Let’s be an Adventurer! ~Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board~ - Chapter 105.1

105 Part 1

Let’s be an Adventurer! ~Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board~ 105

Let’s Try Out The New Feature!

<<Absorbed energy from the dungeon’s core>>

<<Conditions have been fulfilled>>

<<Requesting Demo Graph functionality release due to fulfilling the prerequisites —- Granted>>

<<”Item Enhancement” function is now available>>

If this was correct, then the stage that Haruki touched was the dungeon core.

The dungeon core, as the name implied, was the core that the dungeon was made up from.

There were many posts in the “Narou” forums talking about the existence of these cores and their possible locations in the various dungeons.

They would refer to these cores as gem-like stones that stored enough energy in order to maintain the dungeon.

Since they hadn’t been actually discovered, the idea that these cores didn’t really exist was also spreading in the forums.

However, the cores were real.

And Haruki could have never imagined that such a shabby stage was actually one of those dungeon cores.

But even supposing that what the log said was true, it was no wonder that no adventurer who had reached the deepest part of this dungeon couldn’t find the core.

Even Haruki thought that the core would look a bit more impressive.

No adventurer would imagine that a regular stone stage would actually be a dungeon’s core.

Then there was the part where it said “Absorbed energy from the dungeon’s core”.

That could be somehow related to the stage changing colors.

The brighter portion of the stage would be the part that still had energy left, whereas the darker portion would be where it had lost its energy.

Then, after he had “absorbed” that lost energy, the requirement had been met.

Realizing that, Haruki gasped with a “Ah!”

— Then…

— Then that was my fault after all, wasn’t it…?

“What’s wrong, Karaboshi?”

“No, ah… Hmm.”

A cold sweat ran down Haruki’s forehead.

Seeing that, Karen’s eyes became gradually colder.

It was as if she was saying “Ah, I knew it, it was you after all, just as I thought…”

“So, what exactly did you do, Karaboshi?”

“Ugh… It looks like this was the dungeon’s core…”

“Huh? You mean THAT dungeon core!?”

“Yeah.”

“But no one has seen a dungeon core before… Also, others have cleared this dungeon before, right? So they should have definitely seen this…”

“But it really doesn’t look like what anyone would expect a dungeon core to be, right?”

“Well, you’re right, but… Do you really think no one could have noticed it by now?”

Karen’s face was full of doubt as she looked at the dungeon core.

Thinking about something, she approached the core and put her hand on it.

“Huh?”

“It’s not changing.”

The core didn’t change its color when Karen touched it.

Seeing that, Haruki touched the core once again.

“Oh!”

Its color started to change again, and Haruki quickly backed away.

<<Absorbed energy from the dungeon’s core>>

It was clearly written in the log.

“It seems it won’t do anything unless it’s you, Karaboshi.”

“Yeah… I see, though…”

It would appear that the core only responded to those who had a Skill Board.

Or perhaps, this particular Skill Board had the ability to absorb energy from a dungeon core…

In any case, there was no doubt that the board was a key item.

“What would happen if I absorbed all of the energy from this core?”

“The most popular theory in the forums was that the dungeon it was linked to would wither and die.”

Another opinion was that the dungeon would collapse as soon as the core was destroyed.

To think that the entire dungeon would come crumbling down the moment all of its energy is absorbed was truly a nightmare.

— This might be the chance to make a dungeon disappear for the first time ever!

Contrary to such expectations, feelings of anxiety about the collapse of the dungeon crossed his mind.

“What should we do?”

“We’ve come this far, so why don’t we try absorbing all of its energy?”

“And what if the dungeon comes crumbling down?”

“We make for the exit as fast as we can!”

Karen clenched her fist, her eyes sparkling with an intense light.

Apparently, she wasn’t afraid about participating in an Indiana-Jones-esque escape scene.

Of course, with that Luck skill, she would have a high chance of surviving…

“Phew…”

Having made up his mind after being worried for a while, Haruki placed his hand on the core.

The core began to gradually lose more color.

It looked as if a light that had been lit inside the stage had started to grow dimmer.

The last bit of dark gray vanished from the stage.

At that time, a light suddenly emerged from the stage and flew towards Haruki’s chest.

The bursting light melted into Haruki’s chest as if it was being absorbed.

The stage turned completely black.

Haruki and Karen put themselves on guard right away.

— The dungeon could start to collapse any time now…

5 seconds. 10 seconds.

They stayed on guard, watching for changes, holding their breath.

20 seconds. 30 seconds.

Still, no change seemed to occur inside the dungeon.

“… Nothing’s happening.”

“… Yeah.”

Haruki and Karen nodded at each other and relaxed a little.

They couldn’t feel completely relieved yet, but at least the dungeon didn’t seem to be collapsing anytime soon.

Haruki took out his Skill Board once again.

<<Received energy from the dungeon’s core>>

<<All of the core’s energy has been absorbed>>

<<Core’s activity temporarily stopped>>

<<Next Stampede outbreak time has been delayed>>

“What’s this…?”

Haruki seemed exhausted after looking over the log many times.

“What does it say, Karaboshi?”

“Uh… The dungeon’s not going to collapse. The core simply went dormant… This core seems to be somewhat related to the Stampedes…”

“Eh?”

Karen made a weird voice as she asked that.

She sounded like was in doubt, but that didn’t mean she didn’t understand Haruki’s words.

The proof of that was that her eyes were wide open.

“Are Stampedes caused by the dungeon’s cores!?”

“According to the log, that seems to be the case. But it doesn’t go very much into detail.”

— I wish the explanation was a little bit more detailed.

The wording of the log was too vague and could lead to a wide range of interpretations.

“The log says ‘Core’s activity temporarily stopped’. And this was due to me absorbing all of its energy.”

“Temporarily stopped… What does that mean exactly?”

Karen seemed a bit disappointed.

Haruki also looked rather vexed about it.

Temporarily meant that it would be reactivated at some point.

But there was no info on the logs as to when that would be.