I Stopped Simping and the Heroines Lost Their Minds

Dozens of academy instructors poured through the portal, fanning out into the massive subterranean crypt. The eight students in the boss room weren’t the only ones trapped. The entire F-rank dungeon had been packed with first-year squads taking their practical exams when the Death Knight’s B-rank override triggered.

It had been an absolute massacre in the outer corridors.

The F-rank monsters had gone completely berserk under the dark aura. Instructors were currently dragging bleeding, terrified students out of the flooded tunnels. Many were severely injured, sporting deep claw marks, broken bones, and severe mana poisoning.

The only saving grace of the entire disaster was the final body count. Zero. Because Arthur’s squad had managed to kill the Death Knight and shatter the spatial lock so quickly, the emergency Recall Bracelets had reactivated just in time to save the squads getting overrun in the outer rings.

The medical department was in full swing.

Through his fading vision, Arthur could see Matron Beatrice marching through the portal. The S-Class healer was absolutely furious, aggressively scolding Elena and Morwenna for their sheer carelessness.

Arthur leaned his head back against the shattered stone pillar.

He didn’t hear the rest of the argument. His mana was completely bottomed out. His stamina was zero. The world tilted, the ambient silver light of the dungeon faded to black, and Arthur finally lost consciousness.

When Arthur opened his eyes, the heavy scent of antiseptic and bitter healing herbs instantly filled his nose.

He blinked against the harsh white light. He was staring at a familiar, whitewashed ceiling.

Ahh, the infirmary, Arthur thought, his dry lips twitching into a faint smirk. My second home.

He slowly turned his head. The massive medical ward was completely packed. Every single bed was occupied by battered, groaning first-year students. Some were heavily bandaged, while others were recovering from minor cuts and severe mana exhaustion.

”Oh. You’re finally awake.”

Arthur looked to his right. Emily Thorne was sitting on the edge of the adjacent bed. She was wearing a loose medical gown, her hands and forearms heavily wrapped in white bandages from where she had shattered the Death Knight’s armor, but her brown eyes were sharp and alert.

”Did I faint?” Arthur rasped, his throat feeling like sandpaper.

”Passed out cold,” Emily corrected, tossing him a canteen of water from her nightstand. ”You’ve been out for almost fourteen hours. Are you alright?”

Arthur caught the canteen, unscrewed the cap, and took a long drink. ”Yeah. It was just complete mana exhaustion. My pool has recovered now. I’m feeling good. What about the others?”

Emily sighed, leaning back on her hands. ”Well, Elara woke up two hours ago and immediately left. She said she ’couldn’t stay in such a filthy place.’ You know how she is. Her noble pride is probably completely shattered right now.”

Arthur chuckled. ”And my squad?”

”Chloe and Felix are still unconscious,” Emily said, her tone softening with genuine concern. ”Felix’s arm was shattered pretty badly, but the Matron said it will heal without permanent nerve damage. Alicia is gone, too. She was summoned by Principal Vespera to give a full, detailed report of what exactly happened in the crypt.”

”Quiet!”

A sharp, authoritative voice cut through their conversation.

Matron Beatrice marched down the aisle between the beds, holding a glowing crystal medical tablet. She stopped at the foot of Arthur’s bed, glaring at them both. ”No talking in the infirmary. This is a recovery ward, not a tavern.”

”Matron,” Arthur greeted dryly, casually leaning back against his pillows. ”Good to see you again.”

”Is it?” Beatrice snapped, setting the tablet down with a heavy clack. ”Because the last time you were in my ward, you were dying of caustic poison. Today, you come back with torn shoulder ligaments, complete mana depletion, and microscopic stress fractures in both of your shins. Are you actively trying to kill yourself, Vance?”

Arthur didn’t flinch at the medical readout. He just gave her a lazy, unapologetic smirk. ”Just a minor miscalculation.”

Beatrice stared at him, her sharp hazel eyes narrowing. But slowly, the intense anger on her face faded, replaced by a much softer, deeply exhausted expression.

She let out a heavy sigh, crossing her arms.

