061-080 · 061-ch54

Chapter 54: Surface Arc - The Lurker

Well then, this man known as KY.

If I were to reveal his true identity, he's one of the eleven people who first discovered John Doe's stream.

Among them, he had the ability to reach the deep layers even back then, and upon hearing John Doe's words, he immediately reconsidered his fighting style while also beginning to practice magic control.

And before he knew it, he had mastered it.

And with his talent for both magic control and combat, he soloed his way past what should have been the front line—the deep layer's 12th district—and even defeated the boss of the 13th district.

To put it bluntly, he's one seriously insane guy.

To make it easier to understand, he had the talent of an explorer—and combatant—enough to reach and explore the deep layers solo.

And that talent, with the path shown by the pioneer John Doe, bloomed to its fullest.

It had bloomed.

"What should I do, I wonder?"

After moving their camp to the 10th district and hunting.

During a time when everyone was gathered around the campfire, KY muttered those words.

It was a monologue that revealed KY's inner thoughts about how he should carry himself from now on.

However, KY wasn't the only one here.

"What's the matter?"

A female magician who caught KY's muttering sat down next to him with a cup.

As dungeon exploration progresses, opportunities for camping like this naturally increase.

For this reason, explorers are quite accustomed to these outdoor activities.

"Oh, no, I was just thinking about what we should do starting tomorrow."

This female magician, whose name is Azusa, but KY basically works with many explorers in one-time encounters, so he doesn't remember her name, just thinking of her as "a young, ordinary female magician."

By the way, the other two are a boyish, rough-speaking female magician and a silent, blindfolded magician.

He distinguishes them purely by their appearance and speech.

But well, KY hasn't had any problems so far with this method, so it's probably not an issue.

Leaving aside any attachments to the temporary party members.

"I see... So we're parting ways with KY tomorrow, huh."

"I basically just help out here and there while soloing, you know."

During or after battles, KY acts playful, but normally like this, he jokes around while using polite speech and maintaining distance with others.

That's the trick to mixing in various places without causing friction while continuing to solo.

"Are you not looking for a specific party?"

"Not really thinking about it at the moment."

He mutters inwardly that even though they sometimes talk about forming a party someday, no one has reached his level yet, but he doesn't express that.

That's a vision KY holds in his heart that only his close friends know about.

"It would be helpful if you stayed with our party, but I guess we'd just be holding you back, huh."

"Haha, well, if you keep at it steadily, you'll grow."

The statement from the female magician that the party was holding KY back.

KY responded without denying it.

Then, despite being the one who brought it up, the woman pouted as if upset.

"I kind of hoped you'd deny it at least a little."

"I'm an honest person, you see."

Though not directly stated, this was quite a rude remark to the woman and her party.

But the woman stopped pretending to be upset and laughed.

"The way you cut deep while seeming to joke around—that's the scary part about you, KY-san."

"Is it? Well, personally, I think complimenting people on their strength in the dungeon is a crime."

"Yeah, true. If someone mistakenly thinks they're strong because of flattery and dies, then it's a question of whose fault it is."

"That's about it."

Actually, KY's strength in this party is not just one but two or three heads above the rest.

Both the party members and KY are aware of this, yet they formed a party this time.

And because of that, this party, though a short one of about a week, was able to explore more boldly than usual.

Being able to experience the front-line level will surely be great nourishment for the party.

And for KY too, it was a good test of what level of party he could join to fight on the front line.

After that, he just needs to share this information on the usual thread, and when the friends he plans to form a party with eventually reach that level, KY's goal of running the front line with a party will be achieved.

Originally, unlike John Doe, KY has absolutely no intention of standing out.

Well, John Doe probably didn't intend to stand out initially either, but afterward, there seems to be an aspect where he actively communicates himself.

In contrast, KY has absolutely no intention of coming forward, even if he advances beyond the front line.

And for that, he wants a good cover, or friends he can trust with whom he can share information.

That's why KY sometimes joins the front line solo while not deepening relationships, waiting for his friends from the thread.

Originally, John was so outstanding that he conquered the entire dungeon and established his living foundation in the world beyond.

That's why he completely avoids interference from those who seek or try to exploit his outstanding power, and even now, he continues to stream from the far, deep bottom of the abyss.

In contrast, the current KY, while confident in his outstanding ability even among the top tier, is at best in the deep layers for a few districts.

With that level of outstanding ability, even though the biggest concern, the Dungeon Ace, has been crushed, it's obvious he'll receive unwanted meddling from other agencies and guilds.

