Chapter 7: I'd Give My Left Arm

The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter — LNCrawler · All chapters

Chapter 7:
I’d Give My Left Arm

ONCE THE COMPETITION WAS OVER, they brought me up on stage so the vice-principal could acknowledge me. He commended me for surviving and encouraged me to do my best in the upcoming interschool tournament. Because I’d won, I automatically qualified as one of the Hero Academy’s representatives. But more importantly, I had earned 3,000 LP by fulfilling my goal and winning the competition. I had about 12,500 LP now, and two more avenues for LP profit were about to open up.

“Now I will present the King of the School Year with the enchanted items,” said the vice-principal. “You may pick any of these.”

Three teachers lined up in front of me, each holding a different item. I was happy I got to pick up and inspect each one. The “Blasting Hammer,” the “Collar of Concealment,” and the “Moon Drop.” They were all A and B-Grade items, and all appealing in their own way, but I was primarily interested in LP.

They were worth 3,000, 4,600, and 7,000 respectively, so the Moon Drop was by far the most valuable. It had a skill that boosted physical and magical power in the moonlight. As strong as it was, it was limited to moonlit nights.

I picked it up, but I couldn’t exactly convert it on the spot, so I saved that for later.

“And for your other prize,” said the vice-principal. “You’re bestowed with the Right of the King. For today and today only, you can issue orders to the entire student body.”

This was what I had been waiting for. I couldn’t ask for anything crazy—the order wouldn’t work if the students completely rejected the idea. I just needed something they would go for, and something that would earn me LP. I already had an idea.

“As your king, I order you all…to give me a hug.”

The crowd buzzed. The main reaction seemed to be, “Why a hug?”

“Are you sure about that?” asked the vice-principal. “There are almost two hundred students here.”

“Oh, well, just the girls then.”

I wouldn’t get any LP from the boys after all.

“Wow, what a pervert,” someone heckled.

“You want the boys to do it too?” I asked. “Hugging another guy would be a little awkward.”

“I guess that’s true.”

After the boys realized that, they settled down.

“Okay,” I said, getting down off the stage. “Whoever’s cool with giving me a hug, line up.”

The girls seemed unexpectedly enthusiastic. I was a little surprised.

The vice-principal smirked. “Of course they’re excited. Women are always attracted to strong men. I wish I could hug a pretty girl…”

I walked up to the first girl and made sure she was okay with it.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes…”

She seemed a little shy, but we hugged. When I’d confirmed I’d gotten the LP, I let go. I was nervous, but after getting through a few, I was getting used to it. Even Ficia was in line for some reason.

“Umm, do you want to give me a hug?” I asked.

“I’m not happy about it,” she said. “But we are acquaintances now.”

“Ha ha ha…got it.”

She was probably thinking that I’d be useful in the future. Maybe she was a little too honest about her motives, but I accepted them for what they were.

When I hugged a girl for the first time, I’d get up to a few hundred LP—although it varied depending on how attractive I found her. Unsurprisingly, I got more from the cute girls. Only a few refused. We had just shy of a hundred girls in class, so I earned LP from about ninety people.

“I think this is a new record!”

I’d earned about 26,000 LP, bringing me up to 38,500. With the 7,000 I’d earn from the Moon Drop, that would total 45,500 LP. All in all, a huge win.

Apparently, the school representatives would be meeting with the other participants in the inter-school tournament in a few days. But for today? We were done. So Emma and I headed to Odin’s guild hall. Since Lola had assisted me privately, I wanted to tell her about my win.

“Are you doing anything the day after tomorrow?” Emma asked on the way.

“Not really.”

“My parents are going on vacation, so I wondered if I could come over for dinner. It’s been ages since we did that.”

“Of course. Everyone would love to see you, Emma.”

“Thanks! I can’t wait!”

She seemed happy as she locked arms with me.

However, because she was wearing such skimpy clothes, I could distinctly feel her skin against mine. It secretly earned me some more LP. What luck!

When we got to the guild hall, I told Lola about the competition. She seemed so happy. It was almost like she’d won it herself.

“I always knew you would do it, Mr. Noir. And then your hug victory lap afterward! I’d like to participate too.”

She wrapped her arms around me, and Emma shot her a dirty look. When Lola saw her, she looked shocked.

