I Was a Crazy, Berserker-Type Dungeon Streamer, but When I Helped a Beautiful Dungeon Streamer and Treated Her Politely, It Was Revealed That I Was Actually a Normal Person - 22-23

Chapter 22: You’ve Got to Be Kidding Me?!

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“Muuuuuuuuuuhhh!!”

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound coming from the bushes up ahead. A second later, a Gray Boar appeared from between the bushes. The Gray Boar was a monster that resembled a boar with gray fur, but unlike regular boars, its eyes were red. The Gray Boar backed up a bit, scratching the ground with its back heel before charging at me at its full speed. 

“Oops.”

With light feet, I dodged the incoming charge and as we passed by each other, I delivered a swift hand strike to its neck. The Grey Boar collapsed to the ground, leaving behind its drop items — Grey Boar meat and a magic stone — before vanishing. I preferred to avoid using 〈Shock Blast〉 as much as I could in the upper levels. Using skills consumed stamina and since the monsters in the upper levels were on the weaker side, I wanted to conserve my energy for boss battles and travel. 

“By the way, we’re already on the 7th floor, right?”

Generally speaking, dungeons had a boss room every ten floors. The monster would become significantly stronger after you passed the boss room. The upper, middle, lower and deep levels were categorized based on every 10 floors. 

[Yeah, that’s right.]

[We’re already on the seventh floor? LOL]

[So fast. I thought we’re still on the 2nd floor.]

[Has it really only been two hours since we started?]

Two hours, huh… Even though I was having a harder time than usual since this was my first time exploring the jungle-type dungeon, but I was able to move faster than expected due to using 〈Shock Blast〉 every once in a while to speed through obstacles. At this rate, we might reach the boss room in under four hours. In that case—

“I’ll take a little detour!”

I veered off from the fastest route displayed on my smartphone map and pushed my way through the thick vegetation, heading in a different direction. I hadn’t used any skill during combat, but I had already fought 20 battles. I was starting to feel a bit tired. I was a bit worried about my stamina. The boss between the upper and middle levels of this dungeon was notoriously difficult to defeat, so I wanted to take them on in a good condition if I could. Hence why, I decided to take a gamble. 

[Huh?]

[Taking a detour during a speedrun? That’s not how you do speedrun. LOL]

[He’s not even on the right path anymore. LOL]

[no, no. This guy is definitely up to something.]

I continued pushing through vegetation that reached to my waist while moving branches that blocked my vision. 

“Where is it…”

It should be around here based on the map…

I looked around and then, I spotted a faded stone brick peeking through the leaves.

“There it is!”

In front of me, there was an open space roughly 2 meters in diameter. This place was completely devoid of any vegetation. There was a stone table at the center of this open space with a wooden bowl placed on top of it.

[What’s that?]

[A table and a bowl?]

[A hidden puzzle?]

[Maybe we need to put something in the bowl?]

Yes. This was a hidden puzzle. Solving this puzzle would give the explorer a hidden treasure, basically like a secret treasure chest. If I remember correctly, I just had to put a monster’s magic stone in the bowl to solve this hidden puzzle. Well, not that I had any need for the treasure chest though. What I needed was another unique feature about this hidden puzzle.. 

“Alright, this should do it.”

Looking around, I picked up a stone of a decent size and then—

“Here we go.”

I placed the stone on the bowl. Almost immediately, the ground beneath me began to flash in red, a clear sign of danger. 

[That’s definitely the wrong answer. LOL]

[Danger! Danger!]

[There’s no way you should put an ordinary stone in it. LOL]

[No wait, but don’t you guys think this is bad? Like, really bad?]

The other unique feature of this hidden puzzle was… Putting the wrong answer would trigger a trap. 

“The trap of this hidden puzzle will forcefully teleport you to the ninth floor, which is a shortcut for me.”

I remembered seeing another dungeon streamer long ago accidentally place a fruit in the bowl and get forcefully teleported to the ninth floor because of it. And so, I planned on utilizing the said trap as a shortcut to the ninth floor. 

