Live Dungeon!

”So, Miss Korinna, which route should we take?” Daryl asked. ”If we’re prioritizing safety, the cooperation route would be the way to go…”

”I’m all for it!” Hannah agreed. ”Still, I really wanna save that little one if we can! I just feel like there HAS to be a way!”

”Still, I recommend the genocide route,” Leleia countered. ”It offers the most experience points.”

”Leleia, no! We are NOT doing that again! I want a happy ending this time!”

”I say we have to try the survival route,” Diniel offered. ”Tsutomu’s team is still on the ninety-first layer, so we’ve got some breathing room for a few attempts.”

”Uh… um…”

Amid the heated discussion, Korinna flipped through the documents Daryl had handed her. She still couldn’t quite get a grasp on the situation.

The ninety-second layer of the Dungeon was a dense forest, home to the colossal monster known as the Rampage Elephant. Defeating it was the key to unlocking the Black Gate that led to the ninety-third floor.

But the Rampage Elephant didn’t fall easily. It rampaged through the woods at terrifying speed, making a straightforward fight near-impossible. To stand a chance, it was essential to use the layer’s built-in gimmicks: guiding it into clusters of sticky vines to trap it, or luring it into indestructible rocks to knock it unconscious, for example. There were several strategies available.

And among those strategies, one stood out from the rest: the Fenrir duo. A battle-scarred adult Fenrir, powerful enough to rival the Rampage Elephant, and its still-young, innocent cub. The pair were the secret bosses of the ninety-second layer, as well as a built-in mechanic of their own, wrapped in a package full of narrative potential.

On this layer, Fenrir and the Rampage Elephant stood at the pinnacle of the food chain. Beneath them, other monsters arranged themselves in a pyramidal hierarchy, designed so that inter-monster conflict occurred frequently. Explorers could exploit this system to their advantage.

The debate that Daryl and Leleia were caught up in revolved around exactly that: how to engage with the Fenrir pair. Though technically monsters, they were the only ones in the layer considered neutral. If left undisturbed, and if the party fought the Rampage Elephant directly, the adult Fenrir would eventually step in and aid them in battle.

However, if events played out normally, the cub would often fall victim to other monsters or be killed by the Rampage Elephant itself. Most of the time, Explorers would end up defeating the boss only to turn around and find the little one dead, with the elder Fenrir standing silently over its body. That was sure to leave a bitter, haunting image to carry into the next layer. In fact, that was exactly what had happened to Ealdred Crow on their first attempt.

There were, of course, alternate routes: saving the cub, killing the cub to turn the adult Fenrir hostile and fight it, or even killing the parent early on to force the cub into an awakened form. Other possibilities, undiscovered as of yet, were said to exist as well.

Tsutomu, when guiding the team through this layer for material gathering, had them experience several of these routes. But they had all been of the darker variety: killing the cub, wiping out all threats. Never once had they tried to save both parent and child. Perhaps it hadn’t been practical from a resource-hunting standpoint.

[Tsutomu’s notes did say the cooperation route is the safest…] Korinna thought to herself. [But Diniel’s unusually motivated this time. Maybe the survival route is worth trying, too.]

Diniel had made it abundantly clear that her goal was to befriend the Fenrir pair… and hopefully bask in their floofy glory. She was displaying a level of enthusiasm that Korinna had rarely seen. And according to Daryl, the truly difficult layers of the current set were the ninety-first and ninety-sixth. For now, they had the time to indulge a bit.

Korinna didn’t feel any particular way about animals. She didn’t dislike them, but nor did she have Diniel’s burning passion. What did interest her was the unknown; if there were parts of this Dungeon that even Tsutomu, Daryl, or the rest of the team hadn’t experienced, she wanted to be the one to uncover them.

”For now, let’s try to find a way to save the cub…” Korinna offered. ”…But within reason, of course. There might be something hidden waiting for us if we succeed.”

”Korinna, you’re the best!” Hannah beamed. ”Teach would’ve just given me that cold stare and shut the whole thing down!”

”Indeed… Tsutomu’s probably the only one who could glare at a cute child like that and mean it,” Leleia said, half-resigned, half-amused.

She recalled Tsutomu’s cold, dead-eyed stare during a previous run, which was directed squarely at the Fenrir cub. Of course, that stemmed from the emotional scars he bore from the Live Dungeon days, where the Fenrir duo and their then-unknown gimmicks had tormented him following a major content update. But such context was lost on the rest of the party.

”Thank you,” Diniel said, reaching out and clasping Korinna’s hand with the conviction of someone finding a comrade-in-arms.

”N-no, don’t mention it. Besides, we don’t even know if saving it is possible,” Korinna replied, recoiling slightly from the strength of the gesture.

”I’ve actually tried a few things myself… secretly, so Tsutomu wouldn’t notice. Maybe they’ll be useful to you.”

Meanwhile, Hannah and Daryl exchanged glances, then turned toward Leleia, who let out a weary sigh in defeat.

”I have no objections. But let’s be clear: we’ll set a time limit from the start. I don’t want sentiment dragging us into wasted hours.”

”Yes, I understand. Now then…”

And with that, the party’s direction was set: they would pursue the survival route, aiming to save both the parent and child Fenrir. They began laying out the plans, preparing their roles, and organizing their time around this new objective.

▽▽

”Is this… a medicinal herb?”

”Probably.”