“What’s with that getup? You’re dressed like some kind of sex pervert.”

“I…I guess I can’t really deny that,” Emma said. “Much as it pains me.”

“I’m not one to criticize others for their taste,” Lola said. “But it’s not the best time to wear that sort of thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s been a string of murders. Mostly sex workers and other women wearing attention-grabbing outfits.”

According to Lola, even one of Odin’s female adventurers had been attacked. Thankfully, she’d survived, but not without serious injury. That didn’t seem like much to be grateful for.

“The guildmaster’s real mad,” Lola said. “If this monster isn’t caught soon, the guildmaster might put out a bounty for his head.”

Maybe I was imagining it, but the mood in the guildhall did seem heavy.

“But you shouldn’t get involved, Mr. Noir,” Lola said. “You need to keep yourself out of trouble until the date for the A-Rank exam is settled.”

“What about me?” Emma asked.

“What kind of casket would you like to be buried in?” Lola asked.

“I’m not going to die! And besides, I’m not planning on wearing this anymore.”

“Oh, reeeeally? I’m not sure I believe you.”

They were always like this—sniping and snapping at each other. Still, I was worried about Emma, so I saw her home. After that, I stopped by Stardian Rarities and told my father and Tigerson about my win.

“Aha! Now the shop will become even more prosperous!”

“That’s incredible!” I said. “I’m sure the shop will become an even greater success with both of you around.”

“All right!” said my father. “Time to celebrate! Let’s drink ourselves silly!”

We closed the shop up early and headed out. Although…I did wonder if Father was just using my victory as an excuse to get drunk.

***

I returned to the seventeenth floor of the hidden dungeon, which was still a wide expanse of natural beauty. The beach and the forest were exactly the same as the last time I was there. As I walked along the sand, I reached down to touch the water. I was almost convinced I’d really arrived on a small island.

“Whatever’s creating this illusion is incredible. It’s even made actual waves.”

Or maybe it wasn’t an illusion. I mean, there were even shells in the sand. After relaxing a bit, I headed toward the forest. There were small bugs and venomous snakes in the trees, and some of them even tried to attack me, but I took them out as I went. It was humid, so I was quite sweaty and sticky. I searched for quite a while, but I didn’t encounter any monsters. This place was huge!

“There’s no way I’ll find the stairs like this. Time to consult the Great Sage.”

I did have a headache immunity skill, but the more valuable the information, the stronger the headache, so I was a little scared.

“There are three sets?!”

I hadn’t encountered anything like that before. Although, I supposed there could have been multiple sets before, and I had just never noticed. There were a few floors with split paths, after all.

Since the stairs to the south were closest, I started off toward them. If real-world rules applied here, I could tell which way was south by cutting down a tree and looking at the rings. Still, something about my surroundings was bothering me. I felt like someone was watching from a short distance ahead.

“Is someone there?”

No response. All the trees and grass provided plenty of places to hide. I went back to searching for the stairs, but the moment I turned my back, I heard a whoosh. I turned to see a spear flying right at me.

I ducked to avoid the attack, but I still couldn’t see my opponent. I pulled the spear out of the tree and examined the tip. It was covered in some kind of liquid. Probably poison.

“Well, if you’re trying to kill me, I’m gonna fight back.”

I fired several Stone Bullets in the direction the spear had come from, and a man appeared from atop a tree. He was shirtless, wearing only a straw skirt and a wooden mask. He must have been who’d thrown the spear.

I took out the Shield of Champions to show that their attacks weren’t going to hurt me. Several more spears flew toward me, but most of them came from the front, so I blocked them with ease.

There must have been about five or six people in total. The attack ceased, presumably because they’d run out of spears. I put my shield away and took out the Shockwave Morningstar—the weapon I’d acquired in the arena on the thirteenth floor. I ran toward my enemies, hurling the ball at a tree. It exploded, but the real show was still to come. Thanks to the skill on the weapon, a massive shock wave followed.

“Hngh…”

One of them groaned, and several others fell out of the tree.

The biggest one of them stood in front of me. “You fight me!”

They were all wearing the same masks and grass skirts. Were they the natives of this island?

The man held a beautiful lyre to his chest. It was an odd contrast with his well-muscled form.

“What, are you going to make me listen to a recital?” I asked.

