CH 23

Chapter 23: Party Formed

Very early in the morning, Yuto came to the Dungeon Generation room.

Today, he was planning on completing an E-Rank Instant Dungeon.

Yuto took out his key from his inventory, and headed to the bronze door.

At that moment, he realized that there was tension in the air within the Generation Room.

It was a tension created from life and death struggles that you would feel inside a dungeon.

Yuto: (Is someone fighting with their party? Ugh…)

If they are fighting without drawing their weapons, that is better, but Yuto did not want to get dragged into this.

Yuto huddles lower and erases his presence.

Then he saw it.

“Please! Please save me!”

He heard a familiar voice.

Yuto: (Huh? Was that Ellis?”

He looks around but doesn’t see Ellis anywhere.

But he did see the adventurer who’s letting off all the murderous aura.

Yuto: (Wow, he is spilling murderous rage everywhere… is he in the middle of a fight?)

Yuto was about to leave, but he was also worried about Ellis.

The adventurer letting off the dangerous aura was staring at a Dungeon Door that was left open, but he didn’t move.

He carefully looked around past the adventurer, and looked through the door.

She was there...

Yuto: “——Ellis.”

Ellis was there.

She was crying and had her fists in the air.

She was hitting the wall that prevented people from leaving the dungeon.

There were no other adventurers with Ellis.

Two adventurers were in front of the door.

They both looked through the door but did not move.

Only Ellis was inside the dungeon door.

Yuto came to one awful possibility.

The time of the Dungeon Door expired and began to close.

Yuto saw the door closing and moved without thinking.

He jumped over the two adventurers, and leaped towards the door that was just about to close. Yuto threw and twisted his body at the last moment.

Yuto: “....AAAGH?!”

Forcing his body through in a really weird position and angle, Yuto smashed into the ground as he fell.

Yuto: “Owwwww….oh, hey! I made it!!”

A great relief swept over him. He threw his body through the doorway, but if anything got stuck or did not make it in time, it would have been completely detached from the rest of his body.

The Dungeon Door is powerful. Even a Mithril sword would easily be sliced in half.

He wedged himself through the door in a weird position, but there were no visible injuries. Yuto let’s out another sigh of relief.

But at the same time, he slowly started to realize the danger he may be in.

Yuto: (What rank is this Insta…?)

When he saw that Ellis was about to be trapped inside here, Yuto’s body moved automatically.

He did not even think about what he was going to do after entering the dungeon until just now.

Yuto: (Oh no! Wh-wh-what should I do?! Are we in deep trouble?!)

Yuto began panicking and sweating inside his mind.

Ellis: “Wh—wh—wh—wh—wh—….”

Yuto: “.....wh—?”

Next to Yuto, Ellis shook as she tried to find her voice.

Yuto: (What’s wrong with her?)

Yuto tilted his head as he wondered. Then, realizing something, he clapped his fist in his hand.

Yuto: “Oh! Right. Sorry I haven’t greeted you yet. Good morning, Ellis.”

Ellis: “Oh, good morning, yes — WAIT! THAT’S NOT WHAT I WANTED TO SA——Y, YES!!”

Anger erupted from Ellis as she stomped the ground.

Ellis: “Why did you come here, Mr. Yuto, yes?! Th-Th-This is a Insta-C! We can’t leave here unless we clear it, yes?!”

Yuto: “Yeah, you’re right.”

Ellis: “Then... why….?”

Yuto: “Sorry, my body just moved in its own.”

Yuto smiled awkwardly and apologetically.

Even though he was the one that came through the door, Yuto himself couldn’t explain why he was there.

He wasn’t thinking about saving Ellis or clearing the dungeon.

He was just there before he realized what just happened.

Ellis: “But…”

Ellis crumples weakly to the floor.

Her tear streaked face was now being colored with despair.

Ellis: “We are inside a C-Rank Instant Dungeon, yes. Clearing the dungeon with just the two of us will be very difficult, yes. And I’m just a Healer. I have no combat skills, yes.”

Yuto: “Hmmm… well, I think we’ll be able to get through it. Don’t worry.”

Yuto was not as worried.

One reason was that one of Yuto’s main skill is Level 3 which is equal to a C-Rank adventurer.

To him, it was not an absolutely hopeless situation.

Yuto: (And one more thing…)

Yuto thought to himself.

Yuto: (From the brown color of the hallways, this isn’t the absolute worst case scenario. We won’t be killed without being able to do anything. We have a fighting chance.)

