Published: July 4, 2025
Without knocking, the door was roughly opened.
"Master, this is bad!"
The one who burst in was the receptionist Nina.
When Nina and the guild staff enter the Guild Master's office without knocking, it usually means that something truly urgent and very troublesome has happened.
"Report."
But precisely because it was such a situation, it was necessary to remain calm.
Both the Guild Master Hugh and the reporter must keep their composure.
Prompted by that thought, Hugh urged her in a slow and calm voice.
Nina took a deep breath before reporting.
"There has been some kind of problem inside the dungeon, and the investigation team has disappeared. Professor Christopher from the Magical University has requested that you come immediately to the dungeon entrance."
"The investigation team has disappeared…"
Hugh was momentarily taken aback by the unexpected report.
"I'll head there immediately. Staff, stay on standby. Send only the messenger to the dungeon's branch office. Do not inform the adventurers still remaining in the guild. If they ask anything, just tell them I'll explain later."
With that, Hugh donned his cloak and exited the office.
(What do you mean they disappeared? What in the world… No, more importantly, Abel and the others must be diving right now… right? Damn it, first the sea, and now it’s the dungeon… I hope they find them quickly… I never want to report someone missing again…)
As Hugh rode the guild's messenger horse toward the dungeon, his mind was in turmoil.
Even when he arrived at the tent of the guild's branch office at the dungeon entrance, his mind was still unsettled.
However, he was a seasoned veteran and had methods to force himself to calm down.
Taking a large breath to steady himself, he entered the tent.
Inside the tent were Professor Christopher from the Magical University, the deputy research director of the Royal Magic Guild, and a professor from Central University.
They appeared to be the highest-ranking individuals from their respective investigation teams who were still reachable.
"Professor Christopher, please tell me the details."
Hugh first urged Professor Christopher to explain.
Professor Christopher's explanation was concise.
Everyone inside the dungeon had disappeared simultaneously.
Several had vanished right in front of their eyes.
In the eleventh layer, about a thousand people from Central University, including the head Clive, and in the tenth layer, about fifty members from the Royal Magic Guild, including advisor Arthur and the red sword, had been diving.
Additionally, there were adventurers hired from the City of Run assigned to secure supply routes from the entrance to the eleventh layer, but they were also believed to have disappeared.
However, it was not clear what exactly had happened to those in the eleventh layer.
The members of the Royal Magic Guild in the tenth layer had confirmed their disappearance through the reaction of the magic tools they were using.
That magic tool had registered a reaction for just a moment in the fortieth layer.
"The fortieth layer…?"
Even Hugh could not help but be surprised at this.
He understood that the hundred C-rank adventurers present here were essentially all of the remaining combat strength in the City of Run.
Considering that, the fortieth layer was a place that was 'normally' unreachable.
Yes, normally.
"I heard that there were no monsters from the first to the eleventh layer. Is that true?"
If, due to the great tsunami, there were indeed no monsters below the twelfth layer… then reaching the fortieth layer would not be impossible.
Since there were no maps of the layers below thirty in the adventurers' guild, discovering the stairs to the lower layers would take time, but he thought that could be dealt with using sheer manpower.
"Yes, that is true. Therefore, it is certainly possible that there are no monsters below the twelfth layer."
So, it was a 'possibility.'
There could be none. But there could also be some.
"However, the problem is that we have no idea why they disappeared. And there is a high possibility that the same thing could happen again. We don't know if those who were sent away are alive. I'm sorry, but in such an uncertain situation, I cannot lead my subordinates into the dungeon."