I Realized It Was an Academy Game After 10 Years

“Doesn’t it look really peaceful like this?”

Karina suddenly blurted out as she admired the scenery outside the window after entering the camp. Renny nodded in agreement beside her.

Or maybe not? It could just be that Renny, being the type of person who would mindlessly nod along even if Karina suddenly converted to another religion, was just thoughtlessly agreeing. You might call it a preconceived notion, but that’s how I’ve seen Renny until now.

Well, in any case, it wasn’t exactly wrong.

Except for the zombies banging on the walls trying to get out of that dungeon over there, most of the dangers in this forest have been eliminated.

There were no more dumb bears the size of elephants or tricky snake bastards rolling around with just their heads. There might be a few somewhere, but they wouldn’t be rampaging like before. So, I thought that we could pretty much call ourselves the rulers of this island.

Not that it means much, though.

After all, we’re struggling to escape this island ourselves.

If we succeed in escaping this island, it will become a bunny island.

Right? If we’re gone, the natural enemies that used to hunt bunnies will have completely vanished. Who knows, in about ten years, a deserted island could be welcoming us back as a barren, empty place.

“Johann? Didn’t you hear what I said?”

“…Ah, I was just lost in thought for a moment.”

“Oh, really… What are we going to do now? Are we going into the dungeon right away?”

At Renny’s question, I leaned against the wall and looked outside. On one side, I saw the forest where birds were chirping, and on the other side, the blue sea with the sound of waves.

I took a moment to gaze at the scenery, choosing my words, then finally spoke.

“We’re going to explore. Today’s goal is to gather information about the dungeon by wandering around its entrance.”

“What if you can’t find anything?”

“If the time runs out, we’ll just come back out to rest. I don’t think we can rest inside the dungeon.”

It didn’t seem likely that there would be a safe zone like in games, so I figured it was a simple plan to come back here after getting a rough estimate.

Carefully and definitively.

That was the motto for this dungeon exploration.

“Simple is good.”

“Complicated plans are just a gamble.”

The more complicated the plan, the lower the probability of success. It was far more advantageous for survival to keep plans as simple as possible and have backup plans ready.

We weren’t special forces trained in hellish training, just unfortunate castaways who ended up on a deserted island.

…Though I guess one of us is a bit too strong for the ‘unfortunate’ label.

“I’ll leave non-essential luggage here and head straight to the dungeon.”

“Johann, can we rest a little first? I’m a bit tired after using magic…”

Ah, if our precious healer wants to rest, then she should. I nodded and immediately plopped down on the floor, leaning against my bag.

The two of them stared at me in surprise at my swift transition, but I didn’t care at all. It’s important to rest when you need to. Still, feeling a bit awkward under their gaze, I pulled out some dried rabbit meat from my bag, cut it into thirds, stuck one piece in my mouth, and offered the other two to them.

With hesitant faces, they bit into the dried rabbit meat, which was more of an island survival snack.

———————–

“It’s quiet.”

Thanks to Karina casting another purification spell in front of the newly made door, the dungeon entrance was emptier than an abandoned house. The only thing welcoming us was the ashes of the undead.

I carefully examined the ashes piled on the floor like the sand on the beach.

I poked at the ashes with my finger and, of course, didn’t bother tasting it. It didn’t seem to smell at all.

Considering that the zombies and skeletons reeking of a stench had been ground into powder, it was indeed strange that there wasn’t any smell. Looking at how my skin wasn’t having any issues, it didn’t seem poisoned either. I took out a small pouch and filled it with the undying ashes.

A good amount like this should suffice to figure out what these ashes are for.

I hung the pouch on my waist and got up.

“Now I’m going in.”

“Okay!”

“Karina, don’t stray too far from me.”

As expected, the guard knight was thorough about protecting the saint.

Then I guess I don’t have to worry, right?

Holding out the lamp that cast a soft light around us, I stepped forward.

The start of this dungeon was a downward slope. True to its name, it gradually led underground. Although it was a completely dark space, surprisingly, it wasn’t too dark thanks to a magical or jewel-like light source embedded in the ceiling. But still, that alone didn’t provide full visibility.