The Dungeon Association and Explorer Union are also proposing major organizational restructuring, but there's no telling how far they can be trusted.

To restore trust that has fallen to the bottom, a proper reason is needed.

"...I guess I need to work harder too."

Seeing KY's unusually serious expression that he normally doesn't show as he thinks these things, the female magician says that.

Though it's muttered like a whisper, both the tone of her voice and her gaze make it obvious she wants KY to ask her why.

KY, who tries to avoid causing unnecessary waves while participating in a party, kindly picks up her words and asks her.

"Why the sudden change?"

"Well, in this battle too, you saved me, KY-san, and I realized I still lack power."

"...Should I encourage you?"

KY, who hesitated on how to answer, deliberately asks that, and the female magician bursts out laughing as if that was unexpected.

"Do people normally ask that? There."

"Well, I was wondering which one you wanted. Encouragement, is that okay?"

KY thinks he's been influenced by John in this respect.

How should I put it, he occasionally ends up demanding that the other person have proper seriousness and full effort toward the dungeon.

This time too, if he had encouraged her as the female magician wanted, she would have developed moderate affection for him, and the exploration would have ended peacefully.

Depending on how much affection she had, he might have even been able to get along well with her after the exploration (with deeper meaning).

Well, recently, due to being inspired by the passion of John Doe, such desires that KY once had have considerably diminished.

Anyway.

But is that okay, KY asked.

Having his life saved by KY in this battle, and being grateful for it.

And are you satisfied with just being encouraged with "it couldn't be helped"?

That was what he asked.

If she were to answer that encouragement is fine here, then KY would have encouraged her.

Unlike John Doe, he doesn't demand seriousness from everyone.

Just the thought "we're not compatible" would remain afterward.

To KY's question, perhaps feeling she was standing at a crossroads, the female magician's expression turned a bit serious as she asked KY.

"Other than encouraging me, what else is there?"

"There's the option of moderately pointing out this time's failure, and there's also the option of thoroughly insulting you including for asking for encouragement."

"Please go with moderately pointing it out."

It was a quick decision that the female magician, who would later greatly improve her abilities, would look back on as the right call.

"Then I'll moderately point things out. First, you need to create a clear image of what you want to become. If there's someone else you can look up to, that's fine too."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"Even if you think about what's lacking in your current self, I think it's quite difficult to think from scratch. There are things you won't understand without actually experiencing failures."

At KY's words, the female magician, thinking a little, asks back with her head tilted.

"I understand it's difficult, but... why does that create an image to aim for?"

"Imagine the strongest, greatest magician within your mind. And what's necessary to become that is what's lacking in your current self. Isn't it easy to understand? Would the strongest magician in your mind get scared and fall on their butt when cornered by monsters that slip past the front line like today?"

KY's words dug deep into the female magician's heart.

Even while being hurt by those words, the female magician thinks.

If it were the strongest magician she imagined.

Surely while the vanguard is fighting, she would take down all the monsters before they could get close.

But putting that aside, if they did get close.

At least, it's unthinkable for her to get scared and fall on her butt.

Surely even if they got close, she would stay calm.

And to deal with the approaching monsters, not her usual magic aimed and fired.

She would either fire magic that explodes at short range in the direction she points her staff, or deploy a barrier at high speed.

Seeing the female magician's expression change, KY speaks up.

"Did you imagine it?"

"I did... Certainly, thinking this way, it's easy to understand what's lacking in my current self."

"See? After that, you just need to continuously update your personal best and keep striving toward it. Just that will make you stronger. See, easy, right?"

At least for KY, that's easy.

After all, it's something that can be achieved by accumulating effort.

The naturally talented KY truly thinks so.

"...KY-san, do you also imagine and aim for the strongest swordsman like that?"

"In my case, it's an actual person. With a real person, it's easier to imagine and more fun, you know."

"There's an actual person you'd call your ideal... But KY-san, if you join a proper party, you're among the elite even on the front line, right?"

To those words, KY laughs and responds.

"Noooooo, haha. That person, they blew through the deep layers in no time, and now they've already conquered the entire dungeon and seem to be enjoying themselves in the world beyond."

To those words from KY, the female magician finally understood the person KY was aiming for.

And at the same time, she showed an expression of shock.

That he was aiming for such an outlier, an existence outside the realm of reason.

To that woman, KY said it as if it were nothing.

"Well, there's worth in aiming. After all, they're the strongest."

The strongest.

That was what KY was aiming for.