Published at 17th of February 2019 07:11:11 PM Chapter 1:1

Vol . 13 Chapter 1 Part 1

In the hidden underground dungeon, Shin had successfully defeated the evil deity Adetropos .

While he managed to safely rescue Schnee as well, the teleport magic circle in the room had also been activated . Shin and Schnee were thus separated from their comrades, transported away to an unknown location

The first thing Shin felt after being transported was a very soft sensation in his arms . Then, he sensed someones breath and body temperature . Next, a smell tickled his nostrils .

Looks like we werent separated at least .

After checking the surroundings for any hostile presences, Shin spoke to Schnee, who he was holding in his arms . If he hadnt found her next to him after the teleport, he would have been beside himself with worry .

Yesare weinside a cave?

So it would seem . I just checked quickly, but there are paths going both up and down . There are also presences moving, but not anywhere close .

Shin had scanned their current location with Magic Sonar and detected some responses moving in a group . One response was moving by itself, while the other was a a group of six, packed close together .

Could those be monsters?

If this is a different dungeon, they might also be adventurers . Six is the max number of people you can have in a party, after all .

Monsters like goblins and kobolds moved in packs, so he couldnt say for sure yet . Schnee had just regained her consciousness, so Shin had her drink an Elixir and rest a bit, just in case . In the meantime, he kept checking the surroundings .

Are you all right already? Do you feel weird anywhere?

Im perfectly fine . My memories were just sealed, so I didnt suffer any damage . Arent you worrying a bit too much?

Well, of course I do . Our relationship is a bit different than before .

Yesthats right .

Schnee probably remembered Shins confession: her sentence ended in a whisper . Her cheeks flushed too .

. Im sorry . Please give me five more minutes to settle down .

Got it .

While thinking how lovely Schnee looked with her hands covering her face, Shin returned to scanning the location for threats . Five minutes passed, without anything noteworthy happening, and Schnee stood up .

Im sorry for the wait . Im okay now .

I see . By the way, you dont need to keep that formal tone anymore .

Well, its become a habit .

Schnee spoke the same to everyone, usually, so it wasnt like she was being polite .

ButI agree with you . Sometimes it would be nice to speak in a more familiar way .

Well, take your time . For now, lets find out where we ended up .

Shin and Schnee switched their focus to their current situation . Their stats and equipment were unchanged: the magic circle that whisked them away was just teleport magic, so it shouldnt have had any other effects .

(Shin, where are you?)

Hm?

Just as Shin was thinking of contacting the others, Yuzuhas voice resounded in his head .

(We were transported to some cave-looking place . The evil deitys defeated and Schnee turned back too . What about you guys?)

(Tiera, Kagerou, and Shibaid are here too . )

After the events at the Castle of the Depths, Yuzuha seemed to have become more familiar with Tiera too .

According to Yuzuha, they had been transported to some kind of forest . They all emerged unscathed from the fights in the secret dungeon, so they were not in danger .

(I see, Im glad youre all safe . Lets communicate again once we understand where exactly we are . Shibaid can use Mind Chat too, so do you want to come over here, Yuzuha?)

(Not now . Shin and Schnee, you can stay on your own for a while . Yuzuhas a fox that can read a situation . )

Shin very easily pictured the smug look Yuzuha had to be sporting when she said that .

Respecting her wishes, Shin didnt summon Yuzuha to his side .

Did you receive a Mind Chat?

Yes, looks like Shibaid, Tiera, Yuzuha, and Kagerou are all together . Ill try contacting Filma and Sety now .

(Hello there . I guess this means you defeated the evil deity? )

(Yeah, Schnees all right too, were together . Is Sety with you?)

(Bingo . Me and Sety were transported to a beach somewhere . )

Filma said that she hadnt found any landmarks that could provide hints about their location yet . Shin told her that Shibaid and the others were safe and to let them know when she understood where they were, then cut the Mind Chat for the moment . He then let Schnee know about the rest of the partys safety too .

So everyones safe, Im glad .

Theres no way any of them would go down easily, after allso, what shall we do now?

Shin and Schnee could teleport themselves, but the location the evil deity had transported them to also intrigued them . Shin then proposed to Filma and Yuzuha to research a bit about each of their locations before meeting again . They agreed, and Filma and Yuzuha then informed the other members .

