Chapter 15 Exploration Part ④
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
We stepped onto the fifteenth floor.
The air turned heavy.
Walls of deep red stone loomed around us, carved with frozen human faces twisted in pain.
”This place is… creepy.”
”Yeah. Way too artsy to make sense.”
She hugged her arms, eyeing the walls like they might breathe. Honestly, even knowing from the game this was coming didn’t help the knot in my stomach.
She scouted ahead, giving the walls a wider berth than usual. Smart. If one of those faces moved, I’d scream too.
Monsters were sparse from here on—four or five per floor. Bad exp, worse vibes.
She signaled from ahead.
I peeked—and froze.
Three meters of corded muscle. A tree-sized club. A single horn.
A classic ogre.
”…What’s the plan?”
”Honestly? Skip it. Total pain to kill. But it’s blocking the stairs.”
”Will Lonisera even work?”
”It’ll hit. Problem’s the health pool. Even headshots won’t drop it fast.”
”…Still counts as a living thing, right?”
”Think bugs still crawling after their heads are gone.”
”Ugh! Don’t—gross!!”
Ogres were infamous: second highest HP and attack, third defense, zero magic, and Regeneration. Slow to kill, brutal if they hit. Fire or acid worked best, but we had neither.
”Alright,” I said, cracking my knuckles. “Time for wisdom of the weak.”
”That’s not comforting.”
I crouched, using Crafting to carve a pitfall trap.
Mana Stones, a magic circle, spikes lined with backward hooks, fake floor on top. Deep enough it couldn’t climb out.
”Little overkill?”
”Not even close.”
She baited it with Lonisera, three shots to the back. It roared and charged.
She skimmed the trap, it thundered after—and dropped straight in, arms flailing overhead.
Spikes punched through its hide, cracking bone. It thrashed, driving them deeper, blood spraying.
I poured sand in with Creation Magic until it hardened around the body.
”Alright. Finish it.”
”This feels… really villain-y…”
Still, she shot until its skull cracked. It slumped.
I dug out its Mana Stone—our first medium-sized one.
”…I feel emotionally drained.”
”They’re just tanky.”
”That’s not the part draining me.”
”Rude.”
She scowled faintly. “How’d you do it solo?”
”Pitfall, then acid. Or pack it with gunpowder.”
”That’s worse!”
”…Yeah.”
”Lonisera‘s starting to feel weak.”
”Against ogres, everything does.”
Arcane Guns used fixed damage—perfect on weak mobs, not enough to pierce an ogre’s skull.
Even low magic defense didn’t matter when they had that much raw HP.
”Are there better guns for them?”
”Yeah, but by the time you can build one, ogres won’t matter.”
”…Useless.”
”Exactly.”
They were basically flamethrower targets, but those took parts from the 45th floor. By then you’d rather use them on dryads anyway.
”…It’s gonna take forever to reach the boss.”
”Yeah. But they’re rare. We’ll get there.”
”…Okay…”
We found another ogre soon after.
This time I reshaped the trap’s spikes into spiraled grooves like drills to rip bleeding wounds. She watched with teary eyes. I added wall hooks too, just in case.
She lured it in. It crashed down—and the spiral spikes tore deep.
Its Regeneration sealed the bleeding, flesh knitting around the spikes—until she cast Energy Drain.
Its vitality bled away. The regen faltered.
It convulsed, bled out, and went still.
She cried harder than before.
”Every fight’s… wearing me down.”
”But we can’t beat them head-on.”
”I know… but my conscience still hurts.”
”Yeah… you’re kind like that.”
She hadn’t really accepted using tactics this cruel. This world was forcing her to.
Honestly… yeah, it was villain-tier stuff.
But I couldn’t afford pride. Survive or die—that was the only rule left.
”…So, done defending yourself?”
”Uh. Well—”
”Fine. I get it. We just have to get stronger.”
”…Right.”
We pushed on.
Soon, a fancy treasure chest glimmered in the dark. I Appraised it—locked, no traps.
”Feels like forever since I’ve picked one.”
”Rare down here. Trapped ones are way more common.”
”My Lockpicking’s never gonna level at this rate.”
”I’ll make you a practice set to use at home.”
”That’ll even work?”
”One of the instructors said, ‘who told you to go this far,’ so probably.”
”…Was that a compliment?”
A soft scrape, then click.
”Got it! Easy.”
”Damn. You’re good.”
”Please. This is basic!”
She puffed her chest, grinning like she’d solved world hunger. I snorted—and froze when I saw what lay inside the chest.
”…Whoa.”
A single bracelet, glittering like it belonged in a royal vault.
Appraisal.
Accessory: Ogre God’s Bracelet
Only effective for certain bloodlines.
Proof of succession.
My blood ran cold.
