Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 0
Chapter Title: I'd Like Some White Broth as a Reward
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The dungeon's three great layers.
Lower.
Middle.
Upper.
It dated back to the primordial era, before the Hunter System had fully taken shape.
With entrants dying at a brutal rate—one out of every three—the freshly established Hunter Association had created a sort of 'guideline' out of sheer frustration.
Layers 1 through 9 formed the Lower Layer.
This was where fresh-faced rookies who'd just become hunters came to rack up 'experience'.
The least dangerous zone in the entire dungeon, yet paradoxically the deadliest for newbies.
Mostly D-rank and lower hunters piled their corpses here like mountains.
Layers 10 through 24 made up the Middle Layer.
This was where hunters shedding their rookie skin began to truly shine.
Veterans with some mileage under their belts roamed here, only to grow cocky and vanish without a trace—or drop dead unnoticed.
Mass disappearances of B-rank and lower hunters happened routinely.
And finally.
The Upper Layer, spanning layers 25 through 40.
This was an enigmatic zone noted merely as 'existing'.
Adventurers were so rare that even death reports were scarce, and it was widely believed to house the 'dungeon core'.
Yes, that was the three-tier structure of dungeon layers outlined by the Hunter Association.
Hunters generally memorized these difficulty levels and headed to zones matching their own.
However, there was the hidden layer that barely merited a footnote in hunter manuals, popping up like an afterthought.
The tale of the Deep Layer was something else entirely.
"This is the Deep Layer?"
"Yep!"
"Th-the layer that's still 'unconquered'?"
"Yep, that's right!"
The dungeon's final floor was layer 40.
This was basic knowledge straight from hunter textbooks.
Hunters had been chasing the 'dungeon core' somewhere in the Upper Layer starting from 40, continuing the quest since ancient times.
But the Deep Layer.
This layer, inaccessible by normal means, was like an oasis in the desert—a hidden stage within the dungeon.
It was also known as the 'hunters' graveyard'.
"The D-Deep Layer... the one you can never escape unless you conquer it?"
"Yep, exactly!"
"No, you've just been saying 'yes' since earlier, but aren't we in a super serious situation right now?!"
The reason the Deep Layer was called a hunters' graveyard.
Like all dungeon layers, if you couldn't find a portal to another one, you were trapped here forever.
"Damn it, hunter books barely mention the Deep Layer...!"
In this 21st century, why was the life-risking hunter profession still so popular?
As dangerous as it was, it came loaded with tips and info passed down from antiquity, letting modern hunters attack layers far safer than their ancestors.
Like how primitives hurling rocks evolved into pulling triggers on guns through accumulated knowledge.
Knowledge gets inherited—that's humanity's greatest edge.
I recalled reading in some book that mankind topped Earth's pyramid thanks to that 'storage capacity'.
But the Deep Layer... this bastard.
This one was the exception.
Hard to enter without dumb luck, and the moment you conquered it, poof—it vanished.
Naturally, no methods existed, and even I—a hunter PhD who'd crammed through school—drew a blank on the Deep Layer.
"A layer that vanishes the instant it's conquered... Up until the 16th century, its existence wasn't recognized, so liars claiming to have attacked it got executed, right?"
"Haha, spot on! Was it 'Gulliver's Travels'? I loved that tale as a pirate too—the hunter who bragged to the king about visiting the land of Lilliput inside a dungeon and got the axe!"
At least Gulliver survived to tell the tale.
In a way, our situation was even worse.
Thinking something had gone massively wrong, I looked up into the air and called out to Levi to figure how we'd ended up here. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ ...It seems someone has interfered with the player's layer transition. "As expected, huh?" ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Yes. You should have emerged on layer 12. But after assessing the danger level of your current layer, it's estimated to be at least layer 35 or higher. Layer 35 of the dungeon was territory even A-rank hunters wouldn't dare touch—reserved for those beyond 'genius,' the so-called 'strongest'.
And here I was, not even having taken my D-rank promotion exam, stuck in something on that level?