Okay, lets start by finding out where we are .

Yes . I suppose well go up first then .

The cave was made of earth and rocks . Normally, the exit would be above .

Oh, monsters spotted .

Shins Magic Sonar picked up monster responses in front, while scanning the cave as precisely as possible . The number was just one .

A Hobgoblin, I see . Could this be their nest?

This might very well be a dungeon . By the way, do monsters go into dungeons from the outside in this world?

In one of the game events, dungeon monsters poured out in the open, but the opposite monsters going inside dungeons from outside never happened .

It does . Sometimes powerful monsters happen to be near newly generated dungeons and take over as bosses .

Monsters can take over dungeons too!?

Dungeons generated suddenly had random monsters as a boss, so it was apparently possible . Schnee didnt know exactly the rules behind it either .

The Hobgoblin is level 51nothing unusual here .

Shin closed in on the monster from the front, without the slightest hesitation . He didnt even bother hiding the sound of his footsteps, so the Hobgoblin spotted him quickly .

Akdobun!! Seeeurrralsa!!

The Hobgoblin charged at Shin while shouting gibberish . The iron sword it held with both hands shone faintly, probably because of a skill .

. all too normal . The skill is just Slash tooI guess this is just a normal dungeon?

Shin grabbed the monsters sword with one hand and planted his other fist in its defenseless stomach . He only planned to punch it lightly, but the monster was blown away, vanishing soon after groaning a bit .

Hey? This way of disappearing

Looking at the vanishing monster, Shin was suddenly reminded of something .

In this world, monsters defeated in a dungeon would disappear after a set time . The Hobgoblin Shin just defeated, however, turned into smoke as soon as its HP reached zero . This was typical of a certain dungeon in the game, one that Shin had made good use of too .

This could be a training dungeon

One of those easily approachable by beginners too?

Yeah, that particular way of disappearing is typical of training dungeon monsters . I used them a lot to practice new skills, so I shouldnt be wrong .

Training dungeons had been installed for players not used to operating VR avatars or who wanted to test new skills .

Monsters were as strong as normal, but players would receive only little damage and experience points .

Such dungeons were often quite populated, as they could be used to practice exploring in relative safety .

If so, we might be in Erkunt .

Erkunt?

A country devoted to the diffusion of study and research, which gathers students and scholars from all over the world . If I remember well, its located slightly northwest of the center of the continent . Its the only country where the presence of a training dungeon was confirmed, so I believe it is highly likely thats where we are now . Of course, there might be undiscovered training dungeons too .

I see . Theres still a lot I dont know about stuff like that, so youre really a big help .

Shin thanked Schnee, then looked ahead .

. now that I think about it, my limiters are still all off .

After a few steps, Shin remembered how the Hobgoblin had been blown away . In the fight with the evil deity he had removed each Limiter, so even if he meant to go easy on the monster, the power he unleashed was still massive . (T/N: Limit has been changed to Limiter)

He had started getting the hang of controlling his strength, but to avoid any unexpected occurrences, Shin decided to cast Limiter again on his stats .

I wonder if we were sent here for some special purpose?

No idea . I heard that secret dungeons sent you to random places, so it might be just a coincidence .

Shin could not tell what the evil deity might have been thinking . Even if they mulled over it they might never find the truth, so he decided to stop thinking about it .

Well, now we know that this isnt a dangerous place and there shouldnt be restrictions for leaving either . Lets take it easy .

Judging from the monsters and traps, Shin concluded that they were in one of the higher floors of the training dungeon . Following one of the typical dungeon rules, strong monsters wouldnt appear in such a floor .

Different monsters appeared in dungeons, depending on what the suggested level to explore them was, of course . Monsters of the same type also appeared at different levels . In a dungeon for players with levels at two-digits, however, nothing that could pose a threat to Shin and Schnee could happen .

Lets keep our guard up just in case, and head for the exit . Lets use the shortest path .

Thanks to Magic Sonar, he had pinpointed where the exit was supposed to be located . He couldnt be completely sure because Magic Sonar wasnt best suited to go above ground from underground: the skill was most useful when going underground from above or exploring locations that were only above or underground .

In the chance they met a dead end, the mapping function was automatic, so they would never get lost .

