I Was the Supporter of a Popular Dungeon Streamer, but the Power Harassment Was Too Much, so I Quit. I’m Useless Anyway, so It Shouldn’t Be a Problem, Right? Huh? The Views Are Dropping Like Crazy? - 50

Chapter 50: 100th Floor

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“Tch…!”

It was humid—stiflingly so. Surrounding me were countless trees. I had never been here before, but I had heard about it… This was the 100th floor of the upper levels, the Jungle Field. I sat up and turned around. Behind me was the dimensional rift I had entered through, the Gate. What the hell was Ul up to? Just because he threw me in here didn’t mean I couldn’t simply go back through the rift and return to the entrance hall.

“-!? “

The Gate was shrinking!?

Damn it!!

I bolted forward in a panic. About thirty minutes ago, the facility announcement had said that the Gate would be closing in thirty minutes! Ul had timed it perfectly to throw me in here right before the gate was shut!! But it was fine! I could still make it—

“Kyahhhhhh!!?”

A small figure flew through the Gate.

“Kisaragi!?”

Her back slammed into my face. The unexpected impact sent me stumbling backward while she tumbled to the ground. And in that brief moment… The Gate closed completely.

Dammit!! He got us!!

Once the Gate was shut, the labyrinth and the outside world became completely cut off. That meant I couldn’t contact anyone or escape using a transfer crystal. We were entirely isolated!! Reopening the Gate would take a significant amount of time and considering that we had entered unauthorized, there was little chance the Guild Association would go out of their way to open it just to save us!!

I needed to calm down… First, I had to check on Kisaragi.

“Kisaragi! Are you okay!?”

“Y-Yes…”

Dazed, she stood up. She was swaying slightly.

“What exactly just happened…? I thought someone with silver hair touched me and then I was suddenly passing through the Gate…”

“That silver-haired guy was Ul. He was the one Abisu and I were talking about earlier. He has an OOPArts in the form of gloves that can send anything he touches flying.”

“That was him!? B-But why would he throw us in here? We could just go back through the Gate and… Huh?”

“Unfortunately, the Gate’s closed. There’s no going back.”

“E—Ehhhhhh!?”

All the Gates, whether upper, middle, or lower levels, were undoubtedly sealed. The fact that my phone had lost reception confirmed that. Even if the Guild Association tried to restore the Gate as fast as possible, it would take at least three hours to open the Gate. Worst case, it wouldn’t be back up until Abisu and the others began their operation at night.

That left us with two choices and Kisaragi likely understood them, too.

“Either we move to a lower floor where the monsters are weaker and wait there…”

“Or we stay put and hold out here.”

“Waiting here until night while dealing with upper-level monsters would be tough.”

“I agree. Our best bet is heading for the middle-level Gate. The lower-level one would take way too long to reach.”

Kisaragi nodded in agreement.

“Our situation is not good, but it’s not exactly hopeless. As long as we make it through the upper floors, we just need to go through the middle floors, which we’re already familiar with. Stay calm and keep exploring.”

“Yes! Then, Hamura-san, please lend me that backpack!”

The backpack was a large rucksack carried by the supporter. Since I was officially the Supporter, I was the one carrying it, but…

“No, I’m more worried about your stamina, so I should carry the luggage—”

“No! I won’t back down on this! As a Supporter, I absolutely must take care of the backpack!”

Kisaragi showed no intention of backing down. If our roles were reversed, I probably wouldn’t either…

“Got it. I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yes!”

There was a proper reason why the dungeon was divided into upper, middle, and lower floors. It was because the strength of monsters changed drastically between them. Right now, we were on the 100th floor of the upper floors, an area accessible only to high-ranking A-class and S-class Seekers. But if we went down just one floor to the 99th, the monster levels would drop sharply. This 100th floor was the real hurdle.

“GRRAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!!!”

The first thing we encountered on the upper floors was a gigantic scorpion, Guns Scorpion. It was six meters long, with a gun-barrel-like opening at the tip of its tail that fired beams. It was a troublesome opponent and to make matters worse, those beams were imbued with poison, causing paralysis upon impact. Taking even a single hit was not an option.

I blocked the beam it fired with my prosthetic arm while closing the distance. Sensing this, the scorpion extended a beam sword from its tail and swung it toward me.

“Kisaragi!!”

“Yes!”

Kisaragi took aim with her rifle and fired a bullet. As soon as the bullet struck the scorpion, 【Eightfold Bind】 activated. Eight stakes pinned the scorpion in place, fixing its coordinates. With its tail immobilized, the scorpion was unable to move. Seizing that opening, I launched a rapid assault with my prosthetic arm, finishing off the scorpion. Its body disintegrated, leaving behind only its drop item, Guns Scorpion’s scale.

“That timing couldn’t be more perfect. You really saved me, Kisaragi.”

“Oh no, this much is only natural!”

Of course, the rifle Kisaragi used wasn’t some kind of OOPArt. It was just an ordinary rifle. There was nothing special about the gun itself, only the bullets.

“Rune engraving technique… It’s still as useful as ever.”

Rune magic was a technique that allowed magic to be remotely activated by engraving magic formulas onto objects. Incidentally, we referred to the process of modifying magic in this way as “sorcery.”

“It does take a lot of effort to do, though.”

Kisaragi specialized in a type of sorcery called “Rune Bullet,” where she inscribed runes onto bullets, allowing them to inflict magic upon impact. Since the runes were already inscribed, no incantation was needed, making it incredibly convenient. However… runes required high aptitude, an absurd amount of knowledge, and extensive preparation. There was no way I’d ever try to imitate it.

“What should we do about the scorpion’s scale?”

“…We can’t afford to carry it right now.”

Even though we had gone through the trouble of defeating it, I decided against picking up the Guns Scorpion’s scale, given our current situation. It was a waste of money to not pick it up, but there was no choice. We couldn’t afford to carry extra baggage. The scorpion just now wasn’t even a boss or an aberrant. It was just a common enemy. That scorpion showcased how dangerous the upper floors were.

We needed to escape this place quickly or we would run out of stamina first…

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