Chapter 99

I examined the tent I had set up. Now that I looked at it, it was quite massive. A 24-person tent felt excessively large for just three girls.

“This is a tent we brought, just the three of us. What do you think?”

“It’s too big, isn’t it? With beds, and a table, it feels more like a resort than camping. If we say we brought it ourselves, no one will believe us.”

Irene, who was looking around our lodging, chimed in.

“…I’ll just say I brought it. I can claim that it’s a tent provided by a company for testing, and that we got it for our clan. It’s not exactly this size, but there are surprisingly similar products.”

“That sounds good!”

Thanks to Irene, I had a coherent explanation ready. When the other students arrive later, I could just say that it was more or less the case.

We still had plenty of time until dinner. We started changing clothes and got ready to relax.

First things first, I needed a bath. After walking through this humid jungle for hours, I was a sweaty mess and wanted to wash up. I remembered how happy my friends were when they saw the shower facilities.

“What should we set the water temperature to?”

“Just below body temperature.”

“Cold is out of the question! Make it warm!”

Once the order was placed, Violets, waiting at Central Lodging, started putting several large water tanks into their inventories. The Violets inside the jungle dungeon received them and took them out.

We poured them into the portable shower’s water tank, and that was that. My friends entered the shower tent one by one. To prevent anyone from peeking, we set up double curtains nearby, so there was no worry.

After a while, the girls, now freshened up, entered the tent with relaxed faces.

“Drink this!”

“I feel like we’re camping instead of doing experiential learning. The sticky feeling is gone.”

Irene took a sip of the cold water bottle I handed her and sat in a folding chair. She was wearing a much lighter outfit of short sleeves and shorts instead of her combat coat and tactical vest.

“This is so comfy! I never imagined I’d enjoy such luxury. Violets are the best!”

Daphne dried her hair and then flopped onto the makeshift bed with a happy expression. She looked a bit tired. After all, she had been roaming through the rough tropical forest all day without rest. Moreover, she was somewhat weaker among the Awakened. Unlike Irene, who showed no signs of fatigue.

Awakened ones usually possess superior abilities compared to Non-Awakened, but there are variations even among the Awakened.

I too flopped down onto my bed. Speaking of which, dinner time was approaching.

What should we eat tonight to be noteworthy?

The Violets outside the dungeon were having a discussion.

“Let’s have ramen! I’ve always wanted to boil some when camping.”

“No way! The instant ramen from the academy city is all Japanese-style. The spiciest ramen sold here is worse than the mild flavor.”

“How about delivery food?”

“Then we’d lose the fun of cooking.”

The Violets debated for a straightforward reason.

We share not just the taste of food but the feeling of eating it with others. So, nothing compares to the joy of enjoying special food in a special place.

Especially the food shared with beautiful girl friends around a campfire. How delicious would that be?

“We have plenty of ready-made meals. We also have canned goods. Let’s use those.”

“That sounds good.”

I dumped the ready-made meals and canned goods onto the table. The two girls turned their eyes toward me at the noise.

“Let’s have this for dinner tonight.”

Daphne, who had gotten out of bed, approached the table and picked up a bag of instant meatballs.

“Everything’s ready-made.”

“Isn’t that convenient?”

“You really don’t want to cook, do you? I was planning to try cooking myself.”

“Cooking?”

When I asked, she began pulling out cooking utensils and ingredients from thin air. Now that I think about it, Daphne had the inventory I gave her.

“Thanks to the relics provided by the Violets, I can carry things like this!”

She started with pasta, pulling out vegetables and various other ingredients. I hadn’t thought of using the inventory to keep food fresh.

“Well, we usually eat instant food.”

“I’m thinking of making pasta for dinner. How does that sound?”

“I’ve never had pasta in a dungeon before. I’m in! Is there anything I can help with?”

“Then, Irene, can you organize the ingredients? And Violet.”

“What’s up?”

“Could you get the plates and forks from over there and put them on the table?”

