Just then, a voice suddenly sounded beside his ear, its tone faintly languid:
"Hmm... I can faintly hear some... noise coming from the direction of the middle levels."
Greg stiffened and whipped his head around. Nightmare had somehow appeared on the rock beside him, sitting on her haunches. Her eerie green eyes gazed toward the entrance to the middle levels, her cat ears swiveling slightly as though picking up signals ordinary people could not perceive.
So this was where she had gone when she disappeared earlier.
"You scared me!"
Greg lowered his voice and gave her an irritated glare, then registered what she had said:
"Noise? What kind of noise? A powerful monster roaring, or the sounds of a chaotic battle?"
If a powerful lord-class monster in the deep levels had suddenly gone berserk, leaking its aura or attacking indiscriminately, it could indeed have frightened the monsters in the middle or even shallow levels into fleeing, causing this unusual gathering.
But monsters did not usually stay berserk for very long.
Yet these goblins seemed to have been here for more than a day or two, which did not quite fit that explanation.
Nightmare gently shook her black feline head:
"No, it is not the sound of monsters or battle. It is something... duller, more regular, with an unsettling sense of something foreign. A noise that this Dungeon itself... should never have had."
"A noise that doesn't belong in the Dungeon..." Greg repeated, his mind racing.
He immediately thought of the three upperclassmen he had encountered earlier.
Not long after they entered the Dungeon, these goblins had abnormally fled up from the lower levels.
The timing was far too coincidental.
Now it seemed that this anomaly almost certainly had something to do with those three.
"So what exactly did they do?"
Greg stared at the milling goblins, his gaze sharpening.
Anything that could produce a noise disturbing enough to force the local monsters to change their territory was certainly no minor undertaking.
Those three definitely had not come merely to explore the Dungeon.
Nightmare seemed to sense his turbulent thoughts. She glanced at him with her eerie green eyes and flicked the tip of her tail. Without another word, her form slowly faded and merged into his shadow.
Greg did not stop her.
He needed to think through the situation alone.
The goblins blocked the main route to the middle levels, which meant he would have to fight a fierce battle just to enter that area.
That meant he could not head into the middle levels alone to investigate first. He would need someone to help before he could venture deeper.
"If I wait any longer, it'll be time for the event at the end of chapter one. By then, not only will Victoria still be hospitalized with her injury, but Sylvia will have gone missing too... Looks like the two of us will just have to grit our teeth and clear the first level now."
Having made up his mind, Greg quietly left and headed toward the Dungeon's exit.
That night, at the Academy's affiliated hospital.
Soft magical lamps lit the ward, keeping the darkness outside the windows at bay.
Sylvia sat in a chair beside Victoria's bed, speaking softly.
"Since the class assignments were announced, Class A has started regular lessons over the past few days."
Sylvia carefully watched her friend's expression, keeping her tone as calm as possible:
"The coursework really is intense. The instructors have very high expectations for both theory and practical combat. Princess Lilith... well, she's very active in class. She's asked lots of questions, and some even stumped the instructors."
She paused, then added, "Oh, Professor Grace Quinn, who oversaw the placement assessment at the training grounds, is our homeroom teacher for Class A. She formally introduced herself today, and she also said..."
Indeed, even though Victoria had lost, her excellent performance before that had still earned her a place in Class A.
This outcome was completely different from the original story, yet carried a similar irony.
In the original story, Lilith had lost to Victoria, but the astonishing talent and potential she displayed still earned her special admission to Class A, opening up her subsequent romance route.
Now, the situation had been completely reversed.
Victoria was the one who had lost.
Victoria sat propped against the headboard, listening quietly.
The bandages on her right shoulder stood out under the light.
She did not look at Sylvia, her gaze resting on her hands folded over the blanket.
When Sylvia finished, she waited a few seconds but received no response.
She felt a little uneasy.
For the past two days, Victoria had mostly been like this: silent and unable to muster enthusiasm for anything, offering at most a quiet "Mm" to acknowledge that she had heard.
Sylvia had thought today would be the same.
And yet-
"Is that so?"
Victoria suddenly spoke, her voice quiet but clear.
She raised her head, her gray eyes meeting Sylvia's. The gloomy emptiness of the previous two days was gone, replaced by a familiar light rekindled within them.
"Sounds like Lilith already takes it for granted that she's the strongest of the new students."
Sylvia froze for a moment.
"Once I'm discharged."
Victoria continued, her tone steady but carrying an unquestionable resolve, "I'll find a chance to formally challenge her again."
Sylvia's pink eyes widened as she stared at Victoria.
The renewed vitality on her friend's face, the fighting spirit dancing in her eyes, and the unmistakable signs that she had already overcome her defeat... left Sylvia momentarily unable to react.
Then an overwhelming surge of joy and relief welled up in her heart, sweeping away all her surprise.
Thank goodness! Victoria really was herself again!
She was no longer like before, when seeing her left Sylvia heartbroken and helpless!
"Th-that's wonderful, Victoria!"
Forgetting all about composure and restraint, Sylvia sprang from her chair and threw herself forward, hugging her friend tightly on the bed. Her voice trembled slightly with excitement:
"You've finally... finally moved past what happened! I knew you'd get back on your feet!"
The two beautiful girls embraced beneath the ward's warm yellow light. Victoria felt a little awkward being hugged so tightly, but the warmth of her friend's embrace and her undisguised, pure delight brought a warmth to her own heart, along with a faint twinge of guilt.
"I'm sorry."
She raised her uninjured left hand and gently patted Sylvia's back, her voice softening. "I've kept you worried for so long."
Sylvia let go and wiped away the tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes without her noticing, smiling through them:
"Hehe, as long as you're all right! I knew you'd be able to work through it on your own!"
At those words, a faint, almost imperceptible flicker of embarrassment crossed Victoria's face.
She looked away, her fingers absently twirling a lock of gray hair that hung over her shoulder.
"Actually... I didn't get back on my feet entirely on my own."
Before you continue