Passing straight past a distance packed with monsters and traps that would have taken two full days to cross honestly, I had come all the way down underground in a single stroke. Cautiously, I stepped forward.
The cave was quiet. I didn't smell the stench of monsters, nor were there any suspicious signs.
Even so, I carefully examined my surroundings.
On the off chance an unexpected situation different from what I knew might unfold.
Checking the floor, walls, and ceiling, I slowly approached the dais.
Thankfully, there were no strange signs.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I reached out my hand. I couldn't read the patterns engraved on the luminously glowing pebbles, but it didn't matter.
Just like last time, the instant the pebbles touched my hand—
VWOOM—!
Along with a bright light, I felt the power and knowledge dwelling within them get sucked straight into me.
Instinctively, I knew what kinds of spells they were.
The spell dwelling in the first rune was Wind Blade.
A spell that sent unseen wind flying in the shape of a blade.
Compared to Energy Bolt, a bullet that only flew in a straight line, this spell could be used in far more versatile ways.
The spell dwelling in the second rune was Fire Strike.
An upgraded version of the basic fire spell Fireball, it was a powerful area-of-effect attack spell.
'Not bad at all.'
Brushing the stones—which had lost their power and crumbled into powder—off my hands, I straightened up.
Two spells of a higher tier than Energy Bolt. It was a haul that more than made up for the trouble of coming all the way down here.
Of course, this wasn't the end of it. There were the items piled beneath the dais.
Gold and silver coins, large and small sculptures, and even odds and ends whose uses were hard to guess from appearances alone.
I didn't know how much they would fetch if appraised to the coin, but it was a sight truly worthy of a dungeon reward.
"..."
When I saw it in the game, I didn't feel much of anything. Seeing it in person, it was pretty impressive.
"First off..."
Slipping off the backpack I was wearing, I pulled out all the blankets, food, spare clothes, and everything else inside it.
If I pack it tight, it looks like everything should fit.
Comparing the size of the small pile of loot with my backpack, I began stuffing the items inside.
Without leaving a single silver coin behind, naturally.
With a tremor, the ground split open. The adventurers, who had been picking up the handful of gold and silver coins scattered on the floor, threw themselves back quickly.
It was a sudden turn of events, but everyone here was an experienced adventurer. Thick dust made it hard to see clearly, yet it was certain that no one had fallen into the relatively slow-opening fissure.
Just as the shaking died down and everyone breathed a sigh of relief—
KREEEEK—
An ominous sound echoed from the far side of the cave. The noise grew louder and louder. Hearing the growls mixed within it, the adventurers' faces froze solid.
"Oh, fuck, monsters!"
Unwilling to give up fresh prey, Goblins were swarming in once again. This time, however, those greedy green monsters weren't the only ones.
Skitter, skitter. Sounds echoed from the cave walls and above. Looking up at the skin-crawling clicking noise, one of the adventurers turned deathly pale.
"S-Spiders! Giant Spiders!"
Spiders with torsos the size of a grown man's wriggled as they crawled forward. The same thought flashed through everyone's head.
'We can't win this.'
The noise of the Goblins and the movement of the Giant Spiders drew closer and closer. Almost simultaneously, a loud bellow burst from Paros's mouth.
"Fuck, run!"
Before his words had even finished, the adventurers were already bolting. Several of them, however, were already locked in a desperate struggle with Giant Spiders that had dropped from the ceiling.
Throwing aside heavy backpacks and even the small piles of silver coins they had just scooped up, they fled.
"Damn it. Out of my way, move!"
It happened in a flash. Some even shoved others down on purpose to get ahead. Caught in the charge of some nameless adventurer, Renia was shoved off to the side as well.
Her shoulder throbbed. Even in the middle of that, Renia stared ahead with dark, sunken eyes.
'I can't outrun them.'
The movement speed of Goblins and Giant Spiders was far faster than a human's. Adventurers had their own tricks, sure, but in a cave this long, everyone probably wouldn't make it out alive.
Those who had been knocked down or were slower on their feet were bound to become sacrificial lambs.
And in all likelihood, she—whose physical abilities lagged behind the others'—would probably be the very first victim.
"..."
Renia's gaze turned toward the ceiling.
Spiders horrifying just to look at. And behind them, a pack of vicious Goblins.
Rather than get caught by those bastards and eaten alive—
'Better to fall to my death.'
Her eyes turned to the fissure gaping so deep the bottom couldn't be seen. Her hesitation didn't last long.
Stepping over the edge, her body plummeted at once. Bracing herself for a dizzying fall, Renia squeezed her eyes shut.
