Chapter 9: The Resurrected Nightmare

The next morning, the shrill cry of Mamezou could be heard. As usual, when Yuzuma woke up, he frowned.

"…That's strange. I thought I sealed the hole."

He got out of bed, put on his down coat, and headed to the yard. Mamezou was indeed barking at the spot where the hole had been.

"What's wrong, Mamezou? Is there something—"

At that moment, Yuzuma couldn't help but grimace at the sight before him. The hole he had filled was gaping open again.

"Hey! What the heck!?"

He hurriedly peered into the hole and saw

I

T

there. It was a trembling metal slime.

"Does it reset every day even if I fill the hole!? What the heck. I went through so much trouble to fill it..."

Yuzuma slumped and squatted down. If filling the hole was meaningless, this dungeon would remain this way forever.

He picked up the continuously barking Mamezou and took him back into the house. But the barking didn't stop. Whether in the living room or in Yuzuma's room, Mamezou showed no signs of quieting down.

Even when he took Mamezou to the opposite side of the yard, he continued barking towards the back yard.

Is that slime emitting some kind of evil aura?

Finally, his mother, who was making breakfast, scolded him, "What are you doing! You're bothering the neighbors!"

Reluctantly, Yuzuma returned to the hole to deal with the metal slime.

◇◇◇

"Whyyyyy! Why do I have to keep fighting that worthless slime every day!"

Yuzuma slammed his face on the desk, venting his anger, but he couldn't think of a way to stop Mamezou from barking.

While lamenting the unfairness, he suddenly noticed the drawer of his desk.

He took out the "magic ore" dropped by the metal slime from his desk, lifted it to his eyes, and examined it closely.

It was about two centimeters in size, not a perfect sphere but an oval, glossy black metal.

"I think it strengthens the body... If I can't sell it, maybe I should use it."

However, he didn't know how to use it specifically, so he searched on his smartphone as usual.

"…Do I just swallow it? It says, 'Make sure to disinfect it before eating,' but is that okay?"

Magic gems and magic ores are said to be broken down in the body when swallowed, allowing the use of magic.

But Yuzuma was drawn to a line written below.

*However, a person who swallows a magic gem must have a higher 'Mana' than the gem.

If 'Mana' is insufficient, the magic gem will not be broken down in the body and will be expelled through the digestive system.

"‘Mana’... I've heard it a few times, but I don't really understand it."

Yuzuma scratched his head and searched again for "dungeon, Mana."

"What's this, about the formation of dungeons and the discovery of Mana?"

It was a site written about dungeon research, with a long text.

Yuzuma skimmed through it, skipping parts here and there.

Summarizing the content—

Seven years ago, dungeons appeared all over the world, and the military of various countries conducted internal investigations.

Inside, there were diverse creatures that did not exist on the surface, and they were highly aggressive, often clashing and fighting with the military.

After a year of investigation, it was discovered that when unknown creatures were defeated, their bodies would crumble into sand-like particles and disappear.

Occasionally, they would leave behind "gems."

The creatures could not leave the dungeon.

The deeper one went into the dungeon, the more powerful the creatures became.

One of the most important findings was the changes in the bodies of soldiers who had been active in the dungeon for a long time. They emitted a small amount of electromagnetic waves similar to radiation.

Since these waves were also present inside the dungeon, it was thought that prolonged exposure to the dungeon affected the human body.

However, further investigation revealed that there wasn't necessarily a correlation with the time spent in the dungeon. The number of creatures defeated was the key factor.

Soldiers who defeated more creatures or stronger individuals were found to emit higher concentrations of electromagnetic waves.

When this was made public, it caused a significant reaction, especially online, with people comparing it to experience points in a game.

However, in reality, whether the electromagnetic waves increased or not, they had no positive or negative effects on the human body. Many people were disappointed, but an event occurred that changed the situation.

It happened three years after the discovery of the dungeons.