Live Dungeon!

When Tsutomu stepped forward, Stephanie faltered just for a moment. But whatever unease she felt was swiftly consumed by the fury that had overtaken her ever since he’d dared to compare her with Lorena and Eunice. Her expression returned to a stony neutrality, and she cast a sharp upward glare, so venomous it might’ve made even Sova flinch. But unlike earlier, Tsutomu did not so much as blink.

”That wild rabbit who treats the God’s Dungeon as if it were her personal playground… I can ALMOST understand her,” Stephanie said coldly. ”But what possible insight could I gain from a witless Vulpeer whose team can’t even make it to the single-digit Pedestals anymore?”

”True, Eunice may not have reached the deeper layers yet, but that doesn’t mean her ideas lack merit. She DID develop the Dumpling, you know.”

”…And there it is. Mister Tsutomu, you’re spoiling her with all that undeserved praise.”

”It’s not praise; it’s respect. Eunice came up with something I never would’ve thought of: an entirely new take on a core skill. I can’t stand her personality, frankly. But her creativity deserves admiration.”

Even as Stephanie’s bloodshot eyes screamed violence, as if she might snap and attack at any second, Tsutomu went on, almost exhilarated.

”Lorena’s Mobile Healer style is just as fascinating. Right now, she’s the only one who’s mastered it, but others are catching on. The more people practice it, the more the style will evolve… and Lorena herself will grow stronger alongside it. Then there’s Korinna. She claims she can SEE when someone’s about to die. And just look at her track record: she’s always been a dedicated Healer despite always getting torn apart in those matchmade parties. That kind of mental fortitude is unbelievable. She’s brimming with potential.” He spoke with a fire in his eyes, the words spilling out faster and faster. ”And those aren’t the only ones. There’s Kisaragi, Nortt, Milway… More and more Healers are stepping into the spotlight, and many of them can stand toe-to-toe with the frontliners. Isn’t it incredible? Healer tactics are evolving faster than ever!”

He had once clawed and scraped alone in the twilight days of Live Dungeon as the last stubborn flame trying to keep his passion alive. Back then, he’d spent countless hours alone, tinkering with rotations, inventing techniques, and posting them to a fandom wiki no one visited anymore. No feedback, no community, just him and a dying game. Compared to that, this world was heaven. The Monitors offered constant entertainment, and the sheer number of people exploring the Dungeon was invigorating. Tsutomu had studied every Healer he came across and rebuilt the White Mage meta from the ground up to suit this world.

”Sure, I won’t deny that if it were just the two of us brainstorming, I bet we’d make some solid progress. But that only works for a while. Eventually, ideas start to stagnate. What will you do then? If you’re just following in my footsteps, you’ll always be a lesser copy.”

”A… copy?” Stephanie parroted, voice trembling.

Tsutomu had once immersed himself in Live Dungeon at its peak, when tens of thousands of Healers contributed to a constantly evolving strategy wiki. He had argued on voice chat, tested theories in real time, and refined his skill across hundreds of thousands of attempts.

No one loved Healers more than he did. He’d spent sleepless nights, even three days at a time, inside the virtual Dungeon. Like Stephanie, he had thrown away everything else.

But raw obsession alone wasn’t enough. Stephanie’s madness-fueled effort paled beside the monstrous dedication Tsutomu had maintained — seven years of ceaseless play, always at the top.

”…Ugh…”

His words, underpinned by cold, unshakable experience, were difficult to refute. And Stephanie knew. She could feel the chilling weight of someone who had TRULY sacrificed everything. It pressed down on her like gravity, forcing her knees to give. She sank to the floor, hands over her mouth.

Until now, she had never truly seen the madness that mirrored her own in the man she idolized. But now, to be outright denied by the very person she had devoted herself to… she felt cornered and she couldn’t breathe.

”Uuh…! Hrrgggggh…!”

Her thoughts spiraled. She began to hyperventilate, her breath coming in shallow, ragged bursts. From behind her fingers came a low, guttural sound, like a wounded beast on the brink of death. Her eyes were wide and unblinking. From between her fingers, snot and blood began to drip.

The others around her grew increasingly tense, but Tsutomu crouched beside her calmly and met her eyes.

”You won’t end up a lesser copy of me, Stephanie.” He said quietly.

She looked up, her face twisted with the same expression she had worn in those moments just after losing to a boss monster, or after a critical mistake that cost the party everything. From his Magic Bag, Tsutomu pulled a towel and gently pressed it to her face, dabbing away the blood. As he did, he quietly cast [.

That, coupled with his gentle voice, seemed to draw breath back into her lungs. Stephanie stared up at him, unblinking, her expression a stunned relief.

”…Wh-why?”

”Because you learned Eunice’s Dumpling [, didn’t you?” Tsutomu replied with a smile. ”If you’d really been chasing only me, with blinders on, you never would’ve touched her or anyone else’s techniques.”