This had never been in Beyond the Deep Darkness. But I knew it—from another game, where it proved a demon princess’s right to her clan.
”…This is very bad.”
”Uh… cursed?”
”In a way. Proof-of-succession. Some noble house.”
”Eep.”
We’d have to run it to the Guild. Even the staff would go pale.
”…Anyway. Let’s move.”
”You’re just… carrying it around!?”
”No choice.”
I stopped.
Footsteps. Light, wooden. Clack, clack.
”…Geta?” I muttered.
”Shoes from some far country, right?”
”Yeah. You don’t see them here.”
Out of the dark, she appeared—
A female oni. Wild fur-like hair tipped red, lashes to match. Brown skin. Gold eyes. White kimono draped off one shoulder. A nodachi in one hand.
Power clung to her like a storm.
”My my… two little children, lost?”
Her bell-like voice sent cold sweat down my spine. Monsters this lucid weren’t supposed to show up before the seventieth floor.
”We’re not lost,” I said evenly. “We’re Explorers.”
”Explorers…? What do you seek… in my Torakuma Clan’s garden?”
Torakuma. One of the demon noble houses, from a far-off island nation. But… why here?
Then I remembered—the old event. Their bloodline always “found friends by getting lost.”
”…Wait. Did you get lost?”
”Th-that is not true! I am not bad with directions!”
”Okay, that’s kinda rude,” the girl muttered.
”This continent’s nowhere near hers,” I murmured. “Unless she got teleport-glitched…”
”That still doesn’t mean she’s bad at directions.”
”I can hear you, you know!?”
Her eyes went glossy. Oh yeah. She knew.
”This isn’t Torakuma property,” I said gently. “This is the Cavern of Eternal Night.”
”Foolish child. I walked through the Torakuma garden and arrived here. Therefore, this is the Torakuma garden.”
”…She walked out of her backyard and into a dungeon?”
”Stop whispering! That’s bullying!!”
Weirdly, her pressure had vanished, leaving only flustered innocence.
”So… why were you, uh… strolling through your garden?”
”F-fufu. A butterfly invited me. The sun was warm, the breeze sweet…”
”So you saw a butterfly and chased it. And got lost.”
”Wha—how did you know!?”
”Because you just admitted it.”
”…You’re mean!!”
This was hopeless. She felt more like a lost kid than a threat.
”Maybe we should give her an escape crystal,” the girl whispered.
”Can’t. I only brought one.”
”Then… we could all just leave?”
I hesitated… then shook my head. “No. Safer if she comes with us.”
”I agree.”
”E-eh?”
”Just follow us until we clear our goal,” I told her. “No running off.”
”W-what is this all of a sudden!?”
”After this we’ll escort you to a bureau,” the girl added. “So come with us, okay?”
”…Will I really get to go home?”
”I promise.”
She blinked… then smiled bright enough to light the whole floor.
”Okay! Then I’ll be in your care!”
And just like that, she was our newest party member.
(For the record, she cried when she saw our trap designs.)
We lured ogres into pits as usual, while she sparkled at treasure chest loot and peppered us with questions about our weapons and cultures. I asked about kimonos and swords, and she swore she’d get her parents to send me real examples as thanks once she made it home.
(Also for the record, she cried watching the girl use Energy Drain on trapped ogres.)
And then—at last—the 20th floor.
A massive door loomed before us, handles shaped like open-mouthed faces.
”How’s your condition?” I asked.
”Stamina’s full, mana and technique fine!”
Thanks to her Vitality Transfer, I was topped off too.
”Um… so… do people of this country normally, um… kiss like that…?” Torakuma asked timidly.
The girl flushed to her ears. “N-no, not really…”
”I see… so one must be able to do that to become husband and wife?”
”W-wife!?” she squeaked.
”For the record,” I said, “we’re not married.”
”Wh—what!?”
I sighed. “It’s not something we’d do with just anyone.”
Torakuma’s eyes lit up. “Oh-hoh! Then when you wed, you must invite me! I shall attend!!”
We both laughed awkwardly. She was already the party’s mood-maker.
”Anyway. Let’s focus,” I said. “This is our challenge.”
”You won’t need my aid?” she asked.
”We want to clear it with just us,” the girl said softly.
”…Very well. But if it becomes dire, I shall intervene.”
”Deal.”
She smiled faintly. “Think nothing of it. It is I who should apologize for intruding upon husband-and-wife time.”
”For the last time—!” the girl yelped, scarlet.
Torakuma laughed, bright and carefree—and the tension drained from our shoulders.
”…All right. Let’s go.”
I pushed the door open.
The fight with the 20th floor boss was about to begin.
Notes:
• Torakuma – Sturdy, serious-looking man; skilled fighter and tactician; reliable ally guiding the protagonist.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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