CH 31

I went to the locker room to change into the normal clothes I had brought with me and went outside. I stopped by the restroom and transferred the dropped items I had in my bag to my item pouch.

Then I went to the lobby in front of the reception desk and saw Haru leaning against the wall. Looking earnestly at the back of the reception desk. No, she’s looking at something in the reception area that requires her skills.

I’m not sure if she’s analyzed it as it was, but she took out a notepad and pen and was about to write it down, so I grabbed her hand and stopped her.

“What the! What are you doing? Don’t scare me.” (Haru)

Haru looks at me in a slightly moody tone.

“What’s wrong?” (Kei)

“The fact that you just startled me and the way people are looking at me.” (Haru)

Haru replied with a grimace. So,

“Well, 16-year-olds usually need parental permission and very few parents allow it. And today is a weekday so it’s a school day. Moreover, Haru is average in height.” (Kei)

“That’s right, but…” (Haru)

You can get a license to explore dungeons without parental permission as long as you are over the age of 16. However, it is not easy to prepare the equipment that is good enough for exploring.

A simple metal bat is not considered a weapon, and armor is not available to the general public. If I wanted to get all of them, the cost would be beyond what a teenager could afford.

In addition, even if they are able to get the weapons and armor, their license can be suspended at the discretion of their parents if they are under 18. That’s why the rule prohibits 16-year-olds from exploring, and why no parent or guardian would allow them to explore dungeons where they can’t make money or even risk their lives.

That’s why there was no one around us who seemed to be of the same age as us.

“By the way, why did you stop my hand?” (Haru)

“There are security cameras and people watching everything you write. If people saw what you wrote, they’d realize it’s not something you could have easily just observed.” (Kei)

“Oh, I see. So, are we leaving?” (Haru)

I was a little confused by Haru’s question about leaving the Dungeon Dam. I’ve been feeling magic from things other than what’s in this reception area for a while now.

“Haru, do you sense any other source of magical powers?” (Kei)

“Hmm, Oh, I think it’s that one. I found it.” (Haru)

“Even with our skills, we couldn’t make a device that would automatically use our skills, and we didn’t get any drops.” (Kei)

“I looked it up in my [Analysis]. As it turns out, I couldn’t inspect everything. It’s probably a combination of skills and science.” (Haru)

“Oh, that’s what it is.” (Kei)

A fusion of skill and science. It’s not possible for an ordinary person to do that. But then again…

“You mean you have the production system skills that can be obtained by defeating the Minotaur, right? In other words.” (Kei)

“That is a device made by the Self-Defense Forces at the forefront. It’s something troublesome.” (Haru)

It was bigger than I expected. I thought the “Strongest Party” in the dungeon picked it up, but it seems that it was made by a larger organization than I previously expected. If so,

“It’s a bad idea to check it out. Shall we leave?” (Kei)

“Yeah, let’s go. We can’t even go out to eat.” (Haru)

“I’ve spent all my money on weapons and armor. Let’s go home and have dinner there.” (Kei)

“Yup.” (Haru)

Fortunately, there were no devices at the exit, only guards, so we left as usual. It’s not that I’m doing anything criminal, but I’ve gotten used to feeling like I’m doing something wrong.

We got on the train and went home without any problems.

“Now, can you tell me the results of the analysis of the device as far as you can remember?” (Kei)

“Yes, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. I’ll start writing down what I found out now.” (Haru)

“Lesser Wolf Iron … Iron with the magical power of Lesser Wolf [Perceive Nature]”

“Lesser Wolf Iron … Iron with the magical power of Lesser Wolf [Display]”

“Lesser Wolf Iron … Iron with the magical power of Lesser Wolf [Activate]”

“Lesser Wolf Iron … Iron with the magical power of Lesser Wolf [Connect]”

“I think this is the parts that were used, and the electronics are operating them in order to run that device.” (Haru)

“By the way, what is the effect of those skills?” (Kei)

“Here they are.” (Haru)

[Perceive Nature]

Type: Skill

Active Time: 3m

Cool Down: 1m

Examine target’s skills

[Display]

Type: Skill

Visualizing the information sent to living beings.

