Chapter 45
Finishing a fruitful deal with Dungeon Broker S, I stroll through the 8th floor with the Mugen High-Load ver5.0 in one hand, collecting treasure chests as I make my way around the hunting grounds.
I discovered the stairs.
I take a photo, sync it with the Labyrinth Conqueror, and save it to my file. Once communication is restored, I'll share it via the foundation app.
"Isn't this treasure chest kind of big?"
Guided by the 3D map, I arrive at the treasure's location and find a slightly larger stone chest, about knee-high—not the usual small box. When I open it, experience points overflow.
"Chii chii."
"Gii."
The Calamities naturally skim off their share of the experience points, and the scraps that remain trickle down to me. It feels like I'm witnessing a microcosm of society.
I discovered the stairs to the 9th floor.
I set foot on the stairs to descend.
Just then—
——Clank.
"Huh?"
The footing gave way.
The stairs disappeared.
These stairs—they're fake.
A floating sensation suddenly washes over me.
Anxiety wells up in my chest.
Pick up my bones and pack me in a wooden coffin.
"Chii?!"
"Gii."
"Oh crap."
I plummeted headfirst.
As I fell, I wondered how long this airtime would last.
Thanks to Steel Spirit, I remained remarkably calm despite the free fall.
The stairs gave way. What could that mean?
Shurado's words cross my mind.
'Since it's 'Salvation', there might be a lot of trap rooms. Please be careful!'
Trap room... trap.
I see. As expected of Shurado, the receptionist who also happens to be the daughter of the cannibal chieftain from Gunma's 12 tribes and holds the sage position.
So I've fallen right into a trap, huh.
"Chii chii chii."
"I can see the ground now."
I twist midair and land lightly on my toes.
At level 146, a fall from height like this isn't fatal.
Looking around, I see a vast water surface stretching out.
Maybe about 5 cm deep. My feet touch the bottom.
Maybe I shouldn't call it a lake. It's more like a giant puddle.
A strange space where a thin film of water extends as far as the eye can see.
The only thing present is the ripple from my splashdown.
"What is this place?"
A typical dungeon is like a rugged rocky cave, but this place feels completely different from that harsh vibe.
It's eerily quiet, like someone deliberately crafted it, giving off a visceral sense of dread.
About 3 meters ahead, bubbles rise from beneath the water.
A dachshund popped out.
The way it emerged was downright creepy.
It's pretty big.
I estimate it's a specimen from around the 15th floor.
The dachshund charges at me.
For now, I jab with HP 1 and ATK 500.
As expected, it doesn't die. Thanks to Super Armor, it bares its ferocious fangs without flinching.
But it's too slow.
Compared to Metal Shiba Inu High-End, it's night and blood.
Before it could close the 3 meters, I blow it up five times with ATK 500. The dachshund flops! onto the surface and eventually turns into particles of light.
"Fixed at ATK 2,500."
Dachshund after dachshund after dachshund keeps bubbling up from the water.
They vary in size, but the biggest ones are on par with the 15th floor.
None are bigger than that.
Looking around, I count roughly twenty of them.
That said, there's no way these guys can give me trouble now.
With the Mugen High-Load ver5.0 dangling in one hand, I intercept them before they can get closer than 2 meters, turning the oncoming dachshunds into charred remains.
But the dachshunds are stubborn and keep spawning one after another.
How long is this going to last?
"Chii! Chii!"
"Gii! Gii!"
My little ones are flying all around, obsessed with the growing pile of experience points.
Especially Shimaenaga-san, who's so desperate that the usual 3:4:3 ratio has turned into something like 0:9:1. This ferocious bird has gone rogue.
"Chii chii chii!"
"Gii......"
Flight capability is unfair.
Poor flightless Gii-san looks super down and is sulking.
"Shimaenaga-san, please restrain yourself a little."
I firmly grab the flying Shimaenaga-san, give her a talking-to, and shove her into my chest pocket to imprison her. She lets out a protesting "Chii chii!"
I get the feeling I shouldn't spoil her any further.
I harden my heart and close my ears to her cries.
Even after a few minutes, the monsters keep spawning.
"What's going on?"
"Chii chii chii!"
"Ah, Shimaenaga-san, again?!"
"Chii!"
From inside my chest pocket, Shimaenaga-san returned to her original size and burst out like a popped cork. What an escape method.
She landed on my head and activated a skill.
Wait, what? A skill?
"S-Shimaenaga-san, what are you planning? Don't tell me you've awakened a destructive impulse to destroy the world...!"
Shimaenaga-san's fluffy body flares up, and her tiny black eyes flash.
(Underling Skill 'Blasphemous Gaze' has been activated)
So this was a new skill.
As I stood there stunned, a splitting headache hit me.
"Ouch, ow ow ow?!"
