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CHAPTER 223: THE SURPRISE ATTACK

CHAPTER 223: THE SURPRISE ATTACK

On the evening after we applied to enter the dungeon at the Guild, we finished exploring the city and went to the Adventurer’s Guild again to receive an explanation on how things operated around here and on what to watch out for in the dungeon itself. Our Adventurer Cards were updated at the time, and an unfamiliar pattern was engraved on the right corner of our Adventurer Card as well. This must have been some kind of mark that would allow us to enter the Wislo Dungeon.

We then made our way to the entrance of the Beginner level dungeon, the Snake Tower, and presented our cards to the guard at the dungeon’s entrance. We then decided to enter the dungeon right away.

「Alright! Well then, let’s start clearing this place up right away! But according to the information that we have received, only the F Rank and E Rank monsters appear in the Beginner level, right? The Boss monster is also supposed to be of the lower D Rank, right?」

「Yes, that’s right. A lot of snake monsters also appear here, but they are of the small variety and there are no types that can inflict you with abnormal statuses such as “Poison”. That’s probably why the Beginner Level is called the “Snake Tower” in the first place.」

「Alright, I see. Oh, by the way, this here Labyrinth Escape Stone that drops in Beginner level and the Intermediate Level, the lady at the reception desk said that there has not been a sufficient supply of them recently.」

「Hmm. In that case, should we go around and secure some for ourselves for the time being?」

「Yeah! From what I have heard, it seems like you can do the Beginner and Intermediate levels solo, so let’s make it a competitive format for the time being! How about a contest to see how many Labyrinth Escape Stones each one of us can secure by the evening three days from now, with a minimum of fifty stones per person?」

「Sounds interesting! It seems that only low rank monsters of D or C Rank appear in the Intermediate level, so we should be able to do it with relative ease.」

「That’s great! And if it becomes a contest like that, then I won’t lose, no matter what!」

「If it’s three days from now, we will have to think efficiently, not just in terms of exploration time, but also in terms of rest and meal times.」

「Nnh. And we will have to make sure that we don’t overlap with other members on the exploration floors, otherwise our efficiency will drop significantly.」

I only proposed it because I thought it would be a simple contest to efficiently earn us some of those Labyrinth Escape Stones, but everyone seemed to be more enthusiastic about that contest than I expected.

In that case, it would be rude if I did not take this contest seriously as well. If I am going to do it, I will try to beat the record with the highest efficiency I possibly can!

***

「Alright now, this is my one hundredth Labyrinth Escape Stone! I have a bit more time to spare, so I will go back to the Snake Tower for the time being.」

On the third night of the Labyrinth Escape Stones collection competition, I was running around the Intermediate level “Wolf Tower”. This was because I thought that I could collect Labyrinth Escape Stones more stably by running around the Intermediate dungeon, which had a higher drop rate than the Beginner level “Snake Tower” and had twenty floors. However, if my annihilation speed was going to be too fast and the monsters simply could not keep up with spawning, my collection efficiency on the same floor would become poorer and poorer, so it was necessary for me to move in between floors. It seemed that the other members also noticed the difference in drop rates as well, and although they tried not to overlap on each floor, if they did, the collection efficiency of more than one member would be decreased significantly.

If that was going to be the case, I thought I would make a final spurt by continuing to run around the Beginner level at high speed during the late night hours, which was a sort of a hidden spot of sorts.

However, a few hours after diving into the Beginner dungeon, I encountered an unexpected scene before my eyes.

On the fourth floor of the dungeon, the Lizard Demi-Human I met the other day was being surrounded by men dressed in black. I think his name was Curulario or something like that……?

The tense atmosphere surrounding him made it easy to imagine that there was trouble brewing in the air. And the look of fear on Curulario’s face and his severed tail flapping at his feet brought that imagination closer to my mind.

「W-What’s the deal with you, guys……!? What do you want with me!?」

「Give us all of the Labyrinth Escape Stones that you have on you. We have found out that you have collected quite a few of those.」

「Dungeon Drop Items robbery, huh……? But why the Labyrinth Escape Stones specifically……?」

「Surely you do not think that we are going to tell you the reason here, huh? Oh, and it’s no use trying to escape using the Labyrinth Escape Stones, I hope you realize that? We can easily kill you before you will be able to use it. Well, if you hand them all over peacefully, we won’t have to take your life.」

「How can you think that I am going to believe such a blatant lie!?」

「You don’t have to believe it if you don’t want to, but then your death is going to be all but assured.」

「W-Well in that case, you won’t be able to retrieve those Labyrinth Escape Stones if I throw them into my Magic Bag first, would you!?」

「We don’t really care about that. We have orders from the ones above that we must follow!」

「G-Guh! D-Damn it……」

「Come on, just spit it all out and nobody has to get hurt.」

Hmm. From the looks of things, those guys were seriously planning to kill him, and even with my Appraisal Eye, I could see that there was a huge level difference that would make it possible for them to do so. I guess I should just help him out a little bit.

Besides, I don’t really understand the purpose of stealing the Labyrinth Escape Stones when they can be retrieved by simply going through the Beginner and Intermediate levels of the dungeon a couple more times. Maybe I should press them for some answers while I will be at it?

(……However, in this dungeon, if the Labyrinth Escape Stone is used, you can instantly escape from the dungeon itself. So the only option here is to knock them unconscious before they can use theirs.)

Using Shadow Movement, I moved behind the men in black and struck them in the neck from behind. Then, before one of them collapsed to the ground, I knocked out the remaining three in the same way.

「Hey, are you okay?」

「Huh? W-What’s going on…… Ah, Aun-san!! Um, are these people dead or……?」

「No, they’re all just unconscious. I don’t know why they chose to attack you, Curulario, but it’s probably best for you to leave the dungeon for today.」

「Y-Yeah! Right! I will do just that!」

「Ah, just don’t forget to report that incident to the Guild while you are being at it.」

「Right! I will do just that! Thank you!」

With that, Curulario took out the Labyrinth Escape Stone from his Magic Bag, shattered it in his hand, and was teleported in an instant.

「Well then, I will wake someone up and then we can have a nice long talk about this and that.」

— But a few seconds later, my Detection Skill that I have activated just to be on the safe side reacted.

Instantly turning around, I drew Shiranuemaru from its sheath and barely managed to block the attack aimed right at me.

The blow I happened to receive was sharp, and it was clear that the attack was aimed at my vital spot and was intended to kill me on the spot.

「Finally…… We get to get a hold on his tail.」

「Oi, you asshole!? The hell do you think you’re doing, attacking so suddenly like that!?」

「That’s basically what all the bad guys out there are saying.」

The one who launched a surprise attack on me was a young man with a slender build. In contrast to his fierce attack, his expression exuded an air of ennui, and his features were androgynous. The weapons he held in both of his hands were bladed tonfas, and on both his feet were equipment that covered from his knees to his toes, with metal sticking out like sharp claws.

I forcefully knocked him away to regain my balance, and he landed on the wall with a cat-like grace, and then he used the momentum to jump at me again, unleashing a fierce barrage of blows.

— CRACK!!!

(This guy is pretty daring!)

「I won’t let you get away so easily.」

「…… If that’s what you’re up to, I’ll take on this fight! But be prepared to go back home crying!」