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Chapter 46




【46】45
“No one’s here. It’s just the two of us.”
“Let’s analyze the situation. Normally, we should have received the quest alarm as part of the rescue team with the other team members. But...”
Chloe looked at the Hero World alarm visible only to her.
[Objective: -]
The blank space for the objective.
The same was true for Leo.
“This is an abnormal situation.”
“Yeah.”
After hearing Chloe’s explanation of the situation, Leo, without hesitation, placed his index finger on his right temple.
The Hero World, composed of Hero Records, could communicate with the outside world at any time.
“Communicate with the outside? Then we’ll be penalized.”
“Now is not the time to worry about that.”
As he focused, a blue light flowed from his index finger.
“This is Leo Frob. I can’t see the other team members. What should I do?”
Despite his question, there was no response.
“...No one is answering?”
“What? That can’t be!”
Surprised, Chloe urgently tried to contact the outside world but failed.
“This is unbelievable... This isn’t even a Hero Dungeon...!”
Leo asked the flustered Chloe.
“Chloe, didn’t you notice anything strange when we entered?”
“Strange? What do you mean?”
“Was the entry message strange?”
“No, it was exactly the same as what we learned.”
Shaking her head, Chloe put her hand on her head.
“Sigh! What’s going on here?”
“We can’t just stay like this.”
Chloe, who had been tapping her foot, suddenly stopped.
“You can’t be serious. You’re not suggesting we try to clear the Hero World, are you?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s impossible. The Hero World is hard to clear even with a team of ten! We won’t be able to meet the clearing conditions!”
“Staying here doing nothing is even more dangerous, don’t you think?”
Thirty years ago, Tartarus caused the Chedmurders incident to eliminate future threats.
The entire forest is now a trap set by Tartarus.
There’s no telling when or where danger might strike.
“Then we shouldn’t try to clear it at all! The exam will be suspended soon anyway.”
“If it could be suspended, it would have been already. The situation is strange enough that the Hero World should have been deactivated, yet we’re still in it. Clearly, the outside world can’t control the Hero World.”
“Don’t tell me...”
“Yeah. The only explanation is that this world has become a Hero Dungeon.”
Hero Dungeon.
The Hero Record page going berserk.
“I’ve never heard of a Hero Record page turning into a Hero Dungeon instead of disappearing.”
“But what other explanation is there besides a Hero Dungeon?”
Chloe’s face hardened.
“You know the only way to deactivate a Hero Dungeon, right?”
That method is to clear it.
Leo’s hypothesis was highly plausible.
Yet, Chloe hesitated.
No matter how excellent a student she was, Chloe was still a 15-year-old girl.
She lacked the experience to make calm judgments and take action.
“You and I are the best in the first year, right? If we plan well, we can definitely clear it.”
Seeing Leo smile, Chloe clenched her fists.
‘I thought I had caught up with him.’
She thought she had caught up with Leo through this midterm exam.
But when she came to her senses, Leo was once again far ahead.
‘And Leo even came up with a plan. I was in a panic and couldn’t think of anything...’
Chloe bit her lip and asked.
‘What is this difference...’
“What’s the plan?”
“It’s true that we’re currently underpowered and can’t meet the clearing conditions.”
The clearing conditions for the Chedmurders incident are two:
[Rescue the first-year students in danger] and [Ensure the safety of the first-year students]
Chloe said it was impossible to clear because of these conditions.
While the [Rescue the first-year students in danger] condition can be met somehow, the [Ensure the safety of the first-year students] condition can’t be met by just the two of them.
“So, we need to strengthen our party first.”
“Strengthen our party? If this is a Hero Dungeon, we can’t enter or exit from the outside. How do you plan to strengthen our party?”
“We’re not the only ones in this forest, right?”
Hearing Leo’s words, Chloe realized something.
“You mean to team up with the seniors from thirty years ago?”
“Yeah. If we escape the forest, we can meet the safety condition.”
“That’s true. But the forest is full of demons. It’s hard enough for us to handle, let alone fighting while trying to meet up with the seniors.”
Chloe was right.
For Leo’s plan to succeed, they needed to break through Tartarus’s encirclement.
