It was about ten minutes after Kiraboshi, an amateur, stepped into the “Forest” Dungeon that she realized something was amiss.
Dungeons are basically monster nests.
Monsters are born from the magical power that fills the dungeon, so as long as the dungeon exists, so do the monsters.
The only exception is when someone has recently defeated the monsters. The reason, of course, is…
“…Aneki-san. Imoutoya-san. It seems like someone is already raiding this dungeon…”
“Well, since we’re streaming a Dungeon Raid, there’s bound to be someone here, right?”
“Class Representative is as dumb as ever. It’s gotta be one of the Numbers senpai.”
Even so, wasn’t it too clean?
The monsters disappear once defeated, but every single one had been thoroughly exterminated—as if a diligent Cleaner was at work. The forest labyrinth felt devoid of any Monster presence.
…Because of that, Kiraboshi and the others had gone quite far in.
They were long past the point of just checking things out.
“Aneki-san. Imoutoya-san. Shouldn’t we head back to the entrance soon? There don’t seem to be any monsters, and if we go too far, we’ll be late meeting up with Shirogasaki-san…”
“Onee-chan. Treasure Chest found.”
Turning around, Imoutoya was touching a thicket—a part of the invisible dungeon wall.
Apparently, it was a hidden passage that you could pass through by touching it.
Kiraboshi also touched the thicket-like wall and slipped through cleanly, finding a Treasure Chest placed just beyond it.
“Lucky,” Aneki laughed, but Kiraboshi couldn’t help but recoil.
As the dungeon studies teacher had said…
The two major causes of death in dungeons are being attacked by monsters and getting caught in labyrinth traps.
Treasure Chests, in particular, are notorious for being surrounded by traps.
Amateurs like them shouldn’t get close…
“Hey, Class Representative, open it, open it.”
“Eh… wait. I’ve heard that Treasure Chests are often surrounded by traps, so it might be dangerous.”
“But it could be a rare item, right? Dungeon-produced items apparently sell for thousands or even tens of thousands of yen, even if they’re cheap. Don’t you want money, Class Representative?”
“M-my life is more important…”
“You’re not gonna die that easily. Come on, come on, go, go.”
Poked with a spear, Kiraboshi reluctantly stepped forward, grimacing.
There wasn’t a single monster in the dungeon.
She didn’t know the name of the person ahead of them, but they were probably exterminating the monsters thoroughly.
Would someone with that much skill overlook a Treasure Chest in a hidden passage?
Kiraboshi reslung the Tower Shield she had been holding and knelt on the floor covered in tree roots.
Traps, aside from those around Treasure Chests, were mostly ground-based.
She didn’t think an amateur could spot them, but just in case, she ran her right hand over the rough ground, searching for anything.
“…!”
A strange sensation on her fingertip.
More precisely… it was the same floor, but the feeling was strangely light.
Like the linoleum floor suddenly changing to a flimsy tin plate. This was…
“Aneki-san. Imoutoya-san. It’s a Pitfall… There was a trap after all.”
Pressing the ground again, she could see it wobbling slightly.
It was camouflaged, but if she had stepped on it, Kiraboshi would probably be at the bottom of an abyss right now.
Relieved that she had noticed the trap, she shivered at the same time.
…Even without monsters, dungeons are dangerous. It’s not a place for amateurs.
There’s also the matter of Shirogasaki, and even if they’re friends, it’s too dangerous to keep going with them.
More than anything, Kiraboshi was afraid of getting hurt or, in the worst-case scenario, dying…
“…Um. Aneki-san, Imoutoya-san. Dungeons are dangerous after all. Let’s go back right now…”
“Lucky. As expected of Class Representative, you’re on a roll. Feels like we saved ourselves some trouble?”
“Eh?”
—Thump, she was kicked from behind.
Stumbling forward, Kiraboshi had no choice but to step forward—
She was sucked into the Pitfall that opened with a snap.
“Hiii!?”
Kiraboshi reflexively turned back and clung to the earth covered in tree roots with all her might.
Of course, the usual Kiraboshi wouldn’t be able to pull off a Hollywood-style cliffhanger.
