An Old Man Restaurant Owner Is Unparalleled by Relying on His Old Tricks. It Turns Out, He’s the Legendary Dungeon Conqueror. - 76

Chapter 76: You Guys Better Not Spread This Video Around

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“There it is. A teleportation trap.”

We were on the 43rd floor. Finally, we found another teleportation trap. Our next destination was the 44th floor, the last place where contact with Aoi Kadoyama’s party had been lost. It would be great if we could only teleport to just one floor down. 

“If I adjust the amount of magic power… I can increase the probability of teleporting just one floor down… This should be it.”

Since I was adjusting my magic power according to my intuition, there was a chance I could make a mistake. If we ended up getting teleported to the 45th floor, we would need to go back up.

I need to be careful here…

I thought to myself as I activated the teleportation trap. 

“Alright. I think it worked. We should be on the 44th floor now.”

“Impressive… The director was right to insist on including Nishida-sama to this rescue team.”

Iijima-san muttered, but to be honest? There must be someone more qualified than me for this job.

“Now then… The problem is how to locate them…”

The 44th floor was big enough to contain the entire Kanto region within it and with countless crystals forming massive walls that block the path, this whole floor was akin to a highly complex labyrinth. Of course, I didn’t remember the route of this floor.

Who knows how long it will take us to search for the missing persons blindly like this.. 

“We will guide you along the route that Aoi Kadoyama’s party took on the day they disappeared.

Fortunately, we had a very reliable ground team to assist us. 

“The party had been progressing smoothly until they suddenly lost communication on this floor. Please prioritize your own safety as you search for them.”

The voice from the drone said. I refocused my attention as we began our search. 

〈No, please. Please be careful.〉

〈They should be fine. They have Nishida with them.〉

〈Don’t jinx it. Don’t raise any ominous flags.〉

〈By the way, the viewer count just keeps going up.〉

〈We have over 100 viewers right now. You guys better not spread this video around.〉

〈Don’t you dare! Don’t spread this video around!〉

〈Stop it. LOLOL〉

“…Tch. I’m getting a bad feeling here.”

Nana Tendou muttered. 

“You’re right… We’ve walked for quite a while on the 44th floor and yet, we haven’t encountered a single monster. This is strange… This doesn’t make any sense…”

Elsa agreed with her.

“Indeed. Just like on the 43rd floor, we should’ve run into monsters by now. This situation is clearly weird.”

Both of them had a lot of experience exploring the deep levels, so they were quick to notice something was off here.

“Maybe we’re just really lucky…?”

Shinnosuke Ichinose said, trying to remain positive.

“Impossible.”

“Highly unlikely.”

But his remark was quickly dismissed by Nana Tendou and Elsa. 

〈Poor guy. LOL〉

〈Those two girls are scary.〉

〈Well, I don’t buy it either.〉

〈Right? He’s way too optimistic.〉

〈That’s why he’s stuck at A-rank〉

〈Everyone’s so harsh to him. LOL〉

“Based on my experience, whenever something weird is happening, something bad is bound to happen.”

“I agree with Nana on this one.”

I also shared the same opinion as them. While there were some areas within dungeons where monsters wouldn’t appear, but there was no area like that in the Shinjuku Kabukicho Dungeon if my memory was right.  

“Actually, Aoi Kadoyama’s party was experiencing the same situation before they lost communication with us. They didn’t encounter any monsters and continued their exploration cautiously. This kind of thing has never happened before on the 44th floor.”

It was calm before the storm scenario. It was hard to believe that this strange phenomenon was unrelated to their disappearance. We pushed through the crystalline forest and eventually emerged into a slightly open area. For some reason, the crystal forest ended here. The open area was shaped in a circular space that reminded me of an arena. 

“There’s probably something around here. Stay alert.”

“Huh? But my detection skill is not picking up anything though?”

“It’s not uncommon for monsters in the 44th floor to have detection nullifying abilities.”

“Really? That means detection skill users like me won’t have any chance to shine in this dungeon! But, how did you know about that, Nishidacchi?”

…Nishidacchi…?

I tilted my head to the side at the nickname that Satsuki Gojou gave to me. 

“Just a hunch.”

〈A hunch, huh?〉

〈A hunch, he said.〉

〈Nishida’s hunches are always spot on.〉

And then, a monster jumped out from behind the crystals. 

“…!! It’s an Arch Mage!”

“Behind us too!”

“Why are there so many of them?!”

Mage-type monsters suddenly surrounded us at the same time. Each of them were holding a staff, complete with a robe. And they were already in position to cast their spells. 

“Are they going to shoot at us now?!”

“Ha! Whatever spell they’ve prepared, I will cancel it out all at once—”

“This is bad… It’s teleportation magic!”

“””WHAT?!”””

Almost immediately, a dazzling light erupted from the Arch Mages. When I opened my eyes, I found myself teleported to a different location. 

“Darn it… We were forcibly teleported. Fortunately, it looks like all of us are still on the same floor.”

“Umm.. Nishida-sama?”

“Oops. So-Sorry…”

Flustered, I quickly stepped back from her. I teleported to the same spot with Iijima-san from the Dungeon Management Agency. During the teleportation, you could get teleported to the same place with the people you were in contact with. Hence why I had pulled her close to me out of instinct. 

“N-no, it’s fine. More importantly… It appears we’re the only ones here.”

I looked around and true enough, there was no one else in sight. It seemed we were the only ones who had been transported to this particular spot.

“That magic just now…”

“It was a magic spell to teleport your enemies forcibly. It’s like a teleportation trap, but I never expected a bunch of Arch Mages would use it at the same time.”

Most probably, Aoi Kadoyama’s party was scattered because of that teleportation magic. 

“We’ve also lost contact with the drone.”

“That won’t be a problem. I have spare drones.”

Iijima-san said as she took out another drone and activated it, effectively reestablishing communication with the ground team. 

“Are you two safe?!”

“Yes. I’m with Nishida-sama. The two of us are unharmed. However, we don’t know where the others are. We’ve been separated because of a teleportation spell cast by the monsters.”

“I see… We’ve lost sight of the others. We’re in the middle of searching for their whereabouts using drones…”

〈Oh, they’re back.〉

〈What just happened?〉

〈Only Nishida and the woman are there.〉

〈Was it because of those mage-looking monsters?〉

“But it seemed it wasn’t just a simple teleportation trap…”

“Huh? What do you mean… Ah!”

We found ourselves in what could only be described as a tunnel of crystal. We were surrounded on all sides, even above us. We were clad in massive crystalline walls. Countless monsters began pouring toward us from both sides of the narrow path.

“It seems those monsters are waiting for us here.”

“Wa-Waiting for us…? But different types of monsters shouldn’t be able to cooperate like that…”

“Yes. Which means, something or someone else is commanding them. Either way, we have to take them down first.”

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