Chapter 37

The next day, when Haruki woke up, he immediately turned on the laptop he had borrowed from the hotel.

"I wonder how many views it's getting... Oh!?"

To his surprise, the views had actually reached 12!

The number of viewers had increased by 3, bringing the total to 6!

Moreover, there were 10 comments!

"...Wait, could I be dying today?"

Is it really okay to be this happy?

The events were so overwhelming that he felt he might accidentally ascend to heaven.

Haruki, maintaining his consciousness, opened the comment section.

There, he saw:

'You're just a nobody taking on a search request lol'

'No one asked you to get cocky!'

'Your writing style is so cringy'

'How can you use emoticons when someone's life is on the line?'

'Are you making fun of the missing person?'

'This is too light-hearted considering people have died in the dungeon'

'Are you trolling the victims?'

'You should quit being an adventurer'

'Get out of Japan'

'Die, die, die, die, die, die'

Seeing the cruel comments from anonymous users, Haruki clenched his fists and trembled slightly.

"Damn..."

With his face flushed, Haruki stood up from his chair with a thud.

"What a wonderful start to the day!! Are these people gods?!"

Shaking with joy, Haruki let out a shout.

Of course, the comments were not praise but insults.

Haruki understood this.

Under normal circumstances, he would never be happy about such things.

But if he were just a nobody, he wouldn't even receive insults.

The comments were not passive but active.

They required reading the text, spending time writing a response, and sending it.

In other words, comments were something the other party had to pay for with their precious time.

And most importantly, you can't get comments if no one is watching!

That's why he was shaking with joy.

Even if they were insults, opinions were still opinions.

Ah, so I've finally become an adventurer who gets comments!

Haruki exhaled a warm breath, trembling.

"Damn!"

He couldn't just stand there.

He needed to reply to the comments immediately!

Haruki started typing furiously on the keyboard.

'Thank you!'

'I'm so happy to get your comments!'

'Thank you for your feedback!!'

'You're absolutely right!'

'I'll reconsider my writing!'

'Thank you so much!!'

After replying to all the comments, he exhaled another warm breath.

"Ah. It's so nice to get a response... Alright, let's do our best today!!"

Turning the insults into motivation, Haruki began his preparations with enthusiasm.

*

Haruki resumed his investigation on the 7th floor with a smile.

The centipede armor, being a mid-class model, was quite comfortable to wear.

Even when playing with the Silver Wolves, he felt no danger at all.

Furthermore, his magic sword had grown stronger from recent battles.

The blade, which was originally straight, now had a slight curve of about 1 cm from the hilt to the tip.

While it had become slightly harder to handle, the blade had definitely become sharper.

"Good. Very good!"

While looking for openings in the Silver Wolves, Haruki continued to dodge with a smile.

—Killer intent?

Haruki darted away immediately.

A white mass passed by Haruki's side.

In an instant,

The heads of the three Silver Wolves exploded almost simultaneously.

"..."

Faced with the gruesome reality, Haruki stood there in shock.

This is too much...

I wanted to play a bit more.

"Mr. Sora Hoshi, let's proceed with the search quickly!"

"Ah, yes."

Responding reflexively to the enthusiastic voice of Kuren, Haruki realized he had to say something.

"Hey, Kuren. That attack was a bit dangerous—"

"Mr. Sora Hoshi, please leave the attacks to me!"

"Um..."

"The Silver Wolves can be defeated in one hit by my attacks. We can proceed safely using long-range attacks!"

"Ah, yes."

Kuren's enthusiasm overwhelmed Haruki.

Indeed, she was right.

If she could defeat the monsters in one hit, the search could be conducted quickly and safely.

However, they were a team.

Leaving everything to her would be unfair.

But Haruki decided to let Kuren handle all the attacks and adjust to her movements.

Haruki had almost no experience of having others adjust to his movements.

He was so unnoticed that no one ever adjusted to him.

So, Haruki had always adjusted to others in most situations.

In physical education classes, at work, and even while driving, he had always adapted to the movements of others.

Thus, he was better at adjusting to others than having others adjust to him.

"Where did you come from!?" or "Huh? The work is done somehow..."

Even when he supported others at work, no one ever noticed Haruki—let's stop here.

