Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~

At first the plan was to only help Thomas get through the Dungeons, but in the end Princess Leirana also decided to join him.

Allen's Army could end up needing a favor or two from Latash in the future, so having such a connection with a princess was a good starting point.

Though then it would be King Inbuel who had to repay the favor.

Allen was not fully up to date on the political situation, but he felt like Inbuel could have been an issue eventually.

There were no diplomatic relationships between Albahar and Latash.

But the Academy City was under the management of the Five Continents' Alliance, and he had secured a base there, so he was still confident he would get the beastmen into the Talent Change Dungeon.

All of the guards and soldiers keeping the streets safe were from Latash.

Other countries had similar Academies under the jurisdiction of the Five Continents' Alliance, but all the security personnel were always given by the country the Academy was in.

Since Latash had no connections with Albahar, there was a possibility the beastmen would be treated with less respect than others, and if that were to happen Allen would go see the princess.

Allen kept the schedule of his army in mind as he explained what Thomas and Leirana would be doing in the future.

(I think this should be enough information for them. I don't really know what she does in her school, but I'm sure she'll manage.)

Leirana was still attending school, but she would go to the dungeon with the elves too.

Allen studied how to clear dungeons in his Academy.

He remembered everyone was supposed to form parties during summer break and go into the dungeons back then, but he had done that in his own way.

Once he explained what he felt was enough for the two, he stood up.

There were other things he wanted to do in the Academy City, so he wanted to move on to something else now.

"Thomas, one last thing, feel free to use this building yourself, I'm sure it'll make everything easier. There's plenty of free rooms anyway."

"Oh? That'd help a lot, thanks."

Allen had just bought six large residential buildings.

Thomas was going to enter the dungeons together with members of Allen's Army, so he was told to use any room he wanted.

"What about me? May I stay here as well?"

Leirana asked Allen.

(Hm? Well, there's a magic carriage station nearby, so attending school shouldn't be too hard. I guess they want to live together too, and I can charge the king for rent.)

It seemed that Leirana also wanted to stay in the base for Allen's Army.

There was the possibility that Thomas would want to discuss parts of the dungeon with her too.

Both of them seemed to want that.

It was not too obvious, but since Thomas had no Talent, he still seemed slightly nervous about entering a dungeon.

"Well, these buildings will soon get filled with people, many of whom might be of different races, so as long as that doesn't bother you, you can stay too. All I ask is that you don't claim too many rooms for yourself."

So far Leirana had shown no strong reactions towards the dwarf Merle or the elf Sophie, so maybe she had been trained to remain calm around other races as royalty.

Then there would be a large number of people coming to live in the buildings, so he tried to tell them to avoid occupying a room each.

Many members of Allen's Army would be coming to the Academy City soon.

"Did you hear that, Thomas? Apparently we'll have to live in the same room."

Leirana grinned teasingly as she spoke to Thomas.

(She's growing up really fast.)

As far as Allen remembered, she was still around twelve or thirteen years old, a first year student.

"Wha-?! Wait, Allen, you'll only give us one room?!"

Thomas' cheeks flushed red as he complained to Allen.

"No no, it's fine if you two live in separate rooms, brother. Maybe you could even live in separate buildings. Just avoid doing anything that could bring shame to the royal family or ours."

Cecile decided to interject into the conversation.

"O-oh, thanks Cecile. That could've been a pretty bad misunderstanding."

For Thomas, it had all been a misunderstanding.

"Aww, that's too bad."

Leirana's expression showed she was clearly disappointed.

(Well, at least it seems like Cecile is containing her resentment for Leirana after all.)

Allen knew what happened with Mihai, but he still did not resent the princess at all.

That was likely because of his experiences in his past life, back then the sins of the fathers did not have to be repaid by their children, that was common knowledge.

Not even the law made one responsible for their parents' acts, though there were always some people who were too spiteful.

At least Allen never felt like blaming a child for something their parents did though.

But in this world, royal families would all share their glory and favor, but their sins would stain their entire lineage as well.

Allen would not blame Cecile if she developed an intolerance towards the royal family that placed such horrifying expectations on her brother Mihai, which resulted in his death.

"Anyway, I think that's everything we had to say, so let's go Cecile."

"You're right."

Cecile was starting to look distressed, so Allen decided to take her out of there.

He would just let some of the army members introduce themselves to the couple, and leave the rest to them.

There was a Wraith A summon there as well, so Allen did not mind being away.

Allen and his friends left the buildings and reached a place with a long queue.

(I think I heard everyone got news of the Talent Change Dungeon in the Five Continents' Alliance now. The guild seems to be getting overworked now though.)

Considering the crowds of adventurers around the Talent Change Dungeon as well, it was clear that word of it had spread quickly.

Since the pope had disappeared, the announcement of the Talent Change Dungeon's existence was handled by the higher-ups of the Five Continents' Alliance.

The Dungeon itself had started operating since April though, so some adventurers had already started spreading the word.

There were some who had heard rumors that the oracle in January had said the Talent Change would open in April as well.

Digragni, who had built it, also had no reason to keep quiet about it, so the priests of Digragni also heard the news early.

Because of all that, rumors had spread like wildfire in the adventurer community, some more accurate than others.

Most of them mentioned the Dungeon made one stronger, and since power triumphed over anything else in this world, everyone spoke about it.

The leaders of the Five Continents' Alliance were still busy with cleaning up after the war, so they were a bit slow to react to the rumors.

To avoid confusing people too much, the Adventurer's Guild in the Academy City decided to make an announcement.

The Five Continents' Alliance would make a more widespread one later when they were free enough.

There was still a lot of confusion about it all, which was how Allen was able to buy a lot of land near the Talent Change Dungeon before prices rose.

