Chapter 13 – Into a New Dungeon
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Who would ever want to walk through a boring life? People want to die while holding onto small fragments of happiness after having weathered through a stormy life full of ups and downs, just to ultimately perish like a flower scattering in the wind.
After coming home, I had fallen asleep with the lights still on, and even now that I had slept like a baby, my right arm still hurt from using 『Hidden Blade – Dragon Eater』. It was a sensation as if I had a severe muscle ache. But, it’s not like I can’t use my arm at all, let alone having a serious injury.
Rising from the bed, I grabbed my smartphone. Then I sluggishly called the staff room of my high school.
“Yes. I got slightly injured…I’ll go to the hospital, so I won’t be able to attend school today.”
“Kurase-kun, are you alright? Your family isn’t nearby either, so…”
“It’s okay, I’m used to it by now. Have a nice day.”
“Y-Yes…Kurase-kun? I wonder…are you truly okay…ever since…umm, your mother died. I feel like you have changed somewhat…”
“…Please excuse me then.”
“Y-Yes, get well soon.”
Only a monotonous beeping could be heard from the smartphone after I hung up.
Anyway, I guess I’ll go and look for dungeons.
｡ ₊°༺🫀༻°₊ ｡
Putting on clothes that allow for easy movement, I finished all my preparations, and then I looked for dungeons by activating 『Seeking Camera』. However, that method was quite inefficient. It’d be nice if there existed another way to find dungeons.
I continued searching my neighborhood, but it seemed as if dungeons were kind of rare, seeing how I had so much trouble finding one.
After going back home to take a break, I pointed my smartphone towards my backyard for some reason or another, just to spot a violet whirlpool in the backyard of my own home.
“A backyard after a telephone pole, huh…?”
Before pressing the button to Enter, I looked at the details by pressing on Information. A 『D-Class Dungeon』, huh?
If I take into account that I’m owning a magic sword with Dragon Eater, I feel like I might actually be able to handle it. At the very least, I doubt an E-Class dungeon will be much of a challenge for me. Or rather, maybe I have no choice but to use it to raise my level.
In the evening I checked my stats after having killed her.
Player: Kurase Hirotatsu
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Height: 174 cm
Weight: 62.3 kg
Level: 26
Acquired Skills: 『Understanding of Hand-to-Hand Combat』, 『Intuition』
Titles: 『Daredevil』, 『Insurrector』, 『Natural Combat Genius』 『Hidden Blade User』
SP: 50 pt.
“My level…went up by five, huh? And…”
I tapped on the new title 『Hidden Blade User』 I obtained.
Title 『Hidden Blade User』
Given to one who has reached one of the limits of swordsmanship. Reduces the acquisition cost of skills related to Weapon Type: Sword.
“This…might be the strongest title thus far.”
｡ ₊°༺🫀༻°₊ ｡
While staring at the skill list on the game screen, I checked the skills which had their SP cost reduced. How to put it…? Back when I had acquired the Hidden Blade skill as I was forced by necessity to do so, but I basically had no reason to not have it as it’s beneficial for me.
Maybe Hidden Blade skills aren’t all that easy to obtain. Very likely they require quite a few preconditions to learn. But, I was able to skip all of those steps because I obtained the magic sword 『Uchigatana Dragon Eater』 and I was able to use the abilities of my titles to their maximum.
I thought about the 『qualities』 mentioned by Venom. I didn’t have time to properly think it over on that day because she suddenly attacked me, but I suspect that my qualities are related to close combat. Moreover, I don’t think I have any talent for magic. I mean, all of the magic skills cost a lot. It might be fine to get one skill or such, but I feel like it’ll be okay to leave magic aside for a good while.
Using the 50 SP for a skill related to swordsmanship in some way, I picked a certain passive skill.
Passive Skill
『Barrier Coating』
Requires 30 SP
It deploys a barrier that covers your whole body. Raises stamina depending on your level. In case the barrier is destroyed, you will need to wait for three minutes to redeploy the barrier.
Last night I used my Hidden Blade skill on Venom. The sound of shattering glass I heard at that time was likely connected to this 『Barrier Coating』 being penetrated. It looks like this skill is powerful enough to label it as indispensable. Or to be more precise, it’s the only skill recommended to be obtained in the entire manual.
As soon as I got it, a dim, deep blue glow enveloped my body. It’s a reassuring skill to have since it’ll apparently absorb a certain extent of attacks for you. Unfortunately, I cannot expect any defensive capabilities from the clothes I’m wearing. It seems like defense gear exists as well, but I don’t know whether I’ll be able to get my hands on it, so it’s a safer bet to get this skill.
I mean, it’s not like you get asked Continue? if you die. Dead means dead. Being too scared and self-conscious is bad, but so is freaking out.
I decided to keep the remaining 20 SP and was about to step into a dungeon once again.
On the game screen, a dungeon vortex was shown in my backyard. No sooner than me pressing the Enter button with absolute certainty, my body got wrapped up in light.
｡ ₊°༺🫀༻°₊ ｡
She watched him enter the vortex in the garden of his house during broad daylight after not having gone to school despite being a student. She had constantly hidden herself near his house, watching his every action, but now she picked up her smartphone as she had an incoming call.
“Yes, Amamiya Satoha speaking.”
The one calling her apparently wasn’t her elder sister, the acting family head. An old, hoarse voice blared at her through the phone’s speaker.
“Satoha, your report was forwarded to the entire DS management. Your news about the PK incident, the player who kept PKing others for two weeks straight, and the magic sword-wielding player who killed the PKer.”
“Thanks for reading it. Currently I’m continuing my surveillance of the magic sword-wielder as ordered, but how may I help you? I investigated the entire site of the incident, but he merely slew the PKer in self-defense. I don’t think that he has been involved in PKing himself.”
The old man of the main family, whom her sister hated with a tee, sharply shot down Satoha’s honest explanation.
“I know all of that. If he had been an ordinary person, we’d have left him alone, but he’s a magic sword-wielder. We want to somehow get our hands on that sword. Bring him to Amamiya under the pretext of performing a questioning.”
Satoha furrowed her eyebrows at the old man believing that he could get his hands so easily on a magic sword, an item of high rank. Any regular Occult Slayer would probably turn this request down, claiming it as impossible.
But, she was in no position to refuse. That’s because she was a soulless doll whose fate was already set.
“What should I do in case he refuses?”
“Suppress him. Re…the acting family head allowed you to arm yourself for this very reason. Do you understand? Pass the next report directly to me. There’s no need to bother the acting family head with this.”
The call was cut off with a cracking sound. And even though she sighed deeply, she had no right to say no. She planned to first try to persuade him with the questioning excuse, but he was a player enjoying his freedom. In all likelihood he’d resist her.
It was necessary to learn more about his way of fighting to suppress him without suffering any injuries.
With that decided, Satoha expanded a magic circle in the backyard of Kurase’s home and stepped into the vortex, following him.
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