“And that’s what I think. How about it? Keeping it to the basics and expanding is always the best option, isn’t it?”

  This Ricard… He’s always defending the classics and searching for efficiency…

  Truly a classic of the classics, staying within proven tactics to achieve victory. He wants a perfect balance between traps and monsters, and wants to use monsters that can be effective both at defense and offense, so we can adapt to whatever they throw at us in the first match and, even if we lose it, at least secure victory in the following matches.

  He wants versatile monsters that can fulfill multiple roles, so we can use them both for defense and offense. He’s right that we should keep ourselves open to changes and adapt to what we find; that’s the purpose of this exercise after all. But there’s a problem with his idea.

  “I’m not so sure…” I say. “Don’t you know Andreu? I’m sure he’ll come up with something crazy. What will we do if we have nothing that can deal with that?”

  He can be a bit silly, but you should never underestimate Andreu’s skill to come up with ridiculous plans.

  Keeping it to the ordinary is good for ordinary matches. But what will happen if you face the unusual? What if he comes up with something so ridiculous that we have nothing that can fight against it?

  “Ah, uh… you’re right?”

  “Of course I’m right!”

  “But then, what are we going to do? I worked so hard on those plans, analyzing every unit from our factions to find tactics that would mesh well with them… It’s a shame to leave all that work behind!”

  Sigh… I roll my eyes. He’s like a child. If things don’t go as planned, he despairs.

  “Calm down, Ricard. I never said to forget about all that. I’m just saying we should have something ready for when the unexpected hits us, that’s all. So that it doesn’t take us by surprise.”

  “Ahaha! Yes, yes. Of course, I knew you were talking about that.” His words make me roll my eyes. “As always, I’m glad you understand the advantages of knowledge. It’s only you who supports me. Andreu and Clara are always acting before thinking…”

  Ricard’s attitude is starting to get on my nerves.

  I wish I could have teamed up with Andreu. I could be spending some sweet time with him instead of Ricard…

  “...then, how about this? What do you think of an undead monster that keeps resurrecting and healing all the time? I thought it was a waste of time and souls to get a monster like that simply because it has no real combat capabilities, but if you’re looking for an unusual unit, doesn’t that fit?”

  “It does sound interesting…”

  “Right!? I knew you’d like it! Hahaha!” Ricard starts laughing before quickly pushing the matter forward. “Alright! I’ll start with this! Let’s see… the best unit for that is the Revenant, which already has an in-built revival…”

  He’s acting a bit too out of place. Usually, he’d explain everything in detail before doing anything else.

  “Ricard…?”

  When I call him, he turns away. I move in front of him, but he just turns around and keeps fiddling with the game menu.

  “Hey, Ricard… Tell me the truth. Is that really your idea?”

  He keeps avoiding eye contact, refusing to answer. I have to grab his face, turning it towards me, for him to start speaking.

  “...it was Andreu’s idea,” he says, gritting his teeth.

  “Are you stupid!? How do you want to win against him with the monster he thought!?”

  “I-I don’t know! You asked for something unusual that could keep up with Andreu’s creations, so I obviously recalled one of his ideas, and you liked it!”

  “Sigh…”

  How am I supposed to take this seriously if he doesn’t?

  “It happened during one of those times he starts blabbering about random ideas. He can be quite bothersome when he starts, I’m sure you already know.”

  It’s funny how they both say this of each other.

  Though if I had to choose a side, I’d go with Andreu. Andreu is silly and entertaining, while Ricard is just boring and repetitive.

  “You know how it goes. Andreu comes up with random ideas, tells them to whoever is listening, and immediately proceeds to forget about them. I’m sure he doesn’t remember a thing; that’s why I proposed the idea! I swear, I considered it all!”

  “Alright…” I agree after a while of thinking. “Andreu’s a scatterbrain. I’m sure he won’t remember. Let’s go with the resurrecting monster.”

  “Yes!”

  But that’s just one monster. One that might or might not work. We’ll have to come up with more countermeasures.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Someone’s talking about me. And not well. I can feel it on my skin, on my soul.

  “Well, who cares. I’m sure it’s nothing important…”

  I shrug my shoulders. I’m kind of getting used to it. Players like to badmouth me all the time, so it’s nothing new. Thought the worst are always those who idolize me…

  “Hey, Andreu! Are you listening to me?”

  “...huh?”

  Snapping out of my thoughts, I look at Clara. Oh, right. We were planning the dungeon for our match against Ricard and Laura. Something on my face must have revealed my thoughts, because Clara pouts.

  “So you weren’t listening.”

  “No, no. I was listening, I was listening! I swear on our mom!”

  “Then, what did I say?”

  “You were… You were saying how amazing my idea is and that we’ll surely crush them?”

  “No! See? You weren’t listening!”

  Ah, shit. She got me good. But at least I tried. Now I should appease her, before things take a turn for the worse.

