HBWnovel Chapter 429
Chapter 429
Day 99 – Daytime, Dungeon, 80FHaruka-kun’s movements have changed, he’s done something again. In a split-second, in less than the blink of an eye, he sliced through the 80th floor’s boss, 『Venom Plant Lv.80』 in a single blow. Instant kill in the most literal sense. But the way he moved was just like back when he fought in the forest, when all he could do was swing a wooden stick, just like those days.
「What’s this plant thinking? Why was it trying to spread poison mist when people are working hard, sweating over BBQ preparations! Not reading the air and even polluting it? Such not eco-friendly plants deserve deforestation. Trying to sabotage a herbivorous Highschool Boy’s BBQ like that, know your place on the food chain, you leafy scrub.」
While we were fighting the floor master, four of them showed up and started lining up BBQ grills, spreading out sheets, lighting the coals, oiling the grill nets and burning it off with perfect coordination! They definitely do BBQs on their own all the time. Meat and veggies were sliced up one after another, skewered neatly, and lined up on the grill. And then, the thing they added when they rinsed the rice and started cooking it, was… green peas? It’s pea rice!
Just when the monster started puffing up out of nowhere… it got slashed to pieces. It must’ve tried releasing its poison mist, even though they were off at the edge of the floor, just cooking rice…
「Cutting in line!」 「That’s tyranny!」 「Line jumper?」 「Line, ugh!」 「Why’s this turning into a Yamanote Line line cutting game?!」 「Well, the BBQ was saved.」 「Yeah, the innocent BBQ was saved.」 「「「BBQ!」」」 「Does BQQ mean barbecue too?」 「「「BQQ?!」」」
Yeah, it’s BBQ because of BARBEQUE (US), but BQQ is also a common form. Still, if you don’t say BBQ, he won’t let you eat. But if it’s BARBECUE (UK), is it BBC?
「Barbecue comes from the word for a wooden frame used by the Taino people of the West Indies to roast meat, which turned into the Spanish word barbacoa meaning 『roast whole』 and that transformed in English-speaking countries into BBQ, B.B.Q., Bar-B-Cue, or Bar-B-Q, so if you say BQQ, no meat for you! You better apologize to the Taino people or it’s pea rice only? Well, it is tasty though? Kind of?」
「「「Nooo, sorry Taino people! We won’t say it again! Itadakimaaasu!」」」
Looks like he overheard that. Haruka-kun is strict about BQQ. Even now, he’s mad, saying 『How dare a tanuki insult the Taino people』 and as he tried to confiscate the BBQ, that very 『tanuki』 bit him on the head.
「Incomplete, shamefully bad. But he has gotten stronger. And all it took was just a day for him to be able to fight again.」
「A total mess. So much, that even just, living normally… would’ve been hard. Even so, he fought. He has gained a new power.」
(Jiggle-Jiggle! Bounce-Bounce!)
Just like Angelica-san and the others feared, Haruka-kun had gone and done it again. And until the abnormality in his body subsided, everyone worked together to keep him from fighting or training. And now that he has a body that won’t break as easily, all the techniques Haruka-kun had worked so hard to master were completely useless. But he kept fighting, even while miserably failing and flailing, and rolling on the ground.
Even with Tai Chi he suddenly started practicing. He only moved slowly because he couldn’t control his body properly, so he must’ve been slowly speeding up and adjusting, re-learning every motion as he went.
Waking up to find yourself in an unfamiliar body, that’s an abnormal situation where even daily life becomes difficult. A body that reacts more sensitively and moves more explosively than you expect can’t possibly be controlled properly. He forced himself to control a body that should have required long, gradual rehabilitation, stumbling, falling, getting slammed into walls over and over again as he was dragged around by it, until he made it his own. Just like back when he struggled alone in the forest.
「So he’s back to being able to fight on the lower floors?」
「No way! His whole body’s been remade!」
「Yeah, but still~ he hasn’t given up at all~. He kept fighting anyway~」
「We’re the ones who are supposed to protect him this time! We will protect him, no matter what! So why is he still doing reckless things all by himself?!」
Shimazaki-san and the others were determined to protect him this time, as the ones now under his command. They studied under the Royal Guard on how to provide protection and had even begun developing tactics to form a wall with Haruka-kun in the rear. In a way, for them it’s fine if he can’t fight anymore, if it also would prevent him from destroying himself. That’s what actually everyone thought. I’m sure today, everyone had been prepared for Haruka-kun to step back from the front lines…
「But he cut down the 80th-floor boss in one blow!」
「Yeah, and it wasn’t that thing where he looks slow but is actually fast, it was really just one instant!」
「And with that… he actually doesn’t have precise control? Sure, it didn’t look like fluid motion anymore but…」
「It was like his old movements, just, zoom, like a bullet flying by in a blink.」
「Does this mean… he’s starting all over again? After everything he worked so hard for, is Haruka-kun the only one who has to start from zero again? That’s just…」
His body had been strengthened just enough to not break, but it wasn’t some kind of level-up. It was a change bought by trading away all the techniques he’d honed while endlessly fighting alone with his previous powerless body. He lost it all, for just that tiny bit of durability. Haruka-kun had to throw everything away, everything he had fought so hard to sharpen, just to gain that one thing. His body was altered, turned into something else, all fine control lost. And yet, in just a single day, he brought it back to the point where he could fight again.
Angelica-san and the others had turned a blind eye, thinking that if it meant sparing him further agony from his body being destroyed, then so be it. They couldn’t bear to watch anymore.And yet, in exchange for a body that can withstand his power, they were forced to witness something even more brutal, the sight of him dragging himself across the ground, refusing to give up as he struggled to fight, rolling and crawling, as he kept falling.
This world is already cruel enough to Haruka-kun, and yet he treats himself even more mercilessly to resist it. Even after being crushed and broken again, he stood up again, reaching out his hands toward a forever-unreachable mirage, like a moon in water or a flower in a mirror. Still, he’ll shatter the mirror, dive into the water, flail and drown, and keep reaching for the moon, knowing full well there’s no end to it, and still refusing to give up.
「Well then, since we’ve eaten, shall we head down? We’ve cleared all the hidden rooms up to this point, so once we take down the Dungeon Master, that’s a wrap for today. I would guess, there’s maybe five floors left? Based on the general vibe of the place~?」
Everyone had taken off their breastplates and helmets, and were down to just their greaves, so preparations are hectic. Arm guards with integrated hand guards, elbow guards, upper arm guards, and shoulder plates are a real pain to put on, but it was too humid to just keep wearing it. Heat and body temperature combined with low ventilation caused by the physical-poison resistance setup meant everyone was drenched in sweat. We did take regular breaks, but if stamina drops, a drawn out fight would become dangerous.
Even during the meal, Haruka-kun kept darting his eyes, watching everyone’s sweat-soaked undershirts clinging to their bodies until, in the end, he was just chewing on BBQ while staring up at the Dungeon ceiling. It seems Haruka-kun has a weakness for spats and halter neck tops. Especially today, the halter neck tank tops were swapped to backless types for better ventilation and easier resting, he was the one who designed it that way to keep cool while wearing armor, with a bolero integrated into the long gloves for coverage, but now he’s acting all suspicious.