Chapter 147: Lucky or Unlucky?

Caelum stepped onto the second floor of the dungeon, and not long afterward, Bonjour also arrived there through a different entrance.

The competition between the two had already become intense.

Caelum relied on his abilities as a cultivator, constantly extending his Spirit Sense throughout the surroundings to search for the doors leading to the next floor.

Every cave, every tunnel, and every unusual mana fluctuation fell within his perception.

Bonjour, on the other hand, adopted a completely different approach.

Rather than searching directly, he synchronized his Arder with the Great Nature, allowing his senses to merge with the surrounding terrain.

By feeling disturbances in the natural flow of the earth and vegetation, he could pinpoint places that shouldn’t normally exist.

And those irregularities almost always concealed the next floor’s entrance.

Neither method was ordinary, both could almost be considered unfair advantages.

The two boys genuinely wanted to win this speedrun.

Especially Bonjour, after all, the entire competition had been his idea in the first place.

Yet, neither of them realized that a certain third party had already secured victory before the race even began.

Meanwhile, back on the first floor.

Jojo and Voomie leisurely wandered through the forest as though they were taking an afternoon stroll rather than participating in a dungeon competition.

There wasn’t even the slightest hint of urgency in either of their movements.

After looking around for a while, Voomie stretched lazily before speaking.

"I think enough time has passed. Should we move now, woof?"

Jojo nodded.

"Let’s go, the sooner we finish this, the sooner we’ll be done."

Although he sounded calm, he couldn’t help sighing inwardly.

Time was truly a ruthless thing.

Once upon a time, he had been a magnificent panda with lofty ambitions.

Now he was secretly participating in a children’s dungeon race.

All to help a greedy dog earn extra food!

Jojo looked up toward the artificial sky projected by the dungeon’s illusionary ceiling and sighed once again.

Sometimes, the mysteries of fate were impossible to comprehend.

After all, he had only ended up in this world because a perfectly ordinary-looking ticket and a random idea to find a wife.

Who could possibly have predicted this outcome?

After wandering for several more minutes, the two finally stopped before a doorway concealed behind a cluster of vines.

It was the passage leading to the next floor.

Seeing it, Voomie’s eyes sparkled.

"All those days of hard work are finally paying off, woof!"

Establishing themselves within the school’s underground economy hadn’t been easy.

It had required countless negotiations, plenty of sweat and even a few tears.

Their efforts had finally borne fruit!

However, instead of immediately entering the doorway, Jojo and Voomie simply stood there and waited patiently.

Several moments later, the doorway suddenly emitted a soft magical glow.

Jojo and Voomie smiled sinisterly.

The two stepped forward and instead of arriving on the second floor, they emerged on the sixth floor.

’It really is wonderful to have connections...’ Voomie thought happily.

With this, nothing stood between her and meat. Not even her owner.

If Caelum had witnessed this scene, he probably would have coughed blood from sheer disbelief.

Here he was, thinking that using Spirit Sense to locate hidden doors was already bordering on cheating.

Meanwhile, these two had simply bribed their way straight to the finish line.

***

[Goblin and Undead Dungeon] – Observation Room.

Instructor Stalin was peacefully enjoying his breakfast while monitoring the students inside the dungeon.

His meal was enormous but fortunately there was no one present to comment on his appetite.

The Observation Room was quiet except for the occasional sounds produced by the monitoring artifacts as countless magical screens displayed different parts of the dungeon.

"The Duke’s son really is a prodigy..." Stalin muttered while taking another bite.

From his position, he could clearly observe Ethan Morvendrell’s group on one screen, while another displayed the Foundation Division children participating in their little competition.

Caelum and Bonjour were already racing through the dungeon at an astonishing pace.

Meanwhile, the remaining children were relaxing near their campsite while chatting.

And one particular boy had hidden himself inside the tent for unknown reasons.

Stalin couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Kids really are carefree."

His gaze casually shifted to another screen, where a panda and a dog had quietly stopped in front of one of the hidden doors.

"Is that the signal?" he murmured.

Earlier, Jojo and Voomie had approached him outside the dungeon.

Since the two summons happened to be friends of his personal student, Stalin had agreed to do them a small favor.

’So they really were telling the truth when they said they were competing against two geniuses,’ he thought with amusement.

Using his Teacher’s Badge, Stalin connected to the Dungeon Core and exercised his authority over the dungeon’s transportation system.

A small magic circle flashed.

In the next instant, Jojo and Voomie were quietly transported to a secure location on the sixth floor, an area with almost no undead monsters.

"Hahaha! As expected, only a kind and handsome instructor like me would help those poor little fellows."

Stalin shamelessly praised himself before taking another mouthful of breakfast.

He was already looking forward to seeing the expressions on Caelum’s and Bonjour’s faces when they eventually discovered that a panda and a dog had somehow won the competition before them.

However, just as he reached for another bite.

A faint burst of static came from his Teacher’s Badge.

Bzzzzt...

Stalin’s smile faded slightly.

"...That’s odd."

He immediately inspected the badge but everything appeared normal.

’Could it be an error?’

Not wanting to overlook even the smallest irregularity, he carefully examined the Dungeon Core itself.

If there was a fault in it, then it would be better to schedule repairs before it affected the students.

As he continued investigating, his expression gradually changed.

Rather than immediately tracing the disturbance, he deliberately halted his inspection midway.

A faint smile slowly appeared on his face.

"...A rat?"

He quietly closed the control interface as though nothing had happened.

Stalin had only joined the Imperial Zenith School less than a year ago.

He had been recruited through one of the academy’s special recruitment programs after several teachers had suddenly been dismissed due to unknown reasons.

Like many newly appointed instructors, he had also accepted a personal student to gain practical teaching experience.

Coincidentally, that student happened to know Jojo and Voomie.

Although Stalin appeared to be an ordinary instructor, very few people knew whom he truly served.

And unlike every other instructor in the school...

Stalin reported directly to the Headmaster.