Any more would break his heart...

"At least, try not to hit me with your magic, okay?"

"Yes! I'll be careful!"

No, you said you wouldn't hit me?

It's scary...

*

Kuren was more enthusiastic than ever.

Her enthusiasm was natural, partly due to her skill improvements.

But the main reason for her enthusiasm was not just that.

The primary reason was that they were on a mission to rescue a missing person.

At first, Haruki had tried to decline the mission.

But Kuren had been saved by Haruki at "Chikaho" before.

She wanted to help someone who might be in a similar situation as Daiko So.

She wanted to help someone in return for being saved.

So, she persuaded Haruki, and the request was accepted in a way that catered to her whims.

The decision was made by Haruki, but Kuren had guided him to make that decision.

If she slacked off here, it would just be a child's whim.

Moreover, she still hadn't repaid Haruki for saving her.

As long as they were a team, the more useful she was, the more beneficial it would be for Haruki.

By becoming stronger, she could repay him.

It was a simple thought, but Kuren believed in it.

Thus, Kuren gained strength through her skill board.

This was the perfect opportunity to repay the favor she had been seeking for so long.

She couldn't help but be enthusiastic.

She would work even harder to defeat the monsters and make Haruki's job easier.

And she would rescue Daiko So, just as she had been rescued!

Kuren, filled with enthusiasm, used her magic to shatter the Silver Wolves into pieces.

"..."

*

When they descended into the dungeon, Haruki adjusted his movements to Kuren, who could destroy Silver Wolves with a single spell.

He would attract the Silver Wolves until her spell was ready, then create an opening and dodge.

From his experience, it didn't take long for Haruki to adapt to Kuren's movements.

The synergy with her one-hit kills had visibly increased their efficiency compared to the previous day.

Thanks to this, they were able to search most of the 7th floor by mid-morning.

But they found no sign of Daiko So.

"Did he go to the 8th floor...?"

"It seems so."

The 8th floor had the same monsters as the 7th floor, but the ratio of Silver Wolves decreased, and the ratio of "Masters" increased.

It was a significantly more difficult floor.

"There's no choice. Let's defeat the boss and head to the 8th floor."

"Yes."

Ideally, he didn't want to go down to the 8th floor...

But if Daiko So had gone there, there was no other option.

If the purpose was to collect Silver Wolf materials, there was no need to go to the 8th floor where the number of Silver Wolves was fewer.

There might be some other goal, or an unexpected situation might have forced him to reach the 8th floor.

Or he might have been looking for a different material.

In any case, Daiko So was in danger and couldn't reach the gate.

The request was to search up to the 8th floor.

If they didn't find him there, they would search all the floors again from the 6th floor.

If that failed... they would have to report it.

He didn't want to give a bad report.

After defeating the boss and activating the gate, they moved forward and immediately encountered a Silver Wolf.

The Silver Wolf, named for its silver fur, was now almost black.

Its physical abilities were slightly better than those on the 7th floor.

Compared to the 6th floor, the difference was clear.

Haruki dodged attacks, defended, parried, and struck when he saw an opening, kicking the Silver Wolf away.

Just as Haruki kicked it, Kuren cast her spell, killing the Silver Wolf.

...Good.

Very good.

Their movements were in sync.

There was no longer any opening for such low-level monsters.

Just as he was gaining confidence, a new group of monsters appeared before Haruki.

They had abnormally long arms—ugly sub-humans that appeared in the shallowest floor in Japan.

The "Master" monster appeared with two Silver Wolves.

The reason they were called "Masters" was due to their behavior.

They always wandered with Silver Wolves, and their appearance resembled someone walking a dog.

"Kuren, keep your distance!"

"Yes!"

Haruki drew two daggers and stood ready.

"Grrrr"

"..."

Something was off.

While observing the group of monsters, Haruki tilted his head in confusion.

The Silver Wolves and the Master did not immediately attack.

The cause was likely the several wounds on their bodies.

The Silver Wolves had cuts all over their bodies.

The Master had some wounds, but not as many as the Silver Wolves.

—They were being hunted!

Haruki inwardly cursed.

Unlike the Garage Dungeon, "Chikaho" was visited by many adventurers.

