Outside the dome, a female A-rank Esper dressed in a dark-gray, sleek combat suit scanned the surroundings and frowned before turning to the Esper beside her.
"Did you guys find anything?"
She asked, her voice calm.
The man shook his head.
"Nothing. The reason the dome suddenly shook is still unknown. We can only hope it's not a sign of a new dungeon opening nearby. All of our S-rank Espers, including Erick, are currently still inside a high-rank dungeon. It would be disastrous if another high-rank dungeon appeared while they're away."
Her gaze narrowed, but she didn't speak. Instead, she stepped forward, standing in front of the dome, her hand reaching out to touch it. The man followed, watching her frown deepen, tilting his head in curiosity.
"What's wrong, Monica?"
She pulled back slightly.
"Don't you feel it?"
She said, her eyes scanning the air.
"There's definitely mana in the air—but it strangely doesn't feel like the violent kind that gathers before a dungeon forms. It... feels more like the aftermath of a skill."
The man froze, then let out a laugh. Monica was the leader of their five-person team, but sometimes she said things that were simply too absurd and unbelievable.
"You must be joking. Even S-rank Espers have to pour a large amount of mana into creating a disturbance on this scale. Why would anyone with a brain do that? It would just contaminate their wavelength!"
Monica shook her head with a sigh.
"It's possible. Perhaps a rogue or an evil Esper is nearby—you never know. I hope you're right and I'm just overthinking it."
The Esper stopped laughing, no longer taking her words lightly. Nowadays, who didn't know about rogue or evil Espers? They were Espers who broke the law for personal gain or aligned themselves with weird cults aiming to take over the world.
He glanced around cautiously.
"Well, our team has already checked the area to rule out that possibility. However, I will ask the team to review all the nearby CCTVs again for any suspicious activi—"
Before he could finish speaking, the air around them trembled once more—this time with a force far greater than before.
The man's eyes widened in shock as he immediately sprinted to enter the dome.
"Shit! The reason the dome shook earlier was really a dungeon! Everyone missed it because it was forming underground! We need to evacuate the area immediately!"
Monica's suspicion that an Esper had caused the earlier commotion didn't fade.
However, she pushed her thoughts aside and, alongside her team and other Espers from the Association, focused on quickly removing the newcomers from the dome.
In no time, chaos erupted, with numerous Espers shouting at those inside to get out while sealing off the area above the spot where the violent energy was gathering.
This was the scene Lucien saw when he arrived outside the dome. He had gone to Zephyr's room after much thought, having finally decided that he would run away with him to prevent him from being sent to the Lab. They would hide until Erick returned, and then Erick would handle everything.
But Zephyr wasn't there.
Still, it didn't take Lucien long to figure out where the man was. The loud whispers of the Guides and Espers in the Association told him everything—how Eleven, that piece of shit, had set his sights on Zephyr! Eleven had barged into his room last night and even had the gall to harass him this morning!
Lucien knew what kind of person Eleven was—after all, Lucien had read the novel!
Eleven Elonor was a minor side character who appeared in the early part of the story. He was an S-rank guide—arrogant, wealthy, and the younger brother of an S-rank Esper.
Although his parents died early, he and his brother became well-known after dungeons started appearing because he was one of the so-called 'readers'—the individuals who warned the world about what was coming.
Eleven had initially wanted to sleep with Erick because he liked his looks, but Erick soared to fame within the Association so fast that he became untouchable before Eleven could even make a move on him.
In the end, he sacrificed himself during a dungeon break to save the protagonist, having truly fallen in love with the man.
Lucien had actually been dumbfounded reading about Eleven's death, wondering how the hell someone who changed bed partners like clothes suddenly fell for the protagonist—and even sacrificed his life.
He had reread the initial part of the novel, thinking he might've accidentally missed something, but the novel never explained why or when Eleven had fallen for Erick.
So, he figured that the author had killed Eleven purely for the sake of killing him, assuming the readers were brain-dead.
This was one of the countless reasons Lucien gave the story a terrible review.
Although he regretted it very much now.
Now that Eleven, that promiscuous man, had set his lecherous eyes on Zephyr—the only SSS-rank in the world—Lucien wanted to cry. Why did it seem like the entire world was trying to provoke Zephyr, unaware that if he truly lost it, he could destroy them all!
Lucien had hurried toward the dome after finding that Zephyr was seen going in that direction. But… who could explain the shit currently unfolding in front of him??
An underground dungeon had appeared below the dome! Lucien's breath hitched when an Esper helping a guide out of the dome shouted urgently to those nearby.
"Hurry up, move back! The center of the dome is collapsing under the force of the currents pouring out from the entrance of the newly opened dungeon underground!"