CH 112

“So, what should we do?” (Haru)

“There’s that.” (Kei)

It’s been a few days since we caused the stampede. It seems that there were no explorers who jumped to their deaths in front of monsters that had no intention of attacking humans, and I saw it said on the news that there were “zero deaths” in Japan.

It’s only natural that explorers only dive to the level where they have an advantage over monsters. If there is a difference in status, you won’t even have to worry about being killed if you bump into a running monster.

However, this stampede. Haru and I are the ones who have noticed the problem. And someone else who tried to cause the stampede first.

“I just can’t believe it wasn’t man-made, you know.” (Haru)

“I don’t even know how to get into that room.” (Kei)

The next day after the stampede, we were back at the place where the room used to be. Seeing if we could get into that room again, to see if we could find out the secret of that computer.

But we could not find the door. We looked for the door for several hours, but it never appeared, and our efforts ended in vain.

“Who would benefit from a stampede?” (Haru)

“If you’re strong, you can kill monsters and get items, but I wonder if it will actually be profitable.” (Kei)

In the event that you want to hunt for a stampede in the entire dungeon, you will need to have the status to be able to kill a good number of monsters at once with a single blow.

In the event that you’ve got that kind of status, you’ll be able to get rare items and a lot of experience by fighting in the deeper floors.

“In the first place, there’s no point in setting it up where they attack people, right? In fact, in the stampede we had, no monsters targeted people at all.” (Haru)

“Then there’s a criminal’s petty amusement. Maybe it was a monster that caused the stampede in the first place.” (Kei)

“Is that a monster manipulating that?” (Haru)

“I mean, the cow understood the language, so it’s too early to say it couldn’t have done it, don’t you think?” (Kei)

“That’s true.” (Haru)

When we played with that computer, the characters that appeared on it were hiragana. I’m not sure if it’s because this is Japan, or because we speak Japanese, or if it’s just Japanese for no reason.

“By the way, do Minotaurs understand other languages other than Japanese?” (Kei)

“Come on, let’s try it out?” (Haru)

So, we were standing in front of a minotaur. If we swing our weapons, we can defeat them. If we hit it with all our might, we can beat it. Even if we don’t aim at it, we can defeat it. So,

“Haru, run away.” (Kei)

“Yeah, go away!” (Haru)

We continued to dodge the attacks of the Minotaur in random directions.

“Haru, speak in English.” (Kei)

“Oh, I don’t know. Can you speak English?” (Haru)

“Your pronunciation is very Japanese!” (Kei)

We were never good at English, and our limited knowledge of the language was limited to exam words and grammar, so we couldn’t speak with a more westernized pronunciation.

“Oh, I have a bomb!” (Kei)

“What’s your name?” (Haru)

“My name is Touka!” (Kei)

“Either they can only speak Japanese or they can speak English just fine but we’re too bad at it. Which is it?!” (Haru)

While running around the Minotaur, we shouted in poor English, but it didn’t seem like it could hear us. In the first place, I don’t have enough knowledge about words in English that might affect its actions, so we could see if it could understand us.

“Which is it?” (Kei)

In the end, we couldn’t verify whether the minotaur could understand English or not that day.

“So, Kizaki-san. What do you mean by this, Kizaki-san, is there any case of 31 people going missing together? No, there was no such case. If they all disappeared at once, it would be a big deal.” (Someone)

“Well, I think they are probably kids. I don’t know if the children are still students. No, I don’t think they are students.” (Shiki)

“So, tell me what you’re actually thinking. First of all, you’re not diving in the dungeon anymore. Where are you gathering such incomprehensible information?” (Someone)

“Hmm? I told you before. It’s a skill. It’s useful, but it’s a shitty skill.” (Shiki)

“So, you said it before, ‘Resonance’, right? You only gave me the name of the skill.” (Someone) [T/N: 共鳴 or kyoumei or Resonance.  So, who is Shiki resonating with? Or is it like sonar?]

“Because if I told you, you’d tell everyone.” (Shiki)

“No, I won’t. I mean, you’re the one who’s spreading people’s secrets.” (Someone)

“Is that so? You don’t remember that I told everyone about your first love?” (Shiki)

“You do remember, don’t you?” (Someone)

While the two men were chatting across the table, a woman with blushing cheeks interrupted them with a beer in her hand.

“Hi, I’m Rei, your first love.” (Rei)

“Why are you here?!” (Someone)

“Well, hey, it would be strange if your wife was left at home.” (Shiki)

“I’m a wife. Fufu.” (Rei)

“What are you two single people talking about? Rei-san’s love type are women, right? I haven’t forgotten that I was rejected after confessing!” (Someone)

“Girls are cute. By the way, Shiki-san’s daughter is cute. Her name is Haruka-chan. He jokingly introduced me as his wife. I took him up on it because it was funny, but I missed the chance to tell her it was a lie. Haruka-chan glared at me, it was so cute.” (Rei)

“Wow.” (Shiki)

“What do you mean, ‘Wow’?” (Someone)

“No, I thought she had bad taste. I mean, why are you actually here, Rei?” (Shiki)

“Work and support. My skills are very useful.” (Rei)

“No, I don’t know any of your skills.” (Someone)

“Yeah, it’s a secret.” (Rei)

“Please tell me.” (Someone)

“No.” (Rei)

The more they drank, the more they talked. This is how the night went on for the three middle-aged drinkers.

“Satou, hen did kids start using computers?” (Shiki)

“I don’t know, maybe 20 years ago. Maybe even earlier.” (Someone => Satou)

“If so, I want you to put together a class of exactly thirty students from around there until now. Just the middle school for now. It’s a co-educational school in an area where the language is the official standard.” (Shiki) [T/N: They mean formal Japanese minus the idiosyncrasies of those with dialects.]

“I understand, Kizaki-san.” (Satou)