Mob
Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #85
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 85: Turning Misfortune into Fortune
Afterward,
I was kept under guard by the hook-nosed man's friends while waiting for
contact from the management in the safety zone on the 21st floor.
Now,
I'm keeping my distance from them and resting in a tent, with my cards up to
watch things.
Still,
I knew I had a bad feeling, but I didn't expect it to happen on the same day......
Actually,
the Irregular Encounter that showed up might not necessarily be that Pied Piper
Man.
Still, I'm glad it wasn't me who encountered him......
I
am deeply sorry for those who encountered him, but I really feel that way.
Probably
everyone in this dungeon feels the same way.
Fighting
a C-rank Irregular Encounters alone is no joke.
I
shuddered just at the thought of what would have happened if I had chosen this
Ocean Dungeon instead of the Underground Dungeon.
About
an hour later. Finally, we received a message that the Irregular Encounter had
been defeated.
It
seemed that the player attacked by the Irregular Encounter - the man with the
hook nose - was safe.
At
least he was safe.
However,
the hook-nosed man was sure to drop out. After encountering an Irregular
Encounter, I don't think he's in good enough shape to continue the race.
As
I was thinking this,
『Master,
they are coming this way.』
Yuki,
who was standing guard, told me so.
When
I stepped out of the tent, I saw the uninjured but severely haggard-looking
hook-nosed man standing there, supported by his comrades.
It
had just been a few hours since I last saw him, but it seemed as if he had aged
ten years in that short time.
"Yaa, Player Kitagawa... I'd like to talk to you, if
you don't mind."
"Yes, of course. ... It was a disaster, are you
okay?"
"Haha... It's hard to say I'm okay."
The
hook-nosed man smiled weakly. His headstrong attitude when we first met seemed
like a lie.
"... I want to negotiate."
"Negotiate?"
"Yeah...... we're retiring. Therefore, we would like
you to buy our stars."
Retire, huh? I can understand why the hook-nosed man
wants to retire, but...
I
glanced at Suzuka. No lies, huh?
"It appears you have other friends over there that
you can count on, though?"
When
I asked this, the man with the eagle nose shook his head.
"Unfortunately, they won't be of much force. ...All
their mainstay cards were transferred to me."
They transferred their main cards and centralized them to
a single person!
I
was astonished at their bold strategy.
Certainly,
that would ensure a fighting force equal to or even greater than that of the
championship candidates.
However,
even if one could come up with such a plan, it would be extremely unlikely that
they would be so bold because of the possibility of their assets being taken
away.
It
would require a very solid relationship of trust. Perhaps they were not a
temporary team formed for this tournament, but rather adventurers who usually
work together as a team.
But, well, that trust will probably last only until
today.......
I
thought as I looked around at his friends who were glaring bitterly at the
hook-nosed man, as if he was some other person.
From
the look on their faces, I guessed that most of the cards they entrusted to him
were Lost to the Irregular Encounter.
In
other words, they were just a bunch of paper tigers.
I
am sure it is not that they cannot fight at all, but if they had actually had
to fight me, they would have been quite nervous.
"How many stars do you want me to buy and for how
much?"
"There are 182 stars in total. How about 900,000 yen
for each one? Of course, I'll include information on the floors ahead."
......
About 160 million. With a sense of astonishment inside ('There's no way I can pay that much'), I responded,
"As expected, it is not possible."
"Of course, I won't ask you to pay for it here. I
don't mind if you pay after the race. That would be possible, wouldn't
it?"
That's
certainly possible, but...
"Saying that I can pay after the race, you must have
a lot of trust in me."
Even
if I cheated them here, that is still within the race's rules.
Negotiations
such as selling or buying stars would also be considered bargaining to lift the
race.
Even
if I swindled them out of their stars, which would only have monetary value
after the race, I would not be charged with fraud.
Therefore,
players buy and sell stars with cash or in exchange for cards.