But thanks to her experience defeating monsters in dungeon studies class, Kiraboshi, who possessed magical power and physical abilities around level 5, somehow—at the last moment, her body moved.
But.
Why. What on earth—
“…A, Aneki-san?”
“Ugh, so persistent. Are you a cockroach? Class Representative is surprisingly unwilling to give up and has sticky fingers, doesn’t she?”
“…!”
Hoping it was some kind of mistake, Kiraboshi clung on, but Aneki…
Ground her fingers with the sole of her shoe.
Why? Eh, why?
She didn’t understand. Why was she falling into a Pitfall right now?
Why were these Kamase Sisters not helping Kiraboshi, but instead trying to push her down with smirks on their faces—
“Wait. H, help me…!”
“Class Representative, you told the school’s secret account about my senpai last month, right? You remember the big fuss it caused? My senpai was the main one running it. Because of that, she got a lot of hate.”
That was certainly a case that the student council had taken up last December.
Groundless slander against specific students—a teacher had warned them that parents who took it seriously were calling the school with complaints.
Kiraboshi happened to know that the cause was a student-only secret account, and she told the teacher, but…
“You know, I don’t think it’s good to betray your friends… After all, honesty is the most important thing for people, right?”
“…Wait, but that was because of bullying at school—!”
“Class Representative betrayed us first. So, it’s your responsibility.”
Following Aneki, Imoutoya even stepped on her arm, and Kiraboshi now realized with disbelief.
Seriously?
…They’re really going to push me down…?
“P, please help me. In the first place, s, something like this is murder—”
“Really, Class Representative, you’re such a good, serious girl. But accidents in dungeons happen all the time, right? High school students enter out of curiosity and go missing~… Recently, it seems like disappearances in dungeons are increasing?”
She knew.
That’s why recently, a Dungeon Recorder must be installed when entering a dungeon to prevent troubles…
—They hadn’t.
From the start, the Kamase Sisters had entered the dungeon without a recorder or registration, urging Kiraboshi along.
That meant, from the beginning.
“We’ll explain it to Ojou-sama, so don’t worry? We’ll tearfully tell her that we tried to stop you, but Class Representative fell because she was blinded by money~”
“…W, wait. Help me. P, please—”
“No way. I’ve hated you for a long time. Right, Imoutoya?”
“…I was just putting up with you because Ojou-sama is dating you. Class Representative, you’re cramped, boring, and annoying.”
“It can’t be helped, right?”
“We were friends, but you betrayed us,” the sisters snickered—and kicked her toes up.
Her fingers, slipped.
What Kiraboshi saw as she was thrown into the air was the two’s sneering smiles.
A concentrated form of the ugly human nature that didn’t even consider murder a sin.
The devil’s smile, wearing a human mask—receded from her vision.
“…Ah.”
A free fall that felt like her stomach was turning inside out.
Released from the wedge of gravity, Kiraboshi was caught in the midst of confusion—
—And swept up in a torrent of thoughts, like a revolving lantern.
(Huh. This is…)
Am I going to die here?
Over something so trivial.
So easily.
Without being able to do anything I liked, yet.
…Well, I didn’t really have anything I particularly liked, though.
Born into an overly serious family, forced to be a good person, just living as others told me to.
Having troubles thrust upon me, being treated as a convenient child by teachers, days of being made to listen like a doll.
…………
Looking back, it was a life without myself.
While thinking about such out-of-place things, Kiraboshi didn’t even notice the tears spilling out, unconsciously accepting her own death—
“Oops.”
Her whole body was smashed against the earth and torn apart…
Didn’t happen.
Instead, she was supported as if she had been caught by a soft cushion…?
Kiraboshi blinked open her eyelids.
There,
“Excuse me. I believe I have a fair amount of experience in dungeons, but I am not aware of any cases where high school girls fall from the sky.”
“Eh?”
“I couldn’t help but save you, but is there any problem with that?”
In the midst of the dense jungle labyrinth, filled with heat and humidity.
The man who had caught Kiraboshi was a truly out-of-place—the kind of Salaryman you might see swaying on a crowded train on a Monday morning.
A very ordinary Salaryman in a suit was supporting Kiraboshi’s back.