Potential Threat

[Karl Wallace has entered the Hidden Dungeon]

When the system screen of all the inhabitants of Neo Earth showed this message to them in unison, that marked the first time anyone had ever heard the term Hidden Dungeon.

What is a Hidden Dungeon?

No one knew about them and neither did they know who Karl Wallace was.

It was an abrupt message that came into their lives mostly during the Great Cataclysmic Event, during which everyone struggled to live for just another day.

They tried to look and find information about these Hidden Dungeons but they never succeeded in it until after the war with the demons had come to an end and peace had returned, when the civilization was slowly being restored once more.

But when they entered the Hidden Dungeon, the phenomenon that occurred with Karl Wallace didn't happen to them, there was no worldwide announcement made upon entering the Hidden Dungeon.

This led everyone to believe that what they entered might not be the Hidden Dungeon until it was confirmed that it was indeed a hidden dungeon.

This led everyone to believe that the reason behind the worldwide announcement might have been that Karl Wallace was the first person to have ever entered the Hidden Dungeon.

Now, the residents of Neo Earth have once more received a worldwide announcement through their system.

[The Demon Lord has entered the Hidden Dungeon]

This time, however, they knew who the Demon Lord is and what a hidden dungeon is.

So, they wondered why this time had been special.

Why has someone entering the hidden dungeon probed the system to announce it worldwide?

As such, they speculated and came up with the idea—the idea—that maybe this is the last Hidden Dungeon left in the world.

The Last Hidden Dungeon.

Hidden Dungeons were valuable and dangerous. Going inside them, one could either receive something otherworldly upon clearing it successfully or lose one's life in the attempt.

The things one could receive through hidden dungeons weren't just life-changing but also world-changing.

Whether it was a gift, art, skill, strength, or artifact, whatever they received from the Hidden Dungeon was invaluable. As such, the possibility that this could be the last Hidden Dungeon carried far more weight than one could possibly imagine.

But that wasn't all, it also sent a ripple of various other questions, all the continents except the 7th continent had signed the treaty.

A treaty made between the six continents—Floating Island, Artifilogia, The Great Land of Natura, Freezing Land, The Dark Land, and The Last Land—a treaty that established an absolute rule— if any continent discovers a Hidden Dungeon, the information would be shared with the other continents. The rights to the Hidden Dungeon itself—and any artifacts gained from the fairies within—would belong to the continent that made the discovery. However, if any other continent wished to send their own people into the Hidden Dungeon, they would be granted permission to do so and through that contribution what they gain would be theirs.

But now, The Demon Lord has breached the long-standing treaty governing the Hidden Dungeons. Not only did he withhold the discovery of the Hidden Dungeon from others but also entered it.

Breaking News: After Karl Wallace The System Once More Makes An World-Wide Announcement 

Speculation is mounting regarding the intentions of the Demon Lord following recent revelations about Hidden Dungeons. Questions have surfaced: does he intend to monopolize the treasures and artifacts within these dungeons for his own gain? Or is there an alternative agenda at play?

So far, there has been no official comment from the Demonic Continent regarding the matter. The silence has only fuelled further debate and concern among the other continents, who are anxious to understand what stance the Demon Lord and his followers will take on this newly exposed issue.

This move, a direct violation of the treaty's terms, has stirred alarm across the globe, intensifying concerns about his motives and potential plans to hoard the dungeon's powerful artifacts. Leaders from various continents are expected to issue statements soon, calling for clarity—and accountability—in response to this alarming turn of events.

Noah looked at the news trending news while sitting on the couch of his room finding it absurd how these people aren't even thinking of the possibility that The Demon Lord might die instead.

Well, it was natural for people to assume he would clear the hidden dungeon, after all, there was no one even close to his strength, there had never been anyone who crossed the SS+ rank and The Demon Lord was an SSS+ ranked individual.

However unlike other people, Noah knew that strength wasn't the main factor needed to clear a hidden dungeon, yes, it was important but it wasn't everything. As someone who had cleared three hidden dungeons despite being a low ranker, Noah knew it very well.

But currently, none of it was of concern to Noah, there was just one thing he couldn't understand. 

"Who the fuck's Karl Wallace"

He looked towards Lucy who was currently sitting in front of him, she had come running to his room to meet him.

After all, Lucy knew better than anyone that if there was a reason why the demon lord made such a decision it had to be related to this person who seemed to be not even a little interested in the current circumstances.

