An Old Man Restaurant Owner Is Unparalleled by Relying on His Old Tricks. It Turns Out, He’s the Legendary Dungeon Conqueror. - 55

Chapter 55: It’s Black, Big, and Round

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I was on the deepest floor of the Tamagawa Dungeon, the 15th floor. This floor was completely submerged with water. At the farthest corner of this floor, there was the boss room. The boss room could be reached after passing through a vast underwater cave. In stark contrast to the pitch-black underwater cave,  the boss room was filled with bright light poured in from above, revealing a fantastical scene.

〈This is…〉

〈Incredible〉

〈Simply beautiful.〉

〈Is this the boss’ room?〉

〈Man. I’m completely captivated by the sight.〉

〈But. I’m curious. What kind of monster the boss is?〉

〈The boss of the Tamagawa Dungeon is not listed in the Danpedia.〉

〈To be precise, no one ever conquered the Tamagawa Dungeon yet.〉

〈Huh? So if Nishida defeats the boss, he will become the first conqueror of the Tamagawa Dungeon?〉

“Oh? Is that so? Indeed. The dungeon being completely submerged in water does make it more challenging to explore than usual, but the dungeon is only fifteen floor deep. I thought someone must’ve already conquered it by now.”

〈Nishida came all the way here without knowing?? LOLOLOL〉

〈You found the boss room way too easily!〉

〈Oh! Over there! There’s a massive shadow swimming gracefully!〉

〈You’re right. It’s swimming gracefully… I mean, can it be considered as ‘graceful’ in the first place?〉

〈It looks kind of round.〉

〈It doesn’t look like that thing is swimming. More like floating. LMAO〉

〈Is that the boss?〉

〈It’s black, huge, and round.〉

〈Doesn’t it look a bit fluffy too?〉

“Let’s get a bit closer.”

I approached the swimming shadow that we all assumed to be the boss.

〈Isn’t that a thorn?〉

〈It really is.〉

〈Wait! It’s a sea urchin!〉

〈It’s a sea urchin!〉

〈It’s definitely a sea urchin.〉

〈Or maybe a chestnut.〉

〈There’s no way you can find a chestnut floating in the sea. LOL〉

“I guess the boss is a sea urchin monster.”

〈I knew it! It’s a sea urchin!〉

〈That thing definitely tastes good.〉

〈If it’s a sea urchin, then it’s definitely edible!〉

〈I can already tell it’s going to be delicious!〉

〈What are the chances that the boss is actually a good candidate for an ingredient? This is a two-for-one deal! LOL〉

“I’ve never eaten it before either. I’m getting excited now. For now, let’s try to defeat it first.”

I swam closer to the boss and the boss suddenly extended its thorns toward me. 

“Oops. But, wow. Those thorns can extend this far?”

〈That was a close one.〉

〈If we’re not careful, we would get skewered by it.〉

〈It probably venomous too.〉

〈The food is not going to let us eat it that easily, huh?〉

〈But unfortunately for the sea urchin, its opponent is Nishida.〉

“If I cut it in half, the insides might spill out into the water. I will try to cut the thorns off first instead.”

I swung my knife repeatedly and cut off only the thorns surrounding the sea urchin monster. In no time, the sea urchin monster turned into a polished ball monster.

〈It’s so ROUND! LMAOOO〉

〈Poor Sea Urchin-san…〉

〈Checkmate.〉

〈But still, it’s HUGE! There must be plenty of edible parts that Nishida can use.〉

〈By the way, the ‘meat’ of the sea urchin that we eat is actually its gonads, a reproductive organ.〉

〈Really? LOL〉

〈I didn’t know that.〉

It seemed just cutting off the thorns wouldn’t kill it. So, I stabbed the mouth part of the sea urchin with my knife. 

Ding ding ding ding ding!♪

〈The boss is dead!〉

〈Dungeon, conquered!〉

〈The boss died so pitifully. It reminds me of King Death Crab. LOL〉

〈I wonder if sea urchin monster is tastier than King Death Crab or not… Ah! I’m so excited!〉

“The teleportation portal has appeared, so I will use it to return to the surface.”

Two treasure chests had appeared after I defeated the boss. I swam to the chest to collect the reward. This was just a Class 3 dungeon, so the rewards I got were just one High Potion and a chunk of mithril.  

〈Humph. Mediocre.〉

〈No, no, no. Those rewards are very valuable by the market standard. LOL.〉

〈Watching Nishida’s livestream messes my sense of market value.〉

〈But still. Even though this dungeon is just a Class 3, but it’s difficult to explore. Nishida should’ve received a better reward.〉

Upon returning to the surface, the Dungeon Management Agency’s staff were already waiting for me. 

“Nishida-san!”

The female staff who had helped me with the administration hurried over to me. 

“Oh. Let me turn off the camera first.”

〈Even though there’s the automatic mosaic feature.〉

〈It automatically adds a mosaic for anyone not registered in advance.〉

〈But Nishida doesn’t trust the automatic mosaic function. LOL〉

“It’s fine! In fact, I’m so thrilled I can be on Ken-Channel! Heyaaa! Taniguchi here! Everyone, can you see me?”

The female staff member, who introduced herself as Taniguchi-san, flashed a double peace sign at the drone. She was an incredibly lively person.

〈Her personality is so bright. LOL〉

〈So cute.〉

〈But she’s working for the Dungeon Management Agency, right?〉

〈Won’t she get in trouble because of this? I’m worried about her.〉

“More importantly! Congratulations on clearing the Tamagawa Dungeon! Nishida-san, you’re the first conqueror of this dungeon! But still,  I never imagined this unpopular dungeon that never receives any visitors for days to come would finally be conquered! You know, it’s so boring working here because we never receive any explorer!”

〈She’s so straightforward. LOL〉

〈Boring, huh? LOL Shouldn’t she be happy about it because she doesn’t need to work as hard?〉

〈Underwater dungeons are tough to clear after all.〉

〈People won’t come here unless they have a special goal like Nishida.〉

“And Nishida-san, you actually conquered the dungeon on your very first exploration and return on the same day too! As expected from an S-rank explorer! Not to mention, thank you for the precious footage of the Tamagawa Dungeon! I didn’t expect the boss would be a giant sea urchin!”

〈And it turns out she also watched the livestream. LOL〉

〈Well, she doesn’t have any work to do anyway.〉

〈Might as well call this the Sea Urchin Dungeon from now on.〉

“…By the way, when will the sea urchin become available at the restaurant?”

“I will give it a try now. If it’s delicious, I will sell it at my restaurant.”

“Whoa! Please! Please do try it now!”

Taniguchi-san’s eyes were sparkling and not to mention, the intense gaze of the viewers from the stream was almost palpable to me. So, I took out the giant sea urchin out and sliced open part of the shell with my knife, revealing its golden flesh. The shell was packed full of plump sea urchin meat. 

〈Looks delicious.〉

〈Looks delicious.〉

〈Looks delicious.〉

〈It’s definitely delicious.〉

〈I know, right? You can tell it’s going to be delicious just by looking at it.〉

〈I want to eat it too.〉

〈It’s going to be the best sea urchin you ever tasted.〉

“I-It looks incredibly delicious… Slurp!”

Saliva was dripping out from the corner of Taniguchi-san’s mouth. The ground was getting wet from her drool.

…I’m livestreaming, you know? This sight is going to be livestreamed to the whole world, you know..?

“Alright. I will give it a taste now.”

I scooped a small amount of the sea urchin with a spoon and put it in my mouth.

“～～～～～?!”

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