Chapter 7: Unexpected Encounter

I quickly passed through the upper floors and arrived at the entrance to the middle floors, the 21st level. From here on, it's a world where, without a certain level of strength, you could easily meet your end. Still, with a D-rank explorer license, you're allowed in, so anyone with some talent should be able to manage.

The upper floors feel like typical dungeon caves, but from the middle floors onward, the environment changes drastically. Levels 21 to 30 are covered in dense forests.

The forest is thick with trees, the kind of place you'd expect forest-dwelling monsters to live. The ceiling is covered with a special moss that glows for 12 hours and then "sleeps" for 12 hours, making it feel as bright as daylight. Interestingly, the timing of the light doesn't match the actual sun—at 5 AM, it suddenly becomes as bright as noon, and by 5 PM, it plunges into the darkness of night.

"Alright, Raijū."

The forest is so dense that visibility is limited, making it easy for monsters to ambush you if you're not careful. But for me, this is actually an advantage because it makes it harder for other explorers to spot me, making it easier to summon my shikigami.

When I call Raijū's name, a yellow wolf appears from a magic circle—my trusty companion who's always by my side. As soon as it's summoned, Raijū sniffs the air, alert and scanning the surroundings before turning its gaze to me.

"What's up?"

"Woof..."

Raijū moves with a relaxed gait, seeming calm, but if a monster shows up, it'll strike with lightning speed—a reliable shikigami indeed.

I created my shikigami based on the yokai encyclopedia I read at school, and honestly, it seems to have picked up on my personality in a subtle way. Sёarᴄh the novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Alright, today's mission is on the 40th floor."

As I start walking, Raijū follows, trotting along with its fur slightly bristling with static electricity. I'm not sure how it works, but Raijū can detect nearby monsters by charging its fur with electricity. Plus, its lightning attacks are precisely controlled, so I don't have to worry about getting hit even if I'm swinging my sword around. Pretty handy.

After walking through the forest for a while, a rat bigger than the Steel Ants from the upper floors appears.

"That's… a Giant Rat."

This creature, aptly named Giant Rat, doesn't even get a chance to react before there's a sharp crack of electricity in the air—Raijū has already taken off its head.

The Raijū is said to be a mythical creature born from lightning that split a giant tree. Riding on clouds and moving at the speed of lightning, it's too fast for human eyes to track.

"Good job."

After swiftly dealing with the Giant Rat, Raijū relaxes its fur and lets out a yawn. To Raijū, a middle-floor Giant Rat isn't even a threat. Even if dozens of them showed up, Raijū would wipe them out with ease—that's how powerful it is.

As I continue walking through the middle floors, my bag starts to feel pretty heavy.

I've heard that overseas they're working on bags enchanted with magic to have incredibly large interiors, but they haven't figured out how to make them practical yet. With regular technology, you can wait for advancements, but with magic, it all depends on finding the right materials. It could be developed tomorrow, or we might be waiting a hundred years.

There's no point in wishing for what I don't have, so I rely on my usual solution for carrying my load.

"Kasha."

A flaming cart appears from a magic circle and stops in front of me. Kasha is a yokai said to drag sinners' souls to hell, but I've repurposed its cart to carry my bags full of magic stones. Honestly, I wonder if I'm using it the right way, but Kasha doesn't seem to mind, and it organizes everything neatly for me.

Being a shikigami, it's strong enough to give me peace of mind, and best of all, I can summon and dismiss it at will.

I take an empty bag from the Kasha that I had stored there earlier, and the demon pulling the cart nods in satisfaction before disappearing into particles. I have no idea how, but whenever I summon Kasha again, it always has my stored magic stones with it. Yet, if Raijū gets injured, dismissing and resummoning it heals the wounds. It's a mystery.

No point in dwelling on things that have no clear answer, so I continue deeper into the middle floors with Raijū in tow.

Past the 30th floor, the forest gives way to a cavern filled with water. It's like an underground lake, with water that glows faintly, adding a mystical touch to the otherwise dim surroundings. But there are monsters in the water, so getting too close isn't wise.

Not that I have to worry about that.

Raijū is strong enough to handle even the monsters in the deep floors. This means that once I summon Raijū, I can pretty much just stroll along, yawning, as it takes care of everything until we reach the deeper floors. But since today's mission is on the 40th floor, honestly, it's not all that exciting.

Yeah, it's not exciting. The reason I dive into dungeons isn't just for the money; it's because I enjoy the act of exploring. But after three years of delving into this dungeon, I've memorized every inch of the upper, middle, and lower floors of the Shibuya Dungeon. Unless the dungeon's structure changes drastically, it's just not that interesting anymore.

The thrill of exploration comes from the unknown, from discovering new depths.

With these trivial thoughts running through my mind, and with Raijū handling all the monsters, I reach the 40th floor in no time. As you descend, the dungeon floors get larger, but if you take the shortest route from stairway to stairway, it doesn't take that long… I think. Maybe it's just because Raijū is annihilating everything in its path.

"Huh? Someone's already here."

I heard there were multiple Frost Wyverns a bit below the 40th floor, but it doesn't seem like a warning has been issued. Well, the dungeon authorities probably keep track of anyone heading to the lower floors. If this were happening in the upper floors, the Explorer Association would post detailed information on their website and issue evacuation warnings.

But since it's the lower floors, they probably think it's fine. Still, they really should issue a warning… It's not like they can excuse a death by saying they were busy afterward.

I turn my gaze toward where I sense someone's presence, and I instantly regret it.

"Today, I'm definitely going to conquer the lower floors! I'm doing it out of sheer determination!"

Standing there was Asakawa-san, the same person I saw in this exact spot yesterday.

Why is she back here the day after nearly dying? Is she crazy?