Chapter 13.1

Chapter 13.1

(EP-13.1) Double

013 - Double

“Why did you do that?”

“Do what?”

Elijah suddenly threw out such a question as I was warming up before entering the final stage.

Seeing someone like her say that with a dumbfounded expression really shows the absurdity of the situation.

“I know that instructor is good, but can you really challenge the previous record...?”

“Yes.”

“...”

Elijah blankly opened her mouth. She was unable to utter words upon hearing such a wild reply that was said a matter of fact.

“...You have high confidence. Is there any reason for that?”

Of course there is.

The monsters in this artificial dungeon have patterns. As someone who knew them like it's at the back of my hand, targeting their vitals is as easy as one, two and three.

It’s not that difficult to get the timing right.

And, above all.

[It’s Conrad. Are you ready?]

“A long time ago.”

[Good. In this last section, you are able to choose the difficulty. Naturally, the higher the difficulty, the more points you get-]

This is where my confidence stems from.

“Please make it the highest difficulty.”

[...]

After a moment of silence, the person speaking on the other side suddenly changed.

[Listen up freshman. I know that you're confident, but isn't this too much?! Even if you lose the bet, there is no penalty, so why go this far...?! The highest difficulty is no different from a real battle! Death is highly probable!]

Basing from the voice, that should be Percy.

She might sound angry, but it's apparent from her concern that she's a true teacher who really cares about her students.

“Yes, I am aware.”

In that level of difficulty, the monsters will literally be coming after you with the intent to ‘kiII’.

“Since it doesn’t make any sense otherwise.”

[...Yes?]

“Because anything easier than that isn’t worth the effort.”

[...]

I smiled at the thought of her stun-locked expression.

And it is easier for me that way.

●

“Why did you agree to that?”

“Why not, didn’t we also go on this difficulty as freshmen?”

“Not at the Colosseum. They could really die there.”

Percy said with a bitter expression.

The Colosseum, the last section of the artificial dungeon, is all about defeating as many monsters as possible that are being infinitely summoned.

In other words, recklessly raising the difficulty would summon more and more monsters, which can become really dangerous without any countermeasures.

“But still, setting a new record is a completely different story. The Colosseum produces stronger monsters the further you-”

Percy suddenly stopped her sentence midway.

It's probably because she saw that the monsters that appeared in the second wave were also shattered by Dowd’s sword just like the ones before.

‘...Uh?’

There was a big question mark on top of her head.

The situation that followed shattered the common sense she knew.

Even the third wave suffered the same fate.

Swing, swing, swing.

At the same pace, regardless of how strong the opponent is, it always ends with the same result.

‘...’

Were monsters could be beaten so easily?

Even when Conrad and her broke the all-time record, they didn't do it with this ease.

This is just like cutting down weeds.

It was not a battle, but a simple repetitive task.

It looked so absurdly easy that even the hero candidate's hard fought battle next to it was being overshadowed.

It should get harder the longer this goes on and the stronger the waves are, so why is the situation the same as before?

Is there any bug in the system?

‘...No, there's wasn't.’

It’s not like that.

It’s not that trivial.

The more she watched the video on the screen, the more that feeling became more and more concrete.

‘He's getting stronger.’

As his enemies get faster and stronger, Dowd Campbell also get faster and stronger.

‘How could this be...!’

As she was immersed in her thoughts, the death counter of the monsters recorded on the screen were accumulating at a tremendous speed.

More than 10 monsters were hunted within a minute after starting.

By the time half of the time limit passed, Conrad and Percy's record had already been broken.

Still, Dowd Campbell’s pace did not slow down.

Rather, it's the opposite, he's actually getting faster and faster.

As if the stronger the opponent, the stronger he becomes.

And just like that, the time limit was up.

It was so silent that you could even hear someone breathing.

[ Congratulations! Incredible Feat! ]

[ You broke the All-time Record! ]

[ Team Dowd Campbell & Elijah Krisanax hunted a total of 100! ]

The teacup that Percy was holding fell and shattered on the floor.

But no one even spared a glance at it.

Everyone was looking at the record with bewildered expressions.

“Bravo.”

Inside the intensely quiet room, only the applause of Conrad, who had a fierce smile on his face, could be heard.