The Loner Who Conquers the Other World-Novel

Chapter 83: I think some things are fine on their own but should never come as a combo.

Day 32? – The Faraway Labyrinth, 67F

Now, onto 67F. I gave up on pure feelings. There are no monsters with pure feelings here. I mean, normally, you would come from above, so one third would be at 34F! So the rest of the floors are not so pure feelings.

I’m tired. I don’t know what time it is. I don’t even know if it is night or day time. When am I supposed to rest?

The bullying from Armored Pres was way harsher than battles with countless monsters until now, so I instantly felt exhausted, but monsters on the 60th floor are also strong, so I can’t just waste my time, since those worrywarts are probably trying to cut their way here. Since the idiots were now with them they probably should be alright, but since they are idiots I can’t help but be worried. Well, the geeks are with them as well, but they are geeks… So it’s still not okay!

As expected, 66F had demons. It is 66F after all. But then why didn’t 77F have monster girls? It’s 77F! If it had monster girls I probably still would’ve been there. Long stay. Probably would’ve been remodeling 77F right now. Those are true impure feelings! There were none though.

And 『Demon Blade Lv 66』, demons again. Until now I dealt with them only once, during that Demon Swordsman battle, but he was a very scary enemy. It attacked me right where it hurts, my main weakness. That’s right, my feeble Affection Rating! Although lately, I’m about to completely give up on it…

They surely will attack it as well… My affection rating. I mean, after all, they have such a cool name. Demon blades are small humanoids of about 120 to 130 centimeters in height, who are flying through the air. So this rules out pitfalls. Their number is 70?… 66? Is this some kind of important point for demons? Looks like there are 66 of them.

They also have『Magic Resistance』and『Magic Absorption』, so magic won’t work on them and demons are probably okay with both high and low temperatures? I think?

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After finishing preparations we advance to 66F.

「「「GUWWAWAAAoH!!!」」」

66 Demon Blades lunged at me from above while saying something, brandishing spears and swords. Some of them were also carrying shields, some halberds, each forming small groups of their own.

And I catch them into a net.

Those that managed to avoid that fate are chased by Armored Pres and quickly disposed of.

The higher rank of 『Packing』magic, 『Holding』became able to grab things. So catching enemies with the net infused with Holding I pin them to the ground and rain upon them minotaurs’ swords and axes which I already had ready, carrying overhead with Holding. Nice, if I keep practicing this I might even get a Sword Rain skill!

『Holding』 only recently reached level 3, so speed, power, and control are still lacking, making it impossible to land this attack unless I have enemies restrained. But if I learn to control several weapons at the same time I should be able to compensate for the lack of allies, which should also decrease the pressure on Armored Pres. Yes, let’s practice this later. To put it bluntly, it was simply an attempt to copy Fin Funnels! I mean, who wouldn’t want to try Funnel or Sword Rain attacks? Simply whacking enemies with a stick was getting very boring. [1]

To be honest, preparations were more of a struggle than the actual combat. I had to make the net from ivy, which greatly resisted my attempts of weaving it together. At times, I also stumbled upon thorns, pricking my hands. It was really tough, and for some reason, Armored Pres-san was better at this than me. What about my Jack of All Trades? Wasn’t it the time to shine? Let’s stock up on nets when we reach the town.

In addition to magic stones, Demon Blades also left various weapons. That’s very kind of the demons. They might even have higher favorability than me. It’s another huge batch of weapons after Mino-sans and War Puppets. It would’ve been very sad if I tried to use a sword rain but the only weapons I had were clubs. Thank you, Demons.

Above is 65F, right? But the monster is not alone? Another group? But why?

Peeking there, 『Murder Tarantula Lv 65』? Just a pack of spiders? Weren’t bosses on every 5th floor? Which reminds me, the geek report was only on the floors from 1 to 46 and it had no mentions of floor masters whatsoever. In other words, there are no bosses up to probably 50F. From 50F they appear every ten floors and from 75F every 5 floors? And from 75F the bosses have the fixed level of 100. If I won’t find one on 55F then it is certain. In the end, isn’t the geek report totally useless?

The last floor mentioned is 46F, just how long do I still have to climb to finally reach that floor!? After nagging me so much about falling to the bottom they prepared zero info on the lowest floors. And I barely got to see even half of the first floor. They deserved Club Rain.

