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Tl: Sam

…

“Hmm, I’m lost.”

Scratching my head, I muttered that to myself.
Spreading out before my eyes was a vast expanse of lava and a path split into countless branches.
Because the scenery in the lava zone never changed at all, it was difficult to tell which way I had come from. Although I vaguely remembered the path I took, once you’re lost, you might even lose track of that.

「Not very cool, lol」
「No, but seriously, there’s no way to tell the path here」
「Isn’t it that way? (Random guess)」
「Don’t just guess randomly lol」
「Monster corpses just keep piling up endlessly lol」
「At first he was actually explaining the monsters, but he gradually started silently slicing them down, which is hilarious」
「It was touching when Lava Dragon-kun gave a thumbs-up as he sank into the lava」
「Was that Terminator? lol」
「I’ll be back」
「Way too much false memory lol」

I was fine with both the lava and the monsters, but not knowing the way was bad.
Normally, you explore a dungeon from top to bottom. Even if you don’t know whether you can reach your destination, you never lose the way back, because you just have to retrace the path you came from.
However, I had arrived at the deep level via teleportation. There was no way I could know the way back. Good grief, what a pain.

「What’s Shachiken gonna do?」
「Ah, by the way, looks like the other teleported explorers were found」
「Seems so, heard everyone was sent down to the lower level」
「There’s a post saying Yui-chan is acting as their leader, for real?」
「Looks to be real. Pretty amazing that she can unite such eccentric explorers」
「As expected of the wife」
「Do we already know if everyone’s safe?」
「Safety should be confirmed for pretty much all of them」
「Whoa, good thing this dungeon has the property of relaying radio waves outside」

I noticed important information flowing through the comments.
Apparently, the explorers were in the lower level, and Hoshino was uniting them.
Thank goodness… I had trusted in her, but knowing Hoshino was safe was a huge relief. Not only that, uniting the other explorers was quite impressive. Once we returned, I would have to give her plenty of praise.

And knowing that everyone was in the lower level was also great information.
That meant the options available to me increased.

“Thank you for the information, everyone. Since the others are in the lower level, I think I’ll break through the deep level a little forcefully.”

「Hm?」
「Did he think he wasn’t forceful all this time?」
「What’s he planning to do?」
「I have a bad feeling about this」
「Whatever it is, it’s definitely nothing normal」

Tapping the dungeon wall with a tap-tap, I rested my hand against it and concentrated.
Then I felt the vibrations traveling from the wall into my hand. The vibrations generated from tapping echoed inside and bounced back to my hand. By carefully sensing that information, I could grasp the general structure of the current floor.

“Alright… I’ve grasped the general layout. Looks like there’s a path leading to the lower level over that way.”

「Why can you even tell that?」
「It’s the special move: Corporate Slave Sonar」
「Is he a bat?」
「Bat: “Don’t be ridiculous, even I can’t do that”」
「Should’ve done that from the start (regular)」

This method was convenient, but it only revealed a rough structure.
Its accuracy wasn’t high, and the detection range was narrow. Grasping all the intricate winding paths was difficult. However, finding a path that connected upward was well within reach.

“Well then, let’s begin.”

Drawing my sword, I looked toward the direction of the path leading to the lower level.
Then, advancing while swinging my sword at high speed, I pushed forward while excavating the dungeon wall.

「Huh!?」
「He’s literally digging lol」
「Wait, you can dig through a dungeon?」
「No, normally that’s impossible」
「He’s a human boring machine」

The walls of a dungeon were exceptionally hard. Scratching the surface was one thing, but boring a tunnel was an entirely different story. Past the surface layer, dungeon walls became ridiculously dense.
However, destroying them wasn’t completely impossible. By slicing into it over and over again in the span of a split second, you could open a hole like this.

“That said, digging holes in a dungeon carries the risk of a cave-in, so I recommend not doing this if there are people on the same floor.”

「Okaaay… like hell anyone can do that!」
「Only you can do this (regular)」
「Way too unnecessary of a concern lol」
「He’s plowing right through even while talking lol」
「If there’s no path, just make one (physical)」
「Looks like he’ll reach the upper floor in no time like this」

Gouging through the dungeon with a grinding roar, I advanced.
Because it struck the wall countless times, the sword gradually began glowing red-hot. It was under considerable strain, but well, it should be fine. No matter how much I overworked this blade up until now, it held up without a scratch.

「Looks like monsters stopped attacking too」
「True. Progressing super smoothly」
「Well, the monsters probably realized Tanaka is an absolute psycho」
「Monster: “What’s with that human? Digging through the wall, gross…“」
「True that」
「Not human movements after all lol」
「More like the speed of heavy machinery」

After carving through the dungeon wall like that for ten-odd minutes, I emerged into an open space.

“Oh, is that the path leading up? Better head up quickly and regroup with Hoshino.”

Splashing through the lava, I headed toward the path leading up.
Then, something came clattering down from above with hurried footsteps.

“These footsteps, not just one. Monsters?”

「Oh, monsters incoming for the first time in a bit?」
「Well, if they came from above, they’re lower level monsters, so it’ll be fine」
「Easy peasy」
「Hm? But is that really a monster?」
「Eh?」

The figures coming from above entered my vision.
Most of them were monsters, giant lizards found in volcanic areas known as “Salamanders.”
Their rank was A, if I recall. They were monsters found in the lower level, but with hard scales, ferocious temperaments, and super-heated bodies, their strength wouldn’t be out of place even in the deep level.

There were about five such Salamanders, and there was a single person being chased by them.

“Damn it! Stay away from me!”

That person fled toward me while fighting the Salamanders.
Though he fought back with a sword and magic, it didn’t seem very effective against the Salamanders.

“Hm? That guy is…”

Looking closely, I recognized the person running this way.
Let’s see… Mikami, if I recall. An explorer affiliated with the Iron Stag Guild.

Apparently, he was teleported near the deep level and ended up wandering all the way down here. Unlucky guy.
He was an obnoxious fellow, but I couldn’t just abandon him.
Guess I’ll lend a hand.

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