Chapter 36

After breaking through the 5th floor where the Steel Slimes were, we continued to advance without any trouble and are now on the 10th floor.

The 6th to 9th floors were still filled with Slimes, but none were as tough as the Steel Slimes.

The Bomber Slime on the 9th floor, which exploded when attacked, was pretty scary, though...

"What is this..."

"There are arrows written on it."

And so, we reached the 10th floor. We were waiting to see what would come next, but what appeared was a stone pedestal in the center of the room, with something resembling a roulette wheel on top.

There was a needle in the middle, and it seemed to be able to rotate. The needle was pointing in the directions of up, down, left, and right, which were marked with arrows.

"Are we supposed to press this?"

"It seems there's no other choice. There's nowhere else to go."

The pedestal had a red button that seemed to be shouting, "Press me!" There was no other way to go except the path we came from. Looking around, it seemed to be a dead end.

The room was square, and when we looked at the walls in the three directions other than the entrance, we could see faint lines in the middle.

So, this is a mechanism where the wall opens in the direction the arrow points when it stops? What a hassle.

"I'm going to press it. Be on guard in case something happens."

"Understood."

"Yeah, leave it to us."

Honestly, I didn't really want to press it, but there was no other way to proceed.

I had the girls on guard in case something happened, and then I pressed the button.

The roulette started spinning and then stopped at the right arrow.

The moment the arrow stopped, a rumbling sound came from the right wall, and the middle part of the wall moved down, revealing a path.

"Wow, that's some impressive technology..."

"Indeed, this is a dungeon."

Is this really just a dungeon? What's going on here?

Anyway, since we could now proceed, we decided to go down the newly opened path.

Of course, we were on high alert before entering the path, as unexpected things have been happening since we entered the dungeon.

Slimes falling from above, Slimes exploding and causing chain reactions, and so on. We've had a rough time.

"Is there more of this!?"

"Here, our luck is being tested. I wonder if you're up to it, big brother."

"Lord Ohtsuka... I hope you do your best."

I really didn't want to press it, but there was no other way to proceed.

I had the girls on guard in case something happened, and then I pressed the button.

The roulette started spinning and then stopped at the right arrow.

The moment the arrow stopped, a rumbling sound came from the right wall, and the middle part of the wall moved down, revealing a path.

"Wow, it's a treasure chest! ...Why is there a treasure chest here?"

"Hehe, I think you lose if you worry about it."

This time, there was a treasure chest, and inside was a necklace with a gem-like stone.

Oh, having treasure like this really gets the adventurer's spirit going. But why is there something like this here...?

I can't imagine anyone would go to the trouble of placing a treasure chest in such a place. What's going on here?

As Estelle said, I'm starting to think it's pointless to wonder about things in this dungeon.

"Hey, it's a dead end?"

"It seems so."

"There's something written here?"

After spinning the roulette and proceeding further, we arrived at a room without a roulette.

The walls had two swords, one shield, and two staffs drawn on them. What's this?

"Whoa!? What is this!?"

"Lord Ohtsuka, Estelle! Gather around!"

We were about to turn back when the entrance closed, trapping us inside.

The floor began to glow, and the atmosphere suggested something was about to happen.

Damn... was this a trap!?

To be ready for anything, we all formed a circle, weapons at the ready, and looked around.

The moment the glow reached its peak, the scenery in front of us changed.

"Huh... is this the entrance to this floor?"

"It seems we've been sent back."

"It seems that if you go to the wrong place, you're forced back."

We were on high alert, but being sent back to the entrance was a bit anticlimactic.

I thought there would be a lot of strong enemies on the 10th floor, but if this is all, it should be easy to break through.

Let's spin the roulette and head to the entrance of the next floor.

●

"I can't take it anymore... What is this dungeon!?"

"Ugh... how many times has this happened?"

"This is the 40th time."

After spinning the roulette 39 times, we were sent back to the entrance again.

There were no clear enemies, just the constant task of spinning the roulette. At first, I was optimistic, but as the number of spins increased, it became more and more frustrating.

Has anyone ever experienced such pain? Who thought this would be easy? What a joke!

I tried to spin the same one again, but it was stuck and couldn't be pressed.

"Estelle, can you break that wall?"

"Oh, what a violent idea, big brother. It's such a waste to destroy a maze."

I was tired of proceeding normally, so I suggested that Estelle break the wall.

As she said, destroying the maze might be a bit underhanded.

But it's the fault of whoever made this. I'm not to blame.

"Because if we keep doing this... please!"

"Fine, fine."

She put her hand to her cheek in a troubled expression but agreed.

She took out a grimoire from her bag, created a fireball, and shot it at the wall.

Noel and I prepared our shields in case of flying debris from the explosion.

When the fireball hit the wall, there was a tremendous explosion. With such a powerful explosion, the wall must have been destroyed.

But when the smoke cleared, the wall was still there, shining as before. It was completely undamaged.

"Not even a scratch... I feel so frustrated."

"That level of durability was expected, as they anticipated someone trying to break through."

So, they anticipated someone trying to break through...

"Ugh, we can only proceed the right way, huh?"

This is getting really tough.

It's one thing if I can choose my path, but if it's random...

"Alright, let's go back if we get sent back again."

"Are we going back?"

"Yeah, we've been here for quite a while."

"That's true."

We've been in the dungeon for a few hours. We prepared to stay for several days, but it's pointless to keep trying to advance on this floor.

We've already reached the 10th floor, so it's fine to end the dungeon exploration for now.

I started spinning the roulette on the 10th floor.

We went left, then right, and encountered some Slimes along the way.

I was proceeding with a sense of resignation, but the room we reached after a few spins was different.

"Hey, it looks like we made it to the end this time."

"That's a rather imposing door."

"Rooms like this usually have a boss."

The room we reached had a large iron door.

Just looking at it made me feel intimidated.

Indeed, such a door is often a prelude to a boss, and this is the 10th floor. It wouldn't be surprising if there was an intermediate boss here.

I hesitated about entering, but I decided to open the door slightly and peek inside.

In games, entering would immediately force you into a battle, but being able to do this is really helpful.

I opened the door and peeked through the gap. Inside was a golden Slime, about the size of a Cyclops.

It was more imposing due to its width. Let's check its stats.

――――――

● Aurum Slime Species: Slime

Level: 70

HP: 200,000

MP: 0

Attack: 4,500

Defense: 3,000

Agility: 20

Magic Resistance: 30

Special Ability: Golden Glow

Skill: Show Off

――――――

Oh... this is impossible.

"Noel, Estelle... let's go back."

"Is something wrong?"

"Coming this far and then going back, what's wrong with you, big brother?"

I closed the door and turned to the girls, suggesting we go back.

They looked at me in surprise.

"Look at this."

"Let's go back."

"It might be a bit too early for us."

I showed them the stats on my phone, and they reacted the same way I did.

The abilities and skills are unknown, and it's not worth fighting now.

We probably need to level up and improve our stats, and maybe get some better gear from the gacha.