Pressing my temple with my palm, I shook my head.

"We fell... Damn it, how far down did we fall...?"

It was the entire class. We had been caught in the collapse.

Fortunately, about half of the magic lamps strapped to our waists survived. I picked up a magic lamp lying nearby—whose it was, I couldn't tell—and held it aloft to illuminate the ceiling.

A large hole gaped open in the ceiling, and beneath it, a mountain of sand mixed with rocks towered high. It seemed that we had landed on the slope of this sand mountain, which dispersed the impact of our fall enough for us to survive.

"..."

The way back was open. A pitch-black void yawned above us. Even straining my eyes, I couldn't see the rocky ceiling.

In other words... yeah.

"This isn't just two levels deep, is it?"

"No clue how many layers it might be."

Miku had somehow appeared beside me without my noticing, speaking as nonchalantly as ever.

She's like a real cat. Not only does she make no sound when walking, but even her presence is hard to detect. Not even the heightened senses of a sword saint could catch her approach.

Incidentally, I already knew Miku was unharmed.

During the fall, she had nimbly kicked off debris like a cat, planting her feet on the edges of lower levels to kill her momentum, repeating this several times before finally landing on the slope of the sand mountain with both feet and sliding down. I'd seen it all happen.

What a terrifying young woman. Even in my previous life, I couldn't have pulled off such a feat.

"What about that monster? It must've fallen too."

I saw it sink beneath the floor, laughing as it went.

"Doesn't look like it's here. Maybe it got scared and ran off when the floor gave way?"

"It didn’t seem like such a timid creature. Well, if it’s not here, that’s a relief."

Still... I looked around.

This is a serious problem. Not because of my classmates, though that is an issue too. The problem lies in the dungeon's structure. The walls and floors are mossy, but they’re unnaturally even.

This isn’t a natural dungeon. It’s an undiscovered artificial one. And its scale is unknown. I doubt even the instructors knew about it.

"To think something like this was still lying hidden near the royal capital Galliant, in the outskirts of Lehan. If King Kilpus finds out, he’ll flip."

"No kidding..."

That said, it also gives us hope for escape. Artificial dungeons always have stairs leading to higher levels. As long as they haven’t been buried by earthquakes or erosion, that is.

"Anyway, I’m just glad you’re okay, El-tan. Are you hurt at all?"

"No issues. I mitigated the impact as I fell and took a minimal defensive posture."

It wasn’t the most graceful sight, but it was better than being slammed straight into the ground.

"Wow, nicely done~!"

From nearby, I heard a loud, deliberate tongue click.

"What a mess. Is this really something you’d put students through? It’s overkill."

Void pushed away the rubble as he stood up. He was covered in scrapes but seemed otherwise unharmed.

Miku waved at him.

"Yoo-hoo! Glad to see you’re okay too, Void~!"

"...Hmph. Not as agile as you, Orunkaim. Looks like I blacked out for a bit. How long’s it been?"

"Not long at all~."

It’s unclear how many levels we fell, but considering Void only has a few scrapes, his durability is impressive.

"You can just call me Miku, you know? Since we’re in the same party, I’ll make an exception~!"

"..."

He ignored her.

Miku looked disgruntled, but Void didn’t even glance her way as he muttered.

"Looks like most of the other groups are wiped out. Useless idiots."

Brushing sand out of his hair, Void scanned the surroundings. I sighed and filled him in.

"No one seems dead, but most have minor injuries. One person’s in critical condition."

I pointed to a male student who had been pierced through the chest by the monster. He was lying flat, possibly unconscious, his chest faintly rising and falling. His breathing seemed labored, and he occasionally coughed up blood.

A few students were desperately trying to treat him, but based on my past life’s experience, he wouldn’t survive without a healing mage—certainly not until we escaped the dungeon.

"Ah, you mean that suicidal fool? Heh, still clinging to life, huh? Guess his luck’s decent, at least. The whole class got dragged into this mess because of him."

"Cut it out, Void. We couldn’t have avoided encountering that monster anyway."

I had sensed clear hostility from the creature. Even if that student hadn’t attacked it, a fight would’ve broken out regardless.

Void shrugged.

"You’re too much of a softie, Neu."

"Don’t call me a softie."

Still, Void was right about one thing: surviving that injury and the fall was incredibly lucky. Unless someone had cushioned his fall by using their own body, that is. Not that I think anyone in this class is that altruistic.

Then I noticed the sleeve of Void’s uniform was slightly stained with red.

"Void, are you injured?"

"Huh? Nah, just bit the inside of my cheek. Must’ve smudged it when I wiped off the sweat."

Just smudged it, huh?

Really, who’s the softie here?

Void looked around as if to move the conversation along.

"So, one missing person, huh? And that monster’s nowhere in sight."

"Surely you don’t mean me by ‘missing person.’"

A small boy with black hair emerged from the darkness beyond the range of the magic lamps. He wore a sword at his waist.

"Heh, you’re still alive too, huh, honor student? Tough little thing, aren’t you?"

Ryoka Oujin.

I was surprised. He was unscathed. Not even his clothes were dirty. Could he have pulled off a stunt like Miku’s?

"Don’t call me ‘honor student.’ I was scouting the area."

"Hah, that’s exactly why you’re an honor student."

Oujin frowned.

"Given the situation, shouldn’t you be a bit more serious, delinquent?"

"Huh? Quit nagging."

Void scowled in return, and Oujin sighed in exasperation.