Half a day in a carriage arranged by the cell, Neptune took me to Tennesin.

　A tall tower that draws long, long shadows in the darkened wilderness.
　The top is not visible, and it extends beyond the clouds.

'This is Tenesin?'
Yeah, I guess so.
You're going up.
Is this your first time in a non-underground dungeon?

　I gave a small nod.

'I see, well, it happens sometimes, these things.'
Okay.

　I wasn't really surprised.
　It's always been that way, but dungeons aren't just about going underground.
　It's only natural that there are types of dungeons that go up.

　I looked around.

'There's nothing here. There's no village or town?''
No, there are multiple interests at play, so it depends on the outcome of the investigation.
'I see. ...... Who are your enemies, by the way?　What's the drop?
I don't know what the drop is.
Don't you get it?

　Neptune smiled.

'I told you it depends on the outcome of the investigation.
But you know what the drop is.
The monster here is stronger than me. I might have been the only one to win the first time, but I missed my chance.
Stronger than you ...... only the first time?
You'll know it when you get in there. You're stronger than me, by the way.

　Neptune repeated the same words as before.
　His face was truly imminent.

''Don't let your guard down.
...... Got it.

　I know Neptune's power, I know the world's opinion of him and his reputation.
　This is the dungeon that makes Neptune say this much.
　I steeled myself and went to the dungeon.

'Take care of the carriage. For now, I just need to clear the first floor and get back to Cyclo.

　To keep my promise to meet with Prumbum every day.

'I've got it, I've got it.'

　Neptune sent me out and I stepped into the Tennesin dungeon.

　Tennesin, first floor.
　The dungeon looked like a tower from the outside, and the interior was the tower itself.
　The interior looked like it was made of stone bricks, and there were windows to let the sun shine through.

　Of all the dungeons I've ever entered, this is the most physically bright dungeon.

　The atmosphere is not a bad place to be.
　Well, the monster--.

"Huh?　What's the matter, Neptune, I thought you weren't going in?
......

　Neptune stalked over from the other side.

''I mean, I didn't know there was an entrance there too--''

　I reacted quickly and jumped to the side.
　Neptune, who was stalwartly approaching me, clenched his fist and threw a punch at me.

　Buhhhh!　And a punch that grazed the tip of my nose with a roar that tore the air apart.
　It stabbed into the ground after I had dodged it, and the ground blasted to pieces as if it had exploded.

'What the hell do you think you're doing, Neptune!
......
If it's not ...... himself?

　I'm confused, and then Neptune steps in further and throws the same punch as before.

　I stepped in with a goof and threw a punch to intercept him.

----!

　An unmentionable popping sound echoed through the tower.
　The tower shook with the shockwave, and both me and Neptune took three steps back from each other.

　Evenly matched.

　I remembered that tavern when I first met Neptune.
　It was like a replay of that time, punching and hitting each other from the same movement.
　We could say that our movements are exactly the same as they were then.

'And yet we're evenly matched: ......

　My power has increased even more since then.
　In contrast, Neptune, who has been reigning as a famous adventurer for many years, his level was normally canned at that point in time.

　This Neptune has become even stronger than that time.
　It's even with my even higher power SS.

　The word "fake," flashed through my mind.

　The movements are exactly the same, so it should have something to do with his doppelganger or something, but his power is overwhelmingly greater than his.

　The Neptune spooks attacked further.

　He used a barrage of regular bullets to get a distance, and a fusion of blue flame bullets to set up flameless bullets in a trap.
　However, Neptune Doubt quickly avoided it and rushed at me at breakneck speed.

　Pah!

　I guarded a strong punch with my crossed arms, and while being blown up, I grabbed Neptune Doubt's arm and used the momentum against it to throw him away.

　The Neptune goes swiftly and dives into the wall of the tower with a roar.

　In the midst of the falling debris and dust, Neptune is leisurely coming towards you.

'Are you unharmed?

　I was a bit stunned.
　There is dust on the ground, but there is no indication of injury.

'Then!'

　I shot an accelerator round at myself.

　The world accelerates.
　In a world that has become dozens of times faster, I rushed into Neptune's pseudo-world.
　He effortlessly dodged the slow-motion heavy punches, grabbed it by the throat and thrust it all the way through Neptune Moby in the train path.

　He pushed into the wall and fired a series of growth and infinite lightning bullets at zero distance.

'Can you make it?'

　It was such a series of shots that even the dungeon master class died a few times.
　Even after receiving it, Neptune's dumbass was only grazed, and he fought back even more.

　I was stunned by its toughness, but it wasn't completely ineffective.
　It's not like I have to do anything special.

　He's one of the strongest adventurers in humanity, several times stronger than Neptune.
　That's all, it seems.

　The effects of the accelerated bullets are still there.
　Grabbing my slow-motion gutsy arms and throwing them to the ground, zero-range scrap bullets to my large limbs.

　A scrap bullet of a nature that slowly goes straight ahead without being able to push it away, even with my power.
　It strikes the limbs and crucifies the Neptune monster to the ground.

　I struggled, but I couldn't move.
　There was more continuous firing, zero-range continuous firing while mounting.
　I put a lot of fire into it, and I put it right up to the edge of the accelerated ammunition effect.
　Finally, the Neptune flies down and drops with a pop.

　The one that dropped.

It's a matsutake mushroom. It's just that this world's dungeons are all about primary production.

　Neptune, one of the five strongest monsters I've ever encountered, dropped a matsutake mushroom, a high-grade ingredient.
　I'd say it's great, and if it's not worth it, it's not worth it.

　It's not a mistake to say that it's typical of this world.

　Such a matsutake mushroom.
　When I picked it up, I found out that it was a matsutake mushroom.

"They're all here.

　The Neptune monster that I had worked so hard to defeat, now three of them appeared and slithered toward me from afar.
　When they were a certain distance away, all three of them were already charging at me.

　A trinity attack, normally unavoidable.

''Repetition!''

　He released a repetition.
　All three Neptune pseudo-soldiers fell easily and each dropped a shaped matsutake.

　The repetition works, too, and it's looking more and more like 'just messed up and strong'.

'Hmmm, this could be a tricky dungeon.

　Let's go back and talk to that guy about why he's Neptune.