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Over the Infinite Chapter 4 (4)

 

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Translator: mii

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After that, when we passed through the door that appeared on the wall opposite to the entrance, the cat ears was standing there.

「Good work, nya. It unexpectedly took you guys some time, nya?」

「It’s because we tried to do one on one. Also, I ate some meat.」

I also received Yuki’s.

「I-I see, nya. I think Tsuna’s “You go your way and I’ll go mine” is amazing, nya. Well, both of you worked hard, nya. You can return from here, but what will you do, nya? 」

「Return?」

Speaking of which, there was the same gate that we went through before we entered this dungeon behind Chitta-san. Was it the relay point that she mentioned at the beginning?

…That meant we could return? I was wondering if we had to clear it or continued until we died and retried, but I guessed wrong.

「After you defeat the boss, each layer has a warp gate, so you can turn back, nya. If you go through that gate, you will return straight to the ground, nya.」

「If we turn back, do we have to start from the beginning again?」

「Starting from the beginning is also possible, but you can start from the relay point where you turn back, nya. If you start back, you have to defeat the boss for the second time, nya.

However, one thing that you have to keep in mind is that once you pull out from the capture, there is a rule that you just can’t take the next challenge after at least six days have passed, nya.」

「Ehh…」

「Seriously…」

Ahh, so that’s why the shortest capture record was one week. The only way to shorten it was to complete the capture.

Was it a mechanism that didn’t allow continuous dungeon attacks?

「Err, why do we have to wait for six days?」

「Hmm, I don’t know much about the details and it’s just that kind of rule, but this rule applies to everything else, nya.

There are many things that you can do, such as recovering the death penalty and preparing for the next capture, so it’s not really that short, nya.」

So it should be considered as a rest period, huh?

In that case, it was necessary to earn money with that much time, and it would be difficult to increase the number of dungeon capture if my income was small.

It might be better to think about having part-time jobs.

「That’s why there are many adventures who have part-time jobs, even if they are not lower class who are simply struggling to live without money.

Well, there are some people who are strictly resting, some stoic people who train earnestly. …Then, what will you do, nya?」

「Continue.」

Yuki declared that he would continue without asking for my opinion.

If anything, he was the one who was tired anyway.

「Yuki seems motivated, so let’s continue. Is this gate also available even after the third layer boss battle?」

「Yes, nya. It’s also available after the fourth layer, nya. …Well, after that, it will be for after the capture, nya. Let’s continue to the next layer and keep grinding, nya.」

We hadn’t even reached half of this dungeon, so it seemed like it would take a long time.

Given that we needed to wait for a period of time, it would be better to go as far as we could.

We went down the stairs beside the warp gate and reached the third layer. The appearance didn’t change much.

「What is going to change from here?」

When we descended to the second layer, the type of small fry enemies and the encounter rate had changed.

「The small fry enemies won’t change that much up to the fourth layer, nya. The main events here are the boss battle and the treasure chest, nya.」

「Treasure chest!」

Yuki who was a little tired suddenly got energetic.

The treasure chest was one of the arranged things that no one exactly knew what was inside or who put it there in the RPGs.

There was nothing more suspicious than a treasure chest placed in a natural cave.

「Who is the one putting those treasure chests?」

「It seems like the dungeon makes and put it on its own, nya. This dungeon is an exception, but usually, the placement is not fixed and they appear randomly.

Sometimes it’s even half-buried in the wall, so at that time we’ll have to do our best and dig it up, nya.」

Wasn’t that more like a bug?

「Are they going to set up one for each rookie? Or both of us get one?」

「Each person has one, nya. So there should be two installed here this time. By the way, once you open it, there won’t be any treasure chest again the next time you come, so take note, nya.」

So it was a one-time celebration, huh.

「Does what’s inside already fixed?」

「It’s random, nya. I think it’s random, but… I never heard about it from other people, nya. It’s probably random, nya. Generally, it’s something silly, so everyone will immediately forget about it, nya.

But other dungeon treasure chests contain good quality weapons and relatively good items, nya.」

Was it the thing that was said in the lecture? That if we didn’t but back our item within a certain period, we would be pfft-ed by Dullahan.

Wouldn’t it become awkward if the item of someone we knew came out?

「By the way, does Chitta-san still remember what was inside your treasure chest? I don’t how many years have passed since then after all.」

「I still remember it well, nya. …It was a cat ear headband, nya.」

That was terrible. Not to say, completely meaningless.

「…I-isn’t that good? Cat ears are cute.」

「If I put it on, I’ll have four ears, nya. …If Yuki got animal ears from the treasure chest, you are forced to wear it during this capture, nya. I’m using my privilege as your companion, nya.」

Did she have that privilege?

…No, she should be just saying it as a bluff. If she had such privilege, she wouldn’t eat that goblin meat.

「Ehh, I don’t really mind, but does Tsuna have to wear it too?」

「…………」

For some reason, she was staring at me so much. I was getting embarrassed.

「He doesn’t have to, nya.」

What the heck. Was she telling me not to wear cat ears?

