Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

This cry, which could not be mistaken, announced that hundreds of bats had been "mass-produced" in the underground city.

(The true nature of the "strange feeling" is that there wasn't a single "evil bat" along the way.)

I've finally found the answer.

The bats that you can usually find in almost every dark spot in the "Cave Labyrinth" are nowhere to be found today!

(Oh no!!)

The strange feeling was finally resolved, but it took a long time to awaken a sense of crisis.

At the same time, all the visible rock walls from all directions emitted cracking sounds.

This is the moment the monster bursts through the rock wall and is born.

Not only the "walls," but even the "ceiling" produced an astonishing number of "evil bats"—resulting in the 15th floor collapsing as if it had lost all support.

“Eh!?”

"Ugh, ugh ...

The ceiling above us, riddled with holes from the hordes of bats, also collapsed.

This triggered a massive, widespread landslide!

“──!!”

I roared, unleashing all the nerves of a first-level adventurer and all the abilities of a level 5.

I first pushed away the stunned Rachel and Iglin, then reached out and hugged Nina and Chris respectively, and jumped out of the area affected by the landslide with all my might.

The entire "cave labyrinth" began to shake violently, producing a series of booming sounds no less deafening than a thunderclap, and the underground city emitted a terrifying roar.

"Goddess Hestia—!!"

It was inexplicably noisy in the central square.

Hestia, who was working at a potato ball stall, heard the commotion and soon saw Lily running over in a panic.

"A collapse has occurred in the 'middle level' of the underground city! Because the area is so vast, we've heard that students in some 'school districts' have been affected...!"

"COLLAPSE!?"

Hestia, forgetting she was still at work, gasped in surprise. Lily continued, her voice trembling:

"The Ganesha Familia, the Loki Familia, and the School District have all sent people to clear the roads as quickly as possible... but the situation is not optimistic."

"Where's Bell?! Where is he right now?!"

As if her ominous premonition had been confirmed, the faces of the people before her twisted in horror.

"Lord Ryu has just confirmed with the guild... Lord Bell's 'Third Squad' is currently conducting special (dungeon) training on the 15th floor..."

Hestia abruptly turned her head to look at the skyscraper that soared into the sky and the underground city that lay beneath it.

The number of "favors" has not decreased, indicating that Bell has not encountered any misfortune.

But Hestia's pupils trembled slightly, and she couldn't help but mutter to herself.

"How did you end up on the 15th floor again, Bell...!"

A strong sense of déjà vu arose spontaneously.

"No! This passage is blocked too!"

Iglin, gripping the sledgehammer with one hand, anxiously reminded him.

The road was buried under a large amount of earth and rocks. Faced with an emergency situation that even the dwarves known as the "People of the Earth" were helpless against, Nina, Rachel, and Chris were all terrified.

The group is currently on the 15th floor of the dungeon.

The "Third Squad," who miraculously survived the deadly barrage of falling rocks, came out unscathed, but at the cost of facing further hardships.

The roads back to the surface were completely blocked due to a massive landslide.

(This path is also impassable...)

Holding the red-blooded quill pen made by the "All-Powerful One (Miss Asphie)" that I bought with my own money, I marked an "X" on the "Middle Floor" floor map sold by the guild.

The regular routes for us—or rather, all the students in the "school district"—to travel to and from the various floors of the underground city were all buried under earth and rocks. All the small paths that extended out like capillaries were also blocked, and all passages from the 15th floor back to the 14th floor were cut off.

In some areas, the terrain has been completely altered by landslides, and it would be dangerous to linger there and wait to see what happens.

(The route back to the surface probably no longer exists...)

That's the case, at least for now.

Aside from surface adventurers using specialized equipment to clear the path, there's probably no other way to escape the dungeon. Even if I, a first-level adventurer, were to unleash my full magical power to destroy the earth and rocks, it's easy to imagine that the resulting impact would trigger a second collapse, making the situation even worse.

Having the strength but lacking the professional knowledge, I really have no way to overcome the current difficulties.

Unless there happens to be a teacher from the "school district" on the 15th floor, we are very lucky to meet them.

But relying on "luck" as a solution is a very poor approach.

(It would be very worrying if there were other people trapped besides us, and I would like to go and rescue them if possible... but I really can't drag the exhausted Nina and the others around in this situation.)

Doing so would only cause the "Third Squad" to run out of energy first.

If we want to search for and rescue the victims whose whereabouts are unknown, we must at least get Nina and the others to a "safe area" before we can consider it.

"Rabbi, isn't there any other way to go!?"

"...There is another small path to the southwest, but if this one is blocked, I think the other one is also impassable. Moving will consume stamina, so I don't recommend going there to check..."

“No way…”

Even if the answer would plunge Nina and the others into despair, I still answered Eglin's question truthfully.

I decided to share my current situation with them without reservation.

That means we have no way out, we are surrounded by enemies, and we are isolated and helpless.

(It's really frustrating... but I also feel very sorry.)

If I had noticed the strange behavior of the "evil bat" earlier—

By recognizing the signs of "abnormal situations" in advance, Nina and the others can be prevented from encountering danger.