"How the fuck can you eat a burger in this situation?" Lucy couldn't help but question, while the people out in the world were biting their thumbs and worrying about the situation, and then here he is, completely unbothered.

"...I am hungry, that's how"

Lucy rolled her eyes.

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"So, Karl Wallace is Demon Lord and Demon Lord is Karl Wallace" 

I now understood the mystery.

"...And how did you arrive at this conclusion?" Lucy asked with a frown.

"There are different types of Hidden Dungeons, sort of like in games—easy, moderate, and hard. As far as I know, only one hard-mode Hidden Dungeon has ever been attempted, and that was by the Demon Lord. The timing of it lines up perfectly with Karl Wallace's entering the hidden dungeon. Besides, it would explain the worldwide announcement made by the system. It wasn't because it was the first or the last Hidden Dungeon—it was because someone had entered a hard-mode Hidden Dungeon."

Which in itself was a piece of new information to me, I didn't expect that the system would notify anyone to enter the hidden dungeon.

"How do you know it's a hard-mode hidden dungeon?"

"Those midgets told me" I shrugged

"No, that's not what I am asking, and stop calling fairies midgets" Lucy shook her head as she continued "How do you know that Demon Lord entered this hard mode hidden dungeon out of all the ones?"

"I told you about the system, right? I am the absolute master of it or some shit like that." I said and Lucy gave me a nod as I continued "Yeah, so I had asked it to keep a look on all the hidden dungeons, Demon Lord just happened to enter the one when my system had gone to check on them"

"Ah, that makes sense..." Her voice trailed off and she seemed to be thinking about something seriously.

Once I was done eating the burger I started trying to make butterflies and practicing harmonizing the components of World's Will.

Seeing this, Lucy shot me a glare.

"What are you going to do now?" She asked with a disgruntled tone.

"What do you think I could do? I can't do shit, so I am just going to keep training" 

Originally, The Demon Lord was supposed to do nothing until the graduation but now he had already made a move.

But it wasn't like I could do anything right now.

I could hope he dies in the hidden dungeon but honestly, if my luck was that good I wouldn't have transmigrated in this shitty world, to begin with.

If I have to make a guess, he would probably clear it in a few months or a year at most.

In other words, half a year is all I have to get strong enough to deal with him coz if I don't I am dead. He is gonna try to kill me or maybe try to recruit me, don't know which option he would choose but he will come for me, after all, I am kind of a variable for him. 

"I am not asking about the Demon Lord. I know there's nothing you can do at this point"

What else are you talking about then?

"I am asking how you are going to deal with your current situation"

"...And what is my current situation?"

"Oh god..." She heaved out a sigh, rubbing her temples.

I have no idea what had gotten into her.

I waited for her to explain and after drinking a cup of water, she finally began to

"What you did by going outside the academy was honestly stupid and unnecessary, the headmaster won't sit still, it's just a matter of time before he summons you. You know, you crossed the line there, right?"

Well, I know that. I was ready for him to beat my ass.

There's just no way around it.

I nodded urging Lucy to continue.

"Before, the headmaster might have given you a chance but now with the Demon Lord entering the hidden dungeon? With things taking a bad turn and causing tensions throughout the continents, I don't think he would be able to show you leniency of any sort. You are currently dangerous and in times like these people like you, are what everyone worries about the most. He will subdue you in some way or another. How are you going to deal with that?"

Well, I understand her view but honestly, I don't think Regis would try such a method.

"I mean, it's just one thing and I have a reason, I wanted to ...well, deal with Julianna's problem. While it doesn't excuse anything, I am sure Regis would understand I didn't do it with any ill will, and not only that I have been pretty good student in the academy if I do say so myself"

There's no one else you could call more hardworking than me, I have been training since day 1 of coming to this academy.

What I have done will make Regis lose his shit but he will calm down fast enough.

As far as I can tell, there's no need to worry that much.

"Hey, I am just saying it but ...you do know you are the top candidate on the list of Potential Threat, right?"

The butterflies that I was making and were flying around all pooped up in an instant as I straightened my back and looked at Lucy.

Seeing my reaction, she shook her head with a frown on her face.

"...Noah, he cleared the exam in not a good way" Lucy hesitated to say those words and I couldn't help but ask

"What fuck did he do?"

I needed to know.

I fucking needed to know.

Coz honestly, Instead of beating the shit out of me, Regis might just kill me.

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Heroes Nurturing High School.

Every year there are millions of students applying for the academy but only around 2000 students manage to enter the academy.

To enter the academy, one had to pass both theoretical and practical examinations.

