Dungeon Society, reception room.
　Clint, facing me there, was nervously chewing on a sugar cube, skinny as can be.

　He was skinny when he came into the room, skinny even after he told his secretary something, and skinny even when he sat down on the sofa.
　He continued to chew on a lot of sugar cubes like a rodent. The amount of sugar cubes was enough to make me feel like I was going to die of heartburn watching them.

That's a lot of food.
"I'm sorry to show you how unseemly I am.
Does this have something to do with Arsenic's death?

　Clint nodded clearly, all the while scouring the sugar cubes.

'Tell me a story. How did you know the dungeon was going to die?
...... I guess I was right to approach Satou after all.

　Clint stared at me for a moment, then sighed and swallowed the entire sugar cube in his mouth and said

'Why?'
'Now that's a question. I know for sure that the dungeon is going to die, and I'm not even questioning it.
...... because that's the rule of this world, right?

　I blurted it out.
　It was stupid in a way.
　I didn't wonder about that - I know Aulum and Nihonium, which is why I don't wonder about the expression "the dungeon dies".

　So I accepted "the dungeon dies" as a matter of course.
　But.

'Then you know about Bloody Rain. No one knows that the dungeon dies without knowing that.
Bloody Rain: "Bloody Rain ...... blood rain?
'Yes. That's what happens in dungeons when a dungeon is on the verge of death. It rains like blood, but it's an untouchable, visual-only rain.
It's like dungeon snow.

　Clint nodded.

'Bloody Rain and Death in the Dungeon are two sets of things, there's no way you can say you know one or the other.
Okay.
That's what makes Satou a mystery to me. If there's anyone right now who can stop Arsenic's death, Satou, you're the only one.

　I didn't need to ask why Arsenic's death had to be stopped.
　In this world where everything is dropped from dungeons, dungeons are a big part of the city's tax revenue.
　It was only natural that Clint, the head of the Dungeon Association, would try to prolong Arsenic's life.

　On the other hand.

. can't he usually do that?
...... Yeah, never, ever.
Okay.

　I got up and headed for the door.

'Will you do it?'
I'll see what I can do.
'Thank you!　Thank you so much!

　Clint got up and followed me, taking my hand and repeating the same words over and over again.

　　　　　☆

　Arsenic, basement level.
　As I stepped in, I was surprised by the sight.

　Bloody Rain, it's literally raining blood.
　Despite the fact that Dungeone Snow was shimmering down and creating some sort of fantastic view, the rain - red, shaking like water, it was a frightening atmosphere.

　The only saving grace was that it didn't have the same physical effect on us as Danjon Snow.

'We'll have to see Arsenic first,'

　Then I turned around.
　I turned around and saw four girls.

　Emily, Celeste, Eve and Alice.

　The Ryota family's faces were gathered here.

'How can we meet them?'
'I don't know for sure, but given what happened to Aulum and Nihonium, we should be able to clear a path by attacking all the dungeons and defeating the rare monsters at the lowest level.
The rare monster at the lowest level: ...... You mean Absolute Rock on the 30th floor of the basement.
"You know, Celeste?
Yeah, it's a pretty nasty one. The fact that they don't attack is just like the Arsenic monsters, but they're just so hard that no adventurer has ever been able to defeat them properly.
So the name says it all.

　Can I beat this guy?　...... No.

Now we just need to dive anyway.
What are the rabbits supposed to do?
I need your help with the attack. Worst-case scenario, I might have to go through all the levels on my own, but maybe we can split up.
It's just like in Auldurm!
So that's it, Alice. So that's it.

　I stared at the four of them.

　The petite Emily carrying the hammer.
　Celeste with her long hair and model style, looking strangely presentable even in the rain of blood.
　Eve in a bunny suit with her own bunny ears.
　Alice with three fellow monsters on her shoulders.

　I stared at the four of them and lowered my head.

''Help me with this.''
You will be responsible for it.
I'd do anything for you, Ryota.
Carrots, a heap and a boatload. Throw in some groundhog and a steak.
'It's a total family effort!　Hmmm, exciting.

　The four of them responded with their own words.
　The friends I've made since I came to this world.
　That was reassuring and made me happy.

　　　　　☆

　Arsenic, 15th basement floor.
　In the dungeon with a total of thirty floors, Emily, Celeste, and Eve decided that Emily, Celeste, and Eve would take the upper fifteen floors, and me and Alice would be in charge of the lower fifteen floors.

　We went down, and the moment we encountered the monster, we defeated the monster with a fusion of fire and freezing bullets and annihilation bullets.

　Arsenic's rock monster was more effective with the annihilation bullets than the infinite lightning bullets.

　I took it down in one shot and threw the dropped flower into the magic cart and sent it immediately to Elsa at home.

　I don't know what kind of conditional decision the strategy, is, but I beat it, drop it, assess it and sell it.
　I did that with one set of these hypotheticals.

'Alice!'
'Yes!　Downstairs is this way!

　I asked Alice to come with me because I hadn't conquered Arsenic and didn't know anything about the hierarchy.
　There's no point in killing a monster in the blink of an eye if I have to spend a lot of time going down, so I asked Alice to come with me.

　The dungeon born Alice led me forward and soon we were down to the 16th floor.
　I blinked away again with an annihilation bullet at a rock that didn't move in the rain of blood, sent the dropped flowers in a magic cart, and proceeded further.

　Arsenic is, in a way, a dungeon that is far from "attack".

　Big rocks, small rocks.
　Flying rocks, buried rocks, transparent rocks, shattered rocks--.

　There are various rocks, but they all have one thing in common: they're all "stuck" rocks.
　As soon as we saw them, we defeated them with an annihilation bullet and ran down the stairs at once.

