Chapter 74.1

74 Part 1

Let’s be an Adventurer! ~Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board~ 74

Let’s Handle The Nakasatsunai Dungeon Request! – 3

Haruki headed for the 9th floor’s boss with his bag packed full of the local chicken meat.

The boss of the 9th floor was a hugeKokko.

“… Huh?”

Haruki blinked his eyes repeatedly.

There was no mistake. This floor’s boss was a Big Kokko.

And it was the 9th floor. There was no error there either.

Since he could see the stairs on the other side, there was no way this wasn’t the boss room.

Haruki didn’t understand. Why was the 9th floor’s boss, who was also the gatekeeper to the middle floors, a Big Kokko?

“Whaat?”

He was sure he was going to go up against a demihuman type of monster.

But all that was waiting for him was a Big Kokko.

It looked very much like the one he had faced back in the garage dungeon’s 7th floor.

“Don’t tell me it’s because this is the Nakasatsunai dungeon?”

Haruki remembered.

The Nakasatsunai dungeon was considered the easiest dungeon in all of Hokkaido.

But he didn’t expect the difference in difficulty to be this clear.

“Wait, maybe he’s super strong or something?”

He knew he shouldn’t probably underestimate it.

Even if it wasn’t a demihuman type, a boss is still a boss.

Though it couldn’t be seen by its appearance, it was possible that it was incredibly strong.

Focusing his mind, Haruki got ready to fight.

Rhea fixed her nozzle on Haruki’s shoulder.

Esta began building up his power while sitting on Haruki’s waist.

“…”

After taking a deep breath, Haruki advanced with all of his strength.

He followed Shigure’s movements.

To approach the enemy while minimizing his action’s build-up.

To not let his opponent realize he had moved in the first place.

So that by the time they do realize, it’s too late.

With such a clean movement, he reduced the distance between the boss and himself.

“–!?”

As Haruki held up his dagger, the boss finally realized.

It worked.

But it hadn’t been perfect.

The boss noticed him before Haruki had attacked.

Shigure wouldn’t have been noticed until her attack actually connected.

He grinded his teeth at his own half-heartedness.

Haruki’s attack easily slipped into the boss’ neck

The boss didn’t take any evasive actions.

With a slash, the boss’ neck was cut in half.

Blood gushed out as its artery was ruptured.

Rhea fires her bullets at that spot too.

After hitting it with quite a few bullets, the boss’ head was sent flying.

Then Esta tackled the boss.

The boss’ body was blown away by Esta’s attack, and crashed into a wall.

“… Huh?”

Haruki tilted his head while still keeping his fighting stance.

After all, it was pretty weak.

Was this the gatekeeper to the middle floors?

Unbelievable…

With bosses this weak, intermediate adventurers could be mass-produced here.

In fact, though they aren’t the majority, there were some adventurers who would aim towards easier dungeons in order to become intermediate adventurers more easily.

At least just for the title.

Becoming an intermediate adventurer allowed one to obtain a Divine Protection.

And having a Divine Protection increases one’s abilities.

So there should be a lot of strong adventurers around!

Just as Haruki was getting all excited about that, his head suddenly cooled down.

–So, are intermediate adventurers being mass-produced here?

–Nope, they are not.

The difference in difficulties among dungeons is a well-known fact.

Even then, the adventurers didn’t seem to be taking this opportunity to easily turn intermediate.

“Ah, but the monsters here are too weak, right?”

Even if someone were to become an intermediate adventurer in an easier dungeon, it didn’t mean that they would be able to tackle stronger dungeons.

And the fact that becoming an intermediate adventurer granted a Divine Protection was something only Karen and Haruki knew.

Others might be just wondering if they had even become stronger at all.

It was hard to notice the actual benefits of becoming an intermediate adventurer.

Simply becoming an intermediate adventurer doesn’t mean that companies will back you up, nor that you will be able to sell materials for more money than before.

Both armor store clerks and general store clerks checked their customers’ ability with great detail.

Even if you call yourself “intermediate”, that doesn’t necessarily mean that their treatment will immediately change.

There surely would be some fellow adventurers who would be eager to go to the middle floors of a dungeon even if their own levels are low.

However, even if they were to force their way into the middle floors, there would be little they would be able to gain from it.

The most they would be able to do would be to brag about having become intermediate adventurers.

Adventurers were putting their lives on the line.

Going outside of one’s league is a sure way to lose your life, so it might be hard for an adventurer to boast about becoming intermediate.

With that thought, Haruki proceeded to the 10th floor.

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At the usual time, Karen left the hotel and rushed over to see Akane, who was already waiting for her at the dungeon entrance.

“You’re late, Karen!”

“Sorry to make you wait.”

“Finally, Air’s not here anymore, so let’s go level up like crazy!”

Akane’s fighting spirit was burning brightly.

Apparently, she was thinking that she would be able to significantly raise Karen’s level while Haruki wasn’t there with her.

Though she was an armor & general store clerk for Ichibishi, Akane also trained novice adventurers as a side activity.

Whenever she found someone who could be a good candidate for an Ichibishi sponsorship, she would turn from a regular armor & general store clerk into an adventurer’s personal trainer.

She was in high spirits, eager to show her abilities as a support for adventurers to Haruki.

She was puffing up her nostrils as she fantasized about bragging to Haruki, thinking “How about that, Air? What do you think of my abilities? Are you amazed? This is the power of a goddess, I tell you, a goddess! Get down on your knees and revere me!”

Such desire coiled around Akane’s spine.

She was completely eager about it, and without a doubt had the ability to do it.

Karen had seen it when they went to the dungeon together the other day.

She was able to single-handedly defeat the 9th floor’s boss -the gatekeeper to the middle levels- without attracting the attention of any other monster.

She wasn’t “Ichibishi’s fighting clerk” only in name.

“Come on, let’s go! We can’t lose to Air!”

Akane vigorously pulled on Karen’s arm.

“Um… I know it’s just collecting hot stones, but will Karaboshi be okay?”

“Why?”

“I looked it up online last night. Seems like it’s quite difficult to do it alone.”

“He’ll be alright.”

Akane replied with an indifferent tone of voice, denying Karen’s concern.

“How are you so sure?”

“For starters, he’s got your magic bag. That alone will make it much easier for him to collect the stones. And he’s also got good eyes.”

“Good eyes?”

“Yeah.”

Akane nodded calmly.

Good eyes… Was she talking about his eyesight?

Karen tilted her head in confusion.

“You saw him too, right? That guy was actually matching Shigure’s movements!”

“That was certainly something very impressive–”

“Impressive? It’s absolutely impossible for an adventurer who has been qualified for only a couple of months to be able to see through Shigure’s shukuchi. Even worse, he actually was able to copy her movements for a moment. Shigure did  respond by changing her movements, but she must certainly have been thrown off by that.”