Soon, Daphne began to cook. She chopped vegetables on the cutting board, prepared the ingredients, and boiled water. Tonight’s dinner menu was oil pasta. It smelled delicious.

But there was something that felt lacking. Was this enough?

While I pondered, I realized what the best dish for camping was.

It was, of course, meat!

“Someone go get some meat! A lot!”

“Wasn’t there a barbecue grill at Kalia’s house that’s not in use? Go get that!”

One of the Violets in the tent dashed outside.

“Violet, what are you doing?”

“Meat! Let’s have a barbecue party!”

“Where did that come from?”

The friends who stepped outside the tent looked puzzled. In the blink of an eye, I had everything ready for grilling meat.

The beef sizzling on the grill made a searing sound.

“We’re short on tents and now we’re short on meat…”

The eyes of the two girls widened in shock.

Moments later, the pasta Daphne prepared was demoted from the main dish to a side dish. The table was piled high with juicy, perfectly grilled steaks.

“Alright, let’s eat!”

The girls, who were staring wide-eyed at the food, picked up forks and started eating.

*

The meal was satisfying. While eating the freshly brought pudding for dessert, Irene spoke up.

“It’s my first time experiencing such a luxurious dungeon exploration where we have both a bed and a shower along with a hearty dinner. I don’t think even our clan members eat like this.”

“Isn’t Helios a well-off clan? Surely they can bring a private trailer and cook there.”

“Well, that’s only when they have the means. Most meals are settled with combat rations. Most places can’t accommodate trailers. Sometimes we get warm meals delivered by drones or vehicles, but they often get smashed by monster attacks.”

I see, being a Hunter seems similar to the military.

I imagined a food truck getting smashed and having to eat combat rations. That would be terrible. Ugh, I wouldn’t want that at all.

Daphne, leisurely enjoying her coffee, added, “We’re the odd ones. How many dimensional bags like the ones Violet and I have could there be?”

Listening to her, it dawned on me that we were really having a lavish time. It felt like we were on vacation.

While other students were munching on their combat rations, we were enjoying pasta and steak.

“Now that it’s like this, let’s keep enjoying the luxury! Isn’t it hot? Should I bring over an air conditioner and a generator?”

As I pretended to pull something out of thin air, Irene stopped me.

“That would be too much.”

“I’m joking!”

I chugged down the carbonated drink with ice floating in it. While finishing the remaining dessert, Daphne pointed to the stacked steaks on the plate.

“What are we going to do with those? If we leave them, bugs will gather.”

“I’ll just put them in the dimensional bag!”

In the excitement of barbecuing outside, we grilled too much meat. Most of the steaks piled on the table remained untouched.

“Let’s eat it ourselves.”

“Meat! Meat!”

I placed the steaks into the inventory.

Patting my full belly, I looked around the dungeon area outside the safe zone. The sky above the dungeon was a hazy milky color. In this isolated space, there was no concept of day and night.

Then, I saw students entering through the entrance of the safe zone. They were the second team coming to Section 3 after us.

“Those people…”

“That’s Lucian and his team from earlier.”

Three worn-out students entered Section 3 of the safe zone. The gazes of the three people who came through the entrance turned toward our tent.

“It’s like a house.”

“It’s huge…”

“Are you stupid? It’s just a tent. It’s just bigger than usual.”

Lucian and his teammates approached our tent. Their eyes were filled with curiosity. I waved my hand.

“Is that you?”

“Oh, hi. I didn’t expect to find you here…”

Lucian grumbled, and Levi, who was standing behind him, awkwardly opened his mouth.

“Is this your team’s?”

Granite asked.

“Yeah! Technically, it’s Irene’s. It’s a cutting-edge special tent we got for trial operation.”

Upon hearing my answer, Lucian nodded as if he expected it.

“Of course, it makes sense for Irene to have such expensive equipment.”

