Kays Translations

Chapter 98

Deep beneath the surface lies another world.

And yet, what spreads out before them appears to be nothing more than the interior of a massive man-made structure—a so-called “castle.”

Vast corridors of this “castle” are lined with neatly arranged inner walls and greyish stone material.

Filling the space nearly to the brim are humanoid dragon-like monsters and ominous green lions.

And yet, the air is eerily silent. Not a breath or growl from the monsters—only an unsettling stillness, almost tranquil.

But Shizuma could feel it in his skin. Not tranquility, but its opposite—an overwhelming murderous intent pressing in from all sides.

“…That open space over there should work.”

Amidst that suffocating hostility, Shizuma coolly assessed the situation and rushed toward the horde, eager to test the combat style he had crafted for himself.

With that as the signal, the monsters sprang to life—but Shizuma continued weaving through them with light, rapid steps, zipping through gaps with surgical precision.

He dodged crude weapons by mere inches, avoided the green lion’s sudden pounce with a motion so fluid it seemed to pass through his body.

His hair and clothing fluttered each time an attack narrowly missed.

Was it sheer resolve—“I will not get hit”—that drove him? Or confidence in his stats and gear that allowed such composure?

“Looks like I’ve shaved them down pretty well.”

He calmly evaluated the results of his maneuvers.

Though they looked like evasive movements, his actions had subtly and steadily chipped away at the monsters’ HP.

“…If I can combine sword skills and enchantment magic, this might work.”

Putting a bit of distance between himself and the horde, Shizuma imbued his sword with an ice attribute.

Frost clung faintly to the weapon’s rugged yet lethally sharp blade.

Raising it high—

“Gale Break.”

A go-to sword technique favored by mercenaries for its versatility.

Now infused with ice, the flying slashes swept toward the oncoming monsters like a freezing gust.

Already weakened from the earlier skirmish, the monsters stood little chance.

The follow-up was devastating—an endless downpour of slashes.

“Alright, alright! No stun, no stamina drain! Let’s go, punks!!”

He fired off Gale Break repeatedly. Even a single strike of this technique in Silent could knock down giant trees.

And now, though slightly weakened, it rained down in countless icy bursts.

Naturally—what remained in the corridor were only drop items scattered across the floor.

In a flash, Shizuma had annihilated the weakened monsters en masse—

“Phew, shaved them down with basically no risk and wiped them out from a distance… They really played right into my hands.”

Each one of those monsters had been strong individually. And yet, simple step-based movement had drained a lot of their HP.

Then he just exploited their weakness—ice—and spammed his sword’s technique.

“This build I thought up… it’s strong. Against groups, sure, but probably against singles too.”

“…Actually, even in PvP. An intelligent opponent might have it tougher against me.”

“They completely lost sight of me through my evasive moves. Unless the opponent has extreme strength or sensory awareness, they won’t keep up… No, it’s more than that.”

With a cumulative +100% evasion rate, Shizuma had learned something in that last battle.

The moment he was attacked, everything slowed—he could see the attacks in slow motion.

And though his own movements slowed too, he was still faster than the attacks.

In that slowed-down world, he alone moved just slightly faster.

Even if the enemy could detect his presence, he’d still have the upper hand. This build would be a staple going forward.

“And my stats are exploding… I’m almost catching up to Same.”

Fighting monsters of likely “floor boss” caliber must’ve rapidly boosted his stats.

But still—monsters so strong that even veteran parties would consider retreating, showing up in such numbers? This was no accident.

It was clearly a layout meant to prevent progress.

Wasn’t this place supposed to be a tutorial dungeon?

“It has to be deliberate. Someone’s pulling strings to keep people from clearing this.”

“What kind of monster is waiting at the lowest floor…?”

He continued using the same tactics—slaughtering waves of powerful monsters as he advanced.

Even though he was taking the shortest route, the sheer number of encounters made it clear: someone didn’t want him getting any further.

The monster mutations he’d seen in the upper levels were likely connected to this too.