"Ohh! So that's where the Talent Change Dungeon is!! I'll finally be able to change my Talent!!"

Merle clenched her fist and looked at the large building at the end of the queue.

While Allen explained everything to Thomas and Leirana, she had been itching to go to the Talent Change Dungeon as well.

"I can see it too. It really is a large building. I guess it's about time you got your Talent Change."

"Yeah yeah!"

Allen looked at it while replying to Merle as well.

Everyone in the line of people was waiting for their turn to cross the Dungeon's entrance.

The building housing the Talent Change Dungeon was ten floors tall, and a constant stream of adventurer groups kept entering it.

Merle was filled with excitement as she looked at it.

She already had the extremely rare 3 Star Talent of [Magic Rock General], but if she went through the Dungeon, she should be able to obtain the [Magic Rock King] Talent.

Merle's Talent Change was one of their objectives there, but not the only one.

Everyone else in Allen's Army would eventually go through it as well, so Allen wanted to scout the location himself first, making sure to take note of any dangerous locations or traps.

"Hey you, you can't bring that thing inside the Dungeon!"

"T-that can't…"

"Those are the rules. Only weapons, defensive items, food, and healing potions are admitted inside."

(Hm?)

Allen was starting to get impatient when he noticed something happening further ahead. Someone was pulling a cart behind, and was stopped before he could enter the Dungeon.

The entrance guard kept telling him to not enter with it, and other guards escorted him and the cart out. He looked really disappointed as he was led away, given the long queue to enter.

Allen watched that unfold and wrote down a note inside his Grimoire.

"It's finally our turn."

Allen's group reached the entrance, so Allen said that while he showed his adventurer's card.

"Let's see…huh?!"

"Hey, what's wrong?"

One of the guards froze when he saw Allen's adventurer's card.

Another guard got closer wondering what was wrong, and also looked shocked.

They noticed the S and the name Allen in the card.

"Did I need something else to enter the dungeon?"

There were a lot of impatient people waiting behind Allen, so he had to ask.

"Ah, well, not really. It seems like you aren't carrying anything excessive."

They quickly understood that the black haired boy in front of them was the first S Rank Adventurer in two decades.

One of the guards stammered a respectful response and listed the requirements to enter.

Only parties with eight or less members are allowed.

All party members must show their adventurer's cards.

Everyone must have cleared A Rank Dungeons.

Only minimum equipment is allowed, horse or hand carts can't be brought inside.

Allen nodded hearing that, and made sure it all lined up with the information he obtained before.

Then his friends showed their adventurer's cards too.

"A party of five, I see. Please enter room 802 on the eighth floor. Just go straight ahead from the entrance and you should reach a magic elevator. Please ask the staff how to use it."

"Got it, thank you."

They were let inside without much issue.

Inside there was a reception desk, and rows of multiple doors with a magic elevator behind them.

"The doors will open automatically once you're near. Feel free to use whichever you want."

Allen nodded, and led the group by approaching a nearby door and entering into a small room.

Once everyone followed him, he pushed the button for the eighth floor like it was the most normal thing to do.

"You're using that like you've known it your entire life."

"Well, I used to get on these all the time in my past life."

It was just an elevator for Allen.

"How about you tell us a bit more about your past then?"

"Mmm… What's in the past should be in the past."

Allen would often talk about games he played, but he never really spoke of his own life.

Cecile was always curious to know more about the world he used to live in though.

Thunk

Gashah

He thought the magic device was moving, but then the doors opened again.

(I see, it's not really a moving elevator but more of a teleporter.)

There was no device there moving the elevator up or down.

It simply teleported everyone inside to the selected floor.

They came out to a corridor like that of a residential building, and they looked for the door with 802 written on it.

"Excuse me."

Allen said with an idiotic voice as he opened the door and went inside, there was no one who called him out for it.

He always felt empty when Kurena was not around to reply.

She was in the S Rank Dungeon now, hunting Iron Golems.

'Welcome, Abandoned Gamers. Thank you for visiting us today. I'm Guide System 0802. Please close the door once you're all inside.'

(I see, this place is pretty cramped. That's why only parties of 8 and without much luggage are allowed inside.)

Apparently there was a guide as well.

A Cube Device floated in the center of the small room.

A cart like the one pulled by the adventurer in the entrance would not have fit inside, but eight people with only a handful of equipment would have just enough space.

(I see, they made the rooms as small as possible to maximize the number of people who can go through a Talent Change at the same time.)

It was clear that even more adventurers and soldiers would be visiting the Talent Change Dungeon soon.

"Can we ask questions too?"

'As long as it's within the confines of my knowledge, yes.'

"How many floors does the dungeon have?"

'Floors isn't quite the right term, but there are 3 assignments. If you pass them all, you get to undergo a Talent Change.'

(So there's just 3 main things to go through.)

Even those without a Talent could enter the Dungeon, so it made sense to have a small number.

"Is there a final boss?"

'There isn't.'

Allen wrote everything down in his notes.

"What kind of monsters are inside?"

'Their Ranks are A, B, C.'

"So there's even A Rank monsters, that sounds pretty difficult."

(Hm? Wouldn't a dragon kill everyone if those with Talents didn't max them out though?)

Allen knew that fighting a dragon with only eight people could be tricky.

Even he struggled when a dragon appeared as the last boss in a dungeon.

'I'm sure you'll understand once you go inside.'

The Guide System did not seem willing to answer any further questions.

"I see. Take us there then."

He had received an answer for everything he was curious about, so he requested to be taken to the place where they would receive the assignments.

'Good luck challenging the Talent Change Dungeon.'

As the Guide System answered, the group was transported to a completely different location.

It was time for them to conquer the Talent Change Dungeon.