Chapter 2: Ryo and Sleeping Faces and the Riverbed

Tama City, Tokyo.

A dungeon in the Tama River called the Riverbed Abyss.

Commonly known as the Tama River Sandbar Dungeon.

As the nickname suggests, it is located on a sandbar near the exact midpoint between two bridges connecting Tama City and Fuchu City along the Tama River—the Sekido Bridge and the Yotsuya Bridge.

At the center of that sandbar floats something like a black whirlpool, which serves as the entrance.

It is a three-layer dungeon, with each layer consisting of three floors.

In addition to the nine regular floors, there is a boss room on the lowest level, making it a ten-floor dungeon in total.

The first layer is a dungeon where maze-like flowing rivers and gravel paths continue, but from the second layer onward, it feels as if one is at the bottom of a river.

The third layer, in contrast to the high transparency of the second layer, has an atmosphere reminiscent of a marine-blue seafloor.
Moreover, the deeper one goes, the darker it becomes, worsening visibility and increasing danger.

Both the second and third layers have small fish swimming through the air.

These do not particularly attack and are referred to as dungeon mobs.

Thanks to that, the atmosphere feels exactly like an underwater stroll.

It is a dungeon that fully showcases dungeon-exclusive scenery, and it is also one of Ryo’s favorites.

That said, since it is not a particularly lucrative dungeon, it is not very popular among active explorers.

Incidentally, breathing normally is possible.

“Yeah, this place really is nice.”

Ryo was walking through the second layer of the dungeon—a location corresponding to the fifth floor.

The ocean-like third layer is also nice, but Ryo personally prefers the second layer with its high transparency and riverbed-like atmosphere.

“Alright, today… yeah.
I’ll go with a Sharkdile sleeping face.”

Having entered the dungeon without any particular goal, Ryo muttered his sudden idea to himself.

Once the goal was decided, all that remained was action.

“The third layer has a higher encounter rate, but there are places where they form packs…
Considering the surrounding scenery… going one floor down is better.
If I remember right, the sixth floor has an area where they swim alone.”

Alright—he quietly psyched himself up and headed for the stairs.

Using a presence-concealment skill, he threaded his way through the blind spots of monsters roaming the dungeon, avoiding unnecessary battles.

This was a skill he had acquired specifically for taking sleeping-face photos like this.

To capture an unguarded sleeping face, monsters that were alert or in a combat-ready state simply would not do.

Even when using a skill to put monsters to sleep, he wanted the target to be as relaxed as possible.

With that mindset, through trial and error, Ryo had acquired a high-level sneaking skill.

Ever since learning it, the skill had been useful for exploring while avoiding unnecessary combat, and he often progressed through dungeons like this while using it.

Just as he reached the stairs, he suddenly locked eyes perfectly with a monster beside him.

They stared blankly at each other.

A large fish-like monster over two meters long, swimming through the air, with the appearance of a hybrid between a crocodile and a shark.

As its looks suggested, it was a powerful and fast formidable enemy.
If fought when one had only just stopped struggling against other monsters on this floor, a tough battle was unavoidable.

Sharkdile Saward.

According to the monster information, the term Saward in this dungeon apparently meant something like living in a stream.
In other words, a stream-dwelling Sharkdile.

No one bothered to question how something that large could live in a stream.
Or perhaps someone had questioned it in the past, but it had been pointless.

Names aside, the man and the monster encountered each other unexpectedly.

They continued staring at each other in silence.

From Ryo’s perspective, it was shock at thinking, ‘Wait, this thing appears on Floor 5 too?’
From the monster’s perspective, it was shock at thinking, ‘Wait, there’s a human with no presence right in front of me?’

They both snapped back to their senses almost simultaneously.

“Whoa—!”

The Sharkdile charged at him with force, so Ryo hurriedly leapt into the stairway.

For some reason, dungeon monsters seemed unable to use stairs.
Once inside, there was no risk of being attacked.

“If it’s that aggressively in full combat mode, even if I put it to sleep with a skill, it’ll probably keep a grim face…”

In that case, searching on the next floor would be better.

“They come at you with killing intent, so they feel scary, but their eyes are actually kind of round and cute.”

He muttered that while descending the stairs.

In Ryo’s opinion, if stylized into a plush toy, it would probably sell.

After finishing the descent, he arrived on Floor 6.

“If I remember right, the west side…”

Looking at the three-way intersection spread out in front of him, he took out a compass to confirm.

He chose the passage leading west and moved forward.

The scenery of walking along a riverbed alone made his heart dance.

Moss- and algae-covered stones, and things resembling seaweed like wakame—probably flowing down from the lower floors—grew like trees and swayed gently.

And beneath rocks and in their shadows lurked monsters resembling aquatic insects.

Even with presence concealment, it was not possible to avoid monsters completely.

Just like the earlier Sharkdile, there was always a chance of being spotted through sheer bad luck.

“YAGooooo!”

Letting out a strange cry, a monster that noticed Ryo lunged at him.

“Annoying.”

While dodging the body slam of a monster resembling a dragonfly larva grown large enough to attack humans, Ryo threw his knife, piercing it precisely in its vital spot—the abdomen.

“You should toughen up your belly side too.”

Recovering the knife from the fallen larva, he moved on.

Before long, the monster’s corpse transformed into black haze, which was absorbed by the dungeon and vanished.

He did not understand the mechanism, but that was just how it worked, so leaving corpses posed no problem.

“If Oniyagoradon are showing up, that means I’m getting close to the Sharkdile habitat…”

After concealing his presence with a skill, he further held his breath and proceeded through the western area while carefully listening for sounds.

“…There.”

He murmured soundlessly.

The Sharkdile he found was floating belly-up, wriggling around.

“…What is it doing?”

Looking at its face, it somehow looked like it was enjoying itself, so maybe it was a kind of recreational dance.

“Cute.”

It wriggled for a while, then stopped moving and began to sway gently, as if entrusting itself to the current.

It slowly drifted downward.

Apparently, the act of falling felt pleasant to it.

After descending to a certain point, it wriggled again and floated back up, then once more entrusted itself to the flow and fell—repeating the cycle.

“…If it’s like this…”

He layered a range-extension skill onto a long-distance sleep-inducing magic-breath skill.

“Skill: Range Enhancement High Snipe.”

This skill had the drawback of lowering the base performance of the original skill in exchange for extended range.

However, while it might be insufficient in combat, it was more than enough against a target this relaxed.

“Magic Breath: Slumber Wave.”

From the tip of Ryo’s raised hand, a wave like linked rings of purple translucent light was released.

The moment it was hit, the Sharkdile narrowed its eyes comfortably, looking utterly at ease.

The sight of it lying belly-up, holding its stomach with its fins, was adorable.

“It’s completely different from when it’s fighting.”

Even a dangerous monster ranking high in this dungeon, one that charged with jaws wide open, looked utterly cute when asleep.

“Shutter chance!”

Quietly psyching himself up, Ryo took out his smartphone and savored the sight until the very last moment before the sleep skill wore off.