chapter4 · 085-ep85

Episode 85: A Thousand Kills

Reaching for my water, I noticed how little was left.

"It's really gone down."

Well, obviously. I'd been drinking it daily.

Food was nearly as grim once today's share came out.

It had looked like so much when I laid out a week's worth at the start.

"Never thought I'd actually be here a full week..."

I checked my watch.

Six days and over twenty hours since I'd entered the dungeon.

"I wanna go hooome..."

I want my own bath.

I want my own bed.

Meals had been the same few things on rotation for days; right now, plain white rice at home alone would've made me genuinely happy.

Before entering, I'd pictured a week in a dungeon as a bit more fun than this.

Reality: wake, eat, kill monsters, crawl back and sleep.

"Less training camp, more full-time job."

At a workplace that reshapes itself without notice.

Passages had shifted several times since that day; routes that worked yesterday were gone by morning.

Nothing like the full remodeling, and the monster lineup hadn't changed.

Still a regular old pain.

"Without Interference Eye+, I'd have been hopelessly lost by now."

These days, even after a shift, a quick look around was enough to find base camp.

Early on, that alone took real concentration; now I ran it casually while walking.

Apparently six days is all a human needs to adapt.

Same with the fighting.

Battle Armor Sustain let me go longer, but it hadn't made fatigue disappear.

The day before yesterday had taught me that thoroughly.

I'd figured I could keep going, and eaten an attack head-on that I should've sidestepped easily.

Hardiness and Endurance kept it from being serious, but it had been genuinely dangerous.

"Lesson learned: don't trust 'I've got a little more in me.'"

Since then, the moment my body started dragging, I headed back.

Eat, drink, rest.

Sleep if sleepy.

"Didn't expect a dungeon to fix my lifestyle habits."

Well, it's why I've lasted this long. Can't complain.

These past few days had added a handful of non-world-first Achievements too.

None came with new Skills — just small corrections: a bit of Agility or Endurance, stamina, fatigue resistance.

They'd seemed plain at first, but stack enough of them and it shows.

Also, a Personal Achievement had ticked over.

Apparently, once I started gathering monsters and wiping them with Dispersion, that count had climbed on its own these past few days.

【Personal Achievement Unlocked】

【Defeat a cumulative total of 100 monsters using Stagnation: Dispersion】

A hundred sounded like a lot, but when each blast takes several at once, it comes quicker than you'd think.

【Personal Achievement Reward will be granted】

【Observer Skill Acquired: Stagnation: Remote Hold】

Another Stagnation offshoot.

【Stagnation: Remote Hold】

【Stagnates an interferable force caught by Interference Eye without touching it directly】

This one didn't need a touch.

Until now, Stagnation meant waiting for the attack to come within arm's reach.

I'd been deliberately reaching out to stop slashes mid-air, you know.

Now it worked at range.

I'd tested it on an incoming slash, and sure enough, it stopped dead well outside my reach.

No telling how far it could reach, but Stagnation was undeniably safer to use now.

"So many things I want to test with this too..."

First, though: finish the thousand.

Any more detours and the food would genuinely run out.

My Level sat at twenty-nine now.

"Day three was twenty-two, right?"

No wonder the same opponents felt easier.

Battle armor and Universal Adaptation aside, I myself had simply gotten stronger.

Fatigue was fatigue, though.

And today, that exhausting routine was finally nearing its end.

I opened the achievement list.

【S: Defeat 1000 monsters during a single dungeon clear without using a combat Skill even once】

【In progress: 962/1000】

"Thirty-eight to go."

This close.

Thirty-eight would fall today.

No — I'd make sure of it.

"Okay."

I'd just rested, so the body still worked.

I re-entered Battle Armor Form and left base camp.

Fighting and stockpiling my way through the monsters I found, even distant signatures gradually began turning toward me.

I was used to the sight by now.

"Yes, yes, this way, everyone—"

When this happened on day three, I'd run for my life.

Now I walked them along, keeping the crowd manageable, until I reached a wider stretch.

When the group from behind had bunched up, I aimed my right hand.

"Dispersion!"

The fanned energy swept several off their feet in one go.

Some dissolved into light; some were still moving.

I closed on the survivors.

The sword-wielder wound up; my body shifted exactly out of reach.

How many times had I watched this same swing now?

Universal Adaptation was doing its part, but honestly, I'd just gotten used to the move myself.

From the dodge, Enchant Swap to Strength, fist straight in.

One down.

The next attack came in from the side; into Stockpile it went.

"They just keep coming."

Interference Eye+ showed more signatures approaching from another passage.

Funny — the moment only thirty-eight stood between me and done, these endlessly annoying monsters started looking almost generous.

I kept hunting, and then my Status flickered.

"Hm?"

I checked.

【Level: 30】

"Ohh."

Hit thirty.

"Sixteen to thirty in a week."

Put like that, it was quite the climb.

Then again, after nearly a thousand kills, anything less would've been worrying.

The Achievement wasn't done yet.

Counting the ones I'd just dropped, a bit over twenty remained.

"Almost there."

From there, I stopped checking the counter.

Glancing after every kill would only make it crawl.

Grow the stockpile, wipe the gathering crowd.

Bank the survivors' attacks, refill a little.

After several loops of that, even I figured it had to be time, and opened the achievement list.

【In progress: 994/1000】

"Six left."

