I Became the Strongest With The Failure Frame 02

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  [Kuku, being evil is good too…]

  Even the sh*tty things that I spew out has gained some meaning.

  Is it because I suddenly remembered them?

  [The feeling I get from “exterminating” the likes of you—mysteriously, I feel quite good about it. Something like this is unexpectedly not bad at all.]

  [Eh?]

  That’s not all there is to it though.

  Of course, I also want to help out Mist for a bit.

  I’m also human.

  Between these guys and Mist…

  It’s needless to say which side I would help out.

  It’s not about right or wrong.

  When I’m asked which side I will be on…

  It would be determined by listening to what my self-righteousness feels is right.

  Only I have the right to decide which side Touka Mimori should stand with.

  That’s why, I’m doing whatever I want.

  [If I remember it right, you said before that it’s normal for people to die in the ruins. Right?]

  Designating multiple targets.

  []

  The three of them are now afflicted with poison.

  [Ugguueehhh… What’s… happening!? What… the heck…]

  [A- Anyone…]

  [Help… me—]

  Monk is glaring at me full of hatred.

  [I would… remember this… Surely… I’ll make sure… you’ll regret this… later…]

  [Kakaka, are you an idiot? How in the world are you going to do that—]

  The smile on my face as I looked towards them became distorted into a sneer.

  [–when I’m sure that you’re going to die in this place?]

  You all tried to kill me earlier.

  That’s why, I will kill you too.

  [Guhh!? Guuhhhh…]

  I suddenly noticed.

  The presence of several monsters that are slowly drawing near.

  [In the end…]

  When I was about to leave, I left one final sentence.

  [You were the one who tried to make me into a monster bait after all.]

  Chapter 55

  The Abnormality that Began to Encompass the Ruins

  It happened just when I turned towards one of the passages.

  The cries of multiple monsters began resounding from the place where I came from.

  [Giggyyaahhhh!]

  [Gooeeeggeeehhh!]

  [Guoogggaahhhh!]

  The approaching cries suddenly came to a halt,

  but their ferocious roars kept on increasing, resounding from that area.

  [Kissiiaaahhhh!]

  These voices were in that location where Monk and the duo is nearby.

  Monk and that duo was already paralyzed and poisoned by me before.

  I wonder if they would die because of the poison.

  Or is it they would be killed by the monsters?

  I still don’t know what exactly happened.

  Along with these atrocious cries, I also seem to hear a short scream resound from that place.

  Pigimaru’s protrusion slithers out from the back of my neck with something that looks like a face on his protrusion.

  [Pigii!]

  Pigimaru looked a bit angry.

  It seems that he’s angry towards those guys we had met before.

  [It seems that you clearly know who you like and hate huh…]

  [Pii!]

  I killed some time at the corner of that passage.

  [Piipiipii? Piggiii!]

  Pigimaru warned me.

  The monsters that have been making noise at that place where Monk and the duo used to be.

  The ruckus that they have been making had subsided.

  It’s just that, their cries began to get nearer to where I am again.

  Are they able to follow me through my scent?

  [Their next prey is me, huh.]

  [Gisshhhiiaaaaa!]

  I peeked out of the corner I’ve been hiding on and held out my hand towards them.

  This is already a tried and tested move that I could rely on.

  [Guugggooeee…]

  The first move would always be to seal the movement of the monsters that are about to swoop down on me.

  These monsters haven’t been affected that much by the poison that were already in Monk’s body.

  The virulent effects of my abnormal state skills…

  Does it affect no one other than the person that I had targeted?

  I returned towards where Monk and the duo used to be.

  It looks like they died as they were being eaten.

  Their corpses are stained all over with their blood.

  The blood even splattered all over the place.

  I thought about taking their money but— I think it ain’t worth the trouble.

  The satchels they have were torn apart and the coins were scattered everywhere.

  Their blood had already clung into the coins.

  There’s a possibility that the officers in the entrance of the ruins will check the coins that I have when I’m about to take them back home.

  [Just in case that they would really inspect such things, I think that it would really troublesome for me if they were to ask for some explanation from me.]

  It will take some time and effort for me just to wipe the blood in these coins while I’m here underground.

  Fortunately, I am still not that desperate for coins.

  That’s why I decided to leave these corpses untouched.

  I turned back to the passage where I was hiding in earlier.

  The monsters that I had paralyzed and poisoned were still alive.

  It’s troublesome to just wait here for them to die from poison.

  I cut the monsters’ throats one by one with a dagger.

  Did I even get some experience points from them?

  However, my level haven’t risen ever since I have entered this ruins.

  I thought that I would gain some because I had been killing quite a lot of monsters from this ruins.

  Is it that the monsters in here also give low experience points?

