Lonely Attack on the Different World (WN)
Chapter 358

Day 84 – Afternoon, Dungeon, 71F

The hellfire filled the floor, and searing hot winds roared through the place. Yup, caught up to them, so I tried burning stuff?

「Why would you burn the 『Flare Trent』?! It’s a fire-attribute monster!」

Yeah, and the deadwood was still flinging fireballs while it burned. Completely absurd.

I could have just cut them down normally, but they looked flammable, and something about being burned by dry wood just rubbed me the wrong way. So I used 『Rajingan』 to analyze it and found it had 『Fire Magic Immunity』So I doused it with oil and used non-magical fire. It burned really well. Well, that’s dried wood for ya?

I just rapid-fired oil balls formed via 『Holding』, that alone finished it off, though it is too hot to get close. They started to turn into magic stones, but I bet those are too hot too.

The boss of the 70th floor was defeated, took some time, but they pulled it off. Since Dancing Girl-san gave it a passing grade, she was probably just observing. However, here I finally standardized the new next-gen armor: Mk.X, featuring articulated nesting mechanisms that move with the body and muscles. And what dropped? Armor.

The armor they handed me was 『Stone Oni’s Armor – VIT +50% Up, Turn to Stone (Immobility), +DEF』, a pure defense-focused piece. If I mithrilize it, it’ll probably become 『Iron Oni Armor』 or 『Steel Oni Armor』 , or something of that sort, but that (Immobility) trait is a no-go. It’s a 『stand and endure』type, classic death flag gear. Maybe useful for military formations, but for adventurers, this thing basically says 『please kill me』, so I immediately decided to sell it. If Shield Girl starts eyeing it, this could become a problem, so I should sell it ASAP.

On the 71st floor, I reunited with Pres and the others, who were gleefully dancing through a bullet hell of fireball volleys from 『Flare Trent Lv 71』 mobs. Since it was hot anyway, I tried burning them. Turned even hotter. While waiting for things to cool down, we exchanged intel, discussed the floor boss fight, and looked over the 『Stone Oni’s Armor』but yeah, still hot. Or rather, just plain hot now.

「We’re stopping at the 74th floor today, so there’s no rush, but…」

「I understand it, logically, but I just can’t get over the idea of trying to burn a fire monster…」

「My common sense keeps getting in the way… but I don’t really want to throw it away either~」

「Uh, if we’re talking common sense, burning a dry-wood monster on sight is actually the obvious, plain, conventional thing to do. That’s like, established approach among normal people though?」

At last, the temperature’s dropped enough, still hot, but not scorching. Time to gather magic stones on the 71st floor. Though… this is post-70. Is this just coincidence, or has the dungeon’s evolution accelerated?

「Close combat… no problems. But when taking ranged attacks …Not great?」

Dancing Girl-san’s assessment: problems dealing with long-range attacks. Normally you’d either shoot back or charge in, but being so multi-skilled, they are probably overanalyzing opponents and hesitating instead of acting decisively.

「Okay then, descending to the 72nd floor! Everyone ready?」

「「「Jaa!」」」

Even when they say 『get ready』 it’s really just mental preparation, and for a pure-hearted, emotionally sensitive second-year high school boy, my tender, fluttering heart is already teetering on the edge of a memory-making, heart-throbbing commotion. Being told 『Ready?』 is kind of difficult to respond to, but if you asked me 『Ready for beautiful ladies?』, then obviously my answer would be 『Let’s go!』 and I’d charge right in. But no one ever asks me. Yeah, looks like they’ve already left me behind.

And this seems like an example of a bad matchup?『Bubble Shooter Lv 72』, a bubbly soap-foam monster. It attacks from long range by spewing a flood of bubbles, and now no one can tell which ones are projectiles and which ones are monsters, so everyone’s all panicky and bubble-blind. Caught in confusion, they fall back into a defensive stance, they are attempting to counterattack, but since the enemy is long-range, it’s not very effective, so counter-offensive ends up falling flat.

「Front row, shields! Archers in the back! Ready, fiire!!」

The bubbles burst when hit by arrows, but they just split apart, and the effect is unclear, hesitation only deepens. Even after a triple volley, the effectiveness is still unknown, and they remain stuck on the back foot, leading to them trying to forcefully seize initiative.

「Draw blades! Attack them directly! Cut them down!!」

「「「Jaaaaaaaaaaa!」」」(*Whoosh, Thud, Thud*)

And then, slip and fall. I mean, after popping that many bubbles, of course the floor is slippery, right? The mysterious monster 『Bubble Shooter』had some tricky skills: 『Foam』, 『Bubble』, 『Lubricate』, 『Split』, and 『Dissolve』.The floor was slick with 『Lubricate』, sending high school girls tumbling and sliding around in a bubbly, slime-covered mess, grappling and rolling together. But since they’re all in armor, it’s not exactly that fun to watch.

The armor itself isn’t at risk from 『Dissolve』, but with all the slipping it’s still dangerous since they can’t get up. Seems like when they are prone to panicking, when things get hectic.

