TL/Editor: raei

Status: 5/Week Mon-fri

Illustrations: Posted in discord.

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Setting aside the gimmick of the safe zone discovered by some lucky adventurer, the tower exploration was progressing smoothly.

The mercenary group dispatched from the Empire had found the gate leading from the 52nd to the 53rd floor. Fortunately, we received that information and were able to head straight to the 53rd floor without wasting time.

It would've been disappointing if we'd wandered around the 52nd floor only to return and find the gate to the 53rd floor already open. Thinking about it that way, Han Se-ah's luck might not be so bad after all.

"I see a goblin unit up ahead, and a safe zone beyond them. What should we do, wait?" Grace asked.

"Hmm, if there's nothing but goblins around, let's break through and check it out right away," I replied.

My greaves made clanking noises as they trampled the soft prairie grass. Under the warm sunlight that had been shining for 24 hours straight, the oddly heated armor moved forward along with Grace, who'd spotted something.

Whether our paths didn't overlap or rumors had spread that the hero party headed east from the 53rd floor gate, other adventurers were nowhere to be seen.

...And neither were ogres.

How was it that we'd come all the way to the 53rd floor to check the gimmick of the plains layer and investigate the fake safe zones, but we hadn't encountered a single ogre? This immediately made me take back what I'd just thought about Han Se-ah's luck being decent.

"So, we're charging in?" Irene asked.

"Yeah. There's a safe zone nearby, so let's quickly clean up and enter it," I confirmed.

"What if the safe zone is fake?"

"Last time, it didn't activate as soon as we entered, but during the camp. We should have enough time to check."

As the party chatted away, I pulled down the helmet I'd taken off because of the sunlight. The sun's heat warmed my face, narrowing my field of vision. The thumping of my heart synced with the mana enveloping my entire body.

When dealing with goblins, a shield with a wide surface area was more convenient than a mace. So, I lowered my stance like an American football player, gripped the shield with both hands, and advanced like a bulldozer.

My body, enhanced to an absurd degree, cut through the wind and crushed the prairie as it moved forward. In the distance, through my narrowed vision, I saw startled goblins. They took the textbook stance of planting their shields in the ground and aiming their spears at the rapidly approaching enemy.

However, the goblin race was far too weak to withstand the full-speed charge of a 6★. At this acceleration, I could even push back an ogre, so how could goblins in mere armor hope to withstand it?

Crack――!! Crunch―――!!!

Kyeek―?!

It started with the long, sharp spear tip. The fierce spear tip that could take the lives of even high-ranking adventurers if recklessly charged at crumbled like trampled clay when it hit my shield.

As the spear tip crumbled and the shaft broke, those who screamed and collapsed just before the shields collided. Though their health had increased as 51st floor goblins, it seemed they still couldn't ignore the reflect damage.

Perhaps troubled by their comrade behind them screaming and dying just before the collision, the goblin's eyes, filled with ferocity and unease, wavered between me charging in and their dead comrade behind.

"I'll surround them so they can't escape!" Han Se-ah called out.

"Isn't an alchemical arrowhead a bit wasteful against goblins?" Grace wondered.

Of course, that hesitation was brief.

My shield, which crushed the spear tip and broke the shaft, slammed into the goblin's shield. Flying away with a horrible sound as if hit by a truck, its shield was dented and both arms seemed shattered with bone fragments protruding, but before I could look closely, it disappeared into a mana stone.

It seemed the collision between shields was also considered an attack, adding reflect damage.

The shield bearer in the front line was shattered and flew into the air, while the spearman in the second line had already died from reflect damage. With a hole in their formation, what followed was a one-sided massacre.

If corpses had remained, they could have stopped my charge, but those who turned into two mana stones left neither bodies nor armor. As I plowed straight through without stopping, I heard the wind being cut and Grace's arrows passing by my head.

"Hmm... Looks like I won't need to step in. I'd better stay here in case centaurs charge in," Irene mused.

"Roland's charge is quite loud, isn't it?" Katie observed.

-Look at him ramming in lol the goblins are flying away with their armor

-Even if goblins are light, they should weigh at least as much as a sack of rice, but they're just whoosh flying off with their armor lol

-Meanwhile, Grace is just accurately landing eyeball shots. Is this the standard for 5★?

-So what's our hero doing with that Earth Control she was supposed to use?

-Looks like she's making a circular moat to keep the goblins from fleeing? But goblins don't run away anyway, do they?

