Tanaka Jiro, twenty-eight years old, single, no girlfriend, occupation: Dungeon Tester (full-time employee)
Magic Aptitude 8 (General Class)
Officer of the Year: Warrior
Oh, come on, fantasy.
Stepping into the square and closing the entrance behind you is good, no, not good, but it's to be expected .
'You need to be a little more careful, this is something I wasn't expecting.
The staircase was built into the wall as if to repel intruders, which is to be expected.
But .
"An army of hovering spheres, yes? Royalty.
This time, since it came with a tree, a standard stone golem will appear, or if not, it will be just a small or large discrepancy in my expectations, but my expectations were completely betrayed by the ejection of a ball the size of a bowling ball into the air.
"If this is a suicide attack, I'm going to be stuck, aren't I?
Looking at the blatantly spherical shape of the object, I can only think of one use for it .
Like a mine floating in the water, if you see it not attacking, it looks like a self-destructing, suicide attack, tackle-type bomb demon, like the Blood Species in Woodpuppet.
When I think I have to do something about it, I feel like the mentality is more important before the technical stuff.
"Lock on?
And it seems that the time for observation over here is over .
After it appeared, the flickering spheres flashed at uniform intervals, as if to identify us, but gradually the intervals became faster and the blue-white light covering the spheres transformed from blue to red like a signal lamp.
''A pinball?!''
His arm was moving before he could avoid it.
'Heavy!'
With a definite response, something bursts out and explodes
'It's too hard for a single layer of closure, isn't it!
Considering it was a counter-brave dungeon, this much might be necessary, but I wanted to scream that this was somewhat out of line with the budget .
As expected from its appearance, as expected, the suicide attack with mines, and the ricocheting around at random using walls, floors, and ceilings to see if it won't explode if it doesn't hit the enemy, is going to be swallowed up by the momentum in the blink of an eye if we don't handle it calmly.
There's no time to move around and duck.
I won't be moving carelessly when it's bouncing around all over the place.
It's safer to sit down and strike with him.
Fortunately, your eyes and arms are still moving fast enough to catch up with them and the mineral tree is harder than your opponent.
With each shot, sometimes with my feet, sometimes with my feet, sometimes back like a target, and sometimes with my feet and wrists, I use my footwork and wrist returns to knock down the growing sphere.
Even if we don't move, the sphere flies from there, saving our energy.
But it's as if it's going to take all that savings away from you, and it's going to keep on coming at me.
"Ugh.
However, you attack and intercept them, concentrating more and more, but then you make a mistake.
The one you failed to deal with explodes nearby, and fragments fly into your body. Then, as if it was aimed at, a sphere comes flying in from the surrounding area at once.
This is not good!
It's posture is broken, and it's hard to intercept it completely.
If this continues, the sphere will come rushing in like a carpet bomb and in no time my place will be the center of the explosion.
And then we won't have to think about the rest.
If I thought for one second that I was done for good, I could feel my strength slowly drain away.
It took me longer than I thought, but that's as far as I go.
Fortunately, my body is magically made of magic, and there is pain, but that's a matter of luck.
If I had the guts, I wouldn't have to deal with the pain of the explosion.
As annoying as it sounds, that's a dead end.
And I'm beginning to believe that there's no way.
"Kaja.
Apparently, the rational part of the mind and the emotional body are two different things.
'Don't lick it!
For a moment, I thought my mouth had loosened, and then the voice came out as if it were bubbling up from the pit of my stomach .
What about this situation?
He lost his posture when he got hit by the explosion, but on the contrary, that's about it.
That's a crazy idea.
We're in trouble because we're out of control, but you can't stop laughing at your naive thinking and saying that's all there is to it.
''That was ten thousand times harder than that time!
There was poison, paralysis, gravity, physical punches, hypnosis, stench, vision obstruction, chambered swords, and the occasional ranged magic, all of which were deadly.
A hit or two would only hurt you, but there was still room to resist.
Before you can break through, you need to regain your strength and search for your next action within the time limit amidst the quickened thoughts and slowed scenes.
Certainly, there are grounds for saying that's about right, but now, how do we get around this situation?
Think about it.