However—
"...?"
There was no sensation of freefall. Instead, she felt her body sliding down an unseen, slanted slope.
"What is this—"
A completely unexpected turn of events. Yet that was only the beginning.
After roughly twenty minutes of a surprisingly gentle slide, she arrived somewhere. Landing flat on her backside, Renia stared blankly ahead.
Standing there—
"What's this? You fell down here?"
The rookie adventurer Kael was standing there looking down at her.
He wore a strangely satisfied expression. And slung over his back was a backpack stuffed so full of who knew what that it looked ready to burst.
"...What on earth."
A situation that made no sense whatsoever. Flustered, Renia blinked.
"Monsters ambushed you up above?"
Hearing about the situation upstairs from Renia once she barely pulled herself together, I clicked my tongue softly.
Just when I thought things were going a little too smoothly, the aggressiveness of the Goblins and the instincts of the monsters seemed distinctly different from the game.
"Th-This is no time to be standing around!"
Jumping to her feet, she spoke.
"If we came down through this passage, the monsters might—"
Cutting off Renia's urgent words, a sound echoed out.
Skitter, skitter.
An ominous sound drifted from the passage Renia and I had slid down.
The Goblins or Giant Spiders seemed to have figured out this path somehow. Since the creatures lived in the dark, they seemed to have quickly realized it wasn't a simple fissure.
Renia's face turned deathly pale. I, on the other hand, calmly scanned the area nearby.
This place was a dead end, yet at the same time, it hid a passage leading outside.
When playing the game, I had figured it was a design put in so players wouldn't have to backtrack a full two days' distance all over again.
The second mechanism.
The mana entwined around my hand began taking form as a single current of energy.
WHIRRRR—
A refreshing breeze out of place in the dank depths of the cave. Feeling it, shock crept onto Renia's face.
"Wait, magic...? No, an artifact?"
The wind took shape at once. With a whoosh, wind formed into the shape of a sharp blade shot toward the ceiling of the cave.
Then, as if slicing through it, it struck the mechanism hidden up there.
Rumble, rumble...
A tremor began. The wall opposite the passage collapsed, revealing a staircase leading up toward the surface.
In the meantime, however, the monsters were already emerging from the end of the passage.
"...!"
Seeing dozens of Giant Spiders and Goblins, Renia bit her lip.
She seemed to figure it would be hard to climb all the way up the stairs with those things hot on our heels.
Her eyes darted about rapidly. Soon, as if making up her mind, she looked back at me and spoke.
"Hand that over."
Sudden words. Glancing back to check the distance to the monsters, she shouted louder.
"Fuck. Hand over the Hand Cannon. If I squeeze out everything I've got, I might be able to handle firing a single shot!"
Pulling out two or three small vials that looked to be expensive mana potions she had been saving, her expression was dead serious.
Hearing her words, I nodded and pulled out the Hand Cannon.
A silver rod cold to the touch. The strongest single shot we currently had.
Instead of handing it over to Renia as she held her hand out toward me, however, I gripped it tightly myself.
Then I aimed it straight at the monsters.
"W-Wait! What are you doing—"
The adventurer panicked. Yet her words didn't make it to the end.
Because the massive amount of mana I drew up right away began flowing along the patterns engraved on the rod.
A portable weapon crafted with Dwarven technology. The tip of the Hand Cannon glowed hot red.
From the tip of the rod, after swallowing an amount of mana that even a decent mage would struggle to handle, a massive explosion erupted.
KABOOOOOM—!
A blast that shook the entire cavern where we stood. The red-hot shot swept away dozens of monsters in a single stroke.
Overwhelming destructive power. The situation was settled in a single shot.
Instead of admiring the sight in satisfaction, however, I spoke to Renia, who stood dumbstruck with her jaw dropped.
"Run."
"...Wh-What?"
She could barely get the word out. Shrugging my shoulders, I explained once more.
"I said run. If you want to live."
Rumble, rumble...
At the same time, faint noise and vibrations echoed out. As the weak supporting foundation at the very bottom gave way, the cave was collapsing.
Only then realizing what kind of situation the power of my Hand Cannon had caused, urgency flashed across her face.
"...!"
I bolted straight for the stairs. A beat behind me, Renia followed right on my heels.
Rumble, rumble.
Behind us as we broke into a run, the cave slowly began caving in.
Because the staircase itself was built separately from the cavern, the collapse didn't reach this far, but Renia—who didn't know that—was running for dear life at the vibrations and roar echoing from behind us.
We bounded up the stairs in a single breath. Up above the steep incline, the sunlight from outside that I had missed was seeping in.