"There's a boss on every floor. You should be careful, as they are much stronger than the trash mobs on that floor."
"Yes. What kind of opponent is the boss on the first floor...?"
"A Goblin Soldier. He's better equipped and moves better than the Goblins you've seen so far. Plus, he's got two dagger-wielding Goblins with him."
The general enemies on the first floor were Goblins (wielding knives) and Goblins (wielding clubs). They were like average citizens armed with weapons. But here, they would encounter the first soldiers—Goblins bred for combat. Ren had been surprised and terrified when he first fought one, as they were unlike the regular mobs.
"But a Goblin is a Goblin. The basic approach remains the same."
"They don't have ranged attacks, so let's stay calm and take them down one by one."
"Understood."
After exchanging these words, they entered the boss room, a square chamber a few meters wide. In the back, one relatively well-built Goblin with leather armor and a sword—the Soldier—stood, guarded by two knife-wielding Goblins. As soon as they saw the intruders, they let out war cries and readied their weapons.
Naturally, Ren and his team moved before the Goblins could fully react.
"From the left!"
"Right!"
As Fuuri, who had opened the door, cleared the way, Iris shot an arrow at the left Goblin. It hit its shoulder, halting its movement momentarily. Ren shot a Manabolt—a ray of magical light—to finish it off, filling the time while Iris nocked her next arrow.
Meanwhile, Fuuri, dagger drawn, approached the right Goblin to distract it.
The Soldier raised its sword and began to shift its focus to try and turn it into a two-on-one fight—but just as its guard against long-range attacks dropped, it was hit by a continuous barrage of arrows and magic. Both hit cleanly, but—
"It's not falling!"
"He's a boss, after all."
The enraged Soldier changed its target. Iris, showing a slight flicker of panic at the incoming killing intent, quickly took the next action without running.
A faint, chirping Spirit language echoed, and a flame shot out from the torch in Ren's left hand. This was followed by an arrow, and a second Manabolt for the finishing blow. Even the sturdy Soldier was finally extinguished, dissolving into particles of light.
"...Well. Now it's just you."
"Gii...!?"
Fuuri, who had been skillfully parrying the enemy's attacks with her dagger, leaped backward. The remaining Goblin frantically tried to flee, but the only exit was blocked by Ren and Iris.
The fight was over quickly afterward.
"We won!"
"Yeah, good job. You did fine, right?"
"Yes. I understand now what you meant by 'you'll be fine if you stay calm.'"
"Seriously, they can be a real pain if you panic."
When Ren's original party fought, they had five members, but since they had only just formed, their chain of command was non-existent. They wasted time arguing about whether to attack the trash mobs or the boss first, only to follow the loudest member's instruction, which resulted in several people rushing one Goblin and neglecting the others. The big guy kept blocking Ren's line of fire, preventing him from casting magic. It was, in a word, a mess.
"But if it's not this easy, we'll be in trouble for the next floor." Fuuri laughed, collecting the drops left at the Goblins' vanishing points.
"The Soldier we just fought is the main trash mob on the second floor."
"What!? The boss enemy will appear in large numbers...?"
"It's ridiculous, I know. But that's just how this place is."
The first encounter on the second floor would be two Goblin Soldiers. They learned the lesson here that if they struggled with the boss fight, they shouldn't proceed but rather spend more time leveling up or practicing coordination.
"Well, at this rate, we'll manage the second floor. For now, let's head back and rest."
"Agreed. Let's just look at the stairs and the stone tablet before we go."
"The stone tablet?"
The downward stairs to the second floor had appeared in the back of the room without them noticing. They appear with a flash of light when the enemies are completely vanquished, but they had missed the light while talking. Since the boss doesn't respawn, they would have to defeat the second-floor boss to see it again—but it wasn't really worth getting excited about. In fact, after seeing it a few times, it became insignificant.
"The stone tablet is on the wall where the Soldier was standing."
"Ah...! Is this the message written in ancient script?"
