Chapter 176:
Boss Of Plant Dungeon 5th Floor
"India's amazing! Awesome! Seriously, India is so cool!!"
That's my genuine feeling. Today's news: "The Indian government successfully analyzed the magic circle drawn inside the dungeon and extracted circular motion."
Can you grasp how incredible this is?
"Successful extraction of circular motion" can also be interpreted as "successful construction of a magic circle to induce circular motion." Circular motion is essential for generating electricity.
Current power generation technologies like thermal, hydro, wind, and nuclear rely on propellers or turbines powered by various sources to generate electricity using dynamos or flywheels.
So, "successful extraction of circular motion" means "electricity can now be generated with magic circles."
In global affairs, Russia's occupation of Ukraine continues. Russia denies it's for humanitarian protection, but economic sanctions have caused oil and natural gas prices to skyrocket.
And then this uplifting news.
Recently, America succeeded in generating recovery agents following Japan's lead, but the world buzzed with sensational news indicating the dawn of a new era, surpassing them. Upon hearing this, Nina-san quickly considered buying Indian stocks packaged in securities using her laptop and phone.
In the current world situation, there are protests in various countries demanding to "do something about the dungeons!" and riots with declining security are being discussed.
In Japan, known for its peaceful citizens, there are no major riots, but online criticism of the government abounds. News outlets cover thefts daily, indicating concerns about declining security in Japan.
Moreover, the Chinese military occupying Sado Island released some residents to the Japanese government. Most were previously hospitalized, likely because taking care of them became inconvenient. Still, since China has extensively proclaimed its humanitarian stance in releasing some residents, the Japanese government seems to be exploring negotiations based on that.
Today being Sunday, we were heading to the airsoft dungeon in the Boso Peninsula by rental car. After all, there's no other dungeon where three college girls can level up affordably. The Crab Dungeon was quite dangerous even from the 1st floor, and as for our Fridge Dungeon, that goes without saying.
"India is amazing, right?"
"It'd be great if prices would stabilize because of this."
The car conversation revolved around the morning news about India. Existing lifelines are damaged everywhere due to the proliferation of dungeons, causing frequent earthquakes and power outages. Thanks to the Giant Stag Beetles and Giant Crabs, we're saving a lot on food expenses, but most people suffer from the skyrocketing cost of living due to disrupted distribution.
Hence, there's considerable anticipation for this positive news.
"Hey, if we could make a magical reactor, I wonder how it would be!"
In the back seat, Serai-san had been full of energy since morning, envisioning the future. Her ample chest is brimming with hope. It's really wonderful today.
"Yeah, maybe at first, something like a steam engine with magical circuits and a furnace integrated for magical motion."
The dawn of a new era. Wouldn't magical science and studies progress rapidly if a magical industrial revolution occurred?
If advanced technologies like AI and quantum computers merge with magic, what kind of future awaits?
"But to people in the past, our world probably seems to be operating on magic too, right?"
Yeah, as Ruu, sitting in the passenger seat, said. Advanced science is akin to magic. If they saw the current state where lights turn on with a voice command or communication devices reply instantly, people from the past would probably describe it as the work of sorcery or a magic mirror.
…..
"Ah! Jung! I can't sleep at night ever since that! Why did you have to remind me?!!"
At 8:30 in the morning, when we arrived at the airsoft field parking lot, Shark immediately started hassling me. This guy is energetic from the morning.
"Well then, imagine it to the end. Envision the worst-case scenario and think about various ways to overcome it."
Yeah, I've done this too.
The night I lost my left leg to a giant maggot. That night, I had a high fever and suffered a lot.
Tissues were melting from my knees, spreading rapidly until my whole body melted into a gooey mess, a nightmare. In that nightmare, I tried to stop my body from dissolving by repeatedly chopping it with a grinder.
But no matter how many times I did it, I still melted into goo in my dream and died, and each time, the scene was rewritten and repeated. So I changed my approach halfway through. In the end, it didn't work either, and when I poured all my magical power into the affected area, it exploded. I just blew up, but I realized that when you give it your all and still fail, you surprisingly accept the situation quite easily.
That didn't solve anything.