“Foolish.”

His fingers strummed the lyre. It wasn’t really music, but the tone was splendid. Still, this really wasn’t the time to be appreciating its aesthetics. Especially because arrows started raining down from the sky.

“Whoa?!”

I retreated quickly as almost a dozen arrows buried themselves in the ground. The large, masked man strummed on the lyre again, and more weapons hailed down. This time, it was iron balls the size of my head! I couldn’t afford to get hit by one of them, and I was a little scared at the prospect of trying to block them with my shield, so I wove between the balls and advanced toward the man. After all, if I stayed on the defensive, I’d only dig myself in deeper. Taking this guy out in one fell swoop was the way to win.

Once I was clear of the iron rain, I combined Water Drop and Lightning Strike and fired them at the masked man. He collapsed to the ground in pain, drenched and crackling with electricity. I collected his lyre, drew my sword, and pressed the tip against the back of his neck.

“So you can speak? Are you all human?”

“Intruders, kill them all.”

My Discerning Eye didn’t work on him, but he didn’t seem all that strong. He probably just had Spear Throwing or something like that.

“There are intruders other than me?” I asked.

“Yes. Kill him too.”

Who else was down here…? I stepped back as one of the other masked men came forward with a dagger.

“Escape once. Search for stronger weapon…”

The man with the dagger helped his comrade up, and they all retreated.

“Search for a weapon, huh?”

That seemed to imply this stronger weapon wasn’t something that they already had. It made me wonder if they’d found the lyre on this level too. I checked it out with my Discerning Eye.

Orpheus’s Lyre

Grade B

Skills: Rain of Weapons

Depending on how it was played, it could summon different weapons from the sky. It might not have sounded all that interesting, but I’d seen enough to know it was terrifying. It would also give me 4,900 LP if I converted it. I was a little hesitant, but I ended up pulling the trigger. That put me over 50,000 LP. Things were going well! At this rate, I’d have the hundred thousand in no time.

“I think I’ll go item hunting before I look for the stairs.”

I did have the Bell of Perception after all. I figured I might as well make use of it. The bell would give away my location, but I used it anyway. It rang softly, and I walked around until the sound got louder. When I got to one particular tree, the bell made a loud noise.

“I guess it’s hidden in the tree.”

I checked every inch of the plant—from the roots to the branches to the leaves—but couldn’t find anything. Maybe it was hidden inside the tree? I cut it down and discovered…absolutely nothing! What was going on here? The bell was definitely ringing. I tried holding it out again. When I crouched down close to the ground, it rang clearly.

“Underground, huh?”

I pulled a shovel out of my Pocket Dimension and started digging. I’d given myself an Excavate skill when I acquired my two-edged blade, so I was pretty good at it. I dug for fifteen to twenty minutes until my shovel hit something hard. It was a wooden treasure chest. I pulled it out of the ground and opened it up to find…a cord?

Gleipnir

Grade B

Skills: Bind Magical Beast

It only worked on magical beasts, but it made them easier to restrain. Still, I couldn’t think of any real use for it, so I converted it and earned 3,800 LP in the process.

I set off with the bell again, looking for another enchanted item. The second one was buried too.

Fiery Frying Pan

Grade B

Skills: Heat Up

You just had to touch the pan for twenty seconds and it’d get hot enough to cook something. What an amazing item! When you were adventuring, you had to eat often. With something like this, you wouldn’t have to go through all the trouble of gathering wood to make a fire every time. It was only worth 2,800 LP, so I decided to hang onto it.

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

I looked over at where the sound was coming from and spotted two masked men running at full speed. It didn’t seem like they’d noticed me. I thought they might be hunting, until I realized they were running away from something. Whatever they were fleeing from, they seemed very concerned about it. After they passed me, I heard hoofbeats. Moments later, their pursuer ran past too. I was already familiar with this spear-wielding monster. Yes, it was none other than the Black Lancer.

***

He looked like a man with long black hair and gleaming red eyes, but he wasn’t human. He didn’t have a helmet, but he was wearing black armor. The gold ornamentation made it look rather flashy. His lance was just as black as his armor. He cut a striking image astride his crimson steed.

“He can appear down here too?!”

I shouldn’t have been surprised; he could show up anywhere. He was no doubt the other intruder the masked men were talking about.

