“Here’s a Special Warp Stone. B71F, please!”
Off we go!
“’Kaaay! Come on in.”
The world warped and distorted before us as we teleported into the dungeon. By the time my vision returned to normal, we had arrived on B71F. The walls were made of dark-blue stones. Since we’d used a Special Warp Stone, our time limit was sixty minutes.
The Hadean Rose was on B80F, so we had to get there the normal way. That meant clearing each floor as we went, which could take a long time. Hopefully, we wouldn’t get any crazy clear conditions. Worst-case scenario, we’d stumble into a monster house, get overwhelmed by the mobs, and die. I figured it was unlikely, but it seriously hurt every single time. If I mentioned it, I’d probably jinx us, so I did my best to ignore it.
“So, what’s the goal?!”
Ping!
Gate Condition: Defeat all monsters!
Huh. Well, normal enough! We just have to do some killing.
“I’ll go grab those enemies!”
Yano activated Sprint and ran off. As it said on the tin, it was a skill that made the user run faster. With this, she could intentionally drag enemies around and back to us while evading their attacks. Ideally, she would be able to bring a train of every monster on the floor our way. Then, we would ambush them and kill ’em all at once!
I could also drag a train of monsters myself using Enervating Circle’s slowing effect, but my movement speed was normal. It was a lot faster for the agile Yano to draw them in instead. Since we were focused on efficiency, we had to rely on the optimal choice.
“I guess we should pick up some AP, huh?” Akira said.
“Agreed!” Akabane replied.
Akira and the others ran to the nearest enemy and started battering it. Yano was smart, leaving the closest enemy behind and grabbing all the others instead. Everyone was quick to act. It felt as though teamwork as a whole was improved. That must have been because of their previous trip.
I almost felt like I was reacting slower after all the shocks I’d encountered earlier, like seeing Kokoru’s house, Draco the Potty Mouth, and the insane strength of Master Mommaru. I had to get to work too! Not that there was much I could do yet.
Frankly, I still wasn’t very good at dealing with the smaller monsters along the way, so it wasn’t yet my time to shine. For now, I supported the girls with Elemental Circle while building up my own AP.
After a while, Yano brought back a ton of monsters for us to kill.
“You’re up, buds!”
“Thanks, Yuuna!”
“Let us fight!”
“Leave the punching to me!”
Akira, Akabane, and Shizuku started unleashing area-of-effect arts and ultimates, making short work of most of the enemies. Some slime monsters remained due to their resistance to physical attacks, but Maeda finished them off with some quick offensive magic.
Ping!
Gate Condition cleared! The gate has opened!
Uhh... No problem! My time will come on B80F! Until then, I’m pretty much just leeching off the team, but whatever! At least I can use Elemental Circle now. That’s an improvement, right? Shame it kinda sucks, though!
“Let’s go, Ren!” Akira called out to me.
Ah, how reliable! Carry me to B80F, girls!
With that, we progressed to B72F.
Ping!
Gate Condition: Defeat all monsters!
Hmm. Well, apart from my parasitism stinging me yet again, this should be easy.
As expected, we cleared it with no particular issues. Next up was B73F.
Ping!
Gate Condition: Defeat the giant monster!
“Whoa, it’s an Island Bunny! My boy came back to me bigger than ever!”
“Maybe he got bigger because he’s mad at you for randomly killing all his friends?”
“Pssh, what? As if. Anyway, we’ve gotta kill him!”
“Okay. Let’s see what he does!”
Akira unleashed a Skyfall shock wave.
“BWEEEEE!”
“Uh, wow, he died in one hit!” I remarked.
“Huh?!” Akira blurted. “But he was so big!”
“Oh, I think I get it. It just multiplies their base stats or level or something. Since he started off weak, multiplying that a few times didn’t do much.”
“Now I feel bad for hurting him...”
Ping!
Gate Condition cleared! The gate has opened!
Anyway, off to B74F!
Ping!
Gate Condition: Answer six questions correctly!
Wrong answers result in a penalty!
Whoa, a pop quiz?!
“Please save us!” Yano and I cried at the same time.
I didn’t feel too bad being a leech on this floor thanks to my comrade here! It was good to have friends.
“I’ve got this,” Maeda declared as she stepped forward.
“Let’s do our best, Kotomi!” Akira was right next to her.
With our current setup, we could let these two handle it. Both of us had started getting better grades since we came to this school, but Akira and Maeda were on another level. Truly, rich girls and professors’ daughters were made of stronger stuff. Their educations were thorough!