The theoretical exam contained subjects related to Methods in Dungeology, Introduction to the Mana/Aura Theory, History, Specietomy, Constitutional Law, Logic and Reasoning, and a few more, each subject containing a vast amount of topics.

The theoretical exam had finished an hour prior and now the students were preparing for their practical exam.

The practical exam, unlike the theoretical exam which ends in 3 hours, lasts for several days and is divided into different stages.

Each year, there's some change in the practical exam and its rules.

For this year, the academy had decided to divide students into groups of 10,000 students and then further break those 10,000 students into teams, each consisting of five students.

"I don't know if it's the right time or not but I will go ahead. My name's Fren! It's nice to meet you all! Let's ace this exam!!" Fren shouted with a cheery smile as he ran carrying a sword on his waist.

"How are we going to ace this exam when we are running away just after encountering our first monster!! Juliet, here!" The girl retorted, her tone irritated as she maneuvered the trees and kept running forward, she had various types of shuriken and throwing knives attached to her thigh holster.

This year's practical exam, stage 1 was simple, it will be held for 3 days.

Each group would be sent to a field, they could be anything depending on the group, a beach, a dungeon replica, a desert, or an island. These fields are filled with artificial monsters created by none other than Dwarves.

Each team in the group has just one objective and that is to survive for 3 days and collect a total score of 500 points.

Currently, this team who now had been thrown on a deserted island had encountered their first monster ...who happened to be stronger than them and so they were all running.

"You bastards, just buy me 10 seconds and I will burn him to a crisp! Can't you all do just that!" Another girl shouted, carrying a staff in her hand which suggested she was a mage.

"We can't buy you 10 seconds without getting wiped out first! That's why we are running! And are you really a mage!? How are you ahead of me... Whatever's your name! Mine's Ron" A boy shouted, he was wearing gauntlets and questioned the girl.

Mages usually fall behind when it comes to stamina and strength that's why Ron found it baffling to be the one who was behind everyone.

"My name's Himitsu! I just decreased the air resistance towards me and a little bit of friction from my feet to increase my speed, dumbass. But where is our fifth teammate!?"

"Damn it! I am jealous!"

"I haven't sensed his presence for a while now, all I hear is that monster running towards us! Maybe he already got eliminated... or maybe he went a separate way! That bastard!" Juliet shouted from above the trees.

On getting eliminated, the student will be teleported outside of the field and will be disqualified.

Even if the rest of the team manages to survive 3 days and collect 500 points, it wouldn't matter for the person already eliminated.

The way to be eliminated was simple, once the health bar in the bracelet fell below 5%, the person would be eliminated and even the artificial monster would stop attacking the person any further.

These artificial monsters were no different than robots equipped with AI, the only difference was these monsters had flesh and skin similar to that of a real monster, in other words, they were like clones.

Another way to be eliminated was if the student broke their bracelet.

Anyway, this team didn't seem to be in a good situation, losing their member so early is quite a huge loss to them.

"I think we should split up here to confuse the monster and then meet up again in an hour, if we survive that is!" Fren proposed ducking from the attack that came his way.

Meeting with one's teammate wouldn't be a problem. The bracelet came with a map function installed in it, the map itself was simply a rough structure of the whole island that kept on adding itself with details of the places they had been to or passed by but that wasn't their concern but what mattered was that it showed one's own teammate's coordinates in real-time. It also, allowed them to mark a location and let other teammates see the mark which could work as an indicator of where they should meet.

Finding Fren's proposal reasonable, the others nodded.

"No matter who it decides to chase, let's not have any hard feelings for each other! Alright, everyone!" Fren said with a smile.

"You and your fucking smile, I bet that monster is also irritated by you. It will be sure to chase you" Himitsu scoffed not liking the cheery nature of Fren.

Their situation wasn't good and their teammate was being so cheery for no reason, it irritated Himitsu.

"Alright then, let's split!"

And with that, everyone started running in different directions.

The monster halted in his tracks looking at them for a second and then started chasing once again.

"Fuck my luck!!!!!"

Himitsu shouted as she ran for her dear life.

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To collect the points one has to kill the monsters and then take the monster cores that they will drop and put these cores into their bracelet which also had a dimensional storage function inside of it.

The AI equipped with the bracelet will then evaluate the monster core and assign it a value. That value is what are called points and that is how students are supposed to collect them.

The team collectively needs to obtain 500 points and in case their teammate is eliminated while their teammate is disqualified and fails the exam, his points would still be valid and transfer to the team itself.

