kscans

Chapter 63 - A Peculiar Dungeon

The night after we finished leveling up Busujima-san and the others.

'Man. I never thought the level grinding would be over so quickly.'

Tonight, like every other night, the three of us were chatting casually via telepathy while gaming.

The game, by the way, was 'Matsuo Naval Battle ☆ Squid-Octopus Frenzy.' Aira-san had deployed her 'Sea Urchin Tank' again and was getting riddled with holes by the enemy.

"So it was fast for you too, Aira-san."

'Anyone would think so. With the increase in adventurers, various clans are probably taking in new members and helping them level up, but a pace like this is not normal, you know?'

"Is that so..."

'Woooooah! Chaaaaarge! Whoops.'

On screen, Erina-san voluntarily fell into a pit. I found myself wondering about something.

The leveling method we used this time was extremely simple. It seems like something other people should have thought of, so why is it treated as such an outlier?

'From that reaction, I take it you don't quite get it, do you?'

"Yeah, well."

I replied while choosing a respawn point after trading kills with an enemy in a head-on firefight.

'It's simple. High-level adventurers who can do what you did usually don't bother with newcomers... or rather, I hear they tend to do whatever they want even within their own clans.'

"Huh, is that so?"

'Yes. The world of adventurers, or rather, Awakened Persons, is a world of talent. For example, even if you and I were the same level, if we fought a hundred times, you would win a hundred times, Kyou-chan-kun. The strong naturally become arrogant.'

"...In your case, I feel like you'd lose to most opponents, even if they weren't Awakened Persons."

'Shut up, idiot, idiot.'

"Your insults have devolved to a grade-school level."

Just because she lost a fistfight to a grade-schooler, her vocabulary has become just as tragic.

'Who was it! Who called me an idiot! The one who says idiot is the idiot! Idiot!!'

"No one said anything to you, Erina-san, so don't worry."

'Then am I being left out?! I'm lonely... pay more attention to me?'

"Are you emotionally unstable?"

'Hey, hey, stop it, Erina-kun! You'll make Kyou-chan-kun, who's being genuinely ostracized in his classroom, cry for real!'

"Whoops, my hand slipped."

'Whaaaaa?! You! You just pushed my character into the pit on purpose, didn't you?!'

"Yes."

'Yes?!'

'Assassination... so it is a ninja?!'

"No."

'Yes?!'

"It's not yes."

'Then no?'

"It's not no, either."

'Woof.'

Stop trying to force an affirmation out of me. I still haven't accepted that our party name is the 'Invisible Ninjas'...!

I have to change it somehow. I refuse to be seen as a member of a group with such a ridiculous name...!

'To get back on topic, there are a lot of Awakened Persons who are selfish or arrogant. Or rather, I should say that the number of such people is increasing. 'I'm strong. I'm special.' Those kinds of feelings probably encourage their behavior.'

"Just because you're good in a fight doesn't mean you're a caveman..."

Well, I can understand getting a sense of omnipotence after becoming an Awakened Person. I was super hyped for a while after the 'Day of Awakening' myself, thinking, 'I am one of the chosen ones...!' But when I found out that a significant portion of Japan had Awakened, I was pretty deflated, thinking, 'Wow, there are a lot of chosen ones...!'

'Well... the world might really become like that, you know?'

"Huh? Is World War III going to break out? I'd rather not have a nuclear war, thanks."

The fact that I can't completely deny it is a grim thought.

A new market has been opened up due to the demand from dungeons, but the global recession hasn't changed.

It would be nice if dungeons would just spit out more money and items.

'I don't know about war, but I'm more worried about the dungeons right now.'

"...You think we won't be able to contain them?"

'I'm hoping that won't be the case.'

"........."

I clicked and clacked the controller.

"For now, I'm just going to fire a volley of cow-dung missiles."

'Yeah, get 'em, Kyou-chan!'

'They're coming from below, watch out!'

"They're coming from above, and there's no friendly fire. Unfortunately."

'Now why did you sound disappointed just then?'

'Assassination... so it is a ninja!!'

After that, we got completely crushed. Same as always.

*

Two days later. After finishing another day of school as the loneliest of loners, I headed to the Dungeon Store again. Since our job with Busujima-san and the others was done, this time it was just me and Erina-san.

Yeah, you know. The dare thing didn't happen for a second day in a row, but the atmosphere in the classroom has clearly changed.

I can feel it in my skin that I've gone from being an untouchable existence to being seen as 'not that big of a deal.'

To be honest, they're right. I'm just a socially awkward person. I have no intention of attacking anyone, nor do I really want to get into a fight.

As the PE teacher fears, I do have the power to easily kill someone. But as long as no accidents or incidents occur, we Awakened Persons are no different from normal people.

I mean, if I seriously hit a non-Awakened person, they'd die... and I'd rather not become a murderer. If someone attacks me, the common sense thing to do is to run away and get help from the police.

