Ch.155Ghost Mansion (4)

We headed straight for the dungeon.

Since it was a dungeon we needed to clear within June anyway, we figured we might as well strike while the iron was hot. I planned to dedicate today and tomorrow to dungeon clearing.

“I’m so excited!!! When else would I get to fight monsters in my life?”

Tina said with her fist raised.

Unlike in the game’s original flow, Tina had joined as a new member. We couldn’t use Psychorobo, but her combat ability itself was exceptionally superior.

‘This might be a chance… to awaken my Psychorobo ability too.’

Honestly, I did have such expectations.

Ghost Mansion.

It was a dungeon with a haunted house concept. All the monsters that appeared had ghost-like themes. The concepts were diverse, from ghosts to jiangshi, zombies, Dracula, and more.

“…Shota. Do you know the internal structure?”

Sasith asked.

“Yeah. Trust me. It’s perfect.”

I said with a smile.

Honestly, my tension was through the roof. I was excited to see how sharp my Tomato would be after being enhanced to +7.

“Well. Then I’ll leave the directions to you.”

Sasith said.

“Ah!! I know what this is!! I studied Japanese hard! Figurehead!! Right?”

Tina said with a proud expression.

“Figurehead……”

Sasith immediately deflated.

“Hey!! Sasith is our true leader!! How dare you say such disrespectful things!! When it comes to faith…!!”

I immediately scolded Tina.

“Tina. Shota is extremely protective of Sasith. It’s better not to say such things.”

Umi immediately said to Tina.

“Oh… I see.”

Tina nodded as if she understood something.

“Good thing Sasith isn’t a woman.”

Tina made a cryptic remark.

“I’m telling you… they were definitely a married couple in their past life.”

Taiga said with a chuckle.

“What married couple from a past life!!!!! I really hate that!!”

Sasith vehemently denied it.

“Why so defensive, my lord?”

I immediately tried to cling to Sasith.

“Stop it!! I’m warning you!!!”

Sasith immediately distanced himself from me. He really hates this.

“Anyway, we have two days for dungeon clearing. Today’s goal is simple. Collect keys and unlock all doors.”

I said.

“Okay.”

As expected of Umi, she had no particular thoughts. Right. Just stay in the back, click away, and heal. That’s your contribution.

“Let’s return and rest once we complete our objective. No need to rush. We still have plenty of time left in June.”

I reassured everyone.

Right. This wasn’t a game. We couldn’t save and load if we died. Death would be the end. For everyone’s safety, we needed to be cautious.

“Oh! Then let’s get in quickly!”

Taiga was already enthusiastically holding his baseball bat.

“Let’s all go then!!”

I immediately kicked open the door.

“Is anybody there!!!”

I shouted loudly.

“Huuuurgh…..grrrr……!”

Soon, zombies in the center of the mansion noticed us. Keeping with the mansion concept, they were all wearing butler uniforms.

“Grrrraaargh!!”

The zombies immediately rushed toward us.

“Hey!! You should have opened it quietly!!”

Sasith immediately protested to me.

“Come on. It’s fine.”

I smiled and drew my sword.

Well… anyway, forced combat would trigger as soon as we opened the mansion door. There was no point in moving stealthily.

“Sasith!! Let’s go with the formation!!”

I immediately called out to Sasith.

“Got it!!!”

Sasith immediately ran to my flank. He had changed his concept from a ranged magic dealer to a physical magic swordsman.

Damn… wielding a sword while freely controlling Psychorobo… I’m jealous. I couldn’t help feeling envious.

“Master!!! Do your best today too!”

At that moment, Pinocchio appeared and shouted loudly.

“……….”

Right. The kid is nice.

I immediately put Pinocchio on my shoulder and closed the distance toward the zombies.

Perhaps due to Pinocchio’s overwhelming presence, all aggro focused on me.

“Hnnnngh….!”

I immediately charged up Issen.

A bright light indicating the weak point appeared.

“Here I go!!!”

I immediately swung my sword.

Swoosh-!

As soon as the sword hit the weak point, the zombie’s body was immediately cut in half and scattered.

‘It’s incredibly sharp…..’

Honestly, I was surprised by the unexpected handling. Just bringing the sword close was enough to cut them in half.

Moreover, the passive ability that deals additional damage against monsters activated immediately as the cooldown reset.

“This is great!!”

I immediately swung my sword and disrupted the front line.

Slash-!! Slash-!!! Slash-!!

Every time I swung my sword, zombie flesh debris scattered everywhere.

“Kieeeeek!!”

Sasith was also screaming while cutting down zombies. It was rapid progress. The training in dreams had paid off.

Clang-!!

However, Sasith met a formidable opponent by his standards. A zombie less decayed than the others blocked Sasith’s sword.

“Kekeke.”

The muscle zombie grinned at Sasith with a sinister smile.

But Sasith’s main field wasn’t swordsmanship.

Clang-!!

After deflecting the sword once, Sasith immediately summoned his Psychorobo with an incantation.

“Come forth!! Admiral Drake!! Rum Shot!!!!”

With Sasith’s shout, a lizard pirate appeared behind the muscle zombie.

Click-!!!

Admiral Drake aimed a musket pistol at the back of the muscle zombie’s head.

Bang-!!!!!

With that, the zombie’s head flew off.

That should have taken care of the zombies, but…

“Grrrraaargh!!!”