Iris rushed over, tracing the carved characters with her finger. Naturally, this was also not Japanese but the mysterious Isekai language (?). Although it seemed to carry no deep meaning, it was always placed in the boss room. The girl sighed with emotion.
"I wish I had studied the writing more."
"What? Iris-chan, you can read this?"
"Yes. Just a little."
"That's amazing. We can only read it because of the 'Blessing' that translates it for us."
Since the language used in the town included written Japanese (plus the alphabet), it was like studying two languages simultaneously. Fuuri suddenly exclaimed, "I know!"
"How about I grade you on how well you can read it?"
"Really? Please do!"
She expected Iris to decline, but the girl nodded happily instead. The heartwarming sight eased Ren's mood. He recalled that the text on the first floor was generally something like:
The first step has now been taken. Use the World Fragment to drive out the darkness. You shall be able to tread upon the land with your feet.
Just as he was thinking It's like a game tip, Fuuri called out.
"Huh? Hey Ren, this is different from what we saw!"
"Hm?"
He looked at the tablet and indeed, a different message was inscribed.
O Child of the World. Your courage is commended. May you continue to advance without stopping.
He was still tilting his head in confusion when his junior spoke up.
"The Sage mentioned it. The inscription changes when a child born in this world is in the party."
This was apparently information gleaned from the "Native Generation" who had ventured into the dungeon before.
"So there were others besides you, Iris-chan."
"Yes. The oldest one was seven years older than me and was the first among us to start exploring the dungeon. ...He never came back years ago."
"I see..."
The bodies of parties wiped out in the dungeon are never recovered. Since they cannot enter the same dungeon as that party, there is nothing that can be done. After his death, there was a movement to try and prevent children from attempting dungeon conquest. Although the death toll decreased, research on the change in the inscription ended prematurely.
To dispel the somber mood, Iris smiled and said, "The Sage asked me to make a copy of the inscription. May I draw it?"
"Ah, of course."
"Let's write down the translation with it so we don't forget."
The ancient writing Iris had learned was based on the results of meticulous analysis by previous parties, who had copied the stone tablets and deduced the pattern of the characters. The leading researcher was the "Sage" in question.
After Iris finished copying the inscription, Ren and his friends decided to go and visit him.
--------------------
"It's been a long time. I'm glad to see you're well."
"Hello. ...Um, Sage."
The Sage's Hermitage was located in a quiet area away from the center of town. The room resembled a one-bedroom apartment. He lived alone, and books and stacks of paper were scattered everywhere, making it look exactly like a bachelor's room.
The only saving grace was that there were no discarded clothes lying around, but the ventilation seemed inadequate. Ren subtly wrinkled his nose at the room's atmosphere. He might have empathized as a fellow man, but spending over a month with Fuuri and now a few days with Iris had probably made him a little sensitive.
As for Iris, she immediately started lecturing the Sage.
"Honestly, Sage! You've been skipping your bath again, haven't you?"
"Ah, I got too absorbed. My apologies."
"That's unacceptable. I'll tell my mother on you!"
The man called the Sage—the same man who had greeted Ren and his class immediately after their transfer—accepted the scolding with a look of annoyance.
Fuuri blinked in surprise. "Are you two close?"
"Ah... yes. The Sage occasionally visited my family, so we know each other. He's always been kind to me since I was little."
"Your mother is the only pure-blood Elf. It would be a disaster if anything happened to her."
"...I don't like that side of you, Sage."
Saying this, the Half-Elf girl hid behind Ren.
"Excuse me."
Scratching his head lightly (Ren considered splashing water on him to make him wash), the Sage suggested they sit down, saying, "Standing around isn't good." The four-seater table and chairs were piled high with items, except for one spot, which the Sage quickly cleared haphazardly for them to sit.
Looking back at Iris, the girl behind him shook her head vigorously in refusal.
"Iris and I will stay standing."
"Then I'll take a seat, without reservation."
Fuuri took out her liquor bottle from her Storage and hugged it. Ren thought that perhaps being this bold made life easier in this world.
