The Dungeon Seeker

Chapter 8 - Dragon Species▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ (Part 2)

After the first examination ended, the dropouts left the room one next to the other.

When all the passers had taken their seat, Judy started to explain.

「Well then, the second examination shall start now. The rule is simple. The top 15 that had returned to this place will pass……well then, start!」

Junpei, the black suited man, and the red-haired girl immediately reacted and began to beware of the surroundings.

The three of them all had a dubious color in their expression.

Everyone other than the three of them does not seem to be panickingーーrather, it was as if they knew what would happen next.

After a blink of an eye, a change happened. The room’s floorーーit opened.

「I think everyone knows this, but I’ll say it to be sure……the guild’s underground is a giant labyrinth〜☆ Well, you won’t die so don’t worry♪」

A hole opened below each of their seats. It seemed like a beehive.

“Most probably……”, Junpei thought, and let himself fall inside the hole.

“If I wanted to, I could probably stop the fall by using my hooking my limbs.

However, there’s no meaning of doing that.

From how it looks, it would be a pass crawling out of there after falling to that underground labyrinth that she said.

……for the meantime, letting myself fall like this is inevitable.”

It was a tube tunnel that was like a waterslide.

While going in circles, he fell with quite some speed.

Ten seconds, twenty seconds, or maybe more than that……Junpei left himself to the gravity, but finally, the end could be seen.

「……hmph」

Outside the tunnelーーit was connected to a rocky area.

*Zuzazaza*, he stopped the momentum while sliding on the ground.

「Hmm……」

In between two giant stone walls, it was a valley-like terrain.

Each of the wall’s height is probably a hundred metersーーthe blue sky could be seen from the gap between the walls.

The distance between the walls is about seven meters.

And the tear of the valley continuous on and on.

In fact, this tear is also shown on the map, and it is something that is recognized as a tear of the land that continues to several hundreds of kilometers.

It was being said that it was created during a great earthquake several thousand of years ago, but……well, that does not matter.

From how the surroundings look, he could not see any other examinees.

And there, Junpei found a letter placed on the ground.

「…………」

He picked it up without saying anything and started to read its contents.

†

Heeya〜! Are you having fun in your second examination?

You are my……Judy-chan’s favorite you know, that’s why, I left a letter for you〜!

*PachiPachiPachiPachi〜☆* (Clapping sounds)

I mean, you……you probably don’t know about the guild’s specialty, the underground ancient tomb labyrinth right?

I’ll start explaining about that okay. This thing’s what you call, the adventurers’ training facility.

In short, an underground labyrinth that is full of traps. Well, since it’s a training facility, there are no monsters appearing and as long as you’re careful, you won’t die.

And so……that room before, it’s famous between everyone who has something to do with the guild that it’s connected here.

There’s also a reason why it looks like a beehive, the tunnels are connected to different places.

And so.

The place where you fell into, it’s a little troublesome place……I mean, I’m the one who placed your seat to be connected to that little troublesome place though.

Honestly, you’re my favorite.

From now on, in the case where you were able to pass the test……of course, I’m planning on giving you some special treatment, so, do your best okay〜♪

After that, it’s this place’s explanation.

First, I think that you should be able to see a red door on the wall to your right. That’s the right way to return to the examination hall, but……it’s timed that it would open around 23 hours after you fall to that place.

Meaning, it would only open one hour each day.

Originally, this underground labyrinth is an out of the place artifact that was made during the ancient times.

No one knows how to change the timer and in fact, its reputation is awful between the rookies that use this labyrinth.

As you can see, that place is placed in the land’s tear……and it’s impossible to escape other than the right route.

And, I think that you can see a blue door to your left……this one would open after an hour.

And to where that door is connected……in the guildーーyou know that there are two towers that has the height of a hundred meters right?

That tower that stands inside the city is a dungeon for rookies where low ranked monsters appear.

And, to reach that place, one must pass through this guild’s underground labyrinth.