It was a torrent of knowledge.
Shimaenaga-san's 'Blasphemous Gaze' forcibly etched unregulated knowledge into my memory. I could feel my enlightenment growing from this transcendent experience.
I get it. I really get it. I'm the Understanding Man. The Understanding Man Power.
This space was created by an anomalous substance called a 'trap room'.
Its true nature is a death trap preloaded with monsters, designed to overwhelm and kill explorers through sheer numbers. Terrifying.
A 'trap room' doesn't have just one entrance (a pitfall); it can deploy multiple entrances simultaneously.
Apparently, I happened to enter this space through one of them.
The way to escape a 'trap room' is to defeat all the stored monsters.
Alternatively—use an appraisal-type skill to see through the trap room's true nature.
"The world... is breaking apart."
The surface of the lake that seemed to stretch on forever begins to crumble at the edges, peel away, and rise into the sky against gravity.
We got caught up in it too—our bodies floated up and then fell into the sky.
Eventually, we were expelled from the hole we had fallen through.
We're back.
It's the 8th floor of the dungeon.
There's a knife lying on the ground.
It's a knife with an unusual shape.
As I approached and reached out my hand, the item name was displayed. It's called 'Trap Room Lake'.
This must be the anomalous substance that had trapped us.
I picked up the knife and checked its details.
────────────────────
'Trap Room Lake'
A creation by the interdimensional artisan Morton
Transforms into an object that lures explorers
Storage capacity: 5,000 units
Remaining: 2,480 / 5,000 units
────────────────────
Thanks to 'Blasphemous Gaze', I understand how to use this.
I can comprehend not only what's written, but also what's not written.
"Storage capacity" refers to the maximum number of monsters that can spawn in the trap room. It's not infinite.
The remaining count is 2,480 because I escaped by seeing through the mystery of the trap room without defeating all the monsters—so they're still in there.
In other words, this knife still holds 2,480 monsters inside it.
(A new skill has been unlocked)
(Skill level has increased)
(Skill level has increased)
Huh?
───────────────────
'Super Catcher Lv3'
Subdued the stirrings of another dimension
When all phenomena are known, fear vanishes
Consumes 1 MP to perform a capture attack
Unlock condition: Capture more than 2,000 dungeon monsters.
───────────────────
Huh, straight to Lv3?
Ah—maybe I fulfilled the unlock condition and just skipped straight ahead?
Yeah, I've felt this before.
Considering the number 2,000, maybe owning 'Trap Room Lake' made it count as if I captured all the monsters inside?
"But is a capture attack actually useful?"
I mean, there's no point in just catching them.
I can capture them and store them in 'Trap Room Lake', but... huh?
Then take them all out at once later.
Hm? Wait a second, take them out all at once?
My gray brain cells ignited.
I've arrived at a devilish scheme.
From now on, it's the age of capture.
"Chi?"
"Gii."
"Here's the plan. I capture them, store them, and then take them all out at once... that way, I can level up the Finger Snap skill using the easier unlock condition."
"Chii."
"Gii."
"Huh? That's a pretty dull reaction. What's with those faces like, 'Wow, you're bragging about something so lame'?"
The Calamities' reaction is kind of flat.
Probably because it doesn't affect their income (EXP). Seriously, these kids...
"Also, taking them out all at once helps prevent misconduct. I can distribute it fairly right in front of everyone."
"Chi, chii."
"You can't fool me. Neither I nor Gii-san have forgotten your earlier rampage. Prepare yourselves—we're ramping up the economic sanctions."
"Chii~!"
"Fluster fluster," Shimaenaga-san tries to make excuses. No good. Too cute. If this keeps up, I'll get talked into something, so into the breast pocket you go.
"Chi."
"Hm? What is it, Shimaenaga-san?"
"Gii."
"Huh? Gii-san, you seem restless too."
A little ways ahead, I saw stairs.
Ah, I see.
You were both worried it might be another trap room.
"Don't worry, there's no danger——"
I stopped mid-sentence and closed my mouth.
Because when I looked closely, I noticed something staring at us from the stairs.
It was a red dog.
Or more accurately—a red dog costume, perhaps.
It's staring at us with eyes devoid of light.
"Blood... blood... blooood field..."
It climbs the stairs one step at a time, as if pressing down with each foot.
There was a screeching sound of metal scraping—giiiii...
The source was a rusted shovel being dragged by the red costume.
The shovel was stained with bloodstains, and I couldn't help but want to quip, "Did you just kill someone?"
"Stop right there. If you come any closer, I'll attack."
"Blooood field."
Hmm, it's not stopping.
What should I do?
"Gii."
"Ah, Gii-san's acting on his own——"
A black tentacle was launched at incredible speed.
It hit. The red costume spun wildly and fell down the stairs.