Live Dungeon!

”I never even knew a place like this existed…”

The two parties, led by Tsutomu for the sake of gathering materials, arrived at what appeared to be an ordinary pond. But it was no body of water; it was a pool of Slime that they were free to harvest as material. Amira had just carved out a chunk of it with a beam of fire breath, dragging it up onto land. Stephanie stared, stunned, as it writhed in the air.

Ordinarily, monsters within God’s Dungeon dissolved into particles of light upon death, leaving behind only Magic Stones. This made it nearly impossible to retrieve materials unless the parts in question happened to resist that final dissolution when severed beforehand, or were special substances such as the Queen Spider’s threads and the Shell Crab’s adhesive mucus.

And yet, on every layer, there were certain fixed locations where parts of monsters could be harvested. On the ninety-first layer, for instance, there was this Slime pond, the ruins occupied by Goblins, and a rubble-strewn area near the Ancient Castle proper. Tsutomu, with his Live Dungeon knowledge, was naturally well aware of them.

”You actually managed to find this… and our informants never noticed it?”

Tsutomu responded with a little grin, raising a finger to his lips as he directed the God Eye away.

”We can control what shows up on the Pedestals to some extent, you know. We’d raise suspicion if it’s too blatant that we’re hiding something, of course… but even Ealdred Crow plays that game now and then, don’t they?”

Garm’s acquaintance, the burly Tank with a seasoned air, shook his head in exasperation at Tsutomu’s nonchalant deception.

”The Dungeon Maniacs don’t have anything good to say about it, of course, but I suppose when you’re competing with someone on even ground, hiding your cards becomes necessary.”

”No disagreement here,” Tsutomu nodded. ”And we’ve got Amy, the one person who obsesses over how she looks on the Pedestals more than anyone. She’s taught me how to finesse it.”

”…No wonder our informants have been so frustrated lately. I’ll pass that along.”

”Please do. I get glared at on the streets more often than I’d like, and there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s from them.”

Of course, that whole line about their informants missing it entirely was mostly a bluff. In truth, within Ealdred Crow, Tsutomu’s Pedestal broadcasts had become infamous among informants for being near impossible to extract useful data from. He had a knack for showing the crowd just enough spectacle to keep them entertained while hiding anything of real strategic value. It was a subtle art, and one that drove information gatherers to despair.

The Tank chuckled, remembering the pained looks of those very informants as he turned and wandered back toward Garm.

”…Are you sure you’re all right sharing this?” Stephanie asked quietly.

”Sure, it’s a fair trade for your help clearing the ninety-first layer. This kind of info’s no big deal, really. I wouldn’t say the same for the ninety-sixth, though…”

Tsutomu’s answer was almost too casual. Details about material-harvesting points or how to obscure things from the Pedestal were not major losses in his eyes. If sharing them made clearing the layer easier, especially one as demanding as the ninety-first, he had no problem with cooperation.

[I mean, originally I was thinking of doing this with Silver Beast, though…]

Silver Beast had recently shown signs of nearing a victory on the ninetieth layer, and Tsutomu had initially planned to partner with them. But Ealdred Crow had reached out first, and Tsutomu had judged them a fine enough substitute.

Silver Beast, ever desperate to advance, had been burning money trying to push through the ninetieth layer. There were high hopes riding on Lorena, the Mobile Healer gaining attention within their ranks. But no matter how many times they tried, they could not quite get it right. Each attempt cost them dearly in both resources and morale.

Silver Beast had always been a Clan formed to support orphans and teach survival to the underprivileged. They were not built for profit, and their sustained losses created internal tension. Some members began to question their proficiency, and even whether they actually needed to progress any deeper. Their fundamentals were strong, especially their education of new recruits, but performance had lagged behind.

Still, some still desired to keep at it even if it meant running a deficit, and none of the people they had once rescued had forgotten them. From former Silver Beast members now making their own way as Explorers, to the young ones still in the Clan House doing chores, they all contributed whatever they could. They gathered money, little by little, and placed it in the hands of Misil and the others, urging them to try again.

Those donations, the heartfelt support and the sheer weight of Gold coins, carried with them a message: ‘You saved us once. Let us help you now.’

As far as Tsutomu had heard from information brokers, Misil and the others, carrying those feelings into the Dungeon, had clearly grown stronger. Even Lorena, whose eyes had once seemed dead, now dove into the fight with renewed vigor.

[Golden Tune and Scarlet Devil Squad are finally starting to move, too. You’d think they’d show a little more hustle, considering they’ve got people with actual cheat-tier unique skills…]

Those two Clans had recently dissolved their alliance and begun to reform independently. They had at last come to terms with the fact that they could not just have Attackers double as a Tank and expect success. Now, with guidance from their most prominent Healer, Eunice, and suggestions from others — like Milway and Cecilia, the latter still sulking after Tsutomu failed to mention her by name as a top-tier Healer — they had returned to the basics: two Attackers, two Tanks, one Healer.

Moreover, Milway, the one who had proposed the alliance’s dissolution and the restructuring of their party formations, was now the Healer for Golden Tune’s Team 1.

[Damn it, Eunice, that idiot… Is she seriously planning to just hole up and work on new skills? She’s already earned plenty of praise for Dumpling. She should just get back in the fight.]

Apparently, Eunice had ceded the front lines to Milway for now and demoted herself to Team 2 so she could focus on skill development. Tsutomu frowned, feeling a vague irritation bubbling in his chest as he walked along.

Then, someone tugged gently at the sleeve of his acid-resistant jacket.

”…Mister Tsutomu?”

He turned and found Stephanie with her head bowed, her fingers lightly pinching his sleeve. A subtle unease rolled off her in waves. Before she could lift her face, Tsutomu gently brushed her hand aside.

”…Let’s stay focused on the exploration, all right?”

”Oh, I didn’t mean to…”

Her voice was perfectly ordinary, but Tsutomu could not bring himself to look back.