Chapter 75

Seihiko has achieved a total evaluation of 50,000 points!

This is all thanks to the readers.

Thank you so much!

The 10th floor of the Nakasachinai Dungeon is a notorious floor known only to a few.

It is the place where the Natural Monster Parade Generator resides.

While its abilities are not particularly high, if you neglect preparations, you will be overwhelmed by the sheer number of monsters and forced to retreat.

The monsters captured here are sold as taxidermy in shops across the country.

One of them is called Piyoko.

It is the monster that Seihiko used in the "Chikaho" Monster Parade extermination operation to summon other monsters.

The 10th floor of Nakasachinai is teeming with Piyoko.

Ideally, one would want to avoid this floor, but the vein of Heat Stones is on the 11th floor.

There is no way to bypass this floor.

As Seihiko advanced, a small, yellow, fluffy monster appeared before him.

—It was a Piyoko.

Even as a taxidermy, Seihiko had experienced its abilities.

A single "Piyok" from the Piyoko can summon a large number of monsters.

Seihiko's body tensed slightly.

What should he do?

While Seihiko was tense, the Piyoko noticed his presence and,

"---Bie!?"

Its body stiffened in shock, and it flapped its flightless wings and fled in an instant.

"...Wow, even as a figurine, the effect of the Slimy Eel is amazing!"

Seeing the Piyoko flee, Seihiko was moved.

Just like during the exploration of "Chikaho," the effect of the Slimy Eel is tremendous.

It's so effective that a slogan like "Swing the eel in your hand to ward off monsters!" could be born.

The strategy for conquering the 10th floor of the Nakasachinai Dungeon is, of course, written in the WIKI.

1. Do not engage the Piyoko.

2. Use the Slimy Eel to pass through normally.

3. Be cautious when capturing.

It's a very straightforward and simple strategy.

But what actually happens if you follow the WIKI's strategy?

Can you really conquer it?

True understanding comes from experiencing it firsthand.

The emotions gained from seeing, touching, and experiencing are vivid and moving.

With this, Seihiko can advance through the 10th floor without any worries.

While watching the Piyoko flee in confusion, Seihiko steadily advanced through the 10th floor.

* * *

"Wait, wait, it's impossible, impossible...!"

"Ahh!"

Aizuki's head, streaming with tears, was suddenly swallowed by Lutz.

Her body went limp instantly.

"......"

"Aizuki-san?!"

Kurenai quickly unleashed a lightning strike to pry Lutz off Aizuki.

"Ugh... Ugh... Hwee, I'm going home..."

Aizuki, who had escaped Lutz's demonic hands, was still crying and squirming.

The incident was so overwhelming that her speech had regressed to a childlike state.

Aizuki is strong in close combat. She is more than capable of handling the monsters on the 10th floor.

The fact that she took no damage from Kurenai's lightning strike is proof of her resilience.

Her physical abilities are so high that even Kurenai can't hurt her.

Yet, she is in this state.

The cause is Aizuki's weapon.

It is far too incompatible with her.

Kurenai wanted to comfort the crying Aizuki, but she didn't want to get too close because of the squirming.

Kurenai, who mainly uses magic attacks, won't be swallowed by Lutz.

Fortunately, she can repel Lutz with lightning strikes before getting too close.

For Kurenai, Lutz is a perfectly compatible monster.

If Kurenai approached Aizuki carelessly,

she would probably say something like, "You're not very clean! I'll make you suffer the same fate as me!" and hug her at a terrifying speed.

In fact, the last time they visited the 10th floor, Kurenai was hugged.

It was a slimy, seaweed-smelling hug with no hint of romance.

To make matters worse, the elasticity of Aizuki's chest nearly drove Kurenai's pride to the brink of extinction.

Kurenai is still traumatized by that hug.

It was traumatic in many ways.

Kurenai can't get close to Aizuki.

"J-Just a little more to the 11th floor, let's keep going!"

"I don't want to see Lutz anymore!"

* * *

The mining of Heat Stones was simpler than Seihiko had imagined.

Along the corridors of the 11th floor, various sizes of brown pebbles were piled up. Among them, blackish pebbles about 2-3 centimeters in size were mixed in.

