Live Dungeon!

While watching Team 2’s battle on Monitor #2, Tsutomu found himself exchanging thoughts on future plans with Smith. With his popularity finally starting to cool, he was considering relying on the latter’s Shield magic for crowd control.

"So… you’re not going to tackle the hundredth layer?"

"We will, once we’re ready. I’d also like to wait for Team 2 to catch up."

"You sure they’ll be fine? They seem to be… struggling, to put it kindly."

"If they don’t win before Ealdred Crow reaches the ninety-fifth layer, I’ll step in. But judging by how they’re doing, I’d say they’ll pull it off just fine."

Korinna had shown him a set of revised formations and tactical approaches for Team 2 that morning. Watching the results play out now on the Monitors, it was clear whether they stood a chance. The party had faced countless problems along the way, but they had overcome most of them on their own. And now, rather than simply following in the footsteps of Team 1 or Ealdred Crow, they were trying out a style of their own.

Tsutomu and Korinna might have shared the same role of Healer, but their Jobs were fundamentally different. Too closely imitating Tsutomu’s tactics would only hinder her personal improvement. On the other hand, if he gave too much advice, she would become little more than a puppet, parroting his commands. And that would not earn her the trust of the Clan to lead the charge into the hundredth layer.

So Tsutomu had been content to let her and her team struggle and experiment within. From the day she joined the Clan, he had provided her with the foundational knowledge she needed. What remained was for her to take that and build something of her own. Not to become his shadow, but to stand as a leader in her own right.

Now, as he watched her image on the screen, her expression had clearly changed. She no longer bore the pained look of someone trying and failing to fill someone else’s shoes. As she shouted orders to Amira and healed both Tanks with confident precision, her face was lit with purpose.

[Looks like she’s finally found her identity as a Healer. Took her nearly a month, which is rough timing-wise… but I’ll take growth over speed. Hopefully they’ll clear the ninetieth layer soon.] The party had solid status ratings overall, and their proficiency against the Corrupted Shell had improved dramatically. With proper tactics, they should be able to pull through. Both Garm and Xeno had become far more stable as Tanks, no longer taking critical hits during the monster’s heavy attacks…

"[! [! [!"

[Amy’s getting there, too. Maybe not on world champion levels like SoloShotFirst… but she’s pushing into top-tier territory in terms of damage output.]

Amy, who had been training with Tsutomu’s personal guidance, was now executing skill rotations rivaling those of the top Dualbladers from Live Dungeon. She had learned to ignore the mental fatigue that typically slowed her down, optimizing her skill usage to maintain peak performance. Coupled with her natural combat instincts, she was now packing serious power.

In fact, her current mastery even enabled her to abuse a hidden mechanic: chaining skills during [ within a 0.2-second window to gain subtle forward momentum. It was the kind of uncanny, game-breaking behavior that evoked memories of the original Live Dungeon. It was a sign of true min-maxing madness.

"DAAAH!!"

[Amira, on the other hand, is just ridiculous. Unique skills really are cheat codes…]

Amira glowed faintly as she fought, the Dragon’s power coursing through her. Wielding a Dungeon-looted greatsword weighing over a hundred kilograms, reforged and customized to her specifications, she deflected the Corrupted Shell’s claws head-on. That kind of brute-force showdown was something only Amira could pull off. She had grown so powerful, it was hard to even imagine the floundering girl she’d once been.

[She’s got the raw burst and intensity of Hannah, but there’s something more dependable about her. Well, I guess if you can rattle a layer boss, you’re going to be someone people rely on… Korinna probably saw that too, hence the new strategy built around her.]