Chapter 134: Cloud Zone


    Ahem, so I know we had the cores stolen, and really easily at that, but I believe its time we move on and proceed to exploring this new zone


    I had on a dead, zed look as I dered in a dead, monotone expression.


    The cores, which could be called our lifeline, were all taken, but no party member had been injured. Thinking practically, we should start moving again so as to not fall behind.


    The goma fortress battle had us running around a tonne trying to somehow escape, so we hadnt gotten any good weapons or parts from there.


    Id personally very much like to have more parts to add to Rem. Since, depending on those, she might be strong enough to fight off Sugino and Ooyama. Rem was, in my belief, the most reliable ally I had, and the stronger she could get, the more at ease I could be.


    Cmon guys, its not the end of the world, give me a response


    It feels worse dude


    Right, I felt the same, my motivation was at an all time low. Like wed gotten super rare gear after finishing off a raid boss only to have said gear stolen by small-fry punks.


    I know you feel down, we all do, but weve had enough brake time. We should get moving, staying here will only keep us depressed


    Haah Hes got a point


    Ahh, this day fucking sucks


    Ueda and Nakai stood to leave, despite their irritation. Shimokawa followed, and the usual trio was all convinced.


    Yamada-kun, you alright? If youre still not feeling up to it, we can stay a while longer


    Im fine


    He was insta-KOed by Sugino, so the shock of it mustve been getting to him. He had a dark look on his face. It was probably the first time in a while that he felt pain since his Heavy Fighter Job granted him a lot of immunity to it.


    Now the question was whether Yamada will be scared and useless for our battles toe, or whether hell use this experience to grow I wanted to hope positively, but, shit man, itll be a problem if our tank cant tank. Ill have to make sure he doesnt go down that path, such a pain.


    Hmm, Ill throw this one at Yamajun.


    Everyone set? Lets go


    Those homo lovers Sugino and Ooyama had left a few hours ago with their stuff, so I didnt think wed meet again. They looked like they knew how to get out of this zone while we had to start from scratch. If we did meet again though, I had no doubt itd be a bloodbath. Lets try not to let that happen.


    But rather than those super strong gays, we should focus on how to clear this zone. Wed literally just gotten shown that we hadnt be tough stuff in the least. And if our caution and morale also drops, we might really get annihted by a munch of small-fry monsters.


    Woah, whats with this ce


    Shits bizarre, its all fluffy


    Dude, its like some kinda theme park


    Waah~, its clouds everywhere~


    Right outside the square, we all voiced our impressions of this area that waspletely new to us.


    Reina was right, it did look like clouds everywhere. Like some sort of cloud kingdom that you could maybe find in an amusement part recreating a fairy talend.


    From the size and shapes of the passages and empty rooms, it seemed like a normal dungeon zone was covered by this soft and fluffy stuff all over the walls to make it resemble clouds. I tried jabbing my knife into one of the cushion-like walls and it slipped through easily. The wall had the consistency of a sponge.


    This isnt the sort of ce were used to, and I think well be seeing new types of monsters here too. Keep an eye out


    We advanced through the cloud zone, wary of our surroundings.


    Some time passed, and we hadnt encountered anything. I considered if Sugino and Ooyama, who went ahead a while ago, thinned out their numbers, but then there were no signs of fighting anywhere, not one corpse, or any blood. The ce was pure white and spotless.


    Man, I was kinda getting sleepy with all the soft and white around


    Khruuu


    When my attention was waning, Raptor gave a cry from beside me. I was going to have Raptor act as properbat potential for us, so I was not riding on it.


    Rem, whats up?


    Oi look, somethingsing out of the walls!


    Before Rem could respond, Ueda who was on point gave the answer. Looks like we gotpany.


    Oi oi, whats up with this stuffed costume fe?


    This cloud things giving me the creeps


    Our two vanguards, Ueda and Yamada, were the first to let out their impressions of these new monsters. Monsters that looked like fluffy costumed people, cloud creatures.


    They seemed to be made of the same cloudy stuff that constituted the walls, and they were around as tall as a short man. With a big head and small arms and legs, these cloud sponge creatures looked pretty deformed despite the overall human shape.


    They had no weapons, and moved slow like zombies. But  there were way too many.


    Momokawa, do I go up front?!


    No, theyreing from the back too, stay here Nakai-kun. Youll need to help Shimokawa-kun and Raptor


    Got it!


    Sure thing, dude


    Rem, arrows, Yamajun, some sagittas please


    Well start off with ranged. They looked like arrows wouldnt affect them at all, but lets test out how much punishment these cloud creatures can


    Moaaaaahhh!


