Dungeon Gacha Life Chapter 12

 Chapter 12: Reaching Floor 6, and the Mysterious Magical Girl

Monday after the weekend.

I'd come to the Floor 4 entrance of the Hachioji Dungeon.

I'd been a little worried that fighting so many Goblins over the past week might leave some fatigue behind, but that turned out to be needless worry. Apparently the Skill "Fatigue Reduction" was doing its job.

The effect was hard to gauge in numbers, but this might actually be a pretty handy Skill. Out of everything that had come from the guaranteed SR slot, this might be one of the better hits.

"Touya-san, today we're pushing to Floor 6 by the shortest route from here, right?"

My partner, the gacha fairy Lapis, flying beside me as usual today, spoke up. A total change from the slack-jawed expression she'd had bingeing girls' anime all weekend. Her face was now brimming with motivation.

"Yeah, we'll only take down enemies that happens to be right on the shortest route. I will leave the drop collection to you."

"Leave it to me! Sparkle and shine! Gacha Fairy Lapis, here to prove her worth!!"

Apparently she'd gotten hooked on some magical-girl anime series.

Her energy level was annoying, honestly.

"Your energy level is annoying, honestly."

"You said it twice!!"

Guess I said that out loud. My bad, my bad.

"Alright, let's get going, then."

I opened the map of Floor 4 on my phone. Here at the Hachioji Dungeon Guild, every floor had already been fully mapped and released to the public for free. I'd downloaded it ahead of time and already had the shortest route memorized.

First, Floor 4. This part was easy enough.

There weren't many Goblins on the shortest route to begin with. I advanced while using Detection to check for enemies popping out from the sides of the route.

Even the occasional encounter was just a single opponent. Slash, then a dodge, then finish it off with a regular attack.

At this rate, I'd reach Floor 5 maybe after two more fights. Without even glancing at the drops, I strode on ahead.

"Ah, a magic stone dropped... wait, aren't you walking kind of fast!? Hold on a second!?"

I left Lapis behind, presumably busy collecting the dropped magic stone. She'd catch up soon enough anyway. Time-saving, time-saving.

"If you get left behind, I'm heading home without you."

"Do you have no blood or tears in you at all!?"

Behind me, Lapis was probably reeling in shock.

Kidding. I'll look in front for abit, so hurry up and catch up.

* * *

And so, one way and another, I am at Floor 5.

Right now, I was surrounded by a bunch of little green men. Facing three Goblins at once is quite intimidating and bad for my heart.

With that being said, the fight itself was easy.

These things had zero teamwork. They just rushed in with each one trying to get to me first.

First, I landed Slash on the one out front. While that was happening, another one attacked, but I stepped back lightly to create distance and dodge it. Then Slash on that one next. Another step back.

When the first one leapt back in front of me again, I struck it down and made it vanish. Two left.

Right after that attack, the untouched Goblin on my right came at me, but I blocked that one with my sword. Next, I dodged the attack from the left and struck straight back. It vanished too.

Down to one-on-one now. After that, it was pretty much a formality, and I won without a scratch.

Physical Enhancement Lv5 is insane. Yeah, this is definitely worth pouring 15 SP into.

Anyway, at that same pace, I made my way through Floor 5 without a hitch.

Moving along smoothly like that, a stairway leading down came into view. That was the entrance leading to my destination, Floor 6.

"...That was pretty easy, huh."

"...Guess I might've pulled the gacha a bit too much on Floor 3."

Lapis and I both ended up wearing expressions that were hard to describe.

I really did owe Shimotsuki-san some thanks for pushing me forward. Without that, I'm pretty sure I'd have holed up on Floor 3 all the way to the pity cap.

Anyway, goal achieved and I headed down the stairs leading to Floor 6.

* * *

Just past the bottom of the stairs was a fairly open plaza.

And there it was — the teleportation magic circle I'd come for.

It was an incredibly fantastical sight.

