Chapter 28 - The Dungeon Chronicles (2)

The dungeon air was still heavy—tainted with corrupted mana and the faint, lingering scent of blood—but the group had no choice but to move forward.

After resting briefly and consuming healing potions, Kyle and John managed to get back on their feet. Kyle still winced with each step, but the worst of his injuries had closed. John, though pale, kept his shoulders squared.

The five of them—Luca, Elowen, Lilliane, Kyle, and John—pressed onward.

"Luca," Elowen said after a few minutes, voice firm but calm, "you should take the lead from here."

Luca blinked, glancing back. "Why me?"

She gave a faint smile. "Because you’re better at it than I am. You’ve dissolved every trap we’ve come across so far. You read the terrain like second nature."

Lilliane remained silent, her face unreadable.

Kyle raised an eyebrow but didn’t protest.

John opened his mouth. "Shouldn’t someone with more experience—"

"John," Elowen cut in, sharp but not unkind, "you’ve done enough. Let him lead."

John looked like he wanted to argue more, but her tone left little room. He fell silent, jaw tight.

Luca didn’t respond. He simply stepped forward and began moving—quiet, focused, deliberate. His twin sabers stayed drawn, not for combat, but to probe the ground, trigger magic glyphs, and dissolve traps with careful precision. The group followed close behind.

Along the way, they encountered other students—some limping, some bruised and bloodied, but alive. None had died here, not yet. That, at least, was good news.

After regrouping briefly with the scattered students, the group took shelter in a secluded bend where the forest thinned out. Tension filled the air as decisions had to be made.

Some of the students wanted to join their group, eager to contribute—especially the more senior ones. Others, especially the first-years, just wanted to get out.

No one could blame them.

"What should we do with them?" Elowen asked, glancing toward Luca.

He paused, eyes scanning the injured group, their frightened but determined faces.

"We should send them toward the outer edge," he said after a moment. "That’s the closest point to the instructors. They’re likely trying to break through the dome from there."

"They’ll be safer," he added. "And they can guide other survivors too."

Elowen nodded. "I agree."

She relayed the plan, and many of the students accepted it with relief. But others—especially the third-years—resisted.

"We’re not running," one of them said, stepping forward. "We can still fight."

Elowen faced them calmly. "Our priority is protecting our juniors. You’ve seen what this dungeon has become. You’ll do more good alerting the instructors and guiding others out."

"And..." her voice softened slightly, "some of us need to stay in to see this through."

Her words struck home.

One by one, the older students nodded. Some still looked frustrated, but they understood.

"Take anyone you find along the way with you," she added. "Ensure they don’t stay behind."

Then she turned to John.

"You should go with them too."

John frowned. "Elowen, no. I’m not—"

"You’re the most mobile among them," she said. "And the least injured. They’ll need someone who can still fight if something happens."

John wanted to argue. She saw it in his eyes.

But he knew.

He wasn’t strong enough. Not for what was coming.

He gave Luca one last glance—something between a nod and an apology—and then moved to join the departing group.

Not that the 3rd years are not strong, but they are still weak looking at what is happening and what are we gonna face

,he thought with a dry smile.

Elowen and Vincent are both monsters in their own right strongest among 3rd years, even as first-years. Kyle’s the grandson of a duke—he’s been trained since before he could walk. And Lilliane... she’s nobility too. A prodigy with an affinity most people dream of. So it won’t be wrong to say that ,they are more powerful than most of the 3rs years. That’s how fearsome this years 1st years are. I am probably the weakest among those present here.

Luca watched them disappear through the trees, the injured students leaning on each other, some crying quietly.

He turned back to the narrow trail ahead.

The silence returned.

Just the four of them now.

Luca, Elowen, Kyle, Lilliane.

As they began moving again, Luca kept to the front, scanning the path ahead with renewed intensity. His fingers traced over faint runes etched into bark and stone, dismantling traps before they even activated.

He didn’t look back.

Not even when Elowen complimented him again, not even when Lilliane walked in silence just behind him.

His thoughts were elsewhere.

His grip tightened on his sabers.

His thoughts turned to the dead student. The flicker of life that vanished with no warning. The way the dungeon shifted—how it broke the rules of the world he once knew.