He tried not to worry about it and turned his attention back to the senior in his mid-forties.
"What did you mean by 'pure-blood' just now?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. When considering the survival of this world, the existence of different races contributes to diversity. Shouldn't we strive to keep that lineage alive?"
"Do you mean you don't think we can go back to our original world?"
"I wouldn't go that far. However, our generation might not make it in time. Besides, not everyone will wish to return."
Ren's robe was tightly clenched. This wasn't a pleasant conversation for Iris, who wanted her parents to return.
However, the Sage had a point. If a way was found to return after conquering the dungeon, would it be a way for the "people born here" to return as well? If only the summoned could return, then maybe preparing this place so the "Native Generation" could live was necessary.
His phrasing was terrible, though.
"Hey, Sage, are you married?"
"Unfortunately, I'm single. Few of our generation survived."
"The first generation, like the Sage, is called the 'Five Heroes' and is legendary."
The reason was simple: only five people survived.
The Sage squinted his eyes wistfully. "There was no town in our time. When the light of the Temple faded, what we saw was a 'world shrouded in darkness.'"
It wasn't a metaphor. Even now, looking outside the town's perimeter, they could see the 'Darkness' standing like a wall. Ren and his friends hadn't tried, but it was said that if they tried to cross the Darkness, they would be repelled by a mysterious force.
It was like an inaccessible zone in a game. Or perhaps, the world was warning them not to proceed because there was nothing beyond.
"How did you get food?"
"There was some in the luggage bags—Storage, as you call it now, right? After that, we had no choice but to rely on monster drops."
"...But you'd starve before you got killed."
"There was fighting over food, too, in reality."
No town, no houses, no guides. High school students who had barely fought were thrown into a dungeon with insufficient tutorials and forced into deadly combat with Goblins. Ren felt a pang in his chest at the horrific "first year."
"Fortunately, the food worries only lasted until we cleared the first floor. ...You two acquired them, too, didn't you? The World Fragments."
"Yeah."
World Fragments were rare items dropped by the boss. Fuuri, who had collected them, took them out of Storage and placed them on the table with a rattle. They were pure white, star-shaped gems, like kompeito candy.
Holding one of these stones up to the 'Darkness' at the world's edge would illuminate a certain area, making it accessible. It was theorized that they were literally "creating the world." By wishing for a specific type of terrain, some manipulation was possible.
Incidentally, one gem could dispel the Darkness for about two meters.
"The first things that appeared were a single apple tree and a small water source. That tells you how desperate we were."
"Wouldn't that run out quickly?"
"The fruit trees in this world have a fast fruiting cycle. Besides, we learned that it would get easier if we defeated the boss."
The number of World Fragments acquired was determined by the floor and the party size. On the first floor, they received the same number of fragments as the number of people who cleared it for the first time. If everyone who survived cleared the first floor, they could increase their food and water supply, and clearing the second floor would increase it further.
"Once there was more land, classes that weren't useful in combat, like 'Farmer,' started to become valuable. If they created corresponding terrain like fields and tended to them, items could be produced."
The constant trial and error felt like a game... but he might have felt a little envious if his life hadn't been on the line.
The Sage sighed, ending his story, and asked, "So?"
"From the looks of it, you cleared the first floor with Iris, right? How many World Fragments did you get?"
"T-two."
"Wait, two?"
There were indeed two gems on the table. Since it was Iris's first clear, there should have only been one.
"Just as I suspected. The children born in this world are granted privileges different from ours."
============
🚀 Want Early Access & Bonus Content?
"Loving this story so far? You can read ALL chapters RIGHT NOW by joining my P4tr3on!
✨ Unlock instant access to the full completed novel
✨ No waiting for daily updates
✨ Support your favorite degenerate author (that's me!)
Only $5.99 for the full experience!
🔗 Check my profile for the Link!!
Free readers - don't worry, I'll still be posting daily updates here. But Pa4r3on members get the VIP treatment!
Your support helps me create more wild stories like this. See you on the dark side! 😈"