Ch.170 My First Battle in this Dungeon. My Opponent is... A Slime?

"It's in that room. ...I'll be quiet again now."

['Kay]

[I'm starting to get nervous]

[It's been a while since she left the big room.]

[Finally, a monster... I wonder what it will be.]

[Hopefully, it's something that can be managed with her spare gun...]

Click.

I readjusted my grip on the sniper rifle, realizing it was damp with sweat.

...Honestly, I haven't felt this excited since that time with No Name Dragon-san, outside of when I was reading.

In other words.

I'm excited.

"................................................"

I was aware of my quickening heartbeat, but I still deliberately took slow, deep breaths.

The goal is to allow the adrenaline to flow naturally, while using breathing techniques to suppress the excessive activation of the sympathetic nervous system.

It's not a calming spell, but something that will help me calm down.

Carefully, carefully.

I know there's only one in this room, but to determine if that's true...

Swoosh.

"................................................"

What's reflected in the mirror...is it a slime?

It's hard to tell the color because it's not active, and also, with my current detection skill, I can't tell how strong it is.

But it's not active.

Both from the mirror's reflection and the detection skill, I'm now sure that there are no other monsters in this room.

That's why.

[Oh, in front of the room]

[Slime?]

[It's huge]

[What kind of slime is it?]

[The difficulty level will probably change considerably depending on the attributes.]

[Well, most of them are sluggish, so at least it's good that she can escape if push comes to shove.]

"................................................"

--I can't see the core.

...I see.

So, does that mean that my current state is definitely at about the same level and skill level as before I got this body?

This is a good start.

The most important thing is that I can get information without any other means.

...Bang.

Splash.

"................................................"

[Did it hit?]

[Probably]

[The slime's scattered around]

[Poor Slime-chan]

[lol]

[I'm relieved that she's back to normal.]

[The problem lies ahead...]

10 seconds.

I hid in the hallway and observed it from the mirror for a while.

"...Looks like I managed to defeat it. It'll probably take a little longer for it to crystallize."

[Congratulations]

[Congratulations]

[But we don't know how strong that gun is]

[It was originally a gun that Haru-chan had, a drop from the deep levels.]

[So, we've figured out that she can defeat the slime with the usual headshots, right?]

[But it's a slime...]

The traces of splattered slime.

...Doesn't it feel stickier than usual?

It feels more gruesome than usual.

Maybe it's just my imagination.

[Are the monsters on this floor weak...?]

[Dunno]

[It's a slime after all]

[The level seems low, so I feel a little relieved]

[If there were drops, we would have understood more.]

The room is a small, unremarkable room.

"That slime earlier was probably a stray, so I can't let my guard down yet. Besides, there are a few monsters that can be detected by the detection skill...they might have noticed me because of the gunshots, so I'll be even more vigilant from here on out."

[Okay]

[Be careful]

◇◆◇

--I waited another 10 minutes, but the slime still didn't crystallize.

And now.

Whoosh.

Splat.

"Is that all...?"

A sticky liquid was scattered across the hallway.

It's as slow as slime, and its core...though you can't see it...is exposed, so it seems like a slingshot would work.

[Aren't they weak?]

[They are weak]

[The slingshot is a high-quality one, and Haru-chan's throwing and sniping skills are probably decent, but to hit them in one shot with a stone she picked up...]

[Perhaps: This is shallow floor]

[That possibility has emerged.]

[We can't let our guard down, but... I'm sure Haru-chan will be fine.]

[If it's shallow, then it makes sense that there are few monsters and they're weak.]

[However, the size of the first large room, and more importantly, the length of this corridor, are questionable...]

[Can she get to the next floor today with this?]

[Or perhaps she'll escape from a shallow level of some dungeon?]

[No, she might camp out in a safe spot somewhere.]

[But, you know...]

"...It seems it won't crystallize after all. And it won't drop either."

Crystallization.

When a monster is defeated, it remains as a gruesome corpse for a short while, but within a few minutes, even with a slight delay, it turns into a crystal—a mass of magical energy.

For us, that's a valuable source of income. It's much easier to make a living when we know exactly what kind of crystal we'll get at a certain level, rather than worrying about drops or treasure chests that we don't know if we'll get or what's inside.

...But apparently that's not the case here.

It's not certain yet, but... the way they died were pretty gruesome.

And they smell bad.

Normally, there's no smell like this.

[They don't crystallize...isn't that crazy?]

[Yeah]

[First of all, the only way to recover magic power is to sleep.]

[And that's not all, she can't even perform simple throwing magic attacks using the magic power of crystals.]

[And to put it another way... it means she can't stay in one place, right?]

[Oh, so you can make a fortune by waiting for a pop-up like Haru-chan?]

[I can't do that... if a corpse remains.]

[It might be okay in a low-level place like this, but if the minsters are attracted by the smell and gather in a more high-level place...]

...Anyway, this isn't an ordinary dungeon.

Just realizing that is a huge gain, isn't it?

"...If I attack like thi, I'll gain experience points, so first I need to level up steadily. If I don't even do that...no, I've leveled up considerably compared to a week ago, so that's probably not going to happen."

A space called a dungeon, with a system similar to that of a video game.

People have said, "Isn't that a little too convenient?", but as soon as even a part of it disappears, it starts to feel like it's going to be a real hassle.

"Let's go a little further today. i need more information."

[Haru-chan is unusually serious.]

[Yes]

[They're not crystallizing... I really wonder where she is]

[Well, I don't know... No Name-chan won't tell us either.]

Previous | ToC | Next

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Author's note:

My new work, "I've Been Befriended by a Unicorn, So I'm Doing a Dungeon Stream... It Won't Listen Unless I Crossdress, So I have to Crossdress"

https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818023211929600076

Will be posted twice a day throughout January. If you're interested in crossdressing boys, please do check it out.

If you want to know what Haru-chan would do next, you think it's interesting, TS is the best, want to read more, or want to support us, please leave a ♥ or a comment of support at the bottom ↓, and if you haven't already, please rate us ★★★ and follow us from the table of contents.

https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330662854492372

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー