arc1 · 007-ch7

Episode 7: Floor 1, District 1

　After finishing the conversation with the staff, Suzuka held his explorer license to the security door and entered inside. Advancing a bit through the passage, he came out to an open space.

　That place was quite wide, with a dome-shaped ceiling creating an open-feeling design. The wall materials made lavish use of magic steel produced from dungeons, creating a robust structure designed to prepare against any possible dungeon break.

　In the center of that dome-shaped room, the dungeon entrance stood there eerily.

　Stopping to look at the strange quality of the dungeon gate, the area behind him grew noisy. It seemed the party behind Suzuka had opened the security door.

　There was no meaning in standing still. Suzuka moved his stopped feet and slipped into the dungeon entrance, which was pitch-black and undulated like the surface of water.

　◇

　After the sensation of passing through a thin membrane, the pitch-black view suddenly changed. He inadvertently narrowed his eyes at the sudden brightness, but was soon captivated by the scene before his eyes.

"This is a dungeon...!"

　He has memories of coming here once, but the impression from memory and actually seeing it are completely different.

　Grasslands spreading across his entire field of vision. There are moderate slopes, but it's flatlands continuing without being as hilly as hill country. Trees can be seen here and there, but overall the view is open. Looking at the grass spreading below, they're not all the same grass. Some grass is about knee-height, others are short like lawn grass. If he raises his line of sight, the sky spreads overhead, with cotton clouds flowing elegantly. The wind brushing his cheeks, the smell of green when breathing, it's late June at the end of early summer yet it has a pleasant feeling like spring. There are no high-rise buildings or utility poles blocking the sky. A world where you can purely experience the word "the sky is wide."

　Suzuka was moved. What a beautiful scenery this is. When you hear "dungeon," you imagine caves. The word "dungeon" itself means underground prison. Suzuka had believed that dungeon exploration meant exploring such damp caves.

　Of course he has memories of coming to a dungeon, and he had seen photos and videos in the information he researched yesterday. But seeing is believing, as they say, and Suzuka felt he could hear the sound of the knowledge he had gained from manga until now crumbling.

"Well, the people behind will probably come too, so let's move quickly"

　Looking around the surroundings, he could see what looked like a dot with something existing in the distance. Suzuka took out the bat and held it in his hand, then started walking toward there.

　The width of dungeons varies depending on the floor, but the width of Floor 1 where Suzuka is located is said to be about the same as Tokyo's 23 wards. The entrance to the floor differs depending on the floor, and the entrance to Floor 1 here is located slightly to the lower right of the center of the floor. It's divided into concentric circles with the dungeon entrance as the center, and the center area of the circle is District 1, where monsters are weakest on that floor. The outermost area is District 5, where monster levels are also higher.

"Lucky! Just one Drunken Sheep! Good start"

　What was a dot revealed its contour as he approached, and the target Drunken Sheep was there.

　The Drunken Sheep is a sheep wrapped in soft-looking wool, with horns growing on its head curled in a spiral. Living up to its name "Drunken," its face, which is probably originally white, is reddened as if feverish. The way it walks unsteadily on wobbly legs is exactly that of a drunkard.

　When the distance to the Drunken Sheep dropped below 100 meters, he took off the backpack he was carrying. After taking a few practice swings, he looked around again to confirm there were no other monsters.

"There are no obstacles to hide behind, so scouting is easy and helpful"

　The Drunken Sheep's attack pattern has only one option: charging. The horns seem to serve the role of protecting the area around the face from attacks, and since they don't use them for attacks and only charge, their attacks are also monotonous, making them famous as monsters for beginners. However, if he receives a direct attack from the front, Suzuka at level 1 would probably have his ribs broken. The fluffy wool seems to absorb even the impact of a metal bat, and it doesn't seem to match well with Suzuka's current equipment.

　As the distance to the Drunken Sheep approached, information about the Drunken Sheep was displayed in Suzuka's view.

　Drunken Sheep: Level 2

　Suzuka doesn't have an appraisal skill, but dungeon monsters display their name and level like this. This is also said to be the dungeon's blessing, and it's convenient.