Should I make a bunch of torches and stick them in the dungeon?

They could be used as markers for indicating how far we’ve explored, too.

That seemed like a decent idea, so I made a note of it.

“It’s too quiet, isn’t it?”

“It’s all swept away by the purification magic.”

“Feels a bit anticlimactic…”

When I turned to look at Renny, she was staring somewhat deflated ahead. For someone looking so lackluster, she was still thoroughly being on guard around Karina, just like a good knight.

We continued further inside. Contrary to its appearance, the dungeon seemed longer than expected. After walking for about an hour, we finally stopped and looked at each other.

“Isn’t it strange?”

The first to speak was Renny. With her animal-like intuition, she seemed to catch something off, her face showing suspicion as she glared into the dark passage.

“What’s strange?”

“It’s way too long. This dungeon didn’t feel this long just by looking at the entrance.”

“I agree.”

Let’s say we dismiss the fact that the undead were all wiped out by purification magic. However, it was odd that the same path continued endlessly like this. I knew from wandering all around this island that even if I walked from one extreme to the other, it would take no more than two hours tops. And the dungeon is located at the northern part of the island.

If you can step on the sandy beach just walking for around ten minutes from the dungeon entrance, then how can the northern path lead straight for an hour?

Then are we exploring a cave under the sea right now?

…Oh, I don’t know. This is when you gotta use the Karina lifeline. I immediately threw a question at Karina.

“Karina, do you feel anything strange?”

“Um… No, not really. I’m not sure…”

Seeing Karina shake her head as she answered, it seemed she really didn’t feel anything.

That’s troubling.

Well, I guess we have to try whatever we can.

“We’ll go back the way we came.”

“Seems like that’s the only option.”

Renny seemed to think the same thing as me. We immediately turned around to retrace our steps. Only our regular footsteps echoed in the quiet dungeon.

How long had we walked? We stopped simultaneously and stared at each other.

“…It feels like we’re trapped?”

“What will happen to us then?”

“If we can’t get out, we’ll starve to death.”

We could probably last about a week, but what a nightmare of a challenge right from the start. I didn’t see this coming.

We huddled together, putting our heads together to prepare for any possible situations.

Combined, our IQ should exceed 300, so we can come up with a good idea, right?

…Or not.

“How about we walk in opposite directions?”

“If we can’t reunite, we’re doomed.”

“How about I cast purification magic again? If this is due to black magic—”

“Will you be able to withstand it after casting?”

“…I don’t think so. I’m sorry…”

“It’s alright. Don’t blame yourself too much.”

I noticed that she looked noticeably exhausted after casting it once. No matter how saintly she is, continuously using that level of magic would be a huge burden, so it would be better to save it as a last resort. I can’t risk wasting our only human resource for healing on an uncertain possibility.

With no solid plan in sight, we decided to sit down on the floor for a short rest.

“Starting off with such obstacles.”

“There must be a way out.”

It was a baseless hope, but it was still better than having none. As I chewed on some jerky while staring at the ground, I noticed the shovel was stuck deep into the floor… a shovel?

Can I use it?

Could it work?

It’s worth a shot, right?

I gripped the shovel tighter and plunged the blade into the pitch-black wall. Thankfully, the blade stuck into the wall. It didn’t seem like it was an indestructible object like in a game. It was a bit stiff, but the wall was gradually being chipped away.

One time, two times, three times.

As I kept digging, the inside of the wall started caving in deeper. Renny quickly caught on and passed the lamp to shine where I was digging. The nameless material of the wall began to reveal its contents as I dug deeper.

Black soil. A stench like a corpse rotting emanated from the earth.

“What’s that smell?”

“I don’t know how, but this is…”

Just as I was about to voice my guess, I heard the sound of the wall shaking, and the shovel lodged in the wall was suddenly pushed back. And in the place where the shovel was, a head broke through the soil. A woman with red hair and red eyes.

The red-eyed woman rolled her eyes around and locked onto mine.

She looked at me with an expression of displeasure.

Before I could even question that look, the head shouted.

“Hey, that’s cheating!”

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