Even though there were still countless things I wanted to ask, the old Nether King spoke only about the Hero’s traps before abruptly cutting the transmission and vanishing. Sure, he’d succeeded in making us uneasy, but honestly, the very idea of a complete beginner like me trying to conquer a Nether-class dungeon had already been reckless from the start.
At this point, adding one or two traps to the mix hardly changed anything. Somewhere along the way, I just stopped caring and accepted it. Well, if the three of us worked together, we’d probably figure something out! No use overthinking it.
Alright then—time to pull ourselves together and head for the next floor!
“…Maybe we should just go home after all…”
“…The Nether King… is terrifying…”
Huh?
Why were Mina-chan and Shion-san suddenly so depressed?
A minute ago they’d been rampaging through monsters like unstoppable warriors.
Ah! The fart smell!
Sorry! I’ll spray the deodorizer right n—
| > The only one not terrified of the Nether King is the old man. > Did the other two completely lose their fighting spirit? > From just a projection and voice alone? > So it was Mina-chan’s first time seeing him up close too. > The Nether King geezer really is on another level. > No, the weirder thing is the old man not being scared at all. > So the Hero’s Party already made it to Floor 10? > They’ve reached Floor 78 before, remember. > Even the Nether King probably let his guard down. > But he said two explorers. > Huh? Wasn’t the Hero’s Party supposed to have four members? > Rumor says every member of the Hero’s Party ends up mentally broken after dungeon runs. > They apparently switch parties almost every time. > So they treat teammates as disposable. > Wonder who the next sacrifice will be. > The Hero’s a total scumbag. > Man, the old man really can’t catch a break with all these trials. > Oh right—what happened to his level? |
While I was idly rummaging through my Item Box, one of the comments I caught out of the corner of my eye mentioned levels.
Right. Did defeating Lune-chan not give enough experience?
I hadn’t confirmed any sign of a level increase too.
…Maybe I should just take out the manager.
“…No, please spare me. The exit is over there, so if you would kindly proceed to the afterlife quickly.”
Sensing the pressure of my gaze as I continued digging through my Item Box, James pointed toward the exit. His whole demeanor practically screamed, “Please leave this establishment immediately.” It was exactly the kind of look a shop owner gives to a nightmare customer. In a normal place, I’d definitely be banned for life.
Not that I was ever planning to come back anyway.
“Here! Oh, the spray type.”
Mimicking a deodorizer I’d seen in commercials, I rummaged through the Item Box—and pulled out something exactly like what I imagined.
Normal deodorants probably wouldn’t work on this kind of smell, but I could only hope this was a master-crafted dungeon item designed for total deodorization.
Let’s trust in it.
“Alright then, Manager. I sincerely hope we never meet again.”
“Likewise.”
“Let’s go, Mina-chan, Shion-san!”
“Y-yeah…”
“…Yeah…”
Hey, don’t make those gloomy faces while I’m literally about to neutralize the smell!
◆◆◆
(Satsuki Amane’s POV)
“Tch! Trash item. As expected of this cursed Nether-class dungeon. It is nothing but garbage.”
The Hero Soma crushed the boss of Floor 10 of the Nether-class Dungeon using an unimaginably underhanded method. He opened the treasure chest behind the defeated boss, but whatever item he found was apparently useless to him—because he immediately set it on fire and reduced it to ash.
I, Satsuki Amane, could only stand there dumbfounded.
I had been forcibly brought here from in front of the Guild Headquarters… and now we had already reached the 10th floor of the Nether-class Dungeon.
Every step of the way had been nothing but shock and terror. Because the Hero Soma’s exploration style was completely insane. Or rather—calling it an “exploration style” might already be wrong.
From the moment I learned he possessed the cheat skill known as Infinite Item Box, I understood he wasn’t normal. But the way he actually used it far exceeded anything I could have possibly imagined. In short… this man doesn’t really “explore” dungeons at all.
After surveying each floor’s entrance from above, he pulls out bizarre items from his box, strikes the floor, traces the walls—and then, every single floor ahead of us transforms into the exact same structure as the surface level of Floor 1 of Nether-class.
The monsters that originally occupied the floor were simultaneously annihilated by a variety of traps triggered at once. Any boss-class enemies that survived were then exposed to an even more vicious toxic gas. Soma would casually hurl insults at them while watching their weakened bodies writhe, simply waiting for them to die.
This was the dungeon exploration style of the Hero Soma. The word psychopath suited him perfectly. The complete opposite of Daishi-san.
When I met this man, that must have been the reason I instinctively felt Daishi-san could never win against him. Cruel, cold-blooded, merciless, underhanded… A man who never hesitated to use any means necessary to achieve his goals.
If I were taken hostage, that alone would give Hero Soma a decisive advantage over Daishi-san. I couldn’t understand at all why someone like this was granted the title of “Hero.”
“Well then… the cleanup here is finished.”
After wiping out the monsters and collecting the treasure, the man always performed the same routine. He would move near the exit, pull out a black handheld device resembling a smartphone from his Item Box, and smoothly operate the screen with his thumb in a practiced motion.
And then…
“Hah. Well? Satsuki Amane. This is the Floor 68 configuration of a Divine-class Dungeon.”
The transformation happened in real time. The entire 10th floor of the Nether-class Dungeon began to rewrite itself before my eyes. A hazy distortion spread like layers of colorful mosaic fog, completely altering the scenery.
Until just moments ago, it had retained the eerie aesthetic of a Nether-class floor.
But now—
It had shifted into something entirely different. A vast, solemn, temple-like structure I had never seen before.
Yes.
That was it.
In order to bury Daishi-san within this Nether-class Dungeon, this man had been laying traps across every floor they would eventually reach. He had no intention of engaging in proper combat. For him, what mattered was only two things: defeating his opponent—and making them suffer.
“If you understand the structure, rewriting a dungeon floor is child’s play. The Guild Headquarters’ AI really is excellent… well, I did provide them with data from my previous visit to the Nether-class, after all.”
Standing before the fully rewritten divine-class deep floor, Hero Soma muttered—at a volume that sounded like he was speaking to himself… or perhaps deliberately letting me hear.
Fragments of his words carried unsettling implications.
Headquarters… AI…?
Don’t tell me… this guy is connected to the Guild Headquarters?!
“Hero Soma. Just what are you—”
“The 68th floor of Divine-class is a tricky one. That’s where my previous party member went completely insane.”
“What are you? What’s your goal? Could you at least tell me now… guhk!”
I couldn’t breathe again. My neck is being squeezed.
It hurts… I can’t… breathe…
“Shut up and follow along. If you keep poking your nose where it doesn’t belong, I’ll dismantle you and dump you at the bottom of the sea.”
“Guhk…!”
“Ah, right. I’m in a good mood, so I’ll tell you one thing.”
The pressure around my neck loosened slightly at the same time his face filled my entire field of vision. Our eyes met at point-blank range. His gaze—completely bloodshot and unhinged—was terrifying.
“Ajiri Daishi became an enemy of humanity. In other words… I’m the true hero here, the one destined to defeat the Nether King.”
“…Eh?”
“The Guild Headquarters’ request… I can’t exactly refuse it, can I?”
Even as overwhelming fear crawled through my entire body, I couldn’t look away from Hero Soma. His completely unexpected, incomprehensible answer left my thoughts utterly lost, as if my mind had been thrown into a labyrinth of its own.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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