Recaps

Greg took Vivian into the Dungeon to help her grow stronger and clear the Second Floor, while hiding Lilith and a gray-haired girl’s unauthorized visit from her. After gathering supplies at his camp, he invited Nightmare along, and she eagerly joined him through his shadow.

• Greg reasoned that Vivian’s interest in his strength could help her improve in the Dungeon and ease tensions with Lilith, then persuaded her to go with him.
• Greg warned Vivian about the dangerous stone bridge, then concealed the identities of two students he had rescued from the Dungeon so she would not investigate Lilith and the gray-haired girl.
• Greg left Vivian waiting in a cavern and returned to his camp to collect supplies.
• Nightmare teased Greg about his supposed tryst, then eagerly slipped into his shadow when he said he was going to clear the Second Floor.

Greg and Vivian continued toward the First Floor lord’s room, while Vivian began to suspect that Greg was the mysterious person who had defeated the Eight-Legged Lady. Reflecting on his past behavior and his confession, she wondered if Greg was tsundere and had changed himself for her.

• Greg left the cavern and continued through the Dungeon with Vivian, while he and Nightmare traded teasing thoughts.
• Greg led Vivian through the First Floor with little trouble, since Victoria’s earlier rampage had cleared most of the elite Monsters from their route.
• Vivian was struck by Greg’s familiarity with the Dungeon and his recent strength, and suspected he had defeated the Eight-Legged Lady.
• Vivian remembered Greg saying he had always admired her and questioned whether his transformation had been for her sake.
• Vivian recalled learning what tsundere meant and began to believe Greg’s past cruelty, withdrawal, and silence had hidden his true feelings.

Greg led Vivian through the Second Floor’s ancient ruins and wondered why she trusted him so readily. When he asked what she wanted to know, Vivian only asked whether he hated her, then continued onward after he said he did not.

• Greg warned Vivian that monsters on the Second Floor were stronger and more dangerous than those on the First Floor.
• Greg guided Vivian through the ruins, while she followed quietly and asked no questions about his familiarity with the Dungeon or his plans.
• Greg asked Vivian whether she had any doubts or questions about their trip.
• Vivian asked Greg if he hated her, and he immediately told her that he did not.
• Vivian said she had no other questions and walked ahead, privately allowing a slight smile.

Vivian concluded that Greg had never hated her, but a Piercing Beetle ambushed her before she could ask more. Greg saved her and angrily scolded her, leaving Vivian realizing how deeply he worried about her.

• Vivian decided that Greg’s denial of hating her meant his distance and rejection had hidden reasons, easing her old hurt.
• A Piercing Beetle lunged at Vivian while she was distracted, and Greg pulled her clear with Shattered Shadow Step.
• Greg threw an Alchemy Potion into the beetle’s mouth and killed it with Water Gun.
• Greg grabbed Vivian’s shoulders and scolded her for losing focus in the Dungeon, stopping himself before mentioning Lilith.
• Vivian felt guilty and warmed by Greg’s obvious fear for her safety, realizing she mattered to him.

Greg and Vivian reached the Deep Layer and agreed to leave their earlier conflict behind as they approached the Second Floor lord boss’s lair. A horde of monsters surrounded them, and Greg prepared to fight alongside Vivian.

• Greg apologized to Vivian, and she said the blame had always been hers; he urged them both to focus on the present, and she agreed.
• Greg and Vivian entered the Deep Layer and spotted the ruined temple that marked their destination, the Second Floor lord boss’s lair.
• Greg checked the Alchemy Potions Chloe had prepared and decided to keep his Dark Attribute Magic hidden while letting Vivian lead the boss fight.
• Monsters discovered Greg and Vivian and rushed toward them from the surrounding rubble and rock walls.
• Three Rock-Armored Shield Beetles, several Shadow Hunter Spiders, and two Cave Trolls surrounded Greg and Vivian as Greg called for them to get ready to fight.

Greg and Vivian fought through a horde of dungeon monsters, gaining levels and improving their combat skills. Just as they believed the battle was over, a Level 40 Frost Giant Lizard burst through a frozen rock wall and attacked Vivian.

• Vivian used ice spells to control and wound the charging Rock-Armored Shield Beetles while Greg supported her with potions and attacks against the other monsters.
• Vivian broke through to Level 3 proficiency with [Ice Crystal Spike Formation] and rose from Level 34 to Level 38 as Greg advanced from Level 31 to Level 36 and improved his Fireball Spell to Level 3.
• Vivian and Greg defeated the remaining monsters, including the last Cave Troll, and exchanged remarks about their performance.
• A Level 40 Frost Giant Lizard smashed through the frozen wall and blasted Vivian with frost breath.