    Rems arrow and Yamajuns bolt of light each struck a different cloud creature. And as they did, the creatures let out low-pitched, sort of pathetic sounding groans as they copsed.


    Wait, theyre weak?


    Lets round up some kills


    After Yamajuns second shot, go for it!


    I put down Rotten Bog behind us while casting support for the vanguard duo. I also had Rem switch out to Nonomiyasnce and join them.


    Now, GO


    We finished off the cluster of cloud creatures in a matter of minutes.


    They didnt heal if damaged, couldnt revive when killed, and hadnt shown any ability to get super strong or fast after a certain point. They were simply defeated, nothing more or less.


    They really were weak. Weaker than skeles


    Their slow, dawdling gait made them seem like matango but without the poison. Like, <i>I</i> could beat them in melee, and thats saying something. They were by far the weakest monsters Id ever seen in the whole dungeon.


    Fuck, not one damn core drop


    Not really unexpected, these things are weak as kittens


    Literally too weak, my dudes


    We hadnt sustained a single scratch, but then again, hadnt attained anything either. We couldnt hope to get any level up bonuses beating these either, it just felt like a waste of effort.


    Wait, what if we somehow arrived at a noob zone of the dungeon?


    Thats what I began thinking as we monotonously BTFOd the asional collection of cloud creaturesing our way as we carried on walking.


    Well, <i>this</i> doesnt look suspicious at all


    We arrived at arge hall made with the same fluffy cloud stuff on its walls But inside, it was filled with this pink smoke.


    Id seen a bit of fog in the basilisk''s acidic swamp zone, and wed seen it for days in the goma jungle zone, and every time, it looked like naturally urring fog. Meanwhile, this not so thick, but clearly pink substance in the air was in no way not suspicious.


    Oi, what <i>is</i> this even


    Its gotta be something every time


    Hmm, doesnt stink at least, seems alright dudes


    Ah, retard! Whyre ya smelling that shit!


    I couldnt believe my eyes, those three idiots just waltzed in there.


    Come back!


    Dont be such a wuss man


    Yeaah, this pink stuffs got nothing on us


    Momokawa, dude, chill a bit


    It apparently didnt smell, and the trio seem to be fine walking inside. Im just d it wasnt some instant kill smog like the stuff that basilisk released.


    You three would be dead if this was poison gas. Even if you dont feel anything now, this might be the slow-acting kind. You never know right? It just might. Ahh, Im so sorry, I dont have any meds for this. Youll probably die very painfully in the next half day or so, so Ill hear out anyst requests if you have them


    Haah, quit that bs


    You trynna give us a lil scare?


    Maybe you forgot, I have a little thing called Intuition Pharmacy


    AH!!


    Eh, wait no, really?


    Haah I dont think itll help, but you wanna have some antidote anyway?


    Oh, no dude, Momokawa, dude, youre, kidding right?


    I am


    You little fuck!


    Fuck you, Momokawa!


    DUDE, I thought I was gonna DIE!!


    Yeah, sorry I lied, but please try not stepping inside weird smoke from now on, alright? If its some new kind of trap, well all be done for


    And so, after convincing those three to not rush in blind, we stopped and started thinking on how to make it through the pink.


    So, youre sure this fog isnt poisonous, right Momokawa-kun?


    Donno, quite honestly. Intuition Pharmacy isnt reacting and well, those guys just proved that its at least not the fast acting sort


    Now, what ever to do. My lie could actually be a truth and it might just be slow-acting poison gas, but I didnt buy it. It wasnt Intuition Pharmacy telling me, but my in old intuition.


    That said, I couldnt believe itd be just harmless, colored fog. It might not directly cause death, but could have any number of other effects on us.


    At times like this, Id really appreciate if we had Takanashi Kotori, the Sages, Mana Analysis skill. That really was the better version of my Intuition Pharmacy, wasnt it? If the thing had mana, whether it be spells, items, or even phenomena, she could get all the info she wanted.


    Im actually more worried about any monsters that could be hiding inside than what the fog itself might do


    True, I cant see that far inside, its thick


    Shimokawa-kun, can you?


    I can only see through the one my magic makes, dudes


    Well, cant say I didnt try.


    This ce looks too risky, you guys want to try another way?


    No, I kind of feel like every path in this zone will lead to a ce like this


    Ok So we go in?


