The Blue Moon party is rather impressive . They are very skillful .

The Red Dragon party is in first place . Theyre indeed an honor party .

The audience made various comments on the performance of the parties .

On the other side of the room, professors busily scored the performance of the parties . As it had always been, they paid no attention to the low-level parties . They were only interested in the students that occupied the top ranks .

The third rank is Desirs party .

Oh, you mean the party that doesnt have an official name yet? The new one?

I had some hope for them, but they are a Beta Class party after all . They did a great job reaching third place though .

The professors continued to converse with each other .

Nice to see you, Prof . Bridgette .

A husky voice squeezed out a greeting . His attitude immediately showed that he habitually treated others with disrespect . He then sat next to Bridgette . It was Pugman Niplica .

Nice to see you, Prof . Pugman .

It was a rare occasion for Pugman to start a conversation with Bridgette . Bridgette was uncomfortable talking to Pugman as a result . After a short exchange of greetings, she returned her focus back onto the display panels .

You dont seem well .

Its none of your business .

Of course . You probably dont feel like talking . I can tell by the situation .

Pugman deeply breathed in, staring at Bridgettes face as if enjoying it . For some reason, he looked oddly determined .

Its over, Bridgette .

In a moment, there was a loud scream amongst the professors . The Blue Moon party cleared a high-level obstacle in Stage Two and claimed the rank one position .

Bridgette turned to look at Pugman .

Youll never know until its really over, Professor .

If it makes you feel any better .

Pugman replied with a slight smirk .

Desir maybe this is his limit .

What do you mean by that?

Bridgette enquired .

I admit that he is competent, but he is a commoner . He came all the way up to this point by pure luck, but there is a glass ceiling as a commoner .

Well, there was a person who lost to a commoner .

She was referring to Kelt .

That was a careless mistake .

If that makes you feel any better .

It felt like cold air was billowing between the two . Eventually they focused on the display panels again .

It wont be as easy as it was before .

Is there a reason that you are so confident?

Hmph . It is a party competition after all .

Pugman replied as he continued staring at the display panels .

Even the honor parties attempted this with their best members . But this one is made up of Beta Class members . All of them! Arent they too full of themselves?

Maybe they were . For this competition, the top magicians had gathered . This was what Desir was trying to do compete against them with commoners who were regarded as incompetent .

But

It didnt phase Bridgette at all though . She shook her head .

Ill admit, Pugman . Your bravado is incredible .

This time fire seemed to spark between the two as they stared at each other .

However, on the display panels that displayed the Beta Class parties, nobody noticed that there was something going on in the corner of a panel . A spot that no one paid attention to .

* * * *

They went ahead to the next stage!

Back in Stage One of the dungeon, a place where many parties struggled and tried their best to clear, there was a party moving forward effortlessly .

Any traps or monsters?

Nope, they completely cleared them out .

Great . They dont leave any debris behind them as I expected .

OQuinn smiled after the report from their scout . His prediction was correct . It was a great choice to select Desirs party . He turned towards his party members .

Good news everyone! Its time to resume our journey!

The party, Arachne, was a Beta Class party . They had neither decent gear nor skills . Surprisingly, all six members were still alive . As a Beta Class party, it was certainly a miracle that all of their members had survived with the entrance to Stage Two right around the corner .

OQuinn, the leader of Arachne, was smart enough to know that his party was not competent enough to finish Stage One on their own merit .

Then, I can literally follow in the footsteps of a good party?

When a party clears traps and monsters, just follow quietly behind them . This was their strategy . People would say that it was sly, unfair, and sneaky, but OQuinn thought that it was foolish to go head to head when he could go around .

The downside to this strategy was that if the leading party found out, the whole competition would be over for OQuinns party . Not only that, dire consequences would swiftly follow after the tournament .

Therefore, they tried to select a party that would be magnanimous about this matter even if they were caught: Desirs party .

They wouldnt harm us, even after finding out that we were chasing right behind them .

OQuinn smirked .

They even took our ace, Freechel, away from us . At the very least, they should let us follow them .

The Arachne party members responded with somewhat vacant gazes .

S Sure .

We were so nice to Freechel .

OQuinn shrugged his shoulders .

Youre right . She was the one who couldnt take our prank . It was just a little prank, and it was so awkward that she just ran out like that .

He then glared at the members who hadnt said anything yet .

Somebody has to be a toy for the Alphas, right, Aljay?

Aljay looked away . Her eyes wandered around the area . She responded emotionlessly,

Right .

OQuinn had a close relationship with Alpha Class parties and was subcontracted with them as a result . The party members had to be careful with OQuinn . Otherwise, they could be made the new target .