"In the past, samurai always imagined heavy boulders falling from above and trained their minds. In constant warfare, a cockroach should feel light."
"Don't mention that name! You'll get rashes on your skin!!"
Angry Shark started hitting my chest and stomach quite hard. Ouch, this girl is really strong. As expected, he's leveled up quite well with solid training.
"Hey Jung, come here! Let's have a meeting."
"Come on, Shark, Admiral called me, so I'm going. We'll talk about that some other time."
"………"
Good grief. Leaving Shark, who still looked dissatisfied, and glaring at me. I headed to the admiral.
"Jung, take a look at this."
"Oh, this is good! Did you make it?"
"Yeah, we have many members who are good at this kind of craftsmanship."
"Incredible… it's like the A-team."
What Admiral handed me was a bamboo spear with the tip cut diagonally, but it wasn't just any bamboo spear.
It had a button on the handle, and when pressed, a mechanism activated, pushing the interior forcefully towards the tip. Inserting an iron pipe into the hole at the tip activated a stopper. I filled the tip with dirt from the ground in that state, aimed it in an uninhabited direction, and pressed the button.
Then, with a clanging sound, the packed dirt scattered vigorously.
I see. Admirals had prepared their special attack weapons against plant monsters so they could hunt them even without me. If I fill the tip with salt, it should have almost the same effect as the salt tip I previously created.
"Yeah, it's good. Do you fill this tip with salt?"
"Yeah, we have plenty of salt soaked in water prepared in buckets. It's a hassle to refill it every time we use it, but it's much better than fighting without salt."
"I see, that's well thought out."
I heard that some Trident members work in car repair shops or metalworking factories. They borrowed tools from their workplaces to make this. With this, anyone can easily hunt plant monsters, so I'm very grateful that I don't have to bother making salt tips anymore.
And…
We're confronting a boss-level monster on the 5th floor of the plant dungeon. Ruu and the others have grown significantly, and we've been exploring smoothly.
The monster on the 4th floor was a vine monster. It was like a green mass the size of a Western-style cylindrical mailbox, spreading its vines on the ground as it approached. But its movements were extremely slow, like creeping stealthily towards its prey and entwining it unnoticed.
It could be described as a "monster that would attack while camping in a fantasy forest." But because it looked so obvious, it stood out like a sore thumb in the green-lightless cave, and its slow movements made it completely non-threatening. But it was essential to be cautious of the poison it could spit from its vines. However, once you were careful of that, there was no problem. Somehow, this dungeon seems to have many monsters like the Kung Fu Bamboo, misplaced and suffering from poor placement.
And on the 5th floor, there was a monster about the height of a person, resembling a low bush.
A walking tree, literally a Walking Plant. It looked just like a tree, and if you were to classify it with fantasy knowledge, it would probably be called a Young Trent if it were a Trent species.
But its fighting style was similar to that of the Kung Fu Bamboo, so it was defeated immediately. Riding on that momentum, we encountered a tree monster with apple-like fruits.
It was in a dome-shaped spacious area. The atmosphere seemed soothing, like a healing space, and it looked like a perfect resting place.
So when it didn't move at all, I thought it was a natural tree, but it turned out to be a monster. Darn it, I was fooled by its camouflage. Can we even call it camouflage when a plant monster doesn't move? Isn't that just normal?
Anyway…
""Achoo! Achoo!""
Talking with masks on proved to be a disadvantage as Nina-san and Ruu suffered from a pollen attack apparently silently launched by the boss-level monster. They got struck by severe itching in their eyes, and hay fever, and poor things couldn't stop sneezing.
The two retreats that had appeared somewhere were now firmly blocked by two treants each, making escape impossible.
Other than Serai-san, Shark, and I who immediately covered our mouths with a cloth upon sensing the anomaly, there seemed to be no way out.
In front of us was a boss-level monster resembling a tree turned into a monster, approaching. It had a height of over 5 meters, with a face full of fury carved on its trunk, as if it were a given. Its branch-like arms were thick, and its lush leaves were as sharp as knives.
Now then. How will the three of us protect Ruu and Nina-san's backs and fight this boss-level monster?