"Level 2. I would have preferred level 1 at first... well, I'll do my best"

　The Drunken Sheep's level is 1 to 3. If it's the maximum level 3, ignoring it would be wise, but if it's 2, it's not impossible to defeat... probably. Most likely.

　The level difference at low levels is significantly apparent. That is, the reflection of status at level-up is an additive method. For example, if the strength status of level 1 is 4 and the addition at level-up is 2, then between level 1 and 3 the strength simply doubles. On the other hand, at level 51 and 53 the strength status becomes 104 and 108, and the influence of a difference of a few levels becomes smaller.

　In reality it's not such a simple increase, but for Suzuka at level 1, finding a level 1 Drunken Sheep would be the safer option, but he decided to challenge the fight.

　When within the distance where appraisal can be done, the Drunken Sheep also notices Suzuka's presence. The figure barking as if threatening, combined with its red face, looks more like it's raging in anger than being drunk.

"Dodge the charge... dodge the charge..."

　Muttering his strategy to himself, Suzuka also lowered his hips to prepare for the Drunken Sheep's attack. Both sides glared at each other. The first to move was the Drunken Sheep.

　Quite fast. He had been slightly underestimating it, thinking a sheep wouldn't be that fast. This is putting out about as much speed as a motorized bike.

　The distance between them rapidly disappeared. Even if dodging, it would be meaningless if too early. He needed to wait until it couldn't change direction, though not quite as late as a bullfighter would.

"Now!!"

　He jumped to the side like doing side-to-side jumps. Suzuka rolled on the ground with too much momentum, but somehow managed to dodge the Drunken Sheep's attack. He immediately corrected his posture and stood up, and this time Suzuka approached the passing Drunken Sheep.

　When the Drunken Sheep's attack was dodged, it hurriedly slammed on the brakes and tried to turn around to go on the offensive. However, Suzuka closing the distance was a step faster.

"ORA!!"

　Suzuka swung the metal bat overhead. There was a spiral-shaped horn on the side of its face, but he swung it horizontally with full force, thinking it would be okay even if he hit it.

　Crunch

　There was an unpleasant sound and an unpleasant sensation that he didn't feel when hitting a ball. Suzuka's bat luckily avoided the horn and directly hit the protruding snout. He was able to catch the snout precisely because it had raised its head right after turning.

　Thanks to swinging the metal bat with full force, the mouth area was crushed and blood and flesh scattered. However, perhaps because it was producing adrenaline or something, the Drunken Sheep didn't flinch at the pain and daringly executed another charge. But there was almost no distance between the Drunken Sheep and Suzuka. Speed couldn't come out in such a short distance, and the intimidation of the charge was a world of difference compared to the first hit. The Drunken Sheep becomes a threat the more distance there is. The strategy was to suppress the fear and fight at zero distance.

　Suzuka dodged the Drunken Sheep's charge while being careful not to fall, and swung the bat again aiming at the rear as it passed by. He did a serious butt-bat, but perhaps because it was protected by wool, he didn't have the sensation of dealing much damage.

"BU-BAAAH!"

　The Drunken Sheep, which turned around again, barked while scattering saliva, and came rushing in without a running start just like before. Somehow dodging that, this time he swung the bat vertically as if trying to break its spine. Contrary to its fluffy-looking appearance wrapped in wool, a hard sensation was transmitted from the bat to his hand, and it tingled and went numb.

　However, he couldn't let go of the bat. The Drunken Sheep repeatedly turned around and repeated charges over and over, and Suzuka somehow endured the feeling that his feet were about to get tangled while dodging and attacking aiming at its face and back. In front of the Drunken Sheep that still wouldn't flinch, he started to panic wondering if his attacks were effective, but since there was nothing he could do but punch, Suzuka desperately continued to dodge and hit.

　It probably continued for about 5 minutes. The desperate attack and defense of both was brought to an end by one blow Suzuka swung down. After the sensation of having crushed its spine, the Drunken Sheep collapsed as if staggering and turned into black smoke. The smoke didn't scatter into the air, but was quietly sucked into Suzuka.