kscans

Chapter 15 - A Beautiful Morning and the Dungeon

A new morning had arrived. I awoke feeling refreshed, as if the world had been transformed overnight. Everything seemed to sparkle. It was a beautiful morning. Last night, I had finally graduated from virginity—with a girl more beautiful than I could have ever dreamed of in my old world.

But Famu, who should have been sleeping beside me, was gone. Panic seized me. Was last night just a hallucination? Had all my days since being transported to this other world been nothing more than an elaborate dream? I sat up and saw Famu. She was praying, as usual. How long had she been doing that? And who, or what, was she praying to? When she noticed I was awake, Famu stopped her prayers and stood up.

"G-Good morning."

She was blushing. Her shyness was contagious, and I could feel my own face grow hot.

"Yeah… Morning."

Famu closed her eyes and leaned her face toward me. I didn’t understand what she meant and just stared at her blankly.

"Hmph!"

She puckered her lips, urging me on. They were a luscious, soft-looking cherry pink. I pressed my lips to hers. After a light touch, Famu pulled her head back.

"…This is embarrassing. Super embarrassing."

I wanted to say something clever, but my mind was a blank. As I scrambled for words, my stomach rumbled. I had certainly worked hard last night.

"Let’s get some food."

"Y-Yes, let’s."

I was naked. The clothes I had carelessly tossed aside last night were neatly folded on a chair. I crawled out of bed and got dressed. Until now, we had both changed discreetly, but there was no need for that anymore.

"Let’s go."

"Yes."

As we started walking toward the door, I noticed Famu’s strange, slightly bow-legged gait.

"Hm? What’s wrong?"

"It’s a little sore. It still feels like… it’s inside me…"

After breakfast, we headed for the shrine that housed the dungeon. Famu seemed to have gotten used to the discomfort in her groin, as she was walking normally again. Though, she would occasionally slip back into that bow-legged walk. I offered to see if a potion would help, but she said she was fine with it and refused to drink one. We could have taken it easy at the inn today, but I knew if we stayed cooped up in the room, I’d just keep wanting Famu’s body. She wanted to go out too, so we forced ourselves to leave.

The shrine looked like a stone fortress. It was unique in that it was built not to fend off enemies attacking from the outside, but to contain those spawning from within. A guard stood at the entrance, asking to see our character sheets. The information visible to others was party name, adventurer rank, name, class, primary job, primary job level, race, and age. With permission, other stats could be viewed as well.

In my case, it was: Party Name ‘Mash, Famu,’ Adventurer Rank ‘F,’ Name ‘Mash,’ Class ‘Freeperson,’ Primary Job ‘Adventurer,’ Primary Job Level ‘15,’ Race ‘Human,’ and my age was eternally seventeen. Apparently, if you didn’t decide on a party name, the system just listed the members’ names. Leveling up was gradually getting harder, but I was told it normally takes about four months to go from 1 to 15. All thanks to my special skills. Famu, by the way, was level 13. I was higher, but I’d lose if we fought. Numbers weren’t everything, it seemed. There was a strength that character sheets couldn’t measure. A good example was magic. Adventurers could use basic magic at level 10, but I had thought it was a trash skill until Aidan taught me how to apply it.

"First time?"

the guard asked.

"Yeah, just checking it out today. We’ll be back soon,"

I replied.

"They sell maps inside. The ones for the upper floors have a lot of unconfirmed areas and aren’t very useful, but the maps for the lower floors have well-organized information. You should buy one."

"Got it."

I thanked him and proceeded inside.

The interior was a cubic space. Several other parties were already there. The floor was hard-packed earth, roughly twenty meters on each side. In the center of the floor was a black circle about five meters in diameter. Something like a black flame rose from it. That seemed to be the dungeon entrance. Looking around, I saw a shop set up against the wall. What a tourist-trap system.

They were selling potions, antidotes, and food like dried meat, alongside maps and monster bestiaries. I thought about buying a pennant or a keychain as a souvenir, but they didn’t have any.

"I’ll take a map of the first ten floors and a bestiary."

"The map is one silver coin per floor, and the bestiary is ten silver."

I received the woodblock-printed map and book. It felt expensive compared to our lodging.

"How many floors does this dungeon have?"

I asked the clerk.

"It’s been confirmed up to the fifty-second floor."

Endless. I couldn’t be bothered. Even the 3D dungeon crawlers I used to play only had ten floors.