. theres someone fighting up ahead .

After walking for a while, without finding any actual obstacles, Shin detected several responses ahead . Judging from the markers, there seemed to be three people surrounded by monsters . The players had probably triggered a monster house-type trap, which in turn caused a train .

Monster houses where traps activated when the player entered small rooms inside dungeons: the exit would be blocked and great numbers of monsters appeared . Depending on the players skill, they could be good sources of experience, but in most cases the monsters numbers overwhelmed the player .

Trains were caused when players, chased by monsters, ended up causing other monsters they encountered to join the chasing group, ultimately forming a large pack of pursuers . If the players failed to lose the monsters, they could end up being overwhelmed in this case too .

The battle situation was difficult to judge from just the markers, but it did not seem to be favorable to the people involved .

Looks like the frontline is doing everything they can to attract aggro . Wait, its not front or rear, thoughbut it looks like theyre handling themselves . If theyre adventurers we could cause trouble by interrupting, so lets make sure they dont notice us for now .

Yes . If the situation turns dangerous, should we help them?

If its dangerous, well help . But if things look suspicious, we might have to reconsider that too .

It might sound cold, but in the worst case there was the option of abandoning the party engaging the monsters .

Causing a train on purpose, making it target others, then killing them . That was one of the strategies adopted by the so-called MPK, monster player killers .

This world was rife with turmoil within royal families, nobles, or among privileged classes . Such troubles were something Shin wanted to stay as far away from as possible .

Thus, in case there were assassins in the shadows, waiting for a chance to finish their targets, he planned to leave without interfering .

If they were really in a training dungeon, even if the explorers HP reached zero the probability of their life being saved was high .

This is not good .

Shin and Schnee proceeded, concealed by Hiding, when he spotted the scene of the monsters and adventurers fighting . The monsters were superior versions of Goblins, Red Caps .

The large, two-mel tall monster wore a tattered hat with red spatters . The axe it wielded missed chunks of its blade and was dirty with blood .

As a category, it belonged to the Goblins, but it was more powerful than Ogres . Its level averaged at about 200, with the one Shin was looking at being level 222, slightly higher than the average .

Its my first time seeing one since the Dusk of Majesty, but it seems like they still fight the same way .

Red Caps tended to play with their prey . Many players had been traumatized by them, so it was often said to never get close to one .

Facing against the pack of Red Caps, standing in a clearing over the wall, were still very young children .

Their equipment seemed decent enough, but if they were ordinary children their chances of victory were close to zero . They would be quickly crushed by the enemies numbers .

The three children, however, were in a different situation .

The boy wielding a spear charged into the approaching pack of Red Caps, blowing away several of them in one strike . The girl armed with gauntlets jumped down in the opened space, damaging them further . She would then quickly back away, leaving room for the other boy with a wand to cast his magic .

When Shin spotted them, the three children were surrounded, fighting with the cave walls at their back, but they attacked in a specific direction while moving .

Their strategy isnt bad at allit doesnt look theres anyone else nearby . Lets do it, then . Schnee, heal the boy with the spear . He seems pretty spent . Ill take care of the Red Caps .

Understood .

The boy with the spear had probably acted as the tank, drawing in the enemies attacks: his HP was one-third of the total . Shin asked Schnee to take care of him, then made his move towards the Red Caps .

Before Shin, the girl armed with gauntlets had been caught by a Red Cap, which was about to lower its broken down axe on her . She struggled desperately to break free, but several Red Caps pinned her down .

Even in such a situation, she managed to kick several Red Caps away, so she surely wasnt an average girl . In a normal situation, they would probably have never been surrounded like that .

I dont really care for gore .

Shin materialized his broadsword Kakura and rushed into the Red Cap mob threatening the girl . Making sure not to hit her by accident, Shin swung his blade .

The corridor was packed with Red Caps both to the left and to the right . One swing of the blade and more than 10 Red Caps were blown away .

heh?

Seeing the Red Caps pinning her down get launched in midair, the girl let out a lame comment in disbelief . If the pack of Red Caps could be compared to a red stream of turbid water, Shin was a black gust of wind .

The Red Caps blown in midair and disappearing were like branches knocked about by a strong wind .

Im not an enemy, so dont attack, okay?

Shin warned the girl, who was trying to pull herself up, then strengthened his grip on Kakura .

