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Tl: Sam

…

“Nn… where is… this…?”

　Rubbing her head, Yui Hoshino woke up.
　Her head was hazy from the effects of the teleportation magic, but quickly remembering that she had triggered a teleportation trap, she surveyed her surroundings with caution.

“Monsters… don’t seem to be nearby for now. Is there anyone else…?”

　Readying her sword, Hoshino took a close look around.
　The place she had been in just a moment ago was a snowfield, but she noticed that the scenery had completely changed. Rugged, bare rock was exposed everywhere, and neither snow nor ice could be seen at all.
　Far from it,

“It’s hot… The magic essence concentration is high too, so it looks like I was sent down to a pretty deep level.”

　Hoshino instinctively realized she had arrived at the lower level.
　In this Niseko Volcano Dungeon, the areas from the middle level and above were an ice and snow type dungeon, but from the lower level down, it turned into an intense heat zone instead.
　Ice and snow dungeons were difficult to conquer, but the difficulty of a high-heat dungeon was even greater.
　Even if you stripped off your clothes, you couldn’t escape the heat, and stamina drained much faster than in cold places. Although only a few minutes had passed since she was teleported here, large beads of sweat were already forming on Hoshino’s skin.

“When you get lost in a dungeon, aiming for the surface is the standard rule. Tanaka-san will surely do that too, so I need to head up.”

　Suppressing her anxiety, Hoshino set her sights on escaping the dungeon.
　Then,

“Huh? Someone’s there.”

　After walking for a bit, Hoshino found a group of crouched explorers.
　There were about ten people, and judging by their gear, they appeared to be explorers from Iron Stag.
　They seemed to be injured, unable to move from the spot. Seeing them, Hoshino hurriedly ran over.

“Are you alright!?”
“A-Are you Hoshino-san…?”

　The explorers looked bewildered at Hoshino’s sudden appearance.
　Meanwhile, Hoshino examined their bodies, assessing the extent of their injuries.

“It must be tough to walk like this. I have recovery potions and a first-aid kit, so please allow me to use them.”
“Eh, no, um, you don’t have to go that far…”

　The explorers tried to decline out of politeness, but Hoshino began treating them without giving them room to refuse.
　Hoshino treated them briskly in a practiced manner. Watching her, they wore apologetic expressions.

“We’re so sorry. Because we opened that treasure chest, you got caught up in this too…”

　If they hadn’t opened the treasure chest driven by greed, they wouldn’t have been teleported all the way down here.
　On top of that, having their injuries treated left them filled with guilt. They assumed Hoshino had to be angry with them as well, but,

“Please don’t worry about it. You never know what will happen in a dungeon. Right now, rather than arguing, let’s join forces and escape together! It’s okay, we can manage this!”

　Seeing Hoshino smile as she said that, the explorers felt ashamed of their own shallowness.
　And at the same time, they were deeply touched by her strong, kind-hearted personality.

“Hoshino-san, once we make it back alive, we will formally apologize for this incident. So… just for now, as companions, may we fight alongside you?”
“Yes, of course! Let’s do our best together!”

　Hitting it off with them, Hoshino set her sights on escaping.
　And in her heart, she thought of Tanaka, from whom she had been separated.

　(This is the right thing to do, isn’t it, Tanaka-san? I don’t know if I can do it well, but just like what Tanaka-san did for me, I’ll do my best to save everyone…!)

　Hoshino looked back on the dungeon where she had first met Tanaka.
　Seeing Tanaka save her from a hopeless situation, Hoshino had developed a deep admiration for him.

　To get even a little closer to him, Hoshino resolved to do her best.

◇　◇　◇

“…Good grief.”

　Moving through the dimensional rift while the space warped and swayed all around me, I muttered to myself.
　A little time had passed since I was tossed in here, but it didn’t feel like I could get out.
　It seemed the teleportation trap we triggered was a special design. It probably had a function that measured the magic essence quantity of the teleportation targets and sorted where to send them.
　Seeing that I had the largest amount of magic essence among the group, it must have deemed me a threat and decided to trap me in this dimensional rift.

　In other words, at this rate, I would have to take up permanent residence in this alternate space. That’s a problem.

“Can’t be helped. Guess I’ll do this.”

　I moved through the dimensional rift using the front crawl.
　The feel was a bit different from swimming in water, but well, it was more or less the same thing. Anyone can do it once they get the hang of it.

「Why on earth can he swim through alternate space?」
「Just when I thought he ended up somewhere weird, he’s doing weird stuff lol」
「Where is this?」
「Thank goodness Shachiken is alive」
「Oh, did the signal come back?」

　Before I knew it, the drone was flying by my side.
　Apparently, it had been recognized as my belonging and teleported to the same location. It served as proof of my safety, so having it follow along was a huge help.

　The viewers might be worried too, so let’s explain the current situation.

“I’m drifting in a dimensional rift for a bit, but I’m completely fine. I’ll escape now.”

「Why is he so calm… lol」
「The vibe makes it sound like he’s just taking a walk, lol」
「Indeed, it sounds just like ‘I’m taking a light stroll’ lol」
「This should be an emergency, yet there’s zero tension」
「For Shachiken, emergencies are normal after all…」

　I closely observed the distorted space.
　Fundamentally, space is the same as any physical object. If you observe it carefully, you can see the weak spots.

“Right… here.”

　I thrust my arm into a thin spot in the space and forced it open with brute strength.
　Then a hole opened in space, allowing me to exit.

“Well then, I will now escape.”

　Slipping my body into the hole, I exited.
　Along with a distinct slippery sensation, I succeeded in returning to normal space.

“Alright, that worked… hm?”

　Having escaped the dimensional rift and been flung into mid-air, what I saw was a scenery of solid ‘red.’
　Until now, it had been a snowfield, a world of white, so the change was drastic. Not to mention, the temperature was insanely high. Why?

「Ah」
「Eh?」
「What’s this?」
「Could this be…」
「Isn’t this lava?」

　I see, so this red was lava.
　I clapped my clenched fist into my open palm, coming to an understanding.

　And all the while, I continued my freefall… and in the very next instant, having been suspended in mid-air, I plunged straight into the bubbling, boiling lava.

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