Chapter 99-2 Approaching Red Dot
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Did we somehow manage to wrap this up?”
Sogahara-senpai sheathed his sword.
”It’s my first time being surrounded by this many. I was a bit flustered. I’m glad Tsuchimiya-kun and the others were here.”
Mitsuki-senpai wiped her sweat with a towel and called out.
”No, everyone was calm. As expected.”
Mitsuki-senpai and Katsura-kun, both kendo club members, moved sharply and efficiently.
They seemed composed, not panicking even when surrounded by a horde of Monsters, handling their tasks steadily.
”But, I did get help a few times.”
”I-I also received help! Thank you!”
”A spear… having long reach is really convenient. We might want to increase the number of spear users in the rearguard.”
Sogahara-senpai’s party has 3 Swordsmen, but basically, one is always guarding the rearguard.
”Sorry, I might not have been much help…”
Hano-san looked apologetic, panting with her shoulders.
”That’s not true. Hano-kun, you did your job well. Without you, everyone’s burden would have increased and we might not have been able to protect the rearguard.”
”That’s right. Thanks to Hano-san stopping the Monsters with her body, we had the leeway to use magic.”
”Sticking to being a wall without pushing yourself was a good decision. Plus, you took down 2 Monsters, didn’t you?”
”Hehehe… is that so? …Thanks.”
Hano-san’s cheeks relaxed, and she swayed her body shyly.
It’s helpful that she bounces back quickly.
”Tsuchimiya-senpai, we’ve taken care of things over here!”
”Ah, good work.”
Himeno, who had taken down quite a number of foes alone, returned with a smile.
”Asagiri-san is amazing. Is there really such a difference between Scout and Thief? But Tsukuba-kun is much different from you…”
”Sogahara-senpai, Himeno has been strong from the start, so it’s probably not a good idea to use her as a reference.”
Himeno was bringing out Evold’s potential more than anyone else I had seen at the time of the First Dive.
I think it might be her talent, but it could also be the power of the Divine Craftsman Ring.
’Asagiri-san has been racking up a lot of kills in the Thief class. She might change to the Assassin class soon.’
Seriously?
Assassin is the class Fujisaki had when we encountered it in the abandoned floor, right? It’s an expert-level class.
I remember it had a stealth ability that doesn’t get caught by exploration magic or skills.
This makes it even harder to sense Himeno.
While I was trembling at Tina’s words, everyone gathered, and we decided to take a break.
”Tsuchimiya-kun, are there any monsters nearby?”
”For now, we’ve taken care of most of the nearby ones. But the number of monsters ahead is still unusually high.”
About 5 hundred meters from the safe zone, there was an area where monsters were densely packed.
We could have avoided it, but Sogahara-senpai decided we should fight them.
”I’ve never seen so many monsters gather like this before. If they move to the safe zone, it could be dangerous for the students. We can handle it, so let’s take them out.”
”It was pretty tough, but there’s no helping it.”
”If we keep going, we might find out the cause.”
I would have avoided the dangerous places, but for Sogahara-senpai and the others, student safety is the top priority even in this situation.
I have a lot of respect for them as a regular student.
’Is this a sign of overflow? This area should be properly managed, so I don’t think that’s the case. But if you feel it’s dangerous, please don’t push yourselves.’
I wonder if someone like Valeria is adjusting the number of monsters.
It’s not like she’s slacking off while getting lost in the game.
There must be some reason for this.
”For now, Kanon, please don’t use the flare bomb until I give the signal.”
”Okay. Sorry.”
Earlier, Kanon fired a Flare Bomb into a horde of monsters, but the explosion’s noise attracted even more nearby monsters.
”I’ve done that before too. It was my fault for not being careful.”
’Tsuchimiya-dono’s mistake~nyuru.’
During the First Dive, when Higurashi and I were exploring a dungeon at night, searching for a magic circle, we carelessly used a Flare Bomb.
It caused a mess, but fortunately, the zombies were slow enough for us to escape.
”Watarase-san reacted quickly, but I was about to cast Fireball too. It couldn’t be helped.”
”Taking down enemies from a distance is a basic strategy. That was just an accident—just be careful next time.”
”Got it!”
Keita-kun offered support while sneaking a glance at Kanon’s chest, his face turning red.
”Oh, so Keita likes girls with big chests, huh? Interesting…”
”What!? N-No, Shion-san, it’s a misunderstanding!”
Keita-kun was flustered as Kanami glared at him with narrowed eyes.
Kanami-san isn’t small herself, but comparing anyone to Kanon is unfair.
”Kano-ppi is Tsucchi’s boob representative, after all.”
”Y-Yes! I’m Tsuchimiya-senpai’s boob representative!”
’Njorn is the squirmy representative~nyuru!’
Wait, since when did these “representatives” exist!?
Himeno casually clung to my arm, rubbing her chest against me.
