Chapter 219

An indescribable sense of unease and impatience.

Melancholy and nostalgia.

Loneliness and heartache.

A vague question lingering in my mind—is it really okay for me to be here?

A feeling of isolation that seems like it won’t heal until someone finally finds me.

An overwhelming urge to go back somewhere.

As if someone were telling me, this isn’t where you belong.

An atmosphere akin to alienation filled my chest.

The sepia-toned scenery felt as though it were rejecting me.

Even if it makes me feel like this… why am I in this world—

“Shizuma.”

“!? W-What—Sheele?”

Suddenly, Sheele grabbed my hand, snapping my thoughts back into focus.

I could feel the emotions, the atmosphere, the whirlpool of thoughts I’d been caught in until just moments ago rapidly fading away.

Looking closer, I saw that Sheele was holding my left hand with her right, and Melt’s right hand with her left.

“Both of you, please listen. This dungeon seems to be a place you progress through by solving a puzzle. After hearing what the woman supervising the dungeon told us, I gave it some thought. And it seems… I’m extremely compatible with this dungeon.”

“W-What? All of a sudden my chest started hurting, I felt like I was going to cry, and I got scared…”

“Same here. Sheele, what was that just now? Why do I feel fine all of a sudden?”

“Because we’re holding hands. This is probably a very simple mechanism, originally. Anyone would feel anxious if they were suddenly thrown alone into an unfamiliar place. That feeling was likely amplified to the extreme. Normally, the solution would be obvious. But being an explorer doesn’t allow for it—so the method was never established.”

“So just holding hands is enough…? How did you figure that out?”

“After listening to the dungeon’s details and thinking through possible solutions one by one… everything seemed to connect. Shizuma, please take Melt’s free hand with your other hand and form a circle.”

“Huh? Okay then—Melt, let’s hold hands.”

“Sure! What happens now, I wonder? Do the three of us spin around in a circle?”

“Hehe, it’s like Kagome Kagome. Actually, this is where the idea came from. I thought, maybe monsters won’t appear if we’re in this formation. We’re always facing outward. If so, we should be able to move without any issues.”

“I see… Monsters suddenly appearing from nowhere, then retreating when you turn your back on them—creatures like that wouldn’t exist in a normal environment. It really is just another dungeon gimmick, huh?”

“Exactly. And if we’re going to maintain this formation, holding hands is the most efficient way. Then, if we’re connected to someone, we might also be able to overcome the loneliness and anxiety. It seems my guess was correct.”

“Then… the other dungeon traits must have meaning too, right?”

“Yes. Next… I believe this dungeon likely has no natural end. Even if we investigate this floor, the same scenery will probably repeat endlessly. I think we won’t be able to proceed unless certain conditions are met.”

“Hey, hey—then maybe if we stay like this, something will change? If we move forward slowly together, we might be able to advance!”

“I considered that too, but the only thing that clearly exists here besides the identical scenery… is that, isn’t it?”

As she said that, she turned only her head to look behind us.

There stood the gigantic tree we’d entered through—the massive trunk still gaping open, its hollow forming a hole that looked unsettling at first glance.

Though there was no sound, it almost felt as if a wind were blowing from within, as if the hollow were trying to draw people in.

Anyone overwhelmed by anxiety would probably rush straight back there, unable to properly explore the dungeon before escaping outside.

“In this state, monsters won’t appear, and we can calmly examine our surroundings. Or rather, it’s possible that, just as Melt suggested, being in this state itself is the condition for breaking through.”

“…Alright. I’ll use my Divine Eye to check this area.”

With this ability, which could discern not only the details of objects but also hidden information in the terrain itself—

If there were some secret tied to an object in this mysterious dungeon, I should be able to see it.

‘Gate of the Polar Tree’
‘A gate to another realm that resonates with the hearts of those who pass through.’
‘It observes those who pass through with intelligence.’

…I see. Looks like there was no need to search after all.

This is probably also the entrance to the next floor.

“Let’s return to the entrance while staying in this formation. That should take us to the next level.”

