Chapter 653: Traversing the 4th Floor
Chapter 653: Traversing the 4th Floor
We decided to take a quick trip down to see the 5th floor, so we swam into a nearby passage.
The wide passage, which seemed to be about twenty meters in diameter, was spacious enough for our entire party to swim side-by-side with room to spare.
After swimming for a considerable time, about thirty minutes, we were finally able to break the surface.
I took off the mask I'd been wearing for days and looked around. It seemed the passage from the 4th floor opened into a lake on the 5th floor.
No wonder the passage felt so wide.
Well, it makes sense, I guess. We're going from water back to land, so a structure like this is plausible.
But the scene before me was far too strange to just accept so simply.
…Why were we breaking the surface of the water?
No, to be honest, I'd found it a little odd ever since I heard the entire 4th floor was underwater.
Especially since I knew the 5th floor was supposed to be an ordinary forest.
Still, the dungeon is fundamentally a place where you never know what might happen.
After all, it's a place where even the climate, which changes 180 degrees between floors, defies logical explanation.
But for it to actually be like this...
No, it's not impossible that my senses got twisted on the way here.
With that in mind, I even opened the map to check, but sure enough, my senses were fine.
From the 5th floor onward, gravity was reversed.
Right. Up there... no. Should I call it 'down' here?
Anyway, from the Guild all the way to the 4th floor, we had been constantly descending.
And when we passed through the passage from the 4th floor to get here, we were supposed to be diving downward.
But when I came to my senses, we were poking our heads out above the water.
The passage didn't curve into a U-shape, either. I checked the map, and it was definitely a straight line.
“Diana. This is…”
“Hmm. As expected, you noticed right away.”
When I called her name, Diana nodded as if to say 'good boy' and reached out to pat my head.
“That's right. From this 5th floor onward is a place only first-rate adventurers can set foot. It is the beginning of what's known as the 'climbing course.'”
“What? Climbing? Ah! Now that you mention it, we were swimming upward at some point, weren't we?!”
Hearing Diana's words, Leia's ears perked up and she made a surprised face. So cute.
“Indeed. From here on, gravity is reversed. To head to the lower floors, one must head upward.”
It was an incredibly strange way to put it, but Diana was correct.
To go to the lower floors, you have to go up.
I'd been here before on a quest and even defeated the floor boss, a Wyvern, but since the entire 5th floor was a forest on mostly flat ground, I hadn't noticed at all.
But from the way she spoke, it didn't seem like Diana considered the reversed gravity to be a big deal.
Does she just think of it as another common type of terrain change that happens in the dungeon?
No. Thinking about it calmly, that was probably it.
The world being flipped upside down was certainly a strange phenomenon, but there was no element to suggest it had any special meaning.
It wasn't like the trees were growing downward from above, or that you could feel gravity pulling you upward while your feet were on the ground.
Once I got used to this massive landscape, which made me feel like a tiny fairy, all we had to do was hunt monsters and head for the next floor, just like always.
“Ah, right. The view! Let's get out of the water first.”
We decided to get out of the lake and take our time looking around.
We were still near the entrance, and if a monster appeared, we could just jump back into the lake, so it wasn't particularly dangerous.
“It's truly as amazing as I'd heard.”
“Yes. It's certainly overwhelming.”
After getting out of the water, Leia let out a cry of admiration as she slowly took in the scenery of the 5th floor, where the scale of everything seemed off.
Matilda, too, seemed overwhelmed by the 5th floor's landscape, just as she'd said she would be after we defeated the 4th floor boss from up... no, down below? Ugh, it's so confusing!
“…Hmph.”
And then there was the other one. Sara, the only other member of our party who hadn't experienced the 5th floor, was looking around with her usual cool expression.
“So, your thoughts?”
“Why are you making such a smug face, Guwon...? As for my thoughts, there's not much to say. I knew it would be big. So it's just... 'Oh, so this is it,' and that's about it.”
When I walked up and asked for her impression, Sara answered with a slight sigh in her voice.
“There you go, acting all cool again. It's okay to be overwhelmed by the grandeur of nature and throw yourself into your big brother's arms, you know?”
“Idiot. You just want me to hug you, don't you? ...Well, I'll admit it's a pretty amazing sight.”
As she said that, Sara gave off a strong 'I'm only doing this because you want me to' vibe, lightly hugged me for a moment, and then quickly pulled away.
She gets so shy when there are people watching.
Well, she did show an honest side of herself this time, so I guess I should be satisfied with this.
One way or another, it seemed Sara was also overwhelmed by the sight.
Having grown up hunting with her grandfather in the countryside, maybe a grand natural scene like this resonated with her more deeply.
“Anyway, this is what the 5th floor is like. And just so you know, it's not just the scenery that's huge—the monsters are all massive, too. The large monsters from the upper... lower... the previous floors! Right! Monsters that were considered large on the previous floors are just normal-sized here. You'll see Kraken-sized monsters pretty often, so we'll have to be more careful when hunting from now on.”
“Hmm. Well said.”
As I said something befitting a party leader, Diana nodded in satisfaction, walked over, stood on her tiptoes, and stretched out her arm to pat my head again.
...Haven't you been trying to pat my head every chance you get?
Is it because you're embarrassed about falling into that trap all by yourself earlier? Are you deliberately acting like an older sister, thinking, 'This one merely wished to assert that this one is the elder! Like so!'?
Not that I really mind, though.