One, two, three slashes .

The Red Caps crowding the corridor decreased in the blink of an eye .

Shin glanced in Schnees direction and saw her slash the Red Caps with graceful, dance-like movements, while protecting the two boys .

She didnt blow them away like Shin, but froze them to seal their movements and keep them away from the children, then finished them off .

Just as Shin did with Kakura, Schnee also used a weapon of lower level than the usual, it was the Ice-elemental short katana Ice Flower .

Frozen flowers sprouted along the path of the blade . The sight of Schnee gleaming as she dispatched the Red Caps was eerily beautiful, it was difficult to believe she was actually fighting .

Youre the last one!

Shin closed in on the last remaining Red Cap and once again swung Kakura . The monster tried shielding itself with the hand axe it wielded, but before a heavy weapon such as Kakura it was simply futile .

Even without a sharp blade, Kakuras slash boosted by Shins muscular power crushed the hand axe and sliced through the Red Cap like a knife through butter .

The monster was cut diagonally, its upper body slowly sliding down . Before its organs could spill out, the Red Cap vanished .

Okay, were done .

E-excuse me!

Hm?

Shin checked to make sure they had taken care of all the monsters, then declared the fighting over . As he did, a hesitating voice called out to him . He turned around and saw the little girl that the Red Caps had surrounded . Her equipment was partly damaged, but she didnt seem to have suffered much damage herself: she still had over 80% HP .

The girl had shoulder length red hair and wore an iron headband, karate uniform-like armor, and spats . Her weapons were probably arm and leg guards . Her job was Fist Fighter .

Judging from the crystal-like horns protruding at the sides of her head and her red scaled tail, it was clear that she was a Dragnil .

Thank you for saving us from that dangerous situation!

We had our reasons, dont worry about it .

The girl bowed energetically to Shin, who replied while putting Kakura away .

Shin and Schnee had instantly pulverized the enemies that were giving the children a hard time, so the girls orange eyes were brimming with admiration .

Hey, Myu! Just because they saved us, youre being too careless!

Just as Shin opened his mouth to explain their circumstances, the boy healed by Schnee shouted to the girl, while keeping his guard up .

Deep blue hair, red eyes, metal armor, and a kite shield . His hands held an iron spear . Both his shield and armor, however, were partly shattered, as was his spears tip .

When he looked at Shin, his eyes glowed strangely: he probably used a magic eye-type of skill . He appeared to be a Dragnil, just like the girl called Myu .

Raising his voice to attract attention and then use the skill was a good strategy, but it would be of little use before Shin and Schnees resistance . There was too large of a level gap between them .

You too, Lecus! These people dont have the teachers armband, they arent instructors from the institute!

Unlike Myu and the boy called Lecus, the blue haired boy was wary of Shin and Schnee .

Shin and Schnee did save them, but he quickly spotted that they did not belong to the institute and decided not to lower his guard . Another good judgement .

From his words, it was clear that the dungeon was part of the institutes grounds .

I cant fight against someone who saved my life!

What are you getting all smug for! Theres no guarantee that theyre on our side!

Youre getting too heated up, both of you! Calm down .

Forgetting Shin and Schnee, the boy and the girl started fighting, as Lecus tried to appease them . He was probably a mage: he carried a brown wooden wand wrapped with rope . His long ears signaled that he was likely an elf .

I dont feel any hostility from them . Besides, even if we fought, we wouldnt stand a chance . I dont think we could even run for 10 mel . Youve seen him fight too, right Gian? The lady is an incredible fighter too .

Lecus seemed to be a different type than the blue-haired boy, Gian, but judged the situation calmly too . After he finished talking, Myu put her hands on her hips and flashed a big smile .

Right, right!! I thought of helping too, but there just wasnt anything I could do!

It wasnt clear why Myu looked so happy, but the reason why Lecus said not to resist was simple .

Shin and Schnee abundantly proved that they could easily eliminate the monsters on their own, without the slightest sign of exhaustion . There was a large difference in fighting power between them .

First of all, we have no intention of causing you guys any harm . Ill explain our circumstances, so would you please listen?

When Shin turned Kakura back to card form, Gian reluctantly walked closer . His expression clearly showed how dissatisfied he was with the situation .