A spiraling column of blue particles, about two meters wide and well over three meters tall, rose up from the floor all the way to the ceiling. At the base of that pillar of light, a massive magic circle was etched into the floor, glowing pale blue just like the particles.

"Whoaaa... it's so pretty..."

Beside me, Lapis stood with her mouth wide open, staring at the pillar of blue light.

It really was beautiful. I thought so honestly, without any snark.

"Step inside this, and I will end up back at the Floor 1 entrance, huh. That is hard to picture."

They called it teleportation, but the technology behind it remained a mystery. It was just something that happened to be inside the dungeon, and that was that.

"I don't understand the logic, but it's convenient, so it is good enough!"

Whoever thought that up first must have had a screw loose. Well, it's convenient, so I'll use it too.

"Alright, let's try heading back to Floor 1 for now."

"Roger that! I just step into the light and shout 'Teleport to Floor 1!', right?"

"Apparently just thinking it in your head is enough, so there's no need to shout it, you know?"

Same as the Status board — some mystery technology running on pure mental will.

I stepped into the swirl of light and looked around. Being inside it was something else too. I was wrapped in a swirl of light on every side.

"Ohhh..."

Ignoring Lapis's awed little exclamation, I focused my thoughts on teleporting to Floor 1.

A momentary sense of weightlessness followed. And right after, the feeling of solid ground under my feet returned.

"Huh? Did we just teleport?"

"Probably. We'll know once we step outside."

I said that and stepped out from the pillar of light. It was a plaza built along similar lines.

But given that there were Explorers nearby I hadn't seen a moment ago, the teleport must have worked. There hadn't been anyone around the Floor 6 teleportation circle, after all.

Which meant this must be the great hall that was a bit east of the Floor 1 entrance. I took out my phone and opened the Floor 1 map.

"Anyway, let's try heading back to the lobby."

"Roger that!"

I'd hit my goal earlier than expected. So what to do with the rest of the day.

While thinking about that, I made my way towards the exit.

* * *

"So, anyway, I'd like to cash in, please."

"It's not even noon yet, you know?"

I asked a somewhat exasperated-looking Shimotsuki-san at the counter to process my cash-in.

After that, having made it out of the dungeon without any trouble, I thought it over for a bit and decided to call it a day.

I'd entered the dungeon at 10am. With that, travel and combat together had taken just under two hours.

"I did hit my goal, after all."

"So you activated the Floor 6 teleportation circle. Congratulations. This is where your start as an Explorer begins in earnest."

The area known as the Upper Levels ran from Floor 1 to Floor 5. Colloquially, this area was called the "tutorial zone."

Only after clearing this and activating the Floor 6 teleportation circle did the real beginner area start.

Which meant I'd been grinding Levels this whole time still in the tutorial.

Well, it was safe, so good enough.

"So anyway, I'm calling it a day here. Starting tomorrow, I'm planning to explore Floor 6."

That said, I'd really felt my combat strength get a boost over just yesterday and today. I figured it'd be fine to make the big jump and shift my hunting ground to Floor 6 from now on.

"That's true. On Floor 6, they go back to appearing one at a time, so it might actually feel easier than Floor 5. I think that's a wise decision."

Shimotsuki-san seemed to agree, giving me a small smile and a nod.

As always, even her smallest gestures looked effortlessly elegant.

And then, an idea occurred to me, and I said it out loud.

"So anyway, if you haven't had lunch yet, want to grab it together? I'm done for the day."

It was just before noon. If Shimotsuki-san was about to go on break, I figured I'd invite her to lunch.

For a moment, Shimotsuki-san's expression froze. But it quickly shifted into a composed, easy smile.

"Unfortunately, I've already got a bento with me."

"Ooh, a homemade bento? Very homey of you."

Teasing her a little, while secretly hoping for a little more.

But it seemed my little scheme had been seen right through.

It turns out that a Guild receptionist's guard was pretty tough to crack.