[CH399+ Continued] Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power

Chapter 539

Ember and I look at her cautiously, not answering. So, she elaborates.

"I've been to the Bedrock Region plenty of times for private missions. I've never seen hunters like you... Your stamina, mentality, even fighting instincts... something is up. That blue crystal that took videos of everything it saw, how'd you even get your hands on one of those? I've only ever seen association officials use those—"

There's another long pause, however, this time I do reply while looking her in the eyes.

"I don't think any of these questions need to be answered. How would you like it if I started digging into your past?"

I can tell she's really just curious, but based on the heavy aura of foreign mana in the room, I can tell everything we're doing and saying is being watched and analyzed.

So, to nip this conversation in the bud, I decide to take a risk and open my telepathy link with her.

"You want to cause some havoc, right? The stronger nations are used to always controlling winning spots with their Elite hunters in the B-Class exams."

Her pupils shift, and I can tell she's very confused about the voice in her head, so I speak again.

"I don't feel comfortable talking about this where others can listen. This is telepathy. A special perk I acquired after... Actually, I won't elaborate. All you need to know is that It's how I coordinate attacks so flawlessly with Emrie. I'd appreciate it if you kept it a secret from the Association as well."

She nods once, and I peer over to Dane and Natalie, then to Ember and continue through my link.

"What if a few extra applicants won this year's exams? Wouldn't it be fun to place higher than the chosen Elites from the Apex Region and reject their honorary B-Class license anyway?"

She replies through the link.

"Well, if you put it like that. A scenario like that would be satisfying...."

I grin as she nods once, then replies out loud to split the perceived awkward silence in the room to make the conversation seem natural to anyone listening in through a surveillance system.

"Right. I guess I don't know much about you, and you don't know me. Let's just do our best to win this thing."

Ember stands up and lets out a long sigh while stretching his arms.

"Well, I'm glad that's settled. I wonder if any other teams are going to figure this trial out."

It takes over 30 minutes for the Apex Region's team to finally complete the trial, and after them, only two other teams even manage to finish before the time runs out.

Marcie decides to rest while Ember and I continue the trials.

While she's up to do more, it would be best to have her and all the others fully rested by morning to help with the later trials at full strength.

Once trial 9 starts, it seems clear that many teams are taking a similar strategy.

We get another standard dungeon collapse trial, and Ember and I speed off through the sky to the end of it without waiting at all.

We disregard any hunters that need saving and plunge right into the boss room.

There's a huge humanoid tusked giant creature with many minions that spawn inside; however, we aim straight for the vitals and don't have any teammates or baggage to protect. We can go in straight for the kill without having to think about the recoil of our attacks hitting anyone at close range.

The monster's counterattacks miss us by mere millimeters.

It looks like we've nearly died, but both of us know that even if these attacks hit us, it wouldn't feel like anything more than a pinprick.