A red magic circle appeared on the flashing ground.

“…Huh…? A red magic circle?”

If I remember correctly, the teleport magic circle should be blue. Not to mention, the pattern on this magic circle… 

By the time I realized what was happening, it was already too late. 

I tried to kick off the ground to escape, but my foot met with nothing but air. The ground had disappeared. 

“You’ve got to be kidding meeeeeee!!!”

But my desperate cry echoed hollowly through the vertical hole.

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Chapter 23: Forest

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“Uwaaaahhhh!!!”

I continued to slide down what felt like a vertical water slide without any water, accompanied by the rush of wind within this deep darkness. I must had been sliding for over a minute by now, but the exit was nowhere in sight.

At this rate, let alone the ninth floor, I think I’m falling even further below?!

[How far does this trap go? LOL]

[Is this seriously a shortcut?]

[For a moment, I thought Hiiragi is quite capable. Give me back my expectations.]

[As expected from Hiiragi, never failing to betray our expectations.]

About another minute later, a dazzling light shone from below.

Finally! The exit!

The light became brighter as I approached what seemed to be the exit.

“I did it! I’m out—huh?”

The moment I emerged from the hole, what greeted my eyes was the clear, sunny sky… and trees that looked as small as specks of dust.

Yes. I had been thrown out into the open sky. 

“Wai—… I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die!!”

I was falling at the height of the Tokyo Tower. If I kept falling like this, my body would get completely crushed. Desperate, I racked my brain for a solution. I didn’t have a parachute, just a bag. Right! I remembered! I saw the news about a rocket that landed using reverse thrust. In that case, I should be able to copy the same theory with 〈Shock Blast〉. 

“〈Shock Blast〉!〈Shock Blast〉!〈Shock Blast〉!”

I fired multiple Shock Blasts toward the ground and my falling speed was gradually slowing down. 

“Phew… I really thought I was going to die for real this time.”

Somehow, I managed to land safely, collapsing to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. I had almost died countless times before. During my fight with the fire dragon and when I was trapped within a swarm of monsters. But I really thought I was going to die this time. 

After a while, my body regained its strength. I stood up and looked around…

“Where am I…?”

I stood there, mouth agape in stunned silence. I should be surrounded by thick jungle, but I could only see thick fog all around me. The fog was so dense that I could barely see a step ahead. 

[LOL]

[The fog is so thick, we almost can’t see Hiiragi.]

[Where is this? LOL]

[Is this even a jungle? When we were falling, it looked more like a forest instead of a jungle.]

After reading that last comment, I recalled the scenery I had seen when I was falling mid-air. Indeed. From above, this floor looked more like a forest than a jungle. 

The mention of the word ‘forest’ jogged a certain memory in my brain. Cold sweat trickled down my forehead. My face became stiff. 

Forest. Okutama. Thick fog. 

There was a certain tragic story that had captivated Japan ten years ago. An S-rank party once ventured deep into the Okutama Dungeon. At that time, many explorers avoided diving into the Okutama Dungeon. Even high-ranking explorers didn’t like this particular dungeon. The reason was simple. Its jungle terrain and its unparalleled vastness. You needed a lot of time to explore this dungeon and in the dungeon the longer an exploration went on, the higher the risk of death. You could run out of resources or your mental health would be affected from being in a dungeon for too long. Despite that, there was one S-rank party that attempted to conquer the Okutama Dungeon. 

However… That S-rank party was met with their demise. They were known to have progressed as far as the deep levels, but nobody knew what happened to them next. To this day, not a single survivor has returned. The deep level of the Okutama Dungeon was now known as the “Depths of No Return.”

However, according to those who accompanied that S-rank party up to the very edge of the deep level, it was said fog was coming out from the depths. 

In other words, this must be…

“The deep level…?”

It seemed my ‘speedrun to the lower level’ had turned into ‘speedrun to the lower level for my life.’

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