Ch.182July’s Dungeon, and Terror (5)

The next day, we briefly stopped by home at dawn, put on our school uniforms, and headed to school.

After school, we would train at the kendo dojo, then go home where Mika would be waiting, and work on our writing for the day—a busy daily routine.

School definitely made free time disappear. Daytime hours simply flew by during the semester.

However, school life itself wasn’t bad. Spending youthful days with Eri, Umi, Taiga… and Tina was quite a valuable experience.

“Hey!! Don’t ignore me!”

At that moment, Saito Kana called out to me.

“Ah. You’re here too, Kana.”

I looked at Kana.

Kana had become a central figure in our class immediately after transferring. She had a natural charm about her. How should I put it… an aura of nobility? Something like that.

I thought she was chatting with the other girls, but before I knew it, Kana had approached us.

“Go for it, Kana!!”

“Make your move! Press the B button!”

The girls around us encouraged Kana with warm gazes.

“Sh-shut up!”

Kana shouted, her face turning bright red.

“You… go to the kendo dojo after school, right? Want to go together?”

Kana asked.

“Huh? Together?”

I tilted my head.

“I’ll be with my girlfriends, is that okay?”

I said with a smile.

“I have no choice!!! You’re always swooning over girls!! Living so recklessly, you’ll fall behind!”

Kana shouted loudly.

“I’m going to keep a proper eye on you!”

Kana declared.

“Shota. Kana wants to walk home with you.”

Eri immediately translated.

Eri… did she choose tsundere as her second language?!

“Oh! So that’s what you meant?!”

I responded right away.

“You should have said so earlier! Let’s walk home together and go to the dojo!”

I said with a smile.

“Who said I wanted to walk home together?!”

Kana immediately got angry.

“She means yes.”

Eri translated right away.

“Kana. You’re pretty strong too. Want to join our hero harem?”

Tina asked with a bright smile.

“As if I’d join such a low-class group!”

Kana snapped back angrily.

Anyway, after we all walked home together, I trained at the kendo dojo.

Umi, Kana, and I headed to the dojo together. Gonzaemon and Asuna-san had been insisting that I bring Umi along.

Umi… she was practically living with us now. She hadn’t returned to her family home for so long that Gonzaemon seemed to have fallen into a mild depression.

“A match with Thumbs-up Man… I’m looking forward to it.”

One of the small joys in my daily life was Thumbs-up Man.

“That damn Thumbs-up Man!!”

Kana immediately smacked my back.

“If it was going to be like this… I shouldn’t have taken that guy as my disciple…”

Kana muttered with a complicated expression.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Never mind!”

Kana shouted loudly. She gets angry at every opportunity.

“Maybe it’s a side effect of excessive implant use… it does increase aggression.”

I made that speculation.

“Stop trying to frame me as a cyber psycho! Seriously!”

Kana hit me angrily.

Anyway, I trained as usual at the dojo, then went home to write with Mika. We also did some naughty things while we were at it.

——

That night. We entered the dungeon again.

“Day 2. We’ve survived safely so far.”

Sasith said.

“Yeah. Let’s keep it up.”

I nodded and replied.

“With Shota here, I feel safe.”

Umi said with a smile.

“Well… he’s an idiot, but he’s reliable.”

Taiga said.

“I hope we fight more this time. I’m getting tired of hiding in abandoned buildings like cowards.”

Tina said.

“Well… I’ll prepare a stage for you to fight gloriously soon.”

I said, patting Tina’s butt.

“Really! Shota. You touch my butt too much.”

Tina said with a smile.

“So… what do you think?”

Tina looked at me seductively.

“Looks like you’ll bear children well.”

“Shota! You pervert!”

Tina immediately hit me playfully.

“Sasith… won’t you touch my butt too?”

Stimulated by the scene, Pril begged Sasith.

“…Alright.”

Sasith, though embarrassed, gently stroked Pril.

——–

Anyway, we entered the portal.

Whoosh-!

We opened our eyes in the ruins we had occupied before.

“Oh… the portable portal seems to be working properly.”

Sasith said.

As soon as we arrived on the island, kill logs poured in from all directions.

‘Participant UnicornWarrior has eliminated participant MarriedWomanHunter!’

‘Participant NurgleMan has eliminated participant ChimpVillain!’

‘Participant Draconid has eliminated participant GoblinPaladin!’

That’s right. These were participants who spawned in random locations without securing a base. They were killed by participants who had secured bases while wandering the island like roe deer.

Now only 60 players remained; it was time for the survival game to enter a new phase.

“Well!!! The Festival of War has reached its second day!!! There are still too many of you!! Kill more!!!”

Rahitan shouted.

“But there are too many cowards!! Therefore!! I’ve added a new system!!”

With Rahitan’s shout, barriers appeared across the entire island.

