“Oh, a new menu for the first time in a while.”
Recovering magical power, creating monsters, sometimes crafting traps, and occasionally making treasure chests at Lady Fiona’s insistence.
Perhaps due to such activities, a new menu option appeared right below the monster creation section.
Mid-Tier Monster Creation: Mana Cost – 10
The mana cost is 10. If I fully recover my mana, it’s an option I could choose.
But it’s easy to imagine that if I did, I’d collapse again and get scolded by Lady Fiona.
Speaking of which, while monsters I’ve created before can be individually selected from the menu, the Toxic Slime stands out as the only one requiring 10 mana to summon.
Could it be that the Toxic Slime was an incredibly rare mid-tier monster I managed to create?
I didn’t notice because its stats are the same as other monsters, but its poison ability, not listed in its stats, seems remarkably powerful.
In that case, is this like a gacha for monsters at the level of the Toxic Slime?
I want to try it. Using the dungeon’s mana… no, it’s better to save it.
Besides, I might get addicted after trying it once. I need to restrain myself.
“Rey! Please make another treasure chest! This time, I’m sure we’ll be able to create a resurrection potion!”
“Lady Fiona, please calm down. Thanks to you, we’ve already learned that the contents of the treasure chest are random depending on the amount of mana used. That alone is progress.”
Yeah, overindulging in gacha is definitely not a good idea.
The dungeon’s mana hasn’t even reached 50 yet. I’ll just wait until my mana increases.
◇
“The Subterranean Abyss is growing.”
“Growing… you say? Didn’t the humans claim they had destroyed the dungeon? It’s impossible for it to revive so quickly, let alone grow. Were they lying?”
“They’re humans, after all. A short-lived species with ambitions far larger than their fleeting lives.”
“Well, they’re still more charming than brainless beasts, aren’t they? Thinking they can stand against us—so foolish, it’s almost cute. Don’t you think so, Jino?”
“Yes. It’s likely their recklessness stems from their lack of experience, unlike us long-lived races.”
When addressed directly, it’s hard to dodge with a mere polite smile.
I said something insincere, but it seemed to be the answer the elves wanted. Pleased, they continued their conversation in high spirits.
It’s exactly the same. For now, there’s no deviation from the established setting.
Elves look down on short-lived races and consider themselves the supreme beings.
It’s just like the world of Lunatic Abyss, the game the goddess mentioned.
Which means… that monstrously powerful Demon King exists.
Far beyond any monsters or even the Demon King’s Four Heavenly Generals, the balance-breaking absurdity of that Demon King…
And even if you defeat him, there’s the insane “Mad God,” a true final boss capable of destroying the world.
No way. Even in the game, I lost count of how many times I died. Now the goddess expects me to defeat them after reincarnating? What was she thinking?
“Jino is remarkably capable for a reincarnator, which is a relief. Regardless of what’s inside, he’s an elf for now. If properly nurtured, he may eventually become a sage capable of defeating the Demon King.”
“Y-Yes… thank you very much.”
“Indeed. First, let’s have him spend a few hundred years studying magic.”
Thank goodness elves are a long-lived race. Judging by their attitude, it seems they’re willing to spend an eternity raising me. I’ll just keep flattering the elves and try not to provoke the Demon King while I figure things out…
“By the way, what happened to the human and beastfolk heroes?”
“Oh… it seems they’ve been resurrected. That’s why the humans were spreading those rumors about having destroyed the dungeon.”
“Big fat lie, apparently.”
So, the heroes have already been resurrected.
Which means the protagonists of this world are present and accounted for. Their levels are probably reduced as a penalty for dying, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re far more reliable than I am right now.
I’d like to make contact with the protagonists first—and with other reincarnators.
From what the elves are saying, it seems the goddess is abducting multiple people to reincarnate around this time.
Ideally, I’d find someone familiar with the game. Even if they’re not, as long as they come from the same world and share a common goal, it should be easier to communicate and cooperate.
“I’d like to meet the heroes at least once.”
“No.”
“Absolutely not. What are you thinking? Meeting with humans or beastfolk? If you get influenced by their strange ideas, it’ll ruin everything.”
You’re the ones trying to instill strange ideas…
This is troublesome. While I’ve managed to gain the elves’ trust, they’re way too overprotective.
It doesn’t seem like they’ll easily grant me permission to leave for other nations.
If that’s the case, I’ll have to hope other reincarnators make contact with this country somehow.
If they’re reincarnators like me, surely many will come to the same conclusions I have.
No one in their right mind would act recklessly just because they think this world is a game.
Before the Demon King destroys the world or the Mad God annihilates it, we need to establish a cooperative system among the reincarnators as quickly as possible…
“Come on, it’s just a game, right? Besides, the goddess gave us cheat abilities, so we’ll be able to take them down if we fight properly.”
“B-But… I’ve never fought before in my life.”
“Neither has anyone else, but in these kinds of situations, you always get abilities that make everything work out somehow.”
“That old guy looked like he’d get rid of us after using us. Shouldn’t we just turn the tables on them?”
“Yeah, and honestly, can’t they just max out our levels or stats already? Why do we have to go through all this annoying combat training?”
One day, my class was transported to the goddess’s realm.
Using her divine power, she granted us special abilities and reincarnated us into another world.
Though it felt like these bodies weren’t entirely our own, the whole experience played out like the introduction of a story where the entire class gets transported to another world.
Some classmates who enjoyed these kinds of stories explained the situation to those who couldn’t fully grasp it.
Of course, some people got cocky, thinking they could do whatever they wanted with their newfound powers in a different world.
Those who wanted to return home or avoid danger were dismissed as cowards.
To avoid being ostracized, most of us pretended to be optimistic about life in another world.
But… this world is bad news.
I couldn’t care less about the human king plotting to use us or the fact that verbal promises to send us home hold no weight.
Well, maybe I do care, but that’s a problem for later.
Lunatic Abyss…
If this world is truly the same as that game, we’ll have to fight tooth and nail just to survive.
If we lose to the Demon King and the other races fall under the demons’ control, that’s still bearable.
But if the Mad God appears, that’ll mean the end of the world…
“Hey, I heard there’s a dungeon the hero was trying to clear. Grinding levels bit by bit is a pain—let’s just power-level there.”
“Man, if you know about late-game dungeons, why didn’t you tell us earlier?”
“If we’ve got cheats, fighting stronger enemies in later areas is way more efficient than dealing with low-level trash.”
Unbelievably, some of them decided to head to the dungeon where the hero had been defeated.
I tried to stop them. I didn’t care if they called me a coward.
Watching people I know die would leave a bad taste in my mouth, and even these reckless idiots are valuable assets. Losing them unnecessarily would be a waste.
But as expected, I was branded a coward, and the volunteers left for the final dungeon.
Ah, I can only blame that goddess who called this place a “game.”
Calling it a game makes them think life here is cheap.
Do they even understand they can’t continue if they die? …They probably don’t.
Oh, God… not that cunning goddess, but the real God…
Why do we have to go through this…?