First, please let us thank you for saving us . My name is Lecus Alvein, the leader of this party . The Dragnil girl is Myu Hamill and the rude boy is Gian Ermelt .

Nice to meet you!!

hmpf .

Myu greeted Shin and Schnee energetically, while Gian was still sulking a bit .

Im Shin, shes Yuki . We have other companions too, but we got separated when we were teleported away after defeating a dungeon boss . We were just transported here, and honestly we have no idea where we are .

Using the name Schnee could have proved troublesome, so Shin used her alias . He warned her in advance via Mind Chat and had her transform to her golden haired, red eyed figure .

Schnee smiled at the children to reassure them, and Lecus and the other two gazed at her, mesmerized .

Shin laughed wryly before talking again, and they snapped back to reality . Lecus, blushing fiercely, apologized profusely . Shin calmed him down and continued to explain their situation .

Teleportation, is it . A trap that activated after defeating a dungeon bossso there are things like that out there too .

You can even defeat a dungeon boss!? Youre too strong, Mr . Shin!!

.

Lecus and Myu were very interested in what Shin said, though one because of intellectual interest and the other because of the admiration towards the strong . They didnt seem to doubt his words, in any case .

Shin expected Gian to say something too, but the boy kept an ironclad silence .

Wed like to go outside, first of all, so could you show us the way? We might cause trouble if we went out on our own, and I dont think you want to go on with your equipment in that state, right?

Rather than Lecus and Myu, Gians equipment required repairs, or maybe even to be replaced . Shin thought that they wouldnt proceed like that, so he made his proposal . He also told them that they would take care of any monsters that appeared on the way back .

I see . It is true that we are not in our best condition, and we also have to report about the teleportation trap . Let us go together . We will have to take you to the security patrol, though . It is one of our rules, so you will have to accept it . Of course, we will duly let them know that you saved us . The patrol guards are rational people, I am sure they will do you no wrong .

Even if the dungeon was meant for training, monsters still resided in it, so they had skilled guards posted at its entrance .

Lecus continued that, based on the situation, Shin and Schnee wouldnt just end up being accused of trespassing .

Theres no other way, I suppose . Hopefully things will be resolved quickly .

They could have gone out while using Hiding, but it was too late now that they met Lecus party . If they didnt talk with the institute, their future movements could meet unneeded obstacles .

Lets go then . Can you walk, Gian?

. Im okay . She healed me .

Gian had been struck hard, though over his armor, so he was wobbling a little, but could still stand firmly on his legs . Schnees recovery abilities were enough to even restore severed limbs, after all .

Youre tough, even though you just got beat up a lot .

I attracted the enemies attention! Besides, those damn monsters went easy on us . And YukisMs . Yukis Heal is a lot more powerful than what Im used to .

Gian replied to Myu without hiding his frustration .

The Red Caps often played with enemies weaker than them . They targeted the unit with the most HP and toyed with it even when they could defeat them in one blow .

It was possible to make use of such a strategy to make the monsters fall in a trap, but Lecus and the others did not seem to have figured out how to yet .

Mr . Shin, Ms . Yuki, are you high-ranked adventurers?

Shin answered Myus question by showing his adventurer card .

Im ranked A, even though I havent taken any guild requests since I got to this rank .

Wow, rank Athats why youre so strong!!

Shin explained with a chuckle, but Myu was completely convinced . Lecus, however, couldnt help but point out how weird that exchange was .

No way Myu, how do you get convinced like that?

Whats so strange? The stronger an adventurer is, the higher rank they have, right?

That only works until rank B . To get to rank A and above, they take into account your contributions to the country, to the guild, your personalitythings unrelated to how strong you are, basically . If youre strong but just violent, you cant get to rank A .

This means that Mr . Shin is a strong and good person!

. well, thats probably right .

Maybe because she didnt think too hard about it, Myu quickly nodded in acceptance . The glow in her eyes when looking at Shin was even brighter than before . It probably happened often, because Lecus just nodded with a small laugh .

In this atmosphere, it would be hard for Shin to say that in Balmel he just charged smack dab in to the middle of the monsters swarm and let loose .

Lets go straight to level one, then . Please step on this magic circle .

In the games training dungeons, there were normal magic circles ready to travel to the farthest traveled floor from level one: that was probably what Lecus mentioned .