In short, the place where you are right now is a place that connects the guild’s underground labyrinth and the tower.

Ahh, that’s right.

The rookie dungeon, there isn’t any window or entrance other than passing through the place where you are, so I’ll just tell you that it’s useless to advance through the blue door.

Lastly, the examination’s explanation.

If it’s as usual, the standard to get into the top 15ーーthe time limit……it’s 5 hours.

I don’t know how you’re going to get into the top 15 in that situation, but……

Onee-san, she’s counting on you okay〜!

ーーFrom your beloved Judy ♥

†

“Fuu”, Junpei let out a heavy sigh.

「……the dear examiner seems to like me very much…………. and so, a special treatment huh……. it looks like my luck in this world is really the worst」

And, he laughed deprecatingly.

「No, well, I was also bullied in that other world, so……well, my luck’s really bad either way huh」

He doesn’t know where the ‘right side’ and ‘left side’ that is written in the letter points to, but in fact, when he checked forward, he found a red door and a blue door on each side of the wall.

「The red is the correct route. However, it would only open 23 hours later…… and the blue connects to the rookie dungeon. It would open after an hour……huh. And, from behind is……」

Junpei took out firewood and flint from his item box.

Then he prepared a pot, water, and a coffee beans set and sat down.

“Either way, it isn’t a situation where I could move around right away, and most of all, I want to clear my head, resetting it once, and reorganize.”

The water boiled, the smell of coffee started to come outーーand there, Junpei slowly turned around, and placed his hand on his waist.

He checked the feeling of touching the『S&W M57 41 caliber magnum』 and the weight of its metal.

And standing in the place where he was looking at, there was a girl that has black hair down to her shoulders.

From how she looks, she has the same age with Junpei.

Shorts and sleeveless shirt. It was a brownish light equipment that shows a lot of skin.

A cheap knife in her waist and a small knapsack in her shoulder.

Other than her hair being black, its seems trimmed and refined, and……she looks Japanese.

In this world, the people who would fix their hairs would either be daughters of nobles, prostitutes, or maybe, those who reincarnated.

「What happened to you……making such a scary face……and, that, that’s an item box right……you’re also from Earth?」

Junpei widened his eyes for an instant, but immediately tilted his head while making a poker face.

「……chikyuujin? What’s that?」(TL: earthling, I don’t really like the word so I used ‘from earth’)

「Right now, your ear moved you know? I’m absolutely sure, you’re from earth right? The item box’s something that normally, only those who came from earth has after all. But……I heard before that if someone from other countries on earth came here, they’ll start in other countries in this world, and……that blonde hair and blue eyes……are you from europe or america?」

「……no, chikyuu……? What the heck are you talking about」

Making a staring gaze, the girl opened her mouth, very suspiciously.

「Fuーーーn……」

The girl was thinking of something for a while, but finally, she reached out her right hand to Junpei.

「I’m Ami……Sakaguchi Ami. Just like you, I’m someone who teleported from another world and came to take the B-Rank selection exam…… when I was in Japan, I was a middle-school girl. In this place, I’m a thief……no, a sneakthief. Let’s get along〜」

Her hand that she reached out, Junpei wouldn’t take it.

Not looking back to her gaze, he annoyingly opened his mouth while leaning his back to the huge boulder.

「……kosodoro?」

「That’s right. Sneakthief……you want to hear about that? Ah, the coffee’s already done you know? Do you have only one cup? The story’s gonna be long, and I want to drink coffee too, so……I’ll be really thankful if you would take out another cup……」

「It’s not like I want to listen……」

「Don’t be shy, don’t be shy. Let’s be good with each other, after all……we both came from earth right?」

Ami said that and sat in front of Junpei without asking for permission.

When she noticed that Junpei doesn’t plan on taking out a cup, she took out a wooden cup from her own item box.

「No, really, what the heck’s chikyuu……」(TL: earth)

And, after she poured the coffee without saying anything, she started to tell her long story.