Kaha! Excellent!
In the end, I didn't think of it.
But a suicide kamikaze attack was enough to break my heart.
'I've stepped on plenty of occasions to die! If you want to destroy me, then go ahead and try to destroy you too!
Well, at any rate, it's just that the more you put your all into it, the faster you think about it.
I'm going to kill you.
I think about what I'm screaming at the inanimate objects, but I'll put it aside for now and kill these airborne bastards .
That the sadist didn't even have time to run away barefoot and pass out from the instructor with a vicious grin that slammed me to my core.
Kill him before he kills you.
It was as if the instructors had taken over to do it, and I was smiling naturally.
"Kukku, I'll take care of it.
Laughter is something that can come out naturally, even at the last minute.
A situation that you thought was hopeless is just a matter of tying yourself up in a bind, and it is easy to get out of it if you are open-minded.
I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most of it.
"Kukuku ka ka ka ka ka ka ka ka ka ka, ahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
As if to pronounce that it's our turn, I feel like I'm slowly expanding my territory just by stepping in.
There's a phenomenon called a runner's high.
It is a mental high that makes you want to run forever, as the more you run, the more excited you become.
You're smiling before you know it. I wonder where I was when I was so frightened before.
And there I am, staring at me calmly. The tension is high, but my vision is clear.
My body is hot, my heart is racing, my blood is rushing through my body in a torrent.
But my spinal cord is reacting sharply to my body, and my mind is calmly contemplating the situation.
My head and body are at odds with each other, and my current situation has reached its highest potential.
It's not enough.
At this speed, it's still too late.
It's not enough.
I'll still be beaten by this kind of power.
It's not enough.
You won't be able to kill them with one shot this sharp.
It's not enough... There's too much to kill these things.
There are still too many to count, and more to come!
'Come on! Quickly! Quickly! Fast!
You need more hands, think, be more efficient.
Cut back on everything, change your position, we don't need to be at this end of the line.
We could take it down more efficiently if we moved into a denser area, into the center.
Yes, this is as far as we've come! I ain't going to lose!
Vent Venting resentment, create a storm, overrun.
Everything's good.
I feel like I can see things I shouldn't see.
I feel like I can see where they are, as if I have eyes on my back.
Well, maybe it's just my imagination!
Still, the feeling of swinging and hitting is pleasing, as the accumulation of the past seems to be answering, and it makes me even more efficient.
We've come so far, I'd like to get as far as I can.
It's more like a discard than a cut.
It's more like a link between them.
It's as if I'm in a killing ritual, my every move is in order, and then the other side is flying toward me as if to match me.
This is despite the fact that we're in the center of a dense enemy stronghold.
Is it a charade?
I was being pushed back gradually and to regain my shape, a sting grew on the ball.
The sting is sharp, and I can easily imagine that it would pierce through my armor like paper.
Fortunately, it didn't bounce and pierced the ground, but there's no way a variation that would be fatal just from a body hit would be an advantage to me in this situation.
''So what's the point?''
There's no way that's a plus.
But I cut it off and threw it away.
On the brink of killing or being killed, and at the last minute when we would lose if we couldn't respond, we had no right to despair.
Listen Jiro, fear is a sensor. But despair is nothing more than a weight. I'll make sure it's ingrained in your body.
"Yet it is fear that we teach fear, never despair.
Yeah, I understand what the instructors were saying during training now.
That's for sure.
Fear tells us where and how to be a threat.
Back off and you dodge, or swing and you're cut off.
Fear is like a drug that helps us do that.
"Feed on fear.
As the words slipped out of my mouth, I felt my body fill with a sensation that made all the extra strength drain out of me.
The sensation of having fear on my side gradually made my blows quicker and quicker.
I sliced through the bomb as if I was enjoying it, and one became two, then three, then four, and the number of pinball golems I had to kill kept increasing.
Before you knew it, time had flown by and the battle was over when you cut down the last one and detonated it behind you.
"Woosh, hard fought!
It wasn't a complete victory.
I got blasted so many times, soot all over my body, flying debris and cuts all over, and I tore up my bandages.
d*mn it, I don't want to eat. I don't want to move.
