day, as Eunice poured over her notes, her eyes bleary from hours of skill research. She’d begun the arduous work of developing the Dumpling-style skills with a clear purpose: to support Leon, whose movements were so swift she often could not track them. Skill research had been her way to create something that would prove her worth as his supporter, and in turn, secure her place in the top team.

And yet, even as she clung to this reason, part of her heart recoiled. The thought that she might end up demoted because of these very skills she was painstakingly creating only fueled her doubts. It felt like an irony almost too bitter to swallow.

As she wrestled with her conflicting feelings, a certain memory crept up, surfacing like a spark in the darkness.

[…Right. That time, I was so happy.]

She could feel it as if it were yesterday — the validation she’d felt when Tsutomu had acknowledged her Dumpling-style skill. It had been a fleeting but powerful moment, one where her efforts finally felt like they mattered. She remembered the surge of relief, so intense it had almost moved her to tears.

Getting that skill to work had been a hard road. No one around her had believed in it, most viewing it as a waste of time. Even her precious time with Leon had waned as she dedicated herself to research, leaving space for others to step in. Soon enough, she had found herself gradually glossed over. There were moments she sat by herself in the Guild’s training hall, hands covering her face, wishing she could somehow stop the world from moving on without her.

And then Tsutomu had come along, imitating her Dumpling skill with startling ease. It had felt like a crushing blow — as if the skill she had spent so much time refining had been nothing more than a party trick. True, it helped Leon a bit, but the reaction from others had been lukewarm, her name becoming the butt of a joke as she was mocked for her ‘strange’ new skill.

She had not anticipated that someone would copy it so quickly. Her heart had sunk further as she imagined others imitating it, taking her skill and pushing her even further down the ranks. The energy spheres she had kneaded to perfection suddenly looked like worthless lumps of clay, stripped of all the hard-won refinement she had tried to give them.

Then, when she least expected it, came a voice that broke through the storm of her doubt.

‘The idea of it is good. A very interesting application of skills.’

Tsutomu, of all people — the imitator, the very mentor whose opinion she both resented and sought — had spoken those words. She had expected him to dismiss this achievement of hers too — especially considering no one but Leon had spoken well of her work until that moment. It shocked her. She had always disliked Tsutomu and sensed he felt much the same toward her, yet there he was, praising her Dumpling skill. In that instant, her heart had lifted.

That acknowledgment had granted her a moment of certainty, a brief assurance that all her efforts had not been for nothing. It was a level of satisfaction she could not quite put into words. She wanted to feel that again — to earn Tsutomu’s approval one more time. And that realization, unwelcome as it was, made her face the fact that his approval had become one of her prime motivations. She willed herself to push the thought away, but she could not deny it any longer — not to herself.

[…I’ll show him! I’ll create something so awesome that he’ll have to recognize that I’m no faker! Just to see the look on his face when he’s forced to admit it!]

Reframing her feelings to herself, Eunice steeled her resolve. Even if it cost her a place on the top team, she had decided to pour herself entirely into her skill research. This single-minded dedication ultimately bore fruit in the form of her groundbreaking Dumpling [ technique — a technique that would end up transforming the way Healers approached their craft and securing her position in the top team during their alliance with the Scarlet Devil Squad.

The Dumpling [ was nothing short of revolutionary. The Dungeon Maniacs praised Eunice in unified admiration. Even her fellow Clan members were astonished. Among those who had ridiculed her efforts, some now gazed at her with thinly veiled resentment.

Yet Eunice could not be bothered by their fickle praise. She even went so far as to teach her techniques to those who had previously mocked her, without a hint of resentment or malice. None of their admiration mattered to her — her eyes were set on only two people. The two sources of praise she truly cared about.

[Hehehe… Leon’s finally catching on to how awesome I am! Still, with all this attention, you’d think THAT OTHER GUY would notice and come running by now… but he’s STILL not here. He’s probably just taking his time, planning out exactly how to compliment me in just the right way! Oh, fine — I’ll wait as long as it takes for my slow-witted mentor to catch up!]

Tsutomu, who’d recognized the previous iterations of her Dumpling skills, was bound to praise this new Dumpling [ as her crowning achievement. She could practically feel the tension of that moment building, her anticipation growing with each day that passed, imagining the look on his face when he finally admitted his ‘defeat’.

One day, her eyes drifted over a newspaper article featuring a photo of Tsutomu with his Clan. Among them was the Beastkin boy — Daryl, with a look of absolute bliss as he was getting a head pat from Tsutomu.

[…Hmph, does he really have such an impressive petting technique? I’d have to be careful — keep my head away from his hands… But then again, maybe it’d be fine if — no, no, NO! What am I even thinking!?]

Amused at her own rambling thoughts, Eunice brushed them aside. She resumed her patient wait, preparing herself for the moment she would finally be recognized for all she had achieved.