Let's be an Adventurer! ~Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board~

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Let’s be an Adventurer! ~Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board~ 164

Let’s Power Up With New Equipment!

(No way, it’s still alive–!?)

The thought froze Haruki’s blood for a moment, but nothing happened. It was simply the golem’s body being swallowed by the dungeon.

However, that was a phenomenon that he had only seen when defeating a floor’s boss.

At this point, Haruki had never seen this happen whenever he defeated a rare or unique species, or even a Dungeon Lord.

“…Was this guy the boss of the 19th floor?”

If that were the case, then there would be a staircase leading to the 20th floor inside that cave.

But Haruki hadn’t seen any staircases there.

“Maybe they’re the kind that only appears after the golem is defeated…”

There have been other floors where the stairs going down would only appear after defeating the boss.

Or perhaps these stairs specifically would only appear after defeating the golem.

Maybe I should go back to that place and check.

As that thought crossed his mind, the golem was completely absorbed into the ground.

“…So? What do you think?”

Haruki muttered as he looked down on the golem.

He had defeated that golem.

Haruki had shown his power to it.

(Did my presence increase!?)

He looked at the palm of his hand as he opened and closed it, but he couldn’t feel any changes.

“…Well, maybe having gained a stronger presence isn’t something you notice by yourself…”

However, the golem had asked him to show him his power.

Haruki took a careful look, convinced that something must have happened.

Then, two crystals appeared with a loud noise on the spot where the golem’s corpse was absorbed.

(Could these be the items that will increase my presence!?)

Feeling uplifted, Haruki skipped towards the dropped items.

One of the dropped items is a palm-sized, grayish transparent crystal.

It was about 15 cm in diameter and oval-shaped. Haruki tried to pick it up…

“Oh!?”

His fingers slipped over the crystal’s surface, almost as if it was rejecting him.

Haruki just barely managed to avoid falling on his backside.

“Hmm, is it some kind of equippable item?”

It was a simple-looking jewel.

It didn’t look like an accessory or anything like that.

“…Maybe I should leave this until Karen and Van wake up.”

It would take about 3 hours for the dropped items to be swallowed by the dungeon.

Leaving the jewel for the time being, Haruki turned to what looked like another crystal.

It was a bundle of white, crystal-looking lower body equipment.

It wasn’t a single piece, but rather, it was divided into parts that each covered the waist, thighs, and shins.

It was mostly transparent enough to see through it, but there were solid white patterns all over it.

Haruki tried touching the gear.

Then…

“Ah, I can touch this one.”

Haruki was able to pick it up without any issues.

It had a rocky texture which was fairly rough to the touch.

However, it was considerably light, almost as if it were made of aluminum.

“Maybe this is the one…? Maybe this is the item that will increase my presence!?”

Haruki cheerfully tried on the lower body armor.

It was very easy to put on.

The straps tightened with little effort, almost as if it had been custom-made exclusively for Haruki.

“Uhuhuh… I knew it! This item was meant for me, and it’s the one that will increase my presence!!”

Laughing excitedly, Haruki looked down at himself while wearing his new gear.

It felt so light that it was almost as if he wasn’t wearing any armor at all.

It was made from a material that swallowed the faint light of a dungeon and reflected it diffusely.

It also had this intimidating air about it that yelled “This guy can do it!”

“Amazing!”

Haruki kept on looking at himself with his new gear while grinning happily, thinking “Yeah, this is nice!”

“Hmm, ah… Karaboshi?”

Haruki, who was still absorbed in his new armor, heard Karen’s still weak voice.

She seemed to have finally regained consciousness.

Still skipping, Haruki approached Karen.

“You’re finally up, Karen? How are you feeling?”

“…A-Ah, You’re Karaboshi, right?”

“Yeah! …Huh?”

Haruki was confused by Karen’s choice of words.

What happened to her?

After looking at Haruki, Karen’s face stiffened.

Then, for some reason, her expression changed to an exhausted one.

“What is it, Karen? Are you not feeling well?”

“No… I was just thinking it’s the usual you, Karaboshi.”

“A-Ah… By the way, what do you think? Notice anything different in me?”

Haruki opened his arms wide as if trying to show himself to Karen.

“You’ve… powered up, huh?”

“You think? Oh, golly!”

Uhuhuh!

Haruki’s mouth went all loose as he thought to himself ”Ah, finally, finally! My presence has finally powered up!“

“U-Ugh… Where…?”

“Van! Are you okay?”

After hearing his voice, Haruki rushed to Van.

He had been seriously injured.

(There must be some aftereffects that haven’t been cured yet…)

4

Contrary to Haruki’s sincere thoughts…

“…Uwaaaaahh!!”

Van let out a scream.

After screaming, his eyes turned on their sockets, and fell on his back once again.

“Well, he must have some wounds that haven’t healed yet after all…”

“No, he fainted because of you, Karaboshi…”

“Huh? What do you mean!?”

But I haven’t done anything wrong!

In response to Haruki’s astonishment, Karen shook her head as if to say “You’re hopeless”.

＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊

After taking a nice shower, getting a good night of sleep, and getting some mental rest, the man returned to Mask’s house.

Before coming back, the man had made a decision in his heart.

Today will be the last day I’ll be monitoring him.

In the first place, Mask had never shown the people of Japan the pretense of taking any actions that were contrary to public order.

His house was a normal, residential-area house, and everyone who was involved with him seemed trustworthy enough.

The man could understand why Masatsugu feared the possibility of Mask acting rashly, knowing his incredible power.

However, in the event that Mask started acting like that, even if Masatsugu doesn’t do anything, influential people in Hokkaido such as Kagemitsu and Yuzuki Akane would certainly be able to stop him.

He knew that both Kagemitsu and Yuzuki Akane were very important people to him.

Because of that, today would be the last day.

It would be better if someone who could actually see Mask were in charge of holding him down, instead of himself, who had never been able to see him ever since he started monitoring him.

It’s been 10 hours since he started watching over Mask’s house.

As the sun turned red, the man found a trio of adventurers coming out of the dungeon.

“…I finally found him…”

There was a masked man among those adventurers.

It was the first time since he had been asked to monitor him that he had actually seen the masked man.

A radiant emotion burst out of the man’s chest, rapidly filling him with a joy similar to that of someone who had dedicated his entire life searching for a legendary bird had finally managed to catch a glimpse of it with his own two eyes.

However…

“Huh? …HUHH!?”

The man was so surprised that he had to take a second look at the masked man.

He had seen info on the forums regarding the masked man’s appearance.

According to that, he was wearing a seemingly cursed mask.

According to that, he carried a plant on his back, and was hosting a parasitic centipede on his abdomen.

According to that, he had feathers sprouting from his neck, a white face on his back, and tentacles hanging from his waist.

Every detail he found about the masked man sounded like nothing but an outrageous rumor, but now that the man had finally seen him, he was sure.

None of them were wrong.

Except for one thing.

There was a single detail that was missing.

That single detail smashed the man’s spirit.

“…I’ll head back to Tokyo.”

Some time later…

The man, no longer in charge of Hokkaido, left Team Braver.

He moved to the remote countryside of Honshu, where he started living quietly, almost as if he was afraid of something.