arc01 · 024-ep24

Episode 24: Cornered

Right now, I'm in the direst straits I've ever known.

"Hah… hah… hah………… Dammit… it hurts…"

The gash raked diagonally from my shoulder down across my side burns like it's on fire.

I managed to pour a low-grade potion on it and stop the bleeding, but the pain keeps on, and my remaining HP is in the danger zone.

But there are still people who haven't escaped yet, so I can't leave this spot.

I quickly down my other potion to recover HP.

【HP: 171 / 500】

The potion restored about 150, and my breathing finally evened out.

A gigantic-ass goblin fills my vision. I shout at the Goblin King and its sinister katana.

"Come get me, you numbskull! I'm still in tip-top shape!"

No clue if it understands words, but I taunt it anyway.

A little more. I just need a little more.

"GRAAAH!!!"

Facing the Goblin King as it comes barreling in with heavy, thudding footfalls, I lower my hips and quietly ready myself.

I'm absolutely making it out of this alive————

◇

After school, I'd come to the dungeon carrying the talismans and items I got from Aizawa.

Every talisman has my blood soaked in, so they're ready to fire anytime.

I wanted to test 【Movement Arts】, and the items too. So I decided to full-sprint it from Floor 1 all the way to Floor 9.

I entered the dungeon with the perception-interference and presence-concealment talismans active.

The instant I used them, a skill-like sensation raced through my whole body. I can't gauge the effect from the inside, but there's no doubt they activated.

Being a weekday, the crowded areas only run to about Floor 4. If I could run around there without anyone noticing me, that's plenty of effect, I'd say.

So I went flat out… and neither people nor monsters noticed a thing, all the way through to Floor 9. Incredible, this. I passed pretty close to people here and there, too. Zero reaction.

With this, springing ambushes on monsters should work great too.

And 【Movement Arts】 turned out to be absurd in its own right.

My AGI doubles while I'm moving. No, seriously—this is nuts. This is way too busted. Movement-only or not, an effect this big is enormous.

Also, the minimap at the edge of my vision only displays the places I've personally explored. Everything up through Floor 8 is nearly all mapped, but Floor 9 is under active exploration, so I can't see all of it yet. A dot marking me is always shown on the map, so even in tangled passages I shouldn't get lost.

Now then, Floor 9. There are actually a fair few people here—not Floor-4 levels, but dotted around.

Why? Because C-rank adventurers—the ones who can use the Floor 11 teleport circle—come down to Floors 9 and 10 to gather materials.

Fresh C-ranks and material-gathering-focused adventurers come here often, it seems. From the teleport circle at Floor 11's entrance, Floors 10 and 9 are right there. Floor 10 spawns every monster from Floors 1 through 9, and it looks to have a full spread of ores and materials too. That's why Floor 10 sometimes has more people than Floor 4. If you want slime materials, Floor 9's the place to come, maybe.

And even these C-rank senpais show zero sign of noticing I exist.

Stealth work that lands even though I'm not even hiding—kinda fun, honestly.

While quietly culling monsters like that, the fatigue across my whole body washed away all at once.

A level up.

　************************

【Name】 Kobayakawa Takeru

【Level】 21

【Status】

　・HP: 500 / 500

　・MP: 60 / 60

　・STR: 99

　・VIT: 96

　・AGI: 155

　・DEX: 97

　・INT: 91

　・LUK: 4

【Held Skills】

　・Plunder

　・Martial Arts (Lv. 3)

　・Movement Arts (Lv. 1)

【SP】 6

　************************

Most of my stats are about to break 100.

And right as I sat there grinning————

"This is bad, bad, bad!! Run, run, run, RUUUN—!!!"

"Kyaaaaah!"

Shouting voices, from somewhere far off.

"Wh-what? Did something happen?"

I mutter to myself, and naturally no reply comes, so with no better option I decide to go see for myself and get a read on the situation.

A few strained, panicked voices, and the battle roar of a monster I'd never heard before.

In the dim cavern, a massive silhouette—obvious even from far away—gave off an air of sheer wrongness.

What… in the world is that…?

Before I knew it my fists were clenched tight. Sweat breaking out. Pulse picking up.

Four people—men and women—fleeing for their lives. No visible coordination between the men and the women, so they might be from separate parties.

"Dammit dammit dammit dammit!! What rotten luck! Why an irregular, today of all days————"

"Shut up and run! You'll die!"

Maybe because they were shouting, the aggro seemed aimed at the two men.

"N-now's our chance…!"

"Y-yeah…"

The two women use that opening to flee in separate directions. But the Floor 9 goblins and slimes—as if they'd been waiting for just that moment—chase after them.

"GRAAAH!!!!"

The irregular looses a war cry and sweeps its sinister katana in one flash.

"Wha—!?"

SLICE!

The neck of one of the men—who should have still been some distance away—is severed clean through, and his head goes rolling.

One blow. I can't hide my shock that a single strike killed him outright.

My first time coming face to face with a human being's death.

A gruesome scene—but the dimness and the distance let me keep my sanity, barely.

"Kh————!"

The man who'd been with him freezes for a beat, but then—quick switch of gears, maybe—he starts running again.

Everyone here should be C-rank. Level 20-plus by one route or another—people who passed the test.

But they're slow.

Clearly slower than me.

And————

Dammit!

I scoop up a good-sized rock lying nearby and close in on the irregular.

Getting caught in that huge katana's reach is absolutely out of the question. But I have to hurry.

WHOOOSH!

I sling the rock at top speed, and it lands square on the thing's massive face.

The irregular stops in its tracks, sweeps its surroundings, and finds me.

"Hey, you! Team up with the woman over there and get out! I'll hold this thing here!"

"Wha—!? Are you sane!? That's a Goblin King!? C-rank is no match for that thing!"

"Shut up! Move, now!"

"————! Sorry! I owe you one!"

"Go!"

And while that exchange happens, the irregular—correction, the Goblin King—bears down on me.

Fast!

"Over here, you piece of garbage!"

A body that must stand a good 3 meters tall comes charging with heavy thuds, so I run and keep my distance.

Pull too far away and the aggro might swing back over there, so I have to judge exactly how much rope to give it.

"GRAAAAH!!!!"

The maddened Goblin King plants its feet and raises its fist.

"What!?"

WHUMP!

It drives its fist into the ground with everything it has—the floor gouges open, shards scattering every which way!

"————Dammit."

In that instant, as I leapt back hard, what met my eyes was the Goblin King taking a 『Slash』 stance.

No moving midair————!

"Cra————"

SLASH!

Even at this distance, the blade reaches me.

A line of blood is drawn across my body.

I'm blown backward, crimson spray whirling.

"————Ghah!"

My back slams into the rock wall and I drop to the ground.

【HP: 21/500】

It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts.

This is no joke. I'm dying here.

The barrier talisman in my pocket flares like fire and vanishes.

That's what "taking the damage in my place" gets me…………!

Bad, bad, this is so bad.

But those three are still locked in combat with the slimes, it seems. Hold on—just a little longer.

For now, I can't let it go yet.

Once they're clear, I can run too.

My wounds scream, but my head stays level.

I pour the potion Aizawa gave me over the wound and stop the bleeding.

This is where my guts get tested.