part1 · 064-ep64

Episode 64: Humanity's Change

Some time passed after the dungeons appeared around the world. The nations pressed on with their investigations of the dungeons.

Inside were unknown plants and minerals — and even creatures humanity had never once laid eyes on: monsters.

And as the investigations advanced, one thing became clear.

Monsters were nothing like ordinary animals. Their physical abilities were abnormally high. Some individuals shrugged off gunfire almost entirely.

On the other hand, bladed weapons were effective. The nations began searching for ways to fight inside the dungeons.

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One day, a member of a survey team was fighting a monster inside a dungeon.

"Here it comes!"

The black beast kicked off the ground. The man leapt sideways, dodging its claws.

He was up at once, sword readied in his hand.

"...This time for sure!"

The monster came leaping again. Timing it, the man swung his sword through.

—Slash.

The blade carved through the monster's body. The monster fell.

"...Got it."

Breathing hard, the man stared at the fallen monster.

That was the moment.

Heat suddenly spread from deep within his body.

"...What?"

Unfamiliar words floated up in his vision.

《Monster slaying confirmed.》

《Skill acquired.》

《《Body Strengthening》 acquired.》

"...A skill?"

The man was dumbfounded. It made no sense to him.

But—

something had clearly changed in his body.

The sword in his grip felt light. His body was different from moments before.

He tried putting strength into his arm.

"...You've got to be kidding."

A load he'd always needed both hands to move, he could now lift with one.

That report was sent up the chain at once.

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"A special ability manifested right after he killed a monster?"

"Yes. And it isn't only his testimony. His physical abilities have clearly changed as well."

"Could it not be coincidence?"

"We considered that possibility. However—"

Other survey teams confirmed the same phenomenon.

Of the people who killed monsters, some had developed abilities that never existed before: heightened physical abilities, unusual senses, and more.

The investigations continued.

Kill a monster, and an ability manifests. Kill another monster, and a new one manifests.

Little by little, a shared pattern came into view. And the researchers reached a single conclusion.

"...So killing monsters is the condition for abilities to manifest."

It wasn't certain yet. Even so, going by the records so far, the likelihood was extremely high.

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Before long, the information spread across the world.

'Special abilities manifest in some after slaying monsters'

'Killing monsters may grant abilities'

'Ability users confirmed around the world'

People's understanding of the dungeons began to change.

Dungeons were not merely places of terror. Within them existed power beyond human common sense.

And—

there was a way to obtain that power, too.

Killing monsters.

That was, for the time being, the only confirmed method.

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The nations set out to conquer the dungeons in earnest.

Soldiers. Police officers. Special forces. And from among ordinary people, too, volunteers to fight the monsters began to appear.

In time, they came to be called by a single name.

—Adventurers.

Little by little, humanity set foot into the unknown world called the dungeon.

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Around that time.

A place no one knew. A depth no one had ever reached.

The thirtieth floor.

Ren walked alone through the dungeon's depths.

"..."

A sword in his hand. Around him lay the forms of monsters already cut down.

To Ren, killing monsters was nothing special. It was the everyday routine he had repeated for three years.

The power that humanity, out in the outside world, was only now beginning to discover.

Ren had already—

been wielding it for three years.