＜ Episode 43 ＞
As John immersed himself in the memories of the past, the faces of the group were perplexed.
It was because they were showing a completely different scene from the structure of the dungeon they had imagined.
“… Lucas. Aren’t dungeons usually in the form of bunkers or research labs?”
“…I’m as absurd as I am. Well, I heard that there are dungeons dedicated to corporations that have completely different ecosystems… but this isn’t that much.”
Lucas nervously responds to Fioren’s question, Doyle looks lost in thought, Peirung laughs and Zhao blushes.
Watching the party immersed in different thoughts, John opened his mouth as he rubbed out the tobacco he had burnt all over his body.
“Let’s move first.”
“Um, what?”
At John’s words, the party woke up from their thoughts and focused their attention.
Cuckoo coo!
John, who looked at the city with endless drinking and fireworks with deep eyes, continued.
“I don’t know about dungeons, but I do know that this is a battlefield.”
Tension appeared on the faces of the group in John’s cold eyes.
“And the most important thing on the battlefield is to establish a base camp and ensure safety.”
The place where the party is now located is a warehouse that is presumed to be the entrance to the dungeon.
It was a location overlooking the huge city at a glance, but it did not match the current situation of the party.
“Not here. The location is good, but too conspicuous. It would be great if we brought in a large force, but we’re in the minority right now. If the enemy pushes in, we have no choice but to retreat out of the dungeon.”
“…If that happens, it will be difficult to re-enter.”
Everyone’s faces hardened at Zhao’s words.
“Are you thinking of guerrilla warfare?”
John smiled at Doyle’s question.
“Then is there any other way? We don’t have enough firepower to push in fairly and squarely. I don’t even know what kind of character this dungeon has. At times like this, you have to hold your breath and lie down.”
Everyone in the group fell silent at John’s calm words.
Considering safety, it would be the right thing to leave a dungeon like this and retreat right away, but this party was gathered with their own goals.
There was no option to retreat, so I had to somehow adapt to the situation and move forward, and right now nothing seemed more appropriate than John’s opinion.
“great.”
Lucas thought for a moment and looked at John.
The bright smile was nowhere to be seen, and Lucas, who was pouring bloody eyes, made a determined expression.
“I really think I did a good job bringing you in, John. Take the lead until the situation settles down.”
Lucas looked at Doyle and met John’s eyes.
“Because you seem to be the most expert in situations like this.”
Everyone in the party nodded and looked at John, and John did not refuse.
“I will.”
It was a law that needed experts to survive on the battlefield, and there was no expert like John in the party.
“Then before you go.”
John reached into his chest and pulled out something.
John took out a box the size of a child’s torso and a bundle of steel wire, went into the warehouse, but mounted the box at an angle at the entrance and connected the steel wire.
John carefully installed the steel wire, which was strong and thin, so it would be hard to notice unless you looked carefully, slightly raised from the floor, and turned away with a satisfied expression.
“What are you doing?”
Of course, he knew what John was doing, but Lucas’ voice contained a thought, and it was no different from the others.
“It’s a booby trap.”
Everyone put on a tired expression at John’s attitude as if nothing was wrong.
“We can’t be alone. And besides, there must be some guys coming after us. They will be competitors anyway, so if you can reduce the number in a simple way, of course you should.” “… Claymore.”
Even Do-il, whose expression had hardly changed after replacing his whole body with a prosthesis, asked with a dejected voice.
“that’s right. The guys in front of us seem to be using C4, but it’s not good for powers. Rather, a claymore with a clear physical entity is more efficient.”
“…that’s vicious. As soon as you enter, you force damage, and if you come out with evil, secondary damage is waiting for you.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
Zhao stuck out his tongue, but John let it go, and the party who saw that greatly increased the danger to John.
“Well, if you get wiped out with the first one, that’s fine too. You’ll be able to use it on the people following you. But I’ve never been so lucky.”
With a small grumble, John retrieved the steel wire and turned around.
clap.
With a metallic sound, a large revolver was lifted into John’s hand, and only then did everyone in the party tighten their arms with a tense expression.
“Then go. I will enter quickly.”
“I will take over the rearguard.”
Doyle, who had tightly gripped his weapon, fell into the rearguard and formed a formation surrounding Lucas and Fioren.
“Move! Move!”
With John’s cry, the party crossed the hill at a rapid pace and entered the city.
***
Kwak Kwa Kwak!
Everyone in the party shook their shoulders at the sound of the explosion, which was distinct from the explosions they had heard so far, and everyone’s eyes were focused on John.
“You got caught.”
“···Well done. zone.”
Looking in the direction from which the explosion came, you could tell that the booby traps John had set up worked wonderfully, and the group’s wariness against John was evident in the eyes of the group.
