CH 48

Chapter 48.

Fukuyama activated the skill 'Rashomon.'

A massive Rashomon force fell from the empty ceiling with a loud thud, creating some sort of wall between Fukuyama and Gufu. The raw sound of Gufu's body slamming into that wall echoed through the room, and Tenji and the others could do nothing but be stunned by the bizarre scene created suddenly in front of their eyes.

[This is the power of a second-grade explorers!!]

Fukuyama said he was a shield in his party, but the Rashomon was also seen as a very effective means of attack. They could think of several ways to attack the monster, including directly knocking it down, surrounding it, squeezing it, and thrusting it into the air.

However, Fukuyama's mouth immediately spins a denial.

"My attack doesn't really work against half first grade and above. I can build a wall like this but, it's not very useful if I just drop it. It's super difficult to manipulate it in the first place."

Fukuyama lectured as he thrust his right hand forward and lightly waved it to scratch away Rashomon.

Behind him was Gufu, who had turned over onto his back and was rolling his eyes.

"Ah, did your head sway? The head is weak for a rushing attack like this, right? If you give it a little shock, it will turn over like this, so all you have to do is smash it with everyone else."

Perhaps finished with his lecture, Fukuyama slowly walks back, his footsteps echoing through the boss area, with a still-breathing Gufu at his back.

His appearance was full of composure, and he seemed confident that there was no way he would struggle against a boss of this caliber.

Fukuyama reached up to the four of them and asked "How was it? Did you learn anything?" He asked them gently.

Of course, everyone politely nodded, and Fukuyama looked refreshed as if he had done it.

"Oh, and... Basically, this is the way to beat them but, that's only if there's no 3rd grade explorer or above. If there's even one explorer like me in the group. I can push through with brute force. So, people often judge an explorer's ability based on whether or not he or she can defeat Gufu."

Fukuyama said.

It was just at that moment when Fukuyama said this.

Behind him, Gufu quietly got up and regained his composure, shaking his head as if he had suffered a concussion. As soon as he saw Fukuyama, who had attacked him earlier, his green eyes flashed with blood.

"Gufuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!"

Gufu started running toward the group as if in a rage, shaking his vast five-meter body.

The four were startled, and Fukuyama smiled as they hurriedly readied their weapons.

"Now, this is the brute force of a second-grade explorer. 'Rashomon Crusher.'"

Fukuyama chanted the skill name and showed both palms towards Gufu.

At that moment, two massive walls like that of Rashomon appeared from both ends of Gufu. Then Fukuyama snapped (clapped) his hands together vigorously in front of his chest.

The figure was very similar to the shape of a monk's joined palms.

"Guffaw!... Guhhh..."

Rashomon, which appeared at both ends of the room, closed in on Gufu with great striking force crushing the boss's massive body as quickly as if Fukuyama was grinding sesame seeds.

It was a crushing blow, blood splattered, and pieces of flesh flew vigorously around the area.

"Well, it's just as you can see. My offensive ability crushes corpses with all my strength so, it's 0 yen... Do you understand? There's no magic ore, no corpses left behind. People have been angry with me many times because of this."

Fukuyama, perhaps remembering his angry past, clearly began to feel depressed and let out a big sigh.

But such a trivial matter had not reached the ears of the four of them.

The overwhelming display of strength deeply moved them. They were frozen to see the blood and flesh splattering across the room.

Nowadays, the opportunity to see a battle between a second-grade explorer or above up close and personal is almost gone. A decade ago, monsters were roaming the earth, and the news and video streaming sites used to cover them, but these days that has rarely been the case.

The fact that they could see with their own eyes a second-grade explorer who was active in one of the leading chariots in Japan, fighting, was burned into their eyes.

"Thaaa... Thaaa... That's..... That's great!" Rikka complimented Fukuyama after staggering a little bit.

"Oh, really?  Well, I haven't received many compliments lately, so I'm embarrassed."

Rikka's frank impression did not seem to satisfy Fukuyama.

"'Yes, so this is Fukuyama-san's skill! Thank you for showing us!"

