Ch.281October Dungeon and Community Work (4)

Now all that’s left is to gather all the members and tackle the October dungeon.

Actually, the rest were already gathered at my house, so there was no need to call them separately. The issue was with Sasith and Prill…

“What? Everyone’s already home.”

Sasith was busy playing a game in front of the television. It was the fighting game we played together last time.

“Spiky-head!! What have you done?! Sasith! Playing games all day! This is addiction! Addiction!!”

Prill immediately turned to me and angrily accused me, despite being in the wrong herself.

“Ah… I see.”

Last time, Sasith lost quite shamefully. He must be practicing with determination to overcome that humiliation.

However, it seemed Sasith didn’t have a gaming console at his place. That’s probably why he just came to our house. My girlfriends must have let him and Prill in simply because… well, they’re Sasith and Prill. They have a strangely lax sense of security.

“Do you know my reversal guard? Hey! Hey! You’re about to get hit by my King Clincher!”

Sasith had developed some strange gaming lingo. Hey, be honest… have you been watching Korean streamers?

“Sasith. Turn off the game now. We need to head to the dungeon.”

But we couldn’t just play games forever. I tapped Sasith on the shoulder.

“Huh? But I was just about to win…”

Sasith grumbled.

“Come on!! Sasith! Snap out of it! Return to the cool, awesome Sasith you used to be!”

Prill immediately appealed to his emotions.

I didn’t think he was ever particularly cool or awesome… but whatever. That might be how Prill sees him.

“Hmph. You’re right. It seems my mind was momentarily entranced by something strange.”

Sasith immediately regained his senses at his girlfriend’s words.

“Ah!! The original Sasith is back!!!”

Prill smiled brightly.

“Yeah, Sasith. It’s better if you don’t play fighting games. You… don’t have the talent for it.”

I also said with a warm smile.

Snap-!

That was the sound of Sasith’s thread of reason breaking.

“Hey!! Let’s have another match later!!”

Sasith’s competitive spirit was ignited once again.

Male trait: Getting slightly pissed when told they’re bad at games.

“Hahaha! Come on! Let’s go to the dungeon, everyone!”

I shouted while dodging Sasith who was trying to lunge at me. This guy is always fun to tease. Always fresh! Thrilling!!

———

The October dungeon was located in the amusement park we visited before. It was a place within Emoshita that required taking the subway. However, the last train had already departed, so we had to walk there somehow.

“Ugh. It’s so far.”

Umi was already complaining.

“Why can’t they just create dungeons nearby like before? Why does this dungeon have to be so far away?”

Tai also seemed quite dissatisfied with that point.

The other women’s morale wasn’t good either. These complaining women… huh? But they’re pretty? Then I’ll allow it. Honestly, when someone’s pretty, anything can be forgiven. (This is strictly my personal opinion.)

Thumbs-up Man was admirably carrying everyone’s luggage without a single complaint as we continued our march. Really… what an admirable guy!!! A social life monster born from Toshinbae!!!

However, I knew how to encourage these women’s morale.

“Walking burns a ton of fat. How about thinking of this as late-night dieting?”

I suggested.

“You’re already burning the calories of an entire dinner! Ah… I can feel it!! The fat is burning!!”

I just made that up.

“……….?”

My girlfriends seemed intrigued by those words.

“That’s right! Then I can eat two puddings tomorrow!”

Umi, being simple-minded, fell for it immediately.

“Fat actually takes thirty minutes…”

Tina, whose hobby was training, was about to interject, but I silenced her with my lips.

“Mmm…”

Tina’s expression melted with that.

“Student… let it go.”

I whispered sweetly into Tina’s ear. Don’t shatter a dieter’s dream.

Anyway, we arrived at the zoo.

Since it was nighttime, the zoo’s gates were locked, but it was just a local zoo anyway.

“Hup.”

I casually climbed over the iron gate. It’s a skill everyone learns in school.

Gate climbing, light parkour for running to class, and secretly stealing expensive mechanical pencils are all skills in the regular curriculum. Wait, was school actually a spy training facility?

Anyway, everyone climbed over the gate without much resistance.

The dungeon entrance was at the central enclosure of the zoo.

“I’m worried about getting back.”

Kana already seemed to dislike that prospect. Yeah, I find it annoying too. I thought it would be fine since games usually have fast travel, but this is reality.

——–

Although we had reached the dungeon entrance, there was something to do first.

Whoosh-!

The entrance to the Soul Room appeared next to the dungeon.

I had already maxed out my communication with the fishing old man, and the reward, “Moby Dick,” was unlocked. I should make it for Sasith.

