"Lucien!"
A deep, commanding voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Lucien glanced at the tall man opposite him—golden hair, golden eyes. A walking cliché of the handsome protagonist found in every other genre.
Everyone else around looked like jellyfish and paled in comparison to him—even the female lead of this novel. Tsk tsk. Lucien snickered inwardly, his voice sharp.
"What?"
Erick Everlette—the supposed protagonist—was genuinely surprised. This was the first time Lucien had ever talked to him like that. Still, he didn't give it much thought—maybe it was just Lucien O'Connell's new tactic to get his attention. And besides, there were more pressing matters to deal with.
"An A-rank dungeon has appeared in a prison on the outskirts of City M. It was already overcrowded, so the moment it formed, a dungeon break occurred. We're being dispatched to handle it. Try not to cause any trouble this time—and stay at least ten feet away from me, please."
Lucien's eyebrow twitched.
As if he'd want to get close to him!
He had a type, alright!
"I'll stay 20 feet away from you."
He retorted, and a few snickers rippled through the group standing behind Erick.
Nana Parker, the beautiful and tall female lead with pink hair, smiled at him sweetly, but her pink eyes were filled with repulsion.
"Yeah, we believe you."
She muttered, clearly unconvinced.
Lucien wanted to give her the middle finger but decided against it—it would only cause a headache. So, he quietly trailed the group.
Including him, the team consisted of six members: two guides and four Espers.
Erick Everlette called upon an Esper with teleportation abilities, and in no time, they arrived outside the small prison where the dungeon break had occurred. The area was restricted, with several low-ranking Espers guarding the perimeter after evacuating as many people as possible from the prison.
Just as they entered the prison, the scene was grim—dead bodies were strewn across the floor, with massive spider-like monsters feasting on them. Erick alone easily dealt with all the creatures, and Lucien tsked.
'What a show-off.'
But as they all finally entered the dungeon, something felt off. Not a single beast was in sight—just an eerie, unsettling silence.
Nana Parker glanced around.
"Something's not right... The dungeon should be crawling with monsters, but I don't see a single one around. There's no way those few outside were all it had."
Erick ran his hand along the nearby wall. The dungeon resembled an underground tunnel with multiple winding paths.
"It feels like the monsters were killed by something... but I'm not sure what. What could be strong enough to wipe them out without leaving a single trace?"
Unlike the tense, alert group, Lucien was casually picking his ear, feeling bored. After all, he had read the original novel and knew there was nothing to fear in this dungeon.
In fact, the dungeon would vanish within a day, swiftly fading from everyone's memory, since only a few criminals had died there.
Sure, the team did find a newly awakened Esper inside—injured and on the verge of a rampage—but he ended up dying because he didn't receive guiding in time, thanks to Nana Parker and Lucien O'Connell arguing over who should do it. The Esper's sudden death made Erick furious, and he scolded the female lead—until she started crying, claiming it was all Lucien's fault. Tsk tsk.
In the end, the team didn't even look at the dead Esper's face or bother taking his body.
One glance at his prison uniform, and they left him behind without a second thought.
Just because he was a criminal.
They were just grateful he died before his rampage caused too much destruction. He was probably a very low-ranked Esper.
Lucien shook his head with a sigh.
In no time, just like in the original novel, they found the injured Esper lying in a pool of blood. As expected, Lucien argued with Nana with all his might, since it was Nana responsibility as an S-rank Guide to deal with Espers on the verge of rampage.
Yet, Erick was asking him to do it.
But unlike the original Lucien, he wasn't heartless scum. So, he instinctively ended up holding the hand of the injured Esper, who desperately reached out to him.
"Ah, damn it."