Chapter 42 Unexpected Reward

Chapter 42 Unexpected Reward

.

.

.

---

"By the way, Danz." Briar spoke up.

"Hmm?"

"Why are you in the boss room?"

"Ah..."

That's right, I haven't told them yet.

"It's quite a long story...". I scratched my head and smiled bitterly.

Then I slowly recounted my journey from when we were separated until I was pushed into the gate. Including the appearance of the demon.

I didn't go into detail about the battle between me and the boss. After all, it wasn't a glorious battle, and I only survived because of a dirty trick.

Oh, I also didn't tell about the dreamscape that the boss put me in, or the fact that the demon had buffed it. I just said that I was too badly injured during the battle and fell unconscious.

...

"...Just as I thought. The reason you were pushed into the boss room was because of some demon's tricks." Liz said seriously.

"According to you, that demon seems to be a high-rank demon. How did it get in without overloading the dungeon?" Briar asked with a frown.

While I was unconscious from being trapped in the dreamscape, Liz and Briar had rescued me in time. They also successfully brought me out of the Dungeon through the boss room's exit.

During the time I was recovering in the hospital room, Aveline had also told them about the demon's aura appearing in the dungeon. It seemed that they had guessed that the reason I was in the boss room was because of the demon's involvement from that moment on. They just didn't understand how it did it.

"I'm not too sure. But I think it didn't actually enter the dungeon. It might just used a part of its consciousness, soul, or some kind of skill to indirectly control some monsters in the dungeon. It seems that because of that, the dungeon didn't collapse, but its aura still lingered in the dungeon and caused an alarm." I made my guess.

Well, this is the only explanation that makes sense to me...

"You make sense..." Briar rested his chin on his hand and thought for a moment before agreeing with me.

"Let's drop this topic. You're safe, that's all matters. But you have to be more careful next time!" Liz looked at me with fiery eyes.

"Okay, I'll pay attention." I smiled reassuringly.

After this incident, I deeply realized my own weakness. If I were stronger, I wouldn't have struggled so much when pushed into a difficult situation.

Just look at Briar and Liz, they weren't actually as strong as the boss but they were still strong enough to fight it. They definitely wouldn't have fallen into the same predicament as me even if they had to face the boss alone.

'I have to get stronger. The sooner the better'. I made up my mind.

No matter what tricks I use, I need to progress quickly.

Not to mention the Demon King's invasion in the distant future, just the fact that I don't want to be a burden to others right now is enough to motivate me to become stronger.

"Oh right. The loot!"

I quickly checked the things I got from the dungeon, which I put in my Storage Space. But then I was surprised to find that the bracelet was not on my hand, nor was the BracePhone.

"Here, your Storage Space and BracePhone. I've already converted the loot into points for you, just go to your student account to check." Liz placed the two bracelets in my hands with a mischievous smile.

"Ah... thank you." I scratched my head a little embarrassedly and said.

"Hehe, it's nothing." Liz smiled.

Then I quickly logged into my account and checked my points. Seeing the balance displayed on the projection from the BracePhone, I could only stare in amazement.

"3-357 contribution points?!". I shouted out loud.

Something was wrong here. I knew that I had obtained quite a lot of loot from the dungeon, but it definitely couldn't have been exchanged for this amount! How could an E-rank dungeon give me this amount!

Realizing the strangeness in my contribution points, I turned to look at my two teammates beside me.

I immediately understood when I saw that both of them were avoiding my gaze.

"It's a nice day, huh?" Briar said, sweating profusely.

"Y-Yes." Liz replied.

"It's the middle of the night. Don't be so distracted." I threw a bucket of cold water on their faces.

"You two, show me your contribution points." I stared at them and said.

Both Liz and Briar showed reluctant expressions. But seeing my stubborn demeanor, they finally showed me their contribution points.

"...you two..." I could only cover my face with my hands when I saw their points.

Their points hadn't changed at all compared to before entering the dungeon.

"Why did you do this... I don't deserve your kindness." I said bitterly.

"You're worth it. Without you, we wouldn't have gotten far in the dungeon. We don't do anything but fight, you do everything else." Liz said sincerely.

"That's right. You take on all the other difficult things yourself. We only do fighting. Not only that, you also participate in the battle. The effort you put in is completely worth what you get in return." Briar continued Liz.

You two are wrong. I didn't choose to do other things because I wanted to suffer, but simply because those were the only things I could do. I couldn't fight, so I had to do those things. You guys were the ones who put in the effort to defeat the monsters. I only killed a very little amount of them... I don't deserve those points.

"But-"

"There's no buts here. The points you have are what you deserve. Besides, we don't need those contribution points." Liz cut me off.

