The academy admitted the most outstanding talents.
Of course, I had entered as the top student, while a girl named ‘Twalet’ barely managed to get in with the lowest grades.
I had only encountered her twice in my entire life.
What business would the top and bottom of the class have with each other?
Despite being in the same grade, we had no real connection, and I had only heard about her through rumors.
Then, in my second year, I heard that Twalet had been chosen by a dragon.
From that day on, Twalet became a Dragon Knight.
She carried the mission to annihilate every Gate in this world.
***
===
【Virtual VTuber Gallery】
[General] Since it’s Son-nim’s turn to control it
【Dungeon Seeker】 Conquering the dungeon with Laura-sama【Son Narin/Aurora】
Aurora will be controlled by Son-nim too.
[Comments]
– Fuck, she went live without warning…
– As a Rinco, I can’t accept this.
– Wow
– I’m still at work, what the hell?
– I’m a Son-nim too, let me control it.
– No, Aurora’s boobs belong to Sora.
ㄴ This is gonna be controversial.
ㄴ At least they aren’t Mero’s.
– Fuck… she overlapped the streams again…
===
Iris Ducal Family’s mansion dungeon.
It was a dungeon that comprised the midgame content of Dungeon Seeker.
More dungeons, considered endgame content, were expected to be unlocked later, but until then, farming in this mansion dungeon was the most efficient strategy.
As for exactly why it was efficient… Shina didn’t really know.
【Tower of Magic Incineration Party Status】
【《Survival》 Mashina: Online】
【《Exploration》 Orga Hansen: Deceased】
【《Recovery》 Elenoa: Online】
【Adventurers’ Guild Resource Selection Exploration Party Status】
【《Exploration》 Vincent Edward: Online】
【《Search》 Kanto Akito: Deceased】
【《Survival》 Shiroki Anna: Online】
【《Protection》 Choi Changyoung: Online】
"Mashina! Run! Don’t fall behind!"
Vincent kept shouting from the front.
Shina panted heavily, forcing her legs to keep moving.
“Huff… Huff…”
She was out of breath.
When humans engage in intense physical activity, they hyperventilate to compensate for the lack of oxygen in their bodies.
But that logic didn’t apply in VR. No matter how intense the workout, it wasn’t their actual bodies at work. There was no way a game avatar could suffer from oxygen deprivation.
And yet, Shina was gasping for breath for an entirely different reason.
"Where areyouwhereareyouwhereareyouwhereareyouwherewhere."
It was chasing them.
When she instinctively glanced back, she saw a child.
A boy? A girl?
She wasn’t sure. And she didn’t really need to know.
Tentacle-like appendages sprouted all over its body, including its face, their tips razor-sharp.
That nameless creature was swinging its tentacles wildly as it pursued them.
“H-Hiieeek! N-Nooo!!!”
As the monster extended its tentacles toward them, Anna reacted before Shina did.
Anna shrieked in sheer terror, flailing wildly—the biggest coward in EYEAI, panicking as expected.
Sure, it looked horrifying, but compared to the zombies in Aseosal, this wasn’t that bad…
Not that Shina had the luxury to say that aloud.
It might be better than Aseosal’s zombies, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be caught and killed by it.
"S-Save me! My mom’s at home! My mom’s waiting for me! G-Go away!"
Terrified out of her wits, Anna lost all rationality, activating her skill long before the tentacles could even reach her.
Anna’s class was 《Survival》.
It specialized in escaping encounters with monsters alive.
She had plenty of survival skills, which generally fell into two categories: crowd control (CC) skills that restrained monsters and mobility skills that allowed her to escape.
Even though Dungeon Seeker’s skills all had limited uses, Anna recklessly activated a movement speed boost.
Then, she grabbed Choi Changyoung’s arm, who was standing right next to her.
“Hey, Anna! What the hell are you doing?!”
“I don’t wanna dieeee!!!”
“Ugh?!?!”
Anna flung Changyoung forward.
It was <Throw>, one of her skills.
A skill meant to throw something at a monster to stagger it… probably.
Of course, the monster that got hit by the airborne Changyoung did indeed enter a staggered state.
But the moment it recovered, it grabbed him.
“Gotyougotyougotyougotyougotyougotyou.”
“Hey, Shiroki Anna! You’re so dead later! Aaaaargh!!!”
Thanks to Changyoung’s noble sacrifice, the party barely managed to escape the monster.
“Huff… Huff… That was my carry, right…?”
“…You’re gonna get chewed out by Changyoung-oppa later.”
Shina was dumbfounded, but it should be fine. Changyoung was fundamentally a good guy, so he wouldn’t be too harsh on Anna. And his fans wouldn’t give her too much flak either—they were relatively mild-mannered.
No matter how messy the process, what mattered was that they survived.
“…It looks safe for now. Let’s find the stairs to the rooftop.”
At Vincent’s words, the remaining teammates nodded.
Before long, they found the staircase.
As they climbed the stairs, a cold snowstorm brushed against their skin.
The mansion’s rooftop.
From there, they could see a world entirely blanketed in white.
A height of at least 20 meters.
At this point, calling it a mansion seemed inappropriate. It would be more fitting to describe it as a palace.
