――Do you desire power?
The girl spun a phrase that seemed like it would have been worn out a century ago.
Hair as dark as shadow.
A dress woven as if from tentacles, both vivid and sinister.
No matter how you looked at it, she wasn’t normal.
Even the frontline Dungeon Bosses didn’t possess such an unsettling pressure.
If forced to name something comparable, perhaps it would be the giant that had appeared just minutes ago.
“Honestly, you’re in a pretty pitiful state for someone supposedly chosen. But the fact that you could see that giant just now means――it must be fate, right?”
So she said.
But she didn’t seem to be seeking Keiichiro’s agreement.
“Well then, shall we begin?”
It happened in an instant.
She kicked off the floor and closed in on Keiichiro.
“Ghk!”
Keiichiro’s shoulders jumped.
But his fatally wounded body showed no further reaction.
And then the girl, with momentum almost like a headbutt――
――kissed Keiichiro.
“!?”
It flowed into him from the girl.
A black, viscous substance like sludge.
It coiled around his tongue, prying open his throat.
Keiichiro’s throat moved up and down involuntarily, swallowing the eerie liquid.
“D… damn it…”
Keiichiro grabbed the girl’s shoulders, but she only pressed her body closer.
“Puhah…”
Her objective apparently complete, the girl pulled away from Keiichiro.
A black thread stretched between the two of them.
The curse-like black thread drooped and snapped.
“Kihih…”
The girl laughed.
She licked the black liquid remaining on her lips.
“I gave you power. I don’t expect much, so just live as you please.”
☆
“…What was that?”
Keiichiro opened his eyes.
It seemed he had lost consciousness without realizing it.
He was still in the seat of a scrapped vehicle.
Seeing as no rescue had arrived, he must have only been out for a few minutes.
“My wounds… they’re healed.”
Keiichiro stood up easily.
His internal organs, which should have been crushed by the impact of the accident, were healed.
Was it because of the sludge he had unwillingly swallowed?
“—Hup.”
Keiichiro escaped the vehicle under his own power.
He was an Adventurer, after all, even if just barely.
He could manage this much on his own.
“Come to think of it… she said something about power, didn’t she?”
He recalled what the girl from before had said.
Power.
It was what Keiichiro desired most.
It might have been a dream he saw while unconscious.
However, if that had been real—
“Well, the chances are slim, though.”
Keiichiro pulled a card from his breast pocket.
A card that was entirely black. He tapped it twice with his fingertip.
The black surface then turned into a display, showing information.
This was what was known as an Adventurer Card.
It was a tool that continuously activated the [Appraisal] Skill, but only for the specific registered individual.
By doing so, it could display the owner’s data.
“…My level hasn’t gone up.”
At least, there was no change in the level displayed on the card.
Apparently, what she meant wasn’t a level-up.
“If that’s the case—”
Keiichiro slid his finger across the screen.
Next displayed was his Skill configuration.
“What pathetic skills, no matter when I look.”
Trap [Slash], [Flame], [Bind]
――That was it.
Skills were not equal.
Even with the same class and level, there were differences in the Skills one could obtain.
Among [Trappers], Keiichiro was one of those not blessed with Skills.
“Hm?”
It was then that Keiichiro spotted an unfamiliar line.
“—Trap [Arrow]?”
A Skill he had never seen before.
More importantly, it wasn’t integrated with the other Trap skills.
Skills of the same type should be displayed together.
The fact that it wasn’t meant—it was fundamentally different from the other skills.
“A Unique Skill?”
Unique Skill.
A Skill independent of class, granted only to that specific individual.
Because it depends on individual talent, it’s not necessarily compatible with one’s class.
Only one thing could be said for sure.
It was stronger than a normal Skill.
“Is this the ‘power’ she mentioned…?”
He couldn’t grasp its true nature from the name alone.
Keiichiro reached out.
He held his hand over the ground.
“Trap Set.”
He chanted.
An Arrow shot out from his palm and stuck to the ground.
“If my guess is correct—”
Keiichiro lifted a fragment from the collapsed elevated highway.
And then—threw it onto the Arrow.
“!”
The moment the debris touched the Arrow—it was sent flying in the direction the Arrow pointed.
“Just as I thought. This Trap is—”
“—A Trap that forces movement.”
(Could it be…)
Keiichiro thought.
The greatest weakness of the [Trapper].
The reason the [Trapper] came to be called the weakest class.
It was—the inability to attack proactively.
All they could do was set Traps and wait for them to activate.
They lacked active means of attack.
(If I have this Skill—)
A glimmer of hope began to appear within Keiichiro.
☆
—After helping with the accident rescue efforts, Keiichiro was walking through a forest.
This was formerly Tokyo, now a Dungeon cluster known as the Demonic City.
The forest spread out, surrounding the Demonic City.
Half a century had passed since Dungeons appeared.
Monsters that existed within the Dungeons had gradually begun appearing in this world as well.
This forest was one such area.
“As long as I don’t go to the wrong place, my abilities should be enough.”
For risk management, Adventurers and Monsters are assigned ranks.
The scale ranged from E to S.
The Monsters inhabiting this forest ranged from E to C-Rank.
However, Monster habitats were somewhat fixed, and if you chose your route carefully, you wouldn’t encounter powerful Monsters.
Kageura Keiichiro’s rank was C.
Taking into account the fact that his class was [Trapper], his actual combat power was considered equivalent to D-Rank.
Even for the Keiichiro of before, just passing through safely shouldn’t have been a problem.
Besides—there was something he wanted to test.
Keiichiro left the Demonic City without waiting for the traffic routes to be restored.
There was the anxiety of potentially running into his companions again.
And at the same time, there was something he absolutely had to confirm.
“—Found one.”
Keiichiro stopped.
He hid himself behind a tree.
And where he peered out—there was a wild boar.
It was about waist-high to Keiichiro.
At first glance, it looked like a normal wild boar, but that too was a Monster.
Uriboar.
Rank D.
Generally, it was a Monster that a C-Rank Adventurer could defeat without issue.
However, for Keiichiro, whose actual combat power was considered D-Rank, it was a Monster he could potentially struggle against.
That’s exactly why it was perfect.
“—Let’s go.”
Keiichiro picked up a small stone and threw it at the Uriboar.
The stone accurately struck the top of the Uriboar’s head.
The Uriboar looked around.
In response, Keiichiro—boldly showed himself.
A tactic absolutely unthinkable for a [Trapper].
He executed it without hesitation.
Facing a Monster one-on-one.
It was his first time experiencing this.
Perhaps due to excitement, a smile naturally formed on his lips.
“Let me test this… just a little.”
“Whether I have the right—to follow in their footsteps.”