Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 399 - Ethan's Method

The approach of the other teachers was textbook perfect.

They advanced cautiously, disarming traps and using magic to check for monsters before moving forward.

They quickly dispatched any monsters encountered, but never allowed themselves to be surrounded.

The skill in dungeon conquest was judged by how quickly and accurately one could execute these standard tactics.

All three teachers used the same method.

And if they had to choose a winner among them, it would unanimously be Wigen White from Vogue Academy.

While the dungeon experts from Goode and Covington were excellent, Wigen was a cut above.

Moreover, Wigen was demonstrating the dungeon conquest tips he used.

These tips weren’t difficult, nor were they exclusive to Wigen, so anyone could easily utilize them with enough experience.

However, this exchange had Ethan. Ethan’s method was on a much higher level than Wigen’s approach.

Kremton, who was in charge of evaluating this dungeon conquest exchange, rated Ethan’s method higher than Wigen’s.

Avoid everything if possible.

Quickly exploit the weaknesses of monsters that can’t be avoided and break through.

This was the difference from Wigen’s approach and the part that Kremton highly valued.

“It ensures the most important thing: safety. Whether you enter the dungeon alone or together. Fundamentally, dungeons are dangerous, so if safety isn’t guaranteed, even good rewards are meaningless.”

While Wigen’s method ensured minimum safety, Ethan’s method prioritized safety above all else.

“Moreover, it clearly aligns with the purpose of the exchange program.”

The role of a teacher that the exchange program advocates is to be a model for students. The method Ethan was demonstrating now was sufficient to be exemplary for students.

“If students follow Teacher Ethan’s method for dungeon conquest, there might be injuries, but no deaths.”

After all, Ethan was showing students that fighting isn’t everything by prioritizing safety.

Given Kremton’s criteria, Ethan had to be first.

“If Teacher Ethan weren’t here, Teacher Wigen would have been first. He’s executing the textbook method perfectly.”

“Hmm.”

“That’s certainly true. Dungeons are dangerous places. We should always prioritize safety. Teacher Ethan demonstrated that firsthand, so I can’t help but give him a high score.”

“The watching students must have realized it too. Now we have a clear goal, Mr. Kremton.”

The other evaluators could only nod at his words. It was exactly as he said.

When thinking about the goals to be achieved upon entering a dungeon, it’s ideal to avoid unnecessary fights and preserve strength to reach the objective.

Just like what Ethan was doing now.

“Then it’s decided.”

“The result will be certain depending on how they pass the final gate.”

The difficulty of the final gate was enough to make even the evaluators tense.

The difficulty was so high that a teacher could be seriously injured.

Meanwhile, as Kremton highly evaluated, good reviews were also coming from the VIP seats.

“Avoiding all battles that can be avoided. That’s indeed the golden rule of dungeon conquest.”

The Demon God Spear was also laughing heartily, clearly enjoying himself.

“Count Ethan is much more versatile than I thought.”

Princess Evangeline was also captivated by Ethan’s dungeon conquest.

However, even the textbook method doesn’t always work.

Although Ethan had been advancing while avoiding combat as much as possible, as he reached the depths of the dungeon, he encountered monsters that couldn’t be avoided.

“What would he do next?”

Everyone focused on each of Ethan’s choices.

As soon as Ethan saw the monster, he quickly scanned its features with his eyes and attacked without hesitation.

He simultaneously struck three weak points and moved forward without lingering.

“!”

“As expected.”

Ethan’s strength lies in his powerful force.

But something was different.

“Did he strike the weak points?”

“Did he already know the weak points?”

“Didn’t they say he had no experience?”

In fact, even Ethan’s favorite disciples didn’t know everything about him.

The students and teachers in the audience looked at Ethan’s favorite disciples, but they couldn’t tell them anything.

“We didn’t know either.”

When Yuna blurted this out, all four nodded simultaneously.

“No, when on earth did the teacher gain such experience?”

“Even ten bodies wouldn’t be enough for him.”

“Let’s just pretend we know and sit still.”

At Yuna’s words, everyone nodded with solemn expressions as if they had known all along.

The students were captivated by Ethan’s dungeon conquest.

Despite starting later, Ethan was the first to reach the final gate.

“What about the other teachers!?”

Wigen had become quite cautious in the latter half, and was tired from a long fight with a monster he had encountered earlier.

Similarly, the other teachers had also significantly slowed down.

Due to the nature of the dungeon requiring constant tension, and not knowing when monsters might appear, mental fatigue was quite rapid.

However, because Ethan had thoroughly analyzed the dungeon in a stable state, he was able to increase his speed more than the other teachers in the latter half.

“No, when… did he move so fast!?”

“He clearly started late. How can he be faster than Teacher Wigen!”

“The other teachers slowed down in the mid to late stages, but Teacher Ethan got even faster.”

“How can he do that?”

