“I’m back.”
“““Welcome back!!”””
“Welcome back, master.”
‘Gogo.’
‘Popo.’
‘Pururu.’
‘~~.’
Ayane and Maki jump at me in turn, and then Aki.
Enki and the others also fuss around me, while Aira stands silently not too far away… She seems relieved. Did something happen?
“Did I worry you?”
“You did!”
“You weren’t comin’ back at all!”
“Even after an hour, like last time. It’s no wonder we get anxious, darling…”
“Eh? An hour!?”
“Yes master. An hour and forty-three minutes to be precise.”
“Seriously? It felt like thirty minutes to me…”
“Incidentally, Enki and the others were not worried at all. They were carefree.”
“Really?”
‘Gogo. Gogo.’
‘Popo~.’
“They say they knew I was okay because we were still connected.”
I get it.
“But it seems there was a big difference in how much time passed compared to how it felt to you, master. What happened to the watch I gave you?”
“It matches how it felt to me.”
I compare it to Aira’s watch, and there is over an hour of difference.
“I see. Now we have confirmation that time flows differently in administrator rooms.”
“I guess. But that’s trifle stuff. I learned something big this time.”
I tell everyone what I learned in there.
“Linchpin System? I see. This is the second bonus of being a core holder, correct?”
“So if you become a core holder in various places in Japan, there won’t be more dungeons here?”
“Hn, well, that goes for the space within those connected points. Doesn’t that mean they can appear if it’s even just a little outside of them? Although it changes if we can also prevent them from appearing in the sea like this time.”
“So we have to keep expanding our territory!”
Like that kids game?
We don’t have to fight anyone, but…
“If all goes well, the beginner dungeon is next, right? It’s too close to Unlucky Hall, so that’s going to make for a really pointy triangle…”
“But it won’t be for nothing. The more points we have, the wider the area will be.”
“I guess.”
“Master, do you have any other information about these border lines?”
“Yes, we’ll go over it later… But basically, I’m under leveled. I wanted to know if I could surround dungeons without administrators, if the border lines repel monsters, and other stuff…”
“Ah, I’m really curious! But you’re almost level three as an administrator, so there’s no point in rushing, Shouta.”
“Yes. It depends on the difficulty of the fifth floor, but I don’t think it will be as bad as the third. We’ll get through it.”
I say, and Aki and Maki smile as they look at each other.
They know all about the fifth floor, but I asked them not to tell me. Their reaction has me curious, but I don’t want to look too much into it and get spoiled. Let’s pretend I didn’t see it.
That said, they’ll only stay quiet if my life isn’t at risk.
“By the way, how was the fish hunt?”
“We were very bored, so Iris, Enril, and Seren began the roller strategy, and I followed them. As a result, we hunted four hundred eighty-six. Two Great Shark rare monsters spawned, as did two rare II Terror Sharks. Two powered up Great Sharks spawned. Here are the dropped skills.”
Swimming Lv2: 2
Swimming Lv4: 2
Swimming Lv5: 2
Freak Eater Lv2: 2
Freak Eater Lv4: 2
Freak Eater Lv5: 2
Assassination Lv3: 2
Assassination Lv5: 2
Fear Resistance Lv1: 2
Fear Resistance Lv2: 2
Two rare II and two powered up ones. Does that mean the entire first floor is a spawn point for rare monsters?
“Swimming again? But Assassination and Fear Resistance should come in handy.”
“Dungeons are appearing at the bottom of the sea, so despite it being ignored until now, Swimming should be more important.”
“I see. Then I’ll compress the spares so we can sell them at auction. Seren has Muddy Stream Control, so you don’t need Swimming, right?”
‘~~.’
“Apparently not.”
“Very well.”
“So Great Sharks can evolve to rare II, but they didn’t change during the stampede. I see, so are Krakens special monsters?”
“Maybe.”
Maybe only ones who evolve into dungeon bosses let out that smoke of evolution.
Let’s check them, starting with Freak Eater.
Name: Freak Eater
Grade: Rare
Classification: Special skill
Description: Things not normally digestible are broken down within the body, and absorbed as energy.
Furthermore, if the user preys on things made edible due to the skill, crunching power is reinforced. More targets are made available as the skill levels up.
“…This one’s crazy.”
“Does it work… on everything?”
“if we’re talking about positives, apparently it can turn stuff like poison into energy…”
“Judging by the description, if it’s maxed out, we might be able to eat things like trees and rocks.”
“Worst case scenario, we might be able to munch on man-made things like concrete.”
Or rubber.
‘Pururu?’
“I don’t know what you think Iris, but don’t start thinking about eating inorganic things…”
‘Pururu, pururu!’
“You don’t want to eat that, but monsters were tasty?”
‘Pururun.’
“I see.”
Yeah, I can’t learn this one. It’s staying sealed.
Or I guess we should have it investigated first.
“What about the auction, master?”
“It’s fine if it only lets people eat monsters, but it will be trouble if it includes people… I don’t want to inadvertently create cannibals, so let’s send it all to the lab.”
“Very well. This skill is already on the market in limited quantities, but I do not believe anyone has reached LvMAX. Therefore, I agree that the safest option would be to have it be studied.”
“Yeah.”
Next, Assassination.
“Aira, take one Assassination Lv3. That should max it out right?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll compress it into Assassin Heart. And take two Assassination Lv5, Iris.”
‘Puru.’
“That leaves a Lv3… Let’s save it.”
“Very well.”
Lastly…
“Fear Resistance. This helped against Panic Magic Eye. It wouldn’t hurt to have everyone learn it. Ayane and Maki, take Lv2, and Aira and Aki, take Lv1.”
The former tend to be scared more easily. That’s my logic, but both are hesitant to take them.
“What is it?”
“Not feeling human emotions is scary.”
“Ah.”
“If I take this, I feel like you won’t pamper me even if something scary happens, darling.”
“Hn?”
“Ah, I thought about that too Shouta.”
“Me too…”
“Hnn…”
I get it. Well, not being scared when you should is close to that Valor I heard about before. And Ayane is scared that having Fear Resistance will give her fewer reasons to be pampered.
“I think it will be fine. I have the feeling you can turn it off and on at will. Can’t you just turn it off outside of battle?”
“Really?”
“Then… Can I be pampered?”
“Yes. I’d feel lonely if you didn’t want it.”
“Hehehe, yes!”
After pampering each in turn, we head to the warp portal I learned about from the dungeon core.
Join my patreon to support me and read ahead.
