The moment I returned, I quickly reverted to my original form.
Even so, there was no cooldown.
Can I use [Generous]?
[Rail Move] too... I can use it.
"Is this really okay?"
"Hey, welcome back."
"Ambrosius?!"
I was surprised to see Ambrosius there, alongside the dungeon's consciousness.
The consciousness greeted me too.
"Good, you're back. Wof."
"I'm home."
"So, what happened to Biggs?"
"He's dead. The red mask is gone too."
Ambrosius smiled wryly.
"Good work. The red ants outside seem to be gone too."
"They disappeared?"
"They were summoned by Biggs, so..."
Apparently, once the summoner dies, they return to where they came from.
"They'll probably come here too."
"Well then, let me finish the commission I was asked to do first."
I use the [Wheel of Fortune].
The Rank-Up Relic plate... it must be this way.
It's in the basement of the treasure vault. Past the mountain of treasure, down the stairs.
Beyond that, numerous shelves held boxes of various sizes and materials, all neatly arranged.
These were offerings.
I follow the blue light and pick up a small, golden, luxurious-looking box from the shelves.
Inside the box was a black plate. It glowed blue to my eyes.
"So this is the Rank-Up."
I put the whole box into my pouch. Commission complete.
"Oh right. I wonder if they have any knives."
Mine broke, so this would be a good chance.
I use the [Wheel of Fortune] to search this offering vault.
If I'm going to get one, I'd like a nice knife as a keepsake.
"...They don't have any blue ones?"
I feel deflated.
Surprisingly, there was only one yellow one.
Maybe there are some in the treasure mountain upstairs. I check, but... no luck.
"I guess yellow is fine."
At least I have something.
Um, the yellow one must be... inside this iron box.
There was a knife in a black scabbard.
The handle was black too, so it looked like a solid black oval lump.
I picked it up and drew it from the scabbard, and the red blade gleamed.
The edge was slightly serrated.
"Looks like something a villain would carry."
And it was red. That red mask came to mind.
What was that mask, anyway? It had something like a will.
"It was weak, though."
Also, what am I, exactly?
Not knowing myself — how does that work?
"Ah, but the time knife. I finally got to use it."
The knife goddess must be beaming now.
"Well, this is what it is."
I sheathed the red blade.
I went to stow it in my knife belt, and suddenly realized something.
"...The time knife is gone..."
Come to think of it, after I stabbed it into that red mask's strange black body — I don't remember retrieving it.
I forgot it. Forgot it in some incomprehensible place called the End of the Light of Time or something.
"This is bad..."
My blood ran cold. What do I do?
I have no choice but to go get it... but do I actually go?
Activate [Generous], use [Reave Form], and then...
"And then... and then..."
Then what? Wait, what do I do?
How did I even become that [
Deep Space Generous
]...
No clue.
I have no idea.
"...Uuuuagh!"
I tried screaming. I screamed with everything I had.
Anger. Anger... no. There's nothing, really.
"..."
Time ran out and I reverted to normal.
This is bad. I left it somewhere I can't even describe.
If I tell her I lost it, she'll definitely get mad at me.
Alright. The moment I get summoned, I'll grovel on the spot.
I'll prostrate myself and apologize with absolute sincerity.
"Hey, did you find what you were looking for?"
Ambrosius descended.
"Yes, thanks to you."
"Then shall we head to the main one?"
"Got it."
We left the treasure hall.
As we headed toward the adjacent temple, Ishi hurriedly hid behind me.
I wondered what was wrong, and then someone came from the temple.
Three women. It was Narses and the others.
Narses stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at me.
"Hey, where have you been?"
"Just to the treasure hall next door. I had a request."
"There's a treasure hall?"
"Yes, right next door."
"Come to think of it, the red ants are gone," Megadia said between drinks.
Where she'd gotten alcohol. Or maybe she'd brought her own.
"Wof. Back here—I took a peek, and there was a strange sphere floating in a big open space," Mineha said, sounding pleased.
"A strange sphere?"
"That's the dungeon core."
Ambrosius answered.
Mineha seemed relieved for some reason.
