chapter2 · 028-ep28

Episode 28: We're Heading Back

Apart from the achievements I'd seen up to now, a new section had been added.

【Job-Exclusive Achievements (Enchanter)】

However many times I looked, that's what it said.

Job-exclusive.

Enchanter.

In other words — these had been unlocked because I became an Enchanter. Presumably.

Well, thinking about it, it's only natural, maybe.

At Level 10, Jobs unlock.

Skills increase.

Then achievements increasing to match is hardly strange.

Hardly strange, but.

Tension: fully raised regardless.

Because achievements.

And Job-exclusive ones, at that.

This, you can safely call a brand-new growth route opened up.

Suppressing the oddly racing thing in my chest, I went through what was displayed.

【C: Defeat a monster in a single hit while under a self-applied Strength enchant】

【B: Maintain an Ability Grant on yourself for 3 or more minutes】

【B: Perform Ability Grants a cumulative total of 6000 times】

【D: A target under a Strength enchant holds an object weighing 3 or more times their own maximum weight for 10 or more seconds】

【C: A target under an Agility enchant moves 20 or more meters within 10 seconds while evading 10 or more obstacles】

— entries like those, with plenty more lined up below.

...I see.

I see?

No — wait.

As ever, there's a lot of strange stuff in here, but the top one in particular is pretty strange, isn't it.

【C: Defeat a monster in a single hit while under a self-applied Strength enchant】

A Strength enchant on yourself.

Defeating a monster.

In a single hit, no less.

Meaning: buff yourself and kill the enemy yourself.

When I'm an Enchanter.

A support class.

And the condition flatly assumes going up front.

I mean — that's what this is, right?

I fought down the smile trying to surface.

Back when I read the Enchanter description, I already knew I counted as my own target.

So I'd assumed I could stack Strength, Endurance, or Agility on myself and fight, if it came to that.

But "being able to" and "the system designing for it" are different things.

And now the achievements field said so, in plain text.

In other words.

An Enchanter is a Job that's allowed up front.

Not that it isn't dangerous, obviously.

Tell Nanami, and she'd probably stop me, smiling, with everything she had.

I could picture that much.

The Enchanter play I watched today held the team's center and supported allies.

Hardening the vanguard with Endurance buffs.

Getting Rio's strike through at the earliest moment.

Meshing the whole team's motion together like that.

That was, without question, the correct way to use an Enchanter.

But it isn't only that.

At least per the achievements field, an Enchanter apparently also has a route where you make yourself the support target.

A route where you enchant yourself and fight.

Man, that's interesting.

That's really interesting, isn't it.

I turned my eyes further down the list.

Plenty of them tempted me, honestly, but the ones I could realistically go for right now were limited.

【C: Defeat a monster in a single hit while under a self-applied Strength enchant】

It's this one, after all.

If there's anything the current me could plausibly take, in this place, it's about the only one.

Apply a Strength enchant to yourself.

Kill a monster in that state.

The condition itself is wonderfully clear-cut.

The problem: whether I'm allowed to do that during this expedition.

Probably not.

No — definitely not, right?

I'm here as observation and assistance, nothing more. Not formal combat personnel.

Charge out on my own to kill a monster, and I get scolded. Plainly.

Aaaargh... getting scolded is the worst...

But I want the achievement...

And who knows when I'll next get inside a dungeon?

So grab it, yeah? Grab that achievement!

It's not like an observer drops dead from moving around a little!

— said the devil in my heart, whispering.

The angel, meanwhile, showed no sign of appearing.

"Then — I believe it's about time we headed back."

But there, Takamiya said it, quietly.

"Huh? Already?"

It slipped out.

No, I get it.

I know I'm in no position to push deeper.

I'm an observer; today's goal is a survey, not kills — that much I understand.

But honestly, I thought we'd go a bit farther.

To be fully honest:

I was kind of hoping we'd run into monsters at least once more.

"This will be an early return relative to schedule. However, there are things we've confirmed as of today."

"Confirmed things?"

"Yes. First — the forest is denser than on last week's expedition."

Takamiya cast his eyes over our surroundings.

True enough — the forest we'd walked through was far thicker than near the entrance.

The gaps between trees were narrow, the branches low.

Hardly anything you'd call a path.

Push on from here, and sightlines would only get worse.