When
I inquired with this motive in mind, the man with the hook nose smiled.
"I trust you. You're a celebrity. You have a
different level of 'public' credibility than we do."
I
see.......... I glanced at the camera eyes darting around us.
Certainly,
I have a different level of credibility than the other players.
My image in the
public mind was that of a 'man of justice' who caught a serial killer and
donated all his reward money to the bereaved family'.
Unlike other players,
I can't cheat people out of their stars as long as the whole thing is being
filmed in the camera’s eye.
Even if it was OK
under the rules, people who saw the broadcast would have a bad image of me.
That would be like
throwing away two billion yen I had donated to the drain.
No one would be
stupid enough to throw away credibility bought with 2 billion for the sake of
only around 160 million yen.
But .......
"What if I don't finish the race?"
I ask, thinking 'No way you're going to tell me I don't have
to pay then, are you?'
"Of course, you'll have to pay for it then,
too."
Naturally, the
hook-nosed man answered like that was a matter of course. I knew it.......
"Then, I can't buy it for 900,000 yen. If I mess up,
I'll be in debt."
"How much are you willing to pay for it then?"
"Well, hmm...... If it is 500,000 a
piece......"
"That's excessive. If you are okay with 500,000,
then you can afford to buy about 100 million yen worth, right? Then, can you buy me 100 million worth of stars for
900,000 each?"
"No, no, in the first place, 900,000 is too
expensive. You can get the money for sure, but I'm in the red if I don't make
it to the finish line. One star is not worth 900,000. It's barely worth
600,000."
"You are the top contender for the victory now. If
you can't finish, who can? We
are in a desperate situation, so I shared the situation with you. Please help
us out and give us 850,000."
"Even if you say that I'm the top contender, you
guys have been holding me back, and I don't know if there won't be more
obstructions like this in the future. When I think about it like that, it makes
me a bit uneasy...700,000 yen."
"No, no, no, my friends told me. That you were ready
to fight. I heard that everyone was trembling with fear. "Is this guy for
real? ...... As expected of a candidate for the winner, his courage is very
different!" I
heard that. Hey, don't pick on us too much, ......800,000. This is really the
limit for us here. If not, we'll find a different person."
Nn...... this is the limit, huh. I'm sure I can get the
price down even further if I can get them to realize that no one but me will
make a payment after the race. ......But let's not push them too hard.
"Let's see... If you can also stop some of the more
promising players who will be coming after this..."
"Mm......? No,
we can't do that. I'm ashamed to say that we have very little firepower
left."
"Oh, you don't actually have to fight. Just threaten
and bluff them like you did with me."
"Hmm, well, ...... okay then. That would mean we'd
have to leave one star for each of us, which would make the number of stars we
could give ...... 173, but of course you'd calculate it for 182, right?"
"Mmm, right...... It’s 182 stars for 800,000 each
...... hm, 145 million. Make the fraction a bonus."
"No choice. Since you're going to buy them all, I
suppose I should give you that much bonus."
"So?"
"Yeah, we have a deal."
The hook-nosed man
and I shook hands firmly so that it could be seen by the camera’s eye.
And then he finally
smiled,
"Huu, you really helped us out...... I think I'll be
able to reimburse some of my buddies for their Lost cards with this."
"No, it's the same for me."
"I hope you win. I mean it. Do your best."
The hook-nosed man said and left the safe zone to collect
his friends' stars to one person.
---- And so, four
hours later. I had conquered the Ocean Dungeon.
Upon stepping through
the Ocean Dungeon and exiting the dungeon, my Card Gear received a message from
the management.
It said that I was
the first one to conquer the two dungeons, and that the last dungeon was a
special dungeon called Seido Kishimojin1, located just over ten minutes away
from Suidobashi Station.
".................. Tch."
When I saw that, I
involuntarily clicked my tongue.
I had expected this,
but in the end, it really turned out to be a special dungeon.
