This installment is a bit short.
We’ll be introducing new characters.
Jiro Tanaka, 28 years old, single, girlfriend: Suella Henderberg
Occupation: Dungeon Tester (Full-time Employee) + Recruiter
Magic Aptitude: 8 (General Class)
Class: Warrior
“Oh, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Your skin tone is as gloomy as ever, Suella!”
“Gah, Kaila.”
Who is this person?
That was the first thought I had about her.
Then I was genuinely surprised that someone in reality would laugh so haughtily, complete with a gesture, like a noblewoman.
Ah, but she’s from another world, so it’s not that strange, right?
Just as I was habitually submitting my report to Suella and about to talk about my days off, a laugh, which I could only assume was perfectly timed, pierced my ears.
Keiri-san, who was the first to identify the source of the sound, had an expression as if she had bitten into a bitter herb.
“…A Dragonkin?”
With a hand on her forehead, as if to say “Not again,” Suella shook her head, sending nothing but a bad premonition my way, but I couldn’t *not* look.
I paused our conversation and looked in the direction she had turned. There, I could see sapphire-like glossy scales scattered everywhere on a Dragonkin.
Well, I could understand her wearing a women’s suit since it is an office, but red? Red, really? It does contrast with the blue of her scales, but combined with the dragonkin wings, it’s a rather peculiar combination.
And this is unrelated, but it’s the first time I’ve ever seen an upright roll hairstyle in gray hair that looks like shiny silver.
Still, when it comes to feminine charm, Suella takes the cake.
“So, Jiro-san, regarding this report…”
“Are you ignoring me!?”
Suella looked at her once, then tried to proceed with our conversation as if she didn’t exist.
But a piercing shriek stopped her in her tracks.
“…Haa, what is it?”
This might be the first time I’ve ever seen Suella so listless and emotionless.
Even I, suffering from a headache and realizing that overtime was confirmed for today after an all-nighter, wouldn’t react with such reluctance.
No, should I say that she wouldn’t be so indifferent?
“I’ve come to confirm the capabilities of the testers in your department!”
“Please refer to the report from the other day. If you’ve lost it, it’s saved in the shared folder from three days ago, so please find it and copy it yourself.”
I corrected her further.
This wasn’t just indifference; it was a blizzard. A blizzard was blowing.
An icy tundra blizzard emanated from Suella’s gaze.
The fact that she could stand there, unfazed by it, and still smile was impressive, but praising her for it would be like stepping on a landmine.
Instead, my male instinct, which sounded an alarm in place of reason, along with my survival instinct honed in dungeons, screamed at me: “Run!”
There was no reason to resist, so my body instinctively moved to evacuate when a woman becomes displeased, but…
“…Keiri-san, what is this?”
“Ah, Jiro-kun, you’re meeting her for the first time? Her name is Kaila. She’s a Dragonkin in the same department and claims to be Suella’s rival.”
“Rival? And self-proclaimed?”
If I trust that instinct, I’d be abandoning my work, so I couldn’t make that choice. Resigned, I sought refuge with Keiri-san, who seemed like the one to ask for an explanation.
“Does a rival have a self-proclaimed status?”
“Who knows? Seeing her persistently bother Suella, we just started calling her that.”
“…Thank you for the vague information source.”
“You’re welcome.”
It might sound like I’m just observing, but my actions are no different from a bystander whispering conversations to avoid drawing attention to themselves.
And although Keiri-san described her as a rival, the nuance is that she’s definitely someone the team has labeled as “troublesome.”
In other words, she’s a colleague you don’t want to get involved with.
For me, it would be other tester parties, but I’m surprised that someone as approachable as Suella has such a person around.
“Once you’re done with your business, please return to your work immediately. Unlike you, we are busy.”
“Oh? That’s why I dislike the clumsy ones. Such a small amount of work piling up is unimaginable to me. It must be tough having incompetent subordinates. If you’d like, I can even help you?”
“No, thank you.”
Ah, I think I’ve figured out the general office dynamics from this conversation.
This isn’t about rivals. It’s oil and water.
