Ch.178July’s Dungeon, and Terror (1)

We headed straight for the entrance of July’s Dungeon.

“By the way, what kind of dungeon is July’s Dungeon?” Sasith asked.

“Why are you asking Pointy-head about that?” Frill objected.

“Believe it or not… Shota is our party’s strategist,” Sasith replied.

“We’re doomed,” Frill said.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

This bitch?

“Shota knows everything from dungeon structures to all the details. We’ve received tremendous help thanks to him,” Sasith explained.

“As expected of our leader… you understand my struggles…!”

I shed tears of gratitude toward my benevolent leader.

“Look at this guy sucking up again,” Taiga said with a laugh.

“Hmm… come to think of it, you knew about the soul stones too. What’s your deal?”

Frill stared at me intently.

“Well… it’s a psycho-robo ability.”

I casually made up an excuse while taking out Pinocchio.

“……..”

Frill stared fixedly at Pinocchio.

Whoosh-!

Perhaps because a beautiful woman was staring so intensely, Pinocchio’s face immediately turned red. Why don’t you be this obedient to Grandpa Geppetto, huh?

“You don’t seem to have any special abilities at all,” Frill said.

Well… Frill is from the Other Side. Psycho-robo technology originally came from the Other Side too. Because of that, when Frill joins as a companion, she becomes responsible for analysis. She performs the role of an operator who reveals monsters’ attributes and weaknesses. This analysis doesn’t consume a turn, which greatly reduces the game’s difficulty.

With such abilities, Frill probably genuinely couldn’t read anything from Pinocchio.

“Well… I guess even you can’t read it yet.”

I casually brushed it off.

“Why are you acting so smug!! I’ll dismantle you!!”

Frill immediately shouted.

“Anyway, you can trust what Shota says,” Sasith said.

“Fine, whatever,” Frill sighed.

“July’s Dungeon has a survival concept. It consists of a circular arena like an island, where there are 100 powerful boss-level monsters. You complete it by killing them all and becoming the last survivor,” I explained.

“……….!”

The corners of Sasith’s mouth immediately turned upward. This guy. He really is an otaku, isn’t he? He just can’t resist a death game scenario.

This dungeon was famous for being god-tier content even within the game.

Remarkably… it was possible to team up with monsters. You could form temporary alliances and then betray them. The monsters’ AI was quite sophisticated, so they would likewise form teams and commit betrayals.

There were quite a few gamers who postponed clearing the dungeon just to observe the monsters’ behavior patterns.

“Sounds troublesome,” Umi said.

“I told you. Today we’re just going to sample it.”

The dungeon’s progress was saved. It was literally a game within the game.

I was planning to just establish a base on the island, take down a few monsters to secure our safety, and then quietly return.

“An island… it reminds me of when Shota and I bonded,” Tina said with a wistful smile.

“A summer island, right? Should we wear swimsuits there?” Taiga asked.

“No. Wear proper armor. It’s dangerous,” Sasith immediately scolded Taiga.

“Tch. Sasith, you’re such a prude,” Taiga clicked his tongue.

“Swimsuits… I wanted to wear one,” Frill said in a sulky tone.

“…I suppose it would be fine to wear them later when we have some leeway,” Sasith immediately changed his stance.

“Sasith is abusing his leader authority!! Only taking care of his woman!!” Taiga immediately jeered at Sasith.

“Impeachment!!! Impeachment!!” Umi shouted, riding the mood. Umi… you even know the word impeachment? Impressive.

However, as Sasith’s loyal subject, I couldn’t let this irreverent group be.

“Take this!!!!!!”

I immediately punished Umi and Taiga by groping their chests.

“Kyaah!! W-wait! Shota!”

Umi immediately surrendered.

“T-this bastard is getting more skilled at touch—ahnng?!”

Taiga’s body also went limp.

“How dare you raise your voice against Lord Sasith!!!! True faith is…!!!”

I immediately became Sasith’s royal guard.

I was practically Sasithkron, not Korkron. Lord Sasith lives!!

“Shota… please stop!!”

Sasith shouted with a reddened face. Why are you embarrassed about me?

“Alright! Depending on our progress, we can play in swimsuits! Happy now?!”

Sasith finally concluded the conversation.

——–

Anyway, we headed straight for the dungeon entrance.

There, our party would encounter an organization called Apocalypse.

It would be our first meeting in the game.

But… we’d already met. I had encountered that Purple guy very early on. I wondered how I could defeat a level 30 powerhouse, but somehow I managed.

Purple… I miss him. I wonder if he made it back to Teletubbyland safely?

At the dungeon entrance, there was only a neat portal. This dungeon wasn’t a massive structure. It was designed for us to travel to the island through the portal.

Those Apocalypse guys… weren’t visible.

They were probably planning to make a cool entrance by suddenly appearing behind the player party.