They blended in well with the similarly colored stones, but the color was about 5% darker.

With a 5% difference, Seihiko's trained eyes, honed from printing work, couldn't be fooled.

When he lightly tapped one, it emitted a warm, pocket heater-like warmth.

No doubt, it was a Heat Stone.

He couldn't believe that items called magic tools would be scattered so casually.

Until he saw it with his own eyes, he was half-skeptical.

He thought magic tools would be much rarer.

That illusion crumbled with a loud noise.

Seihiko discovered Heat Stones scattered along the corridor and tossed them into his Magic Bag one after another, like cheap supermarket deli items in a "Buy as much as you can for 398 yen" sale.

The floors of the dungeons Seihiko had visited before were made of soil, but here it was bedrock.

While the 10th floor and the garage dungeon were one floor, this place extended like a coal mine.

Unlike the other two floors with grass and trees, there was no grass here.

Instead, pebbles were scattered.

About 1% of the pebbles were magic tools.

These Heat Stones are the same as the grass and trees in other dungeons.

They are treated like basic field installations.

That's why they are replenished when humans collect them.

If the setting of other dungeons is a grassland, this one is a mine.

The ability to mine and collect might be part of the dungeon's strategy to lure humans in.

Seihiko used his Level 3 Detection and keen eyes to gather Heat Stones.

About 5 minutes after he started mining, Seihiko's Detection sensed the approach of a monster.

The monster on the 11th floor is...

While Seihiko was recalling, the monster appeared.

It moved skillfully using its roots, a plant-type monster like Rare.

It had a potato-like shape with round leaves.

It was shorter than a potato.

From the center, a stem branched out, carrying pods filled with numerous bullets.

"..."

Seeing its appearance, Seihiko swallowed hard.

It was a unique species of the Nakasachinai Dungeon.

A monster made of edamame.

The edamame stopped about 20 meters in front of Seihiko and began to embed its roots in the ground.

What is it doing?

While Seihiko was observing its movements, the edamame finished spreading its roots.

In the next instant,

"---?!"

Bullets were fired from the monster.

The distance between them was still about 20 meters.

It had a longer range than a potato.

Moreover, even after traveling 20 meters, the bullets maintained their threatening speed.

Truly, it was a monster of the middle layers.

"Ouch!"

Was he thinking about it too much? Rare hit the back of Seihiko's head with a leaf.

He didn't mean to belittle the potato species... Sorry.

While trying to improve Rare's mood, Seihiko faced the edamame.

The edamame had 20 pods, each containing 3 bullets, for a total of 60 shots.

The bullets were small, so their speed was faster than a potato.

Even now, Seihiko was slightly startled by the speed.

But it wasn't a speed he couldn't avoid.

Seihiko easily dodged the bullets.

However, the edamame continued to fire bullets, trying to corner Seihiko.

"..."

Every time a bullet passed by Seihiko, he let out a small groan.

Damn, what a waste!!

He could harvest it the same way as a potato, but then he wouldn't be able to enjoy the sensation of "biting into the pod to release the beans," which is the best part of edamame.

He had to find a way to harvest the pods with the beans still inside!

While Seihiko was anxious, Rare was looking at the edamame with a warm gaze (or so it seemed).

It seemed she felt a slight sense of camaraderie with the edamame.

The spiky leaves that were up when the monster appeared quickly rounded as she watched the edamame's attacks.

The fact that it would lose its means of attack once the contents were gone probably resonated with Rare.

Seihiko couldn't understand the feeling, so he decided to leave it alone.

Seihiko quickly cut the stem and roots of the edamame with his dagger, and the leaves of the edamame wilted.

He thought he had acted quickly, but the edamame had already lost more than half of its beans.

"..."

Next time, he had to destroy it as soon as he found it!

Seihiko vowed in his heart.

The beans would spoil quickly once removed from the stem.

So he left the beans in place and bundled the stems with vines.

"Hmm?"

Estar's tentacles, which had been resting on his waist, tapped Seihiko's stomach a few times.

"Beans? Do you want to eat them?"

It seemed he was interested in the beans that had fallen to the ground.

The beans could still be eaten if boiled, even if they were removed from the pods.