Suella tries to avoid conflict, while the Dragonkin named Kaila tries to stir things up and enjoy the situation.
Personally, she’s the type I don’t want to get involved with.
“The worst part is that she’s ‘only’ competent at her job.”
“…Seriously?”
As I looked at the woman who was clearly not the brightest, engaging in conversation with Suella with that condescending laugh, I felt something akin to nausea.
Ugh, an annoying yet competent colleague. Isn’t that one of the worst possible combinations?
Feeling a chill run down my spine, I sought solace by confirming with Keiri-san.
“By the way, how competent is she?”
“…About the same as Suella.”
“Eh?”
My plea was cut short by her blunt statement.
I wanted to scream, “Impossible!”
What era’s drama rival character is this?
I always thought that haughty, competent individuals only existed in dramas and manga.
At the very least, I always assumed that most working adults with that kind of attitude were incompetent themselves, without any self-awareness.
“Eh~”
“Well, most people would think that, right?”
Even seeing her firsthand, I couldn’t believe it.
Hearing my exclamation, Keiri-san agreed, saying she still couldn’t believe it either.
Of course.
Watching her now, finding fault with things just to prolong her unproductive conversation with Suella, it’s impossible to get the impression that she’s competent.
“But is it really okay?”
“Okay, what?”
“Well, it’s getting quite noisy over there.”
“Ah, it’s fine, it’s fine. This is nothing compared to back home. Kaila is just getting bold because Evia-sama is at a meeting; she’ll be suppressed soon enough.”
“Suppressed?”
Our company seems to be dealing with rather violent situations as its main line of work, but now the word “suppressed” has come up.
While it doesn’t surprise me in itself, this is still an office. Even if the work is combat-oriented, this is a place for paperwork. How exactly does one “suppress” someone here?
“My subordinate shouts, ‘Do your job, you fool!'”
To put it simply, what happened next was instantaneous. There was a flash of light, and Kaila was blown away and forcibly seated at her desk.
I thought I heard the supervisor’s voice beforehand, and looking at the result, it wasn’t an auditory hallucination.
She was leaning back against her chair, a stark contrast to her earlier spirited demeanor.
“See? She was suppressed.”
“Was that… suppression?”
This is another world, alright; even reprimands at work aren’t just words. Using magic to force someone back to work is incredibly novel.
Perhaps it’s also due to the inherent toughness of Dragonkin that such brute force is possible.
“For now, why don’t you go make Suella some coffee?”
“I will.”
“Heh heh, go for it, boy.”
“I’m not that young anymore.”
I can’t just stare at the scene forever. I should bring Suella something as a gift since she looks a bit tired.
“So, that’s what happened.”
“Whoa, why is that? I really want to see that!”
“There are people like that, aren’t there?”
“Here’s your tea.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
When I recounted the morning’s events during a break in the dungeon we were tackling that afternoon, Minami’s eyes lit up with excitement, proclaiming that a new character had arrived.
Katsu and Kaido, on the other hand, were somewhat indifferent, each sipping their tea.
“In cold places, warm tea really hits the spot.”
“It’s not so much cold as it is a gloomy atmosphere.”
“It can’t be helped. After all, we’re nesting right above a graveyard.”
“At this point, we should be asking what we are for taking a break in a place like this.”
“Fufufu~, you should thank my barrier magic. Thanks to it, we can take breaks inside the dungeon like this.”
“Idiot! This is all your fault for listing horror movie and game titles and telling us to use them as references for the report! What are we going to do? The entrance is an endless horde of Undead, and moving forward means an onslaught of Undead. Whichever way we go, it’s a straight shot into horror action!”
“I regret none of it! But I don’t regret it!!”
“Control yourself!”
“Goza!?”
A light, crisp sound of a slap resounded.
As I sipped my tea, watching Katsu’s familiar scolding of Minami, I glanced down. Through the semi-transparent floor, I could see moving corpses and walking skeletons.
The height was about five to six meters.