“Sasith. Let’s go make a psycho-robo.”

I said to Sasith.

“Okay.”

Sasith now followed me without complaint.

When we opened the door to the Soul Room, the familiar trio appeared.

Blue Beard, the ambiguous helper who seems to give very helpful advice but actually provides less nutritional guidance than expected!

And my soul’s light, Violet!

Finally, Green Beard, who now has no interest in anything except farming!!

The three useless space refugee siblings!!

“Sasith, combine Ram Thunder, Boogie Woogie Man, and Portman.”

I immediately told Sasith the combination formula.

“Okay. Got it.”

Having learned that following my instructions always leads to benefits, Sasith combined them without question.

Flash-!

As the light settled, a massive white whale-shaped psycho-robo appeared. This was Moby Dick, the reward for maxing out communication with the fishing old man. This, along with the Lightning Guide and Wang 799, were materials for the final tech psycho-robo, “Hades.” It was essentially one of the must-have psycho-robos.

But even as a material, Moby Dick was useful. First, its durability was incredible. Plus, it had a special area attack called Waterfall Roar. It was quite useful at the October dungeon stage.

Now I needed to do my part.

“Violet! Memory of the Strong!!”

I immediately approached Violet.

“Ah… I see you’ve defeated another powerful enemy.”

Violet said, taking my hand.

Flash-!

Then, the strong enemy item appeared in my status window.

‘Memory of the Strong: Takashi’

‘Takashi tried to achieve immortality by devouring countless souls. Even though he knew he could never return to being human if he were revived. What drove him to such obsession? His tenacity gives you insight. Strength increases by 10, Agility increases by 5.’

Ohhh… as expected, it was awesome. He was quite strong. If it weren’t for Nightmare Shota who had consumed the souls of 100 people, I would have lost.

After quickly converting the Memory of the Strong into stats, Sasith and I, having finished our business, were about to leave the Soul Room.

That’s when Blue Beard spoke.

“The final trial is approaching… Pink Beard is strong. And he is more furious than ever because of your existence. When you overcome that trial, you can reach a bright future.”

Blue Beard said.

He’s just saying the final chapter is approaching. Really useless advice.

November, December, and the final chapter with Pink Beard from January to March… if we endured those, the game would reach its ending. If we avoided all the bad ending conditions, everyone could reach a happy future.

“Let’s do our best, Sasith.”

I said, patting Sasith’s shoulder.

“Yeah. We have to succeed.”

Sasith smiled and patted my shoulder in return.

Thump-!

But Sasith’s pat was stronger.

Oh?

Thump-!

I also slightly increased the strength of my pat.

Thump-! Thump-! Thump-! Thump-!!

Soon, Sasith and I were silently continuing to pat each other’s shoulders with increasing force.

Huh? Sasith… you won’t stop until I do? Sasith seemed to be thinking the same thing. We kept delivering pats to each other’s shoulders.

“Stop it!! Are you both elementary schoolers?!”

Violet shouted at us. Only then did we both regain our senses. Yeah… we were both being too childish.

———

Anyway, after coming out, we hurried to tackle the dungeon.

“Alright. We enter through here. There will be all sorts of strange monsters popping up. We defeat them one by one and head to the deepest part to clear it.”

I gave a brief briefing.

“That’s just like usual.”

Kana interjected while maintaining her sword. Now that she mentioned it, that’s true.

The concept of this dungeon was, as the location suggested, a zoo safari. It had a feeling of bizarre and rare monsters appearing one after another. And it would end when we defeated the boss called Beast Tamer at the center of the safari.

True to the animal concept, all monsters were large. There wasn’t a single humanoid monster. In that respect, Sasith’s Moby Dick would shine. Push with the monster’s size to create openings, then gang up. This was the strategy of the master, Arigiri Shota.

“Alright!! Let’s all go!!”

I shouted loudly and threw myself towards the warp point.

“Chunjat!!”

This was the rule.

Kirtan, who had picked up the habit from me, shouted the slogan and followed.

“Chunjat!!”

Kirtan threw himself in with me.

The others… just followed. That’s disappointing. Really.

Anyway, we entered the October dungeon.

——–

As the name suggested, a vast plain with a safari concept spread out before us. But… perhaps because it was the other world, even the plants looked bizarrely shaped. It was the same as during the previous survival event.

“Ah. It feels like I’m back home with this unique atmosphere.”

Tina said with a bright smile. I wonder what kind of place Tina’s homeland is. Once again, I found myself questioning.