Should I go after them? No one seemed to have noticed me, so I could have just left, but my body moved on its own. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my time in this dungeon cowering in fear of the Black Lancer. And besides, I had a real chance of beating him.

I ran after them, and before long, I heard men shouting. Seven or eight of the tribesmen were fighting the Black Lancer on an open stretch of beach. There were already several corpses scattered about, but just as the tribesmen looked like they were sure to lose, the lancer’s horse fell into a hole.

“Ah, they prepared traps in advance.”

The tribesmen threw all their spears at once. “Kill intruder!”

But they didn’t so much as scratch the lancer’s armor.

“I have no interest in weaklings.”

He swung his lance like it was nothing. The pile of corpses grew.

“Leave to me!” cried a masked man with a whip.

He skillfully wrapped the weapon around the lancer’s arm.

“Fool.”

An electric shock shot out of the whip.

Paralyzing Whip

Grade C

Skills: Electric Tail

It seemed it was enchanted to only affect the target, not the user. Unfortunately, it didn’t work on the lancer either.

“Not work… Then this…”

The tribesman threw the whip away and drew a wooden wand from his grass skirt. He pointed it at the lancer, and three balls of fire flew out in quick succession.

Triple-Fire Wand

Grade B

Triple Fireball

It was much more powerful than his previous weapon. Surely this one would give the lancer a hard time? But he just waved his lance about, destroying all three fireballs with ease. I knew this guy was a monster, but boy, oh, boy, was he ever a monster. These were the lancer’s abilities:

Name: Black Lancer

Level: 666

Skills: Devastation Thrust; Elusive Thrust;

Javelin Throw (Grade S); Total Magical

Resistance (Grade B)

“I seek a worthy opponent.”

He thrust his lance through the masked man’s torso, killing him instantly. That had to be the Devastation Thrust ability. The last time I’d encountered him, he had destroyed a sword with S-Grade Enduring Edge in one hit. I was confident the same thing would happen to my shield.

The lancer picked off the remaining survivors, and his crimson steed finally escaped the hole. He quickly got back up on his horse and turned to me.

“So there is a worthy opponent here after all.”

“Aw, shucks, I’m honored that you remember me,” I said. I really wouldn’t mind if you’d forgotten.

“You will not escape this time.”

“Oh, I don’t intend to.”

At least, not until things got a little too dangerous for my tastes.

“Have at you.”

His horse neighed and charged, but it didn’t come straight at me. Instead, the lancer rode in circles around where I was standing. He made several laps, then changed course and barreled forward. The lancer lunged at me using a powerful mounted attack. If it had landed, his lance would have gone straight through me, but I leapt to the side and somehow managed to avoid it. The horse went back to running laps.

“Going for a battle of attrition, huh?” I asked. “Or are you just trying to make me dizzy?”

As long as he was on horseback, the lancer’s mobility would remain exceedingly high. Time to crush that advantage. I made the skill “Misstep” and Bestowed it on his horse. It cost 2,000 LP, but I went ahead with it anyway. Now all I had to do was wait. The horse turned toward me, and…

It whinnied, stumbled, and fell to the ground. Quickly sensing that something was wrong, the lancer hastily dismounted. I seized my chance, slitting the horse’s throat before it could get up.

That should make things a bit easier, I thought.

“You slay my beloved steed?”

“Why do you wanna kill a worthy enemy anyway?”

“My instincts command me to do so. It is my purpose.”

I supposed he had been created by the dungeon. But it was odd that he didn’t just attack intruders.

“If you want really strong opponents,” I said. “You’d have more luck deeper in the dungeon.”

“The farthest I can travel is the nineteenth floor.”

And he had never appeared to Olivia either. I’d first encountered him on Dory’s floor.

“So have you been fighting constantly for thousands of years?” I asked.

“I was awakened quite recently.”

Which meant that my arrival here had probably had something to do with it. Perhaps exploring a certain floor triggered his awakening. But why was he fighting other dungeon denizens indiscriminately, rather than just targeting outsiders? It was a mystery. Maybe he was meant to keep the dungeon balanced, in case any unduly strong monsters developed. Were the dungeon’s creators worried that overly powerful monsters could annihilate everything on their level and break the dungeon’s mechanics? Either way, there was no time to think about it right now.

