Chapter 4 OOG Vol. 1 Chapter 2 Part 2

The next morning, after early morning training, I headed to the Boulder Dungeon.

Despite going on an overnight subjugation mission, my body was in top condition. I couldn’t help but think just a little that I wanted this body back in Japan.

Partly because my level went up, I could go through the dungeon’s third floor completely damage-free. Wanting to get used to unarmed combat too, I defeated goblins by punching them with bare hands (or rather, gauntlets).

Apparently, ‘Boarwolves’ start appearing on the fourth underground floor. Judging that I’d be fine now, I went down to the fourth floor.

The fourth floor was also a dungeon that felt like it was carved out of rock. Goblins stopped appearing from here. As I advanced while crushing Rock Lizards, a large presence caught on my [Presence Sense].

A Boarwolf. When our eyes met, it dashed furiously. Basically, I had no choice but to take its charge head-on. I gripped the mace with both hands and swung it down at the head of the charging Boarwolf.

With a perfect counter, the mace sank into its skull, and the Boarwolf’s jaw smashed into the ground. I couldn’t completely kill the momentum and ended up catching its body, but I was able to defeat it without taking damage.

What dropped was a magic stone and a lump of meat. This seemed to be the meat skewers I always ate. I collected both and proceeded forward.

“Huh? You came down here alone?”

On the way, I met a party I hadn’t met before. A party of three boys and girls who looked to be in their late teens. The one who spoke was a thin boy who seemed to be the leader.

“Yeah, you can manage even alone.”

“No way, that is impossible for Boarwolves, right?”

“Not really. If you take the initiative, you can manage.”

Perhaps my words sounded confident; the boy shrugged and said, “You’re crazy.”

“Well whatever, it has nothing to do with us. See ya.”

Throwing those words over their shoulders, they proceeded deeper.

Hmm, but I don’t think it’s enough to be called crazy. If you raise your skills and level and gain appropriate experience, it’s a level you can manage alone. The receptionist Kisara also said “If you’re E-rank” regarding Rock Lizards, so if the rank is high, it shouldn’t be strange to defeat a Boarwolf alone.

…Does that mean I already have power greater than E-rank?

No, better not make optimistic assumptions. It’s not like I’m doing anything special. It’s unlikely that I’m the only one becoming stronger than others.

After that, I wandered around the fourth floor underground, but I only encountered Boarwolves twice in total. It seems their spawn rate really isn’t that high. I thought about going down to the fifth floor, but if I go down there, I want to fight the boss straight away. I decided to call it a day and spend the rest of my time training.

“Hah? Fighting the boss alone? Are you sane, old man?”

That night at dinner, when I tried to ask Keim for information on the boss, I was met with surprise, just as I expected.

“Why are you in such a hurry? You’re an old guy, just take it easy. At least wait until you form a party.”

“He’s right. I think you’re strong, Soshi-san, but the boss is gonna be tough solo.”

Rabert looked worried, too. The two women, Meribel and Ranan, nodded in agreement.

“I’m doing it because I think I can handle it, of course. Plus, I want to get my hands on a special skill.”

“Well, I get that, but…”

“Wait, old man, are you aiming to be the world’s strongest or something?”

Keim looked at me with eyes that suggested he was looking at something painful—like I was being cringey. Being treated like that by a young person actually hurts a bit.

“It’s nothing like that. But there’s no harm in getting stronger, right?”

“Well, yeah, I guess. This town is laid back, but if you go to a big city, low-rank adventurers get looked down on.”

Ah, so that kind of thing happens here too. In that case, I want to raise my rank even more.

“Well, if you’re buying the drinks, I’ll tell you. Good grief, you’re a helpless old man.”

“Sorry to always trouble you. I appreciate it.”

Thanking him, I ordered some booze from the landlady.

The next day, I spent a good chunk of money to stock up on higher-grade potions, had the weapon shop owner check the condition of my mace, and headed for the Boulder Dungeon.

By the way, when I told the weapon shop owner I wanted to buy more Dark Metal bars, he said he’d need to order them in. Needless to say, he gave me a weird look when I asked him to order two more.

Goblins, Rock Lizards, and Boarwolves were no longer enemies to me. I knocked them down with single blows, collected their materials, and advanced to the fifth floor underground.

My backpack was bursting at the seams by the time I reached the fifth floor. The walls had changed from brown to a grayish color, giving it the distinct atmosphere of the bottom floor. The trash mobs that appeared were mostly the same as the fourth floor, and since I was the first one in the dungeon today, there were no parties ahead of me.

After proceeding according to the map for a while, a stone door came into view. It was a double door, about three meters high and wide.

