"Wow... A sun inside a dungeon. The weather is totally different," I muttered as I looked at the sun hanging in the sky. It was almost spring, but the heat made it feel like summer.
"Yes. Scientists speculate that we're in another dimension, though whether that's true or not remains to be seen." Yuuno tried to show off her knowledge. She swept her gaze across the beach. With such a wide view, we could already see the cave leading to the next floor.
"Should we go to the next floor?" Noelle asked.
"Wait. I thought we were supposed to test the waters around here?" I said. Just because I had my skills back didn't mean we should be reckless. If my body died, I might die as well, or in the worst-case scenario, I might have to live as a monster for the rest of my life.
"Yeah. Besides, it's almost nighttime," Yuuno nodded.
"Ah. Sorry. I guess I'm too excited."
"Well, we could always camp inside the dungeon if you want. Want to bring our camping gear tomorrow morning?" Yuuno asked as we strolled along the beach.
"I wonder if this world extends endlessly..." My eyes wandered from the beach to the open horizon.
"No. If you go far enough, you'll eventually reach the barrier. This dungeon is roughly 4 km by 3 km," Yuuno said.
"You sure have studied a lot. How did you know? I don't remember seeing that information on the internet." I pondered. Yuuno was a veteran, but I thought she had only explored the lowest-ranked dungeons throughout her career. This dungeon was ranked D, two full ranks higher than the dungeon we usually visited.
While the monsters that appeared in dungeons tended to be weaker on the upper floors, it wasn't a guarantee. Monsters could climb the stairs. They were only confined to the dungeon itself. So, the rank was there to warn adventurers based on the strongest monster that could be found inside the dungeon.
We had read about the dungeon. Odaiba had twenty floors. Reaching the deepest floor was a pipe dream at our current rank. Even with full support from the guilds, we would need at least a year or two to advance that far.
But we hoped we could at least hunt on the first five floors. If we could defeat one floor boss, we might even be promoted to E-rank adventurers.
"Well, that's why it's important to be in a guild. You can access their private servers," Yuuno said.
"I guess your guild wasn't as bad as I thought it was."
"It wasn't bad!" Yuuno said, almost yelling. She then turned away. "Just indifferent and merit-based. After all, it's my problem, and they don't want to get caught up in it. They can't possibly spend 2,00k on me alone when I'm just a newbie."
"Well, let's get our first day rolling." I turned toward the sea and saw some ginormous crabs walking along the beach.
Most adventurers ignored them. I had read their files. They were called platinum crabs. Slow and mostly passive unless you got near them. They were unpopular because of how hard their armor was. Adventurers complained that these monsters damaged their weapons or that it was too difficult to pierce their armor, so they stopped hunting them.
Only those who specialized in blunt weapons usually hunted them. And since they only dropped goblin-rank cores, they weren't popular either.
Noelle, Yuuno, and I didn't plan to hunt them either. The snakes and the fire bulls on the fourth floor were more enticing for beginners. But since I had come here mostly to practice, it was the perfect opportunity. If things went wrong, we could just escape.
The girls and I surrounded the crab. Yuuno started with her Taunting skill while Noelle and I circled behind it. Its pincers rose into the air and swung down at Yuuno, who rolled to the side. The crab then gave chase, and Yuuno had to sprint.
"Slow my ass. They only looked slow, but they were almost as fast as a human jogging." I sprinted to the side, dodging the crab that chased after Yuuno.
Noelle leaped in, stabbing the crustacean through a gap in its carapace. The spear went in deep—so deep that the hand gripping the shaft touched the creature's flesh.
I blinked at the scene. The creature cried out, its body convulsing. Noelle was thrown aside as it thrashed with the foreign object embedded in its body.
"Ugh!" I ran to Noelle, who had faceplanted onto the sandy beach. She got up, spitting out the sand that had gotten into her mouth.
I was ready to take over if the crab came after us, but it collapsed instead. Particles of light emanated from it. Soon, the body disappeared, leaving behind a small white gem and Noelle's spear.
"Good work, everyone." Yuuno came over and handed Noelle's spear back to her.
"That spear was very sharp. It pierced the crab almost a meter deep." I inspected the spear. "I didn't think we could get that kind of performance from F-rank gear."
"That's not F-rank gear, Makoto." Yuuno sighed. "It only looks like one."
"It's F-rank gear, but my brother asked the guild's craftsman to enhance it with Sharpness and Durability enchantments." Noelle said, turning her head away.
