Chapter 191: |
Dungeon Stampede 2.0 Movement
The second wave of Dungeon Stampede has occurred in Japan.
Considering what happened the first time, surely the same is happening around the world. The sound of sirens can be heard even before opening the front door, causing unease in the chest.
"[Wooooo-!!]"
Upon opening the door, the distinctive intonation of the siren echoes throughout the city.
It's like an air raid warning… Hearing such a sound from the speakers that usually play casual messages like "Be careful and return home" makes it keenly felt that this is an emergency.
"Well then, let's proceed with caution."
Turning back, Ruka and the fully armed, faceless individuals nod. Perhaps they don't respond due to the discomfort of wearing both their masks and gas masks, making it a bit suffocating.
Thus, leaving the apartment and advancing to the open street, although deserted, cars were still driving. And there were no signs of monsters. Hmm, perhaps there were no dungeons around here.
"Hey, aren't we standing out?"
"Yeah, there are no monsters anywhere…"
That's true when put that way.
We are currently dressed as the Golden Beetle Man and the Goldless, Black-armored Girl. If such a group wanders around the city, they're bound to stand out.
"Um… the person in the car is staring at us…"
Following Ruu's gaze, there's a man inside a car at a red light, looking bewilderedly at us. And when our eyes meet through the masks, he's utterly shocked. So, I waved my hand without anything and signaled ‘It's nothing~'.
After all, people in strange outfits like us are carrying crowbars and gold crowbars. If we let our guard down, we might immediately be reported with something like, ‘Officer, those people over there!' There's no room for that.
"Hmm, this area still seems safe. Shall we jog to keep our distance?"
"That sounds like a good idea."
The group of gold shines, with the bizarre Beetle Man leading, and starts running.
The mysterious insect man with glowing red eyes holds a creepy purple iron rod in his right hand. Following him, the armored girls also grip crowbars and bats and even hold emerald-shining shield bugs.
Witnessing their ominous appearance, people tremble and hide, thinking, "Are they monsters from the dungeon!".
…..
With neither crowds nor encounters with monsters, only cars pass by. Glancing back, Ruu and the others are keeping up without delay.
(Hmm, the start seems smooth.)
Carrying weapons and shields, Ruu and the others run without problems. With no baggage on their backs, they can run comfortably.
During our vow discussion, I revealed that I possess dimensional storage. So, all our belongings are inside my dimensional storage.
And the dimensional storage, created by the skill [Space], functions as an item box. When the poop monkey threw out an amount of poop that didn't match its body size, and made me wonder, "What kind of body structure does it have!?" I dropped the [Space] skill orb. Then I thought, "Oh! So this is the trick.", and tried activating the skill to create an item box-like thing, and it worked.
It assumes a three-meter cube of space, within which items can be stored and retrieved at any time, and it follows the user's movement. It requires X amount of magical power, where X is calculated as. Well, something like that.
So, although it constantly takes up 1/10 of the maximum magical power, it's a convenient storage.
Currently, the dimensional storage contains clothes and overnight sets for four people, the giant crab we exterminated on the 1st floor this morning, which is stored in the shield bug container BOX. There should also be some pseudo-smoked meat in there.
No, it doesn't have a convenient display feature like a game inventory, so I occasionally forget.
"Are you all okay with this pace?"
"Yeah, no problem~"
"We're fine!"
"That's right."
Good, they seem fine.
But my concern is that the suits easily heat up on the surface. The Bug King Suit and the Fly Queen Suit are fire-resistant and highly insulating. The fly queen suit suffered fatal wounds from the drum can bomb, but that was due to the shock of the large explosion. While they fit snugly and are very easy to move in, this also makes it difficult for them to dissipate heat.
Since the dungeon feels cool enough to be almost chilly, we don't usually need to worry about it. However, on the surface, the heat dissipation issue with the suits arises.
"If you start feeling hot, don't hesitate to say so. I'll exchange the mucus right away."
"""Yes, sir."""
Therefore, it becomes necessary to frequently exchange the injected mucus as a coolant.
Yes, while I can perform mucus exchange on myself whenever I want, they cannot. So, I need to watch out for them.
But with just light jogging, they have become strong enough not to break a sweat. It seems they're still okay.
They might even be able to move like ninjas with successive jumps. However, if I were to force them to do such unfamiliar movements and they sprained their ankles, it would be a big problem. If the plan fails due to a sprain, it would be embarrassing and regrettable.
Oh, sprain and failure. Haha!
…..
