kscans

Chapter 128 - Chapter 128

"To celebrating our conquest of the Beast Dungeon, cheers!"

"""Cheers!"""

At their usual family restaurant, juice cups in hand, Hayate and his friends discussed the day's dungeon raid.

"The Byakko fight was easier than I expected."

"You didn't even need my magic."

"If the settings haven't changed, it should be a breeze."

"And our skill unlock rates are pretty high."

They had defeated the final boss, Byakko, without any real trouble.

"Everyone, how's your stamina? You okay?"

"I'm tired, but it's nothing a good night's sleep won't fix."

"No injuries, either."

"Yep."

"Then let's head into the Komura Dungeon tomorrow."

"I'm good to go."

"Me too."

"Same here!"

A Grade 5 dungeon was a place where hundreds, even thousands, of raiders had been wounded, exhausted, and broken-spirited, forced to abandon their attempts. Yet here they were, the day after clearing such a place, already planning to move on to the next stage.

"We have kept her waiting for a while, after all."

"Totally."

"She's probably all ready."

"You're all amazing."

Hayate and the others exchanged meaningful smiles as they spoke.

"I wonder if she's figured out our plan."

"Well, we are dealing with a goddess."

"She might even be listening to this conversation."

"If she hasn't found out, we'll just consider ourselves lucky."

"Exactly. What we have to do doesn't change."

"But if she hasn't noticed, we'll get to see the look of surprise on the Goddess's face."

The Grade 6 Komura Dungeon. The Goddess would possess its final boss.

For Hayate, this would be his second battle against her.

"This time, it feels like she's challenging you by name, Hayate."

"We have to assume she'll be waiting with stats specifically tailored to counter Hayate-kun."

"You think she's taken into account that Hayate is with us?"

"Probably."

Unlike when he had challenged the Goddess solo, Hayate now had allies. And they were strong allies, capable of pushing through dungeons at the same level he was.

It was hard to imagine the Goddess wouldn't be aware of that.

"After that thrashing you gave her, the Goddess is probably paying close attention to Hayate, right?"

"Maybe, but based on how she acted when we faced her in the Spring Dungeon, I don't think the Goddess gathers much information about the real world. If she's still the same as she was back then, our plan will work."

It was fine if she knew they would be challenging her with Rena, Naoto, and the others. They had prepared a plan that was another level above that, one that would exceed the Goddess's expectations.

"Alright, let's talk about tomorrow's raid."

Once they had finished their meal and settled down, Hayate brought up the topic.

"Since it's the Komura Dungeon, the enemies will be plant-type."

"I'm looking forward to fighting with the Buddy I got today."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but you can't do that, Naoto."

"Huh? Why not?"

They had just conquered the Beast Dungeon and received beast-type Buddies as a trophy. Naoto, who had been fantasizing about fighting while riding on its gallant back, was brought back to reality by Hayate.

"You know that FWO is based on four-person parties, right?"

"Y-Yeah."

The maximum number of parties you could bring into a dungeon changed depending on its difficulty. Grade 1 dungeons were limited to a single party, but from Grade 2 onwards, you could form two parties, meaning you could raid with eight people.

Furthermore, from the more difficult Grade 4 dungeons onwards, the specification allowed for up to three parties, for a total of twelve people.

If you formed a party within the allowed number of people, whenever someone defeated a monster, skill points would be distributed based on their contribution. Also, party members would no longer take damage from each other's magic or skills.

"You can only use a Buddy when your party has four or fewer members. And by the way, the Buddy counts as one of those members."

"If you have a two-person party, you can bring up to two Buddies. With a three-person party, only one person can bring their Buddy."

"W-Why is it designed like that?! I wanted to go on a rampage with Liger!"

Liger was the tiger-type Buddy Naoto had obtained in the Beast Dungeon.

"A Buddy is a support role for when you're farming materials with a small group. So you can't use them during a serious dungeon raid."

"Wait, you didn't know, Naoto? Hayate-kun and Rena-chan both have Buddies, but they never bring them along, right?"

Gasp. As if struck by a realization, a look of despair washed over his face.

"You're kidding me..."

"You can't use them in places like Grade 6 dungeons yet, but you'll be able to when we go farm for materials. Cheer up."

There was the option of returning to a Grade 4 dungeon and splitting into two parties of two to try out their new Buddies, but they chose not to.

There were people waiting for them. They had to proceed with their plan.

For that reason, they would challenge the Goddess who awaited them in the Komura Dungeon tomorrow.