Agonizingly close, all of a sudden.

"Any six of you losers nearby?"

I widened Interference Eye+.

Two close by.

A few more slightly farther out.

"There you are."

Stockpile still had some left, so I simply waited.

The nearby two arrived first, with more signatures closing from another direction.

What finally gathered was more than six.

"Well, more is fine by me."

I backed off to open ground and let the pursuers clump up.

Right hand up.

"Dispersion!"

The fanned energy scythed across the front, and the monsters went flying together.

Several dissolved into light.

Some were still up, though.

"Not in one shot, then."

One charged straight in; I let its attack miss and sank a fist in.

Another one.

Down it went.

As I turned to the next, a display popped up before my eyes.

【1000/1000】

"...Huh?"

That's it?

【Achievement Unlocked】

【S: Defeat 1000 monsters during a single dungeon clear without using a combat Skill even once】

【World First】

"Whoa — it actually went through!"

A thousand.

I had really, actually killed a thousand.

"That took fooorever..."

Man, that was long.

On day three I'd have sworn a thousand was impossible.

Staring at the Completed marker sitting in my achievement list, the exhaustion from minutes ago suddenly mattered a little less.

"This feels great."

I'd put in almost seven days.

I was allowed to celebrate a little.

A few monsters were still hanging around, so I finished them off before checking the display.

【World-First Reward will be granted】

"Here it comes, here it comes."

An S-rank world first, on top of that.

The every-type hunt had given me Universal Adaptation.

Reasonable to expect big things again.

【Passive Skill Acquired: One-Man Army】

"One-Man Army?"

Name sounds strong.

I opened the description.

【One-Man Army】

【When multiple enemies direct hostility toward you, grants boosts to Strength, Agility, and Endurance in proportion to their number】

【The more hostile targets there are, the higher the boost rate rises, reaching a maximum of 30% at 10 or more】

【With only one hostile target, this effect does not activate】

"Ohh, not bad!"

Thirty percent at ten or more.

Strength, Agility, Endurance — all of it.

"Isn't that just plain strong?"

Facing ten-plus at once like I just was, that's a permanent max boost, right?

"Could've used this a teensy bit earlier..."

It synergizes insanely well with the gather-and-Disperse routine.

Shame it's the reward for the thousand, so it couldn't help with the thousand.

Seriously, though — why do my rewards always arrive right after they'd have been useful?

"Eh. Future value counts."

Genuinely a great pull.

And with that, the Achievement I came for was complete.

"Time to head home."

Grab my gear at base camp, walk out the Gate. Simple.

I was about to empty my stockpile first when another display appeared.

【Battle Armor Proficiency has reached 10】

"...Ten?"

Seriously?

I'd been staring at the thousand-kill counter so long I'd completely ignored this one.

Even after it hit five on day three, I'd kept the form on nearly around the clock.

No telling how many times I'd run Enchant Swap.

"Yeah, that tracks."

The reward display followed.

【Proficiency Reward will be granted】

【Battle Armor Release Acquired】

"Battle Armor Release."

The name alone had my attention.

I opened the description before packing a single thing.

【Battle Armor Release】

【Temporarily raises every Ability Grant fixed in Battle Armor Form beyond its limit, amplifying the enchant effects by a further 25%】

【Maximum duration: 60 seconds】

【Enchant Swap cannot be used while active】

【When the effect ends, Battle Armor Form is forcibly canceled】

【Places a heavy strain on the body after use; cannot be reused for 6 hours】

"Twenty-five percent?"

On top of my current battle armor?

And not just one enchant — every single one I'd fixed.

"This is absolutely one of the strong ones."

Sixty seconds of use.

When it ends, Battle Armor Form cancels too, and neither works for six hours.

"Six hours is a long cooldown..."

Clearly not something to test casually.

And Enchant Swap locks out while it's active.

That's a real gamble.

But —

"...I kinda want to try it."

No.

"I was going home."

Close one. Close one.

The thousand was done, and I'd been in here nearly a week.

Better to just leave than test this and spend six hours armorless.

I traced the route to the Gate with Interference Eye+.

And the signature deep in the dungeon came into view with it.

"Still there, huh."

That one.

All these days, every time I looked, it had been planted deep inside.

Even when my stockpile was summoning half the dungeon's monsters, that one never came.

"It seriously never moves."

So I'd left it alone.

More to the point, I'd had no reason to go poking it.

Burning time fighting a thing with that much Magic and blowing the thousand because of it? Absolutely not.

But the thousand was finished now.

"........"

I looked at the deep signature.

The Battle Armor Release I'd just picked up floated to mind.

"No, no."

Not using it.

That signature is so obviously a boss-type thing.

First-testing it on a thing like that — how smart is that?

Six hours of nothing afterward. "Tried it, didn't work" doesn't cut it as an excuse there.

But.

"What would happen if I tried it now?"

My Level was nothing like a week ago.

And I'd picked up a whole arsenal that didn't exist back then.

Whether it'd still be hopeless — that, I couldn't help wondering.

"...Just a look from nearby. That's fine, right?"

Just looking.

Get close, and if it looks as bad as it sounds, turn around and go home.

Whether to use Battle Armor Release could wait until after that.

"Okay."

...Okay what, exactly.

I was literally about to go home.

I left the route to the Gate behind and set off toward the deep signature I'd spent all week avoiding.