Kays Translations

Chapter 21: Room-type Dungeon

Hyde decided to challenge the F-ranked dungeon, “Graveyard of the Bone Soldiers,” on his own.

Originally, he had planned to go to the “Goblin’s Nest” again, just like the previous day, but it seems there was some leeway before the dungeon’s collapse, perhaps because he had defeated a significant number of monsters the day before, and the request notice was not posted.

One of the important tasks of the guild is to determine the priority of requests based on the saturation of monsters in all the dungeons managed by the branch, and to issue request notices in that order.

(Still, it seems that a complete prevention of the collapse is not possible.)

Even in the guild-managed dungeons, including the recent Dark Dungeon, it is not possible to prevent the collapse.

This is due to the simple fact that there are not enough adventurers challenging high-difficulty dungeons, and some dungeons have monsters’ saturation levels set by the floor, making it difficult to measure the time before a collapse occurs.

And above all, human error can happen anywhere.

(I want to level up quickly and be able to challenge higher-ranked dungeons.)

With such thoughts in mind, Hyde arrived at his destination.

“Graveyard of the Bone Soldiers” is located on the outskirts of the lord’s capital, Sentritz.

It stands in a place off the main road, in what should be a barren plain, with a solitary structure.

Surrounded by walls similar in design to the castle walls that enclose the lord’s capital, there was a single door.

When he opened that door, a crack in space appeared inside.

Without hesitation this time, he jumped into the light, and the scenery changed.

Unlike yesterday, this time he found himself in an open space.

It looked like a western-style cemetery, often seen in foreign dramas, with several tombstones lined up on a grassy ground.

It almost felt like being outdoors, but the clouds in the night sky above were not moving even the slightest.

In such an open area, there should have been wind blowing from somewhere, but none could be felt.

(This is a room-type dungeon.)

Since he was challenging it solo, he compared it with the dungeon’s characteristics he had previously heard from the receptionist.

The “Goblin’s Nest” that he explored with Helene was classified as an exploration-type dungeon. It was characterized by narrow, winding corridors, and to defeat the monsters, one had to move around a lot.

And this time, the room-type dungeon is one that consists of a single vast space.

Instead of requiring exploration, monsters continuously attack without pause.

(This sky, and the distant view, it’s all fake… it’s a strange feeling.)

Even the [All-seeing god’s eye] recognizes that this vast space is not outdoors, but a gigantic room.

And it quickly sensed the appearance of “it.”

“It’s here.”

The ground began to bulge, and with the sound of bones scraping, humanoid skeletons emerged from the earth.

Skeletons. These are the monsters that spawn in this dungeon and are the targets for this request’s extermination.

As one skeleton appeared, others followed, surrounding Hyde. There were already six in sight, but the [All-seeing god’s eye] detected several dozen more presences beneath the ground.

It didn’t seem like this dungeon was anywhere near the same difficulty as the “Goblin’s Nest,” but behind him was the crack in space for his return—what they called a portal.

While there were many monsters to face in a single battle, he could keep his distance from the exit and fight. That was one of the major features of room-type dungeons.

“But, that doesn’t really matter, does it?”

Despite possessing great power, Hyde couldn’t help people in the way he wanted, so he would defeat monsters as Shou.

Having decided that, the task here was to annihilate the monsters for as long as time allowed.

“—Ha!”

He kicked off the ground, closing the distance to the first skeleton.

Before the skeleton could even move its sword-wielding arm, Hyde’s swinging punch shattered its torso.

With the sound of bones breaking, the corpse crumbled and disappeared.

Without even watching it disappear, Hyde immediately turned around and delivered a kick to the approaching skeleton.

“…? What is this feeling?”

As he continued to knock down the advancing skeletons according to the movements guided by the [Guidance of the Martial god], Hyde felt a subtle sense of unease.

The next movement indicated by the [Guidance of the Martial god] became clear to him before it was even shown…

Somehow, with this strongest skill, it felt like it was telling him what to do next, that kind of sensation.

“Am I… getting used to it?”

At first, he was simply being swept along by the skill, but after using it continuously for days, his body was starting to catch up.

Hyde formed this hypothesis.

“—Well then, that works out perfectly!”

Hyde gathered even more strength into his whole body and leaped toward the skeleton that had been aiming a bow from afar.

　◆ ◆ ◆

“Hey, Helene.”

As I returned to the guild hall with a leather bag full of skeleton mana stones, I spotted Helene in the empty lobby.

When I called out to her, Helene immediately smiled and stood up.

“Shou, did you just arrive?”

“No, I just got back from the dungeon. Oh, by the way, I leveled up to E rank. Thanks to the many goblins we defeated together yesterday, Helene.”

While saying this, Hyde pulled out the leather bag containing the mana stones from his pocket and showed them to Helene.

“I-I see, that’s great. Yeah, I thought you’d make it, Shou.”

“Did you just arrive, Helene?”

“Yeah. I was thinking about heading into the dungeon soon.”

“Good luck with that… Anyway, I’ll go report the request now.”

After a brief conversation, Hyde handed the mana stones to the receptionist.

The receptionist gave him a suspicious look.

“Excuse me, Shou-sama. Did you acquire these mana stones in just one day?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“…Just to let you know, while it is true that upon ranking up to D rank, you are granted privileges such as exemption from toll fees, it also comes with the obligation to regularly take on requests of the same rank.”

“I understand.”

“…In that case, there is nothing more to explain from our side. Thank you for your work on the request. We will process it immediately.”

With that, the receptionist took the mana stones and went to the back. She soon returned with the reward in hand.

(With this much, I should be able to buy some new equipment.)

When combined with yesterday’s reward, the amount had become quite substantial.

To be honest, I could fight without equipment, but it’s always better to have it.

With a more powerful weapon, I could defeat stronger enemies, and most importantly, do so in a shorter time.

Since the time I can spend acting as Shou is limited, efficiency is necessary.

“But I don’t even know any weapon shops…”

I wonder if there are any shops open late at night.

While putting the reward in my pocket, Hyde started to worry when Helene approached him.

“Is something wrong?”

“Well, I was thinking of getting some equipment, but I’m not familiar with the shops in Sentritz. Do you have any recommendations?”

“Don’t you live in Sentritz, Shou?”

“Ahaha, well… yeah…”

Hyde, with a vague smile, tried to dodge the question. Meanwhile, Helene appeared to be thinking deeply.

After a moment, she hesitantly spoke up.

“Well, how about I introduce you to the shop I go to?”

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