“Ki! Ki!”
Two black bats approached me from the sky. Facing two different types of monsters right after entering the second floor, I must be unlucky. I once again contemplated whether I used up all my luck obtaining the spatial magic skill scroll.
Black bats seem to have moderate attack and durability. Despite not being very swift, their flying nature makes them challenging to hit. From a distance, they flew irregularly at around 4 meters high. It’s difficult to reach them with melee weapons, and long-range attacks like guns or magic are challenging to hit them with unless you’re used to aiming upwards. I’m not confident in hitting them with anything other than 【Light Shotgun】.
“【Light Shotgun】,【Light Shotgun】!”
Taking the initiative, I shot light pellets towards the sky while there was still some distance between us. Since I’m not yet accustomed to battling them, I need to finish at least one of them off quickly and get into a one-on-one situation.
Since I set the range to be a bit wider, the light bullets spread out more than usual. Despite overlapping two spells, the density of the bullets decreased due to the distance.
As a result, one bat wasn’t hit, but the other one seemed to have its wings pierced and fell to the ground. It’s still alive, but it can’t fly, making it almost combat ineffective.
Now, it’s a one-on-one situation.
“Ki!”
Perhaps angered by the loss of its companion, the remaining black bat continued its erratic flight, charging towards me from the sky. Casting a counter spell at the right moment is something that requires near perfect timing.
In that case, I’ll look to firmly block its attack with my shield before counterattacking. Its attack power should be lower than the horn rabbit, and if I position my shield correctly, I should be able to defend myself adequately.
Thinking so, I position my light shield facing the black bat. But just doing that seemed a bit too plain. What if, at the moment of impact, I forcefully slam the shield onto the black bat?
Carefully timing it, I slammed the shield forward as the bat approached. The unexpected impact seemed to catch the black bat off guard, and it fell to the ground with a scream. Whether it suffered a concussion or not, it wasn’t moving anymore.
It was an idea I came up with on the spot, but it seems to have worked.
“【Light Bullet】,【Light Bullet】!”
First, I dealt with the recently fallen black bat. As it was hit by【Light Bullet】it disintegrated into white particles, similar to the horn rabbit.
Next, I shot【Light Bullet】towards the other black bat struggling in the distance. For the sake of improving my aim, I intentionally killed it from a distance without getting closer.
However, the【Light Bullet】didn’t hit the black bat, but rather, landed quite a bit in front of it. Despite being around 30 meters away, hitting it was unexpectedly challenging.
“Hmm, I missed it. Let me adjust my aim…【Light Bullet】!”
The second【Light Bullet】flew towards the far end of the corridor. It’s quite… difficult to hit.
“…”
As much as I want to ensure their deaths, I also don’t want to prolong their suffering. I need to make sure the third shot hits.
“Lock-on… 【Light Bullet Snipe】!”
Aiming at the black bat in the center of the crosshair, I fired the light bullet. The bullet struck the black bat accurately, and it dissolved into white particles.
“Phew, I managed to do it.”
I successfully dealt with two black bats without much trouble. The key was getting to a one-on-one situation early on. If I had been late in discovering them, it might have been a tougher fight. I wish I had the 【Search】 skill… Well, maybe I’m asking for too much.
Now, let’s call it quits for today. It’s been less than two hours since I entered the dungeon, but considering the time spent inside, it’s already past noon. My stomach is starting to growl, and I would say it’s a good time to leave the dungeon.
As I check the results… huh?
“Wait, there’s something else over there…”
There’s a magic stone right beneath my feet and another one a bit further away. Those are probably the drops from the two black bats.
However, a bit further ahead, there are three more things lying on the ground. I aimed at them with the light bullet, but I didn’t see any monsters there…
“【Item Box Storage】”
Instead of bothering to pick them up one by one, I decided to collect them all at once and stored the fallen items into the Item Box. It was a considerable distance, but it seemed the mana consumption didn’t change much.
“Now, let’s go back.”
Staying here, I might encounter more black bats or horn rabbits. I’ll check my loot later and for now, quickly climb the stairs to the first floor.
