Late at night.
In the ever-crowded Central Plaza, Evan looked at the two girls in front of him and issued his highest order.
"Move out!"
"Understood!!"
"Meow!!"
Both girls were fully geared up!
Lefiya had changed out of her red-and-white School District uniform. In its place was an outfit with a white blouse as the base, a small pale-purple ribbon at her chest, a light-red shoulder cape and a pink waist sash, with a long skirt that fell to her knees—though it was clearly tailored for mobility.
The very front of the skirt was "open" like a window, leaving only a short light-red underskirt and exposing her pure-white thigh-high stockings… along with the elf girl's long, youthful legs full of springy vitality.
It was a magic-attuned dress.
The fitted fabric helped mana flow better, it was more breathable, and because it was made with special materials, its defensive power was nothing to scoff at.
Evan's rating: 90 points.
And if you added the elf girl herself—with that rich golden-blond hair like yamabuki blossoms—
That was 99.
Maybe adventurer culture was just too widespread in this world, but the clothes people wore into the Dungeon looked like straight-up game cosmetics. Could that really block monster attacks?
Evan decided he needed to seriously research this sometime!
Compared to that…
The cat-girl's outfit fit Evan's idea of "adventurer" much better.
Anya had swapped out her usual tavern-waitress uniform—dark green with a pure-white apron—for a beige shirt with a red scarf.
There were belts strapped across the shirt—mostly decorative, but also useful for holding all kinds of items.
A short brownish-red skirt was the girl's last stubborn insistence on "style."
After that came brown-gray leather gloves and boots, and similarly dark athletic shorts.
Aside from iron guards on her knees and elbows, her whole kit was very lightweight—mostly close-fitting leather armor. Paired with a golden spear engraved with intricate patterns, her ear-length, slightly wavy brown hair, and those cute cat ears and tail, she looked incredibly sharp and capable—almost heroic, even.
Now that was an adventurer.
But… was this still the same idiot Anya?!
Evan couldn't help wondering—when Lefiya suddenly took his huge pack from him.
"I'll carry it!"
That massive, heavy bag looked like it could completely crush the slim elf girl under its weight.
When you went into the Dungeon, you generally carried a large pack like that—so you could store tools, potions, monster drops, magic stones, and materials.
Normally, an adventuring party would hire a professional supporter for this.
Supporters didn't fight. They handled extracting magic stones, collecting materials, and carrying supplies and equipment.
But Evan had always done it himself.
As for now… Lefiya was just way too enthusiastic.
With everything ready, the three of them entered the Dungeon entrance, continuing down the spiral staircase into the enormous pit below.
Soon—
They arrived at the first floor, a place Evan knew all too well.
Lefiya was cautious and tense, clearly still haunted by what happened last time.
Anya's face, meanwhile, was full of seriousness and…
Professionalism.
Even though she was a Level 4 adventurer, she wasn't laughing or fooling around at all. Compared to Lefiya, the cat-girl radiated the deep, instinctive respect that only veteran adventurers had for the Dungeon.
"Advance, meow!"
Her mouth was still spouting peak dumb-cat lines, but she stayed close to Lefiya the whole time, almost unconsciously protecting the mage in the party.
It was obvious she really was experienced.
Evan was serious too.
But soon, he realized the first floor was empty.
No ambushes from corners.
No weird special monsters.
And even that "Goblin Guard" that had once blocked the mandatory route to the second floor—
When their party reached the passage leading to Floor 2 and entered that familiar chamber, the old battle traces were already gone. The holes in the walls, the cracked ground…
The Dungeon repaired "internal" damage. Destruction gradually restored itself. And if the damage was too extreme, then…
…
After circling the chamber once, Evan looked up at the ceiling—only about four meters high, glowing faintly in pale blue.
There was nothing there either.
That confirmed his earlier suspicion once again.
[The Dungeon's "energy bar" is limited. It can't endlessly generate those special monsters.]
Evan remembered what he'd seen when he first came here.
The first time he saw that "Goblin Guard" drop from above—and got killed by it—he'd cautiously chosen to retreat.
And as he moved farther away…
The "Goblin Guard" didn't chase him. Instead, it slowly turned into dust.
Evan had specifically looked back from a distance. It was like the blue-purple crystalline fragments you got when a magic stone shattered—especially noticeable in the dim chamber.
And those fragments kept "sinking" into the ground.
The Dungeon had reclaimed it.
That was what led Evan to his "energy bar" theory.
Because it was simple.
If the Dungeon could freely create monsters like that, there'd be no need to recycle them.
And now—
With the first-floor "Goblin Guard" already killed, the Dungeon judged that special monsters made with this floor's power could no longer stop him, so it simply stopped spawning them.
In other words… he'd cleared it?
[The Dungeon is alive.]
Every adventurer in Orario knew that—it was the first sentence written in the Guild's Adventurer's Guide.
And now, Evan understood it more deeply than ever.
Forward!
Since he'd cleared Floor 1, of course they were going to Floor 2!!
They went down the sloping passage, and soon the party reached its end.
Just like before, it was a "maze" of intersecting chambers and corridors. In terms of layout, Floors 1 through 4 of the Dungeon were basically identical.
However—
The instant Evan stepped onto this floor, the difference became obvious.
"What's that, meow?" Anya asked.
With her sharp eyesight, the cat-girl could see something moving in from the darkness at the far end of the cavern.
It was…
"Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble—!"
The sound of a massive boulder rolling grew closer and closer, the vibrations reaching their ears through the ground before anything else.
A gigantic stone came barreling toward them with unstoppable force, like a runaway truck. It almost made Evan remember certain things from his past.
"Run, meow!!"
Anya immediately hoisted Lefiya onto her shoulder. Before the elf girl even understood what was happening, Anya was already sprinting into another tunnel—Evan right behind her!
But not long after…
"Why is there one here too, meow!!"
"Change routes!"
"Over here, meow, over here—meow!!"
"Wait, Anya. Let this boulder pass first."
"O-oh… okay! Now run, meow!!"
"!!!"
Driven deeper and deeper by the rolling boulders, the three of them quickly veered off their planned route and ended up in the depths of the cavern maze.
"Finally… none left, meow…"
Anya's cute cat ears twitched as she confirmed the boulders had gone far away—and weren't following anymore.
Evan, calm as ever, handed over his water flask to the cat-girl and to Lefiya, who'd just been set down and was still dizzy.
For Lefiya, being carried around while Anya sprinted like that probably felt like riding a supercharged F1 car. And Anya still wasn't even at full speed—otherwise Evan wouldn't have been able to keep up.
That was a trap, right?
In a cavern like this, getting a giant boulder rolling at your face was basically a required experience.
Evan stayed composed, but soon he noticed something was off.
Because ahead of them, the first wave of monsters appeared—
And they were…
A banner painted with a deep blue moon fluttered in the air.
Goblin knights in full plate armor—like iron cans—painted with bright, gaudy colors, came charging at them with lances and shields, riding dog-headed creatures about their own height.
Roaring, they launched straight into a cavalry charge!
-------
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