Yuki became energetic, probably because of that conversation, and the journey in the third layer was over in a blink of an eye.

It was a straight road as usual, and there was nothing special to note except how I still struggled with the bats.

「Here it comes, the treasure chest.」

It was just before the boss room. There were three treasure chests in the exclusive room.

…Three?

「It’s not just for the challengers?」

「Ahh, this red box is for the companion, nya. There’s nothing inside, nya.」

Why did they even prepare an empty box.

「The blue treasure chests over there are for the challengers, nya. It’s better for both of you to decide which one to choose, nya.」

「’For right now, I’ll choose to open the red box!’ can I say that?」

Oi, stop it, Combat![1. Apparently, this is a gaming term (which I’m not familiar with since I don’t play games much…), but it comes from Combat Echizen from Death Combat! I couldn’t find a specific English article about this, but I used this blog as a reference. https://mimidoshima.wordpress.com/2018/05/24/from-the-people-behind-melty-blood-and-uniel/ If you’re interested in the Japanese term, it’s “せっかくだから、俺はこの赤の扉を選ぶぜ！”]

「I don’t really understand what you are saying, but you can’t choose this, nya.」

「So it’s no good… Which one will Tsuna have? There are no keys and traps, right?」

「There are none in the trial treasure chests. Other treasure chests can be locked, filled with trap, or sometimes actually a monster that mimics treasure chest, called as Mimic, nya.

By the way, monsters are easy to spawn near the treasure chest for some reasons, so usually people will watch out for their surroundings, nya. The monsters will approach you the moment you open the treasure chest, nya.」

So there were traps in the treasure chest?

Since we could revive here even if we died, it was possible to have instant death traps. It’s like those ‘take a step here and die’.

I didn’t know if Chitta-san was a thief or scout, but I would need the skills used by the experts like her.

It would be nice if I could learn it myself, but I didn’t seem to be the type to fit that kind of thing. Either way, Yuki fitted the image better.

「Yuki can choose first. It doesn’t really change much anyway. We can just exchange it it’s necessary too.」

「Really? Then, for right now, I’ll choose to open the box on the right.」

「Then, for right now, I’ll choose to open the box on the left.」

「W-what, nya? What “for right now”, nya?」

It’s fine if she couldn’t understand Combat-san’s favourite phrase. There was no way there would be the same game in this world after all.

Now then, when I opened the lid, something was placed inside, its size unfit with this big box. It was a silver bangle that would take care of you when you did bad things. Not a card, but the real thing.

「…Handcuffs?」

What was this? Was the dungeon trying to tell me to arrest the cat ears behind me? Or maybe it was for that kind of play? No way, right?

「What happened, nya?」

「No, it’s just that there’s something unexpected in it… What can I use this for?」

「What a very strange bracelet, nya. …Bangle?」

So she didn’t know? It seemed like she never got arrested before.

I didn’t know whether they used handcuffs in this city, though.

「I don’t think it’s wrong to call this a bracelet too. …It doesn’t look useful.」

「Well, fine, nya. How about Yuki, nya?」

「It’s a knife. I feel like this one is pretty good, so it’s some sort of jackpot?」

Yuki said so while showing the knife that looked expensive in his hand. He had a smug face.

This brat, should I arrest him?

「It looks like a considerably expensive knife.」

「The decorations are elaborate too. This will be quite expensive in my home.」

「I never knew that not only junks but also practical products may appear, nya.」

Apparently, this was not an event where something really good would come out.

…It was only natural. This was a rookie training class event. Yuki was just lucky.

Even so, what should I do with this handcuffs? I wondered if Yuki could put it on the opponent’s foot after throwing them like some kind of inspector.

「Then, next is boss, nya. If you’re careless just because it’s a goblin, it might pull a rug from under you, nya.」

「It’s Goblin Leader, right? How is it different?」

Maybe the color is different to save up space.

「To say it simply, it’s strong, nya. Maybe the orc used it too, but goblin leader might use some skill, nya. It’s random, so it might also not use it, nya.」

「Other than the leader, are its team’s normal goblins?」

「They’re basically that nus, but they are a little bit more powerful under the effect of the leader’s《 Command 》skill, nya. The effect will be lost if you defeat the leader, so it’s a good idea to consider the order of which to defeat first, nya.」

Should we crush the head first or threw it down from its subordinates?

The enemies were probably a test, assuming that we would fight multiple enemies in the future.

「Should we go just like ar the first layer?」

「I think I can also attack unlike at the orcs, so I think we should be basically good with that. If we can aim, give priority to the leader.」

「Then, let’s go now?」

「That’s surprisingly fast nya, but it seems like you have discussed it before, nya. Then I’ll be waiting ahead, nya.」

After saying so, Chitta-san opened the red treasure chest and went inside.

After a while, all the treasure chests in the room disappeared like fog.

…Eh, so that was the entrance to the passage?

「Will there be that kind of gimmick too later on?」

「I don’t know.」

Now, it was our turning point, the boss battle.

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