Live Dungeon!

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Tsutomu spent some time watching the Monitors and chatting with Lorena, then bought some Dungeon Maniac-written newspapers before heading back to the Clan House.

“Welcome back!” Ollie’s apprentice greeted with a flustered expression.

She then hurriedly dusted off the corners where the grime had accumulated. It seemed Ollie had already pointed out some of her cleaning errors, and she was now bustling around, quickly cleaning the Clan House. Ollie, too, had wrapped a cloth around her mouth and was busy tidying up.

Tsutomu offered an encouraging smile and headed to the living room. Amy, who had been chatting idly with Diniel on the sofa, perked up her white cat ears upon seeing him.

“Where were you, Tsutomu!? I didn’t even notice when you finished the inspection!” She asked.

“Oh, sorry, I just went to check out the Pedestals.”

“Whoa, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were an addict! Oh, by the way, I had a little chat with the Guild Master, and she said she’ll be visiting the Clan House later today. Is that all right?”

“Sure, why not? Also, today and tomorrow are days off, so feel free to do as you like.”

“Yay~~!”

“Yay~~”

As Amy and Diniel raised their hands up in celebration, Tsutomu turned away and spoke to Hannah, who lay face down, stretching her blue-feathered wings leisurely.

“Do you know where everyone else went?”

“Hmm… Sir Garm and Daryl went to the orphanage, I think. Xeno went home to see his wife, and Amira went somewhere with the Guild Master. I think the rest are probably still here.”

“Thanks.”

“Lemme guess, Teach… you’re going to the Pedestals again?”

“Nah, I’ll take it easy for the rest of the day. The mid-tier Clans are the only ones showing up for now, anyway. I can just get the updates from the Dungeon Maniacs later.”

Tsutomu showed Hannah the Dungeon Maniacs’ newspapers he had, prompting the latter to twist her mouth in mild displeasure.

Hannah proceeded to preen her wings’ feathers, putting her in an awkward position. Tsutomu promptly averted his gaze and climbed the stairs to his room. He took a deep breath of relief as he surveyed the unchanged interior, feeling a sense of reassurance. Placing the stack of newspapers on his desk, he threw himself onto the bed and closed his eyes for a moment.

Then, opening his eyes decisively, Tsutomu got up and sat in a wooden chair to start reading the Dungeon Maniacs’ articles.

[Huh, I expected people to feel the need to restrain themselves because of the Stampede, but they’ve actually made quite a bit of layer progress overall.]

Although there had been a period of restraint right after the previous Stampede, this time, since Dungeon City had not suffered direct damage, such restraint was less severe. With major clans vacating Dungeon City all at once, mid-tier clans had seized the opportunity to climb up and make their mark on the lowe-numbered Monitors.

The Explorers had made some nice progress down the Dungeon, with some mid-tier Clans even making it past the seventieth layer. The audience, too, must have enjoyed seeing unfamiliar faces. Even the Dungeon Maniacs’ article had an added sense of excitement to their writing.

[Silver Beast has made it past the eightieth layer, too… Damn, they’re catching up.]

As it turned out, Silver Beast had managed to defeat the Winter General while the Stampede had been going on. The outcome, much like their Fire Dragon battle in the past, had ended in a draw. An article featured a photo of Misil’s half-disheartened face as he missed out on looting the Largest Ice Magic Stone the Winter General had dropped.

Their Winter General battle had rekindled the audience’s enthusiasm, thanks to the tense, thrilling fight reminiscent of the Fire Dragon battles. Lorena, the Mobile Healer, had been exceptionally active and popular, making her claim of being busy seem quite plausible.

[Looking at just these articles, I wouldn’t have expected them to actually win, though…]

Both Tsutomu and the Dungeon Maniacs held a not-quite-high opinion of Silver Beast as far as performance went. Although Tsutomu recognized their potential, he still didn’t believe they could surpass the Winter General.

Unlike major Clans with possessors of unique skills or Ealdred Crow’s professional training program, Silver Beast was essentially an enjoyment-focused group.

They had no divisions such as Team 1 or 2; apart from Misil, everyone simply formed parties with those they liked and explored God’s Dungeon at their own pace. Numerical levels were merely a reference, and it wasn’t uncommon for their level 70 members to explore the Swamp layers with level 20 members.

The only one who considered party compositions to some extent was Misil, the Clan’s leader. However, all Clan members were fundamentally equal. Misil didn’t have the authority to force party formations and didn’t desire such control. As the Clan’s leader, Misil managed only the bare minimum, a practice that had remained unchanged over the Clan’s whole lifetime.

Thus, only after taking care of orphans would the Clan’s members explore the Dungeon or train lower-level Clanmates, treating their dungeoneering as practically a laid-back side activity. Despite the relative progress of their members who had gone past the eightieth layer, their average time spent in God’s Dungeon was not much different from Absolute Helix, which took two days off each week.

Under normal circumstances, Silver Beast wouldn’t stand a chance against the likes of Ealdred Crow, Golden Tune, and Scarlet Devil Squad, whose leaders either went through intensive training or were blessed with unique skills. Yet, Silver Beast had indeed defeated the Winter General and now stood alongside Ealdred Crow and Absolute Helix as the first ones to do so.

