CH 5

“Oh !? An earthquake !?”

“But this is a dungeon, right?”

“I’ve never heard of an earthquake in a dungeon!?”

“And for the time being, everyone! Don’t separate from your team!”

Surprised by the suddenly swaying dungeon, everyone took immediate action.

They immediately reorganize each team and waited quietly for the shaking to subside while staying close to a wall.

Tenji and Asagiri soon joined the team in the fifth row, and they went through the shaking together.

Then the shaking subsided in about three minutes.

“What was that now? I’ve never heard of an earthquake in a dungeon.”

“Me too! I’ve been an explorer for over a decade, but this is my first time.”

“It was a tremendous tremor. There are rarely such big earthquakes in Japan.”

“Yeah even if we are Japanese born in an earthquake nation I’ve never seen one that big.”

Everyone started discussing about the earthquake before.

However, Tenji realized that there wasn’t any answer to why the earthquake occurred.

“… No way”

“What’s wrong Masaki-san?”

While everyone had decided that it was just a simple earthquake, only the leader, Godo, had a perplexed expression on his face.

Ushiro who noticed it, asked back.

Should I answer or not?

Godo hesitated for a few seconds but decided to talk eventually, thinking that he shouldn’t hide this in a dungeon.

“No, I hope it’s just my misconception but is there anyone here who have been in a unstable dungeon?”

Even though Godo wasn’t sure yet, he still asked everyone here,

But everyone immediately shook their heads.

“So, I’m the only one. I went to one with my senior, Inagaki Enn-san to a Dungeon at China.”

“An unstable dungeon? It’s the one where the path and structure of the dungeon and the algorithm of the monster change quite often right? It’s so difficult that even I can’t enter it.”

“That’s right. It’s also known as the Ominous Dungeon. I once experienced a structural change in the dungeon that is said to rarely occur …”

“Masaki-san, maybe the current earthquake is that?”

“Ahh, I think it’s a similar thing, but I’ve had that experience more than a decade ago, so I’m not sure.”

Everyone took a breather at the words that Godo uttered.

There are several classification methods for dungeons, one of which is [Stable] or [Unstable].

As the name implies, a stable dungeon is a dungeon that does not change its shape, and this Ochanomizu dungeon is classified as a stable dungeon.

And the other is an unstable dungeon.

This is a dungeon that changes the inside of the dungeon on an irregular basis and is only found in 2 places in the world.

However, the difficulty level of the unstable dungeon is much higher than usual due to its characteristics, and even if it is classified as a 5th-grade dungeon by MP concentration, it is supposed to be set as a 3rd-grade dungeon that is two grades higher.

If this changes to an unstable dungeon instead of a standard dungeon …

“I don’t know if it hasn’t been noticed until now, or if this is the first time … This is likely an unstable dungeon. In other words, it’s a second-grade dungeon by adding two grades.”

“But it hasn’t been confirmed yet, right?”

“Oh, I haven’t confirmed it yet. It’s just my intuition.”

“What should we do, Masaki-san. Should we go home after defeating the third boss? Or should we turn back now?”

“That’s right … Let’s take a break here. Maybe there is a change in the surroundings. Regular members of Chariot get into groups of 3 and survey the surroundings!”

“Yes-su!”

“Roger that!”

“I understand!”

“Yes!”

Due to the prompt decision of Godo, all but the regular members of the chariot will take a break here.

Since there are 15 regular members of Chariot participating this time, they will be divided into 5 groups to check the surroundings.

Meanwhile, the other explorers sat closely with their teams and began exchanging information.

So Tenji and Asagiri start working immediately.

When it comes to the team taking breaks, it’s the job of the luggage carriers.

From the bag, you will give them cookies and water that they can easily, and then you will give them a towel for wiping sweat.

When they finished eating, you collect the garbage and pack it in a bag. It is a rule of the dungeon that an explorer who can use fire type skills burns garbage on the spot once it has accumulated to some extent. Interestingly, the burnt residue and smoke burned in the dungeon are absorbed by the walls and floor of the dungeon.

Then, Asagiri and I finished work quickly, and we decided to take a break too.

On the 15th floor, the cobblestone road has already disappeared and it was replaced by the light ink-coloured rock path.

Therefore, we found a hole in the wall that seemed to be easy to sit in, and sat down while taking deep breathes.

“Here, please take this.”

“T, thank you Asagiri-san.”

Asagiri took out a drink from the bag as soon as she sat down and handed it to Tenji.

Tenji received it and puts it in his mouth little by little so as not to drink too much. Asagiri was staring at the situation with a greedy face.