「Hey Bitch, or rather, Bitch Leader. That spear, what’s up with that? And Pres, quit being all soft and squishy? Or wait, were you always that whippy? Or was it thicc?」

「「Ah!」」

Bitch Leader activated Freezing Cold Seal with the 『Eternal Ice Lance』 freezing the foamy monsters whole. Finally regaining composure, Pres-san drew her 『Chain Whip of Savage Lightning』. It’s over. Shattering bubbles with the Seal of Raging Skies, she unleashed a flurry of super-speed attacks, Whirlwind and Hundred Strikes, her whip dancing with furious precision, utterly obliterating the 『Bubble Shooters』. Frozen solid they couldn’t split or react, reduced to fragments, then powder, then dust. They finally turned into magic stones, so the whole swarm was likely wiped out. Setting your ultimate moves so far aside that you actually forget about them and then panicking… Even though this could’ve been resolved in seconds if they used them from the start. Well, then it wouldn’t have been training, but winning is the top priority.

「Sorry, I totally panicked. Thank you, Haruka-kun.But we’re definitely talking about the whole 『thicc』 thing later, okay?」

「I mean, it was our first time with bubble monsters, can’t be helped~.」

「I never even thought about how to fight foam!」

「So all we needed was to freeze and smash them? I didn’t even think it could’ve been their weakness.」

「Seriously, you all lack empathy. You need to put yourselves in the enemy’s shoes. Think 『What would I hate to have done to me』? or 『What would be a problem for me』?, and act on that. If you fight by focusing on what the other side doesn’t want to happen to them, they’ll suffer and die in suffering? By the way, this lack of compassion for monsters stems from your usual lack of compassion for highschool boys, and I really think you should be more kind and considerate toward highschool boys. Except the Geeks and Idiots, they don’t count.」

「「「It sounded like a good message for a second, but when you actually listen, it’s awful!?」」」

It seems the profound and touching wisdom of my high-minded words didn’t quite land as clearly or beautifully as I’d hoped. Even though 『Think from someone else’s perspective』 and 『Do unto others what they want the least』 are the absolute cornerstone of moral education, how lamentable. Yeah, excel at it, so can’t blame me. Can’t blame me, but the Pres’ smile is scary!

Anyway, it was a rare monster. In the end, the bubbles were their main bodies, but with the skills 『Foam』,『Bubble』, and 『Split,』 it was hard to tell if they were even doing damage. In the confusion, they tripped over their own analysis and got overwhelmed. If they’d just hit it with overwhelming firepower from the start, it would’ve been over. But maybe that’s how danger often is, when you figure it out, it’s often unexpectedly uncomplicated.

「Aaah~ I slipped!」

Yep. She slipped and a great deal of spectacular bouncing took place. Good job, Bubble Shooter-san! Well, it’s already dead, though? 「If we’re going to be fighting enemies like that, maybe we need slip-resistant soles?」

I have『Sticky Boots – Allow Walking on Walls and Ceiling』 in one of the slots, so I’ve got great grip, and they’re surprisingly cushioned too. But typical equipment really lacks in both grip and comfort. Time to re-evaluate the footing on armored footwear. Yeah, I know Vice Pres B-san tends to draw the eye because of all that motion, but the real value of form-fitting, erotic-style armor lies in the legs.Those sleek lines are incredible. Like, Vice Pres A-san doesn’t even have to move, just standing there, her silhouette alone is elegantly sensual. Yeah. Feet should be stared at carefully and re-engineered accordingly. Those are some fine legs.

「「「Your eyes are lewd!」」」

「Ehh, you said it was slippery, so this poor, innocent, hard-working Highschool Boy was seriously re-evaluating armored footwear, and now I’m getting hit with cruel, baseless accusations?」

It’s disappointing that no one appreciates the importance of on-site, hands-on fieldwork to identify problems in real-time. The feet are really charming? But the Flat Gazes I’m getting are stern? Scary?

「「「Why are you ogling the thighs while claiming to be checking the armor’s footing?! Thighs don’t need grip, okay!?」」」

…Fair point. It’s true that for thighs, the goal is smoothness. But does smoothness have any functional use in armored thigh plating? The thighs in question are already plenty seductive without needing extra texture. Armor Play entering the stage? That’s a new door, a very niche one!

While being glared at, I descend the stairs to the 73rd floor. Two more to go before we call it a day. Still, in a dungeon where life and death are always at stake, it’s times like these when you need to stay focused. That said, since we’re always descending, I never get to appreciate the refined, armored silhouettes from behind, following someone as they climb is best for that. Ahh~ I miss the Great Dungeon.

Well, tonight we’re all invited to the lord’s mansion. It’s a dinner party, meant as a small celebration of gratitude and to share news of the Capital’s resolution, but if they’re really thankful, why are they asking me to prepare the food, and while they’re at it, casually requesting a vibrating throne-style massage chair in Frontier Lord spec?

It’s profitable, sure, but I feel bad for the massage chair, which will have to rub and shake some middle-aged man. And making such a thing is not fun at all. Apparently they want one for Murimuri-san too, but she’s big, so it’s probably going to wobble. The chair might even enjoy it, but that would definitely be bad news, so let’s just build it like normal.

On the 74th floor, there was a hidden room, but the monsters were wiped out without incident. They are absurdly strong against regular monsters.

As long as they strike first, they can press the advantage and close in as a team without much danger. I guess it all comes down to getting used to it and gaining experience, but the list of challenges is endless. And apparently, so is the scolding, but that smile is terrifying, so I’ll just stay quiet.

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