I’d heard rumors that a secret route five existed out there, so I’d set out into the depths of the Gandakia Dungeon to find it. Of course, I hadn’t gotten sick or injured, nor had I encountered an undiscovered minority tribe, nor had a round boulder ever come rolling down toward me. It was said that you had to be accomplished to a certain degree to unlock this route, so beginners couldn’t just access it.
This route was somewhat of an open secret. I’d heard of its existence before, but I wouldn’t have known even the name of the floor if Ashley hadn’t handed me a booklet about it.
“There are actually even more routes,” she’d said.
“Really? I guess you’re gonna give me bits of info at a time,” I’d said.
“Yep. After this one is route eight. Good luck, and don’t forget to bring me something.”
“You just skipped a bunch of numbers. What happened to six and seven?”
My rank was low, but since I already had a track record with my past dives, Ashley had given me access anyway. I’d gone to the Paradise Hot Springs with Sensei a while back, and there were supposedly other floors like that throughout the Gandakia Dungeon that I didn’t know about. But unlike the hot springs, this place had other Divers walking by. Some of the people I’d seen at the hall but never encountered during my dives were probably in secret floors like this one, though those were only a select few who had some accomplishments under their belts.
Here, we had the Rainbow Coral Seashore at depth level 13, the Snowy Jungle at depth level 22, the Giant Mushroom Homeland at depth level 28, the Ever-Raining Wetlands at depth level 32, and the Enchanted Cragged Peaks at depth level 43. The difficulty levels on this route were high overall, but they didn’t seem any harder than those of route four. If I had to guess, access to this route was limited not because of difficulty; it was probably limited to protect the vegetation and wildlife from excessive harvesting and hunting.
When I’d headed toward one of the many safe points in the Great Forest Ruins, I’d been surprised to find the secret Misty Border with a security guard standing by. They were really serious about restricting access to this place. The security guard had even told me not to mention the route to Divers who didn’t already know about it. I’d wondered if they knew the rumors were already out there, but that wasn’t my problem, so whatever.
Anyway, I was now at a safe point in one of the floors on that secret route: the Giant Mushroom Homeland at depth level 28. The floor name sounded as if it was joining in on a certain war between mushrooms and bamboo shoots, but there was no way this world knew about that feud. That war wouldn’t happen here for at least another forty years unless I brought those certain snacks myself.
My companion today was Carbuncle, which was waiting for snack time patiently on a cushion I’d set down beside me.
“Let’s wipe your hands first,” I said.
“Mew,” said Carbuncle as it presented its front paws.
I wiped them with a damp cloth, then I took out the bananas I’d obtained on today’s adventure. These weren’t just ordinary bananas though. Their sizes and shapes were the same as the ordinary ones, but they had sky-blue skin as if they’d been frozen. These bananas with an unappetizing color were known as northern bananas, and I’d gotten them from the previous floor, the Snowy Jungle at depth level 22. I wouldn’t have even picked them up if the booklet I’d gotten at reception hadn’t indicated that they were edible. Once I peeled them, out came a piece of normal banana flesh that I was familiar with. The sky-blue exterior had nearly turned me off already; my appetite would’ve been completely ruined if something colorful had come out instead.
As an aside, bananas were considered vegetables, not fruits. They should’ve just classified them, along with melons, watermelons, and strawberries, as fruits because this was pretty confusing.
“Here you go,” I said as I handed Carbuncle a piece of banana flesh that I’d broken into thirds.
“Mew.” Carbuncle accepted it with its front paws, then began eating.
I took a bite too and said, “This is good. I never would’ve expected it to be this good judging by its color.”
“Mew!” said Carbuncle cheerfully.
This thing was sweet and delicious. I’d heard their sugar content increases in colder regions, which would explain its sweetness. It didn’t simply rival the selectively bred bananas from my world—it surpassed them. It was even seedless, just like our bananas. This world never ceased to amaze me.
“Bananas are delicious,” I said.
“Mew,” agreed Carbuncle as it munched away.
I’d heard cats didn’t have taste receptors for sweetness, so maybe Carbuncle was a rabbit or something instead.
We continued enjoying our northern bananas, then a shadow appeared at the safe point entrance. Chances were that it belonged to a Diver. I mean, what else would it belong to? What was that? You mean the City? I hate that place. The spooky monsters there got super close to the safe points and nearly gave me a heart attack all the time. I didn’t want to encounter ghosts in real life; seeing them on TV and YourTube was enough for me, thanks. Anyway, a Diver team entered the safe point. It was a team of six humans, a well-balanced group consisting of a swordsman, a mage, an archer, a martial artist, a warrior, and more. Not to mention, they were full of good-looking men and women, and they were too dazzling to look at for a normie like me. I thought I was gonna go blind.
“Excuse me, why are you covering your eyes? Are you hurt?” asked the young man who appeared to be their leader.
“No, this is more like a preventative thing, a temporary measure until my eyes get used to the brightness,” I said.