  Then, it seems that there’s no need for me to go out of my way just to hunt them down.

  After I finished killing all these monsters, I went down to another floor.

  * * *

  This place had been narrower than I had thought.

  I feel cramped in here.

  It may have been because the Disposal Ruins was too wide.

  I already traveled quite some distance while I killed the monsters I encountered with the combination of paralyze and poison.

  At present, the only problem I have is the range of my .

  The range of is about 20 meters.

  In other words, I can use this skill as a long-ranged weapon.

  So, the first move that I will always use would be

  If they were given enough time, I could use at that time but…

  At that pace, it would take some time for it to gain sufficient experience. I want to reach Lv 3.

  As I proceed deeper into the ruins, the frequency of seeing other mercenaries have decreased.

  My level still haven’t gone up.

  I hid in the shadows and confirmed how much MP I have.

  MP: +58517/59037

  I don’t have to worry that much about my remaining amount of MP.

  By the way, I have just known this morning that my MP recovers every time I get some sleep.

  Last night, I had checked my remaining MP before I went to bed.

  When I confirmed my status when I have woke up, I saw that my MP has recovered.

  It seems that MP recovers after a certain amount of sleep.

  I remembered back when I had stayed in the residential area of the Disposal Ruins.

  The frequency of checking my status had decreased because I had been
leveling up and my MP would recover every time I do.

  At those times that I had rested there, my MP may have recovered a little but I haven’t noticed.

  Anyway, now I can freely use my MP with ease.

  I check the time in my pocket watch.

  I bought this in one of the stores that I had visited together with Mist.

  [I guess it’s about time for me to take some break.]

  [Pii.]

  There are several rooms that I could rest on in this ruins.

  It seems that the mercenaries and the private soldiers of the marquis had set up these rooms before while they were conducting their search.

  I heard that there were some kind people who would sometimes leave some preserved food and water.

  However, if someone were to retreat towards this place, there’s a high probability that monsters would occupy this place instead.

  I found a break room when I’ve reached the 10th floor.

  The door to the break room was marked with paint.

  This is the sign of a break room.

  However, it seems that there are already others that were in this room.

  Their voices were leaking out of the room.

  Human voices.

  It seems that this room isn’t occupied with monsters.

  I ask Pigimaru to remain vigilant towards the surroundings as I listen on their conversations.

  [Before we noticed it, we’re already in the 10th floor!]

  [Even the faster ones among the other mercenaries should still be around 7th floor right now.]

  [And with that, we now have a perfect chance to get some rest.]

  [As I thought, it’s still advantageous for those who were first to dive into the ruins.]

  [Well, we still have to hunt these strong monsters that would come out from the newly discovered floor.]

  It’s just a thought but…

  Are these the mercenaries who quickly went in here after the explanations have finished?

  [This is great! Our Drunken Sword Party will be the one who will acquire this Dragon Eye Sakazuki!]

  [That’s right!]

  [If we were to descend five floors more, we’ll finally reach the new floor! You guys, are you ready or what!?]

  [Leave it to me, Elder Sister!]

  [Okay! That’s a good reply!]

  It seems like the mercenaries here were the fastest ones to dive into this place.

  I don’t see any other mercenaries that have reached this floor…

  Now then— What should I do now?

  I actually want to take some break right now.

  It’s just that… I feel like renting the room together with them would make me a bit tired mentally.

  [………]

  That’s right.

  Should I just look for another break room that’s available and take my rest in there?

  I proceeded through the ruins and went down to the next three layers while killing all the monsters I’ve encountered.

  13th floor.

  Two more floor to pass through and I would finally reach the new floor that have just been discovered.

  However, I still want to take a break before entering that new floor.

  When I was wandering through the 13th floor, I finally found a mark that I had seen before.

  The sign of a break room.

  [Guugggaarrruuaahhhh!]

  [Buuuuooooohhhh!]

  It seems that this room is occupied my monsters.

  Moreover, there are about ten of them in here.

  I could feel their killing intent gushing towards me.

  Designating multiple targets…

  []

  [Guguuaahh!? Ugguuuahh…?]

  []

  I had defeated the monsters that occupied the room.

  It’s just that…

  [How do I get these corpses out of here?]

  There’s even a big one mixed in along with those monsters.

  [………]

  Should I just forget about it and proceed another floor deeper?

  I went further into the 14th floor and tried searching for a break room while I killed all the monsters I’ve encountered.

  However, I haven’t found any break room at all.

  [It’s no good…]

  I reluctantly returned towards the break room in the 13th floor.

  I take the monsters out and cleaned the room as much as I could.

  [Fuuu…]

  This room is different from those room in the residential area of the Disposal Ruins.

