For several seconds, a weightless, floating sensation enveloped me—until it abruptly dissipated, leaving me hovering several feet above the hard, uneven ground characteristic of dungeons.
“Whoa,” I breathed as I landed, careful to stay upright.
The other adventurers around me also landed with their feet solidly on the ground, but the civilians without stats fell flat on their backs and faces. At least no one seemed seriously injured, so that was a small relief.
Rei approached my side. “Rin, is this what I think it is?”
“If you’re thinking dungeon outbreak, definitely—no doubt.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Dungeons rarely spawn from the ruins of another dungeon, and if they do, at least a year goes by before it happens.”
Rei was right, and that wasn’t the only strange thing. After years of dungeon research, researchers hadn’t found a way to stop dungeons from spawning, but they had found ways to manipulate where they spawned—in places with few people and buildings. Thanks to that, no incidents of people being lost to dungeon outbreaks occurred in the last few years.
Until us.
Ugh. My new life of irregular occurrences was giving me a headache…
“I don’t know why it grabbed us, but I bet a monster will pop out of this dungeon at any moment. We should gear up,” I said.
“Got it,” Rei said with a nod.
We were just hanging out, so were dressed casually. Rei and I used Item Box, which formed a glow around us. Once the light vanished, our gear was left in its place. I turned to Hana and Yui.
“Yui, do you have Item Box?” I asked.
“Yep! I got it recently.”
“Nice, that helps. Hana doesn’t have one yet.”
“I still have a simple coat I used to wear. Hana should be able to equip it,” Rei offered.
“Thank you, Rei-senpai!” Hana said.
Every other adventurer present had the same idea, as they’d also changed into their battle gear. We’d finished a necessary first step. As for the next step, I started toward Yagami-san. He would know best.
“Rin-senpai, watch out!” Yui screamed.
Before her voice finished echoing, a black mass leapt out from the shadow beneath my feet. It swung an umbral knife at my throat.
“Don’t waste my time,” I hissed.
I summoned Greed and swung, cutting the mystery monster in half. It crumbled away. From the way my blade hitched as it passed through it, I guessed it was around level 20,000. That meant this dungeon was at least A-rank.
“Huh?” Yui said. “What just…”
She blinked like someone was shining a light in her eyes and she couldn’t see clearly. Yui didn’t know the extent of my abilities, so yeah, she would be surprised.
“Hana, Rei, keep an eye on Yui.”
“Okay!”
“Got it.”
It reassured me to know they’d stop Yui from freaking out. I used Enemy Detection to confirm no other monsters were hiding inside the room, then made my way to Yagami-san and his party. They all wore hangdog expressions.
“Hey, Amane,” Yagami-san said. “This is nasty business. Any idea how strong that monster you attacked was?”
“I’d say around level 20,000.”
“This dungeon is at least A-rank, then… It isn’t realistic to fight our way to the surface with them.”
Yagami-san and I turned our eyes in the direction of the civilians who were visiting the park moments ago. There must’ve been sixty of them, and most were bunched together, chattering in chaos and confusion.
“What just happened to us?!”
“Can’t you tell? We got sucked into a dungeon!”
“Are monsters gonna attack us? Are we gonna die?!”
I didn’t blame them. Even for veterans like us, this situation was jarring.
“We should probably find a way to calm them down first,” Yagami-san said.
“I think you’re right.”
“It won’t be easy, but the saving grace is that we’re here to help. There’s a small chance we can get everyone out alive.”
“…Our presence is a saving grace?” I murmured to myself. Something felt strange.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.”
I said that, but I couldn’t help but tip my head and mull over the unnatural feeling in my gut. Two things had happened back on the surface: first, I felt that bloodlust; second, the dungeon outbreak swallowed us like prey. Was our presence here a “saving grace” or was it because of someone’s ill intent? I had my doubts, but no way to confirm them, so I kept quiet for now. The best move to calm these people down was to tell them that members of the famous Yoizuki Guild were here to help.
But before we could, a rumble echoed through the room. The civilians immediately panicked.
“What’s that?!”
“A horde of monsters?!”
The sound resembled the one that hounded us in Onizuka when the monster swarm occurred. In fact, the room we were in opened up into two tunnels, and as I focused, I sensed monsters marching through both of them.
“First, we need to figure out beating this horde,” Yagami-san said.
“Right. Your party should handle that tunnel. I’ve got this one.”
“You’re not trying to stop that side alone, are you?! There must be at least…two hundred, no, three hundred monsters!”
I nodded. What was the point in pretending? Given my level and experience, I didn’t think I could coordinate attacks with his party well. Easier for me to handle them on my own.
I summoned Speed Sword into my right hand to dual-wield it alongside Greed. These were easier to wield than against weaker opponents than Nameless. Yagami-san watched me for a moment, then relented.
“All right, you cover that side. Call for help the second you need it.”
