Earth Dungeon 90.1

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Chapter 90.1. Konoha

The wind outside is cold, and you can see dried leaves swirling in the air.

October is coming to an end, and winter is approaching. 

The school, a four-story L-shaped building, is situated on a spacious campus with three sports fields and gymnasiums. 

Many children are running a marathon on the fields, and you can hear spirited voices coming from the gymnasiums.

Inside one of the active classrooms in this vibrant school, Hira Konoha gazes out the window absentmindedly, stifles a yawn, and turns her attention to the front. On the platform, a lonely elderly man with a salt-and-pepper beard stands, giving a lecture in front of a monitor.

"When dungeons first appeared, damage from stampedes caused by monsters occurred immediately. The military quickly defeated the monsters, which included dragons and wyverns in the early days. People rejoiced after defeating them. They encountered materials they had never seen before, and the magic that defied the laws of physics. A new era had arrived."

He's explaining Japanese history, but Konoha is bored of listening. How many times does he need to explain it?

"However, as we realized that dungeon appearances wouldn't cease and that most of the acquired monsters were of no use and not profitable, that's when the nightmare began."

I'm tired of his drawn-out explanation. It's like saying the military profits immensely from killing lions with missiles and bombings. One of the male students raises his hand with a smirk.

"Sensei, there were a lot of idiots who didn't just stand by during those times but dived into dungeons and died, right?"

He's a cheeky male student, obviously trying to get some laughs from his peers. It's frustrating to think about his crude thinking. Konoha already knows the answer.

"Well, back then, we didn't understand the importance of skills, the struggles of leveling up, and the strength of the enemies. We thought that defeating a few monsters would easily level us up from scratch, and we believed that we could take down monsters with just a baseball bat."

People never thought leveling up to just one level would take several years. And monsters weren't as weak as a baseball bat. Even goblins had the same strength as adults, and they often came with archers.

People couldn't win without guns. Maybe they could defeat giant rats, but it would take more than 5 years. Dungeons weren't kind enough for ordinary people to conquer.

"That's right, so you dived into dungeons like that, right, Raita?"

The cheeky male student creates a small flame in his hand. Level 0 is about that level. The people around him chuckle as they watch.

"It was foolish to fight with such skills, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, you should've fought with soldiers as guards."

"You had dreams, right?"

"Use a potion, use a potion."

"He didn't even know about the existence of potions."

The classroom gets noisy all at once. The students are chattering freely to escape the boredom of the class. They were certainly foolish. If they had heard about a large nest of bears or wolves instead of monsters, they probably wouldn't even approach it.

Some people had romanticized the idea of monsters and skills, but they either suffered severe injuries or died, which made them realize the harsh reality. After a few months, no one wanted to enter dungeons anymore.

However, some persevered and continued to fight for a long time, and their skills improved. You could say they were a bit insane.

"Let's get back to the topic. The enemies were powerful, and Japan achieved victory despite a never-ending war that drained its resources. The defense began focusing on major cities, leading to the start of the inner, and outer town. Peace has been maintained since then. Some of you may become soldiers in the future. In order to protect this peace, each of you should have a sense of patriotism and work hard."

It seems the lecture is about to end, and Konoha becomes annoyed. She raises her hand and stands up, causing a clatter as the chattering students fall silent.

"Sensei! It seems you didn't mention the people in the abandoned town in your story just now."

She confronts the elderly teacher with a stern gaze, and he lets out a tired sigh.

"At that time, the country had cut off those who hadn't paid a certain amount of taxes. There was no longer any room to protect such people. That's for sure. But compared to the residents of the Inner and Outer Cities, there were very few of them. It couldn't be helped."

"Now, can't we help them? The inner town is wealthy. If even a little is shared, many people could be saved, couldn't they?"

"Hey, why should we help them? I don't want to be short on food."

Once again, the cheeky male student raises his voice, teasingly. Konoha glares at him, but he turns away and pretends not to notice.

"No one from the abandoned town has survived anymore. By the time we had the means and the initiative to help, they had already been wiped out. It's a tragic situation."

"Who would believe such a blatant lie? People are still surviving in the abandoned town. You can't deceive us with such words."

"If you're so insistent, 'Clown,' why don't you go and provide food for them on your own? It would be better than protesting here. Hira Konoha-san, you're the second daughter of the Hira family, with good academic test results and commendations from your parents, right?"

A calm voice interjects, silencing her. It's frustrating, but it's difficult to argue.