"Well, there are no rules against it. If you can use an A-rank weapon, go ahead and bring it," I said. "This is real life, not some school examination. No need to hold back."
The reason the rich didn't simply use their money to buy A-rank gear right away was that most high-tier weapons had stat requirements. The worst part? Since everyone had their own status screen, like mine, the only way to know for sure whether you could equip one was to hold it yourself. So posting its stat requirements online was useless. People could only classify weapons by rough ranking categories, such as A-rank or C-rank.
Usually, they posted the price online, then held a meeting to test whether the adventurer's buying could equip them.
I didn't personally see them as cheating. It wasn't completely pay-to-win—you still needed the innate stats to wield them.
"Yeah. Makoto is right," Yuuno said.
"Well... alright." Noelle pouted, seemingly unconvinced.
"Let's continue hunting. It's good that we can clear these crabs in one hit. Moreover, this spear doesn't even feel chipped. I think we can hunt ten more before calling it a day. It's a good warm-up. I also need to improve my dodging skills. I don't think my buckler would stand a chance against its pincers," Yuuno said as she surveyed the first floor.
"Let's go," Noelle said.
Just as we were about to search for another prey, a scream rang out in the distance—from the stairs.
"Arghh!!!!" a girl cried as she ran as if her life depended on it. Behind her, three lizardmen and two crocodiles charged down the stairs in pursuit.
"Let's help her!" Noelle readied her spear.
"Huh? Wait a minute. There are five monsters chasing her," Yuuno said.
"Makoto can use his skill on one of the lizardmen to confuse them. Then, after I kill one crocodile, there'll only be two crocodiles and one lizardman left to worry abut. Most of them will be confused by the sudden betrayal of one of their own."
"B-but Makoto said he can't use his skill."
"No. I can do it now. But I might become unresponsive or act strangely while using my skill, so you guys need to stay away from me. Also, I need to be close enough." I avoided mentioning Body Swap.
When I used my Body Swap skill, a monster's soul would enter my body. This prevented other monsters from attacking me. But in return, my body might go berserk and attack my teammates. So I wanted to draw their attention toward the lizardman I possessed.
I had brought a pair of handcuffs just in case, so they could bind me to a random tree while I used Body Swap. I might have to reveal the secret of my skill soon. Let's do it tonight or tomorrow. They were my trusted teammates. I shouldn't hide something this important from them.
"Let's go. Those monsters are from the third floor. We might get colored stones from the lizardmen."
We ran toward the fleeing adventurer.
"Help meeee!" she yelled.
"On it! Leave it to us!" Yuuno said as she used her Taunting skill on the monsters. Both crocodiles and two of the lizardmen turned their heads toward her. Then they roared as they switched their target to Yuuno.
I scrolled through my status screen, weaving recklessly between the approaching lizardman and crocodile before targeting one of the lizardmen. My body dropped like a rock as I felt my soul fly away and snap into the lizardman. My vision changed, devoid of color. I couldn't see clearly.
Then, a muffled roar rang out beside me. The monster had switched their target. I swung my sword and shield at one of them, but it was futile. They were huddled too close together.
I could only manage a single swing before another sword pierced my heart while a crocodile bit into my legs and arms. When my body grew weak from the wounds and blood loss, my consciousness returned.
"Fuck!" I cried as I forced my body to move, crawling away. The body was healthy, but the phantom pain lingered. The excruciating pain paralyzed me for a few seconds before I could take action. Since my soul had returned, the monsters would naturally target me next. This is where I am most vulnerable.
"Come here, you bastard!" Yuuno banged her sword against her buckler. The monsters turned toward her.
Just as promised, Noelle managed to kill one crocodile before retreating. I blinked at how fast her spear moved. It pierced through the creature's right eye in a matter of seconds while it was aiming for Yuuno. Noelle was an excellent damage dealer.
"Die!"
Knowing there was only one enemy left, the girl who had run away turned to face the lizardman. I watched her unleash some kind of dagger skill as her small figure weaved beneath the lizardman's flank and aimed for its jugular.
I moved. I gripped my sword tightly and rammed it into the lizardman from behind. It cried out and rolled, throwing me onto the ground. I fled, leaving my sword behind. I knew it was a fatal wound. I just needed to wait, and it would die on its own.
The last crocodile was speared by Noelle as Yuuno parried its tail with her buckler.
As the battlefield turned silent, our gazes met the girl we had rescued.
Except Yuuno. Her eyes naturally went to the orc-sized stone on the ground.