[Activate]

Type: Skill

When an object that possesses a skill is touched, the skill possessed by the object is used externally.

Always active, as a rule.

[Connect]

Type: Skill

Active Time: Until the next skill is used

Connects skills

“I wonder did they make it, by combining the parts with the [Activate] skill and the one [Display] skill together. Then they might have let both interact using and [Connect] every 4 minutes. Did they take the displayed information with a camera, turn it into electronic information, and store it?” (Haru)

“That’s what you would normally think. Hmm? Come to think of it, you can’t use your skills outside. What did they do? You can’t use any of those skills outside, right?” (Kei)

“Yeah. And that device was covered with a metal box except for the sides.” (Haru)

“Oh, that’s right. Wasn’t that for protection?” (Kei)

“That was something else, too. It’s not manufactured, it’s a genuine drop.” (Haru)

“Micro Dungeon… Creating a dungeon in a box.”

“So, you can use skills in that box. That’s tricky. So, the magical power we saw is to grasp the qualities. By the way, what is the nature of that skill?” (Kei)

“It’s the first skill that creatures can get regardless of their skill. Maybe it’s similar to your [Perception] and my [Detection], but I wonder if it’s okay to protect personal information.” (Haru)

“It’s a newly created dungeon skill. You can make a lot of noise about privacy, but it’s not clearly defined as personal information. This may change if there is a lawsuit in the future, but no one will be able to notice it in the first place. Compared to the magical power that moves with magic, the magical power that moves with skills is insignificant.” (Kei)

“Even if your skill is magic-related, you won’t know what skill you have until you defeat the 5th layer boss, so you only feel uncomfortable. It’s quite troublesome.” (Haru)

We both let out a sigh at our country’s way of doing things as if they’re not afraid of being found out, but we couldn’t do anything about it, so we changed our focus.

“Oh, that reminds me. I didn’t notice the drop last time and missed the self-appraisal.” ()

“Oh, by the way. Last time we missed [Self-Assessment] because we didn’t notice the drop.” (Kei)

“Here, the drops. We’ve become something like villains. We should at least use what the main character goblin dropped.” (Haru)

“Yes, yes. The drop items are two Iron cards, one silver, one gold, and one black. Do you want to put off gold and black and use only iron and silver?” (Kei)

I picked up the cards one by one and tried them out. I picked up the iron card, but it didn’t work, so I picked up the silver card and it responded.

“Material: ?? Nature: ??”

“Hmm?” (Kei)

Suddenly, something strange appeared in my mind and the card turned into a fog and disappeared. The card disappeared with it.

“What’s wrong brother?” (Haru)

“No, something came up the moment I used my skill card.”

“Brother, I think you’ve got some kind of analytical skill. I’ll take a look. I’ll show you. Oh, I got it. Can’t you see it yourself? [Material Cognition].”

Looking at my own hands and I think about [Material Cognition] and in my mind. Then,

Material: Biological

Fighting Power: 194

Qualities:

Stealth, Positioning, Material Cognition, Speed, Power, Guard, Bind, Chain, Slow, Loss, Perception, Acceleration, Alchemy

“Oh, wow. But it’s a lot harder to read than Haru’s. Magic Capacity and Strength aren’t separated. Magic, Skills, and Passives are indistinguishable.” (Kei)

“Well, then it’s a lower skill under [Analysis]. By the way, [Self-Assessment] can’t see details like [Analysis]. And it seems that you can’t see your Name, Skills, and Magic Attribute.” (Haru)

“In other words, [Self-Assessment] is a sub-skill of [Analysis], and [Material Cognition] skill is a sub-skill of [Self-Assessment]?” (Kei)

“Maybe yes. By the way, do you know the details of the skill?” (Haru)

“Hmm, this?” (Kei)

[Material Cognition]

Cooldown time: 10s

First cognitive skill.

