New chapter of Ordinary Person is out (3/3 chapters)

Chapter 23

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)

Time had passed quickly. Just the other day, I thought I had graduated from middle school, and already the day after tomorrow was the high school entrance ceremony. When I thought that the days I could freely spend going to the dungeon were going to end, I felt a little lonely.

So, I had been diving into the dungeon again this early morning.

“Since it was lively yesterday, today feels lonely.” (Kouta)

Such words spilled out.

Yesterday really had been the best day, happily hunting goblins in the dungeon with beautiful women. Having fun leveling up with beautiful women? That actually sounded enjoyable, right? Alright then.

When I recalled yesterday, there was one more good thing.

Of course, it was the acquisition of the [Support Magic]. I had roughly grasped both the effects and the duration. All ability stats increased by +5, and it lasted for two hours.

After seeing them off yesterday and a little while later feeling my body suddenly get heavy, I concluded that the duration was exactly two hours. It was like the feeling when you play on a trampoline for a while and then step down onto the ground. From ignoring gravity as you bounced, returning to a normal environment. That feeling was unforgettable. It felt as if the gravity of the world suddenly became heavier.

That’s why I had to be careful about when the support magic wore off. I didn’t even want to think about what would happen if it expired in the middle of fighting goblins.

Oh, a goblin.

On the first day, I had been satisfied with hunting one goblin a day, but since then, having more time, I hunted a little more. There were a decent number of goblins and people, so naturally, encounters happened fairly often, and I was managing fairly well.

On the first dungeon floor, one to at most four goblins appeared. Since I had mostly been targeting solo goblins until now, I hadn’t managed to increase my daily kill count much, but with the current duration of [Support Magic]…

“Prey spotted, four of them… I’ll kill them without letting them escape.” (Kouta)

I whispered to myself quietly, moistening my lips. If the goblins noticed me, they might fight back, so I wanted to approach as close as possible without being noticed and reduce their numbers with a surprise attack. I had learned in these past few days that crushing the opponent without letting them do anything was the safest approach.

I crouched down and searched for a place where the pampas grass wasn’t growing thickly to approach. If I tried to pass through the thick pampas grass, it would rustle and increase the chance of being noticed by the goblins. Therefore, I looked for animal trails used by goblins or paths where people had passed, and I followed those to approach.

In this place with poor visibility, if I was careful, I could get within about 10 meters.

“…” (Kouta)

The goblins were right in front of me. It was a moment that always made me nervous. From here, I had to keep my vision wide but blurry, and not miss even the slightest changes in the opponent.

Slowly, without rushing, I closed the distance to the goblins.

6 meters, seriously? Can I still go? 5 meters… I got noticed!

One of the four goblins noticed me and shouted something, and I charged forward. Naturally, the goblin that noticed me first was left for last. I started with the goblins still looking around suspiciously.

Next to target is the one that just noticed me! And the others nearby as I like! Huh? One, two, three… only three left? What? The goblin that noticed me first had turned its back and is running away!? You’re way too quick at assessing the situation!

“…I won’t let you escape!” (Kouta)

The words slipped out without thinking. Even so, my voice was low because I was controlling myself well enough not to call other goblins. Shouting or making noise inside the dungeon was madness.

When I immediately chased after the goblin, it stumbled and fell… I was annoyed by that action and slowed my running speed, planning to finish it off, when I found a ‘treasure chest’.

‘Treasure chest’… a mysterious item box sometimes found inside dungeons. Who placed them, for what reason, what is inside, and when… they were all shrouded in mystery.

Well, the dungeon itself is full of mysteries too.

I had even seen ‘treasure chests’ mentioned on the internet. Wooden chests, iron chests, copper chests, silver chests, gold chests. None of these could be moved, and when you took something out, they disappeared. There was also a rumor about a rainbow chest, but that information was apparently not reliable. The photos seen only showed up to copper chests, and since the shapes were very similar, it was said they might be handmade fake images.

And now, one is right in front of me. No doubt about it, it really looks just like those images. Moreover, it is gold! A gold treasure chest!

C-c-c-calm down, me…

I had thought treasure chests dropped from monsters. Well, I knew they existed in the field too. Yeah, but I had assumed someone else had already collected this one.

First, what should I do?

Knock? “Is anyone inside?” No, I am still flustered. Deep breath, deep breath. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. Calm now, first… goblins, right, me!?

I hurriedly looked around but could not find any.

They were gone! They had completely escaped!!

I sat down and felt exhausted.

Well, whatever. More importantly, the treasure chest! Remember, remember, me. What was written in the precautions?

Beware of traps, and the tools needed to disarm traps are as follows:

‘Gas mask, pliers, stethoscope, wire or ice pick. And most importantly, knowledge about traps.’

Yeah, those aren’t helpful.

In Maru-san’s video, there was also an explanation using a fake treasure chest.

‘Press something to shield the treasure chest, prepare yourself, and open it with determination! This is called “Manly Disarmament” (Otoko Kaijo)!’

Seriously? When I saw that, I had laughed, but I never thought the time would come for me to do that “Manly Disarmament”.

It’s a gold chest, so I had to prepare myself.

I didn’t have anything to shield with, so I tried a last-ditch effort. At least from behind the treasure chest, I held the lid’s sides with both hands, covered my nose and mouth with a poncho, bracing myself for a poison gas trap… and opened it.

With a ‘pssh’ sound, something flew out of the chest at a speed too fast for my eyes to follow…

I wanted to praise myself for that last-ditch effort. That was probably a poison needle trap. Whether poison or paralysis, if it had hit me solo, I was done. I was scared now… my body trembled uncontrollably.

“I… I’m alive…” (Kouta)

If this wasn’t the effect of poison or something, it was just fear. Sweat poured out, and my vision gradually darkened. I calmly took out a water bottle and slowly sipped water. Then, I took out a salt supplement tablet and swallowed it.

When people reach their limit from extreme tension or stress, their consciousness tries to shut down. I had heard it was something to do with survival instincts or a function to protect the mind. Apparently, my limit was extremely low, and sometimes this happened to me. Even at elementary school plays, I tended to get so nervous that I fainted.

After calming down somewhat, I collected the contents of the treasure chest and headed toward the guild.

 

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