However, even though I think about using this turn of events to try and fit in with the class... the fact that I can't bring myself to start a conversation is, I admit, pathetic.

Really, what am I going to do?

There's after-school practice for the sports festival again today, and it's in the final stages... but we can't participate in events like that.

So yeah, of course we're isolated.

"What's up, Kyou-chan? You're staring off into space."

"No, it's nothing."

I shook my head slightly and shifted my focus.

I'm about to enter a dungeon. Anything not related to that is just a distraction.

'Are you two ready?'

"Yup!"

"I'm fine."

'Then, today we have two things to test, aside from our usual dungeon exploration. The first is about your 'Daisharinmaru,' Erina-kun.'

"We're going to see if my special move can always produce that much power, right!"

'Correct. A weapon with unpredictable behavior is a scary thing. The second is a performance test for 'Byakuren.' Now that its custom body is complete, I want to see how well it can move.'

"Right."

Byakuren's custom body. It was finally completed last night.

However, it still has no equipment. For now, I've given it the same shield and iron hammer I gave Mokuren as a bonus, but I plan to wait until I get the items from Ooyama-san before letting it fight seriously.

Today is just about making it walk around inside the dungeon to see if it moves properly.

We entered the gate room, and I deployed my [Arcane Gear] in front of the white door. Erina-san handed me the bag I had entrusted to her before we got on the bus.

I reassembled the disassembled Byakuren that was inside and poured mana into it for activation.

—Vwoom...!

With that sound, the glass parts that served as its eyes lit up, and the golem stood up.

"Ooooh!"

Erina-san let out a voice of admiration.

The standing Byakuren was about 180 centimeters tall. Its overall form was like an articulated doll, but its parts were more angular, giving it a slightly werewolf-like appearance.

Its head was designed as if it were wearing a mask, giving it the look of a character from a robot anime.

"Kyou-chan! This is super ninja! It's black, so it's definitely a ninja!"

"No, it's not a ninja. It's a knight."

'You have your own particular tastes sometimes, don't you, Kyou-chan-kun...'

...The truth is, I have a thing for knight designs, thinking, 'Knights are so cool.' My second favorite genre is 'armored maids.'

I wonder if my own [Arcane Gear] would look more knight-like if I added a cape? No, I feel like it would get caught on something.

In any case, I had Byakuren carry our luggage, completed all the checks, and we were ready.

"Alright, we're going in."

After confirming that Erina-san and Byakuren had a hand on my shoulder, I stepped into the gate.

The sensation of the ground suddenly disappearing beneath my feet, something I'll probably never get used to. Then, immediately, the feeling of packed earth under my soles.

The SDF's lighting hasn't been installed in this dungeon either. An LED lantern and a penlight attached to Byakuren illuminated our surroundings.

This place had a distinctly different atmosphere from the dungeons I had visited so far.

An earthen ground, and lined up on it, old 'Japanese-style houses.'

The wooden doors were closed, and the yellowed paper screens had holes in them here and there. Most of the roofs were simple boards weighted down with stones, with a few tiled ones here and there.

It was a scene from the early Edo period. The interior, something I had only seen in historical dramas, felt quite alien compared to the Western-style dungeons I'd been in so far.

These Japanese-style dungeons are not numerous, but there are several of them. I think there are also Chinese-style, Persian-style, and even places that look like the inside of an Egyptian pyramid.

Labyrinths are truly strange things.

"They're stone-weighted roofs, Kyou-chan! Isn't this exciting?!"

"Huh? No, not really."

"But they're rare!?"

Are they...?

Ignoring Erina-san, who seemed shocked by my reaction, I scanned our surroundings.

This dungeon is said to be one of the more dangerous 'D-Ranks.' I can't let my guard down.

But that's precisely why it's perfect for a 'test.' We're planning to advance to 'C-Rank' soon, after all.

The width of the path was slightly narrower than a two-lane road. Looking up, I could see a bit of the rock face. This castle town-like structure was inside a giant cave.

The store's website described it as 'like a town entirely covered by a stone dome,' but for me, as long as there's oxygen and nothing to obstruct my sword swings, it's fine.

...Though, I do wonder a little, 'why do dungeons maintain an oxygen concentration suitable for human activity in the first place?'

I shook off the extraneous thought. I should leave things like that to scholars or aspiring scholars like Aira-san.

"Moving forward."

'Right. Be careful.'

"Ugh... This place feels like a sacred ground for a ninja, though."

"Yeah, yeah."

I drew my sword and started walking cautiously.

Erina-san might be spouting nonsense, but her gaze and her 'footwork' had returned to normal.

First, I'll place a marker near the exit. The 'Daisharinmaru' experiment will come after that.

We proceeded through the dungeon, which felt somehow more eerie than usual.

The air flowing here felt a little colder than in the other labyrinths.