"Famu, have you ever been in a dungeon before?"

"No, I haven’t. I’m a little nervous."

"We’re just scouting it out today. We’ll go in for a bit and come right back. Let’s go."

"Okay."

As we walked toward the center of the black circle, our bodies sank as if being pulled into the ground. My vision went black, but it quickly returned. However, what I saw was not the interior of the shrine, but a stone corridor. Famu was also looking around, bewildered.

I couldn’t tell where the light source was, but it was bright enough to see clearly. Torches and lanterns seemed unnecessary. The corridor was quite spacious, about five meters wide and five meters high. It came to a dead end just ahead, where a door was visible. The real dungeon seemed to lie beyond it. Beneath our feet was a black circle. Returning here would take us back to the shrine.

"Let’s move."

We started walking toward the door.

The enemies on the first floor were slimes. We defeated them with ease as we pushed forward. Compared to the field, the lack of cover like trees, grass, and rocks, as well as the even ground, made fighting much easier. The enemies in the dungeon grew stronger with each floor. The first floor was practically a tutorial. We also encountered other parties, something that rarely happened in the field.

"If we continue this way, we’ll reach the Area Guardian’s room,"

Famu said, checking the map. I had been looking at it at first, but Famu wanted to see it too, and before I knew it, it had become her responsibility. She seemed to enjoy reading books and written materials. Come to think of it, she had been reading the ‘World Walker’ quite avidly.

"You really like to read, don’t you, Famu? Was everyone in your village like that?"

"I was sick and bedridden, so I practiced reading and writing. Some people can remember their own names and a few simple words, but I don’t think many can read and write fluently."

If I wasn’t careful, I’d forget that she had been ill, that her curse still wasn’t broken. It seemed that in this world, more people were illiterate than not.

"So, should we go?"

"Let’s give it a shot."

Judging by the strength of the enemies on the first floor, I had a feeling we could handle it. Even if it was an enemy that usually required six people to defeat, I had my special skills.

"The Area Guardian on the first floor is apparently a Slime King."

"A king? Ugh, the trauma…"

"I-It’s okay! I’ll back you up properly this time!"

A massive door appeared before us. Inside was a large, circular room. At the far end, another closed door was visible. As we stepped into the room, the door behind us slammed shut. Particles of light rained down in the center of the room. A monster’s form began to coalesce from the brilliance. When the light faded, a Slime King stood there. It was the size of a person.

"It’s huge."

Famu and I readied our weapons. The Slime King charged, ramming into us. We split to the left and right to evade it, then closed in for a pincer attack. Our blades sliced through the slime’s body, but it felt like cutting through water. The King Slime spat a solution at Famu, which she dodged. It then leaped into the air, attempting to crush her with its entire body.

"Kyah!"

Famu dodged that too, but she lost her balance and fell onto her backside. To draw the enemy’s attention, I launched a fireball. The point of impact sizzled and bubbled. Seeing the enemy’s movement halt, Famu scrambled to her feet.

"You okay?"

"Yes!"

"Alright, let’s press the attack."

Famu charged the slime again. I attacked from the opposite side. We kept moving, constantly circling to avoid its body slams while slashing away. We ruthlessly hacked at it, giving it no openings. Eventually, the Slime King’s form began to lose its shape and it vanished.

"Alright!"

"We did it!"

We had defeated the Area Guardian. The door ahead of us opened. Where the Slime King had been, a small vial lay on the ground.

"According to the bestiary, it’s some kind of oil."

"What kind of oil, I wonder?"

"It says they can leave various types of oil, but… I don’t know…"

"We’ll take it to the guild and have them check it out."

I put it in my storage. Then, we proceeded through the open door. There, we found another black circle.

"Looks like this will take us to the second floor."

There didn’t seem to be anything else to do, so we stood on the circle. Just like at the entrance, our bodies sank into the ground, our vision went black, and we found ourselves in a different location.

"Can we go back? There’s a route to the third floor, but it looks like we can only return to the first floor from here,"

Famu said, staring at the second-floor map. Indeed, the Area Guardian’s room we had just passed through seemed to be a one-way path. I wondered if we could backtrack by defeating it again.

"Let’s try going back."

"Okay."

We stood on the black circle. Our vision went black, and we were back in the shrine.

"I see."

So if we turned back, we’d have to start over from the first floor.

"Let’s call it a day. We can try again tomorrow."

Our exploration for the day was over.