Chapter-06 · EP-087
Episode 87: Golden Week Goal
Before entering the dungeon, I decided to review my objectives for this trip. I'd made a promise to Hikaru about a Rank 4 potion. After some thought, I had an idea of how to get one.
The rule I'd discovered: if you cast Healing Magic on a potion immediately after it drops, the potion's rank increases by your Healing Magic level. In practice, when I used my Healing Magic (level 2) on a Rank 1 potion dropped by a slime, it turned into a Rank 3 potion.
That meant there were two ways to make a Rank 4 potion. One was to raise my Healing Magic to level 3. The other was to get a Rank 2 potion to drop and then cast Healing Magic on it.
I had no idea how much Healing Magic usage was needed to reach level 3. The level-up conditions were unclear. So the more reliable option was to start from a Rank 2 potion.
So I asked Meiris.
"Meiris, tell me about monsters that drop Rank 2 potions."
Meiris, installed on my smartwatch, answered.
'Searching for Rank 2 potion drop information. Poison Slimes, which appear on the 11th floor, drop Rank 2 potions with approximately a 1% probability. Also, the first-floor boss, the Huge Slime, sometimes drops Rank 2 potions.'
The 11th floor. I was only level 4; I didn't have the strength to go that deep. That left only one option.
I headed to the first-floor boss room.
I consulted the dungeon map I'd downloaded to my smartwatch as I went. The layout of the Okutama Dungeon was basically the same as other Tokyo dungeons, but the passages felt a bit narrower. That alone made the atmosphere quite different. Still, I reached the boss room without getting lost.
At the Shinjuku Dungeon, there was always a line for the boss room, but here, there was no one. Not only did I not have to wait, but I didn't have to worry about being seen. I'd definitely made the right choice coming here.
I opened the door and entered.
In the center of the room, a giant slime appeared. The Huge Slime. I'd fought it before at the academy, so I knew its characteristics well.
I raised my wooden sword and observed the core visible through the Huge Slime's body. I gauged its position and thrust in one go. Plunging my arm into its body, I accurately pierced the core.
The Huge Slime crumbled away, leaving a black stone—a Magic Gem—on the floor.
"It's not dropping that easily."
I muttered, picking it up, then left the room. I waited a few seconds with the door closed, then opened it again. When I entered, a new Huge Slime had appeared.
I'd just have to keep farming until a Rank 2 potion dropped.
I charged at the second Huge Slime.
After that, it was just repetition. Enter the room, defeat the Huge Slime in one hit, check the drop, leave the room, re-enter. I repeated this endlessly.
Ten times, twenty times, thirty times…
But after several dozen repetitions, I noticed something wrong. It was getting harder to defeat it in one hit.
I intended to aim for the core, but my aim was slightly off. That meant it was taking two or three hits instead.
The reason was obvious: I was tired, my concentration was flagging, and I couldn't accurately hit the core.
After the fiftieth attempt, I wiped my sweat and thought.
Fighting with focus used up far more stamina than I'd expected. Even though it was the same action repeated, each time required considerable concentration to reliably hit the core.
What could I do to be more efficient?
Change weapons? A spear would have longer reach, making it easier to defeat the Huge Slime. But in the end, the same thing would happen when I got tired. Without sustained concentration, no weapon would let me hit the core accurately.
That left only one answer: level up.
Without improving my basic stamina and concentration, I couldn't keep up this kind of work. First, I needed to change floors and focus on leveling up.
I decided to temporarily give up on fighting the Huge Slime. "Haste makes waste," as they say.
Thinking that, instead of going back through the entrance, I descended the stairs leading to the second floor.