Then, upon reaching Floor 45, he was greeted by—

“…You’ve got to be kidding me. Is that an upgraded version of the one we fought in Silent…?”

Floor 45 resembled the grand hall of a demon lord’s castle.

A vast, luxurious space where nobles might hold a standing banquet.

There was even a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It felt so authentic that Shizuma wondered if this room had once actually existed—so vivid he could almost hear the breath of nobles past.

And in the center of that room lay its master.

Coiled in deep sleep, unbothered by the world, radiating power without restraint.

A red-black behemoth. A twisted figure with both fur and scales unevenly covering its body.

Its folded wings were massive—just the sight of them hinted at overwhelming force.

Even asleep and far away, its sheer life force made Shizuma’s spine shiver.

Activating [Observer’s Eye], he examined the beast.

Necro-Owl Blood Dragon

• “The undead-infused evolution of an Owl Dragon”
• “Though not fully immortal, its regeneration and defense are so extreme that it feels immortal”
• “Constantly undergoing internal corrosion and regeneration due to its own toxic, corrosive venom”
• “As a dragon species, it is weak to cold—and also to light”

There was no mistaking it—this was an advanced form of the Owl Dragon he had once slain with Melt in Silent.

“Fighting a sleeping dragon… yeah, history’s already decided how that goes.”

The answer: “Prep like hell, pump your damage, and hit it with everything you’ve got from the first strike.”

“I don’t expect to kill it in one blow… but if I can take off a wing or get it close to death, that gives me the advantage.”

His multi-class training had borne fruit. Which meant—

Silent War

• “Silences all sounds you make during battle, improving stealth”
• “Next attack is guaranteed to crit”
• “Reduces chances of being noticed even when making noise”

Crimson Howl

• “A fearsome roar that intimidates and slows the enemy”
• “Randomly boosts user’s attack power (up to 9x)”
• “Applies only to the first strike after activation”

Rapid Step

• “Doubles movement and attack speed”
• “Grants a one-time random increase in attack count (up to 9x)”

“Mercenary’s Way”

• Increases the effect of explosive-type traps.
• Also, sneak attacks deal 100% more damage.

“War Cry”

• Draws the enemy’s attention to yourself.
• Increases defense by 40% and adds your current defense value to your attack power.

“Ostinato”

• Doubles the buff effects currently active on nearby allies, including yourself.
• The effect applies to one attack only.

“Emperor Eye”

• Increases the power and critical damage of long-range attacks by 1.5x.
• Also grants one guaranteed hit and homing effect, and extends range once.

These are all the support skills I currently have available.

I’m using support skills from various job classes simultaneously.
Since this is reality and not a game, there’s no phenomenon where buffs overwrite or cancel each other out.

All these stacked support skills are further amplified thanks to the Musician’s skill, which doubles their effects again.

Powerful support skills that can normally only be applied to oneself—being able to use them all solo is kind of cheating.

As the finishing touch, I enchant my weapon with the element that seems most effective against this opponent: ice.

Normally, shouting or roaring would alert monsters, making a sneak attack impossible.
But this time, I have the Thief’s support skill “Silent War”.

Just as its description says, it silenced even my war cry completely.

Next, instead of using my strongest possible move, I deliberately select “Gale Break.”

Why? Because although it’s a slashing technique, it’s classified as a ranged attack—
which means “Emperor Eye” applies.

And since the next attack is guaranteed to crit, the damage will be 1.5x for sure.

Critical hits are always calculated last, after all other modifiers.
That’s why boosting it has more impact than it sounds.

If I pull this off while stacking this many buffs—
I should be able to massively weaken even a powerful opponent like this in one strike.

And then…

“Ancient Sword: Argus Nifty”

• An ancient, massive greatsword.
• Slower skill activation motion, but doubles attack power.
• Normal attacks consume both MP and HP.
• Boasts extremely high attack power.

I’ve got training as both a mercenary and a warrior, so I can wield massive swords like this.

If you’re putting everything into one blow, speed doesn’t matter.