I'd thought I was screwed when I crash-landed on the pirate ship, but looking back, maybe Jolly Roger had actually saved my ass.
"Then, the reason Jolly Roger told me to join as a crewmate..."
"You'll never escape this place in your lifetime anyway! We'll be seeing each other till we die, so why not bond early?"
A great pirate indeed, trapped in the Deep Layer for two centuries.
She seemed locked into 'enjoyer mode,' or maybe it was because this place echoed the seas and scenery of her original Earth.
"Well then, looking forward to working with you again! Youngest."
She lifted her sunglasses, locking her blue eyes with mine.
At the captain's command—her massive breasts slamming thud! onto the table—I grabbed her hand, figuring I needed an ally anyway.
"Ah, y-yes... Looking forward to it, Jolly Roger..."
"I'm the Captain!"
"...Captain." ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The reason Captain—no, Jolly Roger—had ended up trapped in this Deep Layer was dead simple.
"We were surrounded by those Great British Empire bastards, one step from sinking... and that's when it happened!"
Lucky or unlucky, that stormy night.
Just when she thought it was all over, dungeon monster spawns erupted around Jolly Roger's ship.
Hordes summoned via black portals between the pirate vessel and the navy ships.
The navy, out to hunt pirates, devolved into pandemonium. Roger, caught between navy and then monsters, genuinely thought she was done for.
But.
"Crisis is opportunity!"
In that do-or-die moment.
Her one shot at escape.
Not some madwoman, she reinterpreted the black portal spewing monsters as her getaway.
She steered straight into it—and got stuck here.
"Well, you survived, so that's a win, right?"
"Y...eah?"
"Sure, all my crew except me croaked when their lifespans ran out, but I've got their 'souls' bound, so they're still with me!" 👻 GHOSTLY CHEERS 👻 """Ooooo!!""" Come to think of it, they'd been there since earlier...
The ethereal, shimmering ghost crew naturally patrolling the deck, keeping watch.
I'd figured it was her ability, but never dreamed they were actual souls.
"S-so, does that make you a 'Ghost Hunter,' Captain?"
Ghost Hunter.
One of the 25 hunter classes that waged war using one's own—or others'—life force as a conduit.
Known for wielding the power of life itself, they were incredibly potent.
But each fight demanded a toll for meddling with life force, making them the riskiest bunch—most prone to self-destruction.
Watching her casually boss around the souls of the dead as subordinates, I asked.
"Ghost Hunter? What's that?"
"...Pardon?"
"I'm no hunter, so I wouldn't know."
"Ah..."
Right, she was a pirate.
If she'd been a hunter, A-rank would've been a breeze. What a waste of talent.
"Anyway, how the hell do we get out of here?" ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ I'm currently searching for an attack method for this layer. "?! Levi, you can do that too?" ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Yes. It was impossible before, but your stats have risen, and you've made direct 'contact' with me once, haven't you? "Right, yeah." ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Yes. It seems I can now intervene more directly in this world. Though for now, I can barely 'observe'. Was I destined to ditch hunting and go full pirate?!
...That grim future started creeping in just as.
Levi hammering away at the keys beyond the message window, busier than me.
Maybe because we'd met in person and linked up.
Even amid the cheap tit-swinging sex haze, she'd driven me nuts enough to want to flick her clit. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ I'll issue a quest the moment I devise attack method. "Ooh, thanks, Levi!" ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ If you're grateful, let me give you a blowjob later. "Hmm..."
No way!... But a blowjob might be fine?
Come to think, back when Princess Miran was even more Miran, I'd aimed for full insertion.
"...I'll think about it." ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Bonus: I'd love if you munched on my pussy too. I'm granting abilities and supporting you—feels too one-sided. "Y-yeah..." ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Above all, at the end of the blowjob, don't pull out of my throat pretending to be considerate. That's how I can swallow cum all the way to my uvula for that epic semen burp. "......"
Pure-looking Levi, drenched vulgarly in my cum...
"Oguk... ogogoguk..."
Damn, just imagining it got me so hard I need the bathroom right now.