The Niijima brothers spent their compulsory education years in an orphanage.
They had no father, and their mother saw them as a hindrance for finding a man, so she left them there.
There were others with similar backgrounds in the orphanage, so when they were young, they thought this was normal.
Life there was not bad. It was funded by the Seeker Association, and the plentiful funds meant it was equipped with all sorts of things such as PCs and tablets.
In the orphanage, the older brother Tooru stepped forward and became something akin to a leader figure. However, the younger brother Akira was more withdrawn, always hiding behind his brother’s back.
This continued until Tooru graduated from middle school, and proclaimed he would become a seeker.
Tooru became a seeker rather than advancing to high school, and soon left the orphanage.
Two years later, Akira followed in his footsteps.
Akira joined Tooru’s party, but was made to do chores for the first year. It was not bullying, he simply needed to learn how to camp and prepare food if he was to be a seeker.
And in the meantime, he practiced using a spear.
The simple two year difference was big. Compared to his older brother who had passed the twentieth floor, he lagged behind a lot.
As a result of his efforts, he grew to fight alongside him three years later.
At this point, the party was aiming for the thirtieth floor.
It was here that they came across an irregular encounter.
There was a giant silent condor, a powerful monster which used wind magic and brought along with it silent condor underlings.
After a desperate struggle, they came out victorious. Everyone except the Niijima brothers died, but it was a victory.
Among the desperation, they earned new skills, but the feeling of loss almost made them quit being seekers.
But they never even went to high school, so all they could do was be seekers. Quitting was not an option.
Since they got through an irregular encounter, they attained some respect among seekers. Because of this, they were invited to a new party, and got through the thirtieth floor without further incident.
But again, and again, they lost the other members of their party.
They did not die by their hands. They were attacked by monsters, or carelessly triggered traps.
But even as their partners died, the Niijima brothers remained. A big part of it was the older brother’s precise directions, which were closely followed by the younger brother.
The first time they lost their party, Tooru threw himself into learning about the dungeon. What monsters appeared, their weaknesses, what traps there were, how to disarm them… He studied and studied in the Seeker Association’s reference room.
There were things that seemed like urban legends, but as long as they seemed possible, he studied them.
And so, he learned how to take care of traps and precisely snuff out monsters. That power and knowledge saved Akira.
And it was with their fourth party that they challenged the fortieth floor.
Since they were fighting as a party, they set aside a month for training, but they were surprised by the low levels of the other members.
Not the levels shown in their stats, but the crude way they fought and their lack of coordination with each other.
It was the worst bunch so far.
They wondered if they could get through the fortieth floor with them, and sure enough, they had trouble with the monsters on the way to the fortieth floor, let alone the boss.
It was like a hastily put together party.
They somehow scraped their way to the fortieth floor’s boss, but only because Tooru took command. When the leader was hurt and they were on the verge of being wiped out, he stepped forward and gave instructions.
This stabilized the party, leading to an easier time getting to the boss room, and despite a tough fight, they all got through it unharmed.
And then there was a fight in the party.
It started with Akira claiming a larger share of the reward.
The Niijima brothers were very clearly the most valuable players of the party, so he could not accept everyone getting an equal share.
Tooru did not stop him.
He felt it was a natural claim, and since it did cause them trouble, he agreed with Akira.
The leader of the party disagreed, and resisted.
Resisted, argued, and as tempers flared, was stabbed to death by Akira.
The party was thrown into panic, and Tooru saw no other option but to restrain the others.
He said he would release them if they kept quiet, and would kill anyone who spoke of this. But since the others were also seekers who got through the fortieth floor, they fiercely resisted.
In the end, the Niijima brothers killed them all.
Tooru paid the price of losing an arm, and Akira suffered wounds that left him on the verge of death, but his Self-Repair skill saved his life.
And they were drunk on the power they felt when they killed their partners.
It was something not attainable by killing monsters. The growth of their power numbed their senses.
Would they gain more by killing more? Their thoughts shifted to killing more seekers, in search of more.
It was like a drug, as the power that rushed into them numbed their thoughts.
The two people who once thought about their partners were no more.
◇ ◇ ◇
When they reported to the Seeker Association that they lost their partners but got through the fortieth floor, they were examined to see if they could join the Seeker Surveillance Agency.
This was a great honor for seekers, and came with a certain degree of influence.
Akira seemed to not understand this very well, but Tooru did, and immediately accepted.
They were overwhelmed. Everyone in this agency was above them, and they knew they would not beat them no matter how hard they struggled.
There was also one who caused even more fear, Kuroitsu. Just looking at him was enough to see he was not normal.
He always had a mild expression, but it was like standing before a god of death.
Perhaps influenced by this, the Niijima brothers began to hunt seekers to attain power.
They mostly hunted seekers who had just gotten through the thirtieth floor. Before that, they would be too weak, and after the fortieth floor, they could end up beating them.
Some were tough, but they gradually became stronger.
But then, someone from the Church of Minsule approached them.
“It seems your misdeeds have been discovered. We can shelter you if you give us information. What do you say?”
It was a suspicious woman, calling herself Maya Seiju. She was very beautiful, but strange in a different way from Kuroitsu.
The Niijima brothers accepted her proposal, and secured an escape path if they ever needed it in return for leaking information about the Seeker Surveillance Agency.
And sure enough, they were attacked by colleagues from the Seeker Surveillance Agency.
They escaped thanks to Tooru’s Darkness Magic, but from then on, they lived as though they were in house arrest.
They received their meals from the Church of Minsul, but stress grew. And because of this, an unrelated civilian woman became a victim.
A believer with parted hair and a small mustache demanded they let her go, and they released her life.
The believer seemed shocked, but the brothers thought nothing of it. All they felt was annoyance, and wanted him to leave.
Not long after, the Seeker Surveillance Agency found their hideout.
They ran. Ran and ran, and decided to hunt seekers in the dungeon.
If they attained enough power, they could drive back their pursuers.
Their thoughts were completely distorted at this point, and without anyone to point it out, their rampage went on.
They were going to kill more seekers even if it did not make them stronger, they thought as they tracked back to the thirtieth floor.
There they destroyed a party, but were sent rolling on the ground by a fat seeker.
This was the end of the brothers who sought power.
Tooru lost another arm, and was on the verge of death.
Akira was bisected, and repaired himself.
And then Kuroitsu appeared, and they were pressed down by his subordinates.
It was over, thought Tooru. No matter what he did, they would not survive this desperate predicament.
Tanaka and Kuroitsu fought, but that would change nothing. The gap in their power was too wide for them to take each other out, and even if Tanaka won, Kuroitsu’s subordinates awaited.
Nothing would change, so Tooru gave up..
But not Akira. He thought about how to survive, how to take them down.
He thought and thought, and looked at Tooru. Seeing him in a defeated daze infuriated him.
What was that look?
He thought of him as his reliable older brother, someone who would always save him.
So what was that?
He looked like a weakling.
Akira could not forgive that.
Seeing something other than his strong older brother he had in his mind made him angry.
Before he knew it, he freed himself and stabbed his older brother in the throat with a spear.
His vision was painted black.
And his body melted into black as well.
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