A combination of a magic-powered footing deployed on a tree branch, which could absolutely not support one’s weight, and a concealment barrier, this was Minami’s magic, which she had devised over several months.
While the magic’s name, “Break Room,” was uninspired, it was a quite useful spell that allowed for rest, albeit only against weak opponents.
Minami, with her flexible thinking that conceived of soundproofing and camouflage functions to hide from the outside, could be called excellent, despite her difficult personality.
“Regarding the future, how much mapping has been completed?”
“Mapping from the entrance to here is finished. However, it seems to be a very large city, and just finding the entrance to the underground will take quite a bit of time.”
“I’d imagine so.”
The Undead King’s Dungeon was a hybrid type, combining a field dungeon and a labyrinth dungeon.
The first half was a field that had become a dead city, and the latter half was an underground labyrinth entered from an entrance somewhere in the city.
Currently, only zombies and skeleton-type monsters were found in the city, but thanks to the report Minami submitted earlier, it had become troublesome with its abundance of specifications found in horror movies that would make one’s heart pound.
“So, from here, we’re going to experience a scene like the final scene of a Hollywood movie. Is there any way to return safely?”
“How about a full-out sprint so fast that the zombies can’t catch up?”
“Minami, what’s the maximum speed you can sprint currently?”
“If I can go three kilometers, that’s about it, gozaru.”
“That’s impossible.”
“What about running on the rooftops?”
“The numbers would decrease, but because they reacted to the sound of footsteps, they’d reach out and break the footing. If we went while reinforcing the roofs with magic, it might be possible… we’ll keep it as an option.”
“If you’re going to do that, it would be faster for me to make a footing and run through, gozaru?”
“The bottleneck is the aerial force that would likely exist within the undead army.”
Sticking to the clichés, bats, vultures, and crows would be anticipated as the aerial forces of the undead army.
Vampires and ghosts also exist, but apart from vampires, I’m not worried about ghosts unless they are exceptionally powerful beings.
“By the clichés, a dragon zombie might also fly, gozaru.”
“If that happens, we’ll run for our lives. I’d rather not fight dragons or anything like that at this stage.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s getting to be about that time. Shall we come to a conclusion?”
“Agreed.”
There’s no point in just continuing a lengthy discussion.
It’s important to make decisions decisively when needed.
“Rejoice, everyone. We’re all debuting in Hollywood from now on.”
“Whoa, that means a frontal assault, gozaru?”
“Well, since their detection ability is low, it’s a method that can be used, right?”
It seemed like they had predicted this.
As for Katsu, he silently started cleaning up his lunch box.
“It’s about saving magic power. If we carelessly use it on footings or reinforcements and can’t use it when necessary, it’ll be a laughing matter.”
“If that situation arises, the first one to drop out will be Kaido-senpai, gozaru.”
“Hahaha, and the one who will have a tragic dropout after that is Min-chan, right?”
““What?””
“Hey, arguing is fine, but I’ll escape with just Katsu and me. Or is there something else? Do you want to become their dinner?”
――――
“I’m in the mood for fish today.”
“Sashimi set meal with fish from another world, that’s my current boom, gozaru.”
Should I lament them being so fickle, or should I be happy that we’re a group that can exchange lighthearted remarks? Well, we can cooperate, and it’s really like kittens playing. There’s no problem.
The fact that they immediately calm down if I just point at the zombies groaning below and threaten them is the best proof.
“Sashimi, huh? I’ll have to stop by a fresh fish store when we get out of the dungeon.”
“Can you prepare it?”
“I can do the basics.”
“You do a lot.”
I don’t doubt Katsu’s cooking skills, but my cooking skills in high school were only good enough to make julienned vegetables that weren’t actually julienned.
There’s no way I could prepare fish.
Even if I could, it would be rough chopping at best.
Considering that, Katsu, who has already entered the realm of a housewife, is nothing short of amazing.
Well, it looks like tonight’s menu is decided.
While deciding on a reward for myself, thinking I’ll have some Japanese sake, I grip the handle of the Ore Tree.
“Let’s go.”
“Understood, gozaru.”
“Uss!”