I had guessed it from
the fact that they bothered to only tell us if we cleared the two
dungeons......, but if possible, I wanted it to be wrong.
The characteristic of
the special-type dungeon is that there are no monsters or traps along the way,
and only the Boss appears.
Naturally, the
resources went into the Boss, and the Boss of a special-type dungeon emerges as
a monster two ranks higher than the dungeon's rank.
In other words, in
the case of a D-rank dungeon, a B-rank Boss will appear.
Moreover, the Boss
that appears is not fixed, but rather a monster that the challenger has
difficulty with or that even surpasses the challenger's strengths will appear.
There will never be an opponent that is a favorable match for you.
Above all, the
biggest problem is that the Boss of the special-type dungeon 'copies the
acquired skill of your cards'.
We do not know which
acquired skill of which card will be copied, but in the worst case, it is
possible that the [Breakthrough of Limits] or [Spiritual recurrence] of Renge
or Yuki will be copied.
If the Boss of the
special-type dungeon gets [Breakthrough of Limits] and even becomes A-rank from
[Spiritual recurrence], there's no way I could defeat it.
The special-type
dungeon was also known as the 'Dungeon of Trials'.
Because it is not a
dungeon that can be conquered only by the compatibility of the card's type or
the performance of the card's acquired skills; it is a dungeon that tests the
adventurer's own abilities.
While many
adventurers rely solely on the performance of their cards to overcome the
dungeon, special-type dungeons unleash meta monsters to test adventurers.
The only way to
defeat them is for the adventurers themselves to show that they are good enough
to overcome the slight disadvantage of compatibility.
Also, perhaps because
of the changing nature of the monster that appears depending on the opponent,
only one person is able to enter a special-type dungeon until the Boss is
defeated.
The strategy of
"If one person can't do it, we can do it if we all work together!"
cannot be used.
Because of this
characteristic, the special-type dungeon is said to be one of the practical
skill tests for the promotion to a four-star rating.
It was one thing for
an amateur, but if you want to become a professional, you should try to pass
the level by your own ability, not just relying on the performance of the
cards.
As long as I was
aiming for a four-star rating, I was also thinking that one day I would be
entering a special type dungeon.
However.......
"Can I win...? With my current abilities..."
I couldn't help but
let out a small whimper.
I knew that most of
my strengths came from cards with special powers, such as Renge and Yuki.
I was made painfully
aware of this at the Adventurers' Club training camp.
I don't have
Teacher's Linking skills, or strategic ability like Oribe, or Anna's...
Anna's... well, uh, leaving Anna aside, I don't have the strength as an
adventurer like Teacher or Oribe.
At best, I'm a little quick at learning Links.
Teacher said that my
strength was that I was good at nurturing cards......, but that wouldn't get me
through the special dungeon.
To be honest, I was
worried that if anyone in the Adventurers' Club would stumble on the four-star
promotion exam more than anyone, it would be me.
As I stood there
cowering.......
『Wha--t, are you doing
just standing there!』
"Ouch!"
I was hit on the back
of the head by something invisible.
I almost turned
around when I remembered that I was being filmed on camera, and I pretended to
have a sudden headache and asked Renge through the Link,
『What the hell.』
『You're freaking out,
so I put some life into you.
You should be grateful.』
『I'm not freaking
out.......』
『No, you looked
scared. Tell me, this Renge-sama, what are you scared of?』
Saying this, the
invisible Zashiki-warashi poked me in the cheek.
『Just, the Boss in the
special dungeon copies our acquired skills, right? I thought it would be bad if it would copy the
[Breakthrough of Limits] and the [Spiritual recurrence]......』
『Hah, I wondered what
you would say.』
Renge snorted at my
complaint.
『If the only thing
that determines the game is the performance of the skills and the fighting
ability, then there is no need to worry, idiot! If
that were the case, you'd be dead a long time ago.』
Her words reminded me
of my battle with the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
Indeed, all my cards
back then had no decent skills, but I won the battle against the Irregular
Encounters who had powerful skills.