“Well, even though I said we need to hunt carefully, we're not going to start right now. First, we need to proceed in order and go to the 4.5th floor. Or should we try fighting just one monster here as a test?”
“Hmm. That is not a bad choice. If we get used to fighting large monsters here, we'll have the advantage of being able to start from here when we eventually find the exit from the 4.5th floor to the 5th. However, this one recommends we head back for now.”
“Huh? Why? I thought you were agreeing with me when you praised the idea.”
“Have we not just finished a battle with the 4th floor's boss? Not only is this one's mana not at full capacity, but our stamina levels are also not ideal for facing a new type of monster for the first time.”
“Right. That's true.”
Diana certainly had a point.
Unlike Sara and me, who have overflowing stamina thanks to the stats from our special jobs, or Silvia and Matilda, who are high-level frontline fighters, Diana and Leia don't have ridiculously high stamina.
Diana might have had it easier since she used magic to swim, but Leia had been swimming continuously ever since the battle with the 4th floor boss ended.
It would definitely be risky to start a new adventure here.
Besides, if something were to go wrong, Leia would be in the most danger.
“Ah, I'm fine. I don't really move around much during battle...”
“No. Let's head back for now. Like Diana said, there's no need to push ourselves.”
Leia, sensing my inner thoughts, clenched her fists near her chest and shook them to show she was still full of energy, but I just shook my head and placed a hand on Diana's head.
Leia. She does that a lot out of habit.
Does she not realize that when she does that, her arms squeeze her breasts together and emphasize her cleavage?
Thanks to her, my 'son' is the one getting more energetic.
And Diana. What's with you lately?
You used to like it when I did this, even just a little while ago.
You'd sit on my lap to eat, and you'd even offer your head for me to pat.
So why are you suddenly reacting so sensitively to me just patting your head?
Come to think of it, earlier, you wouldn't normally have said I was treating you like a child just for patting your head.
…No, seriously, did I actually do something to her?
I honestly can't think of anything.
Well, despite her appearance, Diana is the most mentally mature one among us. I'm sure if something really had happened, she would have talked to me to resolve it.
In any case, we rested there for a bit, taking in more of the 5th floor's majestic scenery, before deciding to return to the town on the 4th floor.
And returning to the 4th-floor town wasn't as simple as I'd thought.
We'd arrived much faster than expected because I went on a rampage, but normally, it wasn't a distance we could have covered at that speed.
Of course, it wasn't impossible to return at that same speed, but we were already heading back from the 5th floor without even fighting, all because of stamina issues.
Deciding there was no need to push ourselves, we moved slowly and carefully, and ended up taking even longer to get back to town than it took to get here.
Still, unlike the trip here, the map was now revealed, so I guess you could say we saved a lot of time.
“We're finally, finally back! Ahh! Daaarling!”
And the one who cheered the moment we arrived in town was, unsurprisingly, Matilda.
Matilda. I get that you're happy to finally be free from the water, but could you not get so excited that you hug me and slip into your 'pink mode'? We're in the middle of town, you know?
“Alright, let's head straight up... Whoa! Everyone must be tired, so how about we stay at an inn here for now?!”
Let's take the teleportation circle and go straight back up. That's what I was about to say, but when Matilda—who must have relaxed upon returning to town and was now completely consumed by her pink mode—started kissing the nape of my neck, I hastily changed my words.
It's impossible to go up to the Guild and get back to the mansion in this state.
“Haaah... I guess we have no choice.”
Knowing full well that Matilda was acting this way because of her curse, Sara couldn't even get jealous and just let out a deep sigh, agreeing with me.
“Why are you sighing? Isn't this better for you, anyway?”
“Huh? Better? What is? If you're talking about stamina, I have enough left to get back to the mansion.”
“No, not that. The day you suck is delayed by one...”
“Idiot! I told you I'm not doing it!”
“Hey, I never said what you'd be sucking. Were you perhaps thinking of a certain... oho? Hey now. That's not the place I was thinking of.”
As I kept teasing her, Sara approached me with a determined look on her face and gently removed the chest piece of my armor.
Don't tell me she got so mad at my teasing that she's actually going to suck on it to shut me up?
Of course, my chest wasn't the place I had in mind, but that's not a bad alternative.
If only we weren't in the middle of town.
“Even so, isn't this a little too bold for the middle of town—Gyaaaahk!”
Of course, Sara did not, in fact, suck on my chest in the middle of town.
“Stop talking nonsense and go get us a room at an inn! You wanted to rest, didn't you?!”
“Hey! Wait! Time out! That spot! You can't just pinch me there while we walk! Has she no shame?! Help! Guys, help!”
“You reap what you sow.”
“You went too far this time, Guwon-ssi.”
Seriously. Aren't you guys being a little harsh?!
I admit it's my fault for milking that joke over and over, but are you really going to abandon me so coldly?!
Even my angel!
“Aah... Daaarling...!”
Matilda, you're still in pink mode even in a situation like this?! I know it's the curse, but you're way too in your own world!
Kuh. Dammit. In that case, the only one I can count on is...!
“Silvia!”
My adorable little follower who listens to me no matter what!
Come on! Rescue me from the clutches of this evil Hero!
No, seriously. I think my nipple is about to be torn off.
No, before that, I think I'm going to die of embarrassment!
“It's impossible!”
“Kuhuk! Silviatus! You too?!”
“What's a 'Silviatus'?”
It's a thing! From my world