Even when you are young, you unconsciously put a stopper on your body when you do something reckless, or you feel a big reaction when you move with all your strength.
I heard it's true that what you could do when you were young, you can't do when you get older.
Good night.
I carried the peak on my shoulder and plied the overworked mineral tree.
They say it's a living metal.
The last thing I want is to have to drag it across the floor in case it gets bent at the navel.
Your floor's crushed.
And when I reached out for a smoke, the box of cigarettes was warped and crushed wonderfully by the mixture of the blast and the rolling around and everything.
It was obvious that it could be torn off if you pulled on it in a normal way, so I struggled to take one out and smoked it.
''Should I be relieved that nothing was left behind after the explosion and I didn't lose my foothold, or should I lament that the explosion wiped out all the loot, I don't know which expression I should wear.
By the time I'm halfway through the smoke, my calm thoughts make me take action to look around, but the merits in the process and the results make my face fixate with a look of dismay .
Well, of course, I'm prepared for the deficit, and I'm glad to have made it through, but I'm going to gorge on my pickings today just for comfort. Yeah, I'll have jerky instead of squid, and I'll eat a bag of jerky that costs a thousand yen.
In the end, the cash I lost in the process formed more of an expression than the safety I won in the outcome .
Feeding on the rank up of my usual dinner snacks to inspire myself, I decided to collect the few remaining magic stones and climb the stairs .
''I should be able to get out now, but it's a relentless fantasy .
But somehow, just to be sure, I climbed the stairs slowly without making a sound of footsteps, but it seemed to be the right decision.
I wonder where the word "safe zone" has gone, as the battle area is still firmly set up after the boss battles, it's just like a dungeon.
Although it looks like the types are the same as the first layer, the number is different.
In addition, with the mid-boss Wood Golem, the level of the game has been raised steadily.
Is it even possible to use it with the demons around? Well, it's not going to happen. But I'm willing to bet on the hope that I can. It's about time you got to the beer and you're not complaining about it, me today.
A device with a sphere that looks like a crystal on a waist-high pillar installed near the wall in the opposite direction from the stairs as if it were a way out, and if it's as taught in the classroom, if you touch it, it should be able to transport you through a few seconds of time lag to escape.
If you think it's normal, there's no way you can use it when there's something dangerous around.
So it makes a natural choice of action.
"Let's just try to be a little more friendly, dungeons.
It's only natural that a dungeon to intercept a brave man would never create a safe area to cover the other side.
But I wanted you to feel a little better about your current situation, where you were exposed to explosion after explosion after explosion.
Stifling a sigh, I grabbed the hilt of the mineral tree.
At this point, it's like the feeling of giving up, reopening up, and going to work with inertia.
'Daaaaahhhh. !!!! God d*mn it... !!!!
And then he charged in, feeling that his desperation to take it out on them was somehow similar to how he felt when he was busy working.
'Um, are you okay?'
'If you're okay with the fact that you broke through the hierarchy alone, then I thought maybe you'd be okay.
I escaped safely.
After three reinforcements, the first battle on the second level of our assault finally came to an end.
I managed to activate my escape device, the transfer station, and went to the entrance of the dungeon and then to the infirmary to heal myself when I bumped into Suela.
"Did you break through the first layer all by yourself?
Yes, that pinball was stunning, as expected.
Are you hurt? Or rather, if you look closely, you're covered in injuries all over your body!
I'm not sure if you're more upset about the injury than the injured party, but I'm glad you're honestly worried about it .
...... Honestly, I'm exhausted. To be specific, as much as I'd like to punch that me who didn't turn back then, well, it's still better than the instructors' training, so I thought I'd be fine if I went to the medical office.
The fact that the training is harder than the actual battle may be a good countermeasure, but I think it's wrong somehow .
But that's why we're still here, so I can't complain.
But it seems that I chose the wrong words.
In the infirmary? You're that badly hurt? Do you need a shoulder to lean on? Where's the gurney? It's faster than that, with levitation magic, no, it's faster to move directly with transfer magic.
I was going to reassure her that there was no medicine for her, so she'd just get some light treatment and everything would be fine, but she thought I was seriously injured.