Even if I am weakest here— I need to do something.

Someone has died. The plot has already changed.

And the only anomaly here... is me.

This world was supposed to follow a script. It’s deviating.

Because I exist.

He exhaled quietly.

Then I’ll at least do this much. I’ll lead. I’ll scout. Nobody is better in it than me. I’ll take the brunt of it if I have to.

It’s the least I can do.

They finally reached the outer ring near the dungeon boss’s lair. A heavy, oppressive mana lingered in the air like a storm about to break.

Luca halted, glancing back at the group. "Let’s find a place to rest—just a short while. We’ll need to strategize if we want any chance at defeating the dungeon boss."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

They spread out cautiously, searching the surrounding area for a secure space.

Then—

Lilliane’s scream sounded out.

All of them immediately sprinted toward the sound.

They reached a clearing—and froze.

Aiden lay slumped against a broken pillar, shirt torn and blood crusted over shallow wounds. Selena knelt beside him, casting low-tier healing spells, her own robes ripped and singed. Vincent stood nearby, leaning heavily against a tree, his breathing ragged and face pale as moonlight.

Lilliane was already at Aiden’s side, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Aiden!" she cried, grabbing his hand. "Are you okay?! Say something! You look like you’ve been stabbed a hundred times!"

Aiden cracked one eye open and smiled sheepishly. "Just a few scratches..."

Lilliane wailed dramatically. "A FEW SCRATCHES?! YOU’RE BLEEDING!"

Kyle ran up beside her, examining the scene before glancing quickly to Selena. "Are you alright?"

Selena nodded faintly. "We’re fine."

Vincent remained in the corner, silent and pale.

Luca and Elowen approached him.

Vincent’s eyes flicked to his brother, unreadable. "So you made it here too."

Luca met his gaze. His voice was calm. Distant. "Looks like you already fought the boss."

It’s not like we are real brothers anyway.

Everyone turned to their conversation, sensing a tension that felt oddly... unfamiliar. Not like two brothers meeting, but two strangers passing each other on a battlefield.

Luca asked "Anything we should be aware of."

Vincent’s gaze sharpened. "He’s ten times stronger than any dungeon boss I’ve seen."

Luca’s eyes widened. He had expected something more powerful—but this?

He sighed quietly. "Anything else we should know?"

Vincent nodded slowly. "Incredible strength. Uncommon regeneration. Resistance to water and ice-based magic."

The others listened intently.

But they couldn’t shake it—

—how odd it felt watching the Valentine brothers speak.

So alike in calmness.

So distant in tone.

Like they weren’t family at all.

Luca turned away from Vincent and stepped closer to where Aiden sat, now bandaged up and sipping water.

"Mr. Everheart," Luca said calmly, "can you please recount everything that happened during the battle?"

Lilliane immediately flared up. "Can’t you see how injured he is!?"

Aiden raised a hand to stop her. "It’s fine, Lilliane."

He straightened slightly, his voice growing serious. "I’ll explain."

And so, he did. From the moment they reached the lair, to how the battle had progressed, to when the boss revealed its overwhelming regeneration. He spoke clearly and precisely, recounting details of the beast’s attack patterns, its weaknesses—or lack thereof—and how their coordinated efforts barely made a dent. How even Vincent’s strongest slash, empowered by blood mana, had been regenerated within seconds.

Everyone listened intently especially Luca.

His eyes didn’t blink.

His mind raced, turning each fragment of information into possibilities, calculations, counters.

He may not have Vincent’s power. Not Aiden’s charisma. Not Lilliane’s talent or Elowen’s leadership.

But game knowledge?

That was his battlefield.

As Aiden finished, silence followed.

Until Luca spoke again, standing and stretching slightly.

"Let’s rest for one hour," he said, casually but firmly. "Then we will raid the dungeon boss."

Elowen blinked. "Already? But what about the plan?"

Luca’s lips curled into a faint smirk.

His eyes gleamed—not with power, but with something far deadlier.

Certainty.

Instinct.

The glint of a former pro gamer waking up inside a fantasy world.

After all...

He

was

the best End Realms player in the world.