MTLNOVEL Chapter 7
I quickly made my way through the upper floors and arrived at the 21st floor, the entrance to the middle floors.
Unlike the upper floors, this was a place where those without a certain level of strength
could die in an instant.
That said, as long as someone was D-Rank or above, they were permitted to enter, so it wasn’t impossible for those with some talent.
The upper floors had a typical cave-like structure, but starting from the middle floors, the dungeon’s appearance changed drastically.
From the 21st to the 30th floor, the area was a dense forest.
The forest zone was packed with tall trees, home to monsters that perfectly matched the environment.
A special type of bioluminescent moss grew on the ceiling, providing 12 hours of light before going dark for another 12 hours.
However, its cycle didn’t match the outside world’s sunlight.
At exactly 5 AM, the dungeon would suddenly become bright as midday,
and at 5 PM, it would abruptly turn as dark as midnight.
“Alright, Raijuu.”
Because the dense forest made visibility poor, most explorers had to stay on high alert for ambushes.
For me, however, it had the opposite advantage, it reduced the chances of being seen by other explorers, making it easier to summon my shikigami.
Upon calling its name, a yellow wolf emerged from a magic circle— my Raijuu,a shikigami that always accompanied me.
The moment it materialized, Raijuu sniffed the air, scanning the surroundings before turning its gaze toward me.
“What?”
“Woof.”
Despite its relaxed movements, Raijuu was a reliable shikigami, capable of unleashing lightning-fast attacks the moment a monster appeared.
I had created all my shikigami based on the yokai from the books I read at school.
Now that I thought about it… they all seemed to mirror my personality a little too well.
“Alright, today’s target is the 40th floor.”
As I began walking, Raijuu trotted beside me, its fur slightly crackling with static electricity.
I wasn’t sure how it worked, but Raijuu could detect nearby monsters by charging the air with electricity.
Another convenient thing about it— Raijuu’s lightning attacks were precisely controlled, meaning I could swing my sword freely without worrying about getting electrocuted.
While traveling through the forest, I encountered something much larger than a Steel Ant—
a Giant Rat.
“…Giant Rat, huh?”
The moment it noticed me, a sharp crackling sound filled the air.
Before the rat could react, Raijuu’s lightning-fast movement had already pierced its skull.
Raijuu was a yokai said to have originated from lightning striking trees, birthing a beast of pure electricity.
It was said to ride on clouds and move faster than the human eye could perceive.
For most people, Raijuu’s speed was simply too fast to follow.
“Good boy.”
After instantly killing the Giant Rat, Raijuu let out a yawn as its fur settled down.
For my Raijuu, middle-floor monsters like Giant Rats weren’t even a challenge.
Even if dozens of them appeared, they’d be wiped out instantly.
That was just how powerful Raijuu was.
After walking through the middle floors for a while, my bag started to feel heavier.
Apparently, in other countries, researchers were working on magic-enhanced storage bags
with vast internal space, but they still hadn’t found a practical solution.
Unlike conventional technology, magic-based advancements were entirely dependent on finding the right materials.
For all we knew, a breakthrough could happen tomorrow or not for another hundred years.
Either way, there was no use complaining.
Instead,I relied on a different method— “Kasha.”
A burning chariot emerged from the magic circle, rolling to a stop in front of me.
Kasha was a yokai, known for dragging sinners’ corpses to hell,
but in my case, it served as a personal storage unit.
To be honest, I sometimes wondered if it was okay to use a hell-bound chariot for something this mundane.
But Kasha didn’t seem bothered—it neatly sorted the magic stones as always.
Since shikigami could be summoned and dismissed at will, it was both safe and convenient.
After transferring my loot into Kasha, I retrieved an empty bag from it.
The ogre-like figure pulling the chariot gave a satisfied nod before dispersing into particles.
Somehow, whenever I resummoned Kasha, it still had all my stored items intact.
Yet, if Raijuu got injured, it would be completely healed after being dismissed and resummoned.
I had no idea how that worked.
Thinking too much about it would get me nowhere, so I simply moved on with Raijuu beside me.
After passing the 30th floor, the dense forest ended, giving way to a vast underground lake.
The glowing water created a mystical ambiance, but despite its beauty, it was filled with monsters.
Approaching carelessly could lead to a painful encounter.
Not that it mattered to me.
Since Raijuu was strong enough to fight deep-floor monsters, this entire journey was basically me walking behind him, yawning.
Today’s request targeted the 40th floor, which meant… this was going to be boring.
That was the real problem.
I didn’t explore dungeons just for money—
I enjoyed the thrill of exploration.
But after three years of visiting this dungeon,
I had memorized every inch of the upper, middle, and lower floors.
Since dungeon structures rarely changed, there was nothing exciting about it anymore.
A dungeon was only fun when exploring an unknown floor.
With those thoughts drifting through my mind,
I idly followed Raijuu, letting him handle the monsters.
Before I knew it, I had already reached the 40th floor.
While lower floors expanded, walking in a straight line from staircase to staircase meant it didn’t take too long to reach my destination.
Or maybe it just felt fast because Raijuu was obliterating everything instantly.
“Hmm? Someone’s here.”
The request had mentioned Frost Wyverns appearing just below the 40th floor, but apparently, no warning notices had been issued.
Unlike the upper floors, where the Association posted danger reports online, they rarely did so for the lower levels.
Even though they should.
I turned toward the presence I sensed— and immediately regretted it.
“I swear, today’s the day I conquer the lower floors! I refuse to give up!”
Standing there, determined as ever, was Asakawa Nanami.
The same girl who almost died yesterday.
Why the hell was she back here already?
Was she insane?