The day after returning home from a flight with a certain board member of a company, late at night.
Kageichi stood before a certain dungeon, and, adjusting his tie, began preparations for a clandestine entry.
The A-Rank Dungeon, “Underwater Crystal Cave.”
Normally, the gate would be waiting to disappear naturally after the Dungeon Boss, Mother Sphere, was defeated, but it still swirled with a silver vortex, maintaining its silence.
The time it takes for a dungeon with depleted Magical Power to disappear is proportional to the amount of residual Magical Power left within.
For E-Rank and D-Rank dungeons, it’s a matter of hours. Even for C-Rank and above, it’s two or three days.
For A-Rank, it would likely last for over a week even after the Boss was defeated.
Therefore, the fact that the “Underwater Crystal Cave” remained wasn’t unnatural in itself, but—
Kageichi slipped into the gate.
With the Boss already gone and the small fries annihilated, there was no value in a labyrinth just waiting to collapse.
…The reason he visited despite this was due to the behind-the-scenes circumstances that only Kageichi understood.
A commemorative item for the complete subjugation of the Boss, “Mother Sphere.”
According to his memories, the destination for receiving the event reward that he couldn’t obtain in the game LAW from his previous life should be the Boss floor here.
A phantom event item that he couldn’t acquire in his previous life.
The gamer’s blood couldn’t help but stir, and this was the reason Kageichi participated in the Labyrinth Agency’s Quest.
And it was truly by chance, but it seemed Kiraboshi-san happened to defeat the last Splinter.
Now then… Kageichi, standing in the deserted Boss floor, slowly used his “Detection” to observe.
He slowly walked around the floor…
Eventually, with a tap of his shoe on the floor—a silver gate opened on the ground without a sound.
The same “Branch Gate” that led from the S-Rank Dungeon “Nagi Plains” to the “Snowfield Ice Mountain.”
Passing through the path that connected dungeon to dungeon, what Kageichi saw beyond was—
A giant, star-shaped monster floating in the air, over five meters in size.
The “main body” of the Mother Sphere.
“As I thought, it was that kind of mechanism.”
It was nothing special.
The entity that the Labyrinth Agency staff had initially united to defeat, which was thought to be the Mother Sphere’s main body, was also just another Splinter of the original.
On top of that, if all the Mother Sphere Splinters that appeared were dealt with.
The “main body” that had been hiding had to release “Splinters” again at some point—Kageichi slipped in, taking advantage of that opening.
“Perhaps… even in the original game, there might have been a special mission where everyone fought the Boss together when clearing the event.”
In the original game, many players found the Mother Sphere battle troublesome and didn’t defeat all the Splinters, so it remained uncleared… but even in Japan in his previous life, there might have been a future where they faced this Boss.
Thinking about it that way, it was a shame in his previous life, but—
Conversely, it could be said that one more enjoyment had been added now.
“The battle with the main body is information that wasn’t even on the strategy sites… I wonder what it will be like.”
The first unknown monster he had encountered since visiting this world.
Kageichi’s chest swelled with anticipation as he placed his hand on his Inventory.
*
A dozen minutes later—with a sigh, Kageichi looked up at the Boss, which was emitting purple smoke and burning.
“It was a Boss not intended for solo攻略. It was quite enjoyable.”
If the recommended LV for defeating Behemoth was 80, then this Boss was around LV 150.
Considering that the level cap at the time of this event’s implementation was 100, it was incredibly strong.
Kageichi could solo it without problems now, but things would have been uncertain at the time of the event. Not impossible, but close.
Now then, Kageichi watched the disappearing Boss.
This Boss was an event monster, unlike normal Dungeon Bosses.
In that case, it usually dropped a commemorative item, but—before his expectant eyes, something glittering on the ground came into view.
He picked up what had fallen on the floor,
“A Magatama, is it?”
Kageichi frowned, saying it was an item he didn’t know.
Was it a unique Japanese item?
The original game, LAW, had servers divided by country, and unique items and monsters were implemented separately for the US, European, and Japanese servers.
The monsters that appeared also differed, and the famous ones included—
The alien “Gray” from the US server.
The ultimate dragon “Bahamut” from the European server.
And the great serpent “Yamata no Orochi” from the Japanese server.
In any case, an item that even Kageichi didn’t know was interesting.
“Well, it’s just a souvenir. It could be a trophy… but as a gamer, it stirs up my desire to collect. And when I see something like this, I can’t help but want to collect the mirror and sword as well.”
If he remembered correctly… it was the Yata no Kagami, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, and Yasakani no Magatama.
The Three Sacred Treasures of Japan. He didn’t know the origins properly, but—the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi was supposed to have come from the tail of the Yamata no Orochi in the legends.
It might be a clue to攻略 the “Final Boss.”
“Oops. I’m getting carried away with my imagination because of my gamer instincts. I don’t know anything yet.”
Suppressing his eagerness, he shook his head.
He wanted to think about the future, but first, it was the problem at hand.
—This time, Kageichi had taken a rare risk and moved flamboyantly.
He understood that it was an uncharacteristic action for him, who usually schemed to get rid of opponents.
The Labyrinth Agency wasn’t stupid either.
They would catch wind of Kageichi and try to approach him in some way.
Of course, he would play dumb… but for the time being, it would be safest to stay quiet.
“Living a safe, secure, and stress-free life is really difficult… Well, it just means I’m a selfish person.”
In the end—even Kageichi couldn’t escape from his “roots.”
Just as Kiraboshi-san couldn’t escape from her impulses. Even though Kageichi preached safety and security, he didn’t have the patience to endure stress and trouble, and he just judged that murder was quicker than dialogue.
But that was fine.
Caution was important, but if he was too timid and endured too much, the enjoyment of life itself would be crushed.
“Let’s live life selfishly. Cherish the spirit of compliance, but, stress-free within the range that I won’t get caught.”
While telling himself that again, he escaped the dungeon.
Suddenly, he looked up at the sky.
The time was late at night. Looking up at the night sky without even moonlight, the first thing he should think about was—
“Should I buy a late-night snack or not… Why is midnight fried food so delicious…”
Midnight fried food. Cup ramen. Or ice cream.
He knew it was too sinful, but he couldn’t stop.
Humans were truly greedy, Kageichi thought, pressing the bridge of his glasses, and headed to the convenience store as if drawn in.
Standing in front of the leftover Karaage-kun next to the register, he crossed his arms for about five minutes and stared intently, and the clerk asked worriedly, “Sir…?” so he bought it as if apologizing.
Yes.
It couldn’t be helped.
Standing in front of the register would make him look extremely suspicious, he justified to himself…
Still thinking that he was an indecisive man, he returned home—and on the way, there was a young man who approached him with a grin,
“Hey, mister, you shouldn’t be walking on a night road like this… Give me your money, you old geez—”
“I never hesitate when it comes to sorting garbage, though.”
After converting the living garbage into biodegradable garbage, Kageichi stored it in his Inventory.
His path to a safe, secure, and stress-free life seemed to be still far ahead.
This concludes Chapter Two.
As I mentioned in the previous chapter, this work will be on hiatus here for the time being.
I think it’s an unusual content as a dungeon story, but I would like to thank you again for being blessed with more readers than I initially expected.
As for the sequel, I am planning to create the third chapter little by little because the plot itself is complete.
Thank you for your continued support of the very ordinary former Salaryman & JK.