But I couldn’t let that happen.

“I know you’re there. Come out,” I said, facing behind us.

I knew partly due to my possession privileges… but thanks to my greatly improved sword skills, I could detect most presences.

“My, my. Your precognitive abilities remain intact, Arigiri Shota.”

A narrow-eyed man and another man who reeked of villainy emerged.

“Where’s Purple?!! Tell me now!! Squinty!!”

I immediately shouted.

“S-Squinty… My name is Shoji.”

Squinty’s poker face cracked slightly.

“As for Purple… ah, you mean Jack. He was useless, so we killed him,” Shoji said.

“Oh no… poor Jack…!”

I immediately lamented. Is this the fate of a small fry…!!

“Anyway, our master ordered us to eliminate you promptly. Apparently, you’ve caused quite a stir,” Shoji said.

“However, our Lord Pink Beard is very merciful. He said he would turn a blind eye if you defect now,” Shoji continued.

“Nope. Don’t want to.”

I immediately answered.

“You refuse… then there’s no choice.”

I immediately sensed what Shoji was planning to do.

Shoji’s subordinate Emoto was about to activate his teleportation ability. I could clearly see his movements. He was wiggling his fingers and caressing the dagger in his hand. He was planning to summon the dagger near our necks and kill us instantly.

“Do I look like a pushover to you?!”

I immediately charged a Burning Stance in my hand while simultaneously tearing off a button from Umi’s clothes and flinging it.

Boing!!!

“Hey! Shota!!”

Before Umi could stop me, the button flew like a bullet.

Crack-!!!

The button immediately broke Emoto’s finger.

“Arghhhh!!”

Emoto’s ability casting was immediately canceled. He groaned while clutching his finger.

“Emoto… what!!”

Shoji looked at Emoto with surprised eyes. He seemed not to have seen what happened.

“Hey! Shota! This is an expensive outfit! You tore off a button!” Umi shouted.

“Uh… sorry.”

I immediately apologized.

“If you let me monopolize Shota for a day… I might forgive you,” Umi said with a smile.

“Deal. Let’s do that.”

I immediately agreed to the deal.

“It’s just something I got from a magazine photoshoot anyway. No big deal,” Umi said with a smile.

Ah. My guilt lessened a bit.

———–

Anyway, what mattered now were these guys.

“You’ve done something foolish,” Shoji composed his expression.

“You are certainly strong psycho-robo users. But… we’re all humans living in human society, both you and us!”

Shoji shouted.

“You’re ordinary students… you can’t do things like killing us here. But we can use our abilities to kill you without anyone knowing.”

Shoji said the lines I expected.

“Right. You’re planning to attack Emoshita’s Champs-Élysées, aren’t you? By opening a rift. While everyone is distracted by that, you plan to secretly assassinate us.”

I used my possession privilege.

“H-how did you know that…!!”

Squinty’s expression immediately distorted. Hey. If you’re a narrow-eyed character, show some effort. If your expression changes that easily, you’re not a narrow-eyed character! You’re just a character with small eyes!

“I’ll both clear the dungeon and stop your terrorism. That’s my resolve,” I declared.

At that moment, Emoto stood up.

“Shoji… I absolutely must kill this bastard.”

Emoto seemed quite angry.

“Emoto. Don’t be too hasty…”

“Enough!! This bastard!! He’s clearly looking down on me.”

Emoto’s pride seemed quite hurt.

That’s understandable. He had his pride as a serial killer. Having his assassination technique seen through must have been quite a blow to his ego.

“Prepare yourself. I’ll make a bloodbath in Emoshita,” Emoto said.

“Emoto!! The plan has already been exposed!! We need another plan!!”

“Shut up!! Squinty!!!”

Emoto shouted.

“I’ll make a bloodbath in Emoshita. And… I hear this July’s Dungeon is quite unique? I hear it’s a survival game. I’ll participate too.”

Emoto’s eyes gleamed with murderous intent.

“Enjoy what’s left of your life!!”

With those words, Emoto immediately activated his teleportation ability.

Whoosh-!!

Shoji and Emoto immediately disappeared.

“They seem like a ragtag bunch. That guy doesn’t listen to his leader Squinty at all,” Frill said.

“Yeah.”

They weren’t usually this disorganized… perhaps he lost his composure due to Purple’s death?

“I understand… when party members are too individualistic, the leader’s authority weakens,” Sasith seemed to sympathize with Squinty.

“Sasith… just trust me, your loyal subject,” I said, firmly grasping Sasith’s hand.

“I’m talking about you!!” Sasith immediately objected.

Oh. Was he talking about me?

Anyway, we just headed for the dungeon portal. Apocalypse’s terrorism was scheduled for July 15th, so we still had time. Emoto said he would proceed with the plan without changing it.

For now, clearing the dungeon was the priority. We hurried to tackle the dungeon.