Chapter 73.2

73 Part 2

Suddenly I saw a mask floating in mid-air while I was in the middle of a battle

Then something like flew out of him and knocked out the monster I was fighting!

154　Name: Anonymous who shoots edamame from their nostrils

Sounds like he was lending you a hand!

155　Name: Anonymous who shoots edamame from their nostrils

Oh

He certainly seemed quite frank despite his looks

But still he was very scary!

He was so hard to look at!

Ugh…

I won’t be able to go to the toilet in peace at this rate

156　Name: Anonymous who shoots edamame from their nostrils

A “frank” guy, huh?

Now you’ve got me intrigued

Oh well

I’ll take a look at other adventurer’s records

157　Name: Anonymous who shoots edamame from their nostrils

Please do!

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【The road to a noticeable presence】　By: Air

『Arriving at Nakasatsunai dungeon!』

Hey there, Air here (^o^)

This time around I’m tackling Nakasatsunai dungeon as part of a request!

The Nakasatsunai dungeon is one the leading food-based dungeons in all of Hokkaido!

However, there were very few adventurers actually in there for a food-based dungeon.

I had imagined a landscape where there were many adventurers working hard to collect food, but the interior of the dungeon was actually rather quiet.

I didn’t actually think that everyone would be going away in order to go to retake Shinjuku… (=_=)

Anyway, for the time being, I’ve reached the 5th floor.

Getting to the 5th floor in one day of exploration is a really quick pace! (>_<)

Tomorrow I’ll be stepping even further into the depths of this dungeon.

At this rate, I’ll be able to finish this request in no time!

I wonder if this will bring me closer to getting a more noticeable presence?

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Haruki had reached the 5th floor on his first day exploring the dungeon.

The first monsters he encountered were Big Rats and Black Raccoons.

As he went further down, he started to find slightly stronger monsters.

Unlike the garage dungeon, the floors’ difficulty was directly related to one’s level, so it was indeed a great dungeon for beginner adventurers.

On the next day, he started on the 5th floor and finished by activating the gate at the 9th floor.

Haruki was progressing at a rather quick pace.

And this wasn’t just because his level had drastically increased, but because Rhea and Esta were working hard together.

Ever since Esta’s position was settled, Haruki had rarely participated in any battles on the way there.

Rhea and Esta simply take care of the monsters before Haruki could even join them in the fight.

Haruki wanted to fight as well, but neither Rhea nor Esta wanted to share their targets with him because of their burning rivalry with each other.

–Aww, I want to fight too…!

However, they had fought against every single monster that had appeared on the way to the 9th floor.

Rather than persistently trying to get in their way, Haruki decided to stand back and watch over them.

If a strong monster were to appear, then he could fight it with all his might.

The next morning, armed with both Esta and Rhea, Haruki headed for the 9th floor.

A gatekeeper to the middle floors was set to appear at the end of the 9th floor.

Just to make sure, Haruki took out his Skill Board.

Esta (0)　Gender: Male

Skill Points: 3 → 11

Class: Carapace Bug

Esta had accumulated a significant amount of points on their way to the 9th floor.

It was said that the gatekeepers were as strong as the regular monsters found on the 14th and 15th floors of the dungeon.

Both Haruki and Rhea had already fought against a gatekeeper in the past, but that wasn’t the case for Esta.

Just in case, Haruki thought it would be a good idea to allocate some of Esta’s points,

“Is there any specific skill that you want, Esta?”

“*rustle rustle*”

Esta moved up to Haruki’s chest and looked into the Skill Board.

Then he touched several skills with his feelers.

“Okay, so you want to be even tougher.”

Esta nodded at Haruki’s words.

–Well, in that case, let’s grant your wishes.

Haruki taps into Esta’s chosen skills.

Esta (0)　Gender: Male

Skill Points: 11 → 2

Class: Carapace Bug → Hard Shell Bug

－Vitality

Stamina 0

Natural Recovery 0 → 1

－Strength

Strength 1 → 2

Damage Reduction 2 → 5

－Agility

Quickness 3 → 4

Dexterity 0 → 1

－Technology

Equipment Mastery

Carapace 4 → 5

－Intuition

Detection 0 → 1

－Special

Armor Break 3

After improving Esta’s skills, Haruki let him rest for a while so he could get used to his new abilities.

The monsters appearing on the 9th floor were Kicking Kokkos.

Haruki thought Esta should be fine fighting them, even if he was still a bit woozy after having his skills allocated.

Having a skill increased by even a single point can bring one’s body out of balance.

Esta seemed to be confused at first due to the sudden change.

Still, he was gradually able to regain control of his body.

Esta’s jumping started to echo in Haruki’s belly, perhaps due to his increased strength.

It was too bad that Esta wouldn’t have a proper foothold to rest on Haruki’s chest instead of his waist.

Haruki still had that Lizardman coat. But though it offered great protection against blades, it didn’t have any shock-retardant effect.

He wasn’t in pain.

But if Esta were to keep on jumping like that, he would surely begin to take damage.

In order to prevent that, he would need some iron plating around his waist, or maybe some chest armor.

But he couldn’t decide which one to go for.

He decided to work on his abs and see what he’d do from there.

“… Oh?”

Haruki’s eyes turned to something while Esta was still struggling with his body.

Instead of the usual white ones, a brown Kicking Kokko appeared.

“No way… Is this the local species from Nakasatsunai?”

The same type of monsters could appear in different dungeons, no matter how hard apart they were.

However, even though they were the same type of monster, each dungeon could have their own endemic species.

The same happens in the garage dungeon.

Some red variants can be found among the regular Onion monsters.

The white Onion monsters are the regular ones, while the red variants are the garage dungeon’s endemic species.

Their level and strength are about the same, but they do look a bit different.

In the case of food monsters, there was a difference in flavor as well.

For instance, white onions can’t be eaten without cooking it, but the red ones can actually be eaten raw.

The Nakasatsunai variant of Kicking Kokko was rather famous as an endemic species of Hokkaido.

It was well known for having a very rich flavor.

“… Yum!”

The Kicking Kokko turned around as soon as it saw Haruki slurping.

But of course, it was too late.

Haruki approached the Kokko by using Shigure’s technique.

In a split second, he had already snapped the monster’s neck.

He skillfully peeled off its skin and chopped it up.

It took him less than a minute.

If there had been a skill on the Board called “Dismantling”, Haruki would have already MAXed it out.

“Alright! Let’s get back to the hotel and have a taste of it!”

Haruki was about to turn back, but Rhea and Esta got on the way.

Rhea began tapping him on the head, while Esta coiled around his legs.

“… Agh!”

Sadly, it seemed that tasting the local chicken would have to wait until later.