ch1-ch20 · 009-ch9

Chapter 9

A few days after his first Shinjuku Tower conquest. His nephew was acting strange.

During dinner one day. As usual, Sai was at his sister's house having a meal with her family and his parents. And during all that, his nephew kept looking at Sai with these really sparkling eyes.

"Uncle, I didn't know you were that strong!"

It probably had to do with how strong he was in general, but it seemed the skill with which he'd saved Tetta and Soma had really struck a chord with him.

His sister's husband (the nephew's father) had a gentle personality, worked steadily as a company employee, married his sister, and supported his in-laws—Sai's parents.

From Sai's perspective, the brother-in-law was way more admirable and cool.

He'd had his share of romance, but he'd ended up in his forties without a proper marriage...

Compared to Sai, his sister's husband was just so upstanding.

That's what Sai found himself thinking.

"That boy—it's good he seems to have recovered from his injuries."

His mother said that, relieved at Soma and the others' situation. Though she worried about Sai going to Shinjuku Tower, she seemed happy to see him working hard and doing well.

"So, big bro, when are you going next?"

It was his sister who asked. She, too, seemed happy to see her brother's work (?) in action.

"I don't want you doing anything too dangerous, but it is your job, after all..."

Feeling grateful for his mother's concern, he shared his plans.

"I'm thinking of going again tomorrow or the day after."

"Hey hey, Uncle! Are you gonna challenge the Floor Boss!?"

His nephew asked excitedly.

"Floor Boss, huh. There are all kinds of rules about that, aren't there."

A Floor Boss was a powerful enemy that appeared on floors 5 and 10. It appeared on floors that were multiples of 5, and apparently the rule was that it sat right in front of the only staircase leading upward, and you couldn't advance to the upper floors without defeating it.

If someone went to floor 6 without fighting the Floor Boss, that adventurer would meet a miserable fate.

In the past, there was an adventurer who advanced from floor 5 to floor 6 without fighting the Floor Boss by letting another party defeat it. That adventurer got to floor 6 the easy way, but immediately after, as punishment, double the number of Floor Bosses attacked that adventurer. It apparently chased them endlessly, and when other adventurers defeated the pursuing Floor Boss, twice as many came after them again. Apparently, some adventurers died that way.

The Shinjuku Tower itself had to judge you as "worthy of surpassing floor 5."

In a similar exploit, apparently one adventurer brought a large group to face the floor 5 Floor Boss, but those who didn't fight received the same punishment as above. Conversely, even if they didn't fight directly, those who participated in the battle through support were deemed "worthy of surpassing floor 5."

It thoroughly hated those who tried to exploit system loopholes. The will of Shinjuku Tower was there.

"Well, as long as I fight normally, the rules aren't a problem. The floor 5 Floor Boss is..."

"A giant Skeleton Knight!"

Its appearance was literally that of a skeleton, but it was three meters tall, clad in armor, wielding a sword and shield. It was a giant-type skeleton from the other world, and Sai knew how to fight it. The troublesome parts were the reach of its sword, scaled to its three-meter size, and the shield bash from its massive shield. But since it had no Skills or magic attacks, as long as you knew how to fight it, it wasn't that big a problem.

"Yeah... I'll give it a shot."

Luckily, he'd already confirmed the routes up to floor 3 on his last expedition, and with how things went, floors 4 and 5 shouldn't be a problem either.

As he so casually decided to go, his nephew's eyes sparkled.

"Awesome. You'll catch up to the seniors...!"

"Seniors?"

"There are seniors at my school who are adventurers!"

Apparently, at the school his nephew attended, there were Awakened seniors. They apparently qualified for the special condition of the license system—"those who have Awakened and turned 18"—and had been going to Shinjuku Tower even before turning 20.

Both were apparently talented high school girls, and though they'd only started conquering Shinjuku Tower a few months ago, they'd apparently already cleared up to floor 8 in just the two of them. Apparently this pace was quite fast for minors, and they had a lot of fans, with quite a few people paying attention to them.

And so, after dinner, they ended up watching the streams of those two infamous girls together in the living room. They didn't seem to be raiding today and weren't streaming, but there were plenty of archived streams available.

The two in the stream were quite cute. Even though the background was inside the dangerous dungeon of Shinjuku Tower, they almost looked like idols. As soon as the stream started, they began talking to the viewers with smiles. Should he call it typical high school girl energy—they seemed lively and cheerful.

"Yahooo, you watchin'?"

"What are you doing? Let's go."

"Let's do our best on floor 8!"

The energetic-looking girl with red hair was probably a swordsman. With long red hair and a katana, she looked like something out of a manga or game. The serious-looking girl with blue-black hair was a mage. Her shoulder-length hair gave her a sharp, crisp impression that suited her. She was using a gun rod—a gun-shaped magic wand.

The two of them immediately started fighting goblins, but their coordination was solid. He couldn't believe they'd only started adventuring a few months ago.

"These girls, they've been training... no, they're the type who've been fighting for a while."

"Uncle, you can tell that just from watching?"

"Yeah. It's a guess from how they place their feet and their positioning, but the swordswoman's probably got a few years. She's used to life-or-death... mm, combat outside of match formats, and she's trained as a swordswoman. The mage girl, whether she's supporting or attacking, she's consciously moving so she doesn't get in the swordswoman's way and to make it easier for her to move."

Combat wasn't just about firing off powerful Skills or magic and winning. If the back line fired off a strong spell without watching the front line's movements, there was the possibility of friendly fire—the back line hitting the front line.

Conversely, if each moved to make use of their strengths, they could defeat monsters stronger than themselves.

"Big bro, you sure know a lot about this."

"Well, partly because I was an instructor, but when you fight large monsters, without that kind of know-how you end up with serious injuries."

"Ooh, sounds like a pro."

"That's because I am a pro."

As he was having this idle chit-chat with his sister, Sai's father made a tactless remark to his nephew, saying "So these are the type of girls you like, huh?" His mother scolded the father, and the day came to an end.

The next morning. Sai's home.

His base was the renovated former neighborhood factory of his grandfather.

It was spacious and convenient for a single-person home, and Sai was satisfied with it.

The second floor was used as living space, and the first floor was a garage for an adventurer's needs. With brick-laid walls and lighting fixtures brought from the other world, the layout reminded him of his home there.

This place was where he maintained weapons and armor, and could craft small items. Additionally, one corner served as training space.

In that training space, Sai was going through his daily routine.

He activated his internal magical power, sending it flowing through his body. He applied load to the magic dwelling within his physical body.

He sent strong magic flowing through his right hand while sending weak magic through his left hand. He sent weak magic through his right foot while sending strong magic through his left foot. By circulating magic in this alternating manner, the magic adapted better to the body, producing better effects when using spells.

And while circulating his magic like that, he began shadow fighting against an imaginary enemy.

Today's opponent was a giant-type Skeleton Knight.

The floor 5 Floor Boss.

He'd defeated it countless times in the other world, and it was a monster he could take down easily even solo.

But he mustn't let his guard down.

It was a dungeon precisely because you never knew what might happen.

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Thank you for reading.

The heroines are finally starting to show their shadows.

Today also marks a two-chapter update.

Another update is planned for 8 PM.

Thank you very much.