Let"s be an Adventurer! ~Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board~ 37
Let"s Explore Chikaho"s 8th Floor!
The next day, Haruki woke up and immediately turned on the computer that he had borrowed from the hotel.
"How many page views do I have…oh!?"
Shockingly, he had as many as 12 views!
He usually only had 3 visitors, but he had three new visitors for a total of 6!
Not only that, but there were 10 comments!!
"…Oh, could it be that I"m going to die today?"
Should such happiness really be allowed in this life?
He felt like he could ascend up to heaven at any moment now.
Haruki cleared his mind and then looked down at the comment section.
What he saw…
"You"re a wimp who thinks he can accept quests. Lol"
"Don"t get so ahead of yourself, small fry!"
"Your writing style is creepy."
"Someone"s life is on the line. How dare you use emoticons."
"Are you mocking the person who got lost?"
"People die in the dungeon, and yet you"re just cracking jokes."
"This guy is insulting the victim."
"You should quit being an Adventurer."
"Leave j.a.pan."
"Diediediediedie."
A host of heartless and anonymous comments was what awaited him. Haruki clenched his fists and shook.
"d.a.m.n…"
His face became red as he suddenly stood up from his chair.
"What a great start to this day!! I"ve been blessed by G.o.d!!"
He shouted. He was shaking with joy.
Of course, the comments were not praising him. They were attacking him.
Haruki understood this very well.
It was not something you would usually be happy about.
However, if he was just air, no one would attack him.
The comments were aggressive, not pa.s.sive.
They read his post and took the time to write down those words and send them.
In other words, these comments could only be received if they were willing to pay the price and spend their own time.
You could not receive comments if you weren"t seen!
That"s why Haruki was shaking with happiness.
Even if they were attacking him. An opinion was an opinion.
Ah, he was now the kind of Adventurer who could receive comments!
Haruki was shaking as he breathed pa.s.sionately.
"Oh, no!"
He was wasting precious time.
He needed to reply to the comments!
Haruki started hitting the keyboard furiously.
"Thank you so much!"
"I"m so happy to have received your comment!"
"Thank you for your input!!"
"I agree with you!"
"I will consider your advice!"
"Thank you! Thank you so much!!"
He replied to all of the comments and sighed.
"Ahh. Who knew that getting a reaction would feel so amazing… Alright, I"m going to do my best today as well!!"
＊
Haruki did not stop smiling as he returned to exploring the 7th floor.
As the centipede armor was middle-cla.s.s, it was incredibly comfortable.
He didn"t feel like he was in danger at all when he played with the Silver Wolves.
Also, his magic sword saw improvements after the succession of battles.
The blade had been straight when he first picked it up. But currently, there was a 1cm curve from the base to the tip.
This meant it was a little bit harder to use, but it was also noticeably sharper.
"This is good. Real good!"
He watched for openings in the Silver Wolf"s defenses as he smiled and dodged the attacks.
—Danger?
Haruki jumped back immediately.
A white ma.s.s pa.s.sed by him.
In an instant.
The heads of the three Silver Wolves exploded at the same time.
"…Woah."
Haruki stood in stunned silence at this horrible reality.
It was too much…
He had wanted to play a little longer.
"Karaboshi. Let"s go and continue the search!"
"Uh, yes."
Haruki instinctively replied to Karen, whose voice was filled with enthusiasm.
However, he had to say it…
"Uh, Karen. That attack just now. It was pretty dang-…"
"Karaboshi. Leave the attacking to me!"
"Uh…"
"I can take down the Silver Wolves with just one attack. And I can do it safely with ranged attacks. So, let"s go!"
"Ye-yes."
Haruki was overwhelmed by her spirit.
Well, she was right.
If they could defeat monsters in one hit, that would mean that they could explore quickly and safely.
However, they were a team.
He couldn"t just let her do everything.
Still, Haruki decided to leave all of the attacking to Karen.
And he would just follow her lead.
Haruki had very little experience with people following his movements.
As he was too airy, no one would notice him. And so there was no use in even trying to follow him.
And so Haruki mostly found himself following other people.
When he was in gym cla.s.s or at work or driving, he always moved as if going between other people.
And so he was better at following others than having others follow him.
"Huh? Since when were you here!?" or "What? For some reason, I did more work than I thought…"
No matter how much he supported, no one would notice Haruki–no, he shouldn"t think about that.
It would only break his heart.
"Just, try not to hit me with magic, alright?"
"Yes! I"ll take the appropriate steps!"
Why couldn"t she say something more a.s.suring?
It was scary…
＊
Karen was filled with an enthusiasm that she had never felt before.
It was no wonder, since her skills had gone up.
But that wasn"t the only reason that she was so excited.
The biggest reason was that she was on a quest to save someone.
Haruki had tried to reject it at first.
However, Karen had been saved in Chikaho by Haruki before.
And so, if it were possible, she wanted to help Oiso, who was likely in a similar position.
It was because she was saved, she wanted to help save others.
That"s why she had gone against him. It was pretty much her insistence that had caused Haruki to accept it.
He had been the one to make the decision.
But it was Karen that had led him to it.
If she didn"t do her best now, she would be no different from a spoiled child.
Besides, she hadn"t paid Haruki back for saving her.
As long as they were a team, she needed to be as useful as possible.
She could pay him back by becoming stronger.
It was naive perhaps, but that was how Karen felt.
And now, she had gained power through the skill board.
This was the time she had been waiting for. A perfect chance to repay the debt.
There was no way that she could contain her excitement.