arc2 · 048-ch48

Chapter 48: Experiments in the Dungeon

The next morning, I woke up at my usual time and started making breakfast for three. It's a holiday today, so Mom and Umi are still asleep. I made a sunny-side-up egg, bacon, and spinach stir-fry without waking them. All that's left is to put cheese on the bread and bake it.

After eating breakfast alone, I got on my bike and headed toward the base of Mount Takao. I could make it to the dungeon from home if I really pushed it, but more and more people have been seeing my drones lately, so I picked a spot where no one would catch me launching them.

I ventured a little further into the mountains before launching Asahi toward the morning sun. I headed back home while Asahi flew ahead. This is practice for operating two drones simultaneously. I wondered which would reach the Mount Fuji Dungeon first—Asahi or me—and this time, I won.

When Asahi reached the airspace above the Mount Fuji Dungeon, Himehana came into view on the camera, hopping up and down in front of the entrance while waving at me.

(Damn, she's cute.)

I wasn't the only one distracted by that sight. The surrounding explorers were all staring at Himehana with goofy expressions too.

"Morning, ss—SS! Please take care of me today!"

My absentminded friend almost slipped and said my name, so I blinked the light in greeting.

I'd already given Himehana all the details yesterday. That's probably why she walked straight toward the dungeon entrance without hesitation. I followed right after her, drawing quite a few looks.

"Well then, let's find a spot where there aren't many people."

I didn't want anyone seeing me summon Hayate yet, so I had her move to a secluded area. The entrance area is crowded with low-rank explorers, but I found a dead-end corridor further in and a space beside it.

Peeking inside, there happened to be a single slime in that room-like space. It was stuck to the ground in a hemisphere shape, but it looked pretty elastic.

"This might be good!"

Himehana kept watch at the entrance while saying that. Now I could summon without anyone seeing.

(Hayate, summon!)

Hayate was summoned onto Asahi, which was sitting on the ground. The first thing Hayate's camera captured was Himehana's smiling face, looking this way with excited, eager eyes. But man, that smile's destructive power is no joke.

Okay, I moved Hayate around to get a feel for the controls, then aimed the camera at the slime squirming around in the center of the room.

I could hear myself gulp. If my Hayate could defeat this slime, I'd finally have an attack method. Maybe then I could even become an explorer.

My nerves tightened at what might be a moment that would change my fate.

(Uugh, okay, let's go!)

I let out a big breath and made my decision. I charged Hayate at the slime.

Bwon!

That's the best way to describe the sound. The screen shook, and my Hayate bounced right off the slime.

Asahi's camera perfectly captured Hayate charging at the slime and getting smacked away.

(Hold on—! No way it did zero damage!?)

I couldn't see the slime's HP, but there's no way it looked like it took damage. Conversely, when I checked Hayate's status, the durability had dropped from 100 to 80.

"Himehana, do you think the slime took any damage?"

I asked her through Hayate's communication function after Hayate regained its stance.

"Umm, I can't say for sure, but it doesn't look like it took any damage."

Ugh—so that's how it looks to her too. But I'm not giving up. I operated Hayate again and rammed it into the slime.

Bwon!

It bounced off again. It kept bouncing off, ramming and getting bounced back, five times in a row—until Hayate's durability hit zero first and it vanished. The slime on Asahi's camera was still fine. If anything, it was trembling as if laughing at me.

(Shit! I thought I'd finally gotten an attack method!)

But I couldn't just give up here. I immediately resummoned Hayate.

"Himehana, can you deal a little damage to the slime?"

This time I wanted to test if I could defeat a slime that had its HP reduced.

"Hold on a sec. It's too weak, so it's hard to hold back."

Damn! Is the slime too weak for Himehana! It's way too strong for me!

Himehana gently cut the slime with her twin swords.

Bash!

The slime just... collapsed. defeated just like that.

"S-sorry!"

Himehana bowed her head toward Hayate, but it only made me feel worse.

"No, I'm the one who should apologize for the unreasonable request."