Greg and Vivian defeated the Frost Giant Lizard after Greg shielded her from its Frost Breath and weakened the monster with Void Erosion. With the Ancient Temple ahead, Vivian chose to stay by Greg’s side and continue through the Dungeon’s Second Floor.

• The Frost Giant Lizard attacked Vivian, and Greg took the Frost Breath head-on to protect her.
• Greg struck the lizard with a Greater Fireball, then used Void Erosion to weaken its defenses and disrupt its body.
• Vivian focused her ice spikes into a drill that pierced the lizard’s throat, and Greg received the kill and advanced to Level 37.
• Greg drank a Healing Potion and urged Vivian to continue toward the Ancient Temple despite his injuries.
• Vivian agreed to go with Greg, resolving that she would never leave him again.

Greg and Vivian entered the shattered temple after defeating the last Monster blocking their way. As they explored its dark corridor, Greg bantered with Nightmare about his unusual resilience and her hostility toward Seraphina.

• Greg and Vivian defeated the final Monster outside the temple, and Greg took in the structure's grotesque, oppressive appearance.
• Greg led Vivian through the temple's partially open stone doors and into a long, dark corridor.
• Nightmare questioned how Greg had survived a breath attack with only minor injuries, and Greg joked that his exceptional physique explained it.
• Nightmare accused Greg of teasing her like Seraphina, and Greg asked why she hated her sister.

Greg and Vivian reached the Prayer Hall and prepared to face the Dungeon’s forbidden presence. The Second Floor’s lord boss, the LV50 Throat of Longing, formed before them and roared.

• Nightmare said she could not clearly remember why she despised Seraphina and wondered if someone had affected her memories; Greg said some of his own memories had also gone wrong.
• Greg warned Vivian that the enemy beyond the stone door was unlike their usual opponents and promised to protect her, and Vivian affirmed her trust in him.
• Greg pushed open the stone door, revealing a vast chamber and a headless statue identified as the Broken Mother's Remnant.
• Dark-red flesh gathered and transformed into a towering monster with a living throat in place of its head.
• The monster roared, announcing the arrival of the Second Floor’s lord boss, the LV50 Throat of Longing.

Greg and Vivian coordinated their attacks to weaken the Throat of Longing, while Greg learned that the monster muttered fragments of Ancient Language. As it began charging its lethal Shattering Screech, Greg activated the Silent Covenant to silence the area.

• Greg directed Vivian through the Throat of Longing’s attacks and guided her ice spells toward a weakness he had exposed with corrosive acid.
• Greg used potions and spells to slow the monster and protect Vivian, while her ice magic wounded it and hindered its regeneration.
• Greg asked Nightmare to translate the monster’s Ancient Language mutterings, which repeated the words “shattering,” “authority,” “Mother Goddess,” and “dismemberment.”
• Vivian struck the core of the Throat of Longing’s throat with an Ice Crystal Spike Formation, driving it into the statue pedestal.
• The Throat of Longing began charging its Shattering Screech, and Greg activated the Silent Covenant to silence everything within fifty meters.

Greg and Vivian nearly defeated the Throat of Longing, but it swallowed a hidden stone slab and transformed into a far more powerful second form. It overwhelmed Greg’s defenses and swallowed him, leaving his fate unknown.

• Greg used Silent Covenant to silence the Throat of Longing, allowing Vivian to impale it with an ice spear.
• Greg struck the weakened monster with Void Erosion, but it erupted with dark-red energy, shattered the spear, and blasted Vivian into a wall.
• The Throat of Longing smashed the headless statue and swallowed the dark-red stone slab hidden inside its torso.
• The monster mutated into a more dangerous form and used its roar to appear directly in front of Greg.
• Greg’s Dark Erosion Armor shattered against the monster’s attack, and its fleshy petals swallowed him as Vivian cried out his name.

After the Throat of Longing swallowed Greg, he awoke trapped in a blood-red lake before the silent Red-Haired Girl. When she nodded at his guess that she was the Broken Mother, Greg realized Hachimi’s target was right in front of him and desperately called for rescue.

• Greg regained consciousness in a blood-colored lake and found himself unable to move or call on his Magic Power.
• Greg worried about Vivian and Nightmare, then tried repeatedly to get the Red-Haired Girl to answer him.
• Greg’s jokes and questions were met with waves that splashed him, convincing him that the Red-Haired Girl could hear him.
• Greg asked whether she was the Broken Mother, and the Red-Haired Girl nodded.
• Greg panicked and silently urged Hachimi to save him.

Greg encountered the Broken Mother in a blood-colored lake, where his magic had vanished and he could neither escape nor defend himself. He discovered she would communicate through nods and shakes, and ended the chapter cautiously chatting with her as the lake remained calm.

