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hree weeks have passed since then, and in dungeons all over Japan, parties have defeated the boss of the fifth layer, and after one party defeated it, many others followed suit.
The hobgoblins were winnable without any skills, so they didn’t struggle that much.
The hardest part was the mental part. As we had experienced, hobgoblins have an overwhelmingly high defense compared to previous monsters, and you have to attack them repeatedly.
They kept attacking with blunt weapons and sharp blades in an attempt to kill their humanoid opponents, and some people couldn’t stand it and retired as explorers. Then, of course, the vacant party would have to find new members to explore with. That would also cause relationship problems.
I heard that some people have already been detained due to excessive solicitation and fighting.
It’s possible to explore without four people like us, and leveling up is efficient, but it seems that people who have been doing it with four people are suddenly hindered by the fact that there are now three.
Fortunately, no one was killed so far, and only a few were seriously injured at most.
Speaking of the two of us, I’m trying to make it to Tokyo and get daily meals. I’ve been working at a high-paying day job to earn money for electricity and other things. Carrying stuff, 1500 yen per hour. Although my status doesn’t have much effect outside the dungeon, I’ve made it to level 50, so my Strength is equal to that of any burly macho man.
Perhaps because of this, it was easier than expected to get a part-time job.
Haru was smiling as she used her [Inspection] to look at the dropped items that she hadn’t been able to check because of the one-minute cool time for [Analysis].
In addition to that, I was happy that Haru took care of all the housework. I don’t mean to be, but I’ve become a full-time housewife and breadwinner.
The cool time of [Inspection] seems to be 30 seconds, which means that she can see twice as much as before. In addition to that, she can now watch them all at once, which is a big deal. Unlike [Analysis], she could look at as many things at once as many as her mind could handle.
And Haru was very good at it. She looked at dozens of things at once, leaving out the ones that contained skills, and even the ones that didn’t, leaving out the descriptions of the new ones. Thanks to this, Haru didn’t feel uneasy in my absence, and the next few days passed without a hitch.
And now we are having breakfast and a family meeting. I’ve been working part-time for 19 days at 1,500 yen an hour, so I have about 170,000 yen saved up. All of which has gone into savings and living expenses.
“Now, we’ve defeated the Goblin King, or rather, it died? We hadn’t done anything other than hunt in the sixth layer to collect food since the day before, but yesterday we finally got some good news.” (Kei)
To be precise, I heard about it from a group of old explorers who are fellow part-timers.
“Has anything happened lately?” (Haru)
Haru tilted her head. That’s right. It’s not officially announced on the internet either.
“The number of people who have already defeated Hobgoblins is increasing. So, the distribution of items has started.” (Kei)
“Oh, we can make money with this.” (Haru)
“But it’s cheap. So far, only meat and furs are being bought at high prices. The other stuff is hard to use, so they’re selling it cheap.” (Kei)
“Well, that means
” (Haru)
“Well, that means it won’t make much money for now. We could make more money if we worked part-time.” (Kei)
“I see.” (Haru)
Haru’s shoulders slumped. Well, it can’t be helped. That’s why we’re going to resume our dungeon exploration for entertainment.
“Why don’t we start diving in the dungeon today? I want to try out my new skills.” (Kei)
“Yeah. I want to go. I’ll go too.” (Haru)
Haru’s eyes lit up at once and she was immediately on board.
“Want to get ready?” (Kei)
“Roger.” (Haru)
We were quick to prepare our equipment and spar for a bit before entering the dungeon.
“But you don’t have much variety in dungeon exploration these days.” (Haru)
“It can’t be helped. We can’t go further beyond the forest. We still have a long way to go before we defeat Rimdobmur. Well, that’s a good starting point?” (Kei)
“Yes. Then we’ll start the stampede as usual and experiment during the melee, okay?” (Haru)
“Yes, so please.” (Kei)
I swiftly jump up the tree and look around. Obviously, I could only see trees.
“I’m going. [Impact] [Decaple].” (Haru)
Haru’s magic knocked down the surrounding trees.
“Then, I will too. [Bind]”
Towards the tree whose roots have been scooped out by [Impact], we use a binding that uses coordinates to force the tree to fall in the outer direction as seen from us. By the way, the tree I’m standing on is also falling outward, so I jumped off.
From a distance, I hear a mixture of many monsters’ screams. It’s too chaotic to be described in words. Maybe there’s a little more than usual, I’m not sure.
“I’ll take this one.” (Kei)
“I’m taking this one.” (Haru)
We walk back to back, and I activate my new skill.
“[Domination]” (Kei)
It’s not exactly magic, so I felt like I couldn’t describe it in words, but for some reason, I felt like I should, so I did.
