Generally speaking, the students of Glory Cael Magic Academy lacked enthusiasm for dungeon exploration.
Magic was for displaying power, winning honor, engaging in elegant duels, or completing prestigious tasks—not for risking one's life against ugly monsters in dark, dangerous caves. This was the consensus among most noble students.
Consequently, even the shallow layers were usually sparse, with only a few students who needed combat practice or specific materials coming in teams, quickly finishing their goals and leaving.
But in the last few days, things seemed different.
Several days had passed since Greg defeated Lady Eight-Legs.
After the Student Council's investigation ended, the dungeon should have returned to its quiet state, but the foot traffic had unnervingly increased.
From dawn to dusk, small student parties of three to five, or even groups of six, could be seen shuttling through the passages, equipped with illumination magic gems or simple weapons.
They didn't look like they were completing regular class assignments or gathering materials. Their movements suggested a clear search, their eyes constantly scanning the rock walls, forks in the road, and hidden corners.
This anomaly caused a bit of inconvenience for Greg, who had chosen a secluded cave in the shallow layers to call home.
He had to use clumps of earth, rubble, and spare canvas found nearby to better camouflage his dark gray tent and the simple smoking rack beside it, ensuring they weren't easily spotted from the main passage.
"This is strange..."
Greg sat on a large rock in his camp, nibbling on homemade jerky with a slight frown.
"Has some kind of Special Bounty for the dungeon been posted recently?"
In the academy's task system, so-called Special Bounties usually referred to commissions where the difficulty rating wasn't high, but the rewards were exceptionally generous.
These tasks often attracted a large number of student teams to compete, resulting in intense competition for limited resources.
Just like now, many teams were repeatedly searching the target area, hoping to be the first to find the objective or a clue.
Greg tried to recall his experience playing the original game.
In his memory, Special Bounties for the dungeon area rarely appeared on the academy's quest bulletin board.
This was because the dungeon's value was mostly found in the rare materials and drops from powerful monsters in the deep areas, which were clearly beyond the reach of ordinary student teams.
"So what could their target be this time? If it's really that simple and the pay is high..."
Greg rubbed his chin, feeling a slight itch of interest.
After all, he was currently penniless. The three gold coins Allie had lent him were mostly spent, and he still needed funds for his continued survival and growth.
If he could easily make some extra cash, why not?
However, the thought only flashed by for a moment. He quickly calmed down.
Without going to the quest bulletin board on the surface or even knowing the specific details of the task, trying to get involved was pure fantasy.
Moreover, he was currently lying low in the dungeon largely to avoid the surface's eyes and potential trouble. Risking exposure for an uncertain bounty would be more trouble than it was worth.
Shaking his head, Greg jumped down from the rock and walked back to his small camp.
The sky above had turned completely dark, and student figures were no longer visible in the distant passages.
Greg skillfully stepped out the small campfire he had used during the day to smoke jerky, which now only held embers. He wrapped a new batch of jerky—emitting a faint scent of spices and smoke—in oil paper and stuffed it into his tent.
Having done this, he pulled back the tent flap and crawled inside.
The interior wasn't large, but it was padded, dry, and warm, forming a sharp contrast with the cold, damp environment outside.
He sighed comfortably and pulled out another piece of jerky from his pack, chewing it slowly.
"Hajimi, do you want some too?" Greg asked leisurely, addressing his own shadow.
Strangely enough, when the Goddess of Night moved in the form of a cat, she seemed to have little interest in fish. Instead, she favored the jerky Greg made from dungeon monster meat and simple spices.
Every time Greg made it, she would sit nearby, her emerald eyes staring unblinkingly until Greg offered up a portion.
Regarding the extra mouth to feed, Greg would occasionally grumble, but he instinctively prepared extra whenever he made jerky.
After all, in this sunless dungeon, Nightmare was the only one who could regularly talk and bicker with him.
This companionship held an inexpressible value in such an extremely lonely environment.
However, in the last few days, this fellow had been somewhat elusive.
She would occasionally disappear without a sound, running off into the deeper areas of the dungeon alone.
Greg had sternly warned her several times, emphasizing that they were currently bound by the same fate and that wandering off could easily lead to trouble.
Nightmare's response was usually nonchalant, carrying the characteristic laziness and slight impatience of a deity:
"Rest easy, my other half. I have survived for so many eons precisely because I am more afraid of death than any other living being; I know how to avoid true danger. So, you need not worry."
Greg had no choice but to accept this. He couldn't truly restrict a goddess's freedom of movement, so he was forced to choose to trust her.
At first, he was indeed on edge, fearing he might suddenly drop dead without warning while eating jerky.
But after a few days, Nightmare always returned safely. Sometimes, she even brought back strange small stones or stone tablet fragments that emitted faint mana fluctuations—items Greg hadn't even seen in the original game.
Over time, Greg gradually got used to her coming and going.
"Hey, you stinky cat, are you in the shadow? If you don't come out, I'm finishing this myself!"
Greg repeated himself to his shadow, but there was still no response.
Only the sound of his own breathing filled the tent.
"Looks like she's off playing wild somewhere again..."
Greg shook his head and ignored it.
He pulled out his pocket watch to check the time.
Ten o'clock at night.
At this hour, there was almost no one else in the dungeon except for him.
Most of the student teams that entered would leave by four or five in the afternoon, or seven at the latest.
After all, they weren't vagrants like Greg; they needed to attend classes on time the next day and follow the academy's schedule.
Dungeon exploration was an extracurricular activity for them, not daily life.
Greg relaxed his body and lay back on the padding.
The comfort from beneath him made him feel once again that his decision to grit his teeth and buy this tent was absolutely correct.
Compared to lying directly on the cold, hard, damp, and uneven rock floor, these conditions were practically luxurious.
Good rest was the foundation for maintaining combat power and mental state. This investment was well worth it.
His thoughts drifted as Greg began to calculate his next plan.
"If I count the time... the last event of Chapter One should happen tomorrow night."
He was referring to the wrap-up event of the original game's Chapter One main storyline.
The core of this event was to raise the affection level of the Secondary Heroine, Silvia.
The summary of the event was simple: Silvia would be kidnapped by an academy deputy professor who worshipped the Goddess of Light, and then Victoria would go to the rescue.
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