541 541. Underground Five




Hmm.

 Inside the dining room of a house.
 I was looking at the fruits we had compared on the dining table, folding my arms and twisting my head around.

 The fruits are all sour, mostly citrus fruits.

 In addition to the ones I dropped at the New Nihonium, there's also some stuff I've been out on the town scavenging.

'That's awesome: ...... this'

 Muttering, I stare at the pea-sized fruit that dropped on the fourth floor of the Nihonium, a fruit the size of a pea grain.

 I've been testing it for a while now, and there were no exceptions.
 After biting into this fruit, any kind of sour fruit would feel sweet.

 Not to mention oranges, grapes, and even lemons, which are only sour no matter how you try, you can only feel sweet after this fruit.

 To be honest, it's a magical fruit.

"I'm home!" "I'm home!" "What are you doing, old man?
Sakura. Welcome home.

 When Sakura came back from outside, she was surprised to see the fruit scattered on the table.

 She wanted to brag to Sakura about her newly acquired magical fruit.

Here, try it.
'What? I mean, that's a miracle fruit.
'Miracle fruit? You know, Sakura.
Yes.
Where did you get it?
I had a friend who used to diet and eat these.
'What? In the original world?
Yeah?

 Sakura gives me a look that says, "What are you talking about?

'It's your old world? Miracle fruit?
It's not a very common name.

 Sakura giggled.

'When I eat this, the sour stuff feels sweet for about thirty minutes afterwards.
Yeah.
'So then you can substitute the sour stuff for the sweet stuff, which is practically zero calories without the sugar! And I was using it as a diet.
How is that ......?

 I twisted my head.
 I feel like something is terribly wrong.

'But what's wrong with this?'
'Actually, ...... this dropped from the fourth floor of Nihonium.
This?
Yes.
...... what has dropped so far?
Um, .......

 I collected the drops from the top of the table, from the first floor to the third floor.

'This and green apples on the first floor, passion fruit on the second floor, and ...... on the third floor.
Starfruit!

 I was hesitating because I didn't know the name, and Sakura told me easily.

'Starfruit? Was that also true in the original world?
Shit, that sounds like a fantasy name, now that I think about it.

 Sure, I nodded.

 Star Fruit, and Miracle Fruit.
 Both of those names are not at all uncomfortable to be told that they're RPG items.

'And they're all sour, right?'
Yeah.
The Miracle Fruit on the Fourth Floor sweetens the sour.
Yes.
Five floors down?
Five floors down?
Are there many sour things from the fifth floor down? If so, the fourth floor looks like it might be full of them.
-Oh!

 I'm slamming! He stood up with enough force to knock over a chair.
 As it was, he ran out of the cafeteria and flew to the fourth floor of Nihonium in the transporter room.

'Wait, Uncle,'

 Sakura came with me to transfer.

I'm coming with you. It's just curious.
Yeah.

 Once we flew to the fourth floor, we continued on through the dungeon and stepped down the stairs to the fifth basement floor.

''Ugh. ......''
Ugh. ......

 The pulsating dungeon was covered in red snow.
 It's dungeon snow.

 It's not a new phenomenon, but the fact that it's falling in Nifonium now makes it all the more frightening.

 I get my mind back on track and continue on through the dungeon.

 I'm looking for the monster ...... specter, where is it?

'Hiya!'

 Sakura suddenly screamed.

 When I turned around, she was slumped over.

 Had she slipped? --But then I saw an even more surprising phenomenon.

 She had been slumped on her ass when something suddenly sliced her leg open and blood gushed out.
 And then... and then... The next thing I know, the wound had healed.

"What is this?
"...... Kamites.

 I knew the phenomenon as a knowledgeable one.