They could be mashed into a sweet bean paste or made into edamame miso with yeast.

But the best way was to eat them with the pods.

Still, it would be a waste to discard food.

He decided to leave the fallen beans to Estar.

"You can eat them."

"Yay!" Estar wagged his tail and started gnawing on the beans on the ground.

While mining Heat Stones, Seihiko quickly harvested edamame whenever he found one.

Like the Heat Stones, he wanted to put the edamame in his Magic Bag.

However, putting different types in would make it difficult to retrieve them.

The Magic Bag can hold a lot of items, but the downside is that you can't see inside.

When you want to retrieve something, you have to find it by touch.

It's a more difficult task than retrieving items from a regular bag.

So Seihiko decided to put only the Heat Stones in the Magic Bag and tie the edamame with their stems to his bag.

If he tied regular monsters to his bag, Rare would make a face (or so it seemed).

Even Estar would refuse to sit with him.

But the edamame had a similar attribute to Rare.

Rare accepted the arrangement with a slight expression of pity in her leaves.

Seihiko initially thought he could collect about 100 kilograms of pebbles in a short time.

Each Heat Stone weighed about 100 grams.

Even if it took a minute to collect one, it would take about 16 hours.

He thought he could meet the conditions in 1-2 days.

That was his prediction.

However, after a full day of mining, Seihiko managed to collect only about 25 kilograms.

The reason was simple.

The Heat Stones were much smaller and lighter than Seihiko had expected.

Each one weighed less than 50 grams.

Occasionally, he found ones that weighed about 200 grams, but they were rare.

No matter how hard Seihiko tried, it was understandable that he could only collect 25 kilograms in a day.

"Aizuki tricked me!"

Seihiko's misunderstanding was Aizuki's fault.

When she said they were "scattered," he imagined large chunks.

If this size was normal, "scattered" would be more like "rolling around."

When he got back, he would make her cry...

Seihiko sent his resentment to Aizuki, who was far away in K-town.

Before the buyback store closed, Seihiko returned to the surface and sold the Heat Stones he had collected.

He placed the Heat Stones he took out of his bag one by one on the counter.

For some reason, the clerk's expression quickly turned grim.

(She had a grim expression when he entered the store. Maybe it was a habit?)

"Um... Did you collect these today, Mr. Sora Hoshi?"

"Yes."

When he answered, the clerk's face turned pale.

Could this amount not be enough?

Seihiko felt uneasy.

Could the adventurers in Nakasachinai collect more in a day?

He hoped they weren't thinking, "This guy only collected 25 kilograms, he's useless."

Seihiko was inwardly trembling with fear at the change in the clerk's expression.

And then—

"Hmm hmm... Mmm!!"

Back at the cottage, Seihiko was busy digesting the large harvest of edamame and local chicken.

The edamame was firm and had a good texture.

But when you bit into it, the beans would burst in your mouth.

The moment they burst, you could taste a strong sweetness.

It was irresistible, he couldn't stop.

He made the chicken thighs into zangi.

The seasoning was only salt. He would have preferred to use soy sauce and ginger, but he had to make do without them.

But the salt-only seasoning turned out to be a great choice.

The local chicken from Nakasachinai had a strong meaty flavor.

A light seasoning that brought out the natural flavor of the meat was more suitable than a heavy one.

The meat juice overflowed with each bite.

The fat was light and not greasy at all.

It was rare to find fat that made you feel like you could "drink it!"

"Hmm hmm...!"

The earnings from the Heat Stones, the local chicken, and the edamame.

Despite the low level of the monsters, the potential of the dungeon was incredible.

"Nakasachinai Dungeon, it's formidable!"

He gave the boiled beans to Rare and the shelled beans and zangi to Estar, and Seihiko enjoyed the best dinner of the day.

(If there was one thing he wanted...)

Seihiko couldn't help but wish for a cold beer.

Zangi = Hokkaido version of "Karaage"

It seems to vary by household and region, and there is no definitive "this is zangi."

However, the theory that "chicken seasoned with a soy sauce marinade and deep-fried" is the most popular.

Next time, the chaos in Nakasachinai will reach its final stage...