**Day 32 The Farthest Labyrinth 54F**
Third battle. Stuck here again. Werewolves. Wolfmen. But we've been chipping away at their numbers. Only about 20 left now. We can definitely push through. Beyond here, down below—Haruka is waiting.
"Let's camp here tonight～. Should be fine, but let's set up a proper base anyway."
"""""Yeees～"""""
Finally… finally did it. Took them down. Wiped out the whole Lv54 werewolf pack.
"Food crew, assemble! Meat's coming～! Hurry up and chop those veggies～!"
"Done over here～! Pass the vegetables～!"
"Meat. Meat. Grilling meat～! Meat meat meeeat～!"
Everyone's injuries seem okay. Lots of light wounds, but we're grilling stamina mushrooms too. We're good.
""""So hungry～ so tired～""""
The boys are wiped out too. This time we broke through the werewolf pack, split them, flanked, prevented escape—turned it into mobile warfare leading to encirclement and annihilation. So everyone ran around a ton and got exhausted. But we finished them. Finally cleared the way forward.
Tents are up. The exhausted boys need food and rest first. Food is priority.
"Finally heading to 55F～"
""""Took forever～ those wolves～""""
Took a full two days just on 54F. Enemies will only get stronger from here. But we have no choice. No matter how long it takes, Haruka is fighting alone down at the bottom against monsters way above our level, pushing upward. So at the very least… we want to go meet him. Everyone does.
Shimazaki-san and the others finally hit the Lv90s. Climbing solo at insane speed. Which means their summoner, Haruka, is still fighting nonstop. Alone. Against bottom-floor monsters. Heading up.
Nighttime meeting. Aka girls' talk. Boys are air.
"The 55F ones are 'Spike Buffalo Lv55,' right?"
"Another stampeding spiky-bull army～"
"No floor master on 55F, so normal raid—pick them off one by one, yeah?"
"Hmm～ hope we don't get isolated and cause chaos again～?"
Yeah… first werewolf fight got us cornered because of that. Recovery took too long.
"What if we pull the defense line back first, then scatter?"
"Ehhh～ we'd get surrounded? If we don't move, they'd crush us in one go? Wouldn't that just turn into total defense again?"
"But those cows look fast? Defense line would just become a bullseye."
""""No waaay～""""
Right—next is another herd. Buffalo again. Prefer pick-off over group fight, but scattering is dangerous too.
It's already been a month. Combat started maybe half a month ago? Everyone's getting battle-hardened. They grasp strategies fast now.
Incidentally, the completely invisible boys snap into perfect sync the moment fighting starts. But during meetings… air.
Oda-kun's otaku squad specializes in counterattacks—reaction speed is insane… but during meetings… air.
Kakizaki-kun's idiot squad is all improvisation, fluid adaptation—seem chaotic but coordinate perfectly… during meetings… air.
""""Boys' opinions～?""""
"Uh～? If they come, fight back? If not, pick them off?"
"Just react in the moment?"
Their strategy skill… Oda-kun's group and Kakizaki-kun's group are both super flexible and quick-witted, but it's all seat-of-the-pants.
Meanwhile girls are weak when formations break. Mostly defense types, hit-and-run, rear-guard heavy.
That's why plans never solidify. Every single time.
"This time I wanna try luring the charging bulls into a slanted formation to wear them down? Think we can pull it off?"
"Enough front-liners? Heard over 80 of them? Won't they break through?"
"Yeah—slant to let the herd pass, then half-encircle the rear, pursue, if they turn back then slant again to redirect. Like that?"
""""Matador much?""""
Yup. Matador strategy. Don't take charges head-on—just wear them down.
"Then the formation would be too long—can't hold a solid defense line?"
"Rear-guard positioning～? Considering movement, maybe concentrate them at the back?"
The "girls' meeting" is starting to feel more like a war council, but girls just can't strategize without chatting it out.
Boys are already radiating heavy "are we done yet" energy.
Everyone here—every single life—was protected by Haruka throwing away his own. So I have to protect them too.
If anyone dies, going to meet him means nothing.
Otherwise we'd have all-out charged ages ago.
Still only 54F. Haruka is way deeper.
Way tougher battles, way fiercer fights, still pushing upward alone.
If Lv80 or 90 packs appeared right now, we'd be wiped in seconds.
And yet he's down there—deeper—fighting nonstop. Alone.
I want to rush to him right now. But we're still too weak.
We can't reach him yet.
So we'll go down one floor at a time. To meet him. All together.