Chapter 17

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017＿One Net to Catch Them All

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We dashed through the second floor and reached the boss room.

There were a few traps along the way, but Annelise used magic to disable all of them. I didn't expect her semi-transparent hands to stretch out and trigger the traps to disable them, but it was quite convenient.

After that, the level of the hero with the greatsword increased to 4. It's a good feeling to level up. I hope things continue to go smoothly.

The bosses on the second floor are a Greater Rat (Lv6) and a Wood Golem (Lv7).

The Wood Golem has a more humanoid shape compared to the Ash Golem. Of course, it's stronger than the Ash Golem.

"I'm going in."

"Okay, good luck."

This kind of exchange is nice, isn't it? It feels like we're newlyweds.

I held my mithril greatsword and charged at the Greater Rat.

The Greater Rat retreated to the back and hid behind the Wood Golem. I didn't expect the monsters to do something like that.

The Wood Golem lashed out with its thick branches, attacking me.

I blocked it with my mithril greatsword, but the branch bent and hit my back.

"Ugh, that's some move."

My HP dropped by 15. As expected of a boss. But with my current HP, I can withstand it 10 times!

The Greater Rat darted out from behind the Wood Golem.

"Don't underestimate me!"

I dodged to the right as the Greater Rat lunged at me, and the Wood Golem's branch stretched out.

They're pretty good at coordinating. When I dodged to the right, they attacked from the right.

I jumped back to avoid the branch, and the Greater Rat attacked again.

"You're annoying."

I swung my mithril greatsword with all my might. I don't need to hit; I just need to create an opening.

"Huff... "

Each one isn't that fast, but their coordination is troublesome.

"Master, please do your best."

"Sure, I'll finish this next time."

Annelise's encouragement gives me a strange boost. I feel like I could do even better if she wore a miniskirt.

Feeling the boost, I thought that if I could move faster than their coordination, I could overcome it. The hero with the greatsword should be able to do that. Come on, hero with the greatsword!

"Get ready, sewer rat and wooden dummy."

I kicked off the floor and ran, but the Greater Rat tried to hide behind the Wood Golem. I ran around to the other side.

The Greater Rat (I'm not sure if it was panicking) stopped moving. Now's my chance.

"Take this!"

I cut through the Greater Rat and didn't stop. I ran to the wall and, without stopping, pushed off with my feet and turned sharply. My dungeon leather boots squealed.

I ran along the wall and glanced at the monsters. The Greater Rat was gone. From the sensation, I felt I had killed it. I've fought dozens of monsters, so I know the feeling.

"You're the only one left."

Without stopping, I weaved left and right as I approached the Wood Golem.

"Ha!"

The branch came at me. It was a powerful strike aimed at my forehead. But I could dodge it if I watched carefully. I tilted my head and swayed to avoid the branch. My cheek stung a little.

"Take this!"

Ignoring the branch by my face, I swung my mithril greatsword.

The Wood Golem shattered with a *crack*.

"Kyaa, Master!"

Annelise's cheerful yell. It's a bit embarrassing.

Should I strike a pose and wave? No, I'll pass. It wouldn't suit me.

But if the bosses use such coordination, it would be pretty dangerous for ordinary explorers.

The hero with the greatsword is a very good job, but even I was surprised by that coordination. If I encountered it for the first time, it could cause a lot of damage.

Fortunately, there were no items left in the boss room. That's a good thing.

"The drop items are the Greater Rat's tail and a Heal Leaf. Both are normal drops."

"Of course, rare drops don't happen often."

"That's disappointing."

I don't think it's that bad. The Heal Leaf is a normal drop from the Wood Golem but a rare drop from the Ash Golem.

Since the Wood Golem, the boss, drops a relatively expensive Heal Leaf, it's not bad.

I want to earn money, but if I get too greedy, there's no end to it. It's enough if I get a rare drop occasionally.

"Should we challenge the boss again?"

Breaking their coordination isn't just about speed. That's what I think.

"Of course. Please defeat the boss as many times as you like, Master."

We moved to the third floor, changed to the Explorer job, and used Dungeon Move to return to the entrance of the second floor boss room.

Oh, there are explorers in front of the boss room. A five-person party of villagers, with three sword users and two spear users, was trying to enter the boss room as the door opened.

Annelise and I weren't seen when we emerged from the wall using Dungeon Move. It's fine if we were seen, but since the Explorer job's Dungeon Move isn't well-known, it could cause a commotion. I'm also glad we weren't mistaken for monsters.

