Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 68: Fifth-Rank Explorer ⑧
On the other side of the teleportation circle… was a stone wall. Naturally—it was inside a shrine.
As I exited the shrine, I could see mountains, forests, and a round, small pond in the landscape that resembled the outdoors.
It was a perfectly circular pond, like a hydrangea bloom.
And it wasn’t just one. There were countless ponds, spaced out with exquisite balance.
In the centre of each pond, there was a tall pole, so long you had to look up to see the top.
The poles were various colours—black, red, white, yellow, and more.
As I looked up, the sky at the tip of one pole shimmered and wavered unnaturally. What was that?
“This is the Six-Coloured Pools. The Healing Spring is nearby.”
“Um… this place is…”
“We’re at the bottom of the Great River.”
“Then… that sky is…”
“The Great River.”
“…We’re not underwater, are we?”
“No clue about that part. Dungeon mystery stuff.”
“Ah… I see.”
I accepted it. Well, there’s no point overthinking it.
But being at the bottom of the Great River did make sense.
After all, if you fall off the giant waterfall downstream, you go to the next floor, so it checks out.
Looking around, I saw other explorers scattered around the Six-Coloured Pools.
They were holding rods and dangling lines—were they fishing?
“You can fish here?”
“You can catch elemental fish here. But only six elements.”
“Elemental fish?”
“Yeah—like fire fish, water fish, stuff like that. The element itself takes the form of a fish. They taste strange but delicious. A specialty of the Water Dungeon. It’s been tested and proven—eating an elemental fish that matches your own attribute gives you a slight power boost. Just a little, though.”
“That’s amazing. I had no idea such fish even existed.”
“Yeah, because you can’t take elemental fish out of the Water Dungeon. If you try, they just turn into their element.”
“Huh…”
So there are ingredients you can only get inside the dungeon. Interesting.
The Healing Spring was located inside a forest. It had the same shape as the others.
No other explorers were resting there.
I checked it using the investigation kit—no abnormalities.
“All done?”
“Yes. Now I just need to report to the guild to complete the request.”
All the Healing Springs had no issues.
Whether or not people were using them, at least they were safe.
“Well then, I’ve got something I want your help with now.”
“Okay. Where are we going?”
“The 20th floor.”
“Uhh…”
Isn’t that a bit sudden? Bid-san picked up on my reaction.
“It’s fine. We’ll use a few teleportation circles—no trouble.”
“What’s the route?”
“Let’s see… first, we’ll drop down from here to the 7th floor. There’s a teleportation circle there we can use to jump to the 13th floor. Then we’ll descend to the 15th, and from there, enter another teleportation circle to reach the 20th floor.”
“That’s quite a bit of traveling.”
Still, it’s a lot better than walking the whole way.
Feels more like a puzzle, though.
“For Wof-kun and me, this’ll be a piece of cake.”
Bid-san gave a big grin and a thumbs up in her jumper-swimsuit outfit.
Oh—speaking of that…
“Um, Bid-san.”
“What is it?”
“How long are you planning to stay in your swimsuit?”
“Eh…?”
Bid-san looked down at herself—and froze. Her face turned bright red.
She hadn’t noticed?
“Eeep! T-This is so embarrassing!”
She crouched down immediately.
So she really didn’t realize… She pulled the jumper tightly around herself.
Then, after checking her surroundings, she rushed into a nearby grove in a panic.
When she came back out, she was properly dressed.
Her face still red with shame, she fidgeted as she spoke to me.
“S-Sorry you had to see something like that… I-I didn’t even notice…”
“We’ve been through a lot. It’s understandable.”
We really had been through a lot.
To be fair, I had only just noticed too.
“W-Well then! Let’s get going!”
“Right.”
And just like that, we reached the 20th floor.
“…That was surprisingly uneventful.”
“That knife of yours is totally cheating.”
“Well, I won’t deny it.”
I looked at the upgraded Agaro knife I was gripping.
We had encountered the water spirit dolls on the way down.
They’re humanoid monsters made entirely of water. The most hated enemies in the Water Dungeon.
Since they’re made of liquid, slashing or stabbing doesn’t do anything.
So your only options are to burn them with fire or destroy their core.
And because they’re water-based, they can regenerate if there’s water nearby.
Given time, even the core can regenerate.
And this entire dungeon is water-themed.
You don’t need an explanation to understand why these monsters are so despised here.
But this knife—cuts water.
