arc1 · 015-ch15

Episode 15: Underling Fox

Deep inside Floor 1, District 1. There were two men there holding a metal bat and a shovel.

"I wish they'd come out already, for crying out loud"

"The drop rate's supposed to be 1%, so that's probably about right"

Standing before Suzuka and Yasu were five Underling Foxes.

Underling Foxes are levels 8-10, making them the strongest monsters in Floor 1, District 1 aside from the area boss, the Boss Fox. Unlike Drunken Sheep and Kettle Raccoons, these guys never act solo—they're always in groups of at least three. Between their high levels and their pack tactics, defeating them is extremely troublesome.

Despite having "fox" in their name, these guys are completely different from wild foxes. First off, they walk on two legs. Their bodies are large too—probably around 160cm tall. With their thug-like mean eyes and iron pipes clutched in their hands, their appearance perfectly fits the phrase "yakuza underling."

Suzuka had been fighting Underling Foxes repeatedly not just for leveling up, but for another reason as well. The iron pipes used as weapons by Underling Foxes can be obtained as drop items. Their official name is "Underling's Essential." They're weapons made from magic iron, a material that conducts mana easily.

Suzuka was seeking this and had been fighting Underling Fox after Underling Fox.

Now it's Saturday, two weeks after the day they first went dungeon exploring together. Since then, they've been dungeon exploring every weekend, and Suzuka is now level 9 while Yasu is level 8. Their stat growth has been excellent too, and tomorrow they're finally scheduled to challenge the Boss Fox, the area boss of Floor 1, District 1.

Yasu will probably reach level 9 during today's exploration too. If that happens, both level-wise and stat-wise, tomorrow will be the best timing. Just as they had originally planned with Yasu, they'll defeat the Boss Fox on the last Sunday before summer break and likely be able to raise their levels to 10.

It seems doable... but there was one concern. That was Suzuka's weapon, the metal bat. It had been bent and battered since the first day, but as a result of being overused continuously, it had now become a twisted, gnarled stick like some piece of modern art. It was in a state where it could break at any moment. He had thought about finding a replacement, but since the weapon that rarely drops from Underling Fox seemed just right, he decided not to buy a new one and instead aim for the drop.

Since they'd be fighting the Boss Fox tomorrow, if he didn't get one today he'd have to purchase some weapon or other. Having come this far, Suzuka was dead set on getting his hands on one.

Incidentally, Yasu, the shovel-wielder, had replaced the shovel he had at home and was now holding a new shovel. That shovel was a product loved by dungeon explorers. It seems that shovels are not just a joke—quite a few people actually use them in dungeons, as he recently learned.

Of course, there are few peculiar people who try to fight with shovels. Dungeons are vast, and when people explore the second floor, third floor, and beyond, they end up staying overnight inside the dungeon. At those times, shovels come in handy for making simple toilets. So that they can fight back even if a monster suddenly appears, sturdy, rugged shovels are apparently favored.

The price is 30,000 yen. The reason for the high price is that the material contains a small amount of magic iron. Magic iron is a dungeon-produced mineral with the property of conducting mana well.

For a middle school student, 30,000 yen is an amount they don't have, but this was solved when Suzuka and the others obtained the "Happy Raccoon Tea Kettle," a rare drop from Kettle Raccoons on their second exploration.

The item said to have a drop rate of 0.5% had a buyback price of 50,000 yen. That day they also obtained many other drop items, and the total sales amount reached 63,500 yen, the highest amount yet. Thanks to that, Yasu was able to obtain his beloved shovel.

By the way, good fortune didn't continue, and the third time's sales amount was 7,000 yen. The fourth time was 13,000 yen.

"This might be the last chance. If it doesn't come out this time, give up and buy one, okay?"

"It'll definitely come out. No, I'll make it come out. Come out already, damn it"

Underling Foxes also attack in coordinated ways, so they make for excellent practice opponents. For this reason, in their third and later explorations as a duo, they had mainly been fighting Underling Foxes, and they'd defeated a total of 50 of them. Even with a 1% drop rate, it should be coming out about now.

As if provoking Suzuka, a Underling Fox was slapping its iron pipe—no, magic iron pipe—against its own hand with a bashi bashi sound, and veins popped on Suzuka's face. While glaring at the Underling Fox with his metal bat in hand, Suzuka approached. With his shoulders tense and walking cutting through the wind, he looked just like a thug.

They were already within each other's range. But without caring about that, both parties glared at each other, sparks flying. This state continued for several seconds. Yasu looked on in exasperation, but he had his shovel at the ready so he could jump in to assist at any moment.

BASH

The sound of the Underling Fox slapping its magic iron pipe against its own palm rang out particularly loudly. At that sound, Suzuka's patience reached its limit, and the crease between his brows deepened further.

"Hand it over. That thing."