"Last time was also forest-type. Broadly speaking, the same. But the fine detail of the terrain differs."

"You mean the dungeon's structure is changing?"

"That's how I'm reading it. Particularly the deeper you go, the larger the difference."

I see.

Just like the video said — a dungeon's interior is no fixed map.

And the deeper from the entrance, the bigger the changes.

Yesterday's map may not work today.

From the explorer's side, that is straight-up awful, honestly.

"Also — the number of monsters."

Takamiya continued.

"We're advancing while scouting, avoiding contact wherever possible. Even so, we still met those Wood Wolves just now."

"You're saying there may be more of them?"

A question from Nanami.

"Yes. At minimum, I sense more presence than last time. Whether that's due to today's headcount, the Job composition, or the days elapsed since the Gate formed — I can't give an answer yet."

Headcount.

Job composition.

Days elapsed.

Any of them could apparently be it.

Meaning — you couldn't rule out me being added this time, either.

"But — knowing what we don't know has value too."

Takamiya pressed on.

"The forest is deepening. The terrain is shifting. Monster presence is high. For today, that alone is ample harvest."

Hearing him put it that way, I understood it anew.

A dungeon expedition isn't simply pushing deep and killing things — it's a formal survey.

"Besides — it's taken us roughly an hour to come this far. Best assume the return takes about as long."

"Ah..."

Now that he mentions it, true.

A dungeon isn't over with the trip in.

There's the trip back.

If anything, with fatigue stacking up, the way out is the more dangerous one.

I'd been all about pushing deeper, inside my head.

But for an expedition team, the mission runs until they're back at the entry Gate.

A school trip isn't over till you're home.

How did I ever survive my first dungeon dive, thinking like this?

I wondered that, belatedly.

"Turning back while you can still return safely — that's a vital expedition judgment too."

Nanami looked my way and said it, a little gently.

"...So that's how it works."

"Mm. Anyone can push deeper recklessly, probably. But if you can't make the call to turn back, it's dangerous."

There was a strange persuasiveness to Nanami's words.

Different from when she'd been supporting everyone mid-fight.

At times like this, Nanami wears the face of a proper veteran.

"We are returning. Maintain formation. Back to the entry Gate."

At Takamiya's instruction, we started back the way we'd come.

In the same formation as before.

Walking the same route.

But my head was different from before.

【C: Defeat a monster in a single hit while under a self-applied Strength enchant】

The condition would not leave my mind no matter what.

...But no. Today's a stretch, surely.

That was all I could conclude.

For starters, today I'm observation and assistance.

Step out front on my own here, and I get scolded any way you slice it.

But as a condition, it's crystal clear.

Buff yourself with Strength. Kill a monster.

That's all there is to it.

No need to take an attack.

Though if I wanted it to look natural from the outside — countering off the flow of taking an enemy hit would be the most convincing, huh.

An enemy comes at me.

On reflex, I pop the buff, deliberately eat the attack, and drive 【Off-Hand Strike】 straight in from there.

Yep.

Perfect.

Impeccable as excuses go, too.

Though the very fact I'm drafting an excuse already feels pretty far gone.

And right as I thought all that —

"...My apologies, everyone."

Takamiya spoke.

Natori reacted in time with his voice.

As ever, the man said nothing, but the air seemed to tense, somehow.

"Numbers like these, I could not avoid."

"Ren-kun — here it comes!"

Nanami's voice beside me.

"...Here they come." — Mibu, sweeping her eyes around, and "It just won't let us leave that easily, huh." — Rio, sounding, if anything, like he was enjoying this.

And ten-odd seconds later.

They showed themselves, with the sound of feet treading soil and fallen leaves.

Low to the ground.

Close to foot height.

Small shadows.

Wood Wolves.

A size down from the earlier ones.

But in numbers enough to ring us in.

Eight, nine... no, maybe a few more than that.

"Jeez, this is bad."

With this many of them —

surely, if I buff Strength and swing, I can drop at least one, right?

Unexpectedly, my head turned out to be an achievement farm.

And that farm, right now, was smelling one heck of a bumper crop.

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There've been a lot of achievement questions in the support comments, so I'm answering them over in a status note.

This was originally stuff planned to be revealed a bit further along in the story, so please only read it if you're truly okay with spoilers 🙏

If you'd rather learn it all through the story itself, please keep enjoying exactly as you have been.