"Want to eat some pond squid?"

"Sure."

I took out some pond squid from the item box and split one between us. I'm not being stingy; I'm just keeping it light because we have a boss battle coming up. Also, Annelise's appetite has returned to that of a normal girl. That's all.

We waited for about 30 minutes. I wanted to be affectionate while waiting, but I held back because we were in a dungeon.

Plus, a six-person all-male party was waiting behind us. It wouldn't be appropriate to be affectionate in front of them. If I were in their position, I'd be annoyed if I saw someone being affectionate with a cute girl like Annelise.

When we entered the boss room, a sword lay in one corner, an item left behind. The five-person party must have been defeated by the boss. It's a sad reality, but there's nothing I can do. This might be the norm for explorers. But I could feel my heart sinking.

No, no. I can't afford to be depressed in a place like this. It would make me an easy target for the bosses.

"Phew..."

Okay, I'm done sulking. I'll turn this helplessness into anger and use it as a source of strength.

"Master, the boss has appeared. It looks a bit gloomy, are you okay?"

I worried Annelise. I'm a poor master.

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

I held my mithril greatsword and slowly closed the distance with the Wood Golem.

The Greater Rat was still hiding behind the Wood Golem.

7 meters to the Wood Golem. 6 meters. 5 meters. They still didn't move.

I kept advancing. 4 meters. They still didn't move.

"Hmm, as expected, they don't move even at this distance."

Reflecting on the previous battle, the Wood Golem's attack range is 3 meters. At 4 meters, its branches can't reach me. The branch attack is quite fast, but the Wood Golem itself moves very slowly. It's more of a waiting game than moving 1 meter to attack.

My strategy seems to be correct.

"That's your downfall."

I held my mithril greatsword high and focused on activating my skill.

"Go, Buster Slash!"

I swung my mithril greatsword, sending a translucent blade flying.

───*Crack*.

The Buster Slash sliced through the Wood Golem and the Greater Rat hiding behind it.

The range of this Buster Slash is 5 meters from the tip of the sword, not from me. With the length of the sword and my arm, it's nearly 2 meters. Thanks to this, I was able to defeat both the Wood Golem and the Greater Rat in one strike.

"It wasn't that difficult once I figured out the trick, thanks to the hero with the greatsword."

"Kyaa, Master, that's amazing!"

Annelise, who had hugged me from behind, was very excited. I could feel her softness on my back and raised my right arm, holding the mithril greatsword.

"Annelise, I won."

"Yes, a decisive victory."

It was a victory of the hero with the greatsword and my observational skills. A decisive victory!

The day's harvest was as follows:

- Rat Meat: 24 × 50 gril = 1200 gril

- Sharp Incisors: 3 × 1000 gril = 3000 gril

- Ash Branches: 22 × 100 gril = 2200 gril

- Heal Leaves: 4 × 1200 gril = 4800 gril

- Greater Rat Tails: 2 × 1500 gril = 3000 gril

- *Total: 14,200 gril (approximately 142,000 yen)*

- *Heal Leaves are a rare drop from the Ash Golem and a normal drop from the Wood Golem (BOSS).*

We didn't take the items left in the boss room this time. The party waiting behind us will probably take them. Those six probably think we're dead.

Also, the value of the normal drop from the boss on the second floor, the Wood Golem, is higher than that of the normal drop from the boss on the first floor, the Greater Rat. This isn't a mistake.

The Greater Rat's tail is in higher demand. HP potions are often used by soldiers and explorers, but not so much by ordinary people. However, food poisoning remedies are used by everyone. I think there are no laws to prevent or regulate food poisoning.

With the highest profit ever, I couldn't help but smile.

"Annelise, let's have dinner at a fancy restaurant today."

"That's a very tempting offer, but we can't go to a fancy restaurant in this outfit."

Apparently, we can't enter fancy restaurants in our battle gear. We can only go to slightly better places.

"Then, let's take a day off tomorrow and go shopping."

"But we just reached level 5. Is that okay?"

"Sure. Taking a day off won't lower our level."

"Understood. Thank you for the day off."

It's not something to thank me for.

Plus, I think we deserve a break after consecutive dungeon runs.

From now on, we'll explore the dungeon on a 3-day work, 1-day rest schedule.

I won't create a black work environment. If even a 3-day work, 1-day rest schedule feels like overwork, we can switch to a 3-day work, 2-day rest schedule. I aim to be a white dungeon explorer.

Thank you for reading.

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