Well, we'll put that aside for now, but for now, I want you to calm down.
Maybe it's because I'm good at my job, or maybe it's because I can do my job, but the people around me are looking at me too much.
Maybe it's because of her notoriety, or maybe it's because of her bad reputation, or maybe it's because her response is seen as favoritism.
In addition, Suela's appearance also makes the eyes of the guys hard to look at.
'You can't rely on self-judgment! They say good is quick! Let's go!
Hey!
But she took my hand and walked away as if oblivious to the stares around her.
I'm half a head taller than Suela, and I'm larger and more muscular from my recent workouts.
So I shouldn't be able to be pulled out of the car so easily, but she easily tries to get me to the doctor's office.
I knew she was using a body-strengthening spell, intuitively.
Then it occurred to me.
Why is she being so accommodating, so desperate.
When I was in the throes of puberty, I would have thought she was interested in me, but unfortunately, I hadn't thought of that a long time ago when I was out of that mindset.
It's simply because of her good nature and the fact that she takes you seriously that she has gone off the rails and is acting like this.
I think it's not right to shake off such an action of hers for personal reasons of embarrassment.
The eyes of the people around you are getting tighter, but I'll take the perk of asking a beautiful woman to back off.
I walked a little faster, but even after I got to the doctor's office, Suela was able to treat me faster and more efficiently than I could.
Even faster than the resident doctor.
'There you go. There were no bruises, burns, cuts, or broken bones, fortunately, but the adaptation of the magic crests may leave your body with some heat, so you may have trouble sleeping today.
You can see the doctor's diagnosis as good as a doctor's, and the doctor in charge here, the Lizard, is standing behind me, glancing back and forth between me and the paperwork that hasn't progressed at all, so you can see that he or she is not busy.
I want to ask if it's okay to take the job.
Now, Jiro-san, may I have a word with you?
But with a slam, he closed the first-aid kit with an expanded inner volume and spoke to me with a smile .
I got goosebumps and straightened up in reflex.
It seems that the training was a little inadequate, yes, I think this injury was caused by the lack of knowledge and awareness of the danger. Of course, it was our fault, no, it was my fault, so I will take care of the cost of this treatment. And to prevent this from happening again in the future, would you mind if I gave a lecture here?
I understand.
No, a living organism's survival instincts make sense.
You're politely asking me a question, one where the only choices are 'yes' or 'yes'.
It's not a "yes" that he's willing to accept orders from his superiors, but more like an army officer's "yes" that he responds to with a no-questions-asked response.
To begin with, it's dangerous to work alone in a dungeon. That's why you need a party.
The lecture that began in the infirmary lasted until Suela's colleague came to call her, and by the time it was over, she didn't have the energy to do anything, let alone eat dinner, and her body was filled with a desire to just rest.
You'll be resting tomorrow, I promise!
After seeing her off with that last word, all I had to do was say no to the Lizard's doctor who asked me if I wanted to rest, go back to my room, randomly take off my clothes and fall on the bed.
All I had to do was close my eyes and my consciousness would fall away in a flash.
Tomorrow is a day off, and I promise myself that I will not wake up until noon.
And that vow is overturned rather easily.
How did that happen?
Do you hear me, Jiro-san?
I'm sitting in a retro-chic tavern, or should I say tavern, that doesn't represent The Fantasy, but is more like a modern-day European tavern, where Suela-san was sitting next to me, leaning against me.
Her eyes are fixed, and she is completely drunk, which makes her look even s*xier.
But I can't react to that.
Looking across from you, Superintendent Evvia, Instructor Kio and Instructor Fusio, with their grins and lecherous smiles that could have created this situation, are drinking much more quietly than they normally would.
They are absolutely enjoying the situation and are waiting for something more to happen, like animals waiting for their prey.
This man is enjoying this situation from a third party's point of view? I gave up hope that they wouldn't miss it, and remembered how we got here.
It all started this morning when I vowed to rest and stay in my room for the rest of the day.
Oh, my God! If it's okay with you, how about a dinner tonight to celebrate breaking through a layer? Oh, um, you can say no if you need something from .......
What a sweetheart .