"That's right. We have many ways to earn those points. Just accept them, don't feel indebted to us." Briar said.

He's not wrong, the top 10 students in each grade are given a certain amount of contribution points periodically. They're also strong enough to do the task of earning points from the Trading Hall alone.

But telling me not to feel guilty about receiving these points, I can't.

"...then you two should at least keep the boss for yourselves, right? You two were the ones who defeated it? Why did you even transfer the points from the boss to me..."

The points from the loot from killing monsters are quite a lot. But it's impossible to get that much from an E-rank dungeon. It could only be because the boss's points changed.

"Because if you hadn't weakened it beforehand, we wouldn't have been able to deal with that boss so easily." Briar said.

"That's right. Don't deny your own achievements, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have been able to handle it." Liz held my hand, looked at me with sincere eyes and said.

An indescribable feeling welled up in my heart. A feeling I hadn't felt for a long time. It made the tip of my nose burn and feel a little stinging.

The shackles that had been holding my heart were loosened by the sincere words of the two of them.

Ever since I came to this world, I've always tried not to interact with anyone too much. From then on, I developed the feeling that I was the only one in the world, with no one to rely on. Even after the regression, I decided to slowly get to know the main characters, but I never really trusted them too much.

To me, they are just characters in a novel and I am a reader. There is always an invisible boundary between me and them. Even though I tell myself that they are real people in front of me, deep down I still have the thought: "they are just characters in a novel".

I unconsciously take everything into myself without really caring about their thoughts and feelings.

"You guys..."

*Clack*

"Okay. That's all for now. You two should let your friend rest first, you can talk later"

Aveline came in from outside and said, interrupting our emotional conversation.

"Ah... we understand". Liz said with a regretful expression.

"You rest well Danny. Get well soon"

"Um, I know"

"Then we'll go now". Liz stood up, her expression a little regretful.

"We'll be excused". Both Briar and Liz spoke.

Briar bowed to Aveline and left my hospital room with Liz.

*Clack*

"..."

'Why is she still here???'

You told them to leave so I could rest, then why aren't you going but standing here, Aveline???

"...Alright. Get to the point." Aveline looked at me seriously and said.

I immediately straightened up when I heard Aveline's cold voice.

"The academy decided to give you an extra reward for defeating a Half-Demon Slave-". Aveline spoke up.

"How did you know?!...Ah, I'm sorry for interrupting you."

Because I was too surprised by Aveline's words, I reacted a bit harshly and interrupted her.

I was trying to hide the fact that the boss was being manipulated by a demon...

'Oh right...'

The academy would have to check the boss's corpse to exchange for contribution points. It's normal for them to detect the aura of a demon in it.

"You understand now? Then I won't explain further." Aveline was a little annoyed by my actions, but she didn't mind it too much.

"Since you have made a great contribution in killing a Half-Demon Slave, the academy will give you an additional reward. You can also consider it as compensation for being attacked by demons in the dungeon managed by the academy."

A Half-Demon Slave is a lower version of a Demon Slave - creatures that failed to become a Demon Servant and lost control.

In order for a creature to become a Demon Servant, a Demon will give its blood to that creature. If it can successfully absorb the energy from the demon's blood, it will become a Demon Servant. If not, it will lose control and become a Demon Slave.

A Half-Demon Slave refers to creatures that are influenced by and possess the aura of a demon but have never received demon blood. (Half-Demon Slave -> Demon Slave -> Demon Servant)

"You can choose one of the following two rewards. First, the academy will give you 200 contribution points. You can use those points to exchange for a lot of resources." Aveline said in a tone that didn't contain too much emotion.

It sounded interesting.

"What about the second reward?" I asked.

"The academy will give you the freedom to choose an item from the academy's warehouse. Of course, it's only within the limits of F or E rank items." She continued.

Wow, this sounds much more attractive than the previous one. It's obvious that the academy is signaling that I should choose this second reward. What else am I hesitating about?

"I'll choose the second reward." I said firmly.

With this reward, I can level up quickly! I was having a headache because of the slow leveling up before, but now I don't have to worry about it anymore.

"Alright. Rest well. You can take a day off tomorrow to recuperate. I'll pick you up and take you to the academy's warehouse tomorrow evening."

After saying that, she turned around and left, leaving me in the quiet room.

"Let's see... tomorrow is Monday? So I wasn't in a coma for too long..."

Aveline has given me a day off tomorrow, so I don't have to worry too much about being late for school anymore. I wonder if Liz and Briar get the same time off as me.

Remembering the two of them, the warm feeling that Aveline had extinguished earlier rose up once again. I smiled comfortably and gradually fell asleep.

---

.

.

.