kscans

Chapter 91 - The Sky Dungeon

"Rena, do you have time now?"

"Huh, today? Today is, well…"

"There's an item I want to get from the Grade 3 ‘Sky Dungeon’. We haven't cleared that one yet, so I was thinking we could go and conquer it now."

I deliberately talked over Rena’s words.

"…Do you know what day it is today, Hayate?"

"Hm? It's October 7th, not a holiday or anything, right. Oh! Is it because 0 and 7 make it Rena's day?"

"No, that's not… N-no, it's nothing. It's fine. Let's go to the dungeon!"

It pained me to lie to Rena about not knowing. But it was all to make this a day she would remember.

"Thanks. Then get ready."

"Okay. I'll go tell Father I'm heading out."

"Alright."

With footsteps that felt slightly heavier than usual, Rena left the room.

───

"We didn't announce this on social media or anything beforehand, but today we're clearing the Grade 3 ‘Sky Dungeon’!"

"…"

I made an announcement on the first floor of the dungeon for the people watching the forced stream.

Normally, Rena would repeat the end of my sentence, but today she was silent. She seemed to be in a bit of a bad mood.

By the way, Rena's birthday is apparently common knowledge even among the general public, so right about now, the stream chat, which I still can't see from inside the dungeon, is probably filled with comments like, ‘What are you doing on Elena's birthday,’ or, ‘He's such a dungeon-clearing idiot, Rena-chan is upset.’ There's a high chance we’re having a minor flame war.

But it's okay. I'll make this a birthday that both Rena and the viewers will be satisfied with.

"Alright, let's go, Rena."

"Y-yeah."

───

We were clearing the dungeon smoothly.

Though her spirits were low, Rena fought in sync with me as always.

Flying-type monsters appear in this Sky Dungeon. What makes it different from the Bird Dungeon is that many of the enemies fly in irregular patterns, unlike birds.

It was a dungeon I, as a mainly melee fighter, actually struggled with. Knowing this, Rena attacked more than usual. She always took the optimal action without me having to say a word.

I'm sorry for making you do this on your birthday.

Even though Rena was trying harder than ever, I deliberately praised her less today. I held back even in situations where I would normally pat her head.

Build up the negatives, then turn it all into a huge positive at the end. But if there were too many negatives, the final positive might not be enough to make up for it, so I constantly watched Rena's expression to adjust the balance. This was quite difficult.

It was stressful not being in a situation where I could just do things that made her happy.

Hang in there, me.

We continued to ascend the dungeon like that. We safely defeated the mid-boss, leaving only the final boss.

"What was the item you wanted, Hayate? Did you get it already?"

"No, it's actually a rare drop from the final boss."

"So it's the Blue Sky series. I hope you can get it."

The final boss of the Sky Dungeon, the Air Crystal. A troublesome enemy that flew through the air in an irregular orbit, protecting itself with a sturdy shield.

We had come this far for an uncertain item drop. And now I had to be the one to work hard for the boss fight. I wouldn't have blamed her for saying, ‘Why are you making me do such a troublesome thing on my birthday?’, but Rena didn't complain at all.

She's so devoted. So truly kind.

Alright, let's wrap up this operation.

"For the final boss fight, Rena, just watch without attacking."

"Huh, why? The boss here is the Air Crystal, right? It’s not a good matchup for you, Hayate."

"Actually, the rare drop rate for the Air Crystal changes depending on how you defeat it. The fewer total attacks, the higher the probability. And though it's extremely difficult, if you can defeat it in a single blow, it becomes a guaranteed drop."

"Really. I never knew about a feature like that."

"That's because it's a boss monster designed to be impossible to defeat in one hit."

I had heard that from an acquaintance at Management. But back when FWO was a game, I had found a way to defeat the Air Crystal in a single blow. This was information that wasn't on the internet, and I had never spoken about it on my streams.

"Today, for you, Rena, I'm going to take that thing down in one hit."

"Huh? F-for me?"

"You said you wanted the ‘Necklace of the Blue Sky’ on a stream before, didn't you?"

"I did, but… The acquisition method for that is supposed to be unknown."

I didn't answer Rena's words, instead walking toward the boss monster.

The Air Crystal reacted to my approach. The reddish, translucent crystal slid toward me in a smooth flight. A little closer and it would probably attack.

I stopped, brought my right hand in front of my face, and placed my left hand over it.

"Fighting Spirit Release."

I would do this with my full, absolute power. I had to succeed.