Chapter 26 – Floor 4. Preparations for the End

“You’ve truly slain this mythical monster.”

“That’s me.”

Albert, who had removed his helmet and was wiping sweat that was streaming down as if he’d been caught in the rain, nodded as if agreeing with me.

“Indeed, it would have been impossible for me without you.”

[You have learned the structure of the current floor.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have defeated all three guardians of the underground sewers.]

[You have leveled up.]

Ignoring Albert who was making such obvious statements cringeworthy, I was struck by a tingling sensation in my brain as achievement and growth logs appeared, as if they had been waiting.

It was probably because only the sweet reward remained, making the corners of my mouth involuntarily curl up in a grin.

Thud- Thud- CRASH!

The ceiling collapsed, and something large and heavy fell right in front of us along with bricks. A chest with edges decorated in silver, like the one that had come out of the Giant Slime’s body.

Dirt and dust settled thickly on my head, but I was so happy to see the chest that I didn’t care.

“This is…”

“The reward for killing that beast. What’s inside is mine. You can take the silver trim or not, as you wish.”

I wanted to take the silver too, but it would just be extra weight with no use since I couldn’t go to a town where people lived.

I might regret it when I got back home, though.

“Hmm. I understand. Do you need help moving it?”

Albert seemed to be quite interested in the silver, as he readily agreed to my proposal.

Well, it makes sense—if you’re not like me, who has to walk deeper into hell, just stripping off and selling the silver trim would fetch at least a few hundred, so it’s worth it.

I shook my head at Albert, who seemed eager to help, perhaps wanting to get his hands on the silver, and opened the chest.

Creeeak—

The sound of stiff hinges turning, rattling my eardrums.

I forgot about the sword wound on my chest and did a backflip at the sight of the treasures revealed to the world.

“Kyaa~ Wow!”

***

“AAAAGH! SLIME!!! SEVERA!!! DAVE!!! ALBERT!!! MY WOUND HURTS SO MUCH!”

“Who told you to make such a fuss? There’s a healing potion too, you could use that.”

“AAAAGH! THAT’S TOO PRECIOUS!”

Severa, who had been looking down at me as if I were pathetic, eventually covered her face with her palm.

Indeed, the saying that you shouldn’t move vigorously after getting stabbed was true. I should have heeded the maxim from seniors who had been stabbed before, but the reward was so delicious that it was at fault.

I felt like calling a lawyer.

“How did I end up captured by someone like you…”

Sighing, Severa placed her hand on my chest where the bandage was soaked red.

The sensation of cool ectoplasm seeping in. She’d do well in the massage business.

And along with these random thoughts, the burning pain disappeared.

“AAAAGH! SEVERA! MY WOUND DOESN’T HURT!”

“Stop making such a fuss, it’s embarrassing..! It’s just a simple pain-relief spell. It’s not healed, so don’t move.”

I didn’t know this was possible. Severa, the cheap masturbation perverted onahole, appeared a bit different to me.

Seemingly reading this thought too, Severa’s eyes gradually grew fierce, so I pretended not to notice.

“Sigh… Now… with the Asymmetric Polyhedron destroyed, will these underground sewers return to normal?”

Severa glanced at the Wanderer who had turned into an onahole, then looked up at the ceiling as if gazing at White Chamber above ground.

I wanted to give a definitive answer to that voice mixed with worry and slight anxiety, but honestly, I didn’t know what would happen now either.

After defeating all three mini-bosses, burning down the laboratory, destroying the Asymmetric Polyhedron, and even taking down the King of the Sewers to go to the next area, the game never showed what happened to the underground sewers.

Even after 3,000 hours of gameplay, all you know is how to descend through the dungeon quickly, safely, and effectively—you can’t see what the game company doesn’t show you.

However…

“The sewers becoming like this, and the portal opening, it’s all because of magic. Since the source of magic is gone, it will probably return to normal. I don’t know how long it will take, though.”

“I see…”

But Severa seemed satisfied with that, as she slightly raised the corner of her mouth as if her concerns had been lifted.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Even during this, the eardrum-bursting metallic sound continued.

Annoyed by the noise that was destroying the atmosphere, I turned my head to see Albert in the midst of breaking apart the chest, hammering the silver trim flat with a mace to shape it.

“What are you doing?”

“Flattening it to line the inside of my armor. It’s troublesome if it’s visible.”

“Taking it all for yourself?”

At my words, he stopped hammering and looked at me as if I had asked something obvious.

“Just bringing those fellows here who couldn’t fight properly and were trembling with fear is something I should be thanked for. Besides, didn’t you and I handle the real danger?”

“I guess so?”

Nearly twenty criminals. Most of them were probably ordinary people with no connection to combat.

Despite Albert’s title as a knight and his excellent fighting skills, just bringing that many untrained personnel down to Floor 4 without losses meant he had fulfilled his duty.

Additionally, I had no intention of denying that the truly dangerous tasks were performed by Albert and me.

As Albert continued flattening the silver, he looked at the stairs leading down to Floor 5.

“You said a very large alligator is waiting on Floor 5.”

“Yeah.”

After silently staring at the stairs for a moment, Albert withdrew his gaze and leaned against the wall, as if tired from the work of flattening the silver.

“No matter how big it is, it’s just a slow animal. Do we need to waste more time?”

I shook my head at Albert, who seemed to want to leave the underground sewers immediately, perhaps thinking he could tackle the King of the Sewers right away after experiencing the Bell of Doom.

The Wanderer and the Bell of Doom are divided into two phases, so their individual specs are a bit weaker.

Just the Giant Slime was a tougher opponent than the Wanderer.

