arc2 · 109-ch109
Chapter 109: Level Grinding at Tokyo Mouse Park
"Good morning, SS-san. Sorry for the early hour."
"Not at all, I actually had plans this morning, so the timing worked out perfectly."
When I summoned Hayate, Arihara-san was standing on the rooftop. We exchanged a brief greeting and got right to the point.
"The truth is, I've obtained an offline-capable card reader used by the Explorer Association, and I came to suggest you might want to use it. This one is also compatible with the Explorer Cards issued by the Association."
Ohh! Offline payments are a thing? And being able to take Explorer Cards is a huge help. With this, the explorers won't need to carry cash around. I put the card reader placed in front of me into Storage. By the way, the cost of the machine and the usage fees are both covered by the Dungeon Agency. How generous! I'll add this information to the homepage right away.
"Also, regarding live streaming—as I suspected, due to ethical issues surrounding video content, it seems difficult to put into practical use right away. The legal framework in that area hasn't caught up yet, so I'd like you to hold off for a while. However, there may be times when the Dungeon Agency requests live streaming as part of an official commission, like the other day. Of course, we'll provide proper compensation, so I'd appreciate your understanding."
Yeah, I figured it'd turn out like that. I'd had a vague sense it would be difficult on multiple fronts. Cooperating with the Dungeon Agency wasn't an issue, so I told him I'd accept those requests.
Finally, Arihara-san taught me how to use the card reader. I thanked him and immediately sent Asahi heading toward the Tokyo Mouse Park Dungeon.
The reason I chose the Tokyo Mouse Park Dungeon this time is that most of the monsters that appear here are wraith-type. With Asahi, who now has Wind Blade Wall, and Hayate created through skills, I figured they could deal a decent amount of damage.
▽▽▽
Moving along while thinking about my strategy inside the dungeon, Chandelier Castle at the center of Tokyo Mouse Park soon came into view. That front gate serves as the dungeon entrance.
I resummoned Hayate, greeted the Association staff watching the entrance, and went inside. Kannami-san had brought me here before, and I've registered up to the thirtieth floor. Whoa, the memories from that time are coming back. No no no, I need to forget that scene as soon as possible.
Since I'm leveling solo this time, I decided to transfer to the tenth floor and use the eleventh floor as my hunting ground. The lower floors are swarming with wraiths that look like black mist, but starting from the eleventh floor, Phantoms appear—black humanoid shadows.
At first glance, Phantoms look like they'd be dark attribute, but they actually come in various attributes. Their attack magic and weaknesses change depending on the attribute they have, so I have to be careful of fire-attribute Phantoms. If Asahi gets destroyed, it can't be recovered. Even against low-rank enemies, I need to be cautious.
I transferred Asahi and Hayate to the tenth floor. First, I had Asahi stand by in the transfer stone room while I took only Hayate into the eleventh floor. A drone flying through a Western-style castle corridor. From the far end of the rather wide hallway, a single Phantom—a black humanoid shadow—appeared.
Wraith-type monsters generally have high magic power. But in exchange, their durability and agility tend to be low. The Phantom itself is D-rank, but its magic attacks are on par with C-rank, while everything else is around E-rank—quite the skewed stats.
I tried sending Hayate on a kamikaze charge at the Phantom floating eerily ahead.
"Kiiiii!"
The moment it spotted Hayate, the Phantom let out a high-pitched screech—where was that voice even coming from?—to intimidate me. No wait, that wasn't a threat. That was a chant. Three Stone Needles appeared above the Phantom's head.
Those three Stone Needles shot toward Hayate... but they weren't particularly fast. Hayate dodged all three with ease and charged at the Phantom without allowing it a second chant.
Psh
The moment Hayate and the Phantom made contact, there was a satisfying sound and the screen went dark.
(Huh? Wait, did Hayate just get destroyed?!)
Contrary to my expectations, Hayate had been the one to vanish. I hurriedly resummoned it and sent it in together with Asahi this time. Then I found the Phantom flying unsteadily, its shadow looking thinner than before.
It seems I did manage to deal damage, but not enough to take it out in one hit. I sent the resummoned Hayate charging into the Phantom again.
Psh!
Gone. This time both the Phantom and Hayate disappeared.
【You defeated the Phantom】
I see, understood. So with Hayate's kamikaze charge, it takes two drones to defeat one monster. My MP is 2400. I can summon 120 drones, which means in theory I can take down 60 of them. Well, the enemy's magic attacks will hit sometimes, and there'll be times I can't deal damage effectively, but let's just push as far as I can go.
I kept Hayate operating with Asahi on standby in the rear, proceeding carefully forward.
(There they are—two Phantoms. Let's see if the kamikaze charge works first.)
I tested whether Hayate's charge attack would work against the two Phantoms.
"Kyokyokyo"
"Wooooon"
The two Phantoms cried out simultaneously when they noticed Hayate. Same appearance but different cries, huh. A ball of fire floated above one of the Phantoms. However, the other one showed no change.
Thinking it was strange, I sent Hayate charging in anyway, but...
Psh!
Hayate, which had dodged the fireball and tried to charge one of them, was sliced clean in two and vanished. That's when I finally realized. The other Phantom hadn't shown no change—it was wind attribute. It had fired a blade of air at me, and I just couldn't see it.
Now that I knew that, I had a plan. I resummoned Hayate and sent it charging in again. This time, though, I moved it in a zigzag pattern so they couldn't get a fix on it.
"Kyokyokyo"
"Wooooon"
The Phantoms chanted their magic again. Looking closely, I could see the air was slightly distorted. Alright, if I can catch the moment they fire, dodging should be a piece of cake.
The Phantoms couldn't seem to lock onto the zigzagging Hayate, so they held off on firing for a while. But just as Hayate got close, I saw them both release at the same time.
(Now!)
At that instant, I sent Hayate, which had been flying in zigzags, straight toward the Phantoms in a single line. Thanks to having closed in quite a bit, Hayate reached the Phantoms in a flash and slammed into the one that had used wind magic.
Psh!
Hayate vanished, and the Phantom's shadow grew fainter. I resummoned Hayate and sent it charging in immediately. Perhaps realizing it wouldn't finish its chant in time, the Phantom tried to create some distance, but its movement was slow.
(Got you!)
Hayate caught up with ease and obliterated the wind-magic Phantom.
【You defeated the Phantom】
Alright, one more to go. I've got a good feel for the interval between their chants now, so I should be able to take this one down even more easily than before.
First I sent Hayate charging in, read the Fireball trajectory, and dodged it comfortably. There should be a while before it can chant again.
The Phantom, having its magic dodged, tried to create distance, but Hayate caught up effortlessly and body-slammed it. Then the immediately resummoned Hayate unleashed a Flashlight right at the Phantom that was about to cast another spell.
"Gyooooo!"
The Phantom, startled by the intense light, seemed to have interrupted its chant. Hayate charged in right there and...
【You defeated the Phantom】
I successfully managed to defeat both Phantoms.