The Arachne party walked down the hallway of Stage One . Originally, traps and monsters would have blocked them . No, there were actually some traps set up there, but they were already all dismantled and destroyed . They continued to walk through patches of dead monsters and destroyed traps . It was a non-stop collage of post-battle scenes .

There was a path leading down stairs just behind the piles of gargoyle rubble . The Arachne party went down the stairs .

[Arachne party has entered Stage Two . ]

Great!

They were probably the top rank amongst the Beta Class parties now . Even though they didnt fight against a single monster or dismantle a single trap, by entering Stage Two they had gained so much credit already .

This is so easy . We can probably enter Stage Three if we continue moving forward like this .

OQuinn announced to his party members,

Alright, time to look for Desirs tracks again .

On it .

There were so many tracks on the ground . The debris from the battlefield was incomparable to the ones in Stage One .

This way .

The Arachne party continued following the tracks that lead from battle to battle . After about 10 minutes, they suddenly came to a stop .

*Thud*

A heavy noise could be heard, swiftly followed by a large vibration .

What is that?

*Thud* *Thud*

And it wasnt a one time event . The noise became louder and louder . Soon, a red dot appeared in the dark .

*Shring*

One of the magicians cast light magic and illuminated the surroundings . From one of many paths in front of them, there was something walking towards them . It had a huge body and it made the ground shake as it stepped forward with its gigantic feet, one step at a time . The magician who cast the light magic noticed what it was and screamed .

A golem!?

Golems were mythical figures that guard dungeons . They were one of the highest leveled monsters that dungeon invaders, like themselves, could face . It was nearly impossible for them to defeat this monster . Even if they did, they would sustain so much damage from the battle that they wouldnt be able to carry on .

Is it just strolling around?

Unlike the monsters in Stage One, golems in Stage Two steadily roamed in search of invaders .

While the Arachne party tried to collect themselves, the golem had approached them . A red light scanned them once .

*Shwing*

The golem recognized the figures in-front of it as invaders . The massive body of rock was already so close to them .

OQuinn ordered his party .

Back off!

It was suicidal for them to try and defeat a golem . They needed magic of at least the Third-Circle or a Knight-Level swordsman in order to break the outer layer and damage the inside of its body .

The highest power in their party was Second-Circle . Retreating was the right decision .

The Arachne party started to run away from the golem, but the golem chasing them was surprisingly fast .

Way too fast .

It seemed like it would catch up to them in just a moment . OQuinn had to make a decision .

Aljay, sorry .

OQuinn cast magic . He turned around and cast [Seize] magic at Aljay .

*Crush*

Aljays feet were caught and stuck to the ground . Due to her momentum and the abrupt stop, she immediately fell down to her knees . OQuinn shouted at her .

You need to be the bait for us .

!

Aljay looked up at OQuinn and the other members, but nobody came to help her . They continued escaping .

We can find the tracks later . We just need to get rid of this thing first .

Because Stage Two had a more complicated map somewhat reminiscent of spider webs, in comparison to Stage One, OQuinn believed that he could remove this tail .

Next time, I should chase Desirs party much closer .

Unfortunately, he couldnt change the past to make this happen . OQuinns party suddenly stopped in their tracks . OQuinns could see a red light glowing in the dark in front of them . It was another golem .

Well turn around and take the side path that we just passed!

*Thump*

It was a heavy sound from behind them . The first golem had caught up .

Wait, its here already? Aljay, you useless piece of shit .

Two golems, on either side of the party, slowly closed in on them blocking any path out of this predicament . They were completely trapped .

Were done .

All of the members heard what OQuinn muttered and gave up on escaping their fate .

Well, we made it to Stage Two . We did pretty well .

Arachne party, we surrender .

As the party leader claimed their surrender, all party members bodies faded as they were transported to the place where they first started the competition . At least, that was what was meant to happen . It didnt happen this time though .

Why arent we being transported?

Nothing had happened to their bodies . In a moment, the golem in the back swung its gigantic arm .

*Crush*

Arrrrrrrr!!!

An ear piercing scream resounded .

It was the party member in the rear . His armor and shield were crushed and a terrible amount of blood squirted out through the holes that had appeared in it . It was a serious injury . His bones were smashed into pieces and his body was thrown to the ground .

[Anin Pailmint failed . ]

There was an announcement about the party member failing the mission, but the body that was supposed to fade and disappear was still there . In a short moment, the rest of the party realized what had just happened . Rather, what hadnt happened .

Hes dead for real!?

The golems surrounding them came much closer .

Their faces were plastered with misery at their inevitable fate .