“Ooh! What a strange dungeon! Going back lets you move forward!”

“So it really is the type where you must solve the riddle before the conditions are met. Very well—let’s proceed like this.”

Forming a circle of three, we crab-walked and back-stepped our way toward the hollow of the giant tree.

Yeah… considering normal dungeon logic, it’s no wonder no one ever reached the next floor.

No one would ever think to try something like this.

We entered the hollow and passed straight through it.

If our prediction was right, we shouldn’t exit outside—we should arrive at the next floor—

“There’s an exit! It’s not outside! And it’s not raining!”

“You’re right—we’re still inside the dungeon. As for whether it’s the same place as before…”

“No way to tell. Let’s try letting go of each other—”

No—don’t let go.

Letting go of hands this delicate, lovely, and beautiful…

I want to stay like this forever.

Together with the two of them—anywhere, forever.

Suddenly, emotions surged up from my chest.

Affection. A desperate desire not to let go.

As long as we’re together, that’s enough.

I truly believed that, from the bottom of my heart.

I looked at the faces of the two beside me.

Sheele’s cheeks were flushed, her eyes more moist than usual as she gazed at me with a heated look.

As if she felt the same, her grip on my hand tightened.

Our fingers intertwined. The distance between us closed.

“Stop—! Hey! Hey!”

At that moment, Melt suddenly shoved Sheele and me apart.

She moved out of reach—

“Huh!? W-What was that just now!?”

“This is—! Shizuma! Please equip gear with resistance to mental-type status effects!”

“Roger! I see… Melt was safe because she had that equipped.”

We’d been on the brink of serious danger.

But thanks to Melt—who hadn’t suffered any mental abnormalities—we were saved.

‘Memories of the Blue Sea (Ultimate)’
Top-tier version of the 2024 Accessory Design Contest Grand Prize

• Damage Resistance +20%
• Status Ailment Resistance +50%
• Stamina Consumption −10%
• HP Regeneration +1% / 10s
• Magic Reflection Chance +20%
• Critical Hit Chance Nullification 20%

An accessory I’d given her before.

Thanks to its effects, even if she was hit by a status ailment, the effect would be halved.

It was probably a type of charm—an abnormal status that affected the mind.

But because its effect was reduced by half, Melt noticed something was wrong with Sheele and me.

Since I had plenty in stock, I took out an identical accessory and tossed it to Sheele.

If I got too close carelessly, I might be charmed again.

I swapped out my Skeleton Cuffs of Silence and equipped the same bracelet she had.

A short distance away, Sheele removed her Ring of the Broken Oath and replaced it with the bracelet as well.

In situations like this, having a Thief-type sub-job like Seim’s—letting you equip up to three accessories—really is advantageous.

I’d once tried equipping a second accessory myself, but its effect hadn’t activated.

Which probably means our bodies are bound by the rules of this world…

“Shizuma, I’m going to approach you slowly now. This will also serve as an experiment to see how effective the accessory is.”

“Got it. Melt, could you come close too, just in case? If we start acting strange again, I want you to shove us apart.”

“O-Okay! I’ll give you a good push, so be careful!”

Sheele and Melt approached.

Earlier, Sheele and I had clearly been in an abnormal state.

Honestly, if Melt hadn’t been there… things could’ve gone very, very wrong.

“Hm… it doesn’t feel much different than usual. Perhaps the halving effect reduces it to almost nothing, or maybe this influence is calculated separately from natural affection and pulls our actions along with that. I normally love both of you very much, so what I’m feeling now is perfectly normal.”

“I love you both too! So yeah—feels the same as always!”

“…Well, I love you both too. You’re my precious family.”

Saying it out loud again is really embarrassing…!

It’s one thing with Melt, but hearing it face-to-face with Sheele makes me especially flustered.

“Still, making people stick close together on the first floor, only to do this the moment they move on… that’s quite malicious.”

“Yeah. Maybe this time it’s the opposite of before—staying together might make bad things happen… like monsters suddenly appearing.”