”I heard the story from Valentine,” Beatrice said, her voice dropping so the rest of the ward couldn’t hear. ”I know what you did. Because of you and your squad taking down the core, the spatial lock lifted. You saved a lot of lives yesterday, Arthur. More than you realize.”

She picked her tablet back up, giving him a firm, maternal nod.

”So, you are spared from the scolding today,” Beatrice finished. ”But stay in that bed until tomorrow morning. That’s an order.”

”Well, thank you, Matron,” Arthur replied, giving her a mock salute.

After Beatrice walked away to tend to another screaming student, Arthur laid back down against the pillows.

The survival tension was finally gone. He was rested, hydrated, and safe. Now, he actually had time to process the aftermath of the raid.

He didn’t hesitate. He muttered a quick command under his breath.

A massive backlog of translucent blue system screens instantly flooded his vision. He had ignored them in the dungeon, but now it was time to reap the rewards.

[Target Eliminated: Forgotten Death Knight (Lv. 45)]

[Raid Contribution: 75% (MVP)]

[Massive EXP Awarded.]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Current Status: Phantom Sniper (Lv. 21)]

[Stat Points Acquired: 15]

Arthur let out a low, impressed whistle.

Seven level-ups from a single dungeon raid.

Sweet, Arthur thought, his gamer brain completely lighting up. Taking down a boss that was twenty-four levels above him had bypassed the standard progression curve, rocketing his stats upward.

He didn’t wait. He immediately dumped the 15 free stat points into his core glass-cannon build.

He put 10 points directly into Intelligence. His biggest bottleneck during the boss fight was his MP pool. He needed enough mana to spam Mirage Shot and Mana Quiver continuously so he wouldn’t bottom out after firing twenty arrows.

He dumped the remaining 5 points into Vitality for raw survivability. Speed and stealth were his primary defense, but if he took a stray hit, he needed a health pool large enough to keep his spine from snapping.

But the raw levels weren’t what he really cared about. He wanted the boss drops.

Arthur swiped his hand through the air, pulling up his system inventory. Resting in the digital grid were two glowing, high-tier items pulled directly from the Death Knight’s ash.

[Item: Shard of the Necrotic Core]

Type: Rare Crafting Material / Consumable.

Description: A fragment of pure, crystallized dark magic. Highly volatile. Can be used to forge high-tier dark-attribute weapons or consumed directly to permanently increase Dark Magic Resistance by 20%.

Resistance is nice, Arthur thought, analyzing the jagged black crystal rotating in his inventory screen. But forging a custom weapon is infinitely better. I’ll take this to Brunhilda. A dark-attribute hunting knife would be the perfect backup for close-quarters.

He shifted his gaze to the second item. It was a skill book bound in dark, rotting leather.

[Skill Book: Shadow Step (Lv. 1 - Active)]

Type: Movement / Utility.Cost: 20 MP per use.

Description: The signature movement technique of the Death Knight. Instantly teleport up to 15 yards to any location obscured by shadows. Generates zero physical sound upon exit or entry.

Arthur stared at the screen, his heart pounding a heavy rhythm against his ribs.

Short-range spatial teleportation.

His mind instantly began calculating the absolutely broken synergy this skill provided. Paired with his [Ghost in the Woods] trait and [Mirage Shot], he was no longer just a fast archer. He was a completely untraceable phantom.

He could drop a screaming visual illusion to pull a monster’s aggro, instantly Shadow Step fifteen yards away into a dark corner, and snipe the enemy directly through their armor from a completely blind angle. It was the ultimate, toxic PvP and PvE movement skill.

Arthur didn’t wait to get back to his dorm.

”Consume,” Arthur whispered.

In his inventory, the dark leather book dissolved into a stream of pitch-black data particles. The digital stream rushed out of the interface and struck him straight in the chest.

His nervous system flared. A sudden, freezing cold washed through his veins as the complex spatial mapping coordinates forcibly burned themselves into his muscle memory and brain stem. For a split second, he felt like he was falling through an endless void.

Then, the sensation settled.

[New Active Skill Acquired: Shadow Step (Lv. 1)]

Arthur let out a long, deeply satisfied breath, staring up at the infirmary ceiling.