“Fighting is definitely risky, especially against demons. So, we’ll avoid fighting as much as possible.”
“Is that possible?”
“It is. Just trust me.”
Leo smiled, turned his back to Chloe, and knelt down.
“Huh?”
“Get on my back.”
“What?! W-What are you talking about all of a sudden?!”
“You’re a mage, so your mobility is low. I can run faster if I carry you. Besides, mages need to conserve their stamina in situations like this.”
Magic is a one-shot card that can turn the tide of battle.
“Ah, even so, get on your back? Then I’ll touch... touch!”
“I don’t know what you mean, but we don’t have time to waste. Hurry up.”
“...”
With a beet-red face, Chloe hesitantly climbed onto Leo’s back.
“Don’t grab my shoulders; wrap your arms around my neck. Otherwise, you’ll fall off.”
Chloe wrapped her arms around Leo’s neck.
“Let’s go.”
Whoosh!
Leo leaped forward at an incredible speed, activating his Aura Step.
Holding onto Leo tightly from behind, Chloe thought.
‘This means I’m ultimately relying on Leo.’
She felt disheartened, thinking she couldn’t help Leo, whom she considered a rival.
Whoosh!
Meanwhile, Leo focused his mind.
Even with enhanced mobility, breaking through Tartarus’s encirclement without fighting was difficult.
But Leo had one means to make it possible.
Leo’s body began to glow with aura.
Veins bulged on his temples and all over his body.
The fine hairs on his body stood on end, and his senses sharpened several times over.
Thump! Thump!
The sound of his heartbeat grew several times louder.
‘Hyper-senses.’
A technique of the Great Hero Aron, which uses aura to enhance all the body’s sensory organs to the limit.
Of course, compared to the original, it was crude.
‘His hyper-senses weren’t just about sharpening senses; they could predict the future as well.’
But it was a sufficient technique to navigate this situation.
Whoosh!
Leo began to sprint through the forest at an incredible speed, stepping on tree branches.
***
A giant man with a body nearly 3 meters tall stood in the middle of the forest.
Chubarn, a demon dispatched by Tartarus to deal with the hero candidates, was staring at several floating screens.
The screens showed the first-year students of Lumern scattered throughout the forest, monitored by Tartarus’s surveillance network.
As he searched for his targets, one screen caught his attention.
“Is the rescue team already here?”
Chubarn soon lost interest in the two people.
He had been told to eliminate any interference but not to actively seek them out.
His goal was one.
‘To eliminate the hero candidates who will become future threats.’
Just as he was about to move to carry out his orders, Leo, who had encountered a monster, was about to start a battle.
Leo and Chloe were merely obstacles.
The original targets wouldn’t change.
But Chubarn’s gaze was fixed on Leo and Chloe.
More specifically, on Leo, who was using aura, magic, and summoning spirits.
Chubarn’s eyes burned with clear hostility and hatred.
Chubarn, glaring at Leo, spat out.
“Kail!”
***
“Orcs ahead.”
“Got it.”
Even if they tried to avoid fighting, there were times when they couldn’t.
This was one of those times.
Chloe quickly cast a spell, completing it in an instant.
Three ice spears flew in a straight line in the direction Leo pointed.
Crack!
“Gaaaaah!”
The orcs pierced by the ice spears screamed.
Five orcs were killed.
But five orcs remained.
Roar!
The orcs swung their crude weapons in anger.
The orc at the back pulled out a horn from his waist.
Chloe knew what it meant.
‘I have to stop it! If I don’t, the orcs will swarm us!’
She hurriedly cast a spell.
But Leo was a step faster.
He released his right hand from supporting Chloe’s thigh and drew his sword.
Swish!
He gripped the sword in reverse and threw it.
Whoosh! Thud!
“Huh?”
The orc’s neck and the horn were pierced.
The orc died instantly. Leo approached the orc, grabbed the sword hilt, and said,
“Sorry, you might get splattered.”
Splat!
He roughly pulled the sword out and swung it backward.
Thud! Slice! Crunch!
Leo’s sword traced a terrifying path.
The orcs stood frozen where the sword had swept past.
Leo leaped over them.
Splat!
The orcs fell, bleeding.
‘Fast.’
It had been two hours since they entered the Hero