Sharp arrows accurately pierced the eyeballs through the gaps of the helmets worn by the goblins. As the voice from behind said, they weren't alchemical arrowheads, but the lethality was sufficient.

Even if they had slightly more health than ordinary goblins and sturdy armor and shields, they were still goblins in the end. If you pierced through the gaps in their armor to attack important points, the damage from a 5★ ranged attacker ignored 80% of defense.

How tough could a naked goblin be? If you shot them in the eye and ignored 80% of their defense, it was almost true damage.

A tank breaking through the formation, plowing into a circular moat that suddenly appeared on the prairie, and a ranged attacker who ghostly pierced armor joints, ignoring defense.

The slow goblin infantry had no means to counter this.

---

Raei Translations

---

"Hmm, that flower is here. Nothing to harvest from this, right?" Katie asked.

"I'll just remember the location. That flower, I can faintly sense divine energy from it, but we can't pick it. And I don't think anything good would happen if we did," Irene replied.

"That's true. It's like a symbol of the Goddess proving it's a real safe zone, so we shouldn't damage it carelessly," Grace agreed.

After gathering the mana stones of the goblins who were unfortunately massacred for being in the path to the safe zone, we arrived at the first safe zone of the 53rd floor. Thankfully, the golden four-leaf clover flower proving it was a real safe zone was blooming beautifully in the center.

Relieved by this sight, the party sat down on the golden grass field. With no signs of other adventurers and no monsters appearing in a real safe zone, they seemed ready to relax fully, letting all tension leave their bodies.

Blue sky, fluffy clouds, brightly shining sunlight, and a golden grass field straight out of a fairy tale, with various beauties huddled together on top of it.

"Wow, looking at it like this, it really does feel like heaven. The view is wide open, there are no monsters, and we have snacks in our inventory. No wonder some players make the prairie a tourist spot instead of progressing," Han Se-ah remarked.

-What do you mean by making the prairie a tourist spot?

-Oh lol there are people who don't progress the game and just relax on the first floor, resetting when they encounter mobs

-Not progressing the game, buying snacks with initial funds, and playing on the prairie before resetting lololololol

-So what are you going to do if you find a fake safe zone instead of a real one?

-If you give up on game progression, you can enjoy free chicken and beer on the prairie every day, why wouldn't you do this?

The party had been marching across the prairie for hours under the relentless sun. Though it was a space that magically maintained its temperature even when heated by sunlight, feeling hot and sweaty was an unavoidable reaction for living beings.

Han Se-ah started chatting with viewers while wiping her nape with a magical water droplet in her palm, while the other three began gossiping around the four-leaf clover flower in the center of the clearing.

It was a beautiful shape with a golden jewel embedded in a golden four-leaf clover, so it was bound to appeal to women. Add to that the faint divine energy and fragrance, and all three were completely captivated, like cats drawn to catnip.

"If this is a symbol bestowed by the Goddess, I wonder if there was something like this in the safe zones we passed through?" Katie pondered.

"Probably not. If you think about it, the safe zones on the lower floors have already been touched by people, even undergoing construction," Grace replied.

"True, if there had been something this unusual while they were tilling the land and building structures, mages would have definitely started researching it, right?" Irene added.

My lips curled up into a smile at the sight of them huddled around the flower with faces like lovesick girls.

Even as Han Se-ah took out some high-quality jerky from her inventory to satisfy their hunger lightly after being nagged by viewers, their gazes remained fixed on the flower. It reminded me of how 3-4 year old kids react when you turn on Pororo for them.

"Here, chew on these while we talk," Han Se-ah offered.

"Thanks, Hanna," Katie responded.

This wasn't bitter and disgusting salted jerky made from rotting meat preserved with cheap salt. Considering the players' tastes, it was tender jerky with a salty flavor to satisfy sodium needs and a peppery aroma that tingled the tongue.

The taste naturally made you crave a cold beer. As I was munching on the jerky, tearing into it like fresh meat, Grace's head suddenly whipped around.

She had been nibbling on the jerky like a squirrel, but now she was pointing west - the direction we came from. We clearly said we were heading east from the gate, so who could be following our party? As I grabbed my shield and lifted my helmet to be on guard, I saw something running - no, crawling - from the direction Grace was pointing.

"...What? Why is Manaashi here?"

It was still far away and hard to see clearly, but a black naga crawling across the prairie with a long trident was clearly visible. Given its size, it was quite noticeable even from a distance...

Why was he here, and who was he with?

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