Published: July 12, 2025
This is the second chapter for today.
At midnight, I posted "0330 Golden Eyes [Book Version Information Release Commemoration!]."
Please read that first. In the afterword there, I also wrote about the future of the book version.
From the next day, the serious West Dungeon Exploration began.
In the West Dungeon, basically, there are no floor bosses or floor masters.
However, it is known that extremely powerful monsters appear on the fiftieth floor, the one hundred floors, and the 150th floor, and unless they are defeated, the stairs downward will not appear.
"The deepest floor reached was the 150th floor, right? Could it be that..."
"Yeah. Apparently, no party has defeated the monster on the 150th floor."
"Could it be that even monsters once defeated reappear after some time?"
"Looks like it."
Ryo and Eto were talking like that while looking at the Dungeon Map.
Even while talking, the group was advancing through the dungeon.
Currently, the forty-ninth floor.
From the forty-first floor, the dungeon is like a cave with rocky terrain.
There, bat-type and wolf-type monsters appear.
Bats from above and wolves from below make quite a a troublesome combination.
They are by no means weak.
But when it comes to this exploring party...
"[Ice Wall Package]"
Ryo creates a roof made of ice, preventing the bats from attacking the group.
On top of that, the four front-line fighters reliably slaughter the wolves.
After finishing off the wolves, they cancel the [Ice Wall] and then take down the bats.
Perfect coordination.
"Alright, the forty-ninth floor is done."
The group arrived at the end point of the forty-ninth floor.
"Tomorrow is the fiftieth floor."
Ryo said happily.
He was glad they could properly explore the dungeon.
"Apparently, only one boss monster appears on the fiftieth floor."
"Whoa~"
Ryo’s excitement rose even more with Eto’s explanation.
"The tricky part is that the kind of monster that appears changes from time to time, and the floor’s affinity also changes..."
"Floor affinity?"
Ryo tilted his head.
"Yeah. For example, a floor where fire birds and magma erupt..."
"What!"
An astonishingly brutal combination.
For an ordinary party, the challenge would be quite difficult.
"Isn’t it really tough to beat such opponents?"
"Yeah. In fact, the clearance rate for the fiftieth floor is said to be below one percent."
"How awful..."
"Moreover, it seems you can only clear it if you get a pretty lucky boss. So normal, so-called 'farming' parties stop their exploration at the forty-ninth floor."
"I see..."
It’s different from a game.
Lives are on the line, for the entire party.
It’s not a place you can just ‘give it a try’ and go in.
"What about retreating..."
"Yeah, you can’t retreat from the fiftieth floor boss. You can retreat from the one hundred floors boss, but the door to the fiftieth floor boss closes once you enter. So you either defeat the boss and record it on the 'monument' or..."
"You either get wiped out without defeating it."
Ryo confirmed, Eto nodded, and Nils agreed.
The fiftieth floor serves as a filter for whether the party seriously aims to conquer the dungeon.
"Thinking about it, it seems there’s no need to force a conquest..."
Harold said.
Right, their goal is to meet Marlin again.
To do that, they don’t actually need to advance the exploration.
But...
"Marlin said he’s the manager of this dungeon. He probably won’t appear again before those who can’t defeat the fiftieth floor boss..."
As Nils said, the group thought.
This applies to everything.
Show strength.
Otherwise, people won’t move.
If you show undeniable power, others can’t ignore you.
Who would listen to someone who can’t show power?
No one has that much free time!
To demonstrate that power, the group will conquer the fiftieth floor.
The next day.
The group stepped onto the fiftieth floor.
There stood a huge stone door with double doors.
The door was carved with a huge relief.
"A very imposing door."
Ryo crossed his arms in front of the door and gave an authoritative comment.
"As I said yesterday, two rows: the four of us in front, Ryo, Eto, and Zeek in the rear. Everyone, don’t die!"