I definitely still need to improve.

If it were Miss Ais, Miss Ryu, Mr. Finn, or my master, they would definitely have noticed something was wrong beforehand and had the team retreat to a safe distance. This made me realize that even though Bell Craney had become a first-class adventurer, he was still an inexperienced "rookie."

To protect myself and my companions, I must be more cautious, more diligent, and more on edge.

As I imprinted regret and reflection deep in my heart, and lifted my head in a better mood—

While everyone remained silent due to the invisible pressure, Reggie spoke first:

"Squad Leader (Nina)... what should we do next?"

“Eh…?”

"We must...determine our course of action."

What are the team's next objectives?

Rachel spoke words that were so reasonable they were almost cruel, demanding an answer from the team leader.

Nina gasped and was momentarily speechless.

"...Thinking calmly, we only have two options. One is to stay on the main route and wait for rescue from the surface..."

"The next option is to pin our hopes on the other path the rabbi just mentioned. Personally, I'm inclined to wait for rescue! Let me clarify, I'm not worried about getting to that path only to find it impassable and then falling into despair, okay!"

Iglin and Chris each presented an option, and Chris frankly shared his thoughts.

Nina, her breath and lips trembling, turned to me.

"Rabi...how much water, food, and supplies do you have left...?"

"...If we divide the food equally, it probably won't last more than half a day. As for supplies, we still have three bottles of elixirs, three bottles of mental energy elixirs, and two bottles of high-grade elixirs left..."

I took all the supplies out of my backpack, laid them out on the ground, and displayed them to everyone.

The only spare weapons left were the two short swords that Rachel and Chris had prepared.

Iglin and the others also took out the props they had brought.

The immediate assessment of the remaining supplies was absolutely correct. Nina truly lived up to her reputation as a top student, performing admirably. However, this was tantamount to her personally sentencing herself to death.

Identifying possessions in this way is essentially quantifying lifespan.

Once you lose your composure, you'll be constantly manipulated by cold, hard numbers. I know this all too well.

On the other hand, the reason I think "the situation is not particularly critical" is probably because I have experienced a "deep" baptism.

I put aside the thought that I couldn't help with the current situation, put all the items back into my backpack, and turned to look at Nina.

She was sweating profusely and breathing rapidly, undoubtedly under immense pressure.

Under the watchful eyes of their companions, they must make a crucial decision that will determine the lives of everyone involved.

Although I seem a little unnerved, her appearance at that moment reminded me of myself six months ago.

(Lily probably felt the same way back then...)

My companion (Wilf) was seriously injured, while I was in a state of confusion, moving around blindly, with beads of sweat constantly streaming down my forehead.

Despite being in a near-desperate situation, the weakest supporter was calmer than anyone else.

But Lily isn't here right now.

Since that's the case, this time I, who was once helped by Lily, will be the one to save Nina and the others.

Let's calm down for now.

I'll borrow a phrase that Lily said back then.

After everyone seemed to wake from a dream and focused their attention on me, I first walked over to Nina's side.

"Nina, take a breath first."

“Eh…?”

"Take a deep breath, then slowly exhale. Inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale... adjust your breathing according to this rhythm."

After taking a deep, exaggerated breath, I smiled and, after a moment's thought, gently took Nina's little finger.

This was a small gesture that Miss Liu made for me in the "deep layer" back then.

Nina's hand trembled violently at first, but she quickly relaxed.

Nina, whose eyes met mine, quietly repeated her inhalation and exhalation several times until her breathing finally stabilized.

As I reached for Iglin's hand, he yelled, "I don't need it!" with a look of disbelief, and slapped my hand away. Meanwhile, Rachel hid her hands behind her back and whispered, "Skip."

"Me too!" Chris immediately stretched out his hands, and I grabbed his hands, which made me want to laugh.

Although the atmosphere was somewhat awkward, it was much better than before, and everyone seemed to have relaxed.

"Regarding the team's next course of action, in addition to the two options I just mentioned, I think there is a third option."

Upon hearing this, Nina and the others were all filled with surprise.

There are no signs of monsters nearby, so there's no need to worry about being attacked for the time being.

So I recalled what Lily had once said and calmly proposed a solution.

"It's probably unlikely that we can return to the upper levels now, so the third option is to do the opposite... and take refuge on the 18th level."

Nina and the others were so shocked that they were speechless for a moment.

"The 18th floor is a safe floor where no monsters appear, and there is also an inn town built by adventurers. Once you get there, you will be safe."

Naturally, the team members raised questions and refuted these claims.

"Lavi, wait a minute! This is the 15th floor! Even someone as powerful as me would struggle to clear three floors in one go!"

"There are 'vertical pits' here. There are many pits in the 'middle level'; just jump in and you can directly reach the next level."

"Floor owner... what should we do? Floor 17 is... the monster's... lair..."

"As long as the information the guild posted on the bulletin board today is correct... there should still be two days left before the production interval."

"Lavi, do you have a map of the floors below...?"

"Yes, I have prepared maps for all floors above the 18th floor in advance."