Chapter 89

Next, Milk used magic on the ghouls that appeared.

"Release: Holy Water Spray"

Oh, the ghouls are melting away.

This is kind of creepy.

Just as I thought—

"What's this, the air suddenly feels heavy—something is approaching. Be on your guard."

I urged everyone to be cautious.

Everyone readied their weapons.

The first thing we saw was a rotten hand.

When that hand touched the dungeon wall, smoke rose from the point of contact.

Is the dungeon melting!?

A differently colored ghoul appeared.

This one, larger than the other ghouls, slowly approached us once it spotted us.

〔It's a Gaster—Ghoul's higher form. Really troublesome.〕

〔It breathes a deadly poison, and just being near it can kill you.〕

〔Its body is covered in corrosive acid, and touching it causes burns.〕

〔I have the data. Enemies like this usually appear around the sixteenth floor. Are they appearing on the second floor? That's a death sentence.〕

〔That Gaster is already melting and barely alive.〕

Yeah, before the comments could even flow, Milk's holy water had already defeated the Gaster.

Sorry, it was a dramatic entrance, but it just melted away once it was doused in holy water.

"Hey, let's hurry to the next floor."

"Sure, it must be just ahead."

The two princesses, who are afraid of zombies, were half-crying and pleading behind me.

For some reason, they looked cuter than usual, about thirty percent cuter.

I wanted to hug them, but I held back because we were being streamed.

As the princesses said, there were stairs leading underground where the Gaster appeared.

We moved to the third floor.

"Phew, I'm tired."

The princess, who hadn't done anything, sighed.

Well, I hadn't done anything either.

So, what kind of monsters will appear from here on?

"However, if that Gaster is a sixteenth-floor level enemy, things are going to get really tough from here."

"Right. After the sixteenth floor, there are monsters that can only be defeated with special means."

I used to run from ghosts that were immune to physical attacks.

Those days are a bit nostalgic.

"Combined, we can cover most elemental attacks, but we don't have any light or dark elemental attacks."

"I have a few disposable magic arrows from the minister, so we'll have to use those."

They are currently in Milk's quiver.

However, with such special enemies, I'd rather run away than fight.

Just as I thought that, I sensed a monster's presence.

I checked quietly.

There was a shadow of a slime.

But it wasn't a normal slime.

This one had a metallic body.

"It's a Metal Slime. I've never seen one before, but they exist in dungeons."

I was a bit moved—then—

〔Run before it notices you!〕

A comment from a viewer.

〔Troublesome.〕

〔Serious, run for real.〕

〔What's so serious?〕

〔Metal Slimes are deadly, run.〕

〔I've seen them a few times in American explorers' streams. Don't mess with them!〕

〔They are said to be the most deadly monsters in the Detroit Dungeon... where the safety margin is very lax due to state laws.〕

What does that mean?

Wait, are Metal Slimes that dangerous?

"Magic has no effect on Metal Slimes. Their defense is ridiculously high, and physical attacks barely work. They have low HP, so if you have a potion that can melt metal, it's easy to defeat them—"

"Does holy water not work?"

"I told you, magic has no effect. Holy water doesn't work either. If you get surrounded by them, it's a big problem. So, Taiga, go check it out."

"Sure. I'll go check."

I nodded after hearing the explanation.

〔Stop! This isn't a joke!〕

〔What is Alpha thinking? Beta will die.〕

〔If you fight with a sword, it will break first!〕

〔This isn't a game. Metal Slimes don't run away; you have to run.〕

The viewers were worried about me.

It's appreciated, but I'm suited for this.

I equipped a stone-cutting sword, which I have in abundance, to avoid breaking my sword.

The Metal Slime noticed me.

It flew towards me.

Metal Slimes are pretty fast.

About 90 km/h?

But—

"Sure-hit Sword!"

My sword hit the Metal Slime.

What shattered was the Metal Slime, not the sword.

What remained was a magic stone and a chunk of some metal.

Upon identification, it turned out to be a special metal called Metal Metal.

I'll have to ask Mr. Watanabe to forge it.

〔Whaaat!?〕

〔What was that? Just basic sword technique? And it's supposed to reduce power?〕

〔Is it a special weapon? It's hard to tell with the avatar.〕

〔Metal Metal just appeared. As expected of the lucky Beta.〕

Of course, they wouldn't understand.

That was just a fluke.

However, for me, that fluke is a 100% sure hit.

In other words, a critical hit caused by a lucky punch.

The 10% of the reduced damage had a penetration effect.

"Shall we go?"

I said to everyone.

The Metal Slimes we encountered on the way were no more than minor nuisances to us.

We kept advancing deeper.

〔Are these people really all 18-year-old novice explorers? They can't be top-tier explorers with ten years of experience, right?〕

〔Alpha with the clone skill, Beta with the lucky attack, Gamma with the deadly firepower, and Delta with the gun and holy water.〕

〔Whether they are 18 or not has been thoroughly discussed in the observation thread and is almost confirmed.〕

〔They wouldn't lie about their age in government survey videos, right?〕

I can understand why they are skeptical, but I wish they wouldn't discuss it in front of us.

Or are they hoping I'll say, "Actually, I'm 28"?

That would be a lie.

The exploration continued smoothly.

Then—

"It's the stairs to the ninth floor."

We finally made it here.

I took out a magic recovery potion from my inventory and gave it to Ayame and Milk.

While magic recovery potions don't instantly restore magic, we needed a short break.

"Viewers, how are the exploration efforts in other countries going?"

While eating portable food, I asked the viewers about the situation in other countries.

We had discussed it a few times before.

〔Seven teams have successfully completed the dungeon, destroying the core on the tenth floor.〕

〔The ninth floor is a large room with a boss, which is common.〕

〔Nine teams have been wiped out or retreated. Many are struggling.〕

〔There are 42 deaths. Even among the teams that completed the dungeon, there were casualties. It's impressive that these four have made it this far without any injuries.〕

〔We want them to be Japan's saviors.〕

〔uematsu: Once the dungeon core is destroyed, you are automatically teleported outside the dungeon. There's no risk of being caught in a collapse.〕

As we descended the floors, the viewers stopped making jokes.

The atmosphere was no longer light.

Our progress was being broadcast on TV and other media, and there were reports of monsters appearing outside the dungeon in a country where the exploration had failed.

Actually, the viewers say we've made it this far without any injuries, but my substitute armlet, which I use for the shoulder-replacement skill, has broken three times, and I've taken up to 300 damage.

If we hadn't trained in the PD before the exploration started, we might have been among the casualties.

And how is the princess doing?

Some of those casualties are probably her siblings.

King's children number over 100, so she doesn't know most of them, but there are certainly faces she recognizes.

I chewed the portable food several times and washed it down with water.

I need to get pumped up, myself.

We've come this far, but losing to the ninth floor boss would be meaningless.

We all need to return alive.

Regarding the questions that came up a few times:

Q: Do the protagonists not use Kansai dialect?

A: Basically, they don't. If everyone used Kansai dialect, it would be too heavy. However, some of them secretly use it. It's just that the corrections for typos make it disappear.

Q: Specifically?

Do they not use Kansai dialect "wo"?

Do they use Kansai dialect "ni"?

Some use it "de" secretly.

They use Kansai dialect "wo," but

The corrections "wo" make it disappear.

The basic rule of Kansai dialect is to omit particles, which has become a bad habit of mine. Thank you for the corrections.