"So, a slime only gives about 0.5 points? That's stingy, then again, it makes sense since artificial monsters are weaker than the actual ones that are found in the dungeon. But that's not the problem ..." Ron's voice trailed off as he thought about their situation.

A slime which was the safest bet to fight against gives around 0.5 points.

To collect a total of 500 points they would need to hunt 1000 slimes.

And that's precisely where the problem stemmed from.

The island had a total of 10,000 students and a total of 2,000 teams all fighting to collect these points.

Ron had seen several types of monsters but they all varied in strength, and everyone was avoiding strong monsters which made weak monsters prey to be hunted by everyone.

But they weren't unlimited.

In other words, they had to act fast if they wanted to secure the points.

But his team had already wasted a lot of time in the initial phase and as the time goes on, it will become even harder for them to hunt the monsters.

"Well, it seems we will have to hunt stronger monsters. High risk high reward!" Fren said with his signature smile.

Himitsu simply rolled over her eyes while being sprawled on the ground while Juliet was sitting on the tree keeping an eye on their surroundings while listening to the conversation.

The team members met each other once again as they had planned, and had hunted some slimes on their way to the designated location.

They now had a collective of 3 points.

"What is that fucker doing over there of all places?" Himitsu questioned as she looked at the small screen of her bracelet.

It indicated four dots sitting nearby and one dot that was completely on the other side of the map, far away from them.

It was their teammate who seemed to be still alive and kicking.

"Can't we message him or call him?" Ron asked as he scrunched his face trying to navigate with his bracelet.

"If it was possible I wouldn't have asked dumbfuck" Himitsu sighed.

"Now now, let's look on the bright side, since he is exploring the island, our map details are getting filled in automatically, isn't that great?" Fren chimed in.

If the teammate wished to, he could share the details of the map that he had discovered with his teammates, and since their map was increasing and had become more detailed, it meant that their fifth teammate was helping them in his own way.

Himitsu shut her mouth and furrowed her eyebrows at those words.

"With its help, we can plan our fights with the monsters. We can still recover from the time we have lost if we plan things out properly. How about we attack this monster cave? I think, our fifth teammate has done a good job" Juliet said as she pointed at the monster cave that was filled with homo-goblins which showed on their map.

"Hmm? They aren't far away from here and it seems doable too." Fren said as he zoomed in on the map and thought about the surrounding terrain of the cave.

The cave was below the cliff, and nearby it was a flowing river.

"We can turn that cave into our rest spot too! Let's conquer it! They are just goblins" Ron felt eager to go as excitement coursed through him.

"A horde of hobgoblins, not just goblins. Put a break. That excitement is exactly what kills many adventurers. Seriously, are you sure you are going to pass the theoretical exam? What's the point of this all if you already failed in that exam anyway?" Himitsu taunted him.

"I will pass! Alright! I am clear with the theoretical exam! I am just excited about it!" Ron retorted and Himitsu simply scoffed.

"Well, it seems like we all agree to this then?" Fren asked and others nodded.

And with that, they set out to kill the monsters.

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Fren, Ron, and Himitsu, all three who had crab-walked their way through, now remained squatted down, as they observed the cave from behind the bushes.

Two hobgoblins with massive wooden clubs in their hands were stationed outside of the cave.

They all waited and patiently watched, when one of the hobgoblins looked to the other side and at that exact moment the other hobgoblin had his throat sliced and without wasting another second, Juliet attacked the other one, killing him without making any sounds.

"That was smooth... kinda scary if you ask me" Ron let out a nervous chuckle as he said those words.

"Well, it's my turn now," Himitsu said as she started casting a spell.

A blob of fire formed at the front of her staff's marble as she chanted her spell and then released the fire straight inside the cave.

A few seconds later a huge sound came out of the cave.

Boom!

"Your chanting speed is incredible," Fren said, impressed.

Chanting the spell took time and during that time the caster usually can't do anything making them vulnerable.

Mages who could chant as fast as Himitsu at her age are rare and honestly are considered to be geniuses.

Of course, in this world, people exist who wouldn't even need to chant and those people are thought of as straight-up monsters.

Himitsu puffed out her chest feeling proud.

Soon after, a few hobgoblins came out of the cave with clubs and another wooden weapon in their hands as they started to look around.

Juliet with her skill invisible activated started killing them off one after another.

The monsters without even being able to see the attacks in confusion could only shriek and in a minute or so, all of them were dead.

