More Planning.

I was currently dumbfoundedly staring at Julian. He had just leaked a tremendous secret that he was originally supposed to leak much later in the novel to his girlfriend.

"So? Do you know it?", he asked.

"Well... If you're talking about the Dungeons, I do... somewhat... those things can't just be pockets in spacetime, right? I believe them to be different worlds...", I lied on the spot. There was absolutely no way I was going to tell him that I know it.

Julian looked a bit disappointed by this response. I couldn't blame him though. He probably thought that this would be the biggest clue he gets to uncover the mystery of his transmigration.

'You need to figure that out yourself, bro... I'm not gonna tell you a single thing.', I thought.

"But why did you ask?", I inquired.

"Uhh... I just wanted to ask the no.1 written exam student about his beliefs... I was given an assignment to write a hypothesis about Dungeons, you see...", he replied.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah."

'Look at this motherfucker lying... he's so natural about it too! Damn, protagonist...', I thought.

"Is there anything else you need from me?", I asked.

"N-no. There isn't."

"Then, I'll be leaving after taking my coffee."

I kept my word and left Julian behind, took the coffee and walked away.

Immediately after walking away, my brain started firing its neurons at lightning speed.

'Why did he ask me that? He just took a massive risk by telling me that... Did he suspect me of something? But how?', a plethora of questions piled up in my mind.

'Calm down! One question at a time!', I told myself.

'Why did he suspect me?'

'There's only been 2 interactions with Julian until now, including this one. The one where I duelled with him. Did I slip up and show him something suspicious?', then suddenly, a thought came into my mind.

'Oh, wait! He might've suspected me because I used the Concentration skill while fighting! I showed barely any emotions, and even after getting hit and shattering my bones, I wasn't fazed! He must've thought that I had some insane experience in fighting, just like him, when he went to the other world!', I concluded.

'That is probably the case... ', as I was thinking, I suddenly got a message on my phone.

It was the teachers. They were telling us to regroup in the hotel and get ready to go to the Monster Garden.

Simultaneously, I got a call from Evangeline.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Samuel."

"Need anything?"

"Umm, I was wondering where you went?"

"I'm on the beach, why?"

"Come back quickly! We need to get ready to go to the Monster Garden!"

"I am! I am! Chill."

"And umm..."

"Yeah?"

"We're going together, right?"

"... Yeah. It would be too boring otherwise."

"Yes!"

"What?"

"N-nothing! Just hurry and return!"

--- After 30 mins ---

In Nexus Academy, you only need your uniform when you're on campus. If you're on a trip like this, you just need to have your ID card on you. It has a microprocessor that transmits its location and condition to a server operated by the school's administrators. Pretty high-tech stuff.

I got ready. By 'ready' I mean just putting on my usual black full-sleeve shirt and black trousers.

When I went outside, I saw Eve standing in the reception room. She was wearing a pair of navy-blue leggings and a brown cardigan.

'She really likes the cardigan, huh?', I thought.

"... Oh! There you are! I've been waiting for 10 minutes!", Eve said after spotting me.

"Shut up, I'm not even late. You're just too early.", I said, showing her my phone's clock.

"Mmmhp! *Sigh... Let's go.", she just gave up becoming angry and turned around.

I had thought that the 'incident of that night' would make things awkward between us, but it surprisingly didn't do anything. I was so glad that it didn't.

Anyways, today I had no plans of having fun with Eve. I would be physically present, of course, but not mentally.

'The dungeon outbreak in 3 days... It's about time I start preparing for it...', I thought.

The S+ Dungeon that was going to suddenly open and flood the island will be one of the world's most difficult dungeons to conquer, and to conquer it, a lot of the high-level hunters in the world will sacrifice their lives.

The dungeon's name was the {Undying Archmage's Tomb}. The main boss, a Lich. Not just any Lich, but the Undying Archmage. A terrifying monster that conquered its home planet and now aims towards Earth.

The Lich is so strong that it can infinitely create high-level undead minions. Its miasma alone can kill any hunter that is below A grade.

The only beings that can withstand the enormous pressure of the monster and can even fight back are S or S+ grade hunters.

But, even through all of this turmoil, Humanity, allying with the Elves, eventually conquered the dungeon.

Its rewards were tremendous - The entire Earth got a resistance to Miasma, meaning, there would be a much lesser chance of other undead beings invading Earth. The overall strength of all Hunters in the world increased slightly. And lastly, the Staff of Undeath.

The Staff of Undeath was so strong that it became a world-class superweapon. A treaty was signed to never use the staff without the permission of the Humans, the Elves and even the Demons.

The ability of the Staff of Undeath was the thing that made it insanely powerful. The ability to control all undead and raise any kind of creature, no matter how big and how old their corpse is, as an undead. And this ability had no limit.

The wielder of the staff could raise the ancient monsters that were subjugated by the past heroes and make an immortal army of them, overthrowing the entire world.

The Staff of Undeath was destroyed before it could be used in the great war though. The demons had feared the power of the staff and deemed it too risky to be left alone. This had resulted in the loss of countless hunters, Elves and demons as well.

'Anyways, I need to come up with strategies to survive this monster fest that's coming y way...'