Additionally, the King of the Sewers, being a boss rather than a mini-boss, possesses even greater raw stats.

There’s a reason alternative routes exist.

“The alligator’s hide is probably twice as strong as the Bell of Doom as a single entity? As you said, it’s still an alligator, so its attacks might be easier to predict than tentacles.”

“That strong…”

Albert sighed deeply, as if he would have tried to persuade me to break through Floor 5 immediately if my response had been even slightly positive.

He must have accumulated stress from being trapped in these underground sewers for weeks.

Still, time was needed since Severa and the slime’s Fuel meters were running low, and the Wanderer needed to be subdued.

‘The Bell of Doom does make me a bit nervous.’

I hope the power of Onahole Creation is awesome enough to ignore the Bell of Doom and everything else.

===========================================

Name: aaaa

Level: 08

Health: 32/91 ■■■■□□□□□□

Magic: 21/46 ■■■■■□□□□□

Hunger: 94/110 ■■■■■■■■■□|□​

Thirst: 88/110 ■■■■■■■■■□|□​

Temperature: ◁■■■■■■□□□□▷

Strength 10(+1) | Dexterity 15(+0) | Constitution 08(+1)

Mental 08(+0) | Perception 09(+1) | Charm 14(+2)

Distributable Points: 1

《Skills》

『Thief’s Luck』『Battle Command』『Hero I』

《Magic》

『Onahole Creation』Magic -25

===========================================​​​

The status window I opened after defeating the Bell of Doom had improved considerably.

After learning swordsmanship and physical training methods from Albert for a week, modifiers for Strength and Constitution had increased along with logs indicating I had learned “Knight’s Swordsmanship” and “Knight’s Physical Training Method,” though I’m still not sure about Perception.

It seems that learning settings not found in D.D. gives these kinds of modifiers.

Lastly, what I was looking at most proudly was『Hero I』.

A bonus skill given for defeating all three mini-bosses before boss floors (multiples of 5).

‘It’s hard to get and just a bonus, but the effect is extraordinary.’

Befitting the uncommon name “Hero,” the effect increases final Health/Magic stats by 10%, increases maximum Hunger/Thirst by 10, and increases final damage dealt by 10%.

For reference, this is the effect of Hero Level 1. In D.D., which had 30 floors, you could see up to Hero Level 5.

Though the prerequisite of defeating all 15 types of mini-bosses was necessary,『Hero V』was the most powerful skill in D.D.

‘Fortunately, this seems to have avoided balance adjustment. Well, who would rush bosses anyway.’

If there was one disappointment, it would be that the enhancement effect doesn’t apply to summons.

Of course, if it did, everyone would go crazy trying to get Hero with summon meta builds.

I invested the point in Charm to reach 15 and closed the status window.

“There’s something I’d like to ask. Would that be alright?”

“What is it?”

Albert’s voice stopped me as I was about to get up.

“You said that even if we hunt that alligator and pass through, a portal will appear.”

“More precisely, the portal is stuck right in the sewer drain. You might be able to get out without touching it if you squeeze your body through.”

“That’s not what I meant…”

“Then what do you want to ask? That’s all I know.”

Albert, scratching his head awkwardly, slowly put on his armor, now heavier with the added silver plates.

“I and the others must move forward to escape the underground sewers, but that’s not the case for you. You knew about the mythical monster that no one had heard of or seen, and you knew about the portal blocking the exit that no one else knew about. From the beginning, your goal wasn’t escape but the portal, which awaits with new dangers.”

Moreover, you know what awaits beyond that portal, Albert added.

Is he becoming cautious about getting backstabbed now? I thought so, but Albert was just slowly putting on his now more uncomfortable armor.

He wasn’t grabbing a weapon or preparing to flee.

“You’re not a criminal. At least, you’re not a criminal from White Chamber, by your own thinking. I’ve lived there my whole life and never seen your face.”

Conviction was evident on Albert’s face.

Is my face that distinctive? I touched my face, but all I felt under my fingertips was a handsome face.

“I want to know your purpose. What you aim to achieve by continuing this journey.”

Having said that, Albert was looking straight at me. With that face I saw when first meeting him—emotionless yet evaluative.

And I just found this question annoying.

What would change if he knew? But being a friendly neighbor, I was the type to respect elders.

I was also good at changing one consonant in the word below.

“I want to go home.”

And incidentally.

“I want to try being a hero.”

“…”

The stern middle-aged face changed to a blank expression in an instant.

It looked like both the face of someone who heard something they shouldn’t have and someone who heard what they were hoping for from an unexpected source.

“A hero…”

Albert seemed lost in thought, and I used the opportunity to grab Severa’s buttocks.

The squishy flesh of the spirit entity softly enveloped between my fingers, adhering chewily as I applied pressure.

“…Pervert.”

“Heroes are supposed to be perverts. I’m a hero-in-training, so I’m only half a pervert.”

Can’t anyone become a trainee just by thinking about it?

Even a grade-destroyer with all 9s can become an SKY university aspirant, and an unemployed person who scratches their belly all day can become a civil servant aspirant in this world.

Severa, who whispered in my ear as if embarrassed to be caught in such playful acts, looked cute with her incredulous expression, so I patted her buttocks.

“Anyway, go back to your people. I still have things to do.”

“Hmm. Alright.”

Though he said he understood, I kicked Albert’s butt as he was dawdling and dragging his feet, to chase him away.

“Fuck’s sake, I need to jerk off, why is this black old man lingering?”

I don’t know what’s going through the mind of that black, dirty old man, but masturbation is a matter of grave importance.