I continued my exploration through the dungeon. With Echolocation and my new gear, I had little difficulty completing my exploration of this floor.
The result?
"There aren't any stairs going up…" I muttered.
I had found a staircase leading further down, but nowhere could I find a way back up. Even trying to shoot the ceiling with bullets to blast my way out had proven futile.
"What's going on here?" I grumbled.
"Who knows?" the cursed sword replied. "There's still much about dungeons that remains unknown."
With no other option, I decided to give up on climbing out of the dungeon. My only choice was to descend deeper. According to the sword, clearing the dungeon would eventually provide a way to return to the surface.
I descended the staircase, each of my steps echoing on the metal surface.
"Oh, right, Saiga," the sword began, "dungeons have traps, so be careful."
"Traps… like pitfall traps?" I asked.
"Exactly. Besides pitfalls, there are also teleportation traps, which can teleport you to completely different locations."
"And where do those teleport you?" I asked, though I had a bad feeling I already knew.
"To dangerous places, of course," the sword replied, confirming my suspicion. "For example, monster dens, otherwise known as Monster Houses—"
Suddenly, I heard a click.
"What?" I gasped.
Whoosh!
My vision suddenly went dark.
A wave of dizziness washed over me. When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a vast, empty hall with nothing inside.
"Seriously? Even the stairs were trapped?" I groaned.
"Ah, yes," the sword responded sheepishly. "I didn't mention that, did I? My bad. Even the stair zones are part of the dungeon. There's nothing odd about them being trapped."
This damn cursed sword… I fought back the urge to just leave it behind.
"Where the hell am I?" I asked.
"My guess? A Monster House," the sword replied.
"A Monster House?" I echoed.
"Yeah, a room where a whole bunch of monsters spawn. And it looks like they're here."
As I looked into the dim room, dozens of glowing red eyes began to appear in the darkness—no, far more than dozens. Countless red dots appeared all around me.
Rustle, rustle, rustle…
Without a moment's hesitation, I activated Echolocation. Sure enough, the hall was crawling with monsters. There were holes in the walls, and through those openings, creatures poured in, filling the room.
I was surrounded—right in the middle of the enemy. And there were a staggering number of them.
The word "death" flashed through my mind. For a moment, I was overwhelmed by the possibility that I might die here. But the fear was fleeting.
I couldn't die here—not until I got back at that damn goddess for putting me in this situation. Fueled by hatred and rage, I acted quickly.
I pulled the Lucky Gun, Trigger Happy, from my Black Ooze Coat, aimed it at the ground around me, and fired.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
I shot four bullets into the ground, surrounding myself.
"Why the hell are you shooting the ground?" the sword asked. "A waste of bullets, isn't it?"
"Just watch," I said, ignoring the sarcastic laughter of the cursed sword.
The creatures were drawing closer. They were scorpions, each about the size of a large dog, with shiny black exoskeletons and a sharp, venomous stinger at the end of their tails.
The sword identified them quickly. "Death Scorpions. Their stingers secrete a poison that kills even elder dragons in seconds. Well, that doesn't concern you, seeing as you have the 'No Poison' effect. However, those claws and stingers—they're sharp enough to slice through steel."
Dozens, perhaps even hundreds of those dangerous creatures were charging toward me. Normally, facing such enemies would paralyze anyone with fear.
But I remained calm as I loaded my next rounds.
"You're taking it pretty easy, aren't you?" the sword taunted. "You're going to die at this rate."
"Only if I do nothing," I replied.
The scorpions lunged at me, attempting to tear into me with their massive claws and lethal tails.
Clang!
The sound of metal striking an invisible barrier echoed throughout the room.
"What? The enemies… they can't get to you?" the sword exclaimed. "How is that even possible?"
The scorpions were being stopped. They acted like they were running into some kind of invisible wall, unable to reach me.
"When did you learn to use barriers?" the sword demanded.
"It's not a barrier," I said. "I used the 'Safety' skill on the bullets I shot into the ground."
■ Safety: Continuous Activation. Costs 500 MP. Effect ceases if the user moves.
"I see!" the sword said, sounding amused. "By shooting bullets enchanted with 'Safety' into the ground, you created a safe zone the monsters can't enter."
The Safety skill was generally pretty useless. Without any creativity, it merely created a safe zone around the caster. However, the zone disappeared the moment the caster moved even an inch.
So instead, I applied the skill to bullets and fired them into the ground. As long as the bullets didn't move, the safe zone would remain intact.
"Though I should point out, this isn't exactly a barrier. It just keeps them from coming closer. If they attacked you with magic or projectile weapons, you'd still take damage. Plus, if the bullets are destroyed, the safe zone disappears."
"True enough. But this bunch doesn't have any ranged attacks," I said.
"And they don't seem to be able to use magic either," the sword added.
As long as I didn't move, the safe zone would hold. The scorpions were too mindless, too driven by hunger, to even think about why they couldn't reach me.
"All that's left is to kill them all," I said.
Standing in the middle of the safe zone, I raised the Lucky Gun, Trigger Happy.
Bang!
The bullet flew straight into the head of one of the scorpions, splitting it open. The exoskeleton was nowhere near as tough as that of the Metal Buffalo.
With that confirmed, the rest was just a matter of repetition. I sat in the safe zone and began systematically shooting each of the scorpions.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The endless shots rang out as I fired at the creatures surrounding me.
"With Black Ooze, you can create as many bullets as you need. Killing the scorpions, letting Black Ooze absorb them, and using that to generate more bullets… Saiga, you're incredible!" the sword cheered.
I could have used the cursed blade to take down the scorpions right at the edge of the safe zone, but that involved a lot of swinging and hacking. It was far easier to just shoot them.
And so, I began the slaughter.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Over and over. It was a mind-numbing task. Time seemed to blur as I fired again and again, the scorpions dropping one after another.
But eventually…
"They're all dead," I muttered, finally lowering the gun.
"Indeed. I don't sense any more souls around," the sword confirmed.
I slumped to the ground, exhausted.
It had taken so long. Without a clock or even sunlight to mark the time, I had no idea how much had passed. Hours? Days?
But I had survived. I'd won.
"Alright," I said, looking at the scorpion corpses scattered around me. "Time to eat."
"Your ability to switch gears so quickly is astounding," the sword said, almost admiringly.
"The sooner I finish, the sooner I can leave this damned place," I muttered, standing up, ready to gather whatever I needed for survival.