The Genius Programmer Turned Wizard - GPW Chapter 9: The Shallow Hollow (2) (Part 2)

That’s when a voice rang out.
Everyone turned around to see Ethan, who had been quietly watching the whole time.

“What now?”
“Don’t you think we should follow her too?”
“You’ve lost your mind now, haven’t you?”
“No, no, I know it sounds crazy… but you saw it too! The way she walked in like she was possessed. There’s gotta be something valuable in there!”

Well… there is something valuable.
Whether it has value to these guys is another matter, though.

“Whether it’s a magical tool or an artifact, even just a magic scroll—if we sell it to the Magic Tower… Come on, remember Pollock? He turned his whole life around just from a random scrap of paper!”
“So, you’re saying we should risk our lives for some mysterious maybe-something? Fucking hilarious.”
“Come on, no need to risk our lives. Didn’t you see earlier? The flames from the Red Saint just went whoosh! and then boom!…”

To think I pegged this guy as nothing more than a chatterbox—turns out he’s got a silver tongue.
Even Ron gripped his shield tightly and chimed in.

“I… I think we shouldn’t leave a teammate behind in a dangerous place… Even if I’m scared…”
“You—weren’t you just saying we should go back a minute ago? What, all of you lost your minds?”

Lost their minds?
Well… maybe. But there’s a saying:
If three people insist, they could make even a nonexistent tiger appear.

“Judging by the remaining traces of mana, she couldn’t have gone far. Not yet, at least.”
“Whoa, traces of mana? You can see that kind of thing? You sure you’re just an apprentice?”
“Mages really are something else… All I ever do is talk about shields—”

As the three of us kept talking—

“Enough.”

Silence fell.
Liam looked calm at a glance, but his eyes were starting to waver.
Gulp. His throat bobbed up and down, and then he opened his mouth.

“Are we just going to stand here talking? We should go save our mage.”

—

‘I didn’t think I’d be bringing Liam’s whole party along.’

Originally, Liam’s team was supposed to retreat and leave Adeline behind.
Later, a <Rescue the Red Saint quest would appear to search for the missing Adeline.
At that point, it would be the first time high-level players—those who reached A-rank via exploit builds or cheese builds—would enter this dungeon.

…So isn’t it too much for someone like me or Liam’s party to take on now?
Actually, no.

‘Ethan wasn’t completely wrong.’

The monsters that appear here are ones Adeline can easily handle on her own.
The problem lies in the area she’s just entered—
That part is one she can’t overcome alone.

‘It would’ve been best if we had gone in together from the start…’

Still, it’s some relief that the rest of Liam’s party is coming along.
That might offset some of the penalties.
No need to waste their strength here.
Plus, this way is faster anyway.

“I’ll take the lead.”

I stepped forward and offered. The immediate reply was full of annoyance.

“The hell are you on about now? Shut up and stay in the back.”
“It’s not nonsense. If I take the lead, I can locate ambushing monsters like earlier.”

The irritation vanished from Liam’s face. Instead, he grew serious.
He must’ve finally registered that, apprentice or not, I was a mage.

“Come to think of it, didn’t you say something about seeing mana traces or whatever? That means…”
“Yes. I can also track the direction Adeline-nim went.”
“Tch. Say that earlier, damn it! Fine, you take the lead… Shield! Stick close so the apprentice doesn’t die.”

Just like that, the party formation shifted.
Ron and I took the front, with Liam and Ethan directly behind.
Ron was still trembling, but he stayed close by my side.
I, too, focused my vision for the role I had to play.

“Monsters ahead! Two of them!”

Whoosh—!
The tip of the spear flew and pierced the monster’s vital point.
Pshuk!

[KyAAAAAAH!]

As long as I detect them first… they won’t be a problem for a B-rank adventurer like Liam.

“Man, that spear technique never gets old~”
“Quiet. Keep moving.”

After progressing through the dungeon for a while, we eventually hit a ‘wall.’

“Uh… It’s a dead end?”
“Oi, what the hell is this?”

Liam grumbled, though he didn’t hesitate to turn back the way we came.

“Let’s wait a moment.”
“Wait, my ass! We should turn around right now—”

Maybe to them, it looked like just a wall,
but not to me—or Adeline.

‘This is it.’

Inspecting the wall briefly, I found remnants of distorted letters on one section.
I placed my hand on the roughly handspan-wide area…

Creeeaaak—
The wall slid to the right with a grinding sound, revealing a space beyond it.

“Huh?”

Yeah. It’s not a wall—it’s a door.
Leaving the stunned Liam behind, I stepped inside to check something important.

‘I hope I’m not too late.’

At that moment, I spotted Adeline—not casting spells, but swinging her staff to fight,
with a skeleton soldier lunging at her.

‘Magic Missile!’

In a rush, I fired a mana projectile that hit the skeleton soldier.
Off-balance, it was struck down by Adeline’s staff and crumbled to pieces.

“Haaah…”

Panting, her eyes met mine.
She looked more unsurprised than anything—as if she had half-expected this.
But when her gaze shifted to the ones behind me, confusion flickered on her face.

“Didn’t you all head back…?”

Instead of answering her question, I asked what mattered most.

“How many rooms deep is this?”