I reincarnated as one of the Three Stooges in a fantasy world.

Chapter 17

Evolved Zombies – Part 3

"Haa... haa... sorry about that," Enrico said, resting his hands on his knees.

"Huff... No need to apologize, subordinate. I was chasing you anyway," Serenya replied, sweating.

Everyone was gathered in a room filled with several cabinets, resting after all the running. Enrico looked around the corners and began searching for items.

Kai stood up. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for items and a map. Dungeons of this type usually have one." Opening another cabinet, Enrico found a bow with ten arrows and a spear.

[Lost Bow – Common Rank]

[Ability: None]

Enrico glanced at the others who looked on curiously. None of them besides Kai can handle weapons. He looked at the spear.

[Phantom Warrior's Spear – Rare Rank]

[Ability: Spectral Thrust] The user thrusts the spear in a straight line, releasing a translucent spectral replica that pierces through the air at high speed, consuming 30 mana.

I'll only be able to use this twice at most, and honestly, I'd rather spend my mana on magic.

Enrico looked at them. "I'll take the bow. Anyone want the spear?"

Liam raised his hand. "When I was little, a guard from my family taught me a bit."

"That's good."

Enrico tossed it to him. Liam caught it and began moving it around, trying to recall how to use it.

"About the map, I think I saw one earlier," Vanessa stood up. "But it was at the beginning, when I was alone on a staircase."

Serenya raised an eyebrow. "You found stairs in this place? It's all so confusing."

Enrico nodded, and they all began to follow Vanessa's directions.

Kai looked at Enrico, puzzled. "Do you know how to use a bow?"

"No."

That surprised him. "Then why?"

Everyone walked carefully. Zombies appeared but were completely wiped out by Serenya and Valença.

"Because I was already planning on using a magic bow later on, and this is just an opportunity. Besides, fire magic is better at a distance."

Kai nodded, and they continued walking.

Serenya looked back. "I almost forgot to say—I contacted Professor Borem."

Everyone looked relieved.

"But he said there was a problem with the portal and that it would take three hours before anyone could enter."

Everyone was disappointed, and Enrico looked off to the side with a blank expression. That didn't happen in the original story, but for some reason, I'm not surprised.

They descended carefully through the openings, not finding any enemies at first. A few were encountered but were easily taken out by Enrico and Liam, who were trying out the weapons.

Just like they said, they're more resistant than the originals, Enrico thought, struggling to pull an arrow from a zombie's body.

I was planning on saving this for after the pact, but I'll have to start sooner. I'll begin the path of the magic weapon.

A path created by knights to keep up with mages, as knights could only reach the sixth circle.

After half an hour, they finally found the staircase and a map.

"Can someone copy the map's layout? I'd rather leave it here in case another student passes by," Enrico asked, looking around. Sílvia raised her hand and started drawing on a sheet of paper.

Enrico examined the map. Looks like there are six floors.

He remembered the original story, where the boss was the Hunting Zombie. Everyone faced it together, and Kai and Valença defeated it. But now, he had encountered a zombie with a Jupiter-like head and a blue-blooded zombie.

"Everyone, have you seen any zombies different from the usual ones?"

After sharing information, they were now concerned and descended to the first floor.

Serenya counted on her fingers. "That makes three different zombies, and we still have the boss. Normally, dungeons of this level only have low-level monsters and a boss—unless there's a level two Zara."

"So that means there is," Enrico said with a sigh, and the others went silent.

---

A two-meter-tall zombie dragged two bodies and laid them before the boss sitting on the throne.

"My warrior, I see you've brought good soldiers," Rirus stood up from the throne, raised his hand, and poured blood over them.

"My warriors, awaken and bring chaos." The two students on the ground stood up with now pitch-black eyes. They were ranks 93 and 95.

Rirus looked at the zombie and began forming a dark circle beneath it and the two revived zombies.

"I'll send you to the floor where those children are. Bring me the boy with the sword—he'll make a fine warrior."

The zombie lit up, and when the circle completed, the three vanished.

Rirus stepped forward and spoke with his eyes closed. "And you children should at least show yourselves instead of just spying."

The three behind the door stirred. It was Elian, Caelan, and Cris.

Damn, he's not just a level two Zara boss, but also a conscious one, Elian breathed heavily.

Only 15% of Zaras are conscious, but why did our first dungeon have to have this guy? Caelan trembled in fear.

Cris merely looked into the room—until Rirus suddenly appeared behind him, staring. The three immediately dashed sideways.

Rirus looked at Cris, then calmly returned to the room.

---

Everyone continued descending the stairs.

"We need to eliminate them before the boss shows up," Serenya said seriously.

Sílvia stopped before reaching the first floor. "But wouldn't it be better if we hid and waited for the professor?"

"Maybe. But wouldn't it be worse if the boss found us along with those abnormal zombies?"

Sílvia looked down, and Vanessa placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're both right. Eliminating one and hiding would already help."

Enrico, Kai, and the others walked ahead.

"Kai, you seem to have improved with the sword—it's nothing like before." Enrico shamelessly tried to befriend the protagonist after having defeated him.

"Yes. You taught me a lot." Kai nodded cheerfully.

Enrico scratched his nose. It's so easy to make friends with cheerful protagonists like him.

Just as they were about to keep talking, the first student to step onto the first floor was struck by an arm and sliced in two.

With blood spraying everywhere, they froze in shock. A two-meter zombie stood before them, with two of their classmates behind it—now gray and bleeding black.

"Retreat!" Enrico shouted immediately, stepping in front alongside Kai, who drew his sword, with Liam, Tolen, and Serenya backing them up.

The two zombies attacked, but were immediately stopped—Enrico pushed one away with a fireball, while Kai severed the arm of the other.

The zombie that bled red punched Enrico, who defended by crossing his arms and covering them with magic before taking the blow.

"Argh!"

The bone in his right arm cracked, and he was slammed into the wall.

Liam struck with the spear, slicing part of the zombie's back, and Kai tried to cut its neck—he only managed a shallow wound and was then struck with the back of the zombie's hand. He withstood the hit by doing the same as Enrico, reinforcing himself with magic, and the ground beneath him cracked.

"Lunar Slash!"

The zombie was deeply cut but counterattacked and was thrown backward.

Valença raised her staff and summoned a fireball above the zombie, sending it down in an explosion.

When the smoke cleared, the damaged zombie had begun to regenerate.

Serenya pulled Kai and Enrico to her—both nearly unconscious—but immediately took up guard with the other students as the three zombies stared them down.