“That’s it.” (Kei)

“There’s not much information. This is what it looks like when I use [Analysis].” (Haru)

[Material Cognition]

Type: Skill

Cooldown time: 10s

Perceive details of objects that have no magical resistance.

“There’s no such thing about the ‘first cognitive skill’, but this one is more detailed. By the way, can you use [Material Cognition] on me? I’m trying not to resist it as much as possible right now.” (Haru)

“Ah, it’s impossible. Even if you don’t resist, you still have a small amount of magical resistance.” (Kei)

“That’s true.” (Haru)

While I was checking my skills, Haru uses a card I haven’t used yet.

“I also found out my new skill.”

Name: Haruka

Proficiency: Magic / Craft

Magic Attribute: Fissure (Explosion) (Electric)

Level: 56

Strength: 64

Magic Capacity: 132

Skill: Analysis, Magic Bullets, Rampage

Magic: (Bomb), (Time Bomb), (Impact), Number, (Plasma), Fissure, Separation, Barrier

Passive: Magic Recovery / Detection / Crafting / Magic Manipulation

[T/N: So I changed the second item “skill/技能” to proficiency since it seems to make more sense. I will retroactively change the other chapters with this. Thank you.]

“You’ve got some pretty disturbing skills.” (Kei)

I can’t help but throw such words at me after seeing [Magic Bullet] and [Rampage].

“Yeah. [Magic Bullet] is a skill that just shoots magical power as it is, and [Rampage] just uses magic power to increase the ability.” (Haru)

“Well, leave it at that until we can use it next time. Then, what about the gold and black?” (Kei)

“Yeah. I feel like I’m with the gold one. That’s where my eyes always go. If I didn’t think about anything, I would probably use it before I realize it.” (Haru)

“I feel like that too. It feels like I’m being pulled by the black one.” (Kei)

Something magical is not happening, but it feels like my eyes are somehow always drawn to it.

“Then, I’ll touch it. Here goes.” (Haru)

I use the black card to match Haru’s shout.

It felt like the temperature of my body was suddenly burning up, but there’s still a chill across my skin. Then distorted letters come to my mind.

“Domination.”

As the letters disappeared, the heat of my body went away.

“How was it?” (Haru)

Haru was smiling next to me while looking at me.

“[Domination]. I don’t know the details.” (Kei)

“Leave it to me, anyway, my card is a skill called [Skill Sublimation]. I couldn’t learn any new magic or skills, but I could sublimate my skills. So I sublimated [Analysis] and added it to [Detection] to make [Inspection]. It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t matter what your magic resistance is, but it seems I can force anyone with less magic than me you accept the [Analysis].”

Haru was so happy that she started to ramble on.

“That’s good. What about my skills?” (Kei)

As I listened, I released my own magic power to resist.

But the magic power coming towards me from Haru became thinner and thinner, weaving between my magic power and approaching me with ease, touching me easily.

“Don’t resist. I did it. Here it is.” (Haru)

Name: Touka

Proficiency: Enchant/ Alchemy

Magic Attribute: None (Curse)

Level: 56

Strength: 79

Magic Capacity: 115

Skill: Stealth/ Positioning, Material Cognition, Domination

Magic: Speed, Power, Guard, Bind, Chain, Slow, Loss

Passive: Perception / Acceleration / Alchemy

“And this is the result of using [Detection] on [Domination] that you’re interested in.” (Haru)

“Domination… to control only those things that match one’s ability.”

“Yeah, I don’t understand what that means.” (Kei)

“I know. I don’t get it.” (Haru)

“Well, it’s time to make dinner.” (Kei)

“I’ll wait. Tomorrow we’ll go to the dungeon. Also, I’ll look for a trash skill since it has a shorter cool time now that I have [Inspection].”

As usual, we quickly put important matters out of our minds and returned to our peaceful lives.

It would be a long time before we would notice the unsettling atmosphere in the dungeon.