Please stop that; you’re making me almost lose control.
It was a short break, but we managed to relax enough.
We charged back into the monster-concentrated area.
”Gyaaah! Kanamin, help me!”
”Leave it to me, Chika! Firebolt!”
After the previous battle, the bond between my party and Sogahara-senpai’s party had strengthened.
The once-awkward teamwork now flowed much more smoothly.
This was likely thanks to Hano-san’s excellent social skills.
After multiple fierce battles, Sogahara-senpai, Kanami-san, Himeno, and Kanon had all reached Level 6.
”Is this the last of them? For now, there aren’t any large groups in sight.”
”In the end, I still don’t really understand why the Monsters were gathering.”
We finally defeated the dense Monsters about 9 hundred meters from the teleportation point.
The boss room is usually located between one thousand and one thousand 5 hundred meters from the teleportation point, so if I’m heading in the right direction, it should be visible soon.
”This is tough… let’s take a break.”
”I never expected this to turn into such a power leveling situation…”
”I’m running low on magic too. That Pii’s magic must consume way more than mine, but how can they keep using it so much?”
”Hehe, I’m confident in my magic amount!”
Kanon has a mysterious class as a magician girl and a skill that boosts her magic (small), plus she’s eating nectar fruit.
I didn’t mind that Nishina-san is also eating nectar, but normally, you can’t shoot that much.
”For now, let’s take a break. We’ve spent quite a bit of time. If we don’t find any more Monsters or the boss room after moving a bit further, let’s call it a day.”
”Understood.”
We didn’t progress as much as planned, but it can’t be helped.
As I sat down and looked at my phone, I saw a lot of friend requests coming in.
Amahara-senpai and the class president, Irie-san.
Akiyama Yuuki.
He should be blocked.
Then there are unknown people who seem to be representatives of the Student Freedom Alliance.
Higurashi told me to keep in touch even if I don’t have to interact, so I’m reluctant but I’ll approve all of them.
”Ahhh, Njorn-chan, so soothing…”
”Njorn-chan, do you want some chocolate?”
’Nyoru!’
Njorn is still as popular as ever.
At that moment, 3 red dots flew into view from the edge of the auto-map.
Strange….
Monsters in this floor only move at such speed when they detect a player.
As the red dots maintained their speed and entered the room, 2 more red dots shot out from the edge of the screen, chasing the 3 ahead.
These are even faster.
Feeling uneasy, I watched as the two dots caught up to the 3, and all 5 dots stopped.
”Tina!”
The moment the 3 leading dots vanished, I stood up.
Two Monsters killed the 3 Monsters!
’Something’s off! Monsters are usually controlled to avoid killing each other. It’s impossible to fully control them due to strong instincts or intelligence, but only a Vampire Bird Stirge could move at this speed in this layer!’
Sturges are quick, but their attack power is low.
I can’t believe they could kill other Monsters in an instant.
Moreover, these guys started moving again at an incredible speed!
”Tsuchimiya-kun, is something wrong?”
Sogahara-senpai called out to me.
He must have sensed something from my demeanor; I was tense.
Everyone else also stopped chatting and focused on me.
”Two Monsters came from outside the detection range and killed the 3 fleeing Monsters. They are moving through the labyrinth at a speed I’ve never seen before. Their location is in our direction. There are many branches, so the chance of them coming this way is low, but we might run into them if we keep going.”
”Hmm… unknown Monsters, huh… Should we defeat them before the other students are attacked?”
”No, I have a bad feeling about this. Let’s cut our exploration short and head back.”
I felt uneasy and restless.
It felt like I shouldn’t be here.
”Understood. I’ll follow Tsuchimiya-kun’s judgment. Everyone, let’s pull back immediately!”
We stood up and hurriedly began to move.
Fortunately, there were no Monsters on our return route.
I take the lead and run, checking the positions of the two Monsters.
The straight line distance is less than 200 meters, but the route is largely detoured, so it is more than twice that distance.
But Monsters and the others continue along the path of approaching us without hesitation.
Why?
Is it just a coincidence?
Kijima-senpai called out to me as I ran.
”Tsuchimiya-kun! Monsters were packed together earlier, so perhaps they ran away from them?”
”!!”
Connected!
Just as Kijima-senpai said, that group of Monsters probably escaped these two Monsters.
But they didn’t rush into the safe zone and remained at halfway point because the two Monsters hadn’t followed.
They were still or did not come out of certain areas.
But the two Monsters are heading towards us at this time.
”Sogahara-senpai! These guys are aiming for us! If we keep going, we’ll be caught up in no time!”
”What!?”
Vice President Sogahara looked surprised, but made a quick decision.
”Okay, let’s meet! Vanguard is me, Tsuchimiya-kun and Asagiri-kun! Tsuchimiya-kun, find the best points! “
”Okay!”
I glared at the automap and started looking for intercept points that I could reach before I was caught up.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.