“Phew, I’m tired.”
Returning safely to the gate plaza… I suddenly felt a rush of fatigue. This was my first dungeon, and there were so many unexpected events. Well thankfully, at least I’m not injured.
On my way back, I hunted three blue slimes. With that, I now have a total of nine blue slime magic stones. Since my pockets were getting quite heavy, I stored all of them in the Item Box.
And somehow, my mana recovered to about half of the maximum even as I continuously used magic, making it a bit unbelievable. Could it be that I have some kind of equipment that enhances natural mana regeneration?
Well, I’ll figure it out next time. For today, let’s leave it at that. Apparently, the loot from the dungeon can be exchanged somewhere inside for cash, so I’ll check my results later.
“【Item Box List】”
☆
– Blue Slime Magic Stone x9
– Horn Rabbit Magic Stone x1
– Black Bat Magic Stone x2
– Lucky Butterfly Magic Stone x1
– Equipment Gem (Red, Rank 1) x1
– Equipment Gem (Blue, Rank 5) x1
– Potion x1
☆
Hmm, there seems to be something quite ridiculous at the bottom of the list. It seems that the last item is a fantasy staple, a potion. In typical RPG games, it’s a low-level item that becomes useless by mid-game, but in a modern dungeon setting, things are different.
Potions here have incredibly powerful effects. Reports include things like “regrowing lost limbs,” “curing incurable diseases,” or “surviving fatal injuries.” These unbelievable stories have been confirmed as true, so the demand for potions is always incredibly high.
On the flip side, the supply is very limited. Getting two in a year is considered a lot. How do I know all this? Well, because it becomes national news if even one potion is produced. That’s how much attention potions get.
Therefore, potions are high-end items with a value of at least 10 million yen, but often much more. They also come with stories of robberies and unfortunate incidents where someone loses their life over them.
Well, let’s keep the potion in the Item Box just in case of a future crisis. Money is important, but it’s not more important than life.
Regaining my focus, I check the list of items in the Item Box.
“Lucky Butterfly, huh?”
I wonder if it dropped the potion and the Rank 5 Equipment Gem. It probably had some kind of stealth ability as I couldn’t see it. Wild to think that a monster like that was on the second floor.
Anyways, I’ll set aside the Rank 5 Equipment Gem for later use. How about selling the Lucky Butterfly magic stone? I’m just worried that defeating the Lucky Butterfly will be linked to the potion in some way. It’s been over two and a half years since dungeons were created, so there might be a previous record of someone defeating it. If there’s any mention of it dropping a potion…
Well, it’s better to keep it in the Item Box for now. My Item Box might become a secret filled with things I can’t reveal.
Speaking of secrets, I should probably keep【Space Magic】hidden as well. I don’t know how rare the skill is, but considering I received it as a gift for defeating the 1 millionth Blue Slime, it’s likely not a common skill. Since I apparently have an obligation to report my Gifts, I’ll only report【Qualification Master】.
But today, I used【Space Magic】without thinking. Even if there were other explorers, I barely even paid attention to check if there were any others. If someone was watching, they might have seen me using the Item Box to pick up the loot. This left me pondering whether I could ultimately reveal this skill or not.
Oh right, remembering【Qualification Master】made me remember that my Gift evolved. The enhanced effect of the Fundamental Information Technology Engineer is still not apparent, but now I can set up to two qualifications. I promptly also set my Class 2 Electrician qualification.
☆
Set: Class 2 Electrician
☆
Now I can use lightning magic next time.
Now, let’s see what I’ve got to sell. First, nine Blue Slime magic stones at 10 yen each, totaling 90 yen. Horn Rabbit and Black Bat magic stones are worth 100 yen each, totaling 300 yen. The Rank 1 Equipment Gem can be sold for 1000 yen.
The total comes to 1390 yen. I put all the items for sale in my pockets. Well, the money I’ll receive might cover my train fare and breakfast.
Now, it’s time to go through the gate and leave the dungeon. I really don’t like the feeling of passing through this purple haze…
—
Author’s Note:
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Thanks for the chapter
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