Lucian’s team looked around our tent for a while. The expressions on the three faces were a mix of surprise and envy. Then Lucian snapped out of it and called Levi and Granite in annoyance.

“Hey, let’s go. Are we sleeping outside again?”

“Got it, I’ll go…”

“Hurry up!”

I watched Lucian’s team prepare their camping setup while sitting in a chair. The three people moved a bit away and opened their bags, setting up three small tents just big enough for one person to lie down in. Then Lucian pulled out a long rod from his pocket and began sketching various small spells around the tents.

“What’s that?”

“That’s an insect-repelling magic. That’s waterproof and moisture-proof magic too. Quite complicated arrangements. They have good skills.”

I mumbled, and Daphne, who was tidying up the table, responded.

Soon, Levi pulled out a burner and started boiling water. It turned out to be combat rations that required hot water to prepare. While I continued to watch, Lucian and the other two seemed to be having a rough time.

“Uh, hey, is dinner ready for you guys…”

“I don’t care. You guys can eat if you want.”

“You must be hungry, so why not eat first?”

“Hey, I said I don’t care! Just leave me alone!”

Levi took the combat rations meant for Lucian and approached him. Lucian scowled and refused the food with a sulky face.

Even though Levi was struggling, Granite stepped in to speak to Lucian, but he was only annoyed and retreated into his tent. The two who looked deflated stood bewildered in front of their tent.

I approached the two of them.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s Violet…”

I led them to our tent and asked what happened. The two of them appeared ashamed.

“What’s wrong with him?”

Granite replied in a drained voice.

“Actually, he’s mad because of us.”

“Because of you?”

I recalled the situation when the Krol Tide Group had rushed in hours earlier.

The two began to explain slowly.

“All day today, we’ve just been relying on him.”

What followed was about as I had expected. As I guessed, the experiential learning for the two of them, excluding Lucian, had been a disaster.

“I think I took the experiential learning too lightly. I thought I just had to take my equipment with me.”

Their gear did not seem suited to the environment of the dungeon. It was all pretty flimsy.

“From guiding the way to combat, Lucian took on every task for our team. While he led, we couldn’t really help at all.”

Moreover, their personal traits contributed to Lucian’s frustration.

“When—when the Krol Tide flew overhead, I was so scared that I couldn’t aim properly.”

I remembered when I saved Levi from a duel with some upperclassmen. This girl was already fearful by nature. Then, what about this heavyset friend?

“I felt the same way. Honestly, it’s embarrassing to say this, but… I’m scared of bugs. This place is swarming with them, and it’s just awful…”

“Really?”

Granite was nearly two meters tall. Yet, even with such a body, he said he was scared of bugs. I couldn’t understand it.

Just then, I spotted a beetle crawling on the ground and picked it up to show him.

“Is this scary too?”

“Ugh, aaaah… please put it away. I’m begging you!”

Seeing the color drain from his face, I quickly tossed the beetle far away.

“Anyhow, this is all our fault. It’s natural for Lucian to be mad at us for making him suffer like this.”

“We just caused trouble.”

Irene, who had been quietly listening to the two in the background, spoke up.

“So, what do you want to do?”

“I want to apologize to Lucian. And I want to do my best to contribute for the remaining time in this experiential learning.”

“I—I do too…”

Hmm, Irene let out a short sound and, with a serious face, asked both of them.

“First, did you two at least bring your secondary weapons?”

“What, secondary weapons…?”

“This, you mean?”

The two showed the jungle knives and hand axes they had. Irene shook her head.

“That’s just a tool, right? What help could it give when you brought weapons inappropriate for the environment? Didn’t Instructor Frederick say anything?”

“Ugh…”

Even though the difficulty in the experiential learning spot was low enough to let it slide, it sounded like they must have gotten quite a scolding.

“Really, did you take the experiential learning too lightly? What if you go to a more dangerous dungeon than here and your main weapons break? You should have brought at least a backup sword.”

Irene was right. Daphne also had one hand sword strapped to her side, albeit she might not need it.

