ch381-ch400 · 400-ch400
Chapter 400: The Dream's Ending
(Three seconds left! Ghh—Yukiya-san, hurry!)
The charged MP is at 397.
Strictly speaking, I don't need to bank exactly 400.
So if an opening appears, I want to throw already.
But there's no opening......
If anything, it's been nothing but trouble this whole time.
'Sword Saint-chan skeleton''s slash closes in—but it loses its balance and the sword-strike veers off.
And I lose my balance too.
It's 'the All-Rounder Samurai skeleton''s hammer skill that shakes the ground.
This one doesn't take a target—it works like an area attack.
Same for the one above—these guys let loose without fear of friendly fire.
It's not just hitting me; it's hitting 'Sword Saint-chan skeleton' too.
That's why I've held out this long.
But now the katana attack 'the All-Rounder Samurai skeleton' let fly is coming for me.
Undodgeable—that's the kind of combo it is.
I jam the spear in between and block it.
Even if you can't dodge, you can receive.
But in that moment, 'Sword Saint-chan skeleton'—having recovered its stance—severs my left hand.
"Haruki-san!"
How many times has that been today?
Kasumi-san's anguished cry reaches me.
Unlike Kasumi-san, who is nigh impregnable when she commits to defense, I've been carved up to the point of being a mass of wounds.
I don't even have the slack to answer.
But it's fine—that one was on PURPOSE......
Because in the middle of that sequence of movements, I stepped on my own heel and got my shoe half off.
('Rocket Kick'!)
Spear held one-armed in my right hand, making a show of "still got plenty left"—then a no-motion 'Armor Shot' from the foot.
The target, of course, is 'Sword Saint-chan skeleton.'
The banked MP is only about 10—it might not be a fatal wound.
But if I can buy an instant—a single instant......
I don't watch the result.
What I watch is above. Only it.
'Aiming!'
The silver spear leaves my hand with such speed I almost believe I threw it before activating the skill.
The instant it leaves my hand, a hole opens in the ceiling, and the spear vanishes without even an afterimage.
The Lich in its path dissipates like it's being sucked into the hole punched through its chest.
That's the win, the dream is ov...... er. It's not.
Whether my body sagged from hyper mode running out or from the injuries, I don't know.
I no longer have the slack to dodge the hammer closing in before my eyes.
In the corner of my eye: 'Sword Saint-chan skeleton,' one foot torn off, trying to rise with its sword as a cane.
'Blue Shadow skeleton' is alive and well too.
The 'Black Armor' and the 'Helmet Warrior' presumably as well.
(I beat the boss, and it's STILL not over......)
A hit lands on my head with a clout.
By the very hammer that saved me so many times, I take a fatal blow.
This is it. I'm done.
(But if it ends with me dying, maybe that's fine......)
Rather than collapsing, I'm slammed into the ground—and I feel something drape itself over me, and my consciousness ends there......
You should have just run, you know.
I'm sorry......
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"When the 'Gate to Floor 51' appears, throw yourself through it without a second's hesitation."
"Huh? The 'Gate to Floor 51'?"
I wake up and, first words out of my mouth, say it to Kasumi-san, who is right in front of me.
I beat the boss, but no goddess appeared going "Game clear!"
I was hoping for a "you defeated the skeletons, so your reward is one boneless chicken" kind of ending, you know.
Which means there's more to come.
Then the 'Gate to Floor 51' should have appeared.
And yet what is this person doing?
"......I'm sorry."
No, the one at fault was me.
"Mmm-mmm-mmm. Floor 51...... does it exist?"
"......No idea."
I answer, shaking my head.
I couldn't see the 'Gate to the Next Floor.'
Maybe it wasn't there because it's a dream—or maybe it's outside the room......
"Did I hold you back?"
No way.
It was thanks to Kasumi-san taking on two of them that I could beat the Lich at all.
Six-on-one, it never would have been a fight from the start.
"......"
I shake my head to deny it.
But the next words won't come......
"It's fine. I have no intention of saving only myself. It's fine, truly......"
Answering as if she had read the dream's contents, Kasumi-san wraps her arms around me from above, hugging me where I lie slumped over the desk.
Same as before.
Covering me like that......
"......"
"Let's go home for today. And then, from tomorrow, we try again. The university entrance exams have only just begun, you know? You have no time to be sleeping in the dungeon until the results are posted."
Unlike Soushi and Aikawa, each applying to exactly one first choice, I've submitted multiple applications.
It would be strange to stop taking them now, so I was planning to attend the exams.
That's why I came to the warehouse alone again today.
I could write off that dream as an exam.
If I just crush 'Sword Saint-chan skeleton,' things will work out.
Memorize the pattern, and crush them one by one......
Same as the previous dream.
But that scares me.
I got used to dying quickly.
I've been shown my own death enough to go half-mad—not even losing an arm moves me anymore.
But what if I get used to Kasumi-san dying too?
Before long, I'd feel nothing when Kasumi-san dies.
THAT'S what scares me.