“Yes.”
With a count of three, a three-beat count of my fingers, I give the signal, and Minami deactivates the barrier.
Then, using the slightly remaining footing, we build up speed and leap towards the entrance of the graveyard.
“Ahead, a mixed group of zombies and skeletons. What’s the number?”
“Around thirty, gozaru. The leader is weaker on the right! Leader, charge! Kaido-senpai, assault with magic!”
“Ouh!”
“Uss!”
If we dash through the main street, we’re bound to clash with a swarm of enemies.
Normally, we should avoid it, but the risk of getting lost in side streets in an unfamiliar place and being cornered must be avoided.
“Fire Bomb, uss!”
To break through head-on, Kaido creates three softball-sized fireballs and shoots them forward. They hit the three closest zombies and explode.
“KIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”
We only took down two or three.
But the aim was to delay their response with the explosion. With a battle cry, a sweeping slash separates the upper and lower bodies of zombies and skeletons.
“Don’t get too close to the walls and break through all at once, gozaru. There’s a reaction from the walls, so if you get close, a wall penetration will come, gozaru!”
Wall penetration.
It’s a grandiose name, but it’s simply the common horror movie trope of zombies popping out of walls.
At first, I thought I could handle it easily, but I was surprised by the horde of zombies.
Normally, I should have been able to deal with them with ease, but I was startled and couldn’t react instantly, so I ended up blowing away not just the zombies but the wall as well.
It was damage, but damage that directly struck the heart was not to be underestimated.
For someone with a weak heart, it would be game over in one hit.
“Senpai, there’s a ghost in the air!”
“Not again!”
“Katsu, cover the rear. Kaido-senpai, hold the front, gozaru.”
“Got it!”
“Understood!”
“Leader, let’s blast through, gozaru!”
As we cut our way through, a white shadow swayed gently.
Ghosts, the cliché in horror movies alongside zombies and skeletons, are troublesome to defeat.
Physical attacks are generally ineffective, yet we receive attacks that feel like numbing cold claws.
Moreover, even with magic, it’s difficult to inflict fatal damage with a slash.
If we’re going to defeat them with slashes, we’ll need specialized weapons, or to precisely sever their heads with a magic-infused blade, or to pulverize them into dust so they can’t regenerate.
Magic is the only saving grace, as it can defeat them relatively easily.
Well, in my case, I pass magic through the Ore Tree and either chop them in half or cleanly sever their heads. Recently, I’ve learned that there’s a knack to using the skill.
I inhale as if filling my lungs with air, and at the same time, I gather magic at my throat.
Then, I focus on exhaling, mixing it in.
“KAAAHHHTSU!!”
When I activate a battle cry, lo and behold, the ghost disappears, and the zombies and skeletons in front of us are blown away.
“Oh, as expected of the leader’s so-called fantasy kendo, gozaru.”
“Shut up. Don’t be so impressed that I did it on instinct.”
Yes, this shockwave was something that happened accidentally when I swung the Ore Tree instinctively while being attacked as I was condensing magic.
Originally, it was a skill to rouse vitality within the body with a spirited shout, but by emphasizing its effect of staggering opponents, it showed unexpected performance.
Against opponents with physical bodies, it’s just a shockwave, but it’s quite effective against vague beings like ghosts.
Well, when I discovered this, Minami called it some kind of child bully recital.
It’s true that physical damage exists, but…
“Let’s break through quickly and finish without overtime.”
Behind me, I hear their concurring voices of understanding, and I leap into the increasingly abundant undead swarming the path.
“Kaido-senpai, please handle the vertical maneuvering, gozaru.”
With more horizontal swings than up and down, I slash, kick, and blow them away.
“For the sake of making tonight’s beer delicious, I’m burning up!”
Kaido leaps into the air using magic plates created in the air as footings and rains down fire.
The aim is still rough, but the distribution is done with consideration so as not to cause damage to us.
I cut a path to the landing spot and crouch to kill the impact of landing. Katsu steps in to cover.
“Suu, hah!!”