Sometimes, I wonder if I have a disposition for disaster excitement, as I get abnormally excited when earthquakes or typhoons occur. It's like a festival atmosphere or a spectator mentality; my mind becomes restless.
Even in situations that would make ordinary people anxious, I'm in such a state of mind.
If people were to find out, they'd probably think, "What's wrong with this guy?" But maybe it's because of my lineage my blood gets excited in such situations. After all, my ancestors were from a samurai background. They also got pumped up with excitement every time they went into battle.
While thinking about such things as I run, Serai-san calls out to me.
"Egetsu-san, that…"
"Yeah."
And as we approach the station, we start to see people and monsters here and there.
The noticeable monsters are rat-hyenas. They were supposed to be called light wolves or little wolves. But those definitely look like hyenas. However, monsters like goblins that come onto the surface and cause trouble were selectively culled by the Self-Defense Forces, so we don't see them. The culling seems to have been effective.
And the people wandering around at this time.
They are people who set out but got caught up in the stampede and are trying to return home somehow. Or they are heading to someone's place, like us, or something like that.
However, the distinction is simple.
People trying to return home are dressed in typical attire not suitable for exercise, while those trying to go somewhere have some protective gear with them. Well, heavily armed people like us are rarely seen.
(Currently, train services are suspended!)
Suddenly, the voice of a station attendant carried on the wind reaches us.
A voice through a megaphone. Yes, it was said before that "In the event of a large-scale dungeon stampede, all public transportation will be suspended." But it seems that people who don't understand or think they can manage are gathering.
"What should we do?"
"Hmm, let's detour. It would be troublesome to be questioned by the police."
If people are gathering to the extent that announcements need to be made, monsters are likely to gather there as well. But even so, if it's not causing a big commotion, it means that police officers or capable individuals nearby are keeping the monsters at bay.
"If it were normal times, with our suspicious appearance, we'd definitely be seen as just suspicious characters."
"That's right. Let's move before we're spotted by the police."
…..
So we were avoiding monsters and public attention for about two stations, but we were finally got ambushed in an alley. We have to fight the monsters head-on. No time to waste.
"They're coming! There are three big rats in the front."
"What's that? Behind us, it's like a crocodile lizard!"
"All right, leave the back to me. Everyone, I'll handle the front!"
The rat-hyenas blocking our path are bigger than what we saw before. But Ruka and the others should be fine. Changing positions, I take on the crocodile lizard.
(It's really the size of a crocodile. Its jaws aren't as big as a crocodile's yet, but getting hit by its sharp claws and thick tail would be unpleasant.)
[Chachachacha…!]
Approaching with sharp claw sounds on the asphalt, the crocodile-like lizard comes charging.
"Gold Crowbar… Slash!"
[Thud! (Squish…!)]
I hold the end of Longinus's gold crowbar high, swinging it down with centrifugal force at the right moment. The crocodile lizard, which came charging without trying to dodge, is struck squarely, leaving a clear mark on its back.
[Gehaa…! (Squelch, squelch…)]
Spitting out blood and with its legs made difficult to move due to a broken bone, the crocodile lizard tries to escape.
"Sorry, I can't let you go…"
I deliver the finishing blow to the crocodile lizard, ending its life.
With its splendid appearance like a Komodo dragon, it would have surely been popular if it were kept in a zoo. However, I can't just leave a wounded monster that came up to the surface alone.
Soon after, Ruka and the others also win their battle against the rat-hyenas.
Though somewhat confused by attacks from below, they were able to defeat them without danger, mainly using the same tactics as against the ghost aloes.
"Coach, it's done."
"Even during the plant dungeon, they don't really disappear on the surface. It's mysterious…"
"Good job, no injuries."
"The monsters aren't disappearing. What should we do…?"
While they didn't worry much when facing plant monsters in the mountains, it seems they're concerned about the aftermath of defeating beast-type monsters in the city.
"Let's just move them to the side so they're not in the way. If you want to try eating them, we could put them in plastic bags and take them with us?"
"Uh… let's not! I heard lizards carry a lot of bacteria!"
"Haha… of course, I'm just kidding. Well, this area is getting pretty suspicious, so let's hurry on."
Shop shutters are closed, and residential homes have their storm shutters securely shut.
But occasionally, when they feel eyes on them and look around, they can see faces peering out from small windows. They're probably avoiding the main roads in case speeding cars appear.
Now, Shark's girls' high school is still quite a ways ahead. Hopefully, nothing happens…