“Alright… here we go!”

I ready the enormous greatsword, longer than my own height, low by my hip.

It’s so heavy it scrapes the ground, but I don’t care.

Even if my elbows scream and my clenched hands reach their limit, I refuse to let go of this massive, half-broken sword.

Dragging it across the floor, I use every ounce of strength in both upper and lower body to swing with everything I’ve got.
The greatsword releases a massive Gale Break, packed with all my support skills, and I slam the blow directly into the sleeping dragon’s wing.

The force is so great it tears through the floor as the sword aura rushes forward.

The aftershock of the swing leaves my whole body tingling slightly.
My hands feel dull and warm, as if blood is flooding into them.

I stare at the dragon I struck, watching for a reaction.

“…No response?”

A moment later—just as I aimed—the dragon’s left wing is severed, crashing to the ground with a heavy impact I can clearly hear.

But the next moment—the dragon’s enormous body disintegrates into particles of light, vanishing completely.

In other words… I killed it instantly?!

“No way… I always figured I’d end up the strongest eventually, but…”

And this is where I’m at now.

Sure, I had time to prepare, and my gear is optimized for a one-hit kill.
But if we’re just talking about that first strike…

Am I already the strongest of all characters…?

“…No, if it were against people, I’d definitely lose to a few of them.”

I’m still not strong enough.
Reminding myself of that, I head over to check the items dropped by that massive creature.
I can already see something lying there from here…! I hope it’s some amazing item!

Reminiscence: Someone’s Journey
“Memories from somewhere different, with no meaning here.”
“An irregular manifestation born of being caught up in an anomaly.”
“Could be called a failed creation or a memento of a journey’s beginning.”

What the…?
Lying there was a strange, incomprehensible item — a large shard of glass.
The description doesn’t make much sense either.
Still… it looked beautiful, like a piece of art.

…Is this one of those collector’s items?

“Is this another effect of the dungeon anomaly…?”

I reached out toward the thing — too big to just be called a shard of glass.

At that moment, for just an instant, a vision — someone else’s memory — flashed through my mind.
It was too brief to make out any details, but I definitely felt it — someone’s memories.

Someone’s… journey?

“…Somewhere different from here, huh.”

Somehow, I felt like I had started to grasp a faint understanding of this dungeon — of how this world works.
This world… maybe it’s being managed from the outside?

From everything I’ve seen and heard, I can’t help but think that.

“Well, not like there’s anything I can do about that.”

No point thinking about things that won’t change.

Anyway… time to move on. To the forty-sixth floor!

Not turning back here means I intend to clear up to floor fifty and fully conquer the dungeon today.
The royal palace might contact me tomorrow, so I want to finish this now.

Next to the dragon’s drop lies the staircase leading down.

I begin descending toward the final five floors.

“What the—!? What even is this dungeon…!”

The final change in scenery was just… bizarre.

It wasn’t a dungeon anymore.

No wide corridors or towering ceilings — just an indoor space.

Before me stretched a corridor that looked like something straight out of sci-fi — mechanical, yet polished, like a high-tech research facility.

It felt almost like a secret base — and I couldn’t help but feel a little excited.

But this place lies beneath that previous “demon lord castle”-like floor.

Why is something so vastly beyond this world’s level of technology hidden in the deepest part of the dungeon!?

“…No enemies. The map… it’s just a straight path.”

No longer a dungeon — just a straight corridor.

Even the stairs leading down weren’t yawning holes like before, but looked like something from a commercial building.

I kept descending, and still, it was just a straight path.
No enemies appeared at all.

It made me wonder if the forty-fifth floor was actually the dungeon’s true final stage.

But… it’s almost over.

I kept walking down the empty corridors and stairs — and now, even though I’m on the fiftieth floor, the hallway just continues.

From the map, it seems the hallway ends at a single room.

“…Even the door looks futuristic.”

A door awaited me at the end of the corridor.
What lies beyond?

With my heartbeat growing louder, I took one step at a time, slowly advancing toward it—

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