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Chapter 74: If you care about the progression and design so much then don’t drop people.

Translator: “Pink Tea” Editor: ”Ryunakama”

Day 31? – The Faraway Labyrinth, 83F
It’s a trap zone. The floor is loaded with traps. Or more like, everything is a trap? There is nowhere to walk? There are nothing but traps.

「The next one is 83F, the theme seems to be a massacre? I guess? I mean, it’s just loaded with deadly traps.」

No retort, she is just staring at me.

83F has「Ground Eaters Lv 83」burrowing at the center of pathways with their giant mouths wide open. The surroundings are just riddled with traps. 『Trap Sense』is reacting to everything on all sides. So I either have to slip through the traps or get swallowed by a Ground Eater? Actually, why do they keep the mouth open all the time? Is it really a good idea? Is it? Really? Let’s throw a poison mushroom there. A very poisonous one. Are you sure? You don’t have poison resistance, right? Hmm, the ground began to writhe? Let’s toss another one. Whooa? An earthquake?…… Ah, it’s dead?…… It left a huge hole with a huge magic stone in it.

There are 14 more ground eaters, waiting with open mouths. Is it really okay? Is it? Really?

A total annihilation.

Looks like Ground Eaters can’t close their mouths or move around. Or rather, 『couldn’t』would be more precise. They have both 『Complete Physical Immunity』and 『Complete Magic Immunity』, but they didn’t have 『Poision Resistance』. They were basically asking for it? Sitting there with open mouths? It’s like they wanted someone to put it in there. I’m talking about the poison of course. They were tempting me. I’m sure of it. I even asked if they are sure.

Now, there is a hidden room, but it is also trapped.

The floor is obviously suspicious. The color is distinctly different. The color is so different that it’s like it is screaming 『Hey, it’s here?』. Is this another pitfall? Or maybe if I jump over that spot I will fall into another trap? Is it both? Can I just walk on air? I can, right? I don’t have to step on that, right? I do feel a bit bad about the effort put into that thing, but I’m not stepping on that.

Paying too much attention to the floor while walking on air, I ended up hitting my head on the ceiling. So it was a trap after all.

「A treasure chest. I’m on the verge of giving up on affection rating, but it is a treasure chest. Though items from precious metals will be taken away anyway, it is a treasure chest.」
I opened the chest with a load of cynical remarks. Who knows, maybe the treasure chest will take pity on me?
『Trap Ring – Automatically Disarms Traps』…… It was a flag! But the order is all messed up! It’s reversed! No, it is me who is going in the opposite direction, huh.

With this『Trap Sense』completely lost any value. Even though I fell through the pitfall to get it. If only I had this, I wouldn’t have fallen.
If I was coming from above I would’ve found the hidden room, and using Trap Ring avoided the Ground Eaters. Since they are immune to physical and magic damage they cannot be defeated by conventional means. So the only alternative is diving into the surrounding traps. That’s what Trap Ring is for. Yup, it’s a good design. But what about the people who are climbing from below? How about some care for them as well? Picking up Trap Ring after passing through all of the traps doesn’t feel good at all. It almost seems like a mockery. Did Ground Eaters really have to die? It simply makes me look like I can’t read the mood. Good grief.

Above us is 82F, just a bit more and we will pass the 1/5 mark. 20%? But falling took only an instant. Well, though it was worth falling here. I found a new flat gaze after all.

And 82F is 「Mirror Boar Lv 82」, hm? Mirror, like in a mirror? Or like a reflection? Or a mirror image? And boar means a wild pig. Well, they are obviously going to charge at me. What’s more important is the mirror part. If it means like a mirror, then it probably has Magic Reflection, if like a mirror image, then it should be some kind of phantoms, and inversion, would mean illusions? I guess?

Hmm, since it has『Magic Reflection』it’s probably the first one. The real problem is 『Crushing Damage Resistance』. Since they are going to charge, it makes sense that they would need this skill. But it also means that dropping them won’t do much good. And them having『Gross Eater』also means that I won’t be able to poison them with mushrooms. They will just eat them. I might be able to tame them this way though? But it probably won’t work? Usually, it wouldn’t, right?

「Hmm, so direct combat? Against level 82? Against 100 of them? They are going to charge me? I’m sure to get stabbed.」

Actually, could it be that the most important thing for the dungeon monsters is blunt and fall damage resistance?

Spearwall.
It’s a pack of charging boars.

Since magic won’t work on them, I’ll go with a spear wall.

After all, I have a lot of spears from minotaurs. Preparing the spears by burying them into the ground at the angle I raise them when Mirror Boars charge and the set up is complete. There is enough momentum, and in addition being pushed from behind by other boars they stick onto the spears, unable to stop. With this there is no need to worry about their charges anymore, they are just bunching up.

And with their charge being halted they won’t be able to maneuver. Meanwhile, I use Air Walk to land behind the boars. With the usual Staff? in my hands. The first in a while Shintō Musō-ryū Cane Arts Different World Edition. Yes, I’m still insisting on calling this cane arts. I’m going to stick to that until the other world’s branch of Shintō Musō-ryū comes to sue me. Also, today I’m going to use the staff for shooting.

Boars have no reverse gear. It is what people say, so it must be true. They are capable of sudden stops, turning around, and backing away, but they can’t run backwards. This is bound to seal their movements. Even if they manage to turn around, they don’t have enough distance to accelerate. Meaning, they will become slower. Slow enough for me to fight. In addition, since they are too closely packed to get enough room for movement, I can make a clean sweep at them.

First, let’s create more chaos.

Creating a number of small holes to impede their movements even further, I then surround them with a ditch and get to extermination. If things go south, I can just escape to the spear wall. I can fly after all.

Waltzing through the pack, I move, spin, and sweep, if I stop, I will lose momentum, and if I lose momentum and get surrounded they will beat the hell out of me. I already saw an example a number of times from Armored Pres, and the same goes for the use of Kyojitsu. Whirl with the sword, slip through the gaps, dish out slashes, turning each one into a small tragedy.

Move before I think. There isn’t much I can do anyway, so thinking will only slow me down.
This is what I learned during my fight with the master of this dungeon. Or rather what I was made to learn. Chain the attacks, set up the onslaught, and moving with the fluidity of water turn it all into a deadly sword dance

Going with the flow, removing pointless motions, just simply slash in a dance.

Going between a boar and a boar, slash after half a revolution, then, step-in with another slash. Without stopping, without halting, just flowing from one attack to another.

There is probably nothing beautiful about it and it doesn’t appear like a dance in any way. But even if my movements are clumsy or ugly, I’m still going to continue my stride. Because I saw what lies ahead.

Meanwhile, from the direction of the spear wall, Armored President began a real sword dance. The moment she jumped in an empty zone formed around her. Our speed is completely different, she doesn’t have even a moment of empty pause.

She is going to kill all of them if I don’t hurry.

「Pheew, you know? It feels like it was such a long time ago? I mean, the last time I actually fought? Even though we are in a dungeon? I wonder why?」

As I was wondering, Armored Pres was staring at me in disbelief while gathering magic stones. I know what she wants to say, but I’ll die if I fight head on.

The next one is 81F. We are gradually getting closer to the surface. Though the road ahead is still long.

Before I noticed, a flat gaze became her default expression.

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