Exhaling from my lungs, I transfer rotational force to my small frame, and my magic-infused punch blows away three adult male zombies at once.
“Katsu, doesn’t the sensation feel unpleasant, gozaru?”
“Don’t, I’m trying not to think about it.”
The fact that he puts everything into a single strike and avoids rapid-fire attacks is probably an escape from unfamiliar sensations, but there’s no helping it.
Katsu’s gesture of flicking away his hand after striking is understandable.
Even through an Ore Tree, an unpleasant feeling is an unpleasant feeling.
Besides, after cutting down the Undead, I feel like I have to appease the Ore Tree, so the maintenance time is increased by 50%.
A growing sword is something to think about.
“What!? Leader, there’s a reaction on the scouting! Something big is approaching!”
“How much time until contact?”
“At this speed, it’ll be enough time to make instant ramen!”
“Alright, let’s get out of here quickly!!”
It seems we made too much noise.
I can hear heavy thuds with my own ears – footsteps that are too large for humans but too dull for beasts, yet are definitely approaching.
“I couldn’t agree more, it’ll be a hassle if that guy shows up.”
“From the sound of it, it’s just one, but it would be troublesome if it teamed up with a zombie.”
“If you have time to talk, move your hands and feet!”
We reduce the kill ratio slightly and prioritize escape.
By minimizing engagements, the approaching footsteps gradually recede.
“Ahhh, the air is delicious.”
“Feeling the Tokyo air is delicious; that’s pretty rare, isn’t it?”
“You can smell it even through the mask.”
“Alright, let’s do a headcount just in case. One.”
“Two.”
“Three.”
“Minami, you’re definitely saying the wrong word, it’s Four.”
We safely passed through the gate and completed the personnel count.
We returned safely today.
“How were the results?”
“Mainly bones and magic stones. Undead have fewer types of usable materials, so it was easy to collect them.”
Now that safety is secured, it’s time to check today’s results.
When Katsu peeled back the cover over his backpack, several magic-infused bones and two or three leather bags were visible.
“So this is what raw magic stones look like.”
“Undead don’t need to eat, so they seem to have bodies that accumulate magic power easily. They’re imperfect, but can be repurposed for various things after processing.”
“So, about a little over twenty thousand?”
“Yeah, it’s the usual two-tenths for the shared fund, and the rest is split four ways.”
Minami picks one out of the jingling leather bags, and on her fingertips is something like a round, purple jewel.
There are a lot of them in a large leather bag.
That’s about four thousand per person, but I’m not complaining.
After all, we get a fixed salary or hourly wage on top of this, so there’s no room for complaint.
“Oh? Is that all for the four of you?”
It would have been better if it ended there, but it seems they aren’t going to let us finish our work on a good note.
“Kaila-san.”
Wearing her usual flashy suit, Kaila Nostalfer, a Dragonkin belonging to the regular Demon Lord’s Army, was standing there without us noticing.
“Magic stones from zombies; at best, they’re mid-to-low grade.”
“Can I help you with something?”
“I didn’t need anything from you. My testers will be back soon, and you just happened to be there. That’s all.”
She’s basically saying it’s just a way to pass the time.
And her gaze treats us like mere pebbles.
I used the honorific “san” deliberately to create distance.
“I don’t understand why Suella hired such commoners. You, I’ll generously give you a passing grade, but the rest of your members have noticeable flaws.”
Valuation or scoring are too mild a description.
I feel the temperature of the magic in the depths of my belly rise at her tone, which preemptively assigns value and dismisses us as worthless.
“If you have no further business, we’ll be going.”
“Wait a moment. It seems my subordinates have returned. I’ll show you how low-level you are, as someone superior.”
I suppress my anger and try to leave, but she steps on even that desire, contemptuously stopping our actions.
Bad timing.
The gate we came out of activates, and three new people emerge.
“Himusu-kun.”
“Ah, Tanaka-san, good work.”
Our gazes briefly intersect.
A noble-like young man with a smiling, confident demeanor.
According to Minami, he’s a rival-type handsome guy who stands in the protagonist’s way, and it’s a fitting description.
