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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 164: Regret

The day after my discussion with Mejina about the future, I didn’t attend class and headed alone to the entrance of the dungeon on the edge of the academy.

“It’s been a while. Special Dungeon ‘Morning Star.'”

This dungeon is called the Morning Star, implying that both beginners and advanced players can enter, and it symbolizes the wish for a new hope star to be born that dispels darkness.

“Hmm. Being alone after a while isn’t bad.”

Today, I was once again acting solo, as Fiera and Shuvina were busy with lessons and couldn’t join me.

“It’s been a while since I took on a dungeon solo, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

At the dungeon entrance, there were a few first-year students, teachers in charge of management, and some upperclassmen parties, who were discussing strategies and making final equipment checks before heading into the dungeon.

There were also a few outside adventurers who could enter the academy grounds and challenge the dungeon with a special procedure.

“Hey, you! Wait a moment.”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yep.”

As I was about to enter the dungeon, a young man stopped me from behind.

“You look like a first-year student, right? First-years can’t enter the dungeon yet. It’s dangerous, so you should go back.”

It seemed that the young man thought I didn’t know that first-years could only enter the dungeon after finishing their practical training, and he was kindly trying to inform me.

“Thank you for your kindness. However, it’s fine. I’ve got permission from the principal. Here’s the proof.”

I showed him the certificate I received from the principal, and he took it with a surprised expression.

“It’s true.”

“Do you understand now?”

“Ah, yes. But are you going to tackle the dungeon all by yourself? Do you have any teammates?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Then, how about teaming up with us this time? If it gets dangerous, we can help you, and besides, you probably don’t know much about this dungeon yet, right?”

The young man, perhaps having a kind heart, was worried about me despite just meeting me and suggested that I join their party.

“That’s very generous, but I’ll have to decline.”

“Why’s that?”

“I’m stronger than you think. If I weren’t, the principal wouldn’t have approved such an exception for me, right?”

“That’s certainly true.”

I might have sounded a bit sarcastic, but I emphasized the fact that the principal had recognized my abilities to avoid complicating the conversation any further.

“Got it. If the principal recognizes you, then your abilities must be solid. But if you ever have any questions, feel free to ask. I don’t want a junior to die on my conscience.”

“Thank you.”

I knew at least more about the dungeon than this young man did, but there was no need to say any more to someone who was showing concern, so I simply expressed my gratitude.

“Well then, I’m off.”

“Ah, good luck out there!”

After parting ways with the young man, I showed the permit I received from the principal to the administrator near the entrance of the dungeon and finally entered its depths.

“Hehe. It really has been a while.”

The first floor of the Morning Star dungeon was covered in rocky walls, giving it a quintessential beginner dungeon vibe.

This dungeon has a difficulty of F rank from the first to the tenth floor, with only slimes and juvenile goblins as the monsters that appear.

Up to around the fifth floor, only one monster appears at a time, but after that, two or three start showing up together.

“This dungeon is truly designed to train beginners. Well, there’s no need to linger in these low levels. I’ll head deeper quickly.”

Slimes and goblins surely couldn’t put up a fight against me right now, so I enhanced my body and set off running towards the next level as fast as possible.

(I have the route to the 80th floor memorized, but for now, I’ll settle for about the 40th floor today.)

The floors of this dungeon rank from F on the first to tenth floors, E from eleventh to twentieth, and from there the rank increases by one every twenty floors, with the highest point currently being the SSS rank equivalent of the 151st floor.

Even though 151 was the highest floor, it didn’t mean the dungeon was completely cleared; it was just the maximum that could be explored.

Long before I was born, the emperor at that time ordered the conquest of this dungeon, sending knights and many adventurers.

Initially, they tried to conquer it with sheer numbers, but as the difficulty increased, the number of capable adventurers and knights dwindled, ultimately resulting in the failure to clear it entirely with only the boss of the 150th floor defeated, ending the large-scale expedition.

(Seriously… I wonder how many floors this dungeon has.)

It’s a dungeon filled with mysteries, and perhaps that’s why so many want to conquer it, as even now high-ranking adventurers challenge it in droves.

(I do want to fully conquer it someday, but I’m not at that level yet. I need to solidify my abilities before heading there.)

Continuing to dash through the shortest route while defeating monsters randomly with my body enhancement, I took down the boss at the 40th floor, concluding that day’s exploration.

The progress through the Morning Star was going smoothly, and just five days in, I managed to clear up to the 100th floor, which marks the end of the A rank.

This dungeon had an exceptionally interesting design, with changes in terrain, weather, and complexity of paths as the floors increased.

For example, the 50th floor was a vast forest, while the 90th floor was a beautiful cave illuminated by sparkling ores, and there were even long straight paths spanning hundreds of kilometers or incredibly complex, winding paths—truly a variety of designs.

My highest point was at the 80th floor during my previous life right before I committed suicide, so I had no information beyond that, making it necessary for me to proceed with caution, resulting in spending five days to reach the 100th floor.

(Well, it’s still plenty fast though.)

Upon clearing the 100th floor, I decided to take a break from dungeon exploration and loosen up for a bit.

Today, since the academy was closed, I brought Fiera and Shuvina and took a magic train to a small village a little farther away.

“My ears still hurt.”

“Fiera, are you okay?”

Fiera, who rode a magic train for the first time, seemed to have injured her ears due to the sound of the train moving, possibly because of her overly keen hearing as a beastman.

“‘Heal’… How’s that?”

“Mm. It’s better now.”

Since Fiera’s hearing would be vital for the task ahead, I healed her ears with a recovery spell.

“Anyway, we’ve taken on a bit of a troublesome request this time.”

“Yeah. I never thought we’d have to guide low-level adventurers.”

“Such a hassle.”

The reason we came here was due to a request from the guild master, Shalara, who asked us to help take down some bandits leading a group of newly D-rank adventurers.

Honestly, it was a troublesome request, but since it came from the guild master, declining it wasn’t an option this time.

“Now then. Those gathered over there are the ones we’re taking with us.”

Near the entrance of the village, ten adventurers were gathered, and we approached their group.

“Whoa. Seriously…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Uh, nothing.”

As we got closer and could see the faces of the gathered adventurers, I spotted a young man amongst them, making me regret taking this request deeply.

(Why is the protagonist here?)

The young man was none other than Shudo, whom I had met during the welcome party, and he was the protagonist of this world.

(This is going to turn into a troublesome situation. Ugh, I just want to go home.)

The fact that he was here meant I was bound to get embroiled in some messy situation, but having accepted the request, there was no backing out now.

Resigned, I forced my heavy feet to move, suppressing my urge to flee as I made my way toward them.

 

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