Realizing their mistake, the two were too ashamed to lift their heads.

“Still, since they know what mistakes they made, they can still do well from now on. Violet, if you have an extra sword, would you lend it to these two?”

“I have one!”

I went into the tent and took out two swords, a small crossbow I didn’t use, and a rifle from my inventory. These were one-star weapons obtained from defeating various enemies along the way.

“I’ll lend them to you. Just make sure to return them outside!”

“Thank you. I feel so ashamed.”

“Sorry, I keep causing trouble…”

Seeing us talk, Daphne also came out of the tent.

“Come on, don’t be so gloomy. You all know what you did wrong, right? If you go and apologize sincerely while showing you’ll do your best moving forward, Lucian will forgive you too.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Of course. Even if he’s not forgiving right now, if you show that you’re trying, he’ll change his attitude.”

Daphne’s encouraging words helped lighten the expressions of the two who had been downcast.

These guys, while incompetent, meant no harm. At least, they knew what they had done wrong and wanted to correct it. Depending on how they acted moving forward, the situation might change.

Suddenly, I remembered the meat we ate earlier. I wondered if they had dinner.

The combat ration they had been preparing earlier came to mind. Out of curiosity, I recalled the stuff I had eaten before. It’s something super cheap and awful. Eating that would cheer them up temporarily but would surely put them back in a bad mood.

“Should I help them out?”

“Those guys brought us to the health room when we got drunk and fell asleep. Let’s say it’s payback.”

I thought of the leftover steaks from earlier. Eating something delicious would surely lighten the mood.

“Hey, do you guys want some steak?”

“Steak? What’s that? Now that you mention it, I can smell something grilled…”

I handed them the untouched, warm steaks, assorted snacks, and even ice cream. The two of them approached the tent where Lucian was holed up.

“Hey, Lucian…”

“Leave me alone. Ah… what’s that smell?”

One minute later, he opened the tent. Lucian’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What the…?”

I watched as the three hesitantly began conversing. Lucian accepted his share of the steak and food, then disappeared back into the tent.

Observing this, the friends each chimed in.

“Will that really work?”

“That depends on what those two do.”

I lounged around while keeping an eye on Lucian’s team’s tent.

Eventually, I could see the three talking. I wondered how it was going.

The three were calmly conversing while eating the ice cream I had given them.

“I’m just coming out to eat ice cream, so don’t get it twisted! I have nothing to say to you.”

“Anyway, I’m sorry. I’ll do my best for the rest of the time.”

“I’m sorry too!”

“…Just don’t hold me back.”

Lucian grumbled.

From the atmosphere, it didn’t seem too bad. That’s a relief.

*

Time passed, and night fell in the dungeon. I lay in bed and tried to sleep.

I’m not sure how long it had been. I woke up rubbing my eyes to the sound of an alarm. The dampness felt different from usual, and I frowned at the unpleasant feeling.

“What’s going on?”

I tilted my head. There was a thick fog.

“How strange, fog?”

“Let’s pack our things first. We don’t have much time left to return.”

We quickly packed up and exited the safe zone. It seemed Lucian’s party had already packed and left because I couldn’t see them at all.

The return journey felt uncomfortably quiet. With visibility down to nothing, I unleashed my clones. Using them as wards, we quickly crossed the jungle.

Gradually, sounds that seemed to belong to students grew closer. I spotted Lucian’s party through the fog. There was also the hero party we saw yesterday.

The moment I saw the expressions on the students’ faces, I felt something was odd. They were filled with confusion.

“Augh! The gate!”

“Calm down. It’s probably just a temporary phenomenon.”

Someone even screamed.

As I got closer, I realized the reason. The color of the gate, which should serve as the entrance, was flickering like a broken brown television screen.

“Why do problems seem to arise wherever I go?”

“It must be a coincidence!”

Is there some magic that causes incidents to happen wherever I go?

The gate to Chloris Forest was shut down.

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