“I will.”
We separated and took our positions chipping away at the monster stampede. Luckily, the narrow tunnels funneled the monsters into waves, so I only faced about ten at any given time, but there were hundreds. Worse, their levels ranged from 15,000 to 25,000. I fought defensively and didn’t hold back on a single attack.
At first, I held to my basic agile fighting style, but there were more monsters than I imagined. Once the tide started pushing me back, I had to rely on Time Zero.
My MP was around 85,000. Time Zero cost 100 MP a pop, which meant it would run out pretty quick. As overpowered as it was in a one-on-one battle, I realized in that fight how poorly suited it was for large-scale extermination. Even so, I couldn’t yield. I held steady against the battering tide for five tense minutes.
“You’re it!” I shouted.
I cut down the final monster, which cleared my tunnel. I turned to the opposite tunnel, where Yagami-san was prepping a spell.
“Prominence!” he yelled.
A stream of fire barreled into the tunnel and swallowed the horde, reducing their numbers to zero. That tunnel was narrow too, so they managed to beat them all without much struggle.
The civilians chattered nervously.
“I-it’s over…”
“I couldn’t see it all, but it’s safe to say they defeated the monsters for us, right?”
“Are we saved?”
They were unable to do anything but watch us fight, and they couldn’t comprehend the deadliness of the situation we were in. We’d held off this first wave, but that wasn’t the same as being saved. Without knowledge of dungeons, they didn’t know better.
They were trapped in a terrible, life-threatening situation.
Now that we’d defeated the monsters, we adventurers gathered at the center of the room.
“It’s great that we endured this attack and all, but answer me honestly,” Yagami-san said. “How many more times can you manage a fight of this caliber?”
Everyone stayed quiet, including me. Even with my attempts to keep MP waste to a minimum, I’d lost over 60,000 points. Everyone else probably felt the same strain.
Yagami-san grimaced at our reactions. “Should’ve known. Then, it’s impossible to escort them to the surface.”
“We won’t know unless we try!” one of the tanks said.
“We do know. I used Enemy Detection during the battle, and my guess is we’re on the final floor. If my hunch is right and this is an A-rank dungeon, we can assume there are sixty floors total. We’re not making it that far.”
“So what do we do? Twiddle our thumbs until another monster wave attacks?”
“Of course not. We have two options: hold off the monsters until help arrives or challenge the boss monster together and trigger the return spell.”
Everyone’s eyes shot open wide at his second suggestion.
“Are you nuts?!”
“I don’t love the second option, but if we’re gonna do it, we better do it soon. We need to go in with as much HP and MP as possible,” Yagami-san replied.
In my opinion, the second option was the only option. People without stats wouldn’t gain rewards from beating the dungeon, but the return spell would teleport them out. If we used that function to our advantage, we might get everyone out of here alive.
The plan came with risks. If the boss defeated us, everyone would be wiped out. The more cautious option was to endure the monsters and wait for help, but if we waited, who could possibly help us? Only an S-rank adventurer was powerful enough to challenge a brand-new, irregular dungeon on the fly.
“There is someone who could rescue us…” I murmured.
The radiant image of Claire came to mind, but I immediately brushed it away. After I defeated Onizuka with Yagami-san’s party, she explored it thoroughly and won the takedown rewards. She was subject to the Span. Unlike the guild party, which was swallowed directly by the outbreak, Claire couldn’t bypass the Span. We only really had the one out.
Rumbles began to echo through the tunnels again.
“It looks like there’s no more time to think,” I said.
Yagami-san clucked his tongue and set his expression. “If we had a few more minutes, we could’ve formed a plan, but all bets are off. We decide now.”
“Does that mean…?”
“Yes, I think we should go to the boss room. Except—”
He stopped speaking, so I met his eyes steadily.
“Amane, whichever choice we make, I’ll probably end up depending on you. Will you give me your opinion?”
My mind was made up. “Let’s face the boss.”
“Okay. We’ll get moving,” he said. “Everyone, escort the civilians. There’s no time to waste. Threaten them if you have to so long as they follow us. If there’s any heat afterward, the responsibility is on my shoulders!”
“Yes, sir!” we responded.
We explained the situation to the civilians while the sound of monsters thrummed in the distance. Together, we’d enter the boss room with the goal of reaching the Return Zone. Most of them opposed going toward danger, but once we informed them every adventurer was about to leave the area, they reluctantly followed.
Enemy Detection revealed to us that the boss room was close. We would reach it with a few minutes of walking.
“Yagami-san’s party, take the lead and break a path through the monsters! I’ll take the rear!” I called.
“I’m counting on you!” Yagami-san replied.
They marched ahead, the civilians close behind. Hana, Rei, and Yui were behind them, and I stood at the very back.
In a group of nearly eighty people, we carved a path to the dungeon boss.