• Greg declared himself an enemy of Nightmare and pleaded with the Broken Mother to spare him and pull him from the lake.
• The Broken Mother refused to rescue Greg but also did not attack him, even when he admitted Nightmare had sent him.
• Greg guessed that the Broken Mother was lonely, and she nodded in response.
• Greg asked the Broken Mother questions about herself and the blood-colored space, but received no clear way to escape or leave the water.
• Greg grew more comfortable chatting with the Broken Mother, joking about her hair without provoking a reaction.

Greg promised to free the red-haired girl, an Outer God trapped in the blood-red lake, and she accepted his words by forcing him to eat a severed finger from the Broken Mother. Its power violently fused with Nightmare’s shadow magic, transforming Greg before he lost consciousness.

• Greg impulsively promised the red-haired girl he would free her someday, and she firmly nodded.
• The girl cut off a finger and sent it across the lake to Greg, then nodded when he guessed she wanted him to eat it.
• Greg tried to refuse, but a powerful wave submerged him and forced the severed finger down his throat.
• The Broken Mother’s power clashed with Nightmare’s shadow magic and forcibly fused with it, transforming Greg’s dark-attribute magic.
• The lake returned to stillness, and the girl softly called Greg an idiot.

Vivian attacked the Throat of Longing after it swallowed Greg, but the monster overwhelmed and badly injured her. Greg tore his way out alive in his newly upgraded Dark Abyss Demon Armor Level 3, leaving Vivian relieved and stunned by his strength.

• Vivian lost control when the Throat of Longing swallowed Greg and charged the monster with ice magic.
• The Throat of Longing shattered Vivian's ice attacks and struck her into a wall, leaving her seriously injured.
• As the monster moved to finish Vivian, Greg's black-armored arm burst through its fleshy throat.
• Greg tore open the Throat of Longing and emerged alive in Dark Abyss Demon Armor Level 3.
• Greg apologized to Vivian, who felt relief and lingering hurt as she realized how strong he had become.

After Greg emerged from the blood pool with greatly increased power, he and Vivian defeated the Throat of Longing. The second phase of Greg’s redemption was complete, and the third phase awaited unlock.

• Greg found that an invisible force prevented him from describing the blood-red space and the Red-Haired Girl to Nightmare.
• Greg told the injured Vivian to rest, then charged the Throat of Longing and knocked it into the Broken Mother’s statue, draining the vitality from one of its fleshy lobes.
• Greg burned the Throat of Longing with Level 3 World-Devouring Black Flame until its magic power was depleted and its Shattering Screech failed.
• Greg helped Vivian stand, and they joined hands to guide her ice sword into the Throat of Longing’s core, killing it.
• The system announced that the second phase of Greg’s redemption was complete and the third phase awaited unlock.

After defeating the Second Floor's lord boss, Greg reflected on his growing strength and imagined pursuing greater power and building a harem, while remaining wary of the risks surrounding him. Vivian asked him to rejoin the Student Council, but he declined so he could attend the Mentor Selection assessment and meet Professor Alice.

• Greg checked his status and felt confident that his increased magic and skills could eventually make him one of the world's powerful figures.
• Greg reminded himself to survive and stay cautious because of the Broken Mother's strange gift and the dangers ahead.
• Vivian approached Greg beneath a tree and asked him to rejoin the Student Council.
• Greg declined Vivian's offer because he planned to attend the Mentor Selection assessment and meet Professor Alice.

Greg clarified to Vivian that his earlier claim of admiring her was not sincere, while Vivian privately interpreted his denial as proof that he cared about her. The chapter ended with Greg confused by her calm response and Vivian quietly pleased.

• Vivian asked Greg whether his injuries had healed, and Greg credited Sylvia, Chloe, and Vivian for helping him recover.
• Vivian asked whether Greg was close to Sylvia and Chloe, prompting him to clarify that he had no special feelings for her.
• Vivian calmly accepted Greg's explanation, leaving him confused about her lack of reaction.
• Vivian privately concluded that Greg had denied his feelings to keep her from feeling indebted and thought of him as a tsundere idiot.
• The author explained how leveling, stat increases, and breakthroughs affected combat strength.

Greg went to the Training Ground to find Alice, the mentor assigned to a new student, while Alice waited for her mentee and worried that the student’s common birth would limit their prospects. The chapter ended as Greg approached her, unaware that Alice had begun to feel a chill and was thinking anxiously about her Founding Senior Disciple.

• Greg left Vivian and went to the Training Ground, where first-year students checked their mentor assignments.
• Greg spotted Alice, a petite professor in an oversized robe, and headed toward her.
• Alice shivered and wondered whether staying up late in the Seventh Laboratory had made her catch a chill.
• Alice reflected that she had been assigned a common-born student whose disadvantages made the Hundred-Academy Exchange Meeting seem unlikely.
• Alice thought of her Founding Senior Disciple with dislike and faint fear.

