**Day 30? The Farthest Labyrinth 87F**
"Still only 87F～? This dungeon is way too long, dude."
I'm starting to zone out hard.
There's supposed to be some kind of pacing, right? Some rhythm? But we've been stuck inside this endless maze forever, I've lost track of time and days. Is this an isekai dungeon crawl or just large-scale pest and vermin extermination? I can't tell anymore.
Okay, fine, the real reason I'm slumping is because I haven't had a proper fight in ages. Anything Lv80+ is straight-up impossible anyway! No way!
Finally, the bee-crushing marathon is almost over. Do I even need more magic stones? Feels wasteful to leave them, though… My item bag is probably already overflowing with stones. Still not as bad as the mushroom hoard, but maybe I'm just stingy by nature? Jito-eyed Armor Committee Chair is diligently picking them up, so if I skip out it'd be kinda rude… But seriously, what's the point of getting rich in a world with no bookstores?
Well, money worries are officially over. On the flip side, the risk of "confiscation"-style forced savings just skyrocketed… I look half-dead right now, but at least retirement is looking secure.
"Ooh, hidden room on this floor too? Wait—huge? Giant treasure chest? Jackpot vibes?"
Gotta check it out. Sounds zack-zack rich.
…Shouldn't have come. It's a giant queen bee. Fumigation didn't work—probably because she's too massive? The regular "Lightning Bee Lv87" were already Boston-bag sized, zipping around at lightning speed wrapped in electricity, charging nonstop. Smoke resistance? Individual variation? Most of them dropped, so probably just some tough outliers.
But this "Lightning Queen Bee Lv87"? Truck-sized. No wonder the room felt huge. She charges straight at me—I dodge sideways, but was that a sting attempt? Or just body-slam? Her stinger is thicker than my arm. Maybe thicker than my leg? Lady, you don't even need lightning anymore. Pure collision + pile-driver is plenty. I'd die instantly before the shock even kicks in!
Jito-eyed Armor Committee Chair gets targeted too, but she flows like water—barely dodges by a paper's width, spins her whole body once, and slices a perfect horizontal line with her sword. Meanwhile I'm… rolling around on the ground.
Out of pure spite, I keep rolling while mass-producing water balls and rapid-firing them. While rolling.
"She really hates water, huh? Doesn't like getting wet? Queen complex or something?"
The soaked Lightning Queen Bee flops on the ground, jaws clacking uselessly, unable to take off. Maybe short-circuiting. Then her head gets lopped off in one clean stroke. Obviously by Armor Committee Chair. I'm still rolling, by the way.
"Hmm… yeah, when speed gets completely outclassed, there's no fighting back, is there? Long-range magic spam would've been smarter… Wait a minute. Lightning Bees have zero magic resistance? Could've just blasted from afar?"
Self-reflection time. Lately I've normalized whacking things with a stick, but newsflash: I'm not a melee class. I'm jobless. Zero job. No occupation! Shut up!
But that one step—dodge, stance finished mid-dodge, slash completed by the end of the step… everything in one seamless motion. That's true "void and reality." My single-step one-slash is child's play compared to that. Avoidance and attack fused into a single, stripped-down, fastest-possible action. Everything else cut away for ultimate efficiency. That's real "kyojitsu." Meanwhile I'm over here rolling around like an idiot. Time to stand up. My back hurts.
"HYAAA～! Treasure chest! Room's huge, enemy was huge… but the chest is normal-sized… Feels kinda small now, emotionally."
Mood's dropping. All that effort for a regular chest? I mean, I just rolled around, but it was life-or-death rolling! I was thinking "I'm amazing for dodging that!" but right next to me there's a full 360 spin-slash. My rolling-hero narrative just got obliterated. Of course I'm gonna sulk-roll some more. Yeah, I was just rolling, okay?
Thinking back—if I'd used the left "Gauntlets of Paradox – Nullify Physical/Magic Attacks" to catch it coolly, that would've been badass. But scary! Truck-sized bee charge! Ultra-thick stinger! Even if physical got nullified, the impact would've sent me flying anyway, so rolling was fine either way.
Maybe I should invent "Rolling Slash" to counter the spin-slash? If it becomes a skill I'd hate myself. Circling the enemy while rolling around slashing… nah, way too visually favorability-destroying. Hard pass.
Sulking, pouting, acting all tsun while opening the chest. Opens normally… What was the point of Magic Key Lv Max? Why do isekai flags only stand up after they've already been broken? Is there even meaning anymore?
Hm～? "Bangle of Blessing – Transmutes curses and calamities (one-time wear only)." Transmutes lecture-curses and scolding-disasters? I'd rather just extinguish them outright… The "Silver Armor" Skeleton-san is wearing has "Curse – Assimilates with flesh and blood," but since she's bones, no flesh, and she said it's fine. Still a curse, though. And that bottom-floor darkness… heavy, deep, pitch-black resentment? Hatred? Sorrow? Suffering? Way beyond any of that! Probably a curse too, definitely a calamity. Right now she's cheerful, darkness supposedly gone, full-of-life skeleton… But? She's still a skeleton? No guarantee it stays gone forever. No way to confirm the darkness is truly erased. It's single-use, which is exactly why…
"Here. Better to have a blessing, right? Probably? Sounds like you've had it rough… or something?"
She stares intently—even though empty sockets. Takes it reverently with both hands, drops to one knee, presses the bangle to her chest, bows her head. Very knightly? Thought Durahan quit… Anyway, if she likes it, great. Another glamorous piece—probably suits her perfectly. Plus anything called "blessing" screams god involvement, which gives me nothing but bad vibes… That old geezer never does anything decent.
"Right, next is… wait, this is 87F. Up is 86F. Yeah… only 14 floors out of 100 so far…"
People who seriously grind dungeons probably just plod along steadily, huh? Why do patient, diligent types become adventurers anyway? Isekai is weird.
Uh… yellow-and-black striped fluffy? Fuuten no Torasan? Wait no! Torasan isn't yellow-black fluffy! That's a tiger! The sane, non-deranged tiger!
"Mirage Tiger Lv86." Illusion type, probably. Mirage = phantom. So strong tigers that confuse you while you try to kill them? Lv86, maybe 30 of them, huge tigers? Already apex mammals, now with illusion magic? Can't we just get regular cats? Please. I'll employ them.
For the hell of it, I use earth magic to make a ton of boxes on 86F above and take a break. Dinner time. Fish it is.
Finish eating grilled fish, check presences upstairs… yup, cats. The boxes were smaller than tiger bodies—that was the clincher. Every single one crammed inside… In the end, they're just big, ferocious cats… (patan) Close the lids.
…Alright. Let's head up.