If Stephanie had truly been fixated on him alone, she would’ve clung to the notes he’d given her and ignored everything else. But she hadn’t; she had seen what Eunice had done, swallowed her pride, and practiced. And she had used it to win against the Fallen Lich.

”This is just speculation, Stephanie,” Tsutomu went on, ”but I think you might’ve been trying to surpass me.”

There was no doubt she respected him, perhaps even deeply. Starting on the sixty-fifth layer, her movements and approach had started to bear a striking resemblance to his own. She had followed the guidance laid out in his notes with almost religious devotion. 𝐑Ａ₦օΒÊṨ

But at some point, Stephanie must have begun to question the path she was on. Was Tsutomu, the mentor who had first taught her what it meant to be a Healer, truly someone still worth following? Could she not already stand beside, or even above, him? Had he already served his purpose, as the newspapers suggested?

Looking for someone in Paris today

Willing to lie about how we met

Once those doubts began to form, she had started to look beyond him. She had even swallowed her pride to learn Eunice’s Dumpling [, something she’d surely never have touched otherwise. She had watched Lorena too, another who challenged the same layers, and had started to measure herself against her.

”N-no! That’s absolutely not true! I… I only ever had eyes for you, Mister Tsutomu!”

But it was precisely because she had begun to question her mentor’s place that Tsutomu’s miraculous victory on the ninetieth layer had hit her so hard. That breathtaking, back-from-zero win had dragged her back into blind reverence. And the backlash of that emotional pendulum was what had brought her to this state, or so Tsutomu thought.

Looking down at her, still clinging to him with a desperate, guilty look; like someone caught making excuses for infidelity, Tsutomu saw a reflection of his younger self.

[Back when I was just another nobody… I must’ve acted the same way.]

Tsutomu hadn’t started Live Dungeon out as some master Healer either. He’d studied the top players from the Monitors, those who had both skill and popularity, and imitated them obsessively. But once he began testing their methods, he had started spotting inefficiencies, ways things could be done better. So he refined them, and somewhere along the line, he had found himself no longer imitating, but outpacing those he once admired.

Technically, he had never fallen quite so far as Stephanie had. But he too had spent years respecting, learning from, and ultimately surpassing other Healers. And he knew that the more one grew, the more the faces of those once admired began to fade.

”What you’re doing isn’t a bad thing, you know. It’s also how I got to this point: by pushing myself to surpass others. And Stephanie, you’ve worked hard. Really hard.”

”I… I-I don’t deserve such praise…” She murmured, her voice deflating.

As he wiped her blood and mucus-streaked hands with a towel, her tone grew timid. Tsutomu gave her a faint, encouraging smile, and gently smoothed her disheveled pink hair with his free hand.

”I’m sure it wasn’t easy, practicing a skill developed by someone you hate. That had to take real internal conflict. But you mastered it anyway. And I could tell from your fight on the ninetieth layer that you were drawing on my movements, even though you’d only seen them once. That must’ve been a struggle too.”

”Yes,” she said, nodding quickly, tears still clinging to her lashes. ”It was incredibly difficult…”

”I see that. And I really do respect how far you’ve come. I think you’re working just as hard as I once did, and you’ve got real talent. But if you only follow in my footsteps, you’ll never surpass me.”

”Th-that’s absurd! I would never think of surpassing you, Mister Tsutomu!”

Stephanie lunged forward, almost snarling in protest, but Tsutomu gently placed his hands on her shoulders to steady her. She froze, trembling like a small animal caught in a trap, her wide eyes peering up at him.

”But I want you to aim for that. You don’t have to do it today or tomorrow, and I don’t plan to make it easy. But I believe you can. So if you’re going to follow my lead, don’t let that narrow your vision. Be like you were when you defeated the Fallen Lich; take in everything around you. Learn from everyone. Not just me.”

”I… I… I don’t know if I can…”

”You can, Stephanie,” he said with a warm smile. ”I know you have what it takes.”

And as he stroked her hair, Stephanie could no longer resist the pure, unguarded kindness in his expression. When it came to Live Dungeon, Tsutomu’s heart was completely genuine, and she could feel that now.

”I… I’m so… h-happ–”

But before he could finish the sentence, Stephanie’s eyes rolled back and she tipped over like an utterly short-circuited robot.

”Whoa, hey, are you okay?”

Tsutomu blinked and stared down at her, mildly baffled. Then he looked up toward Rook, seeking some sort of explanation. But Rook and Sova were both frozen in place, their faces stiff with discomfort. It was Dorssia, recently promoted to Team 1, who stepped forward instead.

”May I take Her Majesty into my care?” she asked politely.

”Ah, yes. Please… thank you,” Tsutomu replied, still a little dazed.

”Then excuse us, chosen one,” Dorssia said, offering him a curiously formal bow.

[…Her Majesty? Chosen one? The hell?]

Without so much as a grunt, Dorssia scooped up the unconscious Stephanie in a perfect princess carry and turned to rejoin Rook and the others. Tsutomu tilted his head in confusion, but soon turned to rejoin Daryl, who was still standing dumbstruck nearby.

Live Dungeon!