Dungeon Refrigerator 271

Test

Dungeon Stampede 2.0 Aftermath

"Take this!!"

[(Thump… Splash!)]

The human-faced growth peeled off the patient was immediately caught and subdued by a burly JSDF officer, who slammed it straight into a plastic bucket.

Although the parasitic growth excelled at controlling others' bodies, its own movements were sluggish, and it seemed terrible at getting around on its own.

(Hmm… In horror movies, things like this usually thrash around and make a quick getaway, but...)

I couldn't help but feel the scene had wrapped up rather anticlimactic—just a little disappointing.

Still, the operation was a complete success.

The patient lost a significant amount of tissue from the shoulder to the left side of her chest, but her life wasn’t in danger. She is now receiving treatment and a blood transfusion from Dr. Tobari. I heard him mention something about covering the lost skin with tissue from the patient’s backside, so I’m sure he’ll figure it out. I also secretly helped a little, using some of my fake exudates to stop the bleeding.

And with that, the battle came to an end.

The JSDF officers sealed the plastic bucket tightly, treating the parasitic growth as hazardous material, and carried it off. Yeah, that thing needs to be studied properly in some national research institute—can't have something like that running loose.

.....

After the dust had settled, Tsunami-san approached me.

"Good work, Egetsu-san. Here, please have this."

"Oh, thank you."

I accepted the cup of hot water she handed me, soothing the thirst that had crept up from the tension.

"So... what are your plans from here?"

"Ah... Right. I need to let Ruri-kun know you’re safe, and I’m also planning to check on some acquaintances."

"I see… So you won’t be staying here?"

"That’s right. If I stick around, I’ll probably get bombarded with questions again, just like earlier."

Indeed, just a short while ago, I was relentlessly interrogated by the JSDF officers. Apparently, my skill activation had seemed quite unusual, even from her perspective.

Well, that’s fair enough.

After all, I tackled the problem together with Saltaro from Salt Mate. From the outside, it must’ve looked like, "W-What is this sudden surge of magic power?!" If the human limit is set at 500, I easily surpass that, channeling magic power at a ridiculous level.

Honestly, I know I was reckless. But hey, there wasn’t exactly an opportunity to hide my power. Especially with a revelation from the little god of salt in play, I had no choice but to go all out.

So yeah, it couldn’t be helped!

Still, that wasn’t the end of it. The JSDF officers kept pestering me, asking things like, "Can meditation really grant such powers?"

Naturally, they were curious. But I kept Saltaro’s existence a secret and gave them a vague answer.

"This is the result of meditation, a way to cleanse the mind. Meditation is as crucial as letting an engine idle before revving it up—or using good engine oil to maintain peak performance."

I gave them that spiel to throw them off.

Even so, they persisted. So I ended up giving them Unkai-san's contact information.

Unkai-san practices seated Zen meditation every day, and meditation is close enough to what I was doing. Since he always says, "I want to be of service to others," I’m sure he’ll be happy to cooperate with the JSDF officers.

Honestly, I felt pretty proud of my consulting skills at that point.

"So... is this person such a revered monk?"

"Yes. Under his guidance, I’ve refined myself up to this point. I’m confident he’ll be able to assist you all."

Of course, I made sure to set high expectations. Was I throwing Unkai-san under the bus?

Not at all.

I’m sure Unkai-san will take this unexpected encounter as part of the Buddha’s plan and handle it gracefully. After all, the brilliance of the Great Sun Buddha is always with him.