With fluid, seamless movements, he swung the bat at the temple of the lead Underling Fox. However, there were five enemies. Just like Yasu, a Underling Fox that had been ready to jump in and assist at any moment wedged its magic iron pipe between the temple and the metal bat. But Suzuka shook it off as if such a thing didn't matter.

As a result, while the power was considerably reduced, he succeeded in striking the first Underling Fox's head. It wasn't dead, but since he'd hit its head, it probably wouldn't be combat-capable for a while. There are five opponents, after all. They need to focus on reducing the numbers as much as possible.

"Not happening!!"

Yasu parried back an attack from a Underling Fox that had circled around using its numerical advantage. They'd fought these guys plenty. Suzuka and Yasu had developed their teamwork to the point where they could assist each other without saying a word.

Yasu pressed the attack on the Underling Fox from there, but the second one stood in the way too. The Underling Fox deftly held the magic iron pipe sideways and caught Yasu's shovel attack. Catching the attack means stopping movement.

With a sound like grin, Suzuka turned to the side, ignoring the three in front and locking onto the Underling Fox that had caught Yasu's attack. Instant decision. He's going to take the one that stopped moving out of the fight.

Suzuka swung his bat at the flank of the Underling Fox, which had its arm raised to block Yasu's attack.

CRUNCH

At the moment a dull sound of flesh and bone crushing rang out, the Underling Fox turned to smoke and was absorbed by Suzuka and Yasu.

Whether it's because they're monsters or not, but Underling Foxes apparently have emotions too, and they were shaken by their comrade dying in one hit. A Underling Fox tried to launch an attack at Suzuka, who was showing his side and exposing an opening right before its eyes, but wary of Suzuka's unexpectedly high attack power, it hesitated.

Suzuka's current stats are incomparably higher than ordinary explorers of the same level. Thanks to that, his attack power had reached the point where he could one-shot Underling Foxes if he hit the right spot.

Neither of them would miss that opening. Yasu went for the Underling Fox he'd let get away, and Suzuka went for the remaining three.

"Battles are won!! By the cowards who die first!!!"

Suzuka brought the bat down in a diagonal slash at the Underling Fox that had hesitated to attack. While the Underling Fox is significantly inferior to Suzuka stat-wise, thanks to being wary of Suzuka, it can respond to a frontal attack.

Just like when Yasu's attack was caught, the Underling Fox held its magic iron pipe sideways and blocked Suzuka's attack. The same development as before. But a different result than before occurs.

SNAP

The metal bat had reached its limit. Whether it couldn't withstand Suzuka's attack or couldn't withstand the impact of colliding with the magic iron pipe, the metal bat that had worked so hard as Suzuka's weapon until now snapped cleanly in half from the middle.

The situation reversed. The weapon of the man who had been like a demon was destroyed. The Underling Fox couldn't help but smirk with a look of victory, and raised its voice as if mocking.

"Suzuka!? Are you okay!?"

Yasu was caught between Underling Foxes that had moved in to support, and he seems to be taking time to break free. Despite there still being two Underling Foxes in front of Suzuka, Suzuka had lost his weapon. Yasu frantically tries to somehow assist, but when he panics, things go even worse, and he ends up being pinned down by the Underling Foxes.

"...You bastards."

In the midst of all this, Suzuka muttered quietly while looking down.

"Pay me back, you bastards!!!"

Suzuka held the broken bat in reverse grip, and with a sneer on his face, he thrust the jagged cross-section at the Underling Fox's face as if it were a knife.

He rolled on the ground tangled with the Underling Fox. Ignoring the Underling Fox thrashing around trying to shake off the metal bat stuck in its head, Suzuka grabbed the Underling Fox's right hand—or more precisely, the magic iron pipe it was gripping tightly.

"Give me this, you damn fox!!!"

Relying on his stats, Suzuka forcibly snatched the magic iron pipe from the Underling Fox. He was about to strike the Underling Fox he had pinned down, but another Underling Fox attacked Suzuka.

But Suzuka had a magic iron pipe in his hand. Calmly parrying back the Underling Fox's attack, he took distance and adjusted his stance.

"Well now, too baaad. My bat broke and you got cocky, but now it's you who lost your weapon, didn't it! Hey!!"

With eyes that looked completely like someone in the zone, Suzuka was scaring not just the Underling Foxes but even Yasu.

"I should've done this from the start. Every time Every time Every time Every time!! Being stingy with drops like this"

The magic iron pipe gripped tightly fits perfectly in Suzuka's hand. It will surely play an active role more than enough as a replacement for his partner, the metal bat.

"I got a weapon!! Let's finish this quickly, Yasu!!"

"Yeah!!"

If he calms down, even Yasu can easily handle two Underling Foxes. As for Suzuka's opponent, one doesn't even have a weapon, and blood is spurting from the face where the metal bat is stuck, so it's on the verge of death. Against such an opponent, there's no way they'd struggle.

In less than a minute, the two of them turned the remaining Underling Foxes into smoke.