Chapter 95

"Let's Become an Adventurer! ~Dungeon Conquest with the Skill Board~" is finally just 10 days away from release!!

Standing at the classroom door, Seiki took a deep breath and firmly held the letter containing the secret given to him by his mother.

Seiki was moved by the fishman who continuously parried his attacks.

The fishman was dodging Seiki's one-hit critical weakness-piercing attacks with nothing but his senses.

His physical abilities and intuition were far beyond those of a normal adventurer.

For a beginner adventurer, it was almost impossible to avoid.

Even for intermediate adventurers, how many could handle such a surprise attack...

That's why it was so valuable.

That's why it was so beneficial.

Each time various angles of attacks were blocked, Seiki felt the value of this battle.

He realized just how rare and precious this experience was.

Seiki's throat made a gulping sound.

He concentrated, focused, and converged his consciousness.

Hypothesis, execution, reattempt.

No matter how much he analyzed and tried to outdo his opponent, the fishman's god-like dodges blocked Seiki's path.

It was like acrobatics, tightrope walking.

Occasionally, a magical counterattack would fly towards Seiki.

Seiki dodged it at the last moment.

The wind pressure of the avoided magic swept past Seiki's entire body and disappeared.

Seiki's spine froze at the fishman's undiminished hostility.

The fishman's eyes had yet to lock onto Seiki.

Yet, every counterattack spell was launched from a sharp angle that required Seiki to dodge with all his might.

Gulp, gulp.

Seiki's throat made a gulping sound.

Seiki was so excited and happy, he couldn't stand it.

Because at this very moment—

This fishman had recognized Seiki's existence, now unmasked!!

What a wonderful thing!

Every time the fishman launched a counterattack, Seiki felt like praying to the gods.

To be able to encounter someone who could perceive his existence was a miracle!!

It was good to be alive.

It was good not to have given up!

Could they become friends?

Such a thought crossed his mind, but Seiki quickly dismissed it.

The hostility he felt from the fishman was not lukewarm enough to become friends.

Therefore, there was only one thing to do.

Show the fishman respect with his entire being.

Show respect and defeat him with all his might.

Another magical attack from the fishman.

Seiki dodged it and leaped into the air.

Seiki jumped and adjusted his posture in mid-air.

He rose about four meters and spun.

Below him were the fishman and the Kamui Rock.

Both of them shone brightly as if waiting for Seiki.

“GYAAA!!”

The fishman cast a spell directly above Seiki, blocking his path.

Understanding that this was the decisive moment, the spell was more powerful than ever before.

Seiki was currently in free fall.

Headfirst, it was impossible to dodge.

But Seiki didn't panic.

He closed his eyes for a fraction of a second and recalled the image of Tsubaki.

The overwhelming aura that filled the tip of the sword.

The blood cherry, so soft it didn't seem like a sword.

He imitated its movements.

Seiki thrust the werewolf's dagger forward.

The tip of the dagger touched the spell.

In an instant.

He slightly turned and twisted his wrist.

The compressed ball of magic slid over the dagger, maintaining its momentum.

The soft movement of the dagger changed its direction.

The spell passed by Seiki's side, barely missing him.

He did it!

Seiki's entire body was electrified by the successful recreation of Tsubaki's technique.

But there was no time to celebrate.

Seiki was already just two meters from the ground.

Without panicking, Seiki focused his mind on the magic sword.

A literal all-out strike with his entire being.

The opponent was still in the aftermath of the attack.

Stiff and unable to dodge.

The light of the weakness-piercing skill shone even brighter.

“――――!!”

Seiki released a silent shout of determination and slid the magic sword from the fishman's head towards the Kamui Rock.

The magic sword silently and smoothly reached the Kamui Rock.

There was no resistance at all.

Seiki released his stance and sheathed both daggers.

Click.

As he sheathed the daggers, a large crack ran from the fishman's head to his groin.

The black fishman collapsed onto the Kamui Rock.

Almost simultaneously with the fishman's death, Seiki's body became hot.

It was a fairly strong level-up dizziness.

But it wasn't enough to make him lose consciousness.

When he defeated a rare species of deer as strong as the fishman, he lost all consciousness. The fact that he didn't faint this time was probably because the rare deer's defeat significantly boosted Seiki's level.

“...That was a close battle.”

Seiki exhaled the heat and put his mask back on.

In reality, Seiki had given it his all.

He even used his last resort, removing his mask.

Even then, the opponent responded.

Neither Rare, Esta, nor Horen, who usually assisted Seiki, were there.

There was no one to cover for his mistakes.