My head is rapidly cooling down, and I can feel the magic power in my body bursting out. The magical power swirled around me, and when I put my hand out in front of me, the magical power was also put out in front of me in the form of a large hand.
“I am fully controlling my own magical power. Is this some kind of evolution of Haru’s [Magic Manipulation]?” (Kei)
I can move my magic power as if it were part of my body. However, although it should be a skill, my magical power is continuously consumed. It seems better to use it quickly.
Boooooom!
From behind me, I hear an explosion that can’t be 10 or 20. It seems that Haru has also started. I wonder if she is using [Rampage] at this point.
“OK, will I do it too.” (Kei)
Now that I can use magic as if it were a part of my body, it’s easy to get rid of the limitations of magic.
I’m going to use the magic [Slow] without saying a word. Combining the power of [Positioning] so that it covers every enemy in an ultra-wide area.
I then use Bind to cover that area. However, it is not used to bind.
As if moving my hands and fingers, the larger-than-usual thorns created by Bind move around, slicing, gouging, and flicking monsters away. Pointing toward the center of the magic circle I had drawn, I would not allow a single one to escape.
The thorny vines caught the monsters. Then precisely gathered them in the middle.
I put my two palms together in a firm clasping of my palms. Then multiple vines approached, gathered, and squeezed the monsters all at once.
After that, I seemed to have used up all of my magic power and fell into a daze. There was not a shadow of a monster around. Before I knew it, the sound of Haru’s battle had also ceased.
“Good work. You’re faster than me, huh?” (Haru)
“Don’t push it. I’m not suited for extermination in the first place because of my skill set. So, how did you like your new skills?” (Kei)
Haru starts talking after losing steam.
“To be honest, I don’t really know, but when I used [Rampage], I was feeling a little high, and my magical limitations were gone. That’s why I was using [Impact], [Separation], and [Plasma] at the same time, regardless of their attributes.” (Haru)
“So the effect of [Rampage] was to remove any limitations?” (Kei)
“Yes, and it strengthens me. I think that’s it. I think [Magic bullet] is an invisible bullet made up of pure magic power. If you can see the magic power directly like me, it’s just a fast long-range attack. How about you?” (Kei)
Now that I have a general understanding of Haru’s skills, I will start explaining this as well.
“First of all, the same restrictions as in [Rampage] have been removed. It was possible to use magic without chanting at the same time. And I could move my magic like it was a part of me. Maybe it was a higher version of [Magic Manipulation]. Also, I think I was able to interfere with the magic in the air, though not in a significant amount.” (Kei)
“Hey. That means. Hey, can you use [Domination] for a while?” (Haru)
I answered answer Haru’s question while examining my body, I feel that my magical power has recovered a little.
“I can do it in a few seconds.” (Kei)
“Brother, I’m going to use [Inspection], so please use [Domination] to resist. Here I go.” (Haru)
“[Domination]” (Kei)
A thin layer of magic power is coming towards us along with Haru’s one-sided resistance. It’s not easy to dominate something like that.
So I use [Domination] and use magical power to create a wall made with the magical power coming from Haru. Make sure there is no unevenness or gaps. Then Haru’s [Inspection] cannot come here.
I’m going to use my magic to trap Haru’s magic and return it to her. At the same time, the magical power of Haru’s Inspection was mixed with my magical power for some reason, and the moment it hit Haru, characters came to my mind.
Name: Haruka
Proficiency: Magic / Craft
Magic Attribute: Fissure (Explosion) (Electric)
Level: 56
Strength: 64
Magic Capacity: 132
Skill: Analysis, Magic Bullets, Rampage
Magic: Bomb, Time Bomb, Impact, Number, (Plasma), (Fissure), (Separation), Barrier
Passive: Magic Recovery / Detection / Crafting / Magic Manipulation
[T/N: The author is still using “detection” but previously he is using “inspection”. I’ll check it later if anything changes.]
This is almost the same display as when Haru uses [Analysis] on me. In other words.
“It is possible to hijack other people’s skills.” (Kei)
“That’s right. I have to resist, though. If I don’t move my magic more carefully, they’ll easily resist.” (Haru)
“Okay.” (Kei)
With Haru’s advice, I picked up the drop items that were scattered around the area.
I put all of them in my item pouch, go to the cave room with the stairs, and take out all of the drop items I put in my item pouch.
Haru is now able to see all of the items at once with [Inspection], and I am able to examine the materials and skills in the items faster than Haru due to my [Material Cognition], so we decided to separate what we need from what we don’t need before we leave.
So,
“Two trash skills for today, and that’s all we’re taking home.” (Kei)
“Yeah. Throw away other things.” (Haru)
And so we enjoyed exploring the dungeon as usual.