Chapter 7: The Overwhelming Duel

“Cas, there’s no need to listen to him.”

“How can he even say that—dueling between high Lv and low Lv?”

“Talk about nerve.”

“Boss, maybe no need to duel him…”

“Quiet.”

Cliff’s [Intimidation] activated, and silence returned.

“You’re not seriously afraid, are you? This school is full of people as strong as monsters. Even someone at my level can’t beat them. Thinking of becoming the strongest here is just a pipe dream. If you win, I’ll kneel and apologize or even quit school—whatever you want. And…”

Cliff held up three fingers.

“You can bring two others to form a team. Three against one—that’s fair enough, right?”

Rather than proposing a duel, Cliff was practically begging for it.

He knew full well that he was the one at a disadvantage here.

Class was starting in a few minutes, and this was his chance to make amends for his impulsiveness.

“Also, I’ll throw in these latest confirmed Maps of the Third Layer. Anyone who teams up with him to challenge me gets a share. How’s that?”

“Boss, should we…”

“Shut up.”

Cliff knew he was risking a lot.

But it was better than dropping out.

“Don’t worry, the duel will be in a safe format. Even if you lose, you won’t die.”

Cas’s eyes were calm and unreadable.

But the classmates were wavering.

“Three against one, that should be doable.”

“Yeah, the Maps of the Third Layer! Those sell for tens of thousands of R on the market.”

“I want to try too…”

“Farming monsters will be more efficient, and the Dungeon risk will go way down.”

As for what Cas thought…

“I accept.”

“Um, Cas…”

“Cas, you shouldn’t just agree so easily.”

“Eh? If I win, that’s all that matters. Getting the map saves us a ton of money.”

“Exactly, his offer is way too good.”

Bried and Kersey looked worried, but Cas was brimming with confidence.

They’d taken the bait.

Cliff maintained a composed exterior but was elated inside.

Just as he expected, Cas wasn’t as calm as he appeared.

After all, he was the kind of guy who could say “becoming the strongest” without batting an eye.

He was confident he could beat Cas so badly that he’d never set foot in the Dungeon again.

If he won, Class F would be his for sure.

“I remember you, Cas. Prepare to lose at least an arm.”

With that, he left with Norius.

“Bye, weaklings.”

Norius even made a throat-slitting gesture.

“Wait.”

Cliff collided head-on with the owner of a voice, face turning dark as iron.

The voice came from the open classroom door.

“!! Witch of Gravity… aren’t you supposed to be sleeping at this hour?!”

The homeroom teacher glared lazily but with a hint of grievance at Cliff:

“So it’s you. Someone keeps activating skills, buzzing nonstop, making it impossible to sleep. The duel is fine, but if you keep using skills randomly on campus, your skills and Talents will be sealed for ten days.”

“What?! Ughhhh!!!”

The homeroom teacher twisted his wrist, sending golden chains shooting through Cliff, who howled in pain.

Then the two staggered away.

Cas remained unfazed, scanning around but apparently finding no one.

Occasionally, classmates cheered, praising Cas’s actions.

Bried and Kersey approached.

“Cas, Kersey and I want to team up with you. I’ll back you up. And just so you know, it’s not just for the map—I don’t want to watch you throw your life away fighting high Lv players.”

Cas responded a little late: “Ah… really okay? Even though I accepted the challenge, you don’t need to risk yourselves fighting him.”

“You said you want to be ‘the strongest.’ I believe in you—let me lend you a hand. Scum like Cliff deserve punishment! Besides, you looked really good saving Kersey just now.”

Cas smiled casually: “It was no big deal.”

Kersey shyly said, “Cas, um… thank you for protecting me earlier…”

“No problem. If you want to thank anyone, go find Siloque.”

“?”

“?”

The two girls exchanged puzzled looks.

Bried asked, “What does that have to do with him? Though he did get caught in the crossfire…”

“No, because if it weren’t for Siloque giving me this.”

Cas pulled out the X21 Shield from his pocket.

The item’s glow had dimmed from use.

“Cliff’s punch probably would’ve landed me in the hospital…”

“…?”

“What’s that?”

Judging by their expressions, they’d never seen this kind of item before.

Cas muttered: Siloque’s not even around anymore?

***

“It hurts! Doctor, can’t you be gentler?”

“I’m disinfecting; pain is normal. What happened to you? Three broken ribs, bruised back, slight concussion, and the shield didn’t work?”

Hearing Beiren’s guilty voice, Siloque almost wanted to say it didn’t work.

On the infirmary bed.

Beiren’s pale face was close, skillfully applying ointment and wrapping bandages on Siloque sitting at the edge.

White coat paired with black jeans, a high-neck gray sweater concealing a slender figure with a well-defined chest, dark brown bangs tied in a ponytail, and the faint scent of lemon.

Siloque admired the faintly visible fair neck, thinking his injury was kind of worth it.

“I got half of it up. I lent the shield to someone else.”

“Well, you’re a good person, spending 600R on someone else’s item. Were you threatened, or is that your girlfriend?”

“…I remember there’s that sour, bitter Healing Potion?”

The health teacher tightened Siloque’s bandages firmly.

“Painful!”

“I sold you the X21 at the lowest price. Want a Healing Potion too?”

“They’re stolen and almost expired. Plus, the shop that sold X21 closed long ago. Beiren? Ugh!”

She shoved a bottle of potion into Siloque’s mouth.

The sour bitterness overwhelmed his nose.

“So… how do you know my old name? Are you a corporate spy?”

Only after finishing the awful potion, which tasted almost as bad as pond water, did Beiren remove the bottle.

Siloque couldn’t stop coughing; it was horrible.

The wound wasn’t healed, but the pain had disappeared entirely.

“Trade secret. Besides, if I were a spy, you’re way too easy to get info from, Beiren.”

“…..”

Beiren was dumbfounded.

A boy with arms thinner than a girl suddenly showed up mid-class.

At first glance, she thought he was interesting-looking, but then he threatened her with selling “collector’s items.”

She didn’t know what Siloque wanted but did know her background.

Beiren was her old name; she’d changed it after moving from the countryside to the big city.

“…If you don’t want to say, just lie quietly.”

“Okay, Beiren.”

Beiren pinched Siloque’s soft face hard, pulled the blackout curtain, and returned to her work.

Siloque stared at the unfamiliar ceiling.

Messing with Beiren was fun, but his mood was heavy.

Beiren was a relatively early-stage merchant NPC in The Dungeon of Cass.

How early?

Probably tutorial-level early.

After players unlock the Dungeon’s second layer, they can access the Dungeon Shop, where the Demoness Shopkeeper not only has her own storyline and special CGs but also sells a wide variety of items, including late-game gear.

Completing her questline even grants a free Artifact. She’s quite popular…

Compared to that, Beiren was plain.

In this world full of handsome men and beautiful women, Beiren wasn’t bad-looking but had very little plot.

Players could learn personal info through dialogues with her and get special lines, but that was it.

The X21 and the barely effective, awful-tasting potions were her top-tier goods.

The best part was that talking to her daily got players a free potion, so once players leveled up, they rarely visited her shop anymore.

Honestly, Siloque liked her.

Because she was the only one in the whole game with a personal portrait and dialogue who wouldn’t trigger any NTR, making conversations with her relaxing.

Siloque even wrote to the game company asking for a personal storyline for her, but considering the dev team’s habits, he tore up the letter.

Sigh… getting off track.

Based on his injuries, this was definitely the worst possible first playthrough.