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Over the Infinite Chapter 17 Part 1

 

Volume 2 Episode 4 “The Tenth Floor”

 

-1-

(Infinite Corridor)

The labyrinth city’s core and the dungeon that adventurers are highly recommended to conquer as a top priority.

As of now, it’s unknown how many floors exist in total. The current front line is at the 88th floor. Given that approximately one floor is conquered each month, it is said that this floor will likely be cleared this month as well.

In reality, it’s a ghostly labyrinth with more than 1,000 floors, but it seems this information is not commonly known. Whether it’s a secret just between the dungeon master and me, I’m not sure.

As for the names, floors 1 to 30 are called the lower floors, 31 to 60 the middle floors, and 61 and above are considered the upper floors. If one knew the actual number of floors, perhaps these names might change.

That said, as of now, floors 1 to 30 are the lower floors. The ones I am currently challenging are also part of the lower floors.

Right now, I’m on the 5th floor of the Infinite Corridor.

The dungeon’s structure up to this point doesn’t differ much from what I saw during the trial. Or rather, since this was the original dungeon, the trial dungeon was probably designed to match this one.

However, it’s not a straightforward path like the first to the fourth floors of the trial.

While I wouldn’t call the structure of the 5th floor a maze, it does require 2 to 3 hours of exploration on average per floor. Once you find the stairs, you go down immediately, so that’s just an average.

Probably, if you have the (Surveyor) class, you could understand this map and produce one. I lack such skills or aptitudes.

Even without belonging to any class, Yuki, who has the aptitude, could likely perform more efficient explorations.

Actually, there might be adventurers who earn their living not through fighting but through such supplementary tasks.

Traps that weren’t there during the trial are somewhat troublesome. But perhaps because it’s the lower floors, there are significantly fewer of them.

I accidentally stepped on a floor switch twice, and arrows flew at me, but neither caused any damage. Whether I was able to dodge them or not is a secret between me and this young man.

[1. TL Note: Here Tsuna calls himself “Onii-san” to joke about how only he knows if he dodged them or not.]

I think there won’t be any mines until the 10th floor where only solo activities are possible. If there were any mines, I’d probably be out of luck.

From what I’ve heard so far, the idea of anti-personnel landmines appearing is scary. If you survive the first blast, it’s hell.

The monsters aren’t much different from during the trial. There are goblins that keep popping up as well as dog-like creatures called hound dogs.

I haven’t seen any orcs or kobolds yet. Especially, the absence of flying monsters like bats is a big relief for me.

Whether it’s a goblin or a hound dog, if it doesn’t fly, it gets slaughtered by my Fuhigekiri.

[2. TL Note: “不髭切” can be read as Fu Hibiki or Fu Higekiri; Higekiri is the name of a famous Tachi (a type of Japanese long sword), which is said to have been made by Minamoto no Mitsunaka in the Heian period.]

This wooden sword given to me by the dungeon master is not bad at all, despite my initial complaints about it not being a real sword.

It was said to have the ability of “Indestructibility,” and perhaps because of that, despite being just a wooden sword, it shows no sign of breaking.

Even if I go all out in slaughtering the goblin folks for skill practice, I won’t have to deal with weapon loss like I did when I fought with the cat-eared girl.

Its attack power is average. It’s no different from swinging an ordinary wooden sword.

I have also brought a longsword as a backup weapon, but it looks like I won’t have to use it.

「…I’m tired.」

At the plaza where the fifth floor’s warp gate is located, I sat down.

It’s not like the enemies are particularly strong, nor is the path exceptionally complicated. I’ve given up on dodging traps.

However, the fact remains that the area is vast, requiring a lot of walking. I’ve been at it for roughly 10 hours now.

The newly issued status card now has a function that displays the dungeon exploration time, so it’s not just a gut feeling.

This card, issued to newly debuted adventurers, has various features.

It displays basic information like a photo, name, gender, Gifts/Skills, class, stats, and even an adventurer registration number.

In addition to displaying the exploration time by default, it seems you can also add functions like enemy kill count, base level, class level XP display, and party chat functionality.

There are also rather dubious functions like photo-taking and mysterious puzzle games. Is this a smartphone or something?

However, to unlock features beyond the default ones, something like Guild Points—commonly known as GPs—is needed.

These GPs accumulate through quests, dungeon breakthroughs, and other achievements.

Regular currency won’t unlock these features. Nor can you buy GP with it. These points are solely earned through adventurer activities.

Before coming here, I had accepted quests like “Goblin Slaying” and “Hound Dog Slaying.”

The points are minuscule, but they’re given per kill, so the more you defeat, the better.

The problem is the number of quests you can take is determined by your rank. I chose these two quests because I had reliable information that they would be available.

I never thought these would be the only ones around.

The important parts of the videos are mostly in a digest format anyway.

Achievements like clearing the fifth floor, or the tenth floor, also add points.

The first time gives a large bonus, and you might even unlock achievements without realizing it.

Trials are excluded, but records like clearing speed also earn you points. I heard someone talking about a “Naked Ninja” or something.

The use of GP isn’t limited to adding features to the status card; it also includes access to the Guild Shop, specialized training facilities, and advanced libraries.

Skills can also be purchased at this Guild Shop, as Philos once mentioned.

In other words, earn points by doing various things, and you’ll have lots of options.

There’s also some “special service” at the Milk Pudding brothel, where that damn vampire Werner is a shareholder, that can be unlocked with GP. But right now, that’s utterly useless. Oh, how pointless.

No, none of that matters right now.

The issue is the exploration time. 10 hours. It took 10 hours to get here.

This is roughly the same amount of time it took for us to clear the trial.

Back then, I had Yuki, and the cat girl were there too, and we had boss battles on each floor to distract us. But here, I am alone.

I took out the stale bread from the card and washed it down with water.

No doubt, even this is better than goblin meat.

I knew beforehand that this exploration wouldn’t take multiple days, even if the specifics were unclear.

In that case, I should have purchased better food, but while the real items may not be bulky, the card-stored items are expensive.

I did purchase the potions with a card, taking into account my past experience. Still, it’s three times the price of the actual item.

So, my decision is to endure it if the exploration period is short, like one or two days. I’ll treat myself to a hamburger when I get back.

However, when I sit down to eat dry bread and water, an overwhelming sense of desolation hits me. It’s incredibly lonely. I can’t help but feel isolated.

The loneliness is so intense that I’m tempted to jump back into the warp gate behind me.

My goal is the 10th floor, so I’m only halfway there. I reckon it will take at least double the time from here on out, and it’s starting to wear on me.

I can totally understand why Kuro and the others turned back at the 5th floor. It’s not just about the difficulty level; it’s also a hassle.

I still have to conquer five more floors to form a party, so pressing on is the correct choice, but my mental state is also starting to deteriorate.

I’ve been lost in thought for a while now. There’s no dialogue, either.

Even so, there’s no way Yuki would turn back here, and if I’m the only one who returns, I’m likely to get hit.

Just like in the “Beast-Ear Parade,” someone rabbit-like would get angry. The art style is better this way, but if I say, “It was too much of a hassle, so I came back,” I’ll definitely get scolded.

It probably won’t lead to breaking up the partnership, but he’ll surely be in a bad mood. Just like the time I invited him to the brothel, and he got all huffy.

「…Shall we go? 」