”Honestly, all these new species are so hard to tell apart from the others…”

The ninety-second layer, a vast stretch of untamed nature that seemed wholly at odds with the Ancient Castle housing it, sprawled out before them. Korinna knelt now and then to gather potentially medicinal materials, all while continuing the slow, steady search for the Fenrir parent and child.

”I thought this yesterday too, but… this place really IS something else.”

A massive carnivorous plant had just ensnared a Blue Grizzly, luring it in with a saccharine scent. The beast had buried its head in the petals, only to be devoured whole. Now, with its lower half left protruding, a flock of scavenger birds descended from the sky in a frenzy, stripping the remains. Once the carcass was mostly gone, particles of light shimmered faintly in the air, and the last of the corpse dissolved away.

The sight of monsters fighting amongst themselves, completely ignoring the Explorers, evoked memories of Dungeons outside the city. In fact, here on this layer, monster corpses often lingered longer than usual, and despite being a forest, the floor was rich with unfamiliar plants, insects, and other natural curiosities. It was, in essence, a treasure trove of materials. When Tsutomu had first explored the layer, he’d brought back such a haul that the feline appraiser at the Guild practically purred with delight.

For Explorers, the material wealth made the ninety-second layer a desirable destination. For spectators, it was the sheer novelty of monsters fighting monsters that captured attention. Unlike typical Dungeon layers, where monsters rarely turned on one another, this floor’s interspecies conflicts had become a hot topic among Dungeon Maniacs, eager to dissect its every mechanic.

”Dragons coming in from behind. Let’s take cover.”

Diniel, scouting with her [, signaled calmly before guiding the party behind a thick patch of underbrush. Moments later, an ear-splitting screech echoed across the sky, and the corpse of a herbivorous monster dropped to the ground nearby with a sickening thud.

Overhead, a Fire Dragon, reduced to not much more than a normal monster in this layer, glided past, with a plume of blue frost trailing behind it from an Ice Dragon in hot pursuit. Korinna glanced skyward, watching the aerial chase unfold as the God Eye also redirected its attention to the scene, then followed Diniel’s lead as the party began moving again.

”Ice Dragons… they really do show up here, huh…” she murmured, voice tinged with wonder.

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t already seen bizarre creatures. Just the day before, she’d spotted a massive green tortoise lumbering through the woods, something she’d never seen before. Still, she couldn’t help staring up at the two Dragons, wide-eyed.

”The one that really got me was the Lightning Dragon,” Diniel said casually. ”That thing’s so rare, it might as well be a myth.”

”I got vaporized instantly,” Hannah chimed in cheerfully.

”Rare as it is, I’d like to slay one someday,” Leleia added, eyes sharp.

The three of them spoke with an almost relaxed air, clearly having already accustomed themselves to the chaos here. But for Korinna, only two days into this set of layers, even walking through the woods was still a cautious, halting process. She moved carefully, with Leleia offering support where needed.

”I understand how you feel,” Leleia said as Korinna winced, eyeing the muck on her clothes. ”But I suggest you stop worrying about getting dirty. It’ll go easier if you accept that this place IS filth.”

”O-okay…”

”Well then, this way.”

They pushed deeper into the forest, brushing past damp, decaying branches. As a knight candidate, Leleia had trained to escort and shield others, so her movements had a great degree of refinement and efficiency to them.

”…Hmm?”

A low rumble echoed from somewhere in the distance, then came a brief tremor underfoot. Korinna stumbled, unaccustomed to the sensation, and braced herself with a hand in the mud.

”Pardon me,” Leleia said promptly.

”Hyah!?”

Without waiting for a reply, Leleia grabbed her under the arms and hoisted her up like a sack of potatoes. With a single powerful leap, she caught up to Daryl, and the moment the tremors intensified, the effect of [ kicked in, lifting them into the sky.

”That must have been the Rampage Elephant,” Leleia reported calmly. ”Let’s move higher.”

Korinna clung to her arm as they ascended between the trunks of towering trees. Below, she could see the chaos unfold: trees flattened, shrubs crushed underfoot. A massive gray creature plowed through the forest like a force of nature. It was, without a doubt, the Rampage Elephant.

”S-so that’s what it looks like…?”

”Yes. But we’ll let it pass for now,” Leleia said. ”Finding Fenrir takes priority.”

With ridiculously long tusks, the Rampage Elephant mowed down everything in its vicinity and bellowed a trumpet-like roar that made Korinna’s ears ring. The natural world buckled under its overwhelming display of destruction. Korinna watched in dread, her body trembling.

”I-It’s terrifying,” she whispered.

”I felt the same, my first time,” said Daryl with a sunny smile. ”But once it’s caught in a trap, it’s not so bad. There’s nothing to worry about.”

He descended with Diniel to check the area, and Korinna soon followed, releasing Leleia’s hand and landing on a section of torn, mangled earth.

”Ah!”

As something white streaked from the grass toward Korinna, Diniel’s eyes widened. She raised her bow, expression tense. Daryl and Hannah tensed in kind, stepping into position.

”Korinna!”

”Kyui!?”

Leleia moved like lightning, pushing Korinna aside and intercepting the creature, colliding with it and rolling across the dirt in a protective tumble. Diniel nocked an arrow then froze, eyes going wide.

”…Wait. That’s–”

The white creature was perched on top of Leleia now, licking her face apologetically. Its fur was soft, its movements playful and unthreatening.

It was the very thing they had come to find: the Fenrir cub.