*Knock* *Knock*

As someone who knew that entering someone's room without knocking, no matter how close I was to the person, was socially frowned upon, I knocked on the door.

​​

"Come in," however, contrary to what I was expecting, the voice that granted us entry was feminine.

Why, it was Noelle's voice.

"…" Neia nervously glanced at me, and I nodded to signal that everything was alright.

Huh, we haven't even started our plan yet we are already facing hurdles.

The future looks bleak.

Fuck.

Also, why are these two always together? That's pretty sus, if you ask me.

I opened the door and entered along with Neia.

"Oh, you're back," Azell greeted me from behind his not-so-strategically placed table, "How was the dungeon?"

"Fine."

I mean, it was a 1-star dungeon. What is there to expect from it?

Though to be honest, given these wankers' past record, I WAS expecting something to go wrong in that dungeon.

I was prepared for it to be a secret 69-star dungeon or have another dungeon within like it was a shitty remake of Inception.

However, to my pleasant surprise (and disappointment), the dungeon was just a 1-star dungeon.

"What were the results?" he asked Neia.

"Samur cleared the dungeon on his own," the friendly Dragon replied.

"Oh, really?" Noelle's eyes lit up. "As expected of you!"

Isn't she placing a lot of expectations on me?

"Thank you. It was only a 1-star dungeon, so clearing it was rather easy."

Too easy, in fact.

"Was it, now?" Azell smiled.

"Of course. In fact, I ended up breaking your record," I replied with a slightly smug smile.

Acting is hard, huh. But this much is necessary for a warmup.

"Oh?" Azell raised his eyebrow.

"What record?" Noelle asked.

"Ah, have you perhaps not revealed it to the others? I'm sorry about that."

"It was an old, pretty insignificant achievement. I didn't even remember it until you reminded me."

"Ah, I see."

Look at this guy flexing his coolness. I get it, the dungeon was so easy that creating a World Record was worth nothing to you.

Jesus.

"What are you guys talking about?" Noelle asked again.

Her meddling ass really doesn't like being left out of the conversation, does it? This woman needs to calm down a bit.

"Samur will do the honours."

Wow, thank you for pushing your work on me, Azell.

I guess he really is a leader of an organisation; always making others slave away for him while he reaps the benefits.

"Long ago, when Azell cleared the 1-star dungeon, 'The Exalt's Memories', he created a World Record by clearing it in 11 minutes and 48 seconds."

"Wait, seriously? That's awesome!" the overreacting baby exclaimed.

"I was just lucky." The calm baby smiled wryly.

How the fuck is someone, especially Azell, supposed to get lucky while clearing a dungeon?

"You don't need to be so humble. Everyone knows what a remarkable achievement it is."

"Not as remarkable as Samur's, however," Azell made me the centre of the stage by directing the conversation to me.

This guy's shrewd, huh. Noelle seemed like a pain the ass to deal with so he diverted her excitement to me.

His assholery aside, at least there's one thing we can agree upon; Noelle needs to calm the fuck down.

"Ah, you said you broke his record," manipulated by Azell, Noelle's sparkling eyes turned to me, "How much time did you take to clear it?"

Heh. Get ready to shit your pants I mean be blown away, Noelle.

"2 minutes 47 seconds."

I had given myself 5 chances to achieve the sub-3 minute mark, but unsurprisingly, I was able to get it on my 3rd try.

Ez.

"…What?" Noelle blankly stared at me.

"…" and so did Azell.

"…" Neia wasn't any different.

Ah, right, I forgot to tell the Dragon that I had created a new World Record while she was having an identity crisis over beating me up.

"Alright, alright, I'm just joking, no need to look at me like that," I couldn't help but sigh.

These guys are assholes.

"Oh…" Noelle quietly heaved a sigh of relief.

Azell and Neia, on the other hand, softened their stares.

"I cleared the dungeon in 2 minutes and 48 seconds. It's the truth, believe me."

Well, to be more precise, I cleared it in 2:47:76 which I truncated to 2:47, but looks like these guys want me to round it off instead.

But it's still below 3 minutes, so we're all fine and dandy.

"…"

"…"

"…"

Hmm? What's with the silence looming over the room?

Are these guys that surprised?

"In case you're waiting for a punchline, let me tell you that there is none."

"…" Noelle's eyes darted back and forth for some moment. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Is there something wrong?"

If there is, I unfortunately can't see it.

"You cleared a dungeon within 3 minutes?"

"It was just a 1-star dungeon. Anyone could have done it. Stop making such a big deal about it."

These guys seriously need to stop overreacting to everything I do.

Like okay, I get it, I created a World Record. But it was the weakest dungeon of this world, so stop being such a baby about it. We have better things to do.

Like lying to you about today's events.

"I wish everyone could do it…" Azell sighed. "Anyway, congratulations."

"Thanks."

This guy gets it.

"Wait, is that it?" Noelle exclaimed.

But this gal doesn't.

I hope Noelle could take- no, copy a page from Azell's book.

She also has to copy a page from Neia's book.

Let's hope she doesn't get sued for plagiarism.

"What else do you want me to do about it?" Azell asked with a wry smile.

"That is…"

"It's not like this is the first time Samur has accomplished something so… extraordinary."

"Hmm…"

"And it doesn't look like he's going to stop anytime soon. Are you?" he suddenly turned to me.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," I shrugged.

I mean, me doing something that no else possibly could? Isn't that perfectly normal for me?

"There you have it," Azell turned back to Noelle, "It's better if you get used to it."

"It's not so easy," she sighed.

"Maybe, but you still have to try if you want to maintain your sanity."

"…I'll try my best."

Now that's the right mindset for MY comrades. I'm proud of you, Regressor boi.

"Anyway, what happened to your armour?" Azell asked.

Aight, time to start our lie.