Alice remembered how Greg Sass had burdened her with his academic work and doubted rumors that he had been selected for the Hundred-Academy Exchange Meeting. Greg appeared and told her he had been chosen as a second-year representative, leaving Alice suspicious that he had used an improper method to secure the selection.

• Alice recalled how Greg had made her complete his assignments and how she had avoided him since he returned to the Academy.
• Alice heard that Greg had been provisionally selected as a second-year representative for the Hundred-Academy Exchange Meeting and dismissed the rumor as a malicious prank.
• Greg surprised Alice at the first-year assessment area and announced that he had been selected and that she would accompany him as his mentor.
• Alice refused to believe Greg and suggested that he had offered his body to the Academy Head to get selected.

Greg convinced Alice that he had hidden his genius and had been chosen as a second-year representative for the Exchange Meeting, giving her hope of escaping her difficult situation. The chapter ended when Greg realized the gray-haired girl who despised him was Alice’s new student, and a new quest appeared.

• Greg told Alice that he had defeated the Death Knight during the Undead Incident and had concealed his abilities until now.
• Greg assured Alice that he had already been selected as an Exchange Meeting representative and invited her to come with him.
• Alice became excited at the possibility of leaving her current predicament and began to regain hope.
• Greg asked Alice about her new student, but the gray-haired girl interrupted and called Alice her mentor.
• Greg realized the gray-haired girl was his junior, and the Third Phase quest unlocked with a requirement to clear the Third-Floor Dungeon before the end of the Third Act.

Greg was surprised to learn Victoria had become Alice’s disciple, then discovered she was furious that he had used their shared item to grow stronger without telling her. Sylvia helped calm Victoria, though Victoria still suspected Greg had hidden his gains before.

• Greg planned to clear the Imperial Dungeon’s three floor lords with Ellie to complete his updated quest.
• Greg asked Victoria why she had become Alice’s disciple, and Victoria said she had been assigned to her.
• Victoria checked Greg’s arm and confronted him about secretly getting stronger after using their shared item.
• Greg admitted fault and begged Victoria to forgive him.
• Sylvia arrived, heard Victoria’s complaint, and coaxed her to let Greg off this time.
• Victoria softened but told Sylvia she suspected Greg had hogged the benefits behind her back before.

Greg, Victoria, and Sylvia reunited after their assessments, but Sylvia was summoned away by her mentor, Princess Lilith. Lilith surprised Greg and Victoria with an awkward compliment before leaving, and Alice was left wondering whether Greg and Victoria were a couple.

• Victoria accepted Sylvia's explanation that Greg had not secretly taken dungeon rewards, then reminded him to make things up to them.
• Sylvia told Greg and Victoria that her mentor was kind before Princess Lilith arrived and called her back.
• Lilith taunted Victoria about scoring higher, then awkwardly praised her and left with a blush.
• Victoria asked Greg what had gotten into Lilith, but he pretended not to know and joked about his looks.
• Greg and Victoria returned to Alice while bickering, prompting Alice to wonder if they were showing off as a couple.

Nightmare investigated a ruined temple and wondered why the mysterious woman who had visited it had spared her and her other half. A week after the Second Act ended, Greg Sass and Victoria Cecil were named representatives for the Hundred-Academy Exchange Meeting, and Alice was delighted by her students’ ambition.

• Nightmare dug a dark-red tablet from the temple ruins, sensed the woman’s scent on it, and questioned why the woman had not killed her and her other half.
• The Academy posted the representatives for the Hundred-Academy Exchange Meeting, naming Greg Sass as the second-year representative and Victoria Cecil as the first-year representative.
• Alice enjoyed the attention her students’ selection brought her and headed to her laboratory, planning to praise them and treat them to a meal.
• Greg and Victoria told Alice they were preparing to excel at the Exchange Meeting, with Greg hoping to attract the Saintess’s notice and Victoria aiming for the prize money.
• Alice mistook their competitive resolve for a pure thirst for knowledge and honor, and regretted having underestimated her students.

Greg gave Alice golden glow spider silk and proposed a joint project to develop a revolutionary magic device, but refused to do the work himself. Victoria joined him in leaving the research to Alice, and a girl arrived to help Greg.

• Greg showed Alice golden glow spider silk and explained its strength and magical conductivity.
• Greg presented a blueprint and persuaded Alice to share the research, while Victoria suspected he was scheming.
• Greg refused to work on the project, and Victoria demanded to join him in slacking off.
• Greg and Victoria left all three shares of the work to Alice, who collapsed in dismay.
• A girl in a white lab coat arrived and threw herself onto Greg, calling him Big Brother and offering to help.