The Darkness Was Comfortable for Me-Novel

Chapter 31: Gem and Scream

“Fuuh, it is a lot cleaner now.” (Hikaru)

I for some reason continued cleaning the 2nd Floor.

I felt bad for Grapefull—that was the reason at first, but I am feeling a sense of accomplishment from seeing the dungeon get cleaner.

I have gotten a pretty good grasp of the structure of the Hungry Beasts Underground Prison that is the 2nd Floor of the dungeon.

The 2nd Floor is pretty vast, but even without a map, I wouldn’t get lost.

Big rooms where groups of monsters camp in, places that have clean water that can serve to wash yourself, and there’s even a place that’s like a garden which is most likely treated as outside the prison; I would say that, at the very least, it is as big as the 1st Floor.

Cleaning something that big is close to being in the realm of a hobby. The contents of the Shadow Bag didn’t become a mess, and I could manage the things inside of it individually. When it became full to a certain extent, I would throw them into a small room on the 2nd Floor that’s decently accessible.

I don’t really know where to throw it away, and the priority here is to avoid any cat beastkin from getting injured.

With all this storing and releasing, the Tier of the Shadow Bag increased.

I think I have seen about every monster that appears here as well.

The small humanoid ones are apparently called goblins.

The monsters that are half human and half dog are called kobolds.

The big men holding clubs are ogres.

The big monster that’s half human half pig is an orc.

They are all names I have heard somewhere before, but this might simply be the translation at work here. The translation being localized depending on what part of Earth people are watching is something that happens often.

On the other hand, I have no way to learn about what the names before they were localized are in their isekai language. Automatic translations are super convenient, but having everything translated without my input makes it so it is impossible for me to learn what the original words were.

If the auto translation disappears on the whim of God, we would suddenly be thrown into a Babel Tower situation where a man that doesn’t understand the language at all will show up.

…Well, with my current lifestyle, that might not really trouble me that much though.

By the way, the strongest ones aren’t the orcs or the ogres, but a dangerous fellow that appears alone.

I have only seen it twice.

(It seems today was a miss…) (Hikaru)

There being no dead bodies is a good thing, but it is troubling for my livelihood.

In the end, I might be left with no choice but to fight monsters, but I at least wanted to wait until the attention on me decreased and for my existence to have been forgotten.

The other Chosen are probably leading stimulating lifestyles and adventures to gather viewers.

With that, even if I were to fight against monsters a bit, no one would pay me any attention.

…That’s how it works…I am sure.

That’s why, until then, let’s continue this lifestyle.

(……Hm? There was a door at a place like this?) (Hikaru)

When I was moving around the darkness in the 2nd Floor as always, a faintly shining door appeared suddenly in front of me.

The Hungry Beasts Underground Prison is literally a giant prison, and there’s a number of small rooms that don’t have iron bars, but there have been no doors.

At least not as far as I have seen.

But a strangely shining door actually suddenly appeared.

(What’s this…?) (Hikaru)

A mystery.

This is unbelievably suspicious.

But I feel like it would be a waste to ignore it.

It is a strange door, but…I want to open it.

(…Let’s use it.) (Hikaru)

After using a potion on Grapefull, I began feeling like it was okay to use the Crystals at least.

The viewer count is decreasing slowly but surely. That was making my heart a bit lighter.

The number of messages continues increasing as always, and there’s more than 30,000 messages unopened.

I have erased the very existence of this from inside of me and make sure I don’t ever see it.

I use 1 Crystal and do Item Appraisal on the door.

It was a gamble of whether the door is an item or not, but it went well.

[Treasure Warehouse Door: A door that’s set to give presents to the explorers that the Divine Beast, Lilimuph, takes a liking to. Only the person that’s being gifted can see it and can enter. When you take the gem orb from inside and leave, the door will disappear. Giving away the gem will anger the Divine Beast. Please be careful of this.]

“So this is what she meant by treasure!” (Hikaru)

The one the Lynx Grapefull told me a bit ago.

I thought for sure it would be a treasure box lying around somewhere, but it looks like it doesn’t work that way.

After seeing the explanation, I was relieved and entered through the door.

The interior was a simple private room, and at the center there’s a fist sized ball on top of a pedestal.

(I thought it would be like a gem, but…it is more like a glass ball.) (Hikaru)

I can’t tell what is inside right now.

In other words, this in itself must be a ‘treasure box’. Looks like I can open it after I get out of the dungeon.

“…That’s great.” (Hikaru)

For someone broke like me, no matter what is inside this, it is a treasure.

The Divine Beast might have given me a reward after seeing me cleaning the dungeon.

I can’t even fathom what will come out, but it would be nice if it makes my life easier.

(It is a rare treasure event, so let’s go out for now.) (Hikaru)

It is still early, but I decided to leave the dungeon once.

The stairs for the 1st Floor are nearby.

I want to see the inside of it quickly.

*Kin!*

*Gakin!*

— “Run! You all, run away!”

It was right after that I heard the echoes of clashing blades and the desperate shouts.

— “Where are the smoke bombs?!”

— “The one before was the last one!”

— “We don’t have Stink Bags either! W-What should we do?!”

— *Kin!* *Clank!*

— “Run away! Quick! I won’t be able to last long!”

— “But…!”

(Close!) (Hikaru)

The next instant I thought this, my legs were heading to the location.

The 2nd Floor is vast and complex, so I rarely encounter any explorers fighting monsters.

Even if I do, I wouldn’t get too close to them in fear of being found.

Darkness is strong for stealth, but it won’t serve much if found.

My combat power is close to zero after all.

The reason why I headed to the location despite that was because their voices carried way too much urgency.

I might be able to do something here, just like the time with Grapefull.

I was weird for thinking this so naturally.

Even though I can’t even do that for myself.