ch361-ch380 · 370-ch370

Chapter 370: Led Off by the Turtle I Saved

"Whoa—forget the umbrella, I should've brought boots."

Back to the new dungeon, properly this time.

The rain-fall dungeon at Mizuki's house.

The ground is nothing but grass, and water pools everywhere.

A short walk and it feels like the water's about to seep into my shoes.

"Wait, so you really CAN move between dungeons. That means we could get to Hokkaido or Okinawa in an instant too, right? Isn't that insane?"

It is insane.

Just—not anytime, anywhere.

"It only goes where I've parked a 'Gate.' I have to go there myself and set one up first, you know."

For the record, this is my second time crossing between dungeons.

The first since I tested whether I could move from headquarters to the Chiba dungeon.

If I put my mind to it, I should be able to cross overseas, Okinawa included—but entering other countries' dungeons is forbidden, so the chance won't come.

Eh? Entering THIS one is forbidden too?

So there might be a chance for the overseas dungeons as well, huh?

"Ah! You mean that thing? Yeah, there's definitely something. But it's too far away...... no wait, isn't it just too BIG?"

I look where Aikawa is pointing, and there—faintly—a shadow stretching up toward the sky.

The rain wrecks visibility so I can't make it out clearly, but big it certainly is.

Nothing else comes to mind at that size.

"It looks like...... a tree......"

Faint, but I can make out branches and leaves along with the trunk.

A World Tree......

No doubt about it.

"If we go deeper...... it'll look closer, right?"

My, my.

Weren't we just here to check?

Weren't you saying "no way, no how" about going deeper just a minute ago?

"We'd have to get to Floor 11."

By the net's information, no change through Floor 10.

The World Tree starts looking closer from Floor 11 onward, apparently.

After that, no change through Floor 19, supposedly.

No information out yet, but the prediction is that from Floor 21 it would look closer still.

"Hmm. Let's push on to Floor 11 for starters. Time-wise we should be fine."

Aikawa checks her watch.

It's not quite 1 PM yet, I think?

In Chiba, breaking Floor 10 takes about four hours, but......

"Even if we push on, we don't know where the 'Gates to the Next Floor' are."

Finding the 'Gate to the Next Floor' on every single floor—I wonder if we can even reach Floor 10 before dark?

"It's open terrain—shouldn't we find them fast? Oh! Over there!"

"Oh? Found one already?"

The ground is mostly flat, though with patches of brush and some bumps here and there—not perfectly flat, but the visibility is good.

If we know where the 'Gates to the Next Floor' are, we might actually make better time than in the Chiba dungeon, where trees spring up all over.

Without further ado, Aikawa—

"It just moved!"

"The 'Gate' did?"

No way that's happening.

'Gates' feel fixed into space itself.

Push them, pull them—they don't move, and not even a 【Dimension Slash】 can cut one.

"That rock...... might be a monster."

Just as I'm thinking no rock moves either—it's a monster, huh.

Aikawa is pointing into the brush.

It's over a hundred meters away, outside 【Presence Detection】's range.

The rock twitches, ever so slightly.

Honestly, how did she even notice?

"A golem...... no, a turtle?"

I narrow my already Status-boosted eyes and focus, and it looks like a shell the same shade of green as the grass.

Probably a turtle.

"Let's go look!"

Aikawa breaks into a run.

Dange—...... actually, no danger at all.

This is Floor 1.

The monsters here are about as strong as a human child.

Meanwhile, Aikawa right now—she's not quite a tank, but she's probably about as strong as a dump truck.

Wait, is a dump truck even strong?

Well, the strength gap between a child and a dump truck isn't something to joke about......

【Presence Detection】 is running constantly, so I'd notice if any other monsters were around.

Keeping close to Aikawa, I step into the brush myself.

(Brrr, cold—)

The rain and dew clinging to the grass soak my trousers all the way up.

Boots wouldn't have saved me from this, after all.

Conquering this dungeon is going to take dedicated gear.

Going at it normally: Floor 20 in one day, Floor 30 in two, Floor 40 in a week—and double that for the way back......

The depths are probably raining nonstop too, and living soaked drains your stamina.

They say dungeons with water are jackpots—but they're actually harder to conquer, huh.

"Should've brought a camera. Show it to Soushi sleeping at home and he'd be up and about in no time."

Saying that, Aikawa draws her sword.

Please stop—you're leaving evidence.

Well, it wouldn't perk him up that fast, but he might push himself and come out here......

Maybe I shouldn't even tell him about it.

But I do want to brag.

I understand that feeling all too well.

"No other monsters...... nearby, anyway."

I keep watch over our surroundings, just in case.

It's Floor 1, so the monster spawn rate is probably low.

As far as the eye can see, one or two, and quite far off.

"What kind of turtle is this?"

"Don't ask me......"

The turtle monster finally turns to face us, slow as anything.

I'm no particular expert on turtles, so I couldn't tell you what species this is.

It doesn't have that vicious face like the snapping turtles on the news.

Its head is rounded.

It's on land, so a tortoise?

Eh—it's a dungeon turtle. That's all.

"Eiyah!"

Span! Her blade takes the head clean off, and the monster's distinctive blue blood sprays out.

The reaction vanished from 【Presence Detection】 too, so it's dead.

That was over quick.

"Floor 1, so this is about what you'd expect."

"We don't need the magic stone, right? Couldn't turn it in anyway."

Which raises the question of why you killed it, doesn't it.

To measure its strength—that's why.

It moves slow and is hardly dangerous at all.

I knock kon-kon on the shell, but it isn't all that hard.

Even a Level 1 could probably pierce it with an iron spear.

"And here I thought it'd pull its head in and be unkillable. Should I flip the next one I find onto its back?"

Why would you do something so cruel?

Well—finding the counter-strategy, it's technically correct?

Like, if the turtles deeper in pull their heads in, just flip them over?

"Now, now, children, no misbehaving."

Still, I'll pass.

"What is this, Urashima Taro? Riding the turtle you saved to the Dragon Palace?"

In that case, the one waiting for us wouldn't be Otohime but that goddess, I suppose?

That goddess, hm......

The first 'Gate' from the warehouse earlier came out of my right foot.

The one Aikawa smacked into, that is.

But the foot that got stomped by that goddess at the Dragon Palace was my left......

The one who stomped the right was Mizuki.

I thought it must be some mistake, but lo and behold, a 'Gate' came out of my left foot too.

It connected properly, so it counts as 'a pair of Gates.'

Even I never expected one to come out of my right foot—but when I tried it, out it came, for real.

(Why?)

A fluke?

Maybe the reward was simply 'deposited,' and Mizuki stomping my right foot had nothing to do with it?

Why is a reward even paid out in the first place?

Why did the goddess send me to this dungeon?

Was saving Mizuki the point?

The goddess and Mizuki have completely different presences.

Colors too—the goddess is a rainbow, and Mizuki is pink......

And the goddess radiates light—so much that with 【Presence Detection】 on, I can't see what's in front of me.

Mizuki wasn't glowing at all.

They have to be different people......

In which case—did she send me to save some mere look-alike, and pay a reward on top of it?

I don't know.

What even IS the goddess?

And who even IS Mizuki Saori?