“I guess for now, I’ve been saved… but…”
Looking at the towering wall in the distance, I felt at a loss.
It was good that I had blocked the entity chasing from behind, but in doing so, I had effectively sealed off my own exit.
The cave seemed deeper than I had thought, and I could continue further if I chose to.
“…Well, there seems to be something there.”
If I were to try and break through the wall to escape, I honestly didn’t want to do that either.
I was stuck in a bind, unable to move in any direction.
“By the way, what was that earlier?”
The image I had seen at the edge of my vision, like some kind of floating projection, had now disappeared.
But, I was half-convinced.
That must have been the skill the goddess had mentioned.
“If I just concentrate, could it appear… Oh, it actually shows up.”
The floating string of characters appeared effortlessly in the air.
It was clear that the skill responsible for creating this sturdy wall was “Wall Creation: Mana Consumption 1.”
“When I was running away, it didn’t show up at all… but now that I’m in this cave, it’s suddenly usable.”
That meant I wasn’t using it wrong.
It must have been the conditions that triggered its activation.
“…In other words, since this is a dungeon, that’s why it suddenly became usable, right?”
If you think about it simply, that’s probably the case.
Outside of a dungeon, the Dungeon Master skill would have no effect.
So if it became usable the moment I entered this place, then this must be a dungeon.
“Ugh… the more I think about it, the less I want to stay here.”
That lizard from earlier—it seemed like a monster from a game now that I think about it.
I encountered something like that outside of a dungeon. In a dungeon, it wouldn’t be strange to encounter something even worse, more frequently.
“But…”
In that case, I should turn back quickly. By now, there’s a higher chance that the lizard is gone.
But I can’t turn back. This dungeon, which might be even more dangerous than the outside, is the only place where I can use my skill, the one lifeline I have.
“First, I should check what I can do with this skill.”
Looking at the list of strings quickly, it seemed like this was a list of things I could do.
When I looked calmly, it reminded me of a game’s menu screen.
“There’s not many glowing menu options.”
There were a lot of menu items.
However, the number that was glowing was very few.
I could somewhat tell that the unlit items probably couldn’t be selected.
“Create a fork in the path… Yeah, I thought so.”
“Fork Creation: Mana Consumption 5”
I tried selecting it, but as expected, nothing happened—it was a dud.
“Well then, for now, let’s seal off the other side.”
“Wall Creation: Mana Consumption 1”
I created a new wall, hiding the deeper part of the cave, opposite the wall that blocked the entrance.
With this, the area would be safe from monsters, whether from the outside or inside.
“…I mean, I guess I’ve kind of trapped myself, but it should be fine.”
“Reset: Mana Consumption 0”
Since there was a menu option like this, I figured it would be easy to erase the things I had created with my skill.
“Wall Creation and Reset…”
I tried it out just to be sure. When I created a new wall and selected Reset while focusing on that wall, just as I intended, only the wall disappeared.
Alright, this makes me feel a bit safer in using my skill.
“…Man… I’m getting more and more tired.”
I was suddenly reincarnated into an unfamiliar land, and then it was a chase with what seemed like monsters. It’s no surprise that I’m exhausted.
But at the very least, I should test this skill a bit more…
“Next, let’s try creating a floor…”
“Floor Creation: Mana Consumption 1”
When I touched it with my finger, the ground changed from rough earth and stones to smooth, paved stone tiles.
…Maybe I should just sleep here. I’m surrounded by walls and it’s safe, and this neatly paved floor now looks like a fine place to rest, considering how tired I am.
“I can’t… I should sleep. Oh, that’s it… this means…”
I had been curious about the term “Mana Consumption.”
That means, every time I create a wall or floor, I was using mana.
It could be the dungeon’s mana, but considering the fatigue that builds up every time I do something, it’s probably my own mana…
That’s as far as my thoughts went.
◇
“…I feel a bit better than earlier.”
Despite being on the cold, hard stone pavement, it seems I ended up sleeping quite a bit.
I was that exhausted earlier.
This doesn’t seem like just simple fatigue.
“I guess it was because I consumed too much mana.”
And with sleep, my mana must have recovered as well.
If that’s the case, then the next thing I should worry about is my mana.
“Mana consumption: 1 x 4 times.”
The front and rear walls, the reset wall, and the floor.
Maybe the mana consumed from resetting the wall might come back, but for now, let’s assume I’ve consumed 4 mana.