“Squawk! Squawk!”

A seagull flying over the island crashed into the barrier.

Crackle-!!

With a flash of lightning, the seagull fell to the ground, its body roasted to a crisp.

“What…?!”

Taiga was immediately shocked.

“This giant cage will gradually close in toward a random position in the center!!! If you want to live, you have no choice but to move toward the center!!! I hope no one is foolish enough to try to withstand the barrier’s damage!! One hit and you’re off to the afterlife!!”

Rahitan shouted loudly.

That’s right. They were deliberately forcing fights by reducing the space. It’s a standard rule in death games. Otherwise, you end up with a boring stalemate where no one fights each other.

“Ugh… I really hate this.”

Umi, who hated troublesome things, showed a genuinely displeased expression.

“Now!! Where will the barrier close in?!! The moment of truth!!!”

As Rahitan said this, a beam of light appeared in the western part of the island’s center. The barrier would close in around that point.

“Ah… damn it.”

We were unlucky. Given our position, we would definitely have to move.

“Well then!! See you on day 3!!”

With that, Rahitan’s communication ended.

———

“We have no choice. Let’s move.”

I immediately gave the order.

“Where should we go?”

Sasith asked.

“The barrier shrinks slowly. It’s safest to secure a position on the outskirts and keep moving along the outer edge as the barrier shrinks.”

I said.

This was the so-called “edge-hugging” meta.

“Honestly… there will be quite a few fights. Is everyone prepared?”

I looked at everyone.

I was mainly looking at Sasith. Come on! Say something leader-like!! This is where Pril gets her heart-fluttering moment!!

“We can do this.”

Sasith said with a smile.

“Sasith… you’re so cool.”

Pril’s eyes immediately turned into hearts. Well, at least she knows how to appreciate what she’s given.

——

We immediately began moving along the outskirts.

“There’s a mansion ahead. Someone is definitely living there.”

I said.

I could sense unmistakable presences.

“What should we do?”

Sasith asked.

“First, Pril and I will draw their aggro. Meanwhile, the rest of you go around the back. Then we eliminate them all.”

I said.

The tanks in our group were Pril and me. We were confident in our ability to hold out even if thrown into the midst of enemies.

“Let’s go, Spiky Head!”

Pril shouted enthusiastically.

“Could you please just call me Shota…?”

What’s with “Spiky Head”? Seriously.

Actually… when I first possessed this body, my hair wasn’t that spiky. It was just slightly pointy. But gradually my hair became more and more spiky like a cartoon character. As a bonus, an ahoge grew on the crown of my head. My appearance was gradually changing from the initial Arigiri Shota to something closer to my original self.

Well, my girlfriends liked this hairstyle of mine. So I didn’t have any complaints.

I felt some discomfort about this phenomenon, but I put it aside for now. The mission was the priority.

——-

“Delivery service!!!”

I ran toward the mansion, sword in hand.

“Pinocchio!! Weapon enchant!”

Might as well use the new technique I learned.

“Master!! Here I go!”

Pinocchio immediately infused my sword with magical power.

Crackle-!!

A translucent wooden vine wrapped around my sword with a visual effect.

Whoosh-!

The blade became sharper thanks to the sharp wooden vines.

Additionally, the dense wooden vines wrapping around the sword increased its durability.

Honestly, it was quite a useful technique. Unless I obtained a legendary sword like Tomato, I had no choice but to fight by temporarily enhancing my weapon like this.

“Delivery service!! Open the door!!!”

I swung my sword with great force.

Slash!!!

As the door shattered, blood splattered from beyond it.

The guard standing at the entrance died instantly from my sword strike.

“Enemy!!”

“Kill them!!!”

Strange-looking humanoid monsters blocked our way. There were five of them, with four more in the adjacent building. I could sense them all. There were quite a few. They must have already formed a team.

But… among them was a mage.

“Die!!!”

The mage immediately fired a massive hellfire spell. Even for someone like me, it would be dangerous if it hit.

This was Pril’s moment to shine.

“Pril!!! Use Soft Defense! Act as a shield for a moment!!”

I called out Pril’s special technique.

“Spiky Head… how did you…!”

Pril seemed surprised.

“Hurry!”

“Got it!!”

Pril immediately took out her psycho-robot Pink Teddy and activated her skill.

Boom!!

The fireball hit Pink Teddy directly.

“Ha!!!”

The mage’s expression was filled with triumph.

However, that expression soon turned to shock.

Pink Teddy had clearly taken damage. But it didn’t fall down at all.

“Hyaaah!!”

I immediately leaped to close the distance with the mage.

“D…amn…!!”

The mage tried to cast a spell.

However, my sword swing was faster than his casting speed.

Slash!!

The sword cleanly severed the mage’s neck.

With this, we had mostly cleared the building we were in.