Adventurers hunted monsters, but sometimes they left them behind.

They might have been severely injured, or their weapons might have broken.

There were various reasons for fleeing.

Thus, the wounded monsters left behind by adventurers continued to wander the dungeon, their hatred of humans amplified.

Haruki had never fought wounded monsters before, but they were rumored to be more troublesome than uninjured ones.

"Kuren"

"Yes!"

He would leave the attacks to her.

Kuren nodded firmly in response to Haruki's determined words.

For one second, they stared at the group of monsters.

A mass of malice passed by Haruki's side.

"Hyaaan!!"

"Kyaaan!!"

"Gyaa"

Thanks to the cautious approach of the monsters, Kuren had enough time to charge her spells.

Each of the three spells hit the targets after a one-second charge.

The spells hit the legs and torsos of the Silver Wolves, disintegrating the contact areas.

Both were still breathing but couldn't get up.

Clearly, they were fatally wounded.

However, even with such powerful spells, the Master was not significantly damaged.

The Master placed one hand on its face, which had been hit by the spell, and raised its long arm.

Its hatred was directed at Kuren.

"Not a chance!"

Haruki stepped between them.

He would draw the hatred away from Kuren!

Haruki forcefully entered the fray and swung his two daggers with all his might.

The attack, which was supposed to hit the side, was deflected by the Master's agile movements.

The attack struck the Master's arm twice.

The damage was minimal.

The magic sword managed to inflict a shallow cut about 1 cm long.

The short sword of the Silver Wolf... was useless.

Despite having killed many Silver Wolves, Haruki's attacks were almost ineffective against the Master.

That made sense.

The Master was a formidable opponent, even for a monster in the upper floors.

It was a sub-human monster that should appear in the middle floors.

As soon as Haruki's attack ended,

The Master's arm swung horizontally.

"Gyaaa!!"

"!"

Instinctively, Haruki readied his daggers and slightly kicked the ground.

Instantly,

—Heavy!

A violent impact.

His vision shook.

His daggers creaked.

His teeth ground together.

Even with the reduced momentum, it was still this bad...

His arm was slightly numb from the attack.

It might be better to avoid taking hits.

However, the Master had long arms.

The range was extremely wide, making it difficult to respond with daggers.

Moreover, the attacks were powerful.

One direct hit would likely knock him out.

Even if he carefully dodged and attacked, the Master's tough body wouldn't take much damage.

And the Master was a sub-human.

It was smarter than the other monsters.

It learned from combat.

The same tactics couldn't be used repeatedly.

It was a difficult battle.

But, difficult was interesting!

Haruki smiled.

Good.

Very good.

Smiling, he delved deeper into his concentration.

He focused, observed, imagined, and hypothesized.

He analyzed the Master's muscles and changes in its center of gravity.

He identified one, two, and more preparatory movements.

The difference in intelligence.

The patterns were more varied than with other monsters.

Still, Haruki carefully recorded each movement.

He recorded and memorized them.

"!"

An attack grazed his chest.

The impact threw him off balance.

His knees almost buckled.

But he wasn't injured.

The centipede chest plate did its job well.

Haruki energized his legs.

He delivered three slashes to the Master, who was still recovering from the attack.

"Not enough!"

The cuts were shallow.

The damage was low.

Was his attack method wrong?

While memorizing the Master's movement patterns,

He adjusted the angle of his blade.

Four times, five times.

He increased the number of strikes in a single attack.

The hair on Haruki's neck tingled as he approached the Master.

Trusting his instincts, Haruki kicked the ground.

Instantly,

A compressed ball of magic passed by Haruki's side.

It collided.

The aim was off, or it was dodged.

The magic grazed the Master's temple and disappeared behind it.

Indeed, with the points invested in the magic tree, Kuren's attacks were most effective if she could charge them.

But that also increased the hate she generated.

Blood dripped from the Master's temple as it glared at Kuren with its long, black eyes.

"Gyaaa!!"

"—Kuren!"

Thank you for reading.

I would be grateful if you could rate and bookmark this story.

Next time, look forward to a more powerful Haruki!

*Note: Updates will be on even-numbered days until the end of Chapter 2.