"I'm glad I stopped Narcissus. She was about to destroy it right away."
"What!?"
The one who was surprised was Ishi, who was behind me.
Narcissus barked.
"What? She just looked like she really wanted to destroy it!"
"Haha, she's wild."
Even Ambrosius was breaking into a cold sweat.
Megadia seemed to be concerned about what was behind me while drinking.
"Wof, is someone there?"
"Ah, a black spider woman!"
We were found by Narcissus.
Ishi was frightened. Was she that scary?
Mineha grabbed Narcissus's arm.
"You, knock it off."
"What?"
"Act a little more like an Edda."
"I am acting like an Edda."
"You right now. You're like a barbarian. And if you're a first-class, act like it. Don't disappoint the me who's aiming for that."
Minha glanced at Megadia too.
Right. Minha was aiming for that because she admired her mother, Luriha.
Even Narcissus looked deflated.
A 24-year-old getting seriously chewed out by a 10-year-old.
"Fine, fine. Hey, you over there, black spider lady. I won't do anything."
"........."
"Hey, what's your name?"
"...Wof named me."
"Me?"
"That's fine. Wof, would you mind giving her a name?"
Hmm. Let me see...
When I looked at Ishi, it popped right into my head.
"Isibara."
"I like it."
She answered without hesitation.
Because "ishi" meant "will," and she somehow smelled of roses.
Plus, it was in my past life memories.
There was a woman who worked at a diner I sometimes went to,
Ishigiri Bara—
that was her name.
I liked the chicken katsu set meal and the youlinji set meal there.
I'd been taught the recipes before.
Maybe I'd try recreating them. Ah, but the youlinji set meal would be impossible.
The secret ingredient was... mayonnaise.
—Oh, what a nice name.
Megadia smiled, complimented me, and drank her sake.
Mineha was impressed too.
—Hm. That's pretty good, for Wof.
—More importantly, let's go see the dungeon core.
Deepest into the back of the temple.
In the center of a vast, sterile space sat a large black pedestal.
How to put it — it felt sacred, but also mechanical. Advanced civilization.
The same kind of thing as pedestals you sometimes find in dungeons.
Floating above that pedestal was an enormous sphere.
It was a black orb with a glowing line drawn across its center.
The line was three-dimensional, like the ring of a planet.
Looking closely, the entire sphere had a faint bluish-white glow.
Feeling curious, I stared at it.
Covering the surface, packed tight with no gaps, were bluish-white characters.
I couldn't read them. No wait — were these symbols?
It was exactly the kind of thing I'd seen way too many times back at that exploitative company from my past life.
The sphere was slowly, slowly rotating.
Really slowly, slowly. Slowly.
What this sphere was. I didn't need to ask to know.
We had finally arrived.
At last.
Finally.
"So this is the dungeon core."
I was a little moved.
And well, I could sort of understand why Narcissus had felt like breaking it.
In games from my past life, smashing things like this was pretty common.
That didn't make it something you should go around breaking, though.
"It's quite the sight."
"It really does... somehow resemble the material of that Spiral Thorn."
Mineha glanced back and forth between the pitch-black, oddly-shaped spear in her hand and the core as she murmured.
Now that she mentioned it, maybe so.
Also, that Spiral Thorn... from its shape to its destructive power, it had "Riv's handiwork" written all over it.
Huh? Narcissus was gazing up at the dungeon core and acting all quiet.
That silent, still demeanor, combined with the mystery of purple, was genuinely beautiful.
But the moment she started talking or moving even a little, she became the most disappointing 24-year-old child you'd ever meet.
Narcissus opened her pale pink lips slightly, her expression deadly serious.
"The more I look at it, the more I want to destroy it."
"Narcissus."
"Narcissus."
"I-I know, okay?"
The two of us glared at her, and she wilted under the pressure.
Seriously, Narcissus, please, at least spare me that.
I noticed Isibara had appeared beside me.
She was staring at me intently with those dark eyes. What was this about?
"What is it?"
"Wof. What kind of dungeon are you gonna build?"
"Huh? I—"
I faltered, but the truth was I'd already decided.
The dungeon I would build.
It was—