Then, Ill go first and explain the situation .

After the group teleported to level one, Lecus ran ahead towards the light pouring in from the exit .

Left behind, Myu started talking to Shin, full of enthusiasm . She was like a fan who finally met her favorite athlete .

On the other hand, Gian was mostly silent . His eyes often wandered towards Schnee, however .

Outside, Lecus and three armored men were waiting for Shins group . The mens armor had similar designs and were also enchanted . Their level was over 200, high enough to understand why they were in charge of security .

Are you the people who were transported by accident?

Yes, it was a trap that activated as soon as the boss was defeated, so our comrades were transported somewhere else . We were close when the trap activated, so we ended up in the same location, I suppose .

Did you contact your companions?

We used an item we found in the dungeon, that lets you send messages to people far away . We know that they are all safe . The item was one use only, so we only have a few left though .

I see, we understand the situation . We would like to inquire further, so please follow us .

One of the guards went off with Lecus party, while the other two walked ahead of Shin and Schnee .

Lecus party did not seem to have noticed, but other than the two guards who led Shin and Schnee, there were several other responses surrounding them . The guards were clearly very wary of them .

Shin and Schnee were first led to the guards station . The building itself was reinforced, so it would not be damaged even if fighting broke out inside . It had a basement too, where Shin and Schnee would probably be shipped to if they were found guilty .

In one of the rooms of the station, Shin and Schnee explained their circumstances further . The guard asking the questions was the one who had first talked to Shin, a man named Bermann .

-thank you for your cooperation . Being transported from dungeon to dungeon must be a bizarre experience, thats for sure .

I guess we were lucky enough not to get stuck in the ground somewhere

They say that luck is a part of skill, after all . Let me confirm one last thing: where is the dungeon you said you were? If, like you, other people might end up being transported here, we should make the necessary countermeasures .

Well, I dont think you need to worry about that .

And why would that be?

Bermanns eyes narrowed because of Shins confident reply .

That dungeon self-destructed right before we were transported . We saw it starting to crumble and our comrades confirmed that it is no more .

This was something that Shin learned by also contacting Tzaobath, after he talked with Filma . He didnt know if it was possible to contact monsters remotely via cards, so he tried sending one just in case, and it unexpectedly worked .

According to Tzaobath, it had annihilated the dungeon together with the evil deity, which had crawled out . Thats when Shin learned that the final self-destruction was a last resort the boss monster used to try to escape .

Shin said that the dungeon crumbled because he was sure that no one would believe him if he said that a dragon had blown it to nothingness with a breath attack .

Is that so . I thought it was used to trespass into our country, but if its disappeared, then our problem has too .

Do you believe us?

If you were trespassers, you would have no reason to help the students . I doubt there would be foreign agents who attracted attention to themselves on purpose like this .

Well, thats true .

Shin was not so naive as to fully believe Bermanns words, but there was no point in further pressing him whether he really believed them or not .

After the questioning, Shin and Schnee were led in a waiting room with a sofa and a table . They were asked to stay there until a response arrived from the institutes authorities . Shin and Schnee did not have any particular objections, so they accepted .

(Theyre pretty wary of us . )

(It doesnt look like they fully trust us . But they dont seem to have strong suspicions either . )

Shin looked all around himself while talking to Schnee via Mind Chat . Around the room there were even more responses than when they left the dungeon .

Shin and Schnees actions were not what someone that sneaked into the institute to perform evil deeds would do . They did not tell any lies either, so it might be difficult for the authorities to make a decision .

After about one hour of waiting, Bermann and a group of people with different uniforms came into the room .

Oh?

Shin felt like he had seen the person leading the group before . He might be mistaken, though, so to be sure he used Analyze .

Hilamee Level 255 Mage

Its really you, Hilamee!?

!! C-could you really be Mr . Shin?

The female pixie leading the group, surprised, answered Shins question .

Yes, its been a long time . So you came over here too .

They had met a few times during the death game; in the end, Hilamee had passed while protecting children with levels lower than theirs . Thats the female player that Shin knew, Hilamee .

A pixie with emerald green eyes, Shin remembered that she was in a party with a dragnil boy called Masakado .

The Hilamee now standing before Shin was a fully grown adult woman .