“I grow tired of idle chatter,” said the lancer. “You must try to best me.”

“You really don’t have to ask.”

I edited his S-Grade Javelin Throw skill to add the following line:

“When thrown, the lance will return to the user’s heart with added force.”

It cost me a hefty sum: 5,000 LP.

Next, I backed off and used magic: combining Stone Bullet with Holy Flame, then Water Drop with Lightning Strike. After that, I fired a stream of icicles at him. The lancer thwarted them all with swift flourishes. He even sliced through the electrified water. It did shock him when he made contact, but it did hardly any damage. It was either his B-Grade Total Magical Resistance—or just because he was so strong.

“Your crafty tricks will not work on me,” said the lancer. “Is that sword mere decoration?”

“Aw, you caught me. But I don’t fight with swords.”

“I…have misjudged you!”

The lancer let his anger get the better of him and hurled his lance at me. It worked! I’d successfully provoked him into using it! His S-Grade Javelin Throw was impressively strong and fast, but I knew it was coming. The moment the lance left his hand, I dove to the ground. The lance sailed past and flew out across the beach.

No matter how much I’d Edited the skill, the spear wouldn’t come back if it landed in a tree. Or if it did, its speed and force would be severely reduced. But the open space allowed the lance to trace a wide arc through the air as it turned back toward the lancer. At the same moment, I stowed my sword away, retrieved my Piercing Spear, and charged.

“Raaaaaaaaah!”

The lance flew back toward his heart at incredible speed, but he just grabbed it with one hand. This guy really was a monster!

“Guh…”

However, he left his stomach entirely unguarded, and my spear had a piercing skill. It struck smoothly through his armor and into his flesh.

“How’s it feel to be bested by another lance?” I asked.

“Bested…? Don’t make me laugh.”

A shiver ran down my spine. The battle wasn’t over yet. The lancer turned his lance around, and I yanked the Piercing Spear out and retreated. Blood poured from his mouth. This had to be working. I just needed to get one more hit in! But just as I was getting excited, a sharp pain ran through my left arm.

“Oww?!”

I looked down to find my arm was…gone? Blood gushed out, splashing onto my face.

“My, my arm…”

I fell to the ground.

What? Who did that? There was no one else here…only the lancer. But he’d just lifted his lance slightly. He hadn’t thrown it or anything.

“No way.”

“It ends here.”

“Ngh?!”

Crap! I stepped back like my life depended on it. A gust of wind blew through my hair, followed by a sharp pain from my forehead. Thankfully, the wound didn’t feel very deep.

“Elusive Thrust, huh…”

So, he’d finally decided to use it. I never imagined he’d be able to conceal almost everything about the skill. He ran my severed arm through with his lance and hoisted it high overhead.

“Stop tha—aaaah…”

He mangled it ruthlessly, scattering fingers and bits of flesh on the sand.

Dammit…my arm…

“I believe we are both equally spent,” said the lancer. “This ends on the next strike.”

He was pushing it too. I couldn’t use a spear well with one hand, so I put it away and retrieved my two-edged sword. I could always use my Dungeon Elevator skill. I could run away. But I wanted to settle things.

“Raaaaaagh!”

I roared and ran forward, but my face turned anguished, and I fell to one knee.

“My lance shall be your undoing!” said the lancer.

He took the opportunity, thrusting his spear forward angrily. At the same moment, I executed the sequence of actions I’d been forced to practice hundreds of times. I stood up, turned to avoid his lance, and used my momentum to slash him with my sword. My blade sent his head flying. Ultimately, which one of us lived came down to the last moment. And perfect timing.

“Haah…haah… Ms. Elena’s lessons sure came in handy.”

I had never earned a more painful victory. Almost nothing remained of my left arm. I was too weak to search for the stairs, but I did endure the pain long enough to collect the lancer’s weapon.

“I’ll turn your weapon into my strength.”

It earned me 500 LP. That was more than a regular weapon, but ultimately average. I was amazed at how much destruction he’d wrought with it. I went on to collect the Paralysis Whip and Triple Fireball Wand.

“I’ll take these too.”

Converting those earned me 5,500 LP. After that, I used my Dungeon Elevator. I’d defeated the strongest enemy of my life, and with that, I’d broken Level 200.