Chapter 116.2

116 Part 2

“Then, please make it so the experience points are shared evenly between us.”

“Well then…”

Having said that, Chep touched the hands of Karen, Rhea, Esta, and Haruki, and finished by joining their hands together in front of her chest.

Then, tiny balls of energy rose from Chep and descended into each of their hands.

As the energy ball touched Haruki’s body, their light disappeared.

“This has secured a path for all of our experience points.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

This was the freeloader’s first job ever.

— I… Can’t say I’m impressed.

Haruki knew in his heart that she had to do better.

With this, he could fight monsters without worrying about the experience he would get.

Haruki’s motivation was redoubled as he searched for more Werewolves.

Haruki, Rhea, and Karen quickly defeated the Werewolves one after another as they appeared.

The benefits of leveling up and enhancing their trees after their fight against the lower god raised the ability of Haruki and the others more than expected.

Haruki had been enthusiastic about the strategy he would use for this battle, but it seemed that they could break through the 15th floor with about 60% of their full power.

Of course, that would be true only when dealing with normal Werewolves.

He still wasn’t completely sure about how strong the boss would be.

It would be an adventure all the way there and back again.

He couldn’t allow himself to be careless.

After randomly moving through the grasslands infested with Werewolves, Haruki suddenly felt a slight sense of discomfort with the dungeon wall in front of him.

Stopping there, deep wrinkles appeared between Haruki’s eyebrows.

He was completely focused on trying to catch a glimpse of whatever was the source of that discomfort.

“Say, Karen… Don’t you think something about this wall is a bit weird?”

“Where?”

“Look, over there.”

Haruki raised his arm and pointed at the wall 100 meters ahead.

That wall was slightly different in color from the rest.

The amount of magenta in that wall was a bit different than in the others.

Moreover, there was an even bigger difference in that wall than its color.

“Ah…!”

She seemed to have noticed that as well.

Karen’s voice raised to a staccato after she could see the energy.

The entire interior of the dungeon was covered with an energy aura about 3 to 5 centimeters thick.

This energy aura served to protect the dungeon from Karen’s magic, Haruki’s energy attack, and damage from bullets and other projectiles.

The energy that covered the dungeon’s walls acted as a defensive barrier.

There was a portion of the wall where the flow of energy seemed to have been interrupted.

That was the place where Haruki was pointing at.

Haruki was very good at distinguishing colors with great precision, but this power is only effective when looking at things on the assumption that “there’s something there”.

If you assume by default that “there’s nothing there” to begin with, then it would be very difficult to be aware of any differences.

For example, it’s the same as when you can’t find your house keys. Even if there is a key on the table in front of you, you will not notice the existence of the key until the very end unless you think that it could be there and go search for it there.

Haruki had noticed that change this time because he had enhanced his mask.

Since he had enhanced his mask, he became able to see energy, which is why he was able to notice the change in color.

“Maybe that’s where a hidden door would open, leading to some stairs? If so, maybe the boss is waiting there…?

Karen seemed tense after hearing Haruki’s murmuring.

They had defeated several Werewolves in one shot, but she still remained aware of her surroundings.

That was a great habit.

Haruki smiled and nodded slightly.

Haruki and the others slowly moved towards the wall, using their Detection to remain wary of their surroundings and avoid surprise attacks.

However…

“Huh…?”

There was no monster in front of the wall.

Haruki expanded his Detection range, but found no Werewolves.

“The boss isn’t here.”

Karen was looking around as well, but it seemed that they couldn’t find any sign of the boss.

That was unexpected.

He had expected to fight against a Werewolf boss.

Discouraged, Haruki dropped his shoulders.

“If there’s no boss, then what is this wall for?”

“Could it be that it leads to some kind of secret room?”

“Ah, that’s it!”

Haruki got all excited after hearing Karen’s theory.

He got goosebumps all over his body.

There were some rare posts about the existence of a “secret room”  in the Wiki and in the forums.

It seemed to be a floor that could only be explored once that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and disappeared as soon you left.

There were several types of “secret room”.

The regular ones had treasure in them. These were the good ones.

But others were simply filled with monsters. They were pretty much a trap.

In addition, there were other types of rooms such as empty rooms, special gate rooms, and rooms that were simply a different route further downstairs.

Haruki approached the area and touched the wall. The feel is the same as other walls.

When he  knocked on it, it sounded like it was empty on the other side.

Haruki was convinced.

“There’s no mistaking this…”

There was definitely another room behind that wall.

However…

“How are we going to get through here?”

There were no gaps in the wall, nor any switches to open any secret door.

If it was empty on the other side, could they break their way through? However, the dungeon could see that as an attack upon itself.

If something like that went wrong, it could lead to a Monster Parade.

— Perhaps there’s another entrance somewhere…?

That wall felt different from others.

However, Haruki wasn’t a wall craftsman, so he didn’t know what was different.

“What do you think, Karen?”

“It’s not a good idea to break our way through, is it?”

“If possible, I’d like to avoid going that route.”

She seemed to have wanted to destroy the wall.

Karen snorted and puffed her lips in dissatisfaction.

Haruki and the others continued their investigation in front of the wall.

That investigation was nothing more than knocking on the wall repeatedly.

Time was passing by and no new discoveries were happening.

“Oh dear! How long do you plan to keep dawdling about here?”

An impatient Chep jumped out of Karen’s pocket…

“Awawaaahh!!”

… Then she tripped and twisted her feet as she landed, flopping onto the ground in a spectacular manner.

“…”

“…”

Haruki and Karen looked down on Chep with warm eyes.

Without letting their gaze disturb her, Chep limped towards the wall and placed her hand on it.

“Uhuhu… If you keep playing with walls instead of hunting, my level will end up increasing far beyond yours…

As Chep leant against the wall, uttering her usual nonsense…

“Auh?”

“”Ah–!””

Suddenly, without any kind of prelude, Chep’s head was swallowed into the wall.

“NOOOooooooOOooo–”

Since she had been putting her weight against the wall, she couldn’t do anything as the wall ended up swallowing her whole.

Even her annoying screams had soon disappeared into the wall.