With those thoughts I silently fumigate 65F. At this point, it’s the standard routine. I’m beginning to worry about the remaining wood. Even though the stockpile of mushrooms doesn’t seem to decrease at all…

「The next one is 64F, huh. Didn’t we advance quite a bit? I guess? I don’t actually feel that way though?」

I mutter while finishing off the monsters and gathering magic stones. Lately, I have to refill on Flat Gaze from the eyes of complete resignation. Flat Gaze Armored Pres doesn’t do her job at all… Well, she does finish off the enemies and collects magic stones, but her most important duty, the Flat Gaze… There is none.

And floor 64 is「Blade Armadillo Lv 64」. Armadillos are famous for the sturdy armor covering their bodies. And those guys even have some blades attached. If such a sharp ball comes rolling at me it will tear me to shreds. In addition, they have long sharp claws on the forelegs. They are meant for digging but I don’t want to get hit by that as well. I remember a small armadillo going viral in our original world because it managed to repel a bullet, so I don’t think physical attacks will work on those guys. [2]

It should be from the same family as platypus and moles, but I never heard of possible weak points of a platypus. You don’t get that many encounters with platypuses in normal life after all…

Oh my,『Magic Reflect』, 『Physical Reflect』, and 『Spinning』in martial arts. Isn’t it impossible to fight them? I can understand trying to land an attack on a vulnerable spot or something… But with 50 or 60 of them rolling around? Honestly, fighting in this labyrinth head on is just stupid.

As I remember they fed on bugs and worms, but since I had nothing to lose I threw some paralyzing and poison mushrooms to them… And they are eating them? Hmm? Are they actually omnivores? Their feeding habits could be different from the armadillos of our world or they could actually be omnivores, but I don’t care either way. As long as they eat mushrooms anything works. I can just collect magic stones after a short rest.

I make a tent at 66F and after asking Armored Pres to guard me take a nap.

I still can hear how they writhe in agony on the floor above. so I should try not to pay attention. The same goes for the impression I make, it’s my loss if I worry about it… Or rather, isn’t it my loss regardless if I worry about it or not?

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Hm, I think I slept for about 3 hours? I feel a lot sharper. I’d like to sleep a bit more, but there is no time for such luxuries. After all, Armored Pres is guarding me without any rest. Not like she needs any since she is a skeleton.

As I thought, it seems that monsters stopped spawning. I feel no signs of any new monsters appearing on this floor or any of the floors below. Is it because Armored Pres resigned from her post? Since no one came to replace her, it seems she was carrying this whole enterprise all on her own. Are dungeons this short on talented personnel? Well, since we completely annihilated everyone on the lower floors it makes sense they would be shorthanded.

After collecting the magic stones in 64F we head to the hidden room. As always, no traps, no lock on the treasure chest, and no monsters guarding it… Just a lone chest sitting in the middle of the room. Such a sloppy approach. I can’t expect Affection Rating to come out of the chest treated so clumsily.

『Chains of Prometheus – Binding, Disable all Powers』……Chains. There is no problem with them on their own. Yes, chains can be very useful for capture and apprehension.

But combine them with 『Collar of Submission – Forces into a state of absolute obedience』sleeping in the depths of my Item Bag, and oh, how mysterious! I don’t look like anything other than a criminal! This combination points to the crime of conscience, no way to wriggle my way out of this. Just carrying it will make me guilty as charged! And with the said culprit already having 5 high school girls and self-proclaimed 17 y.o tamed… There is just no way to make a defense! Any attorney would run away from such a case at subsonic speed! Just like my Affection Rating!!!

Here I thought the room might be Kaizo Trap, turns out it was set not for me but for my public image. [3]

Even so, it’s a good item. If only I didn’t have the collar I probably could get away with having it. However, Chains of Prometheus? Wasn’t Prometheus simply bound by chains? It’s not like he himself was using any chains? In that case couldn’t they just call it Andromeda Chains for example? As a highschool boy, I could appreciate having the name of a cute girl attached to them instead.

[TL notes:

[1] Funnel also known as Fin Funnel, a semi-independent mobile turret from Gundam Universe, which in combination with other such units can be used to attack the target from multiple angles.

[2] As crazy as it sounds… Googling revealed several articles about that…

[3] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KaizoTrap

]