I apologized too, since it's not her fault. Plus, I just realized—my attacks from earlier didn't do any damage to the slime at all. That's because no experience points came in even after Himehana defeated it.

This makes power play difficult too. Was that golem battle special?

Since the slime was gone from the small room, I had Himehana move to find a new monster. I hoped the next one would be something other than a slime.

The first floor was crowded, so I had her go to the second floor. Himehana looking like she had two drones trailing behind her made people do double takes.

The next monster Himehana found was a goblin. Right, slimes are resistant to physical attacks. Maybe I could damage a goblin.

"Okay, this time for sure!"

I accelerated Hayate all at once and charged straight at the goblin's face—

Bash!

(What?)

It got knocked out of the air by a club in the goblin's hand. That single blow was enough to effortlessly destroy my Hayate.

(Weak!? That's too weak!?)

Asahi's camera zoomed in on the goblin's smug face. Damn, it pisses me off!

I summoned Hayate again. That makes three drones—I've used 60 MP. I've got 140 left. Even though I can summon seven more, they're limited, so I can't waste them.

"Himehana, could you distract the goblin for me?"

"Sure thing, leave it to me!"

While Himehana kept the goblin busy, I moved Hayate behind it. That goblin got all excited seeing Himehana. Even more irritating.

"Come on, come at me!"

The goblin that took the bait raised its club and charged. As someone who's filmed plenty of strong monsters, to me a goblin is just trash. And yet, my drone got destroyed in a single hit.

I was feeling pretty full of myself, using high-performance drones to dive into dungeons, but you can't underestimate dungeon monsters. I made a mental note of that and waited for an opening.

(Now!)

Himehana, who was easily handling the goblin's attacks, must have caught on to what I was trying to do—she knocked away the club. The goblin staggered, and I had Hayate slam into its back.

Don

"Guki?"

My desperate attack did absolutely nothing. Actually, not only did it do nothing, it even helped the goblin regain its balance. The goblin's face, as if to say thanks, looked hateful.

"Himehana, could you kill this goblin...?"

Disgusted by how little offensive power I had, I asked Himehana to defeat it.

"Yeah, sure."

Himehana had finished saying the "ta" in "knew it" before she sliced the goblin's head off. Of course, not a single point of experience came my way. Ah man, what a shame. If I could damage monsters, I thought I could level up solo.

"Don't look so disappointed. Look, another one showed up!"

Even through the drone, my disappointment must have come through somehow—Himehana tried to cheer me up. What a helpful childhood friend.

After that, I tried various things, but nothing went right. Every time Hayate vanished, my MP decreased, and finally my MP hit zero.

This is the last summon. If this doesn't work, I'll accept it cleanly. With that resolve, I looked for the final target.

The last one that appeared was also a single goblin. It had a club in its hand. Up until now, I was desperately trying to figure out how to defeat it. For the last one, I decided to test if it could dodge the goblin's attacks, to make it last longer.

"Gukigigigi!"

The goblin spotted Himehana and came charging at a full sprint. Seriously, even goblins fall for Himehana?

I moved Hayate to get between Himehana and the goblin.

"Gukiii!"

The goblin, angry at having its romance route blocked, howled in rage and swung at Hayate. But if you watch the goblin's movements carefully and stay calm, it's not a big deal—even Hayate, with its inferior specs, could fully dodge it.

The goblin got frustrated trying to swat at the nimbly dodging Hayate, to the point it started wildly swinging its club all over. I was starting to get comfortable with its monotonous attacks. When the goblin tried to put its full weight behind a swing, it wound up its club big, stepped forward with one foot—since there was such a huge opening, I slipped Hayate right under that foot.

As a result, the goblin stepped on Hayate with its planted foot. When I had Hayate move forward as is, the goblin lost its balance and fell over toward Himehana, who was watching from behind.

"Kya!?"

Contrary to her cute yelp, Himehana's twin blades were already cleanly slicing through the goblin's neck.

[You defeated the goblin]

Right after that, the same voice I heard before echoed in my mind.