“Oh, I’m sorry”

“It’s okay, but please give me a little too. I’m a little thirsty.”

“Of course”

Tenji blushed at the cuteness of Asagiri-san who sat closer than expected, and hurriedly handed her the PET bottle.

Water in the dungeon is precious.

Therefore, it was natural for the team to pass and drink from the same PET bottle.

Of course, Tenji and his classmates, who are studying knowledge at Explorer High School couldn’t not know that, and Asagiri put the water that Tenji had just drank in her mouth.

“Huh, it’s delicious. Where’s the water from?”

“If, if I recall correctly,”

Tenji was blushing with embarrassment.

An ordinary explorer doesn’t care about indirect kissing, but she’s a classmate too, and she’s pretty cute. Tenji, a virgin, was so embarrassed that he was about to explode when she drank the same water as him.

A man appeared in such a place.

“The chariot water is specially made. It has the effect of recovering physical strength, albeit only a small amount …. Oh, can I sit here?”

It was Kasane Inagaki, a first-year student at the same explorer high school as Tenji.

He sat right next to Asagiri, opposite Tenji, while wiping his upper body with the towel he had just been given.

“I see, it was such precious water.”

“Ah, the chariot is one of the leading guilds in Japan. There are also craftsmen who can create such precious things.”

“Does Inagaki-san want join chariot?”

“Aa, I want to do that … But I’m a little reluctant to join the same guild as my dad.”

“Your father is that famous person, isn’t he?”

“You know your stuff well. Let’s stop talking about this now. I don’t really like it.”

Inagaki Rio’s shot a slightly angry expression at Temji.

Tenji listened quietly, knowing his place, without breaking into the conversation between the two from beginning to end.

Tenji is a new second-generation child possessing an Inherent ability like the two.

The new second generation is a name that some magazines arbitrarily mentioned and refers to the next generation of children born between explorers. The reason was the certainty of a powerful Inherent ability.

Inherent abilities were abilities that were born with you.

The dungeons appeared 23 years ago, and many people suddenly awakened superpowers on that day. The awakening rate is said to be about 0.0001%.

The Inherent ability that was so powerful, had a better chance to be more powerful when an explorer with a calling and an explorer with a calling gave birth to a child.

As time went by, it was proved that five years later, an Inherent ability would always be born between the explorer and the explorer.

Then the children born between explorers like Tenji and the others came to be called the new second generation.

Such people unconditionally got admission to Japan Explorer High School.

However, there were “losers” and “winners” among their Inherent abilities.

Winners are the people who have the ability to support friends like Asagiri, or like Inagaki’s [Lightning spear], who have the ability to attack and can become an explorer as an immediate force.

However, the unique ability that Tenji was born with is 《Floating small objects》, The weight of the object that could be floated was within 500g, and the size was within 30cm of size, which was clearly a losing ability.

Against this background, Tenji tried not to have anything to do with the winning group like them.

That’s why I can’t break into this conversation.

“By the way, Amashiro”

However, Kasane talked to him without knowing Tenji’s feelings.

Suddenly, Tenji was clearly upset and managed to squeeze out the words.

“Me, me?”

“Is there an Amashiro here other than you?”

“No, no … no.”

“Why did you suddenly become so polite. Well, it’s okay. You seem to be diving into dungeons so much that you’re missing school. Why are you so impatient? I think that the explorer must be cautious.”

Thinking about how to answer that question.

To be honest, it’s money. However, family finances aren’t something to tell others, and Tenji didn’t want to answer.

So it was correct to say “I can’t answer” to his question.

It was at that time.

A helping hand extended from the angel next door.

“There are things that people can’t say. Of course, there are many things that I can’t say. So does Inagaki-san, right?”

“Oh, that’s right. I’m sorry to ask you a strange question.”

Realizing that he had asked a question that he shouldn’t have, Kasane immediately bowed to Tenji.

Chariot member Ushiro, who came back here in a hurry from a distance, appeared as if to blow away this awkward atmosphere.

“Ma, Masaki-san!?”

“They haven’t come back yet Ushiro-san.”

Seeing that, Kasane quickly stood up and answered Ushiro.

“Oh yeah … there was a problem, Kasane-kun.”

“Are we in trouble?”

“Ah … but I’ll keep silent until Masaki returns. I haven’t confirmed it yet.”

Students and other explorers were wondering why, but Ushiro refused to speak at all.

It could be confusing to talk at the “if” stage.

That’s why he tried to ask the judgment of Masaki Godo, who was the most powerful person here.