"Great! The power of Chariot explorers is unmatchable."

"As expected... It's a different level of..."

The compliments kept coming, and Fukuyama's face started to make a sickening grin as he passed his handsome smile.

Explorers are often compared to monsters and outsiders, but if you trace back to their origins, they are all human beings.

They have eaten similar food, received similar education, and learned the same culture. They are no different from ordinary people. But events like these beg to differ.

"Now, on to the next. From here, you guys should show me your skills again."

After regaining his composure, Fukuyama said to the four participants.

Once again, the three of them were fired up; this 26th group pushed forward through the dungeon.

Their coordination became more sophisticated with each battle against monsters.

The only monsters that appeared along the way were the Diving Mice, but even so, the three of them could get around with up to five in one battle. Tenji was somewhat just a guard not taking action.

Beyond Gufu, they would appear in packs of at least four and at most seven or eight. As expected, if more than six of them arose, someone would be slightly injured, but even so, the injury rate gradually decreased as the rounds went by.

"Ha... Ha!... Quite long, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I think it's longer than the usual sub-dungeons. I'm new to this, though, so I'm just answering from knowledge." Mizue said.

The three who were mainly engaged in battle sat down on the craggy walls of the dungeon to rest and catch their breath.

Fukuyama approached them.

"As expected, four hours of battle must be tiring?"

"Yes... I didn't expect it to be this hard."

"Yes, it's more nerve-wracking than I imagined, and muscle fatigue is becoming harder to ignore."

"Yeah, I think so too."

Rikka, Mizue, and Kusatsu answer in that order.

Seeing this, Fukuyama smiled somewhat happily. He thrust his hand into his cloak and pulled three water bottles out of nowhere.

[Eh... Recently, I met people who bring out various things from the air. Huh, I wonder what it is. I don't hear much about such skills.]

Tenji, who has been meeting many great explorers lately, could not wrap his head around the situation that was causing strange phenomena. The phenomena of summoning things. First, Chigo and now Fukuyama.

[I hear that multidimensional storage items such as item boxes and interdimensional pouches have yet to be invented or discovered. Or are they being kept secret by some guild or individual? That's all I can think of.]

[Well, come to think of it, Mr. Kaido said there was a calling to take items in and out. I wonder if it has something to do with that thing?]

That being said.

Like Leon, Fukuyama, and Chigo, they would pull all sorts of things out of nowhere; Tenji felt as if he had caught a glimpse, if only for a short while, of those who are among the top 10% of explorers known as "high-ranking explorers."

Fukuyama hands the water bottle to Rikka, Mizue, and Kusatsu.

Mizue, while accepting it, looked up at Fukuyama with a puzzled look on his face as if he was worried that it might affect his success or failure in the test.

"What's this? Is it okay if I get it?..."

"What? We hydrate every hour or two, too, and I'm surprised you guys haven't asked us for water or something. Here, you can have it."

"Yes, that's okay."

After hearing Fukuyama's sound argument, Mizue immediately shut up and drank a little bit of water from the bottle...

The other two were drinking very fast and vigorously as if they had no concept of taking a little at a time.

Somehow, Tenji grasped the whole picture of this test. From what he said at the beginning, these five are considered one whole group.

Tenji was finally beginning to understand the flow and purpose of the test through Fukuyama's words and actions.

It is usually recommended to form small raids of five to ten people in a sub-dungeon. Or also called a party.

The most balanced of them are the shield, attacker, attacker, support, and support roles.

The shield and attacker defeat the monster, and the two support players provide a thick layer of support for them. That support includes carrying luggage, commanding, and strengthening and healing abilities.

[Now that I think about it, the composition is such that Kusatsu plays the shielding role, Mizue plays the attacker, and Rikka also plays the attacker. And Mr. Fukuyama and I play the support role, or it's a good balance...]

Tenji was surprised at the party composition, which was calculated.

[Though I have too much faith in the support role of Fukuyama-san for that matter. And the unreliability of the supporting role of me is odd too.]

Tenji thought it was funny that the balance was good, but only the two support players were a little distorted.