However, once you have answered correctly one time, you may no longer answer!
“Whaaat?!” blurted three of us at once.
Yo, what the heck?! Our desperate handoff didn’t work?! Under these rules, Yano and I are gonna have to give correct answers to proceed. Wait, who else was yelling?!
Akira and Maeda were more than ready, and Shizuku looked perfectly fine.
Akabane, then?
When I looked at her, she said, “Erm, what is the matter? Is there something on my face?”
“No, I was just wondering if you were okay.”
“N-No need to worry about me! Think about yourself first!”
“Okay, fine. But—”
Just then, Maeda interjected, “Yuuna, Takashiro! If a question comes up that you know, you should answer first! Any questions you don’t know, we will take care of for you.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Maeda and Akira were all-knowing, after all. We were best off leaving the hard questions to them.
Anyway, bring on the math! Math was my one and only specialty.
First question! The topic is... art! In digital painting and photo retouching software, what do you call the virtual sheets of paper that the images go on?
“Ooh, ooh! I know this one, guys! They’re called layers!”
Ping!
Correct!
“Woo! I did it! One question down!” Yano jumped for joy.
That was the perfect question for her. She loved art.
“Well done, Yuuna!” Maeda cheered.
Akira grinned. “Good job! Let’s keep it up, everyone!”
“Now we’ve really got the advantage, girls!” I said.
Our worst offender had gotten us through the first question!
“Oh, I know what you’re thinking. ‘Thank goodness our dumbest member got through this one,’ right?!”
“Huh? Erm...”
“Ahahaha...”
“Eheh...”
The three of us averted our eyes.
“Ahaha! I thought of it first! I win, I win! Phew, what a relief! I’ll kick back and watch now, so gooood luck! That goes double for you, Takashiro, since you haven’t helped at all!”
“Look at you, talking big now! You were crying out in despair with me just a few minutes ago!”
“Hmph! Only the successful, the chosen few, would understand my feelings!”
She was in a damn good mood now. I wanted to get one right and join the chosen few!
“Urk! I-I can help if it asks a math question! C’mon, math! Math, math, math!”
Second question! The topic is... math!
Finally! Leave the numbers to me, girls. My time has come!
Five people are playing hide-and-seek. Two have been found. How many more are hiding?
“Yes, I know this one!” Akabane shouted before I could answer. “It’s three! Three people!”
Bzzzt! Wrong!
“What?! B-But...!”
“Akabane, it’s two!” I told her. “One person’s seeking, so only four people are hiding to begin with.”
“Oh, of course. I can’t believe I did that!”
She’d let her nerves get the best of her. Was Akabane bad at pop quizzes too? Since she was just as rich as Akira, I’d just assumed they were at about the same level here.
“No prob! We’ll get the next one!”
It’s time for your punishment! Who’s gonna get it?
Banananananana...
Whoa, is it random?! And what’s with the weird sound effect?!
Ding! It’s you!
A spotlight shone down on Akira.
“Huh?! Me?!”
Wow! So instead of punishing the person who got it wrong, it hurts someone else?
Your punishment will be... a metal suit!
With a loud poof, Akira was enveloped in gray smoke.
“Eep?!”
After a few seconds, the smoke cleared. Akira appeared in the usual yukata gear.
“Hm? You don’t look any different.”
What was the deal with the “metal suit,” then?
“Y-Yeah. I don’t think...”
A system window popped up in front of Akira.
Your Silk Dress was turned into metal!
Shocked, I took a look at the description.
Lead Silk Dress
Type: Armor
Level: 65
DEF: 66 (x3)
Sword Dancer only
Effect: While this item is equipped, user is unable to move.
“Whoa! The icon’s metal now too!”
It was the usual sword dancer gear Akira wore. This was about the right equipment for our level. The design was as cute as ever, and it was plenty revealing. It didn’t have any special properties like Angelic Charm’s guard-nullification, but it was pretty much law that as you leveled up, you would trade for higher-defense equipment. Based on its icon displayed in the window, it was supposed to be metallic now.
I see! So it tripled her defense, but she wouldn’t be able to move. That was the punishment’s “metal suit,” then.
“Oho! Depending on how we use this...”
The effect itself had its upsides and downsides. As always, Akira had gotten lucky. Her luck stat was capped in both item drops and real life. Even when she got an unlucky punishment, it was hardly terrible.