Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 67: Fifth-Rank Explorer ⑦
How in the world did it end up like this?
Was it because the control stick snapped sideways the moment I grabbed it and turned into something like a motorcycle grip?
Or maybe because I had ridden a motorcycle in my previous life and the muscle memory kicked in?
The grip felt like a motorcycle, but the accelerator and brake were located like they are in a car—on the lower side.
Maybe it was because I stepped on the wrong pedal, mixing up the accelerator and brake?
Or because the moment I gripped it, it shot off at full throttle and crashed into the shrine?
After that, the black boat kept roaring down the river—and just when I thought “This is bad,” I stepped on what I thought was the brake…
But it turned out to be the accelerator.
Even when I realized and stomped on the brake in a panic, it didn’t work at all.
Worse, it actually sped up even more.
It rampaged down the river at insane speed, launching aquatic monsters left and right as it barrelled through them.
From the outside, it probably looked like a black bullet… I thought vaguely. Total escapism.
Or maybe because of the yellow light… I really feel like nothing good comes from that thing.
And then, the black boat took flight.
When I came to, I was lying on the ground.
Something was slapping my face. Pat, pat, pat… who is it?
“Nah!”
Dagaa was staring at me with wide red eyes.
“Oh, it’s you.”
“Nah!”
“…Thanks. But, where are we?”
I sat up.
“Haaa—haa—ahh, ugh, I-I thought I was going die…!”
I turned toward the voice and saw Bid-san lying sideways a short distance away.
Since she was shouting, she was probably okay.
“…An island, huh?”
I could smell earth. If there’s soil in the great river, it must be an island.
Bid-san sat up, stretching and shaking her small chest as she looked at me.
“Wof-kun, are you okay?”
“Y-yeah. Somehow.”
“I’m just glad we’re both alive… what happened to that boat?”
“Uh, I don’t know.”
“Then let’s go find it!”
Bid-san stood up.
“You really want to go look for it?”
I was a little surprised.
“Well of course! That thing’s a real legendary item. You don’t see something like that every day. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime jackpot!”
“Well, that’s true…”
But I felt uneasy. The brakes were clearly broken.
Not just that—both pedals were accelerators.
That thing is way too dangerous.
As if sensing my hesitation, Bid-san said:
“Don’t worry. We’re not going ride it, just investigate. And you’re curious too, right?”
“Well… yeah.”
There are a lot of things I want to know.
“Then let’s go explore!”
“Um, by the way—do you know where this island is?”
Bid-san looked around, then gave a confident grin.
“No idea!”
“Right…”
Well, that’s fine. Let’s just start exploring.
And so, we began our search for the black boat—
BOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
Suddenly, a thunderous explosion rocked the island, and a shockwave slammed into us.
“!?”
My body lifted off the ground and slammed back down—I rolled across the dirt.
Pain knocked the breath out of me.
“Wof-kun!”
“Nah!”
Thick smoke enveloped the area, then began to drift away with the wind.
What in the world just happened…?
“Wof-kun, are you okay?”
“Y-yeah… what about you, Bid-san?”
“Barely hanging in there.”
“Nah!”
“You’re okay too, huh?”
Well, of course. I slowly got up.
My whole body ached, but it didn’t feel like I was seriously hurt.
No bruises or sprains, at least.
“What was that?”
Bid-san pointed with her chin.
Billowing black smoke was rising and swaying into the sky.
The trees around the area had been knocked down—some even blown all the way into the river.
“…Should we go check it out?”
“Yeah.”
Probably. Most likely, that exploded.
It has to be that.
It was easy enough to reach the site. We ran into some monsters along the way, but they weren’t a big deal:
A water-spouting lizard, an Aqua Edge Wolf, and three aquatic soldier spirits.
“That was wild. The water soldier spirits were sliced up like meat!”
“Yeah, but… the sensation was strange.”
As I dodged their attacks and struck with a diagonal slash, that’s what I felt.
It was like slicing through heavy jelly.
The water soldier spirits were part of the Water Spirit Puppet series—soldiers made entirely of water.
“Nah!”
“…Don’t smack my head just because you didn’t get a turn.”
This had been going on for a while now—Dagaa sitting on my head and tapping my forehead.
“Haha, looks like he’s grumpy.”
“Nah!”
“Stop that already.”
It didn’t hurt, but it was annoying.