A wave of zombies came toward the mansion lobby.

“Leave it to me!! Fenrir!!”

Taiga shouted loudly, trying to summon his Psychorobo.

However, Tina blocked him.

“There’s an easier way!”

Tina immediately jumped high.

“Karate chop!!!”

Tina was aiming for the chandelier. More precisely, the chain connecting the chandelier to the ceiling.

Clang-!!

Tina cut the chain with the edge of her hand.

“……”

This is an otaku world setting. It would be troublesome to nitpick everything.

No. Even with super strength, breaking a chain is a bit… thinking that way was amateur. I needed to think with less brain.

Ah. Tina is strong. That’s the point to focus on.

Anyway, the chandelier collapsed.

Crash-!!!

The chandelier crushed the zombies below. A clean multi-kill.

“That worked, right?”

Tina smiled brightly.

“………I was about to bring out Fenrir.”

Taiga looked a bit dejected. I need to comfort him. Taiga has a surprisingly sensitive personality.

“There will be lots of fire-weak enemies coming up next. That’s your stage to shine, Taiga. Clear them all with your area attack, okay?”

I patted Taiga’s butt while speaking.

“Um…..romantic gestures during dungeon clearing are a bit…”

Sasith seemed to want to act as a leader when he saw the opportunity.

“I’m checking the condition of his butt. Is there a problem?”

I said to Sasith.

“Hey! When did my butt become yours…!”

Taiga said with a blushing face. He’s surprisingly weak to such direct affection.

“Isn’t it mine?”

I hugged Taiga.

“…..It is.”

Taiga finally admitted with a red face. Hehehe. It’s cute how he’s weak to being pushed a little.

Anyway, we headed inside.

The mansion interior boasted an extremely complex structure. It was almost like that mansion from BioX-zard. Not only was it complex, but there were puzzles everywhere. We had to solve puzzles one by one to open shortcuts.

But I roughly knew the structure. These kinds of puzzle games were my specialty. In BioX-zard, I was a hardcore gamer who enjoyed knife-only playthroughs, no-save playthroughs, and speed runs. With these kinds of puzzle games, I could see how to solve them at a glance.

Yes. It’s the influence of my childhood. The console game my father left behind due to work accidents was my childhood friend… I didn’t have many real friends.

Well, it had a big influence on me becoming a web novel writer, so I have no complaints.

“Let’s start with the left side.”

I immediately directed.

“Okay!!”

Umi said, stretching widely.

“Shota. When will my time to shine come?”

Taiga kept pestering me. He really wants to show off… so cute.

——–

Anyway, we explored the left side of the mansion.

We had to solve puzzles on each floor. While dealing with enemies along the way.

“Oh…..this is like an escape room cafe. Nice.”

Umi made a comparison fitting for a social butterfly. So people actually go to such places.

“Hmph. Then let’s solve the puzzle.”

Sasith spoke in what seemed like an excited tone.

But… sorry, Sasith. Solving each puzzle would take too much time.

Click-!

I immediately turned the dial on the lock.

When I entered the number 10, the safe opened. After securing the jewel inside the safe, I immediately headed to the next location.

“W-why 10!!!! At least explain the reason!!”

Sasith shouted loudly.

“Ah… that’s troublesome.”

Well, if I had to explain, you’d read about a punishment involving cutting off noses in a book in the corner of the reception room, then count the number of noses on the portraits in the reception room.

There’s a trick there too. You also had to count the noses on the skulls in the portraits. They did have noses at one point.

After explaining, Sasith understood.

“Sulking…..”

However, Sasith’s dejection didn’t disappear. So he likes these things. Well… let’s go to an escape room cafe sometime.

——-

Anyway, as we went to the next room, monsters appeared.

“Making such a mess in the mansion… what rude guests!!”

It was a mid-boss level Vampire Lord.

“Come!! My servants!!! Teach these rude ones a lesson!!”

The vampire immediately swung his cape.

Flap flap flap flap flap-!!

Then, bats flew out from behind the cape.

“Taiga!!! Their weakness is fire!! Sweep them all!!!”

I immediately shouted loudly.

“Finally!!! My chance to shine!!”

Taiga shouted loudly and summoned his Psychorobo.

“Fenrir!!!! Inferno!!!”

With Taiga’s shout, Fenrir breathed fire from its mouth.

Whoosh-!!!

The flames incinerated the approaching bats. The bats burned up almost like moths to a flame.

“Hahahahaha!! All trash must be incinerated!!”

Taiga laughed gleefully. I see some potential as a pyromaniac in this guy.

“Now’s the time!! Umi!!! Cast speed buff!!!”

I immediately shouted loudly.

“Okay!! Come forth!! Cupid!!”

Umi cast a spell called Speeder on all close-combat members. It was a spell that increased the speed of all party members. In the original game, it was an overpowered ability that made turns come faster and increased evasion rate. With this buff, Umi reached her first prime.

In this reality? We just became incredibly fast.

Whoosh-!!

Taking advantage of the speed, Sasith, Tina, and I immediately closed the distance toward the Vampire Lord.

“Everyone!! Formation Jet!!”

I shouted loudly.

“What’s Formation Jet?”

Tina asked.

“It’s just something he says without meaning. Don’t worry about it.”

Sasith said.

“Okay!! Formation Jet!!”

Tina, having guessed from that, immediately took a stance. She catches on to the mood well.