Earth Dungeon 41.1

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Chapter 41.1. Insects

Tall grass grew lushly, reaching the waist, and towering trees stood around. Sunlight poured down from the ceiling, never ceasing, never obscured by darkness. It was a peculiar area, one could say. It wasn't a place where night never came. If you observed the surroundings closely, you would notice something odd.

Upon closer inspection, although it seemed like the sky extended far above, about 50 meters up, it appeared as a monochromatic blue, indicating that it was artificially created. The ceiling was painted blue, with shining tiles placed regularly, illuminating the area like sunlight.

Dungeons. They were supernatural existences feared by people. That's an entity that broke the laws of nature. Mysterious structures that distorted the course of the world. They gave birth to monsters that brought death.

In this place, someone was moving through the thick grass, carrying a heavy sword resembling a lump of metal that even an adult couldn't handle with one hand, and a Type 22 automatic rifle on their back. It was a petite girl with shining, lustrous semi-long black hair, gentle-looking eyes, a petite and well-formed nose, and cute cherry-colored lips. She was navigating this extremely dangerous labyrinth all by herself.

No tension on her face, no trembling body filled with fear, nor cautious steps while scanning the surroundings... None of that.

"Te-te-teen. Te-te-teen. Where is the generator? Let's start by destroying the destruction. Let's find the totems, destroy them, and make the killers cry."

She hummed a tune while crouching in the grass, her cheerful demeanor intact. There is a lovely girl.

[Dungeons have totems or something like that?]

"...No, they don't. Should I have referred to it as a stronghold?"

[I'm not a soldier, though.]

The slightly displeased face belonged to Amano Shizuku. It seemed she wasn't satisfied with the interjection about fortifications. But she quickly brushed her shiny hair aside and changed her expression to a serious one.

"Mothman King's Dungeon. D-Rank. Its design is simpler than Goblin King's Dungeon. It measures 5 km on each side, but the ceiling is built high at 50 meters to accommodate flying monsters. There are 8 map patterns. The terrain types are grasslands and forests. The monsters that appear are Lesser Mandragora, Worm, and Mothman up to the third floor. On the fourth and 5th floors. There are Mandragora, Poison, Acid Worm, and Mothman Fighter."

[So, because there are 8 map patterns, it's straightforward?]

The ghostly Sakimori asked, but Shizuku shook her head in denial.

"No, it's not like that. In this terrain, it's a forest? Forests and grasslands don't have pathways. In the case of insect-based and beast-based monsters, my movements get restricted because there are no paths, preventing me from utilizing my full abilities. Therefore, it's just a vast plain. Consequently, all I need to do is find the hidden location of the stairs. Once I determine the position of the stairs, I can move in a straight line, making it easier."

[Ah, so in a dungeon with only pathways, ambushes and surprise attacks become ineffective. They can set spider webs between the trees or hide in the grass.]

I see. Shizuku understood and nodded. A grassland, huh? It would be quite a challenge to find the stairs within this grass and forest, under normal circumstances.

"The weakness of grasslands and forests is that the terrain is discernible. Dungeons don't naturally develop and are predetermined, like a background image. The height and arrangement of trees, the extent of hills and dense grass---they're the same. In other words..."

"In other words?"

"Understood. Map pattern analysis complete. Staircase positions determined. By using detection through fighting spirit, I've also discerned the enemy's placement."

After moving through the grass for a while and surveying the surroundings, Shizuku understood the layout of this dungeon.

With a deep focus in her eyes, Shizuku comprehended every detail of the dungeon, much like a machine. One could say that the weakness of the dungeon is its inability to surpass its predetermined design, which aligns perfectly with Shizuku, whose combat skills are at their maximum. She never forgets any memories related to combat. Every design of the low-level dungeons she has conquered, numbering in the thousands, is stored in her head.

[In front of Shizuku, even the dungeon itself no longer feels like a dungeon, right?]

What was the meaning of meikyuu (迷宮/labyrinth) again? I think it was written as mayou kyuuden (迷う宮殿/meandering palace), not necessarily meaning meikyuu (迷宮/labyrinth).

"There's not enough information for high-level dungeons, and they often have traps, so we can't easily conquer them like this."

Easy mode is limited to low-level dungeons. In the case of high-level dungeons, there may not be enough information, making them challenging to conquer.

[Sneak Step]

[Accelerator]

Taking a deep breath and relaxing her body, Shizuku used her martial arts to calm her fighting spirit to the utmost limit. She diminished her presence to that of a small stone.

"I'm going."

Shizuku lightly leaped into the air, she landed on a branch, and then swiftly moved to the next branch. She moved with such agility and silence that not even the Mothmen resting on the branches reacted to her presence. 

Her dexterity of 300 allowed her to perform delicate, high-speed movements while remaining completely silent. She could move from branch to branch without disturbing them, and the resting Mothmen showed no response.

"And the weakness of the forest lies in the ability to move from branch to branch. In low-level forest dungeons, this allows me to bypass most enemies. I only need to be cautious of the Mothmen's perception."

Hidden enemies in the grass couldn't respond to her. Even if she passed overhead, she remained undetected.

[In simpler terms, it's not as easy as it sounds. I think even I would find it difficult to climb the branches.]

Shizuku smiled at the bewildered Sakimori. It was just like he said he couldn't do it.

"I'll bypass all the enemies here. There's not much point in fighting them since they don't possess stats that would trigger adversity growth. Here I go."

As one Mothman noticed Shizuku's high-speed movement in silence and fluttered its wings, she swiftly closed the distance and lightly swung her great sword, severing its head.

"Let's head straight to the deepest part."

Without confirming the defeated enemies, the calm Shizuku continued to traverse between branches.

[Roger that.]

After a while, Shizuku spotted a staircase leading underground in the shadow of the grass. She gracefully descended and proceeded towards the deepest part.

"We should reach the deepest part in about 15 minutes."

Open maps and the like were no match for her.