I didn't know how many times I'd fallen asleep and woken up, and was wondering if I'd had enough of it when the chime rang, and with sleepy eyes I caught sight of a dark elf with a face so red that I could tell despite his brown skin.
No, it was Suela.
"Huh, you want to eat?
From the side, it's a very rare case where a woman invites you to dinner, but unfortunately, I'm too sleepy to grasp the situation that I'm currently very lucky.
What time does it start?
Will you go?
Yeah, I don't have any plans.
All I could do was judge the day's schedule and whether or not I could meet their demands.
Then meet me at the entrance of the underground facility at 7:00!
The entrance to the underground facility at 7 o'clock.
And now, if you'll excuse me!
Yes, ......, he's gone.
So even though Suela ran off without hearing a reply, I can only judge her for her work brain that she was working on her day off and hurriedly came to me in the intervals.
...... I'll get you a cup of coffee.
I'm not a very smart sleeper.
Still, I can move and make some thoughtful decisions because of my last job, but it's okay now.
I make an instant coffee and watch a variety show on holiday at noon.
I can't even train because I've been told to rest, and I can't enter the dungeon. Am I tasteless?
I'm gradually awakening and my blurred thoughts are starting to clear up.
I'll find a hobby, but somehow I managed to pass the time until seven o'clock and have dinner with Suela at ......? You and Suela, alone? Gofo?
Then my thoughts catch up with me, and I finally realize what's going on, and I put the coffee in my windpipe and huff.
The word "date" flickers in my head for a second, but it's a big no-no right now.
"Geez, geez, I can't have hot coffee in my trachea, I'm not going to swallow it, do you have civilian clothes?
It's been a little over two months since I changed jobs, and I usually have a choice of wearing equipment to enter dungeons, or sleepwear or a training jersey, and very little that can be called plain clothes because I barely had time to go out at my last job .
Of course, there was no way I was dressed for dinner with a woman.
Let's go to .......
It's just before noon and you can make it if you take the car.
The expense is annoying, but it's a waistline we can't afford to lose.
You now have to dress properly.
Let's be prepared to spend a little money at this point.
Let's get the equipment fixed and then go clothes shopping. Do you have enough time?
As I got dressed, I looked at the equipment scattered on the floor, regretting that I had slept in the morning, but now I moved quickly .
And if you buy in a set of mannequins at a slightly more expensive clothing store and pompously turn around and go to the meeting place to see if you've somehow made it in time.
Hey, Jiro, you can't just turn around, can you?
"Kaka-kaka, I'm sorry it wasn't that little girl.
All but a few of the red alarms were in full force waiting for them.
All of them were dressed in civilian clothes, but the members who were present were strange .
It's good that Suela-san is part of the group in a green-based dress.
But Instructor Kio in aloha, Instructor Fusio in his jinbei, Superintendent Evia in slacks, and mainly the members on full red alert are strange.
Sorry, sir, I couldn't disperse it.
I'm not letting you go!
"Like left, like left.
Did you think you could get away with it?
This conversation showed that this member shouldn't be here.
''Jiro has broken through the first layer of the dungeon, don't praise your apprentice's achievement, what kind of instructor are you!
"It's also a welcome party for the locals.
Don't worry, we won't pay you this time. You can drink and eat as much as you want.
And I know this much .
There are three of them, all three of them welcome me, but there's something inside me that tells me that there's something more to it than that.
Something inside me tells me I'm not telling the truth.
Then, we were easily let into the seats as if they had been reserved, and Suela and I were seated next to each other as if our seats had been reserved beforehand, and the three of us sat happily in the slightly wider seats.
''Now, please welcome Tanaka Jirou and congratulate him on breaking through to the first level.
"'Cheers!'
Then Superintendent Evier led the charge and this drinking session began.
It wasn't a problem at first.
It was a valuable experience for my future, listening to the instructors' personal evaluations of me and listening to their suggestions for improvement, as we chatted about what we'd been up to and what we'd done during training.
But I should have realized that while I was drinking with Suela about Isreal.
Her glass of wine never diminished and its contents kept changing.
Some of the dark elves' distinctive brown skin might have been a factor in not noticing her drunken state of blushing, but the three of them? I feel like I've been successfully led to .