The marching speed of the party, made up of all talented people, was fast, and they were able to enter a place more than 1 kilometer away from the entrance.
The next problem is the structure of the city.
The maze-like structure, reminiscent of a slum, was a structure where it was not easy to distinguish the roads even with a good eye, and the appearance of old buildings full of all sorts of scars was enough to create tension.
Cuckoo coo coo!
How long did it take to cross the city where the sound of explosions never ceased?
“stop.”
John, who had been leading the way with his body bent while holding the gun with both hands, stopped walking, and the party was able to confirm that they were standing in front of a building that was slightly larger than the surrounding buildings.
“Set up camp here.”
“The grounds?”
At Doyle’s question, the party’s gaze turned to the building.
It was only a little large, but it was a building that had no special features from the surroundings, and the rest recognized that Doyle’s question was valid.
“This is the cleanest.”
“… clean?”
At the wrong answer, John put his hand on the outer wall of the building next to it.
Perseok.
It was a strong outer wall that had not lost its shape even after numerous battles, but it collapsed so easily as soon as John touched it, and at that moment, the party understood what John meant.
“···This!”
“···Right. You mean something like this happened?”
Blinking red mechanical devices were hidden inside the collapsed wall, and unlike the worn-out outer wall, they seemed to be working fine as if maintenance had been done.
“All the buildings I’ve been through so far had these devices. At least, since I found a well-formed and clean guy, I should set up a camp, even temporarily.”
Although they understood John’s plain words, the party could not erase their doubts about John’s abilities.
I thought it was a simple destructive ability, but it also has a better sensing ability than anyone else in the party, so the variable has increased.
“I’m fine now, but the fatigue won’t be negligible. The first thing to do is to take a break and check the situation.”
“John is right. In a combat situation, fatigue cannot be ignored.”
Everyone nodded in agreement with Doyle and entered the building under John’s guidance.
“It’s desolate.”
Zhao’s murmur represented everyone’s opinion.
Inside the building we entered, there were no decorations or furniture, just the shape, and electricity and water seemed to be connected, but they were not working properly.
It occurred to him that perhaps all the buildings in this city would be no different, and John felt some puzzles fit together in his head.
“Then is it safe here?”
“for now.”
“after!”
Fioren sat down on the floor with a sound of heavy breathing, and the piled up dust soared up, but there was nothing in the party to bruise Fioren, only frowning.
Compared to other talented wizards, from the point of view of a wizard with lower physical ability, the forced march would have been more difficult, so it was understandable enough.
Even while the rest of the crew leaned against the corner or carefully sat on the floor, John did not rest.
thud!
A bag larger than John’s torso protruded from John’s bosom, and a heavy sound informed the bag’s weight.
“You must have a decent subspace bag.”
Fioren gave an interesting look, and everyone’s eyes gathered.
“Or is it an ability?”
If John had this ability of the spatial system, all his actions so far would be explained.
Everyone’s eyes lit up at Fioren’s gentle words, and John smiled as he looked at the faces of the party who did not hide the light of their search.
“Think whatever you want.”
After answering calmly, John opened the bag.
“Huh!”
“…Did you think of bringing something like this to the dungeon?”
Seeing the contents in the bag, the group looked puzzled, and John shrugged and carefully took out the drone.
Immediately after deciding to enter the dungeon, John started preparing to respond in any situation.
John, freed from the restrictions of supplies thanks to the inventory, went on a radical shopping spree using the money he had earned so far, and the accumulated supplies were configured to a level that could respond to any operation.
John doesn’t know dungeons.
If so, wouldn’t it be better to organize supplies based on the wars you know?
John’s experience of returning alive after being put into numerous operations in the past was not easy, and the materials he had built based on that experience were enough to fight a small-scale war alone.
And in the end, John’s judgment turned out to be correct.
“First of all, it is reconnaissance. We don’t know the exact identity of this dungeon. If so, we should get the information first.”
“… that’s right.”
Everyone stiffened their faces at Lucas’ words.
“Doil is on the border of the four states. Lucas and Fioren begin a magical quest. Peirong and Zhao break into the building boundary while taking a break.”
They started to move one by one in response to John’s natural attitude and command.
The fixer who was expected to become a burden was rather the leader of the group, but no one was foolish enough to object.
Doyle climbed onto the roof of the building, settled down and put on his camouflage, Fioren and Lucas discussed something with serious expressions, and Peirung and Zhao leaned back in a comfortable position, spreading their feelings around.
Wewing.
With a small sound, John’s drone flew up, and the drone that went up stealthily rose to the ceiling of the underground city and started recording everything in the city.
＜ Episode 43 ＞ End