    Hmm, I really dont want to jump in without any n first. Although, speaking of other things we could try


    I got it, we can send in Rem to scout


    Sounds good, nice idea, Momokawa-kun


    No, cmon dont tter me so. Actually, you could even me me for being slow in the head and not thinking of this first.


    That aside, in addition to being immune to poisons, it didnt matter if Rem died physically, so she was perfect for this sort of job.


    Go for it, Rem


    GUGAGA!


    And once she dashed away inside, we endured the task of waiting, for a whole minute.


    GUGAGA!


    Wow, back so fast


    I had no reason to doubt Rems diligence, which just meant that the hall wasnt all that much inside.


    Is there a way out?


    GAGA


    She nodded and made a circle with her hand, the sign for yes.


    Only one?


    GA


    She shook her head and made an X. There was 2 or more exits, meaning multiple paths could be merging here.


    Fork in two?


    GA


    Three?


    GAGA


    Any obelisk or object of interest?


    GA


    Any trees or cover that monsters could hide in?


    GA


    Nothing at all?


    GAGA


    Is it bigger than a forest dome?


    GA


    Less than a dome, but double a fairy square?


    GAGA


    You see any boss rooms ahead of the three exits?


    GA


    Ok, got it. Thanks a bunch, Rem, attagirl


    I gently stroked her skull top while summarizing the earlier conversation.


    Were gonna find exits on 3 directions after we enter, theres nothing of note inside, and it shouldnt be a big deal I think we should go for it


    No one seemed particrly opposed.


    I decided our current destination to be the exit opposite to where we were. We should reach it by just walking straight.


    Just for extra reassurance, I had Rem go and make sure. Yup, we just had to walk in a straight line.


    Okay, since I said its fine, Ill go in first


    Are you sure, Momokawa-kun? You might get attacked suddenly, so maybe we should start with Yamada


    No its fine. I know youre all feeling nervous. Besides, I trust Rem


    I imed, as I straddled Raptor, leaving the worried looking Yamajun, and the fidgeting-as-they-await-their-turn others, behind.


    Since Im on Raptor, I wont lose my way or stray from the straight path. As for Rem, itd be her third time going, so there was one more assurance.


    Aand were here literally, nothing happened


    GUGA, GAGAGA


    Rem nodded vigorously to that. Now the three of us, Rem, Raptor and I, had safely traversed across the pink room.


    I figured they could alle over together, but we <i>did</i> say wed go in turns, so lets stick to that. I couldnt be sure there wasnt a trap that triggered if there was two or more of us going at once.


    He~y! whoevers next, you can go ahea~d!


    It felt like I was calling the next in line to a rickety old rope bridge. The distance wasnt very big, so they should hear me if I shout.


    Got i~t! Im ne~xt!


    The reply was from Ueda. Now that he knew Id crossed over safely, his voice didnt hint to any nervousness.


    He was, taking a while. The path shouldve been a straight line, but Ueda still hadnt arrived.


    I confirmed on my G-Shock watch that wed gone past a whole minute already. Strange, this was too strange. The path across wasnt any more than 50 meters.


    There was a trap, <i>something</i> happened. But I couldnt hear anything indicative of that. Dammit, Ill call him myself then.


    Ueda-ku~n! You alri~ght?!


    Got i~t!


    In spite of my worry, hed responded immediately. He didnt sound particrly in trouble; hed replied normally, like the first time.


    Did you get lost in there?


    Got i~t!


    Alright, but Ill send in Rem to get you, wait where you are, kay?


    Got i~t! Im ne~xt!


    My spine instantly froze over. That wasnt Ueda talking!


    The voice was just like his, but he kept saying the same thing. The exact same thing, in fact, that he said in reply to my first call. It was as if, his voice had been recorded and yed back


    Shit! Rem, we gotta go!


    I got on Raptor again and went back inside the pink room. Maybe Ueda <i>was</i> attacked by a well hidden monster.


    Id gone in ready for the fight of my life but


    What the!? Th-theres no one here!?


    Id made it back to the passage I started at. And no one, none of the people who were supposed to be waiting their turn were there.


    Why, how did they HE~Y! GUYS! ANYONE!!


    My yelling only echoed on the walls, uselessly.


    But there was one thing. As if it was reacting to my voice, all the pink gas in the hall dispersed.


    Shit, shit, weve been had No ones there anymore


    The fog gone, I could confirm with my own eyes that the room was exactly as Rem said. I could confirm that there wasnt any form of cover, so my party wasnt hidden anywhere in therge hall either. The ce was empty.


    ===


    TL: Scallop