You have a lot of nerve, though, don't you?
Oh, I didn't expect you to break through on your own with that status!
"Kaka, the Kite King was very disappointed that you went it alone when you would normally take on a group of people.
No, it was pretty close, "Well, that was a close one, you don't know how worried I was when I heard that story, do you, Jiro-san?
Something warm and lightly laden, no, Suela-san .
Then, the worried expression she showed for a moment changed, a full-blown smile as if to say it had begun, and the status of her increased physical abilities burst out of her expression with an answer .
What we did was simple .
Superintendent Evvia gives Suela a demon's whisper of a drink, which is the only stopper my instructors will use to distract me.
Before I know it, she'll be drunker and drunker, and the results will be waiting to be seen.
That's funny, I still have a headache, even though I shouldn't be far off from a hangover.
Well, even if you could figure out the situation, there's nothing you can do.
Your concern for me earlier was just a trigger, so to speak, and the devil (Superintendent Evia) just whispered to me that this situation was complete.
The way to defuse the situation.
Hey, bring me more booze!
"Hmm, I'll take that one.
Suela, your glass is empty.
It would be the equivalent of not having these people around .
The instructors ordering more, and Superintendent Evier giving Suela a drink so that she can further accelerate rather than slow down, this situation, feeling teased and amused but strangely not painful, feels rather fun in terms of atmosphere .
'Jiro-san, are you listening to me? That's why I am, you know.
Should I just give up and accept the situation and get me drunk as soon as possible?
I feel like the next day is going to be tough, but fortunately we have tomorrow off too.
I feel like I can let things get a little gloomy.
"Oh, Suela, freaky, 'get out of my way' fubera!
I didn't see that Superintendent Evvia blew up a dark elf man on the way there.
Anyway, I piss down my order.
I'll let her drone on and on about it.
"Hmm?
But then he stops complaining.
Suddenly, she became quiet and put her weight on me.
This pattern could either be a romantic comedy (falling asleep) or a picture that shouldn't be done like a beautiful woman.
You can't ignore it.
Take a closer look.
"Jirou-san.
There was definitely a dramatic romantic comedy coming up that the instructors were looking for.
'I was really happy that Jiro-san was here.
'What? Oh, yes.
It's as if I'm sober again for a second, and a gentle look on my face makes my temperature rise .
Is it because of the drunkenness or is it because of something else?
At any rate, I puffed the liquor all at once, as if to cool my head.
Oh, wow.
"Kaka-kaka.
"Kukukuuku.
I can't see people giving me their best smile and telling me they've seen something good.
Congratulations! You guys are going to drink your asses off today!
"Kakaka, that's right, it's been a while since we've had a drink together.
Hmm, I'll go with you.
「「「「 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! 」」」」
Instructor Kio is organizing a big party with all the guests around him like an ogre, while Instructor Fusio and Superintendent Evia are the first to finish their drinks to go along with it.
Let them have their fun on the other side.
Would you like a drink anyway?
Yes, Kaylee's got all the work cut out for her. I'm off tomorrow. So we'll have a good day to celebrate.
Miss Suella, always the calm one, is off the hook and enjoying herself as much as everyone around her.
Let's watch her for a moment and get drunk before she makes fun of me again.
'Welcome to the club! To the Demon King's Army, we welcome you!
Nice to meet you, Miss Suella.
It was the biggest banquet I'd ever experienced, and I was toasting her.
This is how the most enjoyable banquet in my life began.
Tanaka Jiro, twenty-eight years old, single, no girlfriend, occupation: Dungeon Tester (full-time employee)
Magic Aptitude 8 (General Class)
Officer of the Year: Warrior
status
Force 87 → Force 105
Endurance 117 → Endurance 157
Agility 52 → Agility 66
Endurance 74 (-5) -> Endurance 90 (-5)
Instrument 53 → Instrument 82
Knowledge 36 → Knowledge 36
Intuition 14 → Intuition 22
Luck 5 -> Luck 5
Magic power 70 → Magic power 80
state
nicotine addiction
lung pollution
Word of the Day.
I don't know what the future holds for me, but at least for now I want to keep going and see what I become.