His light brown hair is fine and soft, with an idol-like appearance that would appeal to women. Ah, this must be the kind of appearance that the haughty Kaila would favor.
“Good work, Tou-san. So, how were your results?”
“Yes, thanks to the Magic Bag, my movements weren’t restricted, so I managed to defeat the boss on the 15th floor. The spoils of war were excellent.”
“Tou-san, you forgot that you overdid it at the boss.”
“That’s right, if we hadn’t covered for you, you’d be in the infirmary bed right now.”
“No, I fought because I trusted you all. I didn’t feel like I would lose there.”
Honestly, just hearing this conversation makes me want to go home.
Minami is shouting “sweet,” but it’s true.
I want to ask if they’re not ashamed.
Kaido, on the other hand, is burning with jealousy and grinding his teeth as he sees Himusu being worried about by beautiful girls who are starting to become adults in a different genre.
Katsu sighs, “What a guy,” but I’m holding back my own sigh.
“Very well, then let’s go to the exchange.”
“Yes, how much do you think it will be today?”
“At least a hundred thousand is certain.”
“The other day it was almost two hundred thousand, so it would be nice if we could exceed that.”
OK, I know they have no ill intentions, but not having ill intentions doesn’t mean they don’t have to consider us.
The fact is, we’re losing, but it’s incredibly irritating to be told things as if they were absolute强者 who don’t need to consider others.
Moreover, while the two women are sober, Kaila and Himusu are definitely doing it ‘on purpose.’
I can tell by their eyes.
Eyes that hide arrogance and a sense of superiority that comes from being on top, within their prince-like smiles.
And they probably wanted to show us, enjoying such a small sum.
Sensing the satisfactory atmosphere, Kaila strikes a triumphant pose, as if to say, “Look at this,” from a vantage point only visible to us.
Ah, OK.
No need for greetings.
Just leave as you are.
Leave cheerfully and harmoniously.
Silently taking out a cigarette and lighting it.
“Alright, I understand how you all feel perfectly. Good, a very good reaction.”
Taking a deep inhale and exhaling as if letting it soak into my body calms my mind.
However, emotions don’t subside that easily.
Thanks to daily training, I can maintain a state of a cool head and a hot heart.
It seems Kaido and the others are the same.
My observational skills have grown considerably since entering the Dungeon.
Naturally, my cheeks form a crescent-moon smile.
“I’ll teach you something, the most terrifying person when they’re angry is the one who smiles.”
I can tell without looking behind me.
They undoubtedly have the same expression as me.
Their eyes are glowing strangely, and their mouths are in crescent-moon smiles.
If they are on the Hero’s side, we look like we belong in the Demon Lord’s Army.
Well, we’re practically affiliated with the Demon Lord’s Army, so it’s not a problem.
These guys are gradually being corrupted too.
“Regret your mistake of imposing the rule of the jungle when you had the chance.”
Now, let’s get to work.
Jiro Tanaka, 28 years old, single, girlfriend: Suella Handelberg
Occupation: Dungeon Tester (Full-time Employee) + Recruiter
Magic Aptitude: 8 (General Class)
Position: Warrior
Status
Strength: 504 -> Strength: 775
Durability: 663 -> Durability: 844
Agility: 358 -> Agility: 501
Stamina: 447 (-5) -> Stamina: 666 (-5)
Dexterity: 369 -> Dexterity: 498
Knowledge: 62 -> Knowledge: 77
Intuition: 88 -> Intuition: 132
Luck: 5 -> Luck: 5
Magic Power: 300 -> Magic Power: 471
Condition
Nicotine Addiction
Lung Pollution
Quote of the Day
Ah, I’ll just return workplace provocations with work.
There’s also Suella’s matter.
I’ll give it my all (smirk).
Writing handsome, scummy characters is quite difficult. I believe characters who get beaten up are very important for a story.
With that in mind, I created these two.
Look forward to when they get defeated and how they retaliate.
Let’s continue to create dungeons that heroes cannot conquer! Thank you for your support.
