Chapter 74: Just Set It on Fire

Ethan and Aria stepped out of the exit portal.

The moment they emerged, a system notification appeared before them.

[Congratulations! Your party has set a new record for clearing the Hell Difficulty Wasp Nest!]

[Clear Time: 19 minutes, 42 seconds.]

[New Record Holder: Bug Cleanup Crew]

[Your record has been added to the Wasp Nest Leaderboard.]

Ethan glanced at the notifications before dismissing them.

Aria did the same, but her attention soon shifted to the people gathered near the dungeon entrance.

Several students gathered around the leaderboard near the entrance, checking records and discussing dungeons.

Then someone noticed the new record.

[Swarm Dungeon Challenge]

[Wasp Nest]

[Final Day]

[Current Ranking]

[1. Bug Cleanup Crew — Hell Difficulty — 19:42]

[2. Stormbreak — Nightmare Difficulty — 43:21]

[3. Ironwall — Nightmare Difficulty — 47:08]

[...]

"Wait a minute! Someone just set a new record for the Wasp Nest?"

The student hurried toward the leaderboard. His eyes widened when he saw the completion time.

"Nineteen minutes and forty-two seconds?!"

His exclamation immediately attracted the attention of everyone nearby.

"Less than twenty minutes? Let me see!"

"Which difficulty?"

The student checking the leaderboard froze for a moment.

"Hell Difficulty."

Silence fell over the group.

"...What?"

"You heard me. Hell Difficulty!"

"That’s got to be a mistake!"

"Are you kidding me? The Wasp Nest is already a nightmare on lower difficulties. Hell Difficulty has thousands of wasps! How could anyone clear it in less than twenty minutes?"

Several students hurried over to check the leaderboard for themselves.

One student read the party name twice before frowning.

"Bug Cleanup Crew? What kind of funny name is that?"

"Who cares about the name? They just cleared Hell Difficulty!"

"Exactly! That’s the part I can’t understand. Even a strong party would have to spend a considerable amount of time fighting through that swarm."

"Maybe they had a powerful fire mage."

"Even so, they would have to deal with the Waykeeper and the Wasp Queen. How did they finish everything so quickly?"

The questions kept coming, but nobody had an answer.

Then a young man standing near the entrance noticed Ethan and Aria emerging from the portal.

He looked at them, then at the leaderboard.

His expression changed.

"Wait... don’t tell me it’s them."

His companion followed his gaze. "What do you mean?"

"They just came out of the Wasp Nest!"

"So?"

The young man pointed toward the portal.

"Look around! How many other people have come out of there in the last few minutes?"

His companion looked at Ethan and Aria again.

There were only two of them.

His eyes widened.

"No way. Just the two of them?"

The young man hurried toward Ethan before he could walk away.

"Hey! Excuse me!"

Ethan stopped and turned toward him.

"Did you two just clear the Hell Difficulty Wasp Nest?"

"Yeah."

The young man’s mouth fell open. He hadn’t expected just two people to clear Hell Difficulty.

He quickly glanced at the leaderboard again.

"Then... are you the Bug Cleanup Crew?"

"Yep. That’s the party name."

The young man stared at him.

"Forget the name for a moment. How did you do it? The Wasp Nest is filled with thousands of monsters! Even reaching the queen should take a long time, but you cleared the entire dungeon in less than twenty minutes!"

Ethan thought about it briefly.

"Just set it on fire."

The young man blinked.

"...What?"

"The wasps. Just set them on fire."

Ethan turned and continued walking.

Aria followed beside him, leaving the young man standing there with a blank expression.

"Set... the wasps on fire?"

His companion had followed the conversation and looked equally confused.

"Did he seriously just say that?"

"I heard him."

"But how do you set thousands of wasps on fire? And what about the Waykeeper?"

The young man could only stare as Ethan walked away.

By now, several students nearby had overheard their exchange.

"Wait! Those two cleared Hell Difficulty?"

"Are they really the Bug Cleanup Crew?"

"Hey! Which fire skill did you use?"

"Did you have some kind of special class?"

More students began approaching them, eager to find out how two people had accomplished something that should have taken a full party much longer.

Ethan paid them little attention and continued walking.

Aria glanced back at the growing crowd.

"You know, I think they’re going to be talking about us for a while."

"Probably."

Aria glanced back at the crowd, then turned to Ethan with a curious look. "By the way, you really did set the entire swarm on fire, didn’t you?"

"Of course. Why would I lie?"

"Then why did you tell them? Aren’t you worried they’ll do the same thing and break your record?"

Ethan shook his head. "That’s impossible."

He had used a Divine Skill. How many people could possess something like that? Even a powerful fire mage would struggle to burn through thousands of wasps at once.

Without a flame that kept spreading and couldn’t be extinguished by ordinary means, the idea was practically impossible.

Aria considered his reasoning before shrugging.

"If you say so..."

The two continued toward the next dungeon in the swarm dungeon challenge, the Ant Colony.

In a few minutes, they arrived at the Ant Colony dungeon. Several students had gathered near the entrance. Some were checking the leaderboard, while others formed parties and discussed which difficulty to attempt.

Ethan glanced at the leaderboard before turning to Aria.

"Wait here for a bit."

Aria looked at him. "Why?"

"I need to recover my mana."

He had exhausted both his mana pool and the Mana Reservoir while using Divine Flame. His mana was slowly recovering, but he needed more time before entering another dungeon.

Ethan moved to a quieter spot away from the entrance and sat down.

Aria checked the leaderboard before turning to him.

"How long will it take?"

"Not long."

She nodded and found a place to wait, watching the other students come and go.

Ethan closed his eyes and focused on recovering his mana, preparing for their next dungeon.