[Well, they seem to be having fun.]

Tsutomu noted with a hint of amusement as he glanced at the photo of Silver Beast’s Clan members in the article. Most of them wore cheerful expressions, and Lorena, in particular, was captured in a lively pose as she joyfully darted through the Dungeon.

Even among the top ranks in Live Dungeon, not all were full-time players with extensive play hours. Some, despite only managing three to four hours of game time a day due to work or other commitments, still made their mark in the top tiers.

When Tsutomu had first joined an efficiency-focused Clan, he felt a strong aversion to those players. He had believed that people who juggled multiple games couldn’t possibly surpass him in Live Dungeon, and was further incensed upon discovering that some of them had mocked the game’s dedicated players in the chat.

Later, Tsutomu challenged that particular individual to a contest based on contributions made in a boss battle. Though Tsutomu emerged victorious overall, he lost in one category – a category involving monsters he usually excelled against. To Tsutomu, that result was as good as a loss.

After the challenge, when Tsutomu spoke with his rival, he realized that their passion for Live Dungeon was much the same as his own. It wasn’t merely the amount of time spent in the game that defined dedication. This player had applied experience from other games to Live Dungeon, enjoying it more than Tsutomu, who had been working at it like a job. Consequently, that player had achieved the highest contribution in a category where Tsutomu had been confident.

From this experience, Tsutomu acknowledged that such strength existed. Despite their different paths, their destinations remained the same, and the feelings of top-tier players didn’t change significantly. This realization had led Tsutomu to question the efficiency-focused Clan, which he eventually left to form his own Clan.

[Looking from Dungeon Maniacs’ perspective, Lorena seems to be the most highly rated right now.]

Given his experiences, Tsutomu wasn’t particularly disturbed by seeing articles that rated Lorena higher than himself as a Healer.

Previously, Dungeon Maniacs’ newspapers had listed Tsutomu, Stephanie, and Lorena as the top three Healers. However, with Tsutomu and Stephanie absent, Lorena had significantly raised her profile, and now the articles reflected her as the highest-rated Healer.

[Heh, Stephanie would probably go ballistic if she saw this article.]

Tsutomu thought with a hint of amusement, smiling at the thought. But then the image of Stephanie, whose demeanor had become somewhat disturbing as of late, going into a frenzy made him quickly retract his smile.

Tsutomu often saw reflections of his past self in Stephanie. She had, like him before, focused solely on God’s Dungeon, discarding other interests to achieve what she deemed true strength. From what Tsutomu observed, she was constantly practicing her skills and was one of the most frequent Explorers of God’s Dungeon. It was likely that she was exerting a similar level of effort behind the scenes.

Despite Stephanie’s sometimes unsettlingly intense gaze, Tsutomu couldn’t bring himself to avoid her. He didn’t sense any malice from her, so he allowed her to pursue her way.

As for Lorena, Tsutomu admired her unique approach to her role as a Mobile Healer. He had tried to replicate her high-speed style and strategy using >, but had yet to succeed. As such, he was quite impressed how a Healer like her had the ability to perform such a role effectively.

[I really should come up with something to show off, too…]

While Tsutomu supported Stephanie and Lorena, he had no intention of being overshadowed by them as a Healer. Yet, to make the Dungeon Maniacs and the audience believe he could match or surpass them, he needed to ensure that his party faced dire situations where his skills could shine.

Stephanie had repeatedly saved her party from crises during the Bolseyer battle, and Lorena had demonstrated similar prowess in the Fire Dragon and Winter General fights. For the audience, a Healer’s ability to revive and stabilize the party became a crucial showcase of their skill, and Tsutomu had also been recognized for his efforts in the Mount Golem battle.

However, Tsutomu had seldom been in situations where he needed to revive his party, unlike Stephanie and Lorena, whose frequent comebacks had left a stronger impression.

[At the end of the day, keeping all party members alive is ideal, but the audience doesn’t always see the finer details. The Dungeon Maniacs sometimes appreciate that, at least…]

Tsutomu believed that if a Healer allowed party members to die, they were only second-rate. With proper monster countermeasures, high-quality equipment, and well-coordinated Tanks and Attackers, a skilled Healer should be able to prevent deaths altogether.

Of course, Stephanie and Lorena were dealing with monsters unfamiliar to them, so their situation was understandable. However, Tsutomu found it unacceptable if he were to let party members die in situations that were avoidable with his knowledge of Live Dungeon.

[And I myself don’t want to die, either. It’s not worth taking unnecessary risks.]

Tsutomu was determined not to die at any cost and had no desire to risk his life by taking on the dangerous task of reviving his party. Preventing deaths in the first place was the real challenge.

Yet, the opinions of the audience and Dungeon Maniacs still bothered him. Being seen as inferior to Stephanie and Lorena was troubling, especially given his role as their mentor. However, he saw no reason to increase his own risk just to prove himself.

Caught in this dilemma, Tsutomu saw another article in which the Dungeon Maniacs praised his students, feeling a mix of joy and frustration.

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