I say to Meeke as I look at the slime as it repeatedly hits the bottom of the stairs.

'Can you try and see if you can't take that guy out with you?
I understand!

　Meeke tottered off.
　He takes firm custody of himself while dodging the interception of the slime that he noticed approaching.
　In that state, I try to go down the stairs, but.

''No, Ryota-sama, I can't go down.

　He reported with a slightly troubled look on his face.
　Meeke himself went down a few flights of stairs, but the slime caught him at the border and he couldn't go down any further.

'What kind of feeling is that?'
Well, it's like the slime is stuck in an invisible wall here.
I see. Yeah, I wonder how the transfer gate works.
Oh, I'll try .......

　Meeke tottered up the stairs to the gate that led to the light vortex he had used when he came in, the gate that led to the mansion's transporter room.
　He tried to jump in there with the slime secured, but even there.

'It's still no good, Ryota-sama, it feels exactly the same.
Okay. I'm done.

　I said, and Meeke came back to me with the slime in his grasp.

　I checked one last time.
　I take the slime from Meeke and catch it struggling and take it to the stairs.

　I push it against an invisible wall, unable to get through.
　It was a bit of a strange sensation when my hand slipped and I was pinned down by the fact that my hand could get through.

　I shot a scrap round at the slime, which often helped me in these situations.

　It was a bullet that ignored all interference and went straight ahead slowly, at its own pace anyway.
　The slime pushed by the scrap bullets transformed its body to the point that it was dented, but it still couldn't get to the bottom floor.

''Ah, .......''

　I heard a pong.
　I had overdone it.

　I misjudged the pull and the slime burst past its limit, caught between the scrap bullets and the wall.

'Ta, I knocked it down.'
You're f*cked.

　I chuckle.

'What would happen in this case?'
Speaking of which.

　The slime has been copied and we're stuck in this hierarchy.
　With that slime defeated, what happens to the slime sham?

　Meeke pointed it out to me and I was curious, so I joined him and walked around the tower of Tennysin.

　We soon found out what was going on.

　A shadow appeared in front of us.
　Not a slime, but a shadow.

'Apparently, when you get hit by ...... it goes back to normal.
I guess so.
Let's try again.
I'll go get another one then.
No, it's faster.

　I took out a round of normal ammunition and took Meeke with me on the ground and kept my distance.
　After a while, it hatched into a slime haggle.

　I caught that slime and walked around further, and when it encountered the shadow, I threw the slime into the shadow.
　I was going to make the slime thing again and test it - I was going to test it again.

'No change.'
That hasn't changed.

　I'm covering up with recovery rounds, but when the shadows attacked, they didn't turn into slime like they did earlier.

　This is ...... if.

　　　　　Star.

Wow, you're really something.

　On the third round of the test, amidst a bunch of cocrosstime freaks, Neptune, who came to visit, suddenly said something like that.

''It has to be the original monster, and if it's a haggler, you can't fake it. That's something you'd never know if you did it normally. You'll never find out that you can fake a monster in the first place.
If not me, then Meeke will.
He wouldn't have been born if it wasn't for you.

　Neptune said, smiling.

　Meeke is the child who became a unique monster in Bodley Lyota.
　She wouldn't have been born without me, if you ask me, she might as well have been.

'So, it sounds like you're running a lot of tests, have you found out anything additional?

　In response to Neptune's question, I put all the information so far together in my head for a moment and then told Neptune.

'A human and an original monster. When one of them is attacked by a shadow, a shadowy one (...) is created. If you kill 12 of the shadows and reduce the number of 'Stars' to zero, the originals will be trapped on this level.
What if I'm not on this level?

　Neptune raised the question. Naturally, it's a possibility I've considered as well - the four of us still trapped on the first to fourth floors (、、、、) are the most important thing I'm concerned about right now.

After the spider was formed, Meeke took me back to the mansion, and if I kill a dozen of them, I'll be forced to summon them here.
You have to.
But because it was a monster, it disappeared the moment it arrived.
'I see, so it's just as well that you're not allowed to cross dungeons or other layers of hierarchy.
'If all the Stars are gone, I think we'll just be stuck here. Maybe it's too early to conclude.
If that's true.
Yeah?
We need to recruit people who are willing to take permanent jobs in the dungeon in the future.
Yeah?　Oh, I see.

　I hadn't thought of that idea.

　I was here in Tennysin to help Neptune (and myself), while Neptune was here to investigate the specs of the dungeon as a production site.

　The difference in their positions manifested itself in the difference in ideas.

''Well, if it's all we've got so far, then we can hire someone who is less capable of fighting and is willing to continue living in the dungeon.

　That's a bit of a stretch, but it's a high-grade food dungeon, and you can promise a high salary.

In that case, you'll be stuck in the hierarchy, so you'll have to guarantee your comfort as well.
This dungeon can take a lot of tax money, so whatever you want to do there: ----

　I opened my eyes.

　My eyes widened so much that I could see myself ripping open my blinds.

'What's wrong?'

　I started to move silently.
　An inspiration emerged in my head, to see if it was right.

　I'll take out the original cocrosstime that Meeke has secured in a safe place, and then I'll bring the fifth floor monster back to the shadows once it's in the shadows.
　Then bring in the sleeping slime we have separately and throw it out in front of the shadows.

　It will attack you and all the shadows will be transformed into a sleeping slime.

　Kill 6 of the Sleeping Slimes and reduce the number of original Stars by half.

"Meeke, bring me that sleeping slime.
I understand.
What are you going to do?

　Neptune came along beside me.
　As if I hadn't noticed, Neptune, who still has dungeon investigation on his mind, didn't notice that.

　With Neptune and Meeke in tow, I went up to the sixth floor.
　The sixth floor of Tennesin, where Dungeonsnow is descending.
　He throws out a sleeping slime in front of the shadows that quickly appear, follows up, and turns the shadows on the sixth floor into sleeping slime.

　The original Sleeping Slime, which had been reduced to 6 Stars, now had 12 Stars.

　It's a max of 12.

''Could it be!
Yeah.

　I return to the fifth floor with Neptune.
　I was a sleeping slime earlier, and now I'm back in the shadows.

'Wow, that's great, Kimi.'

　Neptune spluttered.

　There's nothing I can do about it once the Stars have been reduced, but I can reset them on another level before that happens.
　I was a little relieved to learn that.