c1-c20 · 014-ch14

Chapter 14: Meanwhile, Other Explorers POV: A Certain Party

☆Case 1: A Certain Party

A three-person party was making their way through the 10th floor. Leading from the front was a skinhead man, followed by a bearded man and an eyepatch-wearing woman with a rough look about her.

Suddenly, the bearded man noticed a notification and pulled out his smartphone, stopping the other two in surprise.

"Oi, Boss! Big Sis! Negomin's stream just started! That old man's with her too!"

"You serious?!"

"Hah? What are you talking about? No way that's the real deal. It's only been a day!"

"No wait... this guy's the real thing!"

"Oh come on, what are you basing that on..."

"Just look at this, will you?"

The bearded man showed his phone screen to the other two. There on the screen was an old man in work clothes, standing before some bones holding a deck brush.

The skinhead man was about to point out that the work clothes the old man was wearing were different from yesterday's, suggesting it might be a different person, when the old man on screen swung his deck brush down at the bones.

All three stood there dumbfounded. They had just witnessed with their own eyes the bones in front of them instantly turning to sand.

Now convinced this was the real deal, the skinhead man shouted excitedly.

"Oi, where's Negomin's old man right now?!"

"Floor 11... in the cave area!"

"Oh-ho-ho-ho! What a fool, streaming like that. He's basically telling everyone exactly where he is!"

"The cave section... perfect. That place is famous for being maze-like and taking forever to get out of."

"And more importantly, we're on floor 10. If we run, we'll be there in no time!"

"Alright, let's move it, you two!"

"Let's go! We, the White Wolf Key Claw Clan, for our new battle power!"

With a loud rallying cry, they sprinted toward the path to floor 11. They easily dispatched the monsters that appeared along the way, familiar with the routine, and safely reached floor 11.

"Looks like there's others here and there too."

The skinhead man looked around and spotted several explorers like themselves. But he didn't panic.

"Oi, can you do it?"

"Of course! I've got the 'Trace Exploration' skill, after all!"

Using a skill that senses traces left by a target, the bearded man tried to pinpoint where the old man had been. But there was no sign of finding either Negomin or the old man.

"Hey, we're not finding anything!"

"Huh, that's weird... my search shows they were here just a little while ago."

"Sigh... what's happening with that woman's stream right now?"

"Hang on a sec... eh, huh?!"

"What? Hurry up and tell us."

The bearded man stared at the screen in shock, then slowly turned to face the other two.

"Right now... they're on floor 17..."

"...Floor 17?!"

"In the short time it took us to climb one floor?!"

The skinhead man and the eyepatch woman were just as shocked by this revelation. But after a moment, the eyepatch woman nodded in understanding.

"I see. That Negomin girl is pretty clever."

"Big Sis, you figure something out?"

"That girl was on floor 17 from the start. She lied about being on floor 11 to throw off searchers like us."

"But the scenery in the stream looked like floor 11, though."

"...That's gotta be it. She used some kind of magic."

"So that's what was going on...! Dammit, that Negomin...!"

The three of them were crushed by this shocking revelation. But that wasn't the end of it—they were explorers, after all.

The skinhead man gave up searching floor 11 and decided to change his destination.

"Oi you two... let's go. To floor 17."

"But Boss! We've never been to floors that high...!"

"Don't give me that. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for us as explorers! If we can get that old man... if we can get that man in our party, we'll definitely make ranker status for sure!"

"That's right. Backing out now would make the White Wolf name cry shame."

"Boss, Big Sis...! I'll follow you two for the rest of my life...!"

Seeing the resolve in his two companions, the bearded man found himself shedding tears of emotion. He couldn't remember being this moved since he got promoted to C-rank.

"Let's do this, Shinjuku Dungeon! Wash your neck and wait for us!"

"We, the White Wolf Key Claw Clan, will be the first to make him our ally! Oh-ho-ho-ho!"

"Yes! Oh, but before that, I should check Negomin's stream one more time..."

The bearded man wiped his tears and looked back at Negomin's stream. Just then, the old man on screen was saying something to Negomin.

"...Um, excuse me."

"Huh? What is it?"

"What's with the sudden formality?"

"He says... they're going to floor 30 now..."

"...Ah~"

"I see~"

"Alright, time to call it a day!"

"Sure, since we're here anyway, want to grab drinks?"

"Okaay, I'll book our usual spot for the three of us"

＊＊＊＊＊

☆Case 2: A Certain Explorer

"Leader, Negomin's doing a stream. Huh, so this guy's name is Shibasaki."

"Hah? ...Wait, isn't this the old guy I talked to?"

I let out a deep sigh as I looked at my junior's smartphone screen. The person next to Negomin was that unremarkable old man in white work clothes I'd spoken to this morning on floor 1.

Seriously? I didn't think Negomin was this dumb.

"Leader, looks like Negomin and them are on floor 11. Should we turn back?"

"No need to turn back... Negomin's been duped. No way this weak-looking guy is the one from yesterday. Can't you tell just by looking?"

"Is that right? You can tell that kind of thing, Leader?"