Lately, Dagaa seems to have developed some weird pride as a weapon.
Bid-san took Dagaa off my head and held him to her chest.
The smoke was a clear landmark, so it was easy to find the location.
In the middle of the island, a small crater had formed.
Thick black smoke was rising from it.
Scattered in the center were familiar-looking black fragments.
A broken grip. Shards of the crystal orb display…
Bid-san looked like she was about to run toward it, but I held her back.
“N-Now what is it?”
“If you go near it, you’ll die.”
“Wha!? Why would you say that… Is it a relic?”
“Yes.”
Just in case, I used the relic 【Crises Detection】.
That crater… is pitch black. And black means death.
“Let’s get away from here. This area is dangerous too.”
“…Got it.”
This whole area glows red. Red means danger. It means injury. Taking damage.
Whether it’s gas or something else, we left the area.
After that, we found a boat on the other side of the island.
It was a normal white rowboat with oars.
We got in the boat and set out on the great river.
We sat facing each other. Bid-san rowed gently with the oars.
She seemed somewhat dispirited. I spoke up.
“…That explosion was probably caused by the boat we were on, wasn’t it?”
The wreckage we saw makes it pretty clear.
Bid-san let out a sigh.
“So you think so too…?”
“Yes.”
“Haaah… So much for my get-rich-quick dream…”
“There will be other chances.”
I tried to comfort the downcast Bid-san.
I’m not very good at this kind of thing. With her head hanging low, she muttered quietly.
“Chances like that don’t come often… Haaah. First the ‘Zan Brave’ party disbanded, and now this. I’m seriously out of luck. Even the dried meat I ate yesterday was spoiled and wrecked my stomach…”
That seems… unrelated?
Well, I guess the boat part was my fault.
“Bid-san.”
“What is it now, from this unlucky girl?”
“Unlucky… Do you know about the relic called ‘Fortune’s Eye’?”
“Of course I do. What about it?”
“I actually have a relic that’s an upgraded version of it.”
Bid-san lifted her head in surprise.
“Oh—so that’s how you knew about the weird boat. I thought you must’ve found it deep in the forest…”
“Found it?”
In the forest?
“N-No, forget I said anything! But why are you telling me this?”
“As an apology, I guess. I caused you trouble with the water spirit dancer too… So I thought I’d offer something of similar value, like treasure.”
“Really!? Uh, are you sure!?”
“I’m sure.”
“………In that case, actually… I’ve found something in this dungeon too.”
“You found something?”
“――But first, let’s head to the Healing Spring.”
Bid-san smiled playfully.
“Ah—!”
I gasped. I’d completely forgotten.
“We’ll continue this conversation after you finish your first official request, Wof-kun.”
“…Understood.”
Checking the map, I saw that the island with the Healing Spring was two islands away from here.
Compared to earlier, our progress was slower, but we barely encountered any monsters and arrived safely at the target island.
The spring looked very similar to the Healing Spring on the 1st floor.
I used the investigation kit in the same way—there were no abnormalities.
“It’s a rest area, but there’s no one here.”
It was completely deserted. Now that I think about it, the 1st-floor spring only had Bid-san too.
“Well, it’s not used very often.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, it’s just a spring after all. And it’s not like monsters don’t show up.”
“So not many people come here.”
“Plus, there’s plenty of water in this dungeon anyway.”
You really can find it all over.
“Well, I won’t say your request was pointless.”
“Why did you take this request, Wof-kun?”
“Because it involved exploration… and it sounded fun.”
“Fun, huh. I guess in a lot of ways, it was kind of fun…”
Bid-san stared off into the distance. I gave a wry smile.
“It’s not over yet. Let’s head to the 6th floor. There’s an island here that connects to it, right?”
“Yup. That’s the same way I came back to the 3rd floor.”
“So you’ve been to the 6th floor?”
“A little below that, yeah. No way I could solo anything around the 40th floor though.”
I guess things like the water spirit dancer are just common down there.
Once again, we boarded the white boat and rowed down the great river.
We encountered a few weak aquatic monsters, fought briefly, and passed through. No need to waste time fighting.
Eventually, we arrived at the island that had a shortcut to the 6th floor.
There was a stone shrine on the island.
Unlike the previous one, this shrine felt familiar and welcoming.
Inside the shrine… I see.
“A teleportation circle, huh?”
“That’s right.”
There was a white and green glowing teleportation circle.