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TL: ALT
Chapter 139 – Time Out
Although there was some confusion, my exploration with “Saber Saber” went without a hitch.
The overwhelming power of cooperation based on connection and experience made a few misunderstandings a thing of the past.
From my perspective in the skill world, where I’ve only explored solo, it’s a dazzling sight.
What comes to my mind when I see this is… envy or longing.
I don’t really know myself.
If I ask Honoka-chan, maybe she can tell me more about what kind of emotion it is.
“Hah… I’m tired.”
Fighting while conserving your power is quite tiring.
Even the skills of the Magic Swordsman were becoming increasingly difficult to control due to the progress in the growth of the unique bonuses.
Perhaps noticing my exhaustion, Honoka-chan took it upon herself to cut short the post-exploration start.
My energy was nearly exhausted, but I used Dungeon Travel to warp from the nearest dungeon I had already conquered to the post-collapse Okutama Lake Dungeon after splitting up with everyone else.
“…I need to make some progress on my chart-making.”
The exploration of the fourth floor hasn’t progressed as much as I would have liked.
This is partly due to the increase in party activities after the summer vacation.
But as the leader of Saber Saber, I can’t afford to neglect party activities.
I had no choice but to play the role of a high school Magic Swordsman who loves his friends while swallowing his frustration and guilt.
It is not only the dungeon attack that weighs on me.
I, who have failed in life, am ruining the memories of the summer vacation that ‘I’ would have enjoyed.
I’m feeling more and more guilty.
I’m hiding things from Honoka-chan, Sayuki, and Haruhara―Well, I’m almost deceiving them.
I’m aware that there’s some awkwardness in the party.
But there’s nothing I can do about it.
Breaking through the fourth floor as quickly as possible is the only way to bring ‘me’ back to them.
Fortunately, I know from the Dungeon Master’s unique bonus that the fourth floor is the last floor of the post-collapse Okutama Lake Dungeon.
The one that says, “You can know the map structure of the dungeon, the location of monsters, the location of treasures, and the location of portals (including hidden portals) to an unprecedented degree only on the floor where it currently exists.”
Since dungeons have collapsed in the past, there was a good chance that the floor level was deeper than it was before the collapse.
Just the fact that I no longer have to worry about it is a big plus.
However, when I thought that this would be the last time, I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.
As if to make me impatient, the fourth floor, like the third, had a floor structure that took a lot of time to complete.
On the fourth floor, the Dark Gazer, Red Cape, and Red Cap Goblin disappeared, and the King Roper and Arc Sahagin reappeared.
It is annoying that the Dark Gazer stops appearing as soon as I get the Instant Death Resistance accessory, but it is a good countermeasure against the Grim Reaper.
So what was the problem?
The problem was in the floor itself.
A labyrinth of submerged ruins and waterways, common in RPGs.
The fourth floor of the post-collapse Okutama Lake Dungeon was an incredibly complicated floor with a labyrinth of waterways and gimmicks to raise and lower the water level.
Even though I am a Dungeon Master and know the structure, the gimmicks were so complicated that I had to go back and forth several times.
If it’s a canal-type dungeon in a game, it’s not impossible to complete, even if you miss a treasure chest or something.
If you overdo it, you might quit the game.
But this one is much worse.
After repeatedly raising and lowering the water level and somehow getting past the floating bridges, drawbridges, and waterwheel gimmicks, I ended up right in front of the starting point.
It was heartbreaking.
Had it been a game, I might have smashed the controller to the ground.
There are some mapping apps for dungeon exploration, but they basically assume the floor is flat.
I can’t imagine a simple lever-operated drawbridge gimmick but a complex three-dimensional intersection with a path that changes depending on the water level.
If anyone is good at solving puzzles and riddles like this, it’s Sayuki in “Saber Saber.”
That’s why it seems I haven’t been able to improve my mapping skills much.
Even though I have the skills of a usurper and a dungeon master, I am the one who uses them.
Even after finally breaking through the labyrinth of waterways, a giant water monster called Okeanos lurked around every corner.
This thing is almost as strong as a floor boss.
Maybe the assumption is that you should avoid the fight and keep going.
I don’t know who makes such “assumptions.”
Fortunately, neither the skill world nor the job world has dungeons whose structure changes every time you enter them.
It is the same with this post-collapse Okutama Lake Dungeon.
I cut my sleep short and went through four floors, making a long and complicated chart of how to break through the water labyrinth.
“Left, right, up and left, down the lever at the back of the water wheel… Oh, shit!”
I had made a mistake.
Now, I would have to start over and recover half of my progress.
“…It doesn’t work. That’s it for today.”
And so it went for days.
As I continued to stamp my feet, time was running out.
I had finally reached the day of the “Saber Saber” summer trip.
It was the day Honoka-chan had been looking forward to with anticipation, the day I had turned my back on until the very end.
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