After that, I did
some research on the Pied Piper of Hamelin and was truly horrified to learn of
his 'true skills'.
Renge put her arm
around my neck and whispered softly so the camera couldn't catch it,
"You've been relying on the skills too much lately.
You need to trust the card itself a little more."
『That's, right...
sorry.』
『Yeah. And
[Breakthrough of Limits] aside, there's no way the [Spiritual recurrence] can
be copied, so don't worry about it.』
『Huh? Is that so?』
『That's the way it is,
trust me.』
The [Breakthrough of Limits] can be copied, and the
[Spiritual recurrence] cannot......
What is the difference between the two? Is it because
[Spiritual recurrence] requires a key item?
Why is the skill named
'Spiritual recurrence' in the first place?
If it is just a skill that can increase the rank, then it
should be called 'Spiritual elevation' or something like that, it would be more
fitting.
Recurrence...... occurring again. Is that what it means? The card with the [Zero existence] skill is originally a
card with a higher rank, and hence can temporarily return to its original rank
with the skill of [Spiritual recurrence]?
So, even if they are the Boss of a special dungeon, the
[Spiritual recurrence] cannot be copied. Since there is no original destination
to return to.
But...... why did Renge and others go down in rank?
With these thoughts
in mind, the train rocked for about 10 minutes.
I had finally arrived
at the last dungeon.
Seido Kishimojin was
a small temple and shrine nestled at the end of an alley lined with ordinary
houses.
My first impression
of this temple and shrine was that it was somewhat sad.
The high walls and
gates surrounding the place were the only things that made it clear that this
was no ordinary temple and shrine, but a dangerous dungeon.
A small temple and
shrine that no longer attracted worshippers due to its transformation into a
dungeon, and whose existence had been forgotten even by its followers. That was
Seido Kishimojin.
But that was only
until I stepped inside.
Upon taking a step
inside, I found myself in a space so vast and twisted that I could not have
imagined it from the outside.
At the end of the
numerous paths branching out from the entrance, there were countless main halls
and statues of deities standing haphazardly in disarray.
It was just like the
Tokyo Dome dungeon. While taking in the original structures, the space had been
expanded dozens or even hundreds of times.
The dungeon may look
ordinary from the outside, but once inside, it split into many pathways, and at
the end of each pathway, there were dozens of halls - now remodeled to look
like an arena - where matches were being held almost daily.
Some first-time
visitors will be surprised and uncomfortable with the warped space, but once
they get used to it, they will have no problem.
"......It's there."
At the end of the
myriad branches of the path, there was an intimidating presence that even I, a
human, could sense.
Realizing that the
intimidating presence was familiar, I frowned.
My bad premonition
had come true.
I had expected this
because special-type dungeons tend to bring out monsters that you don't
welcome, but...
I summoned Renge,
Eliza, Yuki, Mea, Suzuka, and, after some hesitation, Dullahan.
Dullahan's [Clumsy]
is scary, but I want to raise the level of my fighting capability here as much
as I can.
Additionally.......
『Renge, Mea,
[Spiritual recurrence].』
I won't hold back. I'll go all out from the start.
『I've been waiting for
this!』
Then, Mea turns into
Lilim with a joyful look on her face.
On her brown skin, a
somewhat sensual geometric pattern of pink lines appeared, her goat horns
became black and shiny, and the wings on her back became one size larger.
At the same time,
Renge also underwent [Spiritual recurrence], turning into a Kisshouten. Lotus
flowers bloomed from her feet, her limbs grew slender, and she transformed into
a goddess of beauty, clad in celestial nymph-like garments of feathers.
『Eliza, cast a
level-up spell on both of them.』
『Yes, Master.』
The level-up spell
was a spell that temporarily raised the combat power of cards that had not yet
developed to the limit of their growth. Although they will stop gaining
experience from the battle, newly acquired cards can be used immediately as a
valuable fighting force.
