Earth Dungeon 103.2

 Test

Chapter 103.2. Reconstruction

"Feels like the pay is high, but are you ready, Sakimori-nya?"

"It's okay. No issues."

Stepping on the accelerator, the engine roared, and the vibrations made our bodies sway.

From the rented communication device, a host was announcing something, but I wasn't interested. All that mattered was the start signal.

I didn't have a tablet terminal either. Ever since the broadcasting satellite got destroyed, I could only use it within the inner town, so even if I borrowed one, I couldn't use it. Probably, the others were watching the broadcast on tablet terminals or something. The hard-boiled old man didn't care.

"Ending in 8 hours from the start. The fastest time so far is 5 hours and 56 minutes. Surprisingly time-consuming."

Since the start was at 8 AM, I expected it to end in the evening. But with a snow bike, we could clear it quickly.

"D-rank monsters are fast and can unexpectedly break the snowbike-nya. After that, we have to walk-nya."

"I see. Also... I can't see the entrance where we are. Are there really 32 dungeon entrances? Did that many merge?"

"This time, 9 dungeons merged-nya. You can tell because it became an ice cave-nya. We don't use the entrance to the Snow Slime dungeon, so the teams get fairly distributed among the nine entrances-nya."

Fairly distributed, huh?

"How many people are there in a team?"

"Including the cameramen, 12-nya. Besides the rules, we brought cameramen for TV appeal-nya."

"That's good. Are we going to clear it with a large group?"

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled defiantly. Serika must be having a hard time.

"Our odds are the best-nya."

"In movies or novels, we would turn the tables and win, but let's play it casually. I'm not young enough to be fired up by adversity."

"I'm not expecting much, so it's okay-nya."

Karin laughed with a cat-like smile. Then, why did she invite me? Serika, do you want to appeal to the inner town people that I'm a weak and useless guy? If that's the reason, I understand. Well, I decided to go along with it.

From the communication device, the voice announced, "Start." and Karin started off. Kicking up the snow, we swiftly entered the ice cave. I grabbed onto Karin's waist firmly and looked around.

Even though it was inside the cave, snow was piled up on the ground, and the tracks of the snowbike remained. The ceiling and walls were frozen, reflecting light, making it as bright as noon. It was an ice dungeon.

I couldn't help but get enchanted by the fantastical scene. You don't see such a sight often.

"Snow Goblins-nya!"

"Those are Goblins freezing to death."

Karin warned of the Goblins that appeared in front, but they didn't seem like a new type. After all, they were slowly walking through the snow, shivering. The archers didn't have bows, perhaps because their hands were too numb. Pathetic.

"Karin, full throttle ahead. We'll pass by all the monsters! Don't worry about surprise attacks; I'll guide you through the way!"

"Got it-nya!"

Zooming on the snow bike, we passed by the monsters. Just as the Goblins raised their clubs, we slipped through beside them.

The Goblins, frustrated, tried to chase us, but they couldn't catch up with the snow bike. We swiftly advanced through the already investigated dungeon, going down an icy slope.

"We should be encountering Goblin Knights and Goblin Shamans soon, right-nya?"

"No problem."

Entering the third floor, Karin shouted, but it's okay. Knights and Shamans with high stats shouldn't be too weakened. I pretended to gather mana in my palm and cast a spell as Knights appeared from the passage ahead.

"Snow Snare!"

With those words, the Knights and Shamans shivered and fell, buried in the snow.

"What was that just nyow?"

"My specialty magic. [Snow Snare]. It makes enemies fall."

I calmly answered Karin, who was surprised. If enemies fall, the snow bike can easily ignore them. It's a technique only we can pull off, considering we're the only ones here. In a large group, someone might get caught.

"You can use that kind of magic-nya? I've never heard of it-nya."

"To solo a dungeon, you need to master this kind of magic. Even Boss Kings use it, so rely on your vanguard."

"Hmm... I understand-nya. I moved so that it would be okay no matter which way they fell, so there's no problem-nya."

Karin nodded with a calm expression. It's a fox and a tanuki in a game of tricks. It doesn't matter if my power is exposed or if I'm considered weak. It's always like this. More importantly, I want all the dungeon cores.

"I'll knock down all the bosses. Make sure to defeat them thoroughly."

"I'm really good at that-nya. Leave it to me, and rest assured-nya."

"I'm counting on you."

Laughing together, we continued forward. We'll turn all the weakened Kings into small fry. We'll defeat all the other dungeon bosses as well. Our goal is within three hours.

"Chii."

From somewhere, I heard a cute squeak like a dormouse, but with the noise of the snow bike's engine, no one noticed.