“Is it because he saved his strength in the early stages?”

Whatever the method, it was quite surprising that Ethan, who started last, arrived at the final gate first.

The dungeon boss waiting at the final gate.

Defeating this boss would end the exchange.

“I knew this would happen.”

Nathan Whiskers reacted intensely.

The four stars looked at Nathan with incredulous expressions.

“You, do you like it that much?”

“…No, I’m just happy that my prediction was right.”

Nathan shook his head with an embarrassed face.

While it was quite noisy outside due to Ethan’s performance.

Ethan, unaware of the outside situation as he was inside the dungeon, was standing in front of the final gate.

‘Finally, the last gate.’

Ethan looked at the massive door in front of him.

He had avoided all monsters except those that were absolutely unavoidable.

The reason was simple. Because he could pass without fighting.

‘Because there’s no need to fight.’

Ethan showed his unique conquest method to the students outside.

‘They must have realized how important it is to perfectly preserve strength inside the dungeon.’

Of course, Ethan didn’t just blindly avoid monsters.

As he entered the dungeon, he had been periodically identifying the sounds made by monsters.

Footsteps and the unique smell of monsters are bound to be caught by the senses.

‘Because the smell is mixed with various scents in the dungeon, it’s difficult to distinguish perfectly, but footsteps can be perfectly distinguished.’

The core of Ethan’s dungeon conquest method was sound. He placed his hand on the floor to feel the vibrations and caught the footsteps to identify the locations of all the monsters.

He also occasionally stomped his foot to check the structure of the dungeon. He used the vibrations of the spreading sound.

‘When it reaches an object, the sound comes back.’

He was able to move after grasping the entire structure of this artificial dungeon, which is why he had to start late.

But the late start was only for the beginning, Ethan’s conquest speed was overwhelming.

‘Since I made a contract with Tror, I can easily know where the monsters are without having to put my hand down.’

If he uses the divine power of the Earth Spirit King, he can grasp the internal structure much more easily.

But Ethan knew well that this was about showing an example of dungeon conquest.

It’s a place to publicly demonstrate a dungeon conquest lesson, regardless of how excellent one’s talent and abilities are.

‘So they can follow. So they can understand.’

Ethan already knew everything.

That the exchange program is not decided by a simple battle of strength.

‘I must remember. This exchange program is an extension of academy education.’

It’s a place that values acting like a teacher as a teacher, and a student as a student. This was the essential element of victory that Ethan had learned through several exchanges.

‘These are evaluators directly brought by the chief administrator and director. If they’re such high-level evaluators, they’ll surely understand.’

Ethan opened the door of the final gate with reassurance.

Creaaak-.

As soon as he entered, what greeted Ethan was a group of dozens, no, hundreds of goblins.

But their conditions were all strange.

Whoosh-.

The goblins’ entire bodies were burning. It’s not someone burning them with magic. Their bodies are naturally burning.

“Oh.”

Ethan was impressed. They said they raised the difficulty, but to raise it this much at the final gate.

“Fire goblins.”

These were mutant goblins surrounded by flames.

They were much stronger than regular goblins, and because they use elemental attacks as their base, their attack power was much stronger.

‘This is just right.’

Such mutant monsters are rarely encountered. That’s why they’re particularly tricky to deal with, and even the methods to deal with them aren’t properly shared.

‘If you use water attribute magic, you can subdue them faster than you think.’

Ethan took out a potion and threw it at them.

Whoosh-!

“Half-hearted attacks only make the flames bigger.”

This was the first time Ethan had encountered so many monsters since entering this dungeon.

‘I should teach the most important thing to the students watching from outside. This is a great opportunity.’

Ethan slowly backed away.

“If something seems off.”

Running away is the best option first.

The students outside were surprised to see Ethan suddenly fleeing.

“Flexibility.”

You need to know when to run away when necessary.

Ethan’s favorite disciples seemed to strongly feel something from this behavior of Ethan.

After luring the fire goblins like this, Ethan entered a narrow alley and began to defeat the hundreds of monsters one by one.

Slash!

He surely handles two or three at a time with one swing.

Ethan accurately targeted the weak points of the fire goblins visible to his eyes.

After dealing with all the fire goblins, a door opened with a loud noise.

Inside, a flame bigger than the goblins’ was burning.

Whoosh-.

“The easiest thing in this dungeon conquest exchange is this.”

Ethan’s eyes shone.

-Monsters’ Calamity is activated!

“This moment when I can use force.”

Click-.

Ethan, who took out Frost Sword and Thunder Sword, used ultra-acceleration magic.

Slash!

And then he cut down the boss monster that was just stretching and getting up.

-Grr?

The surprised boss monster waved its burning hand in the air, but the situation was already over.

-Dungeon conquest completed!

-Magic will be released!

-Ivecar Academy’s Ethan Whiskers completed dungeon conquest.

-Rank: 1