#1195 (Next Gen.) Wolf vs. Bat 

I just saw something outrageous. 
This is awful. 

Typhon built a “serious‑mode” dungeon whose sole purpose is to boot out intruders. 
It’s like one of those impossible Mar*o Maker stages a kid threw together so nobody can ever clear it. 

“Aww, but I’m being plenty generous! You get hit with instant‑death effects and still don’t die!” 

That had me wondering, too. 

Inside Typhon’s dungeon, monster strikes and so‑called instant‑kill traps look ready to take lives in a blink, yet so far not one person has died. 
Everyone just gets kicked out. 

Typhon must have installed some sort of safety switch out of courtesy. 

Otherwise, none of the adventurers who barged in would be breathing right now. 
Here’s hoping they dial down the swagger after this. 

“GWAAAAAHAHAHAHA! How does it feel, humans? Witness the dungeon craft of the great Typhon, the Proto-Geyser Dragon!” 

Typhon lets out an evil cackle. 
Dragons really are walking natural disasters. 

“You dared mock the settlers working their butts off here and even tried to sabotage them! A thousand times unforgivable! I punished you myself! Think twice before you set foot on this land again!” 

…And now she’s talking like the local guardian deity.  
Evil? Just? Make up your mind. 

“D‑Damn it… I’m not done yet…!” 

One figure steps forward from the adventurers. 

Unlike the burly guys around her, she stands out—a gorgeous girl. 
Her ears are nothing like ours: long, perked up, and jutting out from her head. 

A therian? 
Rabbit‑kin, maybe? 

“No, she’s a bat thearian,” a voice corrects me from beside. “Her name is Murshela. She’s the direct disciple of the S‑rank adventurer Golden Bat, and strong enough to have just been chosen an S‑ranker herself.” 
 “Yeah, unlike you.” 

Sparks crackle between Murshela and the young man on our side. 

That young man is Corey. 

He’s the leader of the human settlers here, giving his all every day. 

He’s a wolf therian, though it’s faint; only the floppy dog‑like ears on either side of his head give it away. 
But the skill is real; he recently crushed a brutal exam and got promoted to S‑rank. 

He came to this development site as the representative of the human expedition.  
His ability is obvious. 

“I, unlike a former S‑ranker like you, was officially certified by the guild after that. Not like you!” 
“…I’m officially S‑rank too, you know?” 
“Says who?! You got shipped to this backwater with no real adventuring, lost your S‑rank, and were dumped here as punishment. That’s the hottest rumor in the adventurer world!” 
“I wasn’t stripped of anything…!” 

Corey’s young but talented and still growing. 
I thought Guildmaster Silver Wolf sent him here out of kindness…! 

I didn’t expect the folks back in the Human Kingdom to see him that way. 
Yeah, getting posted to the boonies screams “demotion,” I guess. 

So, rumors spiraled until people even claimed his S‑rank was gone? 

“Anyway, I’m still an S‑rank adventurer. Slinging lies to drag someone down is slander.” 
“Then get back to the capital and remind them you exist! Stay out here and they’ll forget you and really will yank the title!” 

Why did this girl come all the way out here? She’s laser‑focused on Corey. 
What’s her deal? 

“You came all this way just to say that? You just made S‑rank yourself, you should be busy racking up feats….” 
“Th-That’s exactly why I need to drag you back! Every hero needs a rival!” 

…Wait. This vibe… 
No way… 

“I’m simply following my idol Golden Bat’s path! He treated Silver Wolf as a rival, stoked that competition, racked up victory after victory, and became the pinnacle of S‑rank! Big growth needs a big obstacle! So, I, too, seek a strong rival to clash with and level up...!” 
“Sigh…” 
“The other current S‑rankers are different generations and power levels with no chemistry! But you and I are the same age and hit S‑rank at the same time! We’re the successors to the legendary rivals Golden Bat and Silver Wolf. It’s destiny! To soar as an S‑rank adventurer, I need you as my obstacle!!!” 

Is she… a tsundere?!  
No doubt!  
You could drop a “d‑don’t get the wrong idea!” anywhere in her lines and it fits! 

To think such talent was hiding among the new S‑rankers...! 
The guild’s future is bright! 

“…Yeah, well, I’m not going back...!” 
“Why not?! You came here against your will, right? Gonna waste your time in this empty frontier with no chance to shine?!” 

Murshela’s frantic persuasion doesn’t shake him; Corey calmly sticks to his view. 

“I didn’t come here unwillingly. Silver Wolf asked me. He said this land has something that’ll make me stronger.” 
“That’s ridiculous! Out here in the sticks?!” 
“I knew he was right the moment I arrived. Life here makes me grow every single day.” 

What really saves us is Corey’s exceptional leadership. 

Even though he’s young, he draws attention, rallies people, unites their wills, and leads from the front.  
His command is eye‑opening and just plain amazing. 

Maybe it’s the wolf‑kin in him; wolves are pack animals.  
He’s a natural leader, reminiscent of Silver Wolf himself. 

“B‑But that means nothing to an adventurer! We’re outlaws, we live by individual strength!” 
“That’s also true. But my growth here isn’t only leadership and teamwork.” 
“What do you mean?” 
“Let me show you.” 

Corey strides toward the dungeon entrance. 

“H‑Hey, hold up, dog‑eared human! The dungeon’s still on intruder‑exterminator mode, max difficulty…!” 

Typhon, who’d faded into the background during the argument, hurriedly tries to stop him. 

“It’s fine. Please let me try Lady Typhon’s serious‑mode dungeon that stumped every capital adventurer as is….” 

Without hesitation, Corey steps inside. 
The place is crawling with invisible, silent monsters, and the adventurers before him got wiped facing threats they couldn’t even see. 

“They weren’t wiped, actually,” Murshela corrects. 

“Yeah, this bat girl cleared it. She pinpointed every monster’s location,” Typhon confirms Murshela’s feat as the dungeon master. 

“We bat therians pick up the echoes of our own ultrasonic waves, so we can tell where obstacles are. That’s how I sensed the invisible monsters and dodged them.” 

So, she uses polite speech with me, huh…. 

“Hmm. So, the sound‑delete only covered noises made by the monsters themselves. Future improvement, noted….” 

Typhon’s already scheming how to crank the difficulty even higher. 

“But this girl’s hot streak ended there. The next room—floor, walls, ceiling—all instant‑kill traps, plus the air kills you if you breathe. A total trap house. She bailed quick.” 
“H‑Hey! That’s not my fault! What can anyone do in a room where literally everything’s a trap?!” 

Even Murshela couldn’t clear Typhon’s real deal dungeon. Maybe it really is the embodiment of an unwinnable game. 
What will happen with Corey taking on that nightmare difficulty then?