One wrong step and he might have been the one to die.

The thought of what could have happened made Seiki's body shudder.

A coldness ran through his veins, following the shudder.

Suddenly, small white and black orbs spiraled up from the fishman's body.

When they reached Seiki's eye level, they stopped rising.

“What, what is this?”

The orbs flew towards the stunned Seiki.

Is it an attack spell!?

Seiki quickly crossed his arms to block.

The orbs avoided Seiki's crossed arms and touched his chest.

There was no impact.

The orbs burst upon touching his chest.

The small fragments of the burst orbs were sucked into Seiki's chest, like bubbles being sucked into a drain.

“What was that...”

Seiki stood there, stunned by the sudden phenomenon.

It was an event that shouldn't happen under normal circumstances.

It was like when he first obtained the Skill Board... Could it be!?

Seiki inhaled sharply and noticed his body trembling.

“...Huh?”

Seiki's entire body trembled.

But it wasn't just Seiki who was trembling.

“The Kamui Rock is shaking!!”

An earthquake?

A loud rumble reached Seiki's ears, which were already in a state of confusion.

Crack, crack, crack, crack!!

It was a rumble like thunder.

“――Whoa!!”

With a loud noise, the ground beneath Seiki's feet split open.

It was a crack like a crevasse in a snowfield.

Seiki quickly took a step back to distance himself from the crack.

The crack stopped at a maximum width of about three meters.

The rumble also ceased, and the surroundings returned to silence.

“Eh... What is this?”

Seiki cautiously peered into the crack.

The crack was filled with dust, making it impossible to see anything.

The crack ran in a straight line from one end of the Kamui Rock to the other.

It seemed that the rock, which was previously one, had split into two.

The cross-section was almost smooth.

It was more like it had been cut rather than split.

“Why did this happen... Ah!”

Seiki's words caught in his throat.

When Seiki jumped up and attacked the black fishman.

The light he saw with the weakness-piercing skill.

It wasn't just the fishman that was shining.

Recalling this, the blood drained from Seiki's face.

（No, no, it can't be...）

He denied it multiple times, but the vivid memory of the scene confronted him.

At that time, the Kamui Rock was also shining along with the black fishman.

Seiki was focused on the fishman and didn't expect the rock to be cut just because it was shining.

No, who could have predicted that a huge rock several dozen meters in size could be cut with a dagger?

“...Yeah. It's not normal. It's not me. This isn't my fault.”

Seiki muttered, denying the speculation in a low voice.

To cut the sacred site of the Ainu, even for the sake of monster hunting, was a grave offense.

What should he do?

Should he pretend he didn't see it?

Seiki's eyes darted around, panicking.

“――Puh!!”

Chep pulled his face out of the Kamui Rock with a *pop*.

“...You're alive?”

“Don't just kill me!!”

Chep glared with a *hmm*.

His agitated heart calmed down at the sight of Chep.

Thinking something was wrong, he rushed over, but there was no harvest related to the dungeon?

Seiki sighed and asked Chep.

“Why did you want to come here, Chep?”

“That's because I am the best salmon.”

“What happens when the best salmon comes here?”

“The best salmon is an offering to the gods. Can't you understand that?”

Seiki was slightly irritated by Chep's gaze, which seemed to be asking if he was stupid.

If he kicked Chep out of here, how far would he go?

“Huh!”

Seiki's murderous intent made Chep's body tremble.

So why did he have to calm him down every time?

“So, where did you come from?”

The dungeon 'Kamui Kotan' has 10 floors in total.

General monsters appear up to the 9th floor, but no humanoid monsters appear in between.

So Chep couldn't have escaped from 'Kamui Kotan' during the second stampede.

Then, where did this humanoid salmon appear?

“Where were you born?”

“I am a salmon, so I was born in a river and swam upstream like other salmon.”

“Are there salmon like you in the Ishikari River!”

Seiki's body trembled at the thought of humanoid salmon swimming upstream in the Ishikari River.

What an evil scene...

“Salmon in the Ishikari River don't have hands and feet, you know?”

“I am a spirit, so that's different.”

Chep puffed out his chest, saying, “I'm different from ordinary salmon!”

Seiki thought he was probably different from ordinary spirits too, but pressing the issue wouldn't get them anywhere.

Seiki swallowed his words and asked another question.

“Why are you still alive, even though you were supposed to be an offering?”

“It's because you defeated the messenger of the demon god.”

“...The messenger of the demon god?”

“Yes. It was a messenger of the demon god who was committing evil deeds in Kamui Kotan. They were planning to offer the best salmon and pray to the gods to bring them down. But you...”