Once severed, even if water gathers, the cut doesn’t heal.
Just like sliced flesh doesn’t reattach easily.
“Na!”
“Dagaa says that’s cheating too.”
“Na!”
He probably would say that.
I’ll run some proper tests on this knife once I get back.
“…So this is the 20th floor?”
“Yup.”
“…”
The 20th floor of the Water Dungeon… had nothing particularly interesting.
Just the same old dungeon maze made of stone walls, like always.
Brightly lit stone corridors branching endlessly in all directions.
Dead ends, empty rooms with no doors, small rooms with doors…
Pitfalls, arrow traps—standard stuff.
But the ceiling was a water surface, and the occasional drop of water would fall.
There were rest spots scattered around, with fountains, springs, or small waterfalls.
I followed behind Bid-san.
It was oddly quiet—no monsters, no other explorers.
“――Wof-kun, do Pakira and the others know you’re an explorer?”
She asked me suddenly.
“No, not yet. But I plan to tell them soon.”
“Then I’ll keep it secret too.”
“Thank you. By the way, it’s really quiet here.”
“This floor is always like this.”
“No monsters?”
“There are some. Occasionally, water spirit warriors or sword-wielders show up. But the 20th floor isn’t very popular. All the treasure chests have already been taken, it’s confusing, boring, plain… not worth the trouble. That, and there’s a shortcut from the 19th floor to the 25th.”
Ah… I get it now.
No wonder we haven’t seen a single explorer. It’s just that unpopular.
Honestly, I had been starting to suspect as much anyway.
“Is the Water Dungeon… unpopular, by any chance?”
When entering the Water Dungeon, the hole in the surface of the water was quite large.
The descending staircase was the same.
And yet, there were only a handful of explorers around.
Even on the 1st floor, I encountered many monsters before I met Bid-san.
On the 3rd floor shore, there were lots of boats, but most were left unused, and only a few explorers boarded them.
Even on the 6th floor, only a small number of people were fishing.
And along the route to the 20th floor—I barely saw any explorers.
Yet the tavern and general store at the fort ruins near the entrance had a decent amount of activity.
Though even then, it wasn’t what you’d call popular.
“…Yeah, it’s definitely not popular.”
Bid-san said with a wry smile.
“It’s the second least popular dungeon.”
“What’s the least popular?”
“The Fire Dungeon. That place’ll kill you.”
“Ahh… yeah, that makes sense. By the way, which one’s the most popular?”
“The Earth Dungeon. You can mine ores there.”
“Ah, so they sell for a lot?”
“That’s part of it. But the other reason is the Earth Golem Puppets.”
“Wait, are those elemental puppets in every dungeon?”
Bid-san nodded. That explained why the Earth Dungeon was so well-liked.
“They’re popular for a reason. Even if they’re super tough, physical attacks actually work on them. Unlike with fire, water, or wind.”
“Yeah… that does sound better. Oh, what about wind? How do you deal with that?”
“Best to just blow it away.”
“Ah, fight wind with wind, huh…”
I had only ever known the dungeon in the city.
So I’d made up my mind that once I became an explorer, I’d go to other dungeons too.
Now, that little dream was starting to sting a bit with the cold, sad reality.
“We’re here.”
Ahead of her stood a stone wall.
Small stone blocks were stacked tightly like bricks, leaving no gaps.
And that was it. A classic dead end.
“…?”
Then Bid-san crouched down and laid herself flat against the floor.
I watched in surprise, wondering what she was doing.
She reached out with her small hand toward the largest and bulkiest stone block at the base of the wall—
And moved it.
It moved.
A block that looked far too massive to budge with one hand slid aside.
It left a gaping hole—just big enough for a person to crawl through.
“Surprised? That block is a lot lighter than it looks.”
“A hidden passage?”
“Yup. Follow me.”
“Okay.”
With that, Bid-san crawled into the hole.
At that moment, I saw… her rear almost get stuck at the edge of the hole.
“This way!”
“Yes…”
I crawled in after her—slipping through easily.
On the other side of the wall… what is this place?
First, I felt the damp air.
Then I saw stone pillars in the distance. It was a chamber—fairly spacious.
All around were rusted swords, rusted armour, and cracked leather shields, piled up haphazardly.
In mounds—wait, this is…
As I stood speechless, Bid-san grinned and said:
“Welcome! To the Water Dungeon’s hidden trash heap!”
“…Uh, wow…”
Hidden trash heap? What even is that?