Unlike E-Rank Dungeons, when you enter any Dungeons that are D-Rank or higher, the Dungeons begin to have traits.

There are 4 types of Dungeons - [FIRE] • [ICE] • [EARTH] • [WIND].

Those 4 traits will randomly be applied when Dungeons are generated.

If the [FIRE] type Dungeons will contain monsters with [FIRE] traits. [ICE] Dungeons will have [ICE] type monsters.

And you can determine the trait of a dungeon by the color of its hallways.

This dungeon is brown - an [EARTH] type Dungeon.

If this was [FIRE], [ICE], or [WIND], monsters who can use spells will emerge. In that case, Yuto, who is a close-combat specialist, could be surrounded, contained, and killed.

And if there were long-range monsters, it would be very dangerous for Ellis as they could aim for her without having to get past Yuto.

An [EARTH] type simply means “physically hard” monsters.

Compared to the other 3 traits, Yuto would have a higher possibility of clearing this dungeon.

But even so, it didn’t change the fact that Yuto and Ellis were in a tight spot.

They only avoided the worst of the worst case scenarios.

Yuto: (Well, let’s just make sure we do everything we can.)

Yuto took out his Skill Board.

<<<<>>>>

Yuto (18)

Level 18 → 19

Skill Point: 5 → 8

<<<<>>>>

Yuto: (Oh, my Level and Skill has gone up… it must be because I completed the Chain Quest.)

There was a Quest that appeared earlier that said “Challenge an Instant Dungeon with your Party,” and Yuto was able to clear that entering this dungeon.

For Yuto who needed all the points he can get, this was a very lucky coincidence.

>>Skill Point: 8 → 0

>>Physical Strength Lv 3 → 4

>>Swordsmanship Lv 3 → 4

Yuto: “Okay, this looks much better than before.”

The Skill Level reached Level 4 - the top tier for C-Rank Adventurers.

If he could, Yuto would liked to have raised his Skill Level to Level 5 - on par with B-Rank Adventurers, but he lacked the points unfortunately.

Yuto: (Maybe I shouldn’t have invested 5 points into [LIGHTNING].....)

If he had those 5 points, he could have at least leveled up his Swordsmanship to Level 5.

Yuto regrets his decision a little.

Just in case, Yuto confirms his available Quests.

<<<<>>>>

Chain Quest

.Clear a Dungeon with Your Party NEW

Urgent Quest

.Save the Girl

<<<<>>>>

Yuto: (There’s no Quests I can complete right now.)

In his Quest list, the Repeat Quests are still available.

There are going to be C-Rank monsters appearing here, so he could give this Quest a try.

But in order to complete the Repeat Quest, he will need to slay 1000 monsters.

Within an Instant Dungeon, there will not be 1000 monsters spawning.

The will not respawn either, so it would be impossible for Yuto to clear.

Yuto: (If only I could clear at least one, no two more Quests…)

There were no Base Quests either, so Yuto could not hope to Level Up any further.

Yuto closes his eyes, and begins to concentrate.

Today, he received a new weapon.

It is a weapon that only the highest tier adventurers use - a weapon of the highest grade.

And right now, Yuto has a Level 4 Skill.

He also has a Speciality [Critical Thrust].

He is facing [EARTH] Type C-Rank Instant Dungeon. There is nothing to fear.

The worry that was filling Yuto’s heart slowly melts away.

Yuto: (If I’ve gotten this far, then I just have to force my way through.)

As he was concentrating, Yuto feels a warmth touch his shoulder, and he opens his eyes.

Yuto: “——Oh, it’s [HEAL] magic.”

Ellis: “Y-you tripped before, yes. D-does it hurt, yes?”

Looking at the Heal Caster Ellis, Yuto realizes that he had one thing wrong.

He is not challenging this Dungeon alone.

——He’s challenging it with his party!

Just realizing this, the rest of his fears and worries in the back of his mind dissipate and disappear completely.

Yuto: “Thank you.”

Ellis: “N-no, yes. It’s my job, yes.”

Yuto: “But thank you anyways.”

Yuto repeats his words of thankfulness and gratitude in his heart.

Because he has someone with him...knowing someone is standing by his side… just from this, he felt so much more strengthened and assured…..

Yuto: “Okay! Let’s do this! We will definitely clear this Dungeon and get out of here!”

Ellis: “Y-yes, yes!”

And thus, Yuto began his conquest into a higher C-Rank Instant Dungeon and took one step forward.