You defeated the messenger of the demon god.

What a troublesome person, Chep said, placing her hand on her cheek and smiling.

It was a very nice smile, but it didn't resonate with Seiki's heart at all.

“...Eh, was that really the messenger of the demon god?”

“Yes.”

“Why did the messenger of the demon god appear instead of a god or an angel when the salmon was offered?”

“...Hmm?”

She didn't know why the messenger of the demon god appeared.

Chep tilted her head with a puzzled expression.

First, Seiki needed to organize the information. He placed his hand on his chin and thought.

Chep popped up in the river and aimed for the Kamui Rock.

When Chep prayed, the messenger of the demon god popped up from the sky.

If it followed the myth, the one who should have appeared from the sky was a god, not a messenger of the demon god.

Why did the messenger of the demon god appear...

（No, to begin with, can monsters pop up outside the dungeon?）

He thought, but Seiki couldn't come up with an answer.

Should he have Chep pray again?

As Seiki raised his head after pondering, he noticed the change in the color of the sun.

The sun, which was approaching the ground, was slowly turning crimson.

The forest and the river were also dyed crimson along with the sun.

The view from the Kamui Rock was a truly breathtaking sight.

Seiki was captivated by the scene for a moment and then suddenly realized something.

“...Hey, when does the hunt end?”

As soon as he realized, cold blood ran through his body.

“―Isn't it supposed to end at sunset!?”

It's bad!

Seiki immediately started handling the black fishman's corpse.

It was a bit heavy for him to carry alone, but there was no time to complain.

“With all my might... I have to get back to the starting point with all my might!”

If he was even a second late,

The points he had collected would be reset to zero,

And he would lose the chance to boost his presence!!

Seiki, in a panic, grabbed the fishman with both hands, stuffed Chep into his bag, and jumped off the Kamui Rock.

“Nooooo!!”

The salmon's scream echoed and faded into the sunset-dyed Kamui Kotan.

*

At that moment, a shock ran through the old Kamui Kotan station, which Aerial was using as a command center.

‘A strong monster has appeared at the Kamui Rock! It's at least a B rank!!’

Becky, who sensed the presence, was trembling slightly.

A B-rank or higher monster was as strong as the lizardman Seiki fought at the 'Chikaho' Monster Parade.

At that time, Becky couldn't even put up a fight against the lizardman. Therefore, she took the threat more seriously.

Of course, Kagemitsu was also shaken by the appearance of a B-rank or higher monster.

But he couldn't show his unease in front of his companions.

Kagemitsu was the leader of Aerial.

If the leader remained calm, the companions would feel reassured.

“Alright. I'll go first. Becky, use your千里眼 to oversee the whole situation. Yosh, Dora, and Van, head to the base of the Kamui Rock and meet up there.”

“Y-Yes!”

Becky pushed up her glasses, which were about to fall off, and picked up the satellite phone.

While she was contacting her companions, Kagemitsu quickly equipped his weapons.

Currently, Kagemitsu and his team had advanced to the 27th floor of 'Chikaho'.

A B-rank or higher monster was a tough opponent but not impossible to defeat.

If they handled it calmly, there should be no problem.

However,

（For a B-rank or higher monster to suddenly appear here. What happened...）

It was too unnatural.

Perhaps the appearance of the monster wasn't over yet.

The more he thought about it, the more Kagemitsu's unease grew.

Around them, adventurers who had defeated monsters were carefully stripping them of materials.

The employees of Ichimatsu's mobile appraisal shop were busily appraising and calculating the materials.

They couldn't let them notice the abnormality.

Kagemitsu tried to hide his unease and looked at the Kamui Rock.

From Kagemitsu's position, there was no significant change in the Kamui Rock.

There was no ominous atmosphere like during the stampede.

Kagemitsu suddenly thought of a familiar adventurer.

If he were here, he might be able to defeat the monster more safely... and so on.

But he was on a different team.

Even in an emergency, he couldn't summon him like a team member.

Besides, he was probably busy earning monster points.

He couldn't interfere.

Kagemitsu shook his head to dispel the image of the masked adventurer that had surfaced in his mind.

At that moment,

“K-Kagemitsu-san. About the monster from earlier—”

Becky, who had emerged from the station, approached him in a hurry to avoid being noticed.

Something bad must have happened.

Kagemitsu's vigilance increased as he saw her puzzled expression.

“The reaction was lost.”

“...What?”

“Probably, one of the adventurers defeated it.”

“...Really?”

“Yes, really.”

All the adventurers gathered for the 'Monster