There Are Adventurers This Brave?

"Get ready!"

The captain gave everyone a reassuring smile and raised his shield, aiming for a weak point in the ring of monsters.

"Charge!"

"Follow the captain!"

Led by their captain, the group struggled to break through the weak point in the encirclement. Monsters swarmed all around them, attacking from every direction with claws and fangs and leaving bloody wounds across their bodies.

"Huff... huff... huff..."

The burly man holding up his shield panted heavily. He struggled forward a few more steps, but monsters were still rushing toward them from every direction.

What on earth was going on?!

Confusion filled the bloodied man's face. There had never been this many monsters on the fifteenth floor before. Worse, he had spotted Goblins and Werewolves among the horde—monsters that had no business being in the middle levels of the Dungeon.

Everyone knew that monsters found only on the upper floors rarely made it past the seventh or eighth floor, even if they accidentally wandered into the lower levels. There was no way they could reach the fifteenth floor unless some terrifying being was hunting them, sending every monster fleeing for its life.

But how could that happen? This was the Dungeon!

The monsters' lair, a place hostile to adventurers. Even in Orario, only the strongest Kins could pull off something like this, and they would never bother with such a thankless task.

"C-Captain, can we still make it back alive?"

A young demi-human with a bow stared despairingly at the monsters converging around them. The horde, which had numbered fewer than a hundred at first, had now grown to at least five hundred.

"Allen, we'll make it back alive!"

The captain forcefully smacked away the three Ant-Men charging at him, then turned with a smile.

"Allen, aren't you getting married as soon as we get back? We're still expecting you to treat us to a meal!"

"Yeah!"

The young demi-human nodded. The thought that he'd finally earned enough for a house and fifty thousand Valis for the bride price filled him with the will to live!

He was going to marry Qiaobiluo!

They said all that, but in reality, they had already sustained plenty of injuries under the endless onslaught. A monster had even ripped a gaping hole in the captain's abdomen, exposing his innards.

Their potions were running out, and their strength and Magic Power were nearly depleted. Yet the monsters around them kept attacking as if they would never stop.

"Are we going to die here?"

The group looked despairingly at the monsters still flooding toward them. The young demi-human in particular was consumed by guilt. If it weren't for him, everyone else wouldn't have risked entering the middle levels and ended up being chased all the way here.

Suddenly, the monsters attacking them stopped. To their astonishment, every monster looked fearfully toward a passageway.

"Hahaha! Where are you going? Wait for me!"

A terrifying laugh echoed from the passage, followed by the heavy thud of approaching footsteps.

"Thud. Thud. Thud."

At the passage entrance, a black-haired, black-eyed youth appeared, a silver-white basin perched on his head. He wore a broad smile and looked down at the plaza with a bloodthirsty grin.

"Well, well. There you are, you little cuties!"

The youth greeted the monsters below as if he'd run into old friends. His carefree smile seemed bizarre in the circumstances.

"Let's play again!"

At the passage entrance, Lu Qiming smiled down at the densely packed monsters. Perhaps his killing intent had grown stronger with every kill. Ever since the thirteenth floor, most monsters had turned and fled as soon as they spotted him. Only the especially foolhardy ones stayed, forcing him to chase them all the way here.

The monsters blanketed the open space below, packed so tightly that they filled his entire field of vision.

"Huh?"

Lu Qiming noticed a few adventurers amid the horde, waving at him. They looked pretty happy.

"Hey! Hello!"

Seeing that, Lu Qiming cheerfully waved back. He hadn't expected to find adventurers like these! They were taking on this many monsters with just a few people. Maybe he shouldn't interrupt them?

Below, the adventurers watched Lu Qiming wave at them in delight. They couldn't believe he'd answered their desperate attempt to call for help.

"Thank goodness!"

"We can survive!"

The group stared excitedly at Lu Qiming, waiting for him to come down and save them. They secretly vowed that once he got them out, they'd give him whatever he wanted!

"Hey! Don't worry, I won't get in your way. I'll fight my way in from over here!"

At the passage entrance, Lu Qiming lowered his hand and called down to them. He was about to attack from the other side. With his strength, that group wouldn't be able to steal many of his monsters anyway.

"Wait, sir!"

When the burly captain realized Lu Qiming wasn't going to save them, he hurriedly stood up, clutching his injured abdomen, and laid out everything they'd collected so far in front of him.

"Please save us! These are what we've collected this time. If you don't think it's enough, we'll give you more once we're back in Orario!"

The others saw what their captain was doing and quickly placed all their Magic Stones and drops at the front as well.

The next second, Lu Qiming vanished from where he stood.

"Whoosh."

"So you were trapped here! You should've said so sooner!"

Lu Qiming appeared right in front of them, smiling warmly. His eyes, however, couldn't help straying toward the pile of goods.

Whoa!

It was only a little less than what he'd gotten yesterday, but the Magic Stones and drops were in a completely different league. This lot alone had to be worth at least two million Valis.

"Uh, your Magic Stones—no, your lives are safe with me!"

As he spoke, Lu Qiming took the Stainless Steel Basin off his head and poured all the Magic Stones and drops filling half of it onto the pile of spoils beside him.

"Take these out for me too, then hand them over to Eina at the Adventurer Guild."

Lu Qiming explained to the confused adventurers. He wasn't worried at all that they might run off with the goods. He could kill every last one of them before they even made it out of Orario!

"Yes, sir!"

Seeing this, the captain didn't dare ask any questions. He immediately told the few who still had strength to gather all the Magic Stones and drops.

"Here. Don't die before you make it out of the Dungeon."

Lu Qiming noticed that the captain's abdomen was still bleeding heavily, with his innards faintly visible and squirming inside. He tossed him a healing potion. He'd picked it up at Babel Tower that morning, on his way by. One bottle cost ten thousand Valis.