“That’s quite possible. For now, let’s explore this floor separately. Fortunately, this area is also just a sparse woodland with good visibility.”

“Got it! Well then, um… if the weather never changes, we can’t really tell how much time has passed, can we? We should’ve bought a watch or something.”

“That’s true… yeah, it probably would be better to have a watch.”

“Hm… indeed. If we’re going to challenge dungeons, it’s something we’ll need.”

“Then when we get back to the village, let’s see if any are for sale. For now, I’ll go take a look around by myself, so I’d like you two to stay near this entrance, keep some distance between you, and investigate while remaining within visual range of each other.”

If this floor was like the first one, then perhaps acting alone would allow us to fulfill some kind of condition.

Thinking that, I left the two of them near the entrance and headed toward the thicket visible from here for the time being.

“At a glance, it’s just a grove… or maybe a forest? It really doesn’t feel like being inside a dungeon.”

Even when I activated Divine Eye, there were no objects reacting to it, nor was there any response from the terrain.

In other words, it was nothing more than an utterly ordinary space.

No monsters appeared. At the same time, there were no particularly unusual objects either.

Just as I was thinking that—

In this ‘dungeon that looks like autumn and nothing else’, where dead leaves were piled thick, there came a faint rustling sound as dry leaves brushed against each other.

A soft kasakasa—a sound reminiscent of human footsteps—was approaching, despite there being no presence or visible figure.

It sounded as if an invisible person were running straight toward me.

“…Here!”

I swung my sword.

Guided by the sound drawing closer, I slashed through empty space.

There was no solid resistance—but unmistakably, a black liquid flowed along my blade from the seemingly empty air.

The black liquid ran down the sword, reached the guard, and dripped onto the ground.

To me, it felt like some kind of blood.

“…A black stain is spreading through the air…?”

From the tip of the sword, it spread into the surrounding space, and little by little, the stain began to take on a single shape.

Something like a human form.

However, its head was abnormally long and branched, as though a dead tree were growing out of a human body—an utterly grotesque figure.

“—! What the hell is this… it’s way too creepy.”

Divine Eye read the true nature of the now-motionless aberration.

‘Farewell Branch Aberration’

• “A malformed tree sapling said to grow beside the spirit plant Farewell Grass.”
• “It remembers the form of the last living creature that touched it, grows, and evolves until it can move on its own.”
• “An extremely dangerous entity that devours creatures it touches in order to increase its numbers.”
• “After the last creature it touched escaped, it was on the verge of dying, but with its remaining strength it launched a final attack on its prey—”
• “—and then perished.”

“…Is this a kind of monster? What an unsettling creature… I wonder if the two of them are okay.”

I didn’t think they would lose, but I hurried back the way I came.

It was fine—there was no map display, but as I walked, I had actually been dropping real breadcrumbs onto the ground.

Unlike in a dream, Melt hadn’t been picking them up either.

“You two—! Did anything strange happen!?”

“Welcome back! Nothing at all! We were just collecting leaves!”

“It seems like there aren’t any living creatures in this dungeon! Not even insects!”

When I returned to the entrance, the two of them were still keeping their distance and loudly reporting the situation.

Hmm… normally you’d expect insects hiding under fallen leaves, but if there aren’t even any of those, then this really is a dungeon—some kind of otherworld.

The common sense of nature doesn’t apply here.

“Only one creepy monster showed up on my side! I defeated it, so maybe something’s changed!”

“Oh! Then should we try entering the entrance separately this time?”

“Let’s give it a try! It might be that, aside from defeating monsters, splitting up is actually the correct solution to begin with!”

I see. Normally, you’d probably end up sticking together and moving as a group the whole time.

So it’s possible that breaking apart is one of the conditions.

And maybe that monster was… a penalty for straying too far from your companions?

After all, Melt and Sheele had stayed within visual range of each other.

We headed back toward the hollow of the giant tree—the hole that served as the entrance—once again, this time while remaining separated.

Would we be able to reach the next floor safely…?