And then Juliet fell back.

"My skills are on cooldown now, switch with me"

Fren and Ron nodded and took the left and the right side of the entrance and Himitsu once again fired off inside the cave, this time with an even stronger spell.

They kept continuing like this until they cleared the cave completely and then went to hunt more monsters around in the area until the night finally arrived when they returned to the cave and called the day.

They had managed to gather a collective of 100 points.

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"Ack, I can't believe I have to eat this" Ron complained as he saw the boiled slime in his pot.

It was a purple-colored, sticky slime.

"You do realize you are the one who lost our rations, right?" Himitsu said with a huff, grumpy about their situation.

One of the objectives for students in the exam is to procure food for themselves, through the monsters or the plants that grew on the island.

As such, their team had been collecting all the food but that was not all stolen by another monster because Ron was negligent.

...With no other choice, they hunted whatever they could find and now they had to eat boiled purple colored sticky slime.

While it was not dangerous to eat, it definitely didn't smell good.

Not even Fren tried to defend Ron.

He just simply ate it with a smile.

And after they were done eating, they all retired for the night.

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Boom!

Crackle!

"AGHHH!!"

Shrieks, screams, and shouts resounded throughout the island.

Waking everyone who had gone to sleep.

Their team was no different.

"What's going on...?" Ron asked a bit afraid with all the shouts that he heard, completely awake.

Juliet and Fren were both in their battle attire, with weapons in their hands.

"Let's go and check out"

"Who cares, we can just learn about what happened when we go out tomorrow morning. Let's go to sleep" Himitsu liked her sleep, quite a lot.

"I am afraid to say this but we can't. Sorry, but please wake up" Fren said, his voice concerned.

Ron dumped cold water on Himitsu to wake her up.

"What the fuck did you just do bastard!"

Himitsu shouted, chanting a heat and warming spell upon herself as she looked at Ron with anger in her eyes.

"Can't you hear it?" Ron said and then before Himitsu could say anything it hit her.

The screams and shrieks are loud enough to send chills up one's spine.

But that wasn't what caught her attention.

"This smell... it's burning?" She muttered.

And Fren looked at her, urging her to get up, without wasting any more time she got up from her spot and so they all ventured outside the cave to look what was happening.

What they saw was a simple yet horrific view.

...The island was burning.

The entirety of the island was burning.

The monsters were rampaging, running all around.

All the monsters were moving probably trying to run away from the fire.

But the island had a barrier that stopped anything from going outside of it, so they were stuck inside.

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"Hey, guys, why is it that our points are increasing" Juliet asked looking at her bracelet.

And the next instant, a huge flying monster hit the cliff, breaking a huge chunk of rock that fell right on Juliet.

Crushing her beneath it.

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"You can't let the health bar fall below 5% but it also means, it's somehow keeping our health in check by being in contact with us which implies that I can't take the bracelet off ...or at least that's what it tries to imply"

"I can't let the bracelet be broken"

"It doesn't matter how many points your team had collected if you are eliminated, it's game over and all your hard-earned points will be given to your teammates, how cruel"

"To collect the points, you have to collect monster cores which will then be evaluated by the AI our bracelet is equipped with"

"There are monsters with varied strengths, from G-ranked to A+ ranked and one even S- ranked"

"We have to get our own necessities, like food on this deserted island. The only things we are allowed to take with us are a few potions and our weapons."

"...And that's about it when it comes to this practical exam. Did I miss something?"

The boy said as he slowly stood up cocking his head to the side.

It was the third day of the exam and he had survived, he had also reached the exact mark of 500 points that were needed.

And so, that meant he had passed the exam.

"...Was this truly necessary?" A hoarse voice reached the boy's ears, the boy turned around to see a man with a troubled expression. The man was none other than the headmaster of the academy, Regis Randolph.

The boy looked around, at the now charred forest and the corpses of monsters that lay all around him and many that were still rampaging in the sky and in the far away places.

Without paying it any mind he walked towards him as he stepped on the corpses and once he came close enough to Regis he stopped, and the boy spoke.

"What do you mean? I just played by the rules. Now, then I will be taking my leave."

The boy said with a smile on his face as he started to walk away.

Regis Randolph stood still as he burned the boy's image in his mind, his black-colored hair that seemed to be reminiscent of night, his dark black-colored eyes that seemed to resemble an abyss, and that wrapped—repulsive smile on his face.

And once the boy had left, Regis spoke.

"Put Noah at the top of the list of Potential Threat"