It was the first artificial structure I’d seen in the dungeon. If someone tried to build a stone door like this, it would cost a fortune. I guess this is just another one of the dungeon’s mysterious gimmicks.

“Okay. Potions, check. Armor fastenings, check. Mace, no problems. Alright, let’s do this.”

I confirmed everything out loud, then pushed the stone doors open.

Inside was a square, stone-built room. It looked more like a warehouse than a room. The floor area was about the size of a basketball court.

The moment the doors closed behind me, a black mist generated on the other side of the room, and a monster emerged from within it. Just as the guide said, and just as Keim told me, it was a Boarwolf one size larger. Apparently, it’s called a ‘Bearwolf.’

I was told, “It looks bigger than it actually is, so don’t get scared,” but it definitely looked huge. The muscles around its front legs were abnormally developed, and its intensity was on a whole different level. Moreover, in addition to fangs, it had two huge horns on its head… wait? Horns? I hadn’t heard anything about the boss here having horns. After all, the name implies ‘Bear’…

“Don’t tell me it’s a special boss. A high-ranking species of the boss or something… Give me a break.”

If it had horns, Keim surely would have warned me about that first. Since he didn’t mention it, it’s probably best to assume this is a special boss. Even if this turns out to be normal, it’ll just be a funny story later.

I switched my mindset. As long as the opponent’s base is a Boarwolf, the basic fighting style shouldn’t change.

Either way, if I take a charge from those horns head-on, it’s over. I can barely withstand a hit from a trash Boarwolf, but this ‘Boss Wolf (Provisional)‘ in front of me looks like it weighs over two hundred kilograms. That’s three times the weight difference.

Baff!

The Boss Wolf let out a snort and began its charge. It held its head low, intending to thrust upward with its horns.

Just before the body slam connected, I leaped to the side.

Of course, if I had just jumped normally, it would have reacted easily. But thanks to the physical abilities enhanced by ‘Awakening’ and the power of my ‘Agility’ and ‘Strength’ skills, I could now leap about five meters in an instant.

Having lost sight of its opponent, the Boss Wolf stumbled and came to a sudden halt, turning around to search for me.

That was the opening I was waiting for. I closed the distance in a flash and slammed my mace into the Boss Wolf as it tried to turn.

My target was… the leg.

I kept my body low and, as I charged in, swung the mace horizontally with everything I had.

Buoooh!

Its left front leg shattered, the Boss Wolf let out a scream. But the reason it was a boss was that it didn’t stop there. Before its posture could collapse, it kicked off the ground with its hind legs and forced a tackle.

It targeted the opening right after my attack, and I took the tackle dead on. Fortunately, my armor stopped the horns, but I was blown away violently and slammed onto the ground.

My breath caught for a second. But my mind coolly issued a warning to get back into a stance.

I scrambled to my feet, almost jumping up. The Boss Wolf, now on three legs, closed in on me like a mass of pure obsession.

I gripped the mace with both hands again and swung it down right at the glabella of the Boss Wolf looming before my eyes.

My full-power strike magnificently crushed the Boss Wolf’s skull. A tremendous sensation of impact reverberated through my hands.

Yet, the Boss Wolf still thrashed. Shaking its head violently, it tried to run my body through with its horns.

I had no choice but to plant my feet and turn this into a slugfest—

Just as I thought that, I felt my entire body heat up strangely. My vision turned red, and my consciousness focused solely on attacking.

“Fall down… you piece of shit!”

I was shouting naturally. I swung the mace down over and over again.

The Boss Wolf’s horns dented my armor and tore at my arms and legs.

My mace blew away the side of the Boss Wolf’s face repeatedly, smashing those annoying horns off.

Bumoooo… Oooooh…!

I don’t know how long we traded blows. With a death cry, the Boss Wolf’s body fell sideways onto the ground with a heavy thud.

After a while, the corpse was sucked into the dungeon floor, leaving behind a magic stone the size of a baseball and a magnificent pair of horns.

“Hah… whew, I did it… right?”

My head was cooling down. That was strange; I should have been calm the whole time, but I feel like my consciousness checked out halfway through.

No, I remember it faintly. The memory of attacking frantically. It seems I got excited and lost myself. But I also felt like I was overflowing with power. Is this a skill too?

“Ow, ow, I need to use a potion…”

My whole body ached from the damage of being blown away, but it seemed there were no broken bones. However, there were cuts all over my body. Probably torn by the horns.

Just as I was about to use a potion to recover, I suddenly felt my body become lighter. It was a sensation I’d never felt before.

“Ah, is this what Keim was talking about?”