"Well, yeah."

I'm confident in my ability to read people. This kid following me was someone I scouted back when he was E-rank, and now he's grown to B-rank. Still nowhere near my level, though.

"Alright, let's keep moving forward."

"Ehh, we've already come pretty far~. Let's take a break~"

"Idiot, we need to keep moving."

I ignored my complaining junior and pressed onward. We're around the middle of floor 15 right now, but I can't let my guard down.

The reason I'm searching for that old man who went viral is to recruit him. I'm currently in a two-person party with this kid, but I can't climb the ranks through normal methods. But with that man's combat power, we'd stand out way more than any famous party or even the clans running around.

Naturally, there are plenty of people thinking the same thing I am. The Shinjuku Dungeon was overflowing with people early this morning, but I thought they were all being incredibly foolish.

Rushing in blindly is the height of stupidity—you won't find anyone by searching randomly like that, and you're basically announcing to the world that you're a weak-ass party.

My combat ability isn't great, but when it comes to negotiation and strategy, I don't think I can lose. I'm confident that if I can just meet that man and negotiate, I can definitely get him to join us. I'm just built different from those other guys.

"Senpa~i."

"Call me Leader."

"Leader, where were we heading again?"

"You've got to be kidding me... I've told you plenty of times, we're going to floor 20."

"Ehh, still 5 more floors to go? I wanna rest~ We've been walking nonstop~"

"Shut up and walk."

There's a reason I'm in such a hurry. Dungeon exploration always requires rest breaks—that's common sense for explorers. Just look at how my junior is whining right now.

And to catch a moving target, you need to aim for their moment of stillness. In other words, we just need to get ahead of where that old man will rest.

Between floor 20 and 21, where the middle layer upper section meets the middle layer lower section, there's a resting spot. Whether that old man is going up or down, he'll have to pass through there. If we're there at that moment, victory is ours.

"Hah, let that fake bastard and Negomin dawdle around on floor 11 for all I care."

"Hey, Leader."

"What?"

"Those two aren't on floor 11 anymore."

"Hahaha! You still watching that? I told you, that's a fake."

Seriously, how long is this kid gonna keep watching? There's no point in watching that garbage.

For one thing, I hate dungeon streamers. What the hell is streaming anyway? Dungeons are places where you risk your life.

And those two aren't on floor 11 anymore? That's impossible.

The stream just showed them near the entrance to floor 11. No matter how strong you are, exploring takes time—this is common sense for dungeons. Even if they were making good progress, at best they'd be somewhere around the central part of floor 11.

But ignoring my logic, my junior kept happily watching the stream.

"Whoa, amazing. They're climbing floors like crazy right now."

"Hah? What are you talking ab—shit, a monster!"

Just then, a monster burst from the ground with a rumbling sound. It had a rhino-like face poking out from its shell—unmistakably, a Shell Rhino.

Damn, running into one here... Shell Rhinos specialize in shell hardness, and on hardness alone, they rival monsters that appear in the middle layer lower section.

Neither of us is really the type to deal heavy single blows. Can we even land an effective hit...?

If we struggle with this fight, we'll be delayed reaching floor 20... but we have no choice.

I drew my sword from my waist and slashed at the Shell Rhino. My junior just stood there watching.

"Oi, what are you standing around for! Get in here and help!"

"I'm tired so I'll pass~. That thing's hard anyway. Plus, I think it'll be fine in a sec."

"Fine? What are you talking ab—"

Before I could finish, something came rushing from behind the Shell Rhino at tremendous speed.

What the—reinforcements?!

"Senpai, over here."

"Whoa!"

My junior pulled me backward. And in that instant...

P-SHAAAAAAAATTER!

"...huh?"

Someone holding something long flashed past, and the Shell Rhino in front of me just exploded and vanished. Moments later, a pink-haired girl sprinted past me at the same speed.

"That was close, Senpai~. If you were a little further forward, you would've gotten caught up in that."

"...what was that just now?"

"Amazi~ng. That old man was actually holding a deck brush. So touching. I think the one following behind was Negomin."

"Eh, that was the old man from the stream and Negomin?"

"Yep yep."

"Then... the person I said was a fake..."

"Like I said~. Man, the real deal really is something else~"

But when I saw them earlier, they were definitely on floor 11...!

I tried to deny it, but I couldn't look away from the reality before me. The fact that they shattered a Shell Rhino in one hit while running at incredible speed.

"Want to chase them? Though I don't think we can catch them."

My junior's words didn't even register anymore. I clutched my head and collapsed right there.

"...No... no way... my calculations... NOOOOOOOO! MY CALCULATIONSSSSSS!"

"Senpai's tragic face is great as always~. So glad I followed him."

While my screams echoed around us, I didn't notice my junior standing nearby, muttering quietly to himself with a wicked grin.

――――――――――――――

Thank you for reading this far. By the way, these characters have no plans to appear in the future.

If you enjoyed this work and want to see what happens next, I'd appreciate it if you could rate it with a ★ or follow! It encourages me to keep writing!