Naturally, the Ducal Family’s mansion was the tallest building in the entire duchy. From here, they could see far into the distant reaches of the territory.
Shina unintentionally thought of her family home.
Though she was currently living alone in a one-room apartment, her parents resided in a high-rise building.
During snowy winters, when she looked out the window, she would often see the apartment’s surrounding landscape covered in snow. Even a familiar view, when blanketed in white, felt somehow fresh—and at the same time, beautiful.
But this place was different.
Though it was just as snow-covered, she didn’t find it beautiful in the slightest.
If she had to compare it to something, it was like a silent, buried grave.
The harshness of the cold winter was deeply ingrained in the air, making Shina shiver without realizing it.
“I’m planting the flag.”
Vincent said as he drove a flag bearing the emblem of the Adventurers’ Guild into the mansion’s rooftop.
Seeing that, Elenoa followed suit, placing a flag with the Tower of Magic’s insignia.
Soon after, the quest completion notification appeared, and both Vincent and Elenoa let out sighs of relief.
“We somehow pulled it off…”
As if the tension had finally released, Vincent collapsed onto the ground.
“D-Did we do it…? Did we clear it?”
“…It’s not cleared, just a checkpoint reached. At least we can take a breather.”
“I see. Then can I log out now…?”
“I just said it’s only a checkpoint… Where do you think you’re going?”
“But it’s scary! Let me out!”
“Haa…”
Anna whined, prompting Vincent to sigh.
But even seeing his sigh, Anna didn’t back down.
“Just getting to the mansion was a huge ordeal! And breaking through to the rooftop was even worse! We’ve done enough! I did so well! I deserve praise! Do you even understand how rare it is for me, Shiroki Anna, to not be left behind?!”
“…Calm down. I have no idea what you’re trying to say.”
“We can end the stream now, right?”
“……”
Vincent glanced at Shina with a look that practically begged, Can you do something about her?
Why should I? She’s on your team.
Besides, watching Vincent struggle was slightly amusing, so Shina casually plopped down on the floor. Elenoa also ignored the situation and started setting up a campfire.
Currently, Cerberus and Behemoth were collaborating on a Dungeon Seeker stream.
Soon, the two teams would be clashing in the Fantasy League, but despite being rivals, they actually got along quite well.
This was largely because many of them belonged to Serenade.
That’s how this collaboration stream came to be, centered around Mashina, Elenoa, and Choi Changyoung.
Since it wasn’t the professional league, there was no need for them to be overly competitive.
In fact, Fantasy League encouraged VTubers to interact with one another. Team collaborations like this were quite common.
Of course, there were those Labyrinthos fanatics (also called Labyrinth dogs) who would argue that if they were aiming for the Fantasy League championship, they should be spending this time practicing in Labyrinthos instead.
But even if they wanted to practice Labyrinthos, it wasn’t something they could do frequently. They could only practice when all six team members’ schedules aligned.
More importantly—
“Meat! I’ll buy you all the meat you want! Just say the word! This noona will treat you all!”
Anna shouted.
Noona, my ass, you little brat.
That was pretty much the reason.
Currently, the Dungeon Seeker currency ranking had Leviathan at the top.
And since Shina found that particularly annoying, she had suggested to Changyoung that Cerberus and Behemoth team up to farm together.
They had gathered here in an effort to surpass Leviathan’s funds, but now, three out of their seven members were already dead…
“We’ve been streaming for four hours in real time! That’s 20 hours in-game with time acceleration! I, Shiroki Anna, have played a horror game for 20 whole hours! Does that even make sense?! Rewrite the history books! Carve it into a monument! ‘Shiroki Anna survived 20 hours in a horror game’!”
“…Haa. Fine, just sit down. We weren’t planning on staying much longer anyway. Let’s just retrieve our teammates’ bodies and call it a day.”
“You really mean it? I can trust you? You’re not lying, right, Captain?”
“Who’s the captain?”
“If you’re lying… I’m gonna pee in the living room…”
“…Wouldn’t that just be your loss?”
Vincent asked in disbelief.
***
“I think I heard Anna’s voice.”
Laura murmured.
“I’m not sure if it was Anna-san, but I did hear someone. I have my auditory perception skill leveled up.”
“Does that mean Anna is here?”
“I’ll check real quick. Let’s see… Looks like Cerberus and Behemoth members are doing a Dungeon Seeker collab.”
“Really?”
What a coincidence.
They might even run into each other.
“By the way, Laura-san. You have to reach the rooftop to activate the checkpoint, right?”
“That seems to be the case.”
“But this building… It’s way too tall.”
Narin looked up at the ducal mansion.
About 20 meters high.
That was roughly the height of a seven-story apartment building.
In an age where apartments easily exceeded 20 stories, seven floors didn’t seem like much.
The problem, however, was that this was a mansion dungeon.
They had no idea where the stairs were—if they even existed. And even if they did find them, there was a high chance they’d be broken.
“Well, isn’t it obvious?”
Laura said.
About ten minutes later—
“…You climbed the wall?”
“That’s right.”
Laura answered after meeting Shina on the rooftop.