ch441-ch460 · 442-ch442

Chapter 442: What Happens Once It's Cleared

"Big news, Haruki. We've got a sponsor!"

A few days after the shoot, I was standing by at the new place waiting to hear what this was about when Soushi came bursting in.

A sponsor? For who, though?

Aikawa already has plenty of deals lined up, so if it's big news, that means it's for the 'Summer Shadow,' right?

"Hmm, congrats? So, what company? Not a knife maker—Mia-san's the one using those, right? Microwaves and home appliances, maybe?"

Like, "use our appliances in your videos"—a sponsor kind of thing?

The pay is what I'm curious about.

"What are you talking about? A ROBOT. Robots! The 'Summer Shadow-maru's' company says they'll give us a new one!"

Even though yesterday's upload just went out, it pulled a huge view count—and before that, the video of the powered suit in the new dungeon got quite a reaction too.

The French company Robo-ko-san favors probably saw all that and decided to sponsor the 'Summer Shadow.'

But there's no logo going on the 'Summer Shadow-maru' or anything—they're just giving us the machine itself?

Come to think of it, what we're using now is only the power-assist motors and frame from one model number back.

"Giving it to us" means the full equipment set, then?

The latest model?

That's seriously generous.

"Whoa, whoa—what happens to Robo-ko-san then? If you deal with them directly, Robo-ko Labs goes under!"

That person's a hobbyist who burns money on a whim, so you have to keep feeding her work on the regular.

"I turned that down. We'll take the machine only and handle maintenance ourselves. There are various problems."

Ao-san...... and not just him—Kasumi-san, Aikawa, Chiharu-san, and Yukiya-san have all come along together.

"What problems? Is that what today's talk is about?"

Cutting the greetings short and into the main topic.

"Right. It seems the international situation has changed. Not just France—Germany, the UK, Italy. Not just the big makers—inquiries are coming in from related agencies all over the world. The aim is information, I'd guess. They want to slip in spies under the cover of 'maintenance.'"

"Spies? What's this about the situation?"

International?

What?

"After we announced our intention to challenge Floor 50, there was already a little movement. But back then they seem to have figured we'd never manage it, so they didn't do much. Now that it's known an MP recovery potion can be made from the World Tree, the situation has changed."

"An MP recovery potion......"

With World Tree leaves, you can make it—a potion that lets you recover MP even inside the dungeon.

The problem is, we don't have the crucial World Tree leaves ourselves.

I've been back to that dungeon any number of times since then, but nothing that looks like one has turned up.

"It seems adventurers have appeared who figure that if they can just solve the MP problem, they can clear Floor 50 themselves. Overseas adventurers are announcing Floor 50 challenges one after another. And countries are lining up to back them. Everyone's aiming for the same thing: the world's first Floor 50 clear. This isn't just a contest between adventurers—it's a contest between nations."

"And what does that have to do with us? Japan officially doesn't have a World Tree dungeon, right?"

Why would sponsors suddenly come flooding in, and why all this spy talk?

"It seems word got out that Japan has a World Tree dungeon."

"Got out? From where? ......No, there's nowhere but the Association, is there."

There's no way it was 'Blue Ocean's staff.

Everyone who knows about that dungeon is someone who knows about my 【Gate】.

'Blue Ocean's staff don't know about my 【Gate】—they don't even know the World Tree is in Japan.

Then there's the reports I've filed up to the branch manager—and beyond him, only headquarters personnel.

Mizuki's parents are a possibility too, but from Floor 1, with the rain in the way, it'd be a stretch to definitively call that thing the World Tree.

"It seems to be the new chairman, apparently. An opposition politician's mouth got to a ruling-party politician's ear and it blew up. Even within the ruling party, the only ones who knew that dungeon MIGHT have a World Tree were a handful of politicians with dungeon connections. Entry to the site was flatly refused, and it hasn't even been surveyed yet—we're still at the speculation stage. So then the ruling party erupts into a whole who-knows-who-doesn't circus. Everyone racing to confirm, and before you know it, word has spread that a dungeon still in land negotiations has a World Tree in it. Not just in Japan—overseas as well......"

So the opposition politician behind it all is supposedly close with the new chairman......

I see. Well, eight or nine times out of ten, that's the source.

All this uproar over what's still just a rumor......

Though it really does exist.

"Are they planning to use that as leverage in the land negotiations? Or was it a deliberate leak?"

"Maybe. But that's beyond anything we can know. The problem is that right now, every nation on Earth has started moving to conquer Floor 50, and we're the leading candidates, watched from every corner of the globe. A contest between nations. Spies today—sabotage tomorrow. And sponsors are no exception."

I see.

So that's how it connects to sending in spies under the guise of maintenance.

If it means their own country wins, sabotage is entirely possible......

"So from now on we need to be careful who comes and goes......"

The information we absolutely can't let slip: my 【Gate】, the Floor 50 boss, and the weapons Mia-san makes.

Honestly, I don't think an MP recovery potion alone gets anyone through Floor 50.

Even if you beat your own skeletons, in the end your attacks won't go through that Lich and you lose.

The moment even one member goes down to their team's ace skeleton, the party falls apart.

It's possible only the ace can fight the Lich at all.

And then that worn-down party, fighting a Lich that physical attacks don't touch......

Recovering your MP means nothing if you still can't kill it.

In the end, what kills the Lich isn't my 【Gate】, and it isn't an MP recovery potion—it's Mia-san's silver weapons.

Even if someone else besides us dreamed of the boss's information, finding a smith like Mia-san from that...... I think we still have time.

The thing we need to guard against most is Mia-san being kidnapped.

"No—well, that too, but that's just the background. The truth is, we're going after Floor 50 in earnest."

Hm? We already are, though?

What's this all of a sudden?

"What do you mean?"

"Specifically: we've turned down every new-dungeon request. From here on, I intend to devote everything to raising your levels. I want the honor of humanity's first Floor 50 breakthrough too. If the worst happens......"

Storming in before I reach Level 50, huh......

According to the dream, the Lich can already be beaten.

But if I'm thinking about what comes after, I have to settle it in one run.

I want my level as high as possible first.

Depending on how things go, we might never get to clear Floor 50 a second time.

Say, for instance, a job beyond the 【Sword Saint】 turns up as a new possibility—then the question becomes: can we beat our own skeletons next time?

What happens the moment Floor 50 is cleared—that is the problem......