Apparently, this was the sensation of acquiring a special skill. Now, what kind of skill did I get? This excitement felt just like drawing a lottery ticket. After standing still for a while, knowledge of the skill slowly flowed into my brain.

“‘Regeneration’… Is it the one that makes wounds heal faster?”

I happened to look at the wound on my arm, and it was healing just as if I had used a potion. The speed was slower than using a potion, of course, but it still wasn’t a normal phenomenon.

“Oh, it’s all healed. Isn’t this a pretty good skill?”

It took about five minutes, but the wounds on my arms and legs had completely vanished. I feel like I’ve seen plenty of manga characters with abilities like this, but I never thought I’d become one.

In any case, a skill that enhances survivability is extremely important. They say there are no ‘dud’ special skills, but I feel like I drew a winner right off the bat.

I collected the magic stone and the two horns, then left the dungeon.

Of course, just because I beat the boss didn’t mean I skipped my usual training. Painful work progresses better when you’re in a good mood, after all.

“Eh!? Hah!? You defeated the boss alone, Okuno-san!?”

When I asked Kisara, the receptionist, to buy the materials, she let out such a wild shriek that I flinched.

“I did, but was there something wrong with that?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. It’s not that it’s wrong, but almost no one challenges a boss alone.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, well, almost no one at F-rank does it. And even if they do, they usually don’t come back…”

“Ah…”

“But if that’s the case, congratulations. You’ve gotten much closer to E-rank.”

“I believe defeating a boss was one of the conditions for promotion to E-rank, right? Is it really the biggest hurdle?”

“Yes. Though, the boss of an F-class dungeon isn’t that bad if you’re in a party, but for high-class dungeons, it seems to be very difficult.”

“There’s a D-class dungeon in this town too; I guess that one is difficult?”

“Yes. There hasn’t been anyone recently, but in the past, there were cases where a whole party challenged it and not a single person returned.”

“That’s scary.”

The guide in this guild is quite substantial and contains a decent amount of boss information, but apparently, this guide itself was made recently. Rumor has it there’s a capable person in the upper echelons of the Guild who decided to create it with a single command. For a rookie like me, it’s something to be grateful for.

“Huh? Okuno-san, are these materials from the boss?”

What Kisara was holding were the two magnificent horns.

“Yes. It was a boss with horns. I was surprised because it wasn’t in the guide.”

“Eh? Could that possibly be a Rare Boss?”

“No idea… Is a Rare Boss something that appears very rarely or something?”

“Exactly. It’s the first time a Rare Boss has appeared in that dungeon. In that case, I need to ask you for the details. Would you mind?”

What do you know, that boss really was a rare one. And the first time, too… Was my luck that good? No, considering the difficulty went up, maybe my luck was bad. That makes more sense.

“Understood. Of course, I’ll tell you; the guide has been a help to me, after all.”

And so, I was guided to the back room again. Incidentally, the horns had to be referred to headquarters, so I had to wait a while for the payout.

Furthermore, it seems the special skill ‘Regeneration’ I obtained is quite a rare skill. Getting a rare skill from a rare boss is easy enough logic to follow. In that case, I guess I was lucky after all. If it means a good omen, I’ll take it.

I organized the information on my bed at the inn. My current skills should look something like this:

The sudden increase in physical ability during the boss fight was definitely a skill. Going on a rampage in an excited state feels a bit scary, but I’ll assume it’s a skill called ‘Excitement Lv. 1.’ In game terms, ‘Berserker’ feels more fitting, but I have a bit of resistance to using that name.

The usefulness of the special skill ‘Regeneration’ obtained by defeating the boss goes without saying, but when I think about it, this skill reduces potion consumption, making it an excellent skill that is kind to my wallet.

Now, the problem is my future schedule. I’ve defeated the boss of the Boulder Dungeon, so the standard move would be to head to the other F-class dungeon. You can only acquire one special skill per dungeon. If I want to get stronger, I need to visit as many dungeons as possible.

By the way, it goes without saying, but the skills obtained in low-class dungeons are of low rarity. The ‘Regeneration’ I was lucky enough to get usually only appears in D-class dungeons or higher, and the acquisition rate is apparently low.

Anyway, I’ve already obtained information on the other F-class dungeon from the guide. I plan to ask Keim about it too, but our meal times didn’t align today.

Well, even if I head there tomorrow, I don’t intend to go to the boss room immediately.

Oh right, my clothes got tattered in this boss fight. It seems the time has finally come to part with the shirt I brought from my previous life. With that, I feel like I’ll completely become a resident of this world. That might be a good thing.

Thinking about such things, my consciousness faded away before I knew it.