“That means… my mana is probably around 4.”
I’m not sure if that’s low or average.
No, it’s probably low. A Dungeon Master who gets exhausted after making 4 walls. I’m sure I’m the only one like that.
“I wish it would at least show me the numbers…”
I fiddled with the floating menu screen, wondering if there was something like that.
Then, I realized that sliding my finger horizontally made the screen change.
“I see… that previous screen was for remodeling the dungeon, and this one seems to be something like my status.”
Izumi Reiko
Mana: 5
Strength: 3
Skill: 4
Stamina: 5
Agility: 4
…Those numbers are hard to react to.
If the highest was 5, and at least 10 or so, it’d be an acceptable number.
But, the maximum is probably 100 or something… If that’s the case, my strength would be fragile enough to blow away with a gust of wind.
“Mana is 5. If I consumed 4, then I still had 1 left, and yet I was so exhausted… If it reached 0, I’d probably faint. That’s scary.”
At least I recognized the danger in that.
And the reason I couldn’t create a fork in the road was probably because my mana wasn’t enough to reach 5 at the time.
In other words, the unlit but readable items are things I couldn’t use at that moment, but would be usable once my mana recovers.
Unreadable items are probably ones that require more than 5 mana to use.
“Still, it’s inconvenient not knowing my current mana just by the maximum value.”
I guess complaining doesn’t help…
At least I can get some idea of things based on whether the text is glowing.
“Huh… wait, could this also be a map?”
Looking closely, the status screen shows something like a white glowing circle icon, displayed like a speech bubble.
That icon must be me. The important part is that the icon is positioned over something that looks like a path.
“So, if this is the entrance… wow, this dungeon is huge.”
There are also two other things that catch my attention.
The number “0” written in the top right of the map. What could that be…?
Also, if this white icon is me, then is the grey icon nearby another living creature?
I tried to select it to check its status, but then, unexpectedly, another grey icon appeared.
“What is this wall?!”
“Looks like they’re trying to divide us! Demons are all such cunning creatures!”
“I’ll destroy it. I never intended to fight alongside humans.”
“I wouldn’t mind taking them down with the demons, honestly.”
Voices came from behind me.
At least, they weren’t the same monsters from earlier, and they seemed like they could be reasoned with…
But again, there were words of hatred toward demons. Just like the men I encountered before.
Those men and these voices both mentioned killing demons…
The goddess, who reincarnated me saying I was a failure, must have meant something like this.
I’ve been reincarnated as a demon, and it seems like in this world, demons are something to be killed.
A loud noise came from behind the wall.
The sound of something being struck was clearly meant to break through the wall.
“Alright! Stop with the annoying tricks!”
“Oh, there’s a demon. It’s probably this guy who was blocking the wall.”
“We might as well take him down here to avoid more trouble later.”
…Alright, I need to run. There’s no way I can negotiate with them!
Unlike the men I encountered earlier, they’re not human, but their attitude toward me—or rather, demons—seems the same.
I turned and ran straight deeper into the cave. Of course, I erased the blocking wall with a reset.
“The wall’s gone. That means this is definitely his doing.”
This is bad. Bad. Bad!
They’re definitely more dangerous than that lizard or those men earlier!
Although they looked human, they had distinctive ears, and their arms and legs were hairy.
They had ears like rabbits or cats growing from their heads. They must be beastmen.
Such creatures usually have high physical abilities.
“What the heck is this? They’re slow. Well, if they’re this slow, it’ll be easy to outrun and kill them.”
The voice behind me was closing in fast.
…There’s no way I can escape!
So what do I do? Should I beg for my life and hope they spare me?
No, it’s clear they only want to kill me.
There’s no way we can talk.
“Goodbye, weakling.”
This voice probably belonged to a beastman with a sword.
He was probably trying to slash me. I was too terrified to even look back.
Is there any… way to survive?
“Argh!! Ah!? Not again!!”
It was a snap decision.
I quickly accessed the menu and created a wall again—this time right behind me.
It seems that worked, as I managed to divide myself from the beastmen.
From the man’s frustrated voice, it’s clear he probably crashed into the suddenly appeared wall.
From the sound of him attacking the wall with brute force, his anger was intense.
That aside…
“I’m definitely escaping!!”
I focused solely on running deeper into the cave during this opportunity.