  [Can I ask for you to keep a lookout while I sleep?]

  [Pii!]

  I’m really thankful that I had a comrade who I could ask for lookout.

  It’s really different compared to that time when I was in the Disposal Ruins where I could hardly rest as all.

  I rest my back behind a wall and closed my eyes.

  * * *

  [————–]

  I opened my eyes.

  My consciousness have also began awakening.

  I check the pocket watch for the time.

  [I’ve had three hours of sleep, huh.]

  [Pigii!]

  Shuba~

  “There are no abnormalities!”

  It seems that’s what Pigimaru wants to say as he salutes with his protrusion.

  [Thank you. Umm, are you okay even if you haven’t slept?]

  [Piipii!]

  [However… don’t hesitate to say it if you want to take a break, okay? We don’t really have to participate in their struggle to find that Dragon Eye Sakazuki… We also don’t need to rush with diving into this ruins if it’s impossible.]

  [Pii ♪ ]

  I have never seen Pigimaru sleeping before.

  Do slimes even sleep?

  When I had asked him about it before…

  [Pii?]

  It’s a reaction that looks like he doesn’t know whether to say yes or no.

  Wondering about that, I gave some dried meat towards Pigimaru.

  There are still many mysteries regarding slimes.

  [Pyuunyunyuu~ ♪ Pikyyuupikkyyuuu~ ♪ ]

  He’s happily eating the dried meat.

  It seems that it has a normal appetite…

  When we were able to satisfy some of our hunger, we promptly left the room.

  * * *

  We once again aimed towards the stairs leading towards the 14th floor.

  Since I have been there once before, I already know the general location of where the stairs are located.

  [Hmm?]

  A man who had varying expressions on his face is approaching.

  You could see other mercenaries following behind him.

  I put my guard up against him for a bit.

  He doesn’t seem to have any hostility towards me but…

  [Oi, you.]

  This voice…

  Isn’t this voice from that fastest group in the break room from the 10th floor?

  I switch over to a humble mode as I spoke to them.

  [What do you want?]

  [There something weird that’s happening in this ruins right now.]

  [Weird? What do you mean?]

  The people who seems to be from the Drunken Sword Party stopped in front of me.

  Everyone’s complexion looks like they’re pretty disappointed.

  Did something irregular happen without my knowledge?

  A red-haired woman from the back vomits as she looks pretty mortified.

  [Damn— He’s just another newcomer huh.]

  A tanned man glances behind his back.

  [It’s just… it seems that there’s perhaps something that hasn’t happened in the past but is in the Mills Ruins right now. The guys who went here from the past already felt something really different exists in here.]

  I was only sleeping for about 3 hours.

  Something must have ha
ppened around that time.

  I don’t think they looks angry because of the expressions of their faces and the shape of their mouth.

  It’s an expression where they’ve found something seriously unexpected.

  Even I got anxious as I asked them.

  [Specifically, what is this weird incident that has happened? Excuse me, but this is the first time that I have entered the Mills Ruins.]

  The tanned man looks quite meek as he answered my question.

  [It’s just that… the monsters we have found before on our way here, they’ve died from something unnatural.]

  [They’ve died from something unnatural, huh?]

  [Yeah. They’re all dead, but I can’t determine what in the world are the cause of their death. Their corpses have no wounds at all. There are also no particular changes in their body. The best that I could find was that their skin looks a bit deathly pale.]

  Hmm?

  Chapter 56

  Running Solo

  The red-haired woman takes over what the man was speaking about.

  [Whether they’re weak monsters or strong monsters, they have all died. That’s how it is even when we were about to reach the 14th floor. I should have just went back to the upper floors around this time. You hear me? There’s some kind of monster roaming around this ruins, it may have been in the 14th floor.]

  Before I had taken some rest, I walked for quite some time around the 14th floor and went back here.

  When I have walked around some more before, I have also killed the monsters that I’ve encountered in the 14th floor.

  So, I should have met this monster when I was on that floor…

  [Even the guys who have just descended down to this floor earlier had said the same thing. They’ve found corpses of monsters that have suffered neither wounds nor changes in their body and they seem to be rolling around everywhere.]

  The red-haired woman continues.

  [In short, there’s something that has started to happen throughout the ruins in the last few hours.]

  The other mercenaries began talking one after another.

  [It may be some kind of mist that have began to gush out from that newly discovered floor. I think it’s possible that this mist have began to ascend towards the upper floors, right?]

  [For now, it seems that it doesn’t affect humans yet… but it’s possible that this would only work after we got affected for a certain amount of time. I think we should consider that this mist contains some slow-acting poison in them.]

  [I heard that it was the curse of the king who was the original owner of the Dragon Eye Sakazuki.]