  “I’m sorry, Clara. Can you kindly repeat what you said you your inattentive and stupid brother?” Disparaging oneself is always an effective method. “I’ll stop thinking about irrelevant stuff and put all my attention on you!”

  I put my best smile on and open my eyes wide, staring at her, not missing a single detail.

  “Stop that! It’s creepy…!”

  “...”

  My heart! It hurts! But it must be because of my rat head. It’s understandable. Yeah, I’m sure it’s because of that. Now that I think about it calmly, it makes sense she’d react like that.

  “So… What were you saying?” I break the uncomfortable silence that follows.

  “I was asking you if you’re sure to go that route. To put all our eggs in one basket. I like it for the first match, as it’s almost guaranteed to give us the win, but… what about the other matches? What will we do after they learn how to counter our strategy? We can’t lose to Ricard and Laura! Especially not Laura, who tried to steal you away from me!”

  There’s so much to retort… But I’ll acknowledge just the first part and ignore the rest.

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk.” I click my tongue. “You’re still too green, by esteemed little sister. What do you mean by ‘counter our strategy’? When you create a plan as amazing as mine, there’s no counter possible. The only thing the opponents can do is hope they’ll miraculously have the perfect answer ready from the start. No tactics or changes will save them.”

  “Do you mean…?”

  “Yeah,” I nod. “We’re doubling down on it to make sure it’ll work.”

  “I see… But still, I’m uneasy. Making the best use of our factions’ innate skills makes sense, and I’m sure it’ll be dangerous. But… are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  “It doesn’t matter if it is a good idea or not, does it? The only thing that matters is if it’ll work. And I bet you, it will.”

  Maybe. I hope so.

  “Alright! I’ll do as you say! …and if it doesn’t work, I’ll have an excuse to force you to do whatever I want… hehehe…”

  After happily nodding and grabbing my arm to get as close as possible to me, Clara adds something in a low voice at the end. I didn’t hear it, but I’m sure it’s nothing important.

  In response to her agreement, I pat her head, and she chuckles.

  Get ready, Ricard and Laura. You’re in for one of the most terrifying and agonizing experiences you’ll have in DMA! What’s more, you’ll have to come more than once, as we’ve scheduled to repeat this for at least two more matches! Fufufu! Hahaha!

  According to the rules we set, which will mimic the rules from the real event, we can’t change the elements, be it traps, monsters, Champions, or dungeon layout. What we have during the first match is set in stone.

  This gives us two options: to have everything ready to adapt to any situation that might come… or to make sure what we implement is so difficult to overcome that our opponents simply fail to do it.

  We’ll obviously go with the second option.

  As for what in particular it is we’re doing… Please, allow me to explain.

  Our factions are the Flesh Monstrosities and the Abyss. Mine is known for the adaptability and unpredictability of the monsters we can create, and the Abyss is known for the constant drain of MP, among other things.

  Taking this into account, we’ll go for a perfect blend of the two. We’ll render everything and anything our opponents can do useless, securing our win.

  Lots of passive effects that trigger on sight, proximity, or similar. Unavoidable damage. Dangerous zones and traps that can’t be skipped. You know, the basic stuff.

  “Do you want to start with the dungeon layout first? Or the monsters?” I ask.

  “Didn’t you have to come to my dungeon to capture a few units first?”

  I smack my forehead, “Ah, right. I forgot about that…”

  Haha, I wish I did. I was just actively trying to forget about it… Without success, if I may say. If only I didn’t have to go into my sister’s dungeon to capture those Abyss units…

  “Let’s leave this for later,” yeah, let’s leave the bad things for the future me. Future me: I wish you good luck. “We’ll create the dungeon first.”

  In the event, we’ll have to compete with players from the maximum level. Even if the cp value of everything we use will be the same, the simple fact that they can use higher-level monsters and have access to more stuff than us will give them the edge.

  This means that, to stand up, we’ll have to compete with something else. And that something else is ‘dungeon originality’.

  It isn’t any new idea we came up with, it’s something most players do to stand out, even if they’re at level twenty.

  And to ensure we get some practice, this, too, is part of the competition we’re having with Ricard and Laura. We’ll, as objectively as possible, evaluate how well the other team designed their dungeon and spot any flaws so we can improve for the real event.

  Though I’m sure we’ll win.

  That’s because we’re going to create something spectacular. Mixing the Abyss with the Flesh Monstrosities, we’ll create a research facility infested by alien organisms.

  Can you imagine it? Tentacles and wriggling masses of flesh living in the abandoned laboratory. Dark smog filling the corridors. Indescribable horrors, watching you all the time, hidden in the shadows.

  Just the thought of it makes goosebumps appear on my whole body.

  Playing with so many Abyss monsters is going to be horrifying… But you know what they say. If you can’t beat them, join them.

  “Choo, choo! Passengers, please board the pain train express!”

  “Aren’t a train and an express the same thing?”

  “...shut up.”

  Don’t interrupt my delusions, please, Clara.