　With Alice's help, I didn't have to wait long before I reached the 30th floor below ground.
　There, I make the rocks lying around disappear.

'Lyota!　Over there!

　Alice, who was the first to notice the signs, pointed to the other side.
　In the rain of blood, a rock stood alone.

　It was an unremarkable rock, slightly smaller than the surrounding rock.

　But it's clear that it's different.
　And the fact that it's different in the dungeon means there are two possibilities, and the fact that there are still people around narrows it down to one.

　Arsenic Basement Level 30, Rare Monster Absolute Rock.

''Hang in there, Lyota!　If we beat that one, we'll make it.
Are you ready?
Yeah, it works!

　Alice's reply without hesitation.
　It's not just encouragement either, she was born in a dungeon and can sense everything about the dungeon, she must have sensed something.
　That's why she is able to say this without hesitation.

　She gave me reassurance.

　I take a step forward and hold my gun up.
　I fire a reinforced bullet-massive fireball and a frozen bullet, the bullets fusing in the process into an all-consuming annihilation bullet.

　The vanishing bullet landed and became a black sphere that swallowed the space around it - but.

'Doesn't it work, does it work?'
I guess so.

　I furrowed my brow.
　The black sphere that had swallowed everything up until now had been swallowed up by me in reverse and turned into a lunar eclipse.

　After the bullets disappeared, Absolute Rock was there, looking the same.

''Lyota, are you okay?''
I'm going to try a lot of things at .......

　I took a lot of shots at the absolute lock.
　Reinforced lightning bullets, piercing bullets, tracking bullets, single flame bullets, and freezing bullets.
　I didn't think it was possible, but I also shot a straitjacket, a straitjacket, and a sleeping bullet that fused into a variable ball.

　Considering the possibility that my firepower was too high to be effective, I also shot just ordinary bullets.

　All of them were no good.
　Even after firing all kinds of bullets, Absolute Rock didn't freak out.

'Mr. Yoda!'

　I turned at the voice, Emily, who had been left in charge of attacking the upper floor, and Celeste and Eve came running in.

'We're done upstairs,'
That's absolute rock.
Move aside, the rabbit will take care of it.

　Eve said, and proceeded slowly to Absolute Rock.
　She raised her right hand, the slowest it had ever been - too fast, and she hit a chop that seemed to be the opposite of slow.

'...... ouch,'

　Absolute Rock didn't freak out, on the contrary, Eve's hands were squirming!　I made a sound and was covered in blood.

　Eve didn't move a single eyebrow and didn't show any pain, but on the contrary, I could see the disappointment in her.
　I shot her a recovery round and healed her hand.

'I'll try, sir.'

　Emily drew her hammer and moved away from Absolute Rock.
　She turned herself around when she was well away and dashed toward the rock.
　After getting her eyes full of help, she jumped in and swung the giant hammer down.

　A powerful blow, the opposite of Eve's, a powerful blow.
　The cave shook, a tremor so great that it was impossible to stand still.

　But...

I'm not even scared.

　Absolute Rock still doesn't have a scratch on it.

...... Hey Lyota, what was that metal fatigue you mentioned before?
Heat it up and then cool it down.
Yeah, I don't know about that.

　Celeste pointed out with a wizardly point of view.

　He reloaded the gun.
　I reloaded the gun with reinforced bullets, and then loaded it with flaming bullets and frozen bullets.
　It's the same way to load the bullets as the extinction bullets, but I didn't load them at the same time, but in order.

　The flames envelop the rock, and immediately after that, the freezer bullets are used to cool it down.
　With that, Eve dives in further and unleashes a super slow chop.

　That didn't work either, the rock didn't freak out.

'She's amazing ...... not freaked out at all.
'I knew it was 'hard' in the knowledge, but I didn't know it was this hard,'
We can't go on like this, sir. We need to kill this monster before we can move on.
...... If it were a carrot, I could bite it.

　My friends were in trouble.
　It was a monster that didn't move at all and could escape with ease if it wanted to, but its hardness was the strongest of all the opponents so far.

　Even if you try everything you can, it won't crack, is there nothing you can do about it anymore?

''--!

　Suddenly, it looked like the rock was crying.

　In the midst of the Bloody Rain, which should not physically interfere in any way, it looked as if it was flowing into the rock's body and its face was crying tears of blood.

　It was like Arsenic's face, his heart.
　That's what it felt like to me.

'Mr. Yoda?'

　Emily is surprised to see me going to the rocks.
　I put my gun away. I can't do that.

　I stand in front of the rock, close my eyes and take one deep breath.

　I clenched my fist - and punched it as hard as I could.

　The punch didn't work, not even a crack, not even a piece.
　Still, I hit him.
　I kept hitting and hitting and hitting.

　The response was as if I was punching something tremendous - as if I was punching the mountain itself.
　But I still hit it as hard as I could, and I kept hitting it.

　My greatest weapon - or trump card - was this.
　One level as a transmigrant, two levels by dedicating a mirror to Nihonium.

　Two levels higher than a normal human, two levels beyond the limit, the power SS is my last trump card.

　I kept hitting it with a single mind.

''Do your best!
Come on, Mr. Lyota!
Furee, Furee, teale veru.
We'll be right behind you.

　With my friends cheering me on, I just kept hitting them.

　I don't know how long I hit him, but I kept hitting him.
　Because in the middle, the rock stopped crying.

　The rock that always just looks at me with a blank expression, the Arsenic monster.
　Because its face looked like it was smiling slightly.

　So I kept hitting it.

　Eventually.

　--Bish!

　Absolute Rock cracked and his fist was impaled on the rock.