Chapter 362: The Path Ahead
[…What am I supposed to do now?]
The moment Tsutomu opened his eyes, memories of the previous day returned with unwelcome clarity. With a sigh heavy with gloom, he closed them again, choosing instead to cocoon himself in the soft sheets like a child hiding from the world.
He’d been conscious of it ever since they reached the Black Gate on the ninety-ninth layer, but now that the reality of facing the Corroded Elder Dragon loomed ever closer, the very act of waking up had begun to feel burdensome. Though the ongoing exploration of the ninety-seventh layer did offer some enjoyment with its variations from Live Dungeon, the deeper they progressed, the heavier his mood grew.
[It’s been over a year now. I thought I’d forgotten how Goddamn scary it was, but man…]
True, the memories of his death to the Corroded Elder Dragon had mostly faded, the fear dulling with time. Truth be told, what lingered more sharply in his memory was the time he’d had a hole punched through his gut during the Corrupted Shell battle.
[And on top of that, there’s the matter of the party for the hundredth layer. Things might not go according to plan… Though somehow, they’ve been turning out better than expected. Yesterday honestly caught me off guard. I haven’t been that surprised in a long time.]
He had assumed Korinna would make the same decisions he would have, had their roles been reversed. After all, he had trained her in the fundamentals of being a Channeler, guiding her growth as a Healer. He believed she would naturally make the most optimal choices. At the very least, he had expected there would be some tug-of-war over the ace Attackers like Amira or Diniel and that Garm would certainly be claimed.
But instead, Korinna had blindsided him with an incomprehensible choice. He had suspected her of having some emotional attachment to Amira, but he never imagined the same would extend to Diniel of all people. And to propose a Tank swap of Daryl for Xeno was such an absurd move, he had practically stared at her in disbelief.
At one point, he even wondered if she had caught on to his attempt to use her party as a sort of sacrificial buffer, and thus had deliberately weakened her own lineup in retaliation. But there was no sign of Leleia pulling strings behind the scenes, and he could not imagine the timid Korinna orchestrating such a calculated response, let alone going through with it.