After our rest, we continued exploring the dungeon’s map.

Of course, since I literally knew the path already, it wasn’t much of an "exploration" but more of "following the correct path." And even then, our exploration never ended up peaceful in the truest sense.

No matter which path we took, monsters always swarmed us from all sides.

Though since I was now joining in on the offensive, the speed of clearing had jumped up several levels above what it previously was.

Rats, bats, moles, snakes, even ants appeared. All of them mutated one way or another, but mostly relating to status effects like plague, poison, or such. And as if to announce it as the signature of this dungeon, some curse and poison items even dropped as consumables along the way.

And just like that, two hours had passed.

By now, all our levels had reached 40 equally—finally arriving at the recommended level of the dungeon itself. With how many monsters we had killed along the way, it was no wonder, though.

"Alright, let’s stop here for a bit."

We had walked a few kilometers’ worth by now, so it was no wonder everyone was already tired.

The darkness that made us see barely anything was one thing, but the paths themselves looked almost identical, adding to our trouble. The feeling of going in loops even though we were progressing was tolling on everyone mentally.

You could see it in the slight drag of their steps, the way the usual chatter between Kiki and the chat had grown quieter without anyone commenting on it.

"This place is..."

And where we arrived was a kind of special room.

A room with a bright centerpiece—a glowing gem about as tall as a tree. With its gentle light, everyone could finally relax, released from the stifling darkness that had been pressing in on us since we entered.

A few of the girls exhaled audibly the moment they stepped inside, as if they hadn’t realized until then how tense they’d been holding themselves.

"FleetingCloud?" I called toward Miyabi, who was staring at the gem in quiet awe. "Remember your quest? I think that’s what you’re looking for."

"Huh?"

Following my finger, she turned her head and saw a flower.

It was growing from a crack in the wall, sporting a long, curved stem, blade-like leaves, and a bell-shaped flower. The color being blue and white made it look like a teardrop from afar.

"Howling Dewdrop Flower!" Miyabi gasped. "So it’s really here...!"

Without delay, she rushed to the flower and touched it. Carefully, she plucked it from the wall and observed it up close. Her smile slowly widened, before turning into a thin frown.

"Huh? So I can’t finish the quest here, and need to report to that man in the well?"

"You mean man by the well..." I corrected her, shaking my head. "And yes, of course. That’s a given."

Judging from her quest, it must be a serial quest. Given the "I" suffix, there should be a "II" following it. That meant she needed to talk to the quest giver to get the continuation.

Anyway, as you might have guessed, now that we had found the Dewdrop Flower—which could only be found at the "end" of this questline—

"You girls might have figured it out already, but... The last boss is up ahead." I said.

Right.

This special place was like a final resting spot for players before taking on the daunting task of slaying the dungeon’s final boss.

That sounded a bit grim, actually... Rest Spot would’ve been a better description. But it’s not like the other version didn’t make sense either. After all, in the previous timeline, players had a hard time completing this map.

They had to die several dozens of times each before finally clearing it successfully.

And this "final resting place" was where they last gathered before dying a few dozen times.

And now, it was much worse.

The dungeon’s difficulty had increased, after all.

I was still not sure if this was really due to my actions, or simply the result of me turning back time. Either way, we couldn’t move onwards without completing this first.

And to clear this completely...

"As such, I want you girls to listen to my plan."

After walking a few tens of meters, we finally arrived at a large dome within the cave. It was so large that the ceiling at its center was probably over 50 meters tall, and about 200 meters from end to end.

The scale of it hit differently after hours of cramped, low-ceilinged tunnels—like stepping out of a hallway into a cathedral.

As supports, thick columns were scattered everywhere, bearing the weight of the curved ceiling up above. Old ones, by the look of it, worn smooth in places where something large had brushed against them repeatedly.

Of course, that wasn’t the only thing eye-catching, though.

As the walls and ceiling had smaller versions of the glowing crystal from outside, the boss room was quite bright.

Bright enough that we could see almost everything within... Including the large monster roughly a hundred meters long, with a body about ten meters thick, coiled loosely around the far end of the chamber like it owned the place—because it did.

"Hiss...!"

The monster flickered its long red tongue, as if licking the air, detecting new "prey" that had wandered into its lair.

"WhiteGod... Are we really...?" Miyabi asked from behind, worried.

However, I just half turned and patted her head roughly, smiling. "Of course I’m sure. Make sure you don’t mess up your part, or I might need twice the time to beat this thing."

"You speak as if you’ve fought it before, huh..." Kiki chuckled from the side.

And, of course, she was right.

This monster might be a boss here, but when the game descended to reality, these were nothing but weak, rank-and-file fodder compared to the real "monsters." As such, I had fought them more times than I ever hoped for.

[Dungeon Boss: Basilisk Lv. 50 💀] 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Basilisk..." I whispered, licking my lips. "Time to see if I still have it in me...!"

Right. This gigantic, hundred-meter long snake was a Basilisk. A "mythical" snake monster that could petrify any living creature that stared into its eyes.

And to ensure that we were prepared for what was coming "next," I had decided that...

"It’s time to fight it, one on one!"

Earlier, that was the plan I told the girls.

Although Miyabi and Eri did try to stop me, I convinced them otherwise in the end. After all, considering all variables, me fighting the basilisk alone was the option that gave us the fastest and highest chance of winning without taking damage or casualties.

Oh, of course, I wouldn’t let the girls just stand by the side either.

[MoeLover: Fuck...! Who knew glasses would make them look so chic and cute?! 🤤]

[FishInTheSky: It’s really a basilisk. 🐍 This... will this really work?]

[Mr.Obvious: I heard someone calling me here a few times before! Who is it? 🤔]

The basilisk’s petrifying gaze wasn’t all-powerful.

In fact, as long as something got between your eyes and the basilisk, the petrifying effect was lost entirely. This was an important detail that had taken quite some time to figure out in my previous timeline.

I heard from Kiki how, during their run, the way they defeated this boss was simply by not looking at its eyes—keeping their gaze from the neck down, nothing more than that. Made me wonder what sort of muscle-headed ninja reincarnation she was.

Well, at least it was effective. But it’s definitely not easy, nor foolproof. One accidental glance and you were a statue.

Thus, not long after, wearing glasses to protect oneself from the basilisk’s gaze had become mainstream. And that was the reason why all the girls, myself included, were wearing a pair right now.

It literally made us smarter—not just in look, but from the added INT stat too.

"Alright, let’s go!"

Without wasting time, I rushed forward holding nothing but a long halberd. It was a weapon that fell under the same category as a flag—the "main" weapon of my class—so no penalties applied.

"Haaap!"

As a greeting, I swung the halberd, drawing a line of sparks across the monster’s scales. No damage notification popped up. None at all.

’As expected, a 10 level gap isn’t that easy to ignore...!’

Of course, that attack wasn’t serious at all. It was a probe—testing the surface, feeling out its reaction time, watching how the head tracked movement.

However, it was enough to attract the dungeon boss’s attention.

"HISS!"

As if lashing out in offense, the basilisk snapped its snout at my face. With its large maw, it could literally swallow me whole without choking. The range was so far, it was almost impossible to dodge—and I didn’t really dodge.

"Moon Waltz!"

Instead, I sidestepped, attacking while dodging at the same time.

CRITICAL!

1,953!!!

The damage notification flashed once, making the girls gasp in shock.

It wasn’t hard to figure out what shocked them. The enemy was a boss, and my damage had almost reached 2k—against something ten levels above me, no less.

Of course, it wasn’t without a secret either.

"...Looks like my senses hadn’t rusted just yet!"

I smiled, wiping the virtual splash of blood off my face.