This level-up magic
allowed those with [Spiritual recurrence] to display the inherent combat power
of their race.
[Race] Kisshouten (Renge)
[Combat Power] 3100（MAX!)
[Inborn Skills]
• Kisshouten's mantra
• Dual Deity
• Rain of Amrita
[Acquired skills]
・The Abandoned One
・Breakthrough of Limits
・Eyes of the bright
star
・Spiritual recurrence
・Free-spiritedness
・Advanced attack magic
・Chant discard
・Magic recovery
・Friendship linkage
・Advanced status
ailment magic
・Hide and Seek
[Race] Lilim (Mea)
[Combat Power] 1500 (MAX!)
[Inborn Skills]
・Princess of the
Succubus: Daughter and alter ego of the queen who rules the succubus (dream
demons). She can summon succubus, her subordinates. Infinite summoning type.
She has all of the succubus's innate skills.
・Dream or Reality:
Blurs the line between reality and the dream world, and increases the
effectiveness of skills with the word 'dream' in their name for everyone
present.
・Deathly Pleasure:
Gives powerful pleasure to those who come into contact with the mucous
membrane, and also allows the user to absorb or share the energy of the victim.
It is possible to attack remotely by blowing kisses. Direct contact increases
effectiveness to an extreme level. If the opponent is male, the first attack
will penetrate all resistances.
[Acquired Skills]
・A devil's heart
・A single-minded
heart.
・Friendship linkage
・Intermediate level
magician
・High-level status
ailment magic
・Curse a man, and they
will be cursed with two pits
・Knowledge of Survival
・Spiritual recurrence
・Pierce of Resistance
・Chant shortening
[Race] Succubus
[Combat Power] 360
[Inborn Skills]
・Witch's Dream
・Butterfly Dream
・Succubus Skin
[Acquired Skills]
・Low-level dependent
body: A temporary body invoked by a skill. Has no acquired skills and does not
grow. Low-level dependent body have no ego and have only about 80% of the power
of the original's initial combat power.
Now, I'm all set.
Renge had 3,100
combat power, and if fully synchronized, it would be equivalent to 6,000.
Even if the opponent
is a B-rank Boss with [Breakthrough of Limits], she should be able to surpass
them in combat power alone.
Although Mea does
seem less powerful than Renge, she can summon an unlimited number of
subordinates. In a long-term battle, her overall strength would be as strong as
that of Renge, who had [Breakthrough of Limits].
In addition to Renge
and Mea, there were also Eliza, Yuki, Suzuka, and as a bonus, Dullahan.
If I lose with them, it would simply mean that I am not
capable enough. I would concede the victory to another player, and I will work
on my adventuring skills.
I proceeded down the
path with a feeling of resignation and acceptance.
The scent of flowers
gradually made my bad premonition turn into confirmation.
Before long, I see
the Boss of this dungeon standing in front of the main hall.
Standing on a lotus
flower in full bloom, an immensely beautiful woman in a robe of feathers as if
she were a heavenly maiden.
----The Boss of this
dungeon was, as expected, a Kisshouten.
[Tips] Boss of the special type dungeon
Unlike ordinary
dungeons, the bosses of special-type dungeons are monsters two ranks higher
than the dungeon's rank (no special-type dungeons of rank B or higher have been
confirmed at present).
These bosses can copy
the acquired skills of each card summoned by the challenger, and even if a card
is replaced in the middle of the process, the acquired skills of the previous
card remain undiscarded, and the acquired skills of the next card will be newly
added.
In addition, the boss
will read the adventurer's thoughts and decide on a monster that is the most
difficult match for them.
Perhaps because of
this nature, the boss of a special type of dungeon can only be challenged by
absolutely one person (no more than one person can enter the dungeon).
These
dungeons are also known as the 'Dungeon of Trials'.
***
Notes:
1 In reality, it’s a Buddhist temple. What is enshrined can be found out at the end of this chapter :) ↩
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