Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 202

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TL: ALT

Chapter 202 – The Problem of Taking People Away

“――I guess that’s about it.”

I muttered to myself in a low voice, placing my hand on the mask.

I lifted the magic-induced stealth, no longer trying to hide my presence, and at the same time, used Spiritual Pressure to show them the difference in our power.

I could feel the anger, fear, and confusion of the fallen men and women alike.

Now, if you were suddenly interrupted by a third party and you couldn’t move, whether you were friend or foe, you would probably wonder what happened.

That’s when I realized that when you can’t move, you can’t talk either.

“Yamato Sakurai. Can you cancel Schadenfreude? If you can’t, shake your head.”

Even when unable to move, he can still move his body to this extent.

After opening his eyes wide, Yamato shook his head slightly from side to side.

He must have been surprised that his unique skill had been discovered and then decided not to fight against the situation.

Maybe it’s also because I’m using Spiritual Pressure that he feels this pressure.

“I see. So Schadenfreude is a skill that cannot be canceled until the end of the battle after it is activated?”

Yamato, who was still crawling on the ground, nodded grimly in response to my confirmation mutter.

Well, it would be too powerful if it could be canceled in the middle of a battle.

For example, if you prepare a coordinated attack in which you use Schadenfreude for a moment and then immediately cancel it, and then your allies drink the pre-prepared potions, you could make the enemy’s current HP drop to 1 within a few seconds of the start of the battle.

Once activated, the effect lasts until the end of the battle, which is probably a fair limit.

Since there is no way to recover his HP, Yamato has specialized in agility as a stat and has chosen a long-range, rapid-fire bow as his weapon.

I think it’s a risky way to fight, but as long as you don’t fail to attack the enemy first, you can defeat almost all monsters with a single hit.

Yamato, who must have recently become an explorer, is now leveling up faster than his older sister, Miho, who has been an explorer for a while because he uses Schadenfreude to hunt with great efficiency.

Well, there’s also the fact that Miho’s level is low for an explorer because Junko Tozaki level-drained her.

…Well, that’s not the point.

I want to know the conditions for removing Schadenfreude.

In this case, what conditions would have to be met for it to be considered “the end of the battle”?

The loss of morale of the combatants?

Or just the passage of time?

Either way, if the battle is considered over, Schadenfreude is suddenly canceled.

Wait a minute?

Can’t I use my Force Release skill to forcibly cancel it without waiting for it to cancel naturally?

No… that would be dangerous.

Schadenfreude is a skill that affects everyone in the fight.

If I were to forcibly cancel Schadenfreude for one person’s status, there is a risk that everyone else’s Schadenfreude would be canceled in a chain reaction.

“(By the way, the effect of Schadenfreude did not extend to me, who entered the battle after Yamato used Schadenfreude.)”

The one who will be troubled when Schadenfreude is canceled… is still Kandori, right?

At the same time that Schadenfreude is canceled, Kandori’s maximum HP will return to normal, and a few seconds later, her current HP will be slightly restored by the Self-Regeneration skill, and her incapacitated state will be removed.

I don’t want to leave Kandori, who has many uncertain elements, in a free state.

“Atropos, can you do it?”

As I spoke to my left shoulder, the mini-slime that had been in Stealth mode jumped off my shoulder.

It stood near Kandori (putting aside the question of whether slimes can “stand”), keeping a watchful eye on Kandori (even though slimes don’t have eyes).

“Keep an eye on her HP at all times, and when her maximum HP returns to normal, use Knockout. Also, charge up all your other non-lethal status effect skills.”

I’ve also added Appraisal and Stealth to the mini-slimes.

Atropos’ level is still a bit low at 279, but thanks to the sheer number of skills she has, her overall stats have been boosted considerably.

It would be difficult to take on Kandori in her full form (level 220,000+), but if the goal is just to override her Knockout, it should be no problem.

I also told her to stack non-lethal status effects like Stun Attack and Hit Stop in case she was defended against something.

“What should I do now?”

Thanks to Yamato’s Schadenfreude, I was able to capture the Men’s Association and Kandori without much trouble.

It was a brilliant fisherman’s advantage.

I could wait until the Schadenfreude wore off and then interrogate Yamato and Kandori, but maybe that’s not the best thing to do right now.

In that case, I should probably report first.

I took out my smartphone and called Serika from the DGP app.

Serika answered the call before it had even finished ringing.

“I’ve subdued Kandori and the Men’s Association.”

“Th-that was quick.”

True, not much time had passed since I’d left Serika and the others.

“But there are many of them. How do you think I should bring them back?”

“That’s true. Even if we make them walk in a line, there’s also the underwater area with two floors.”

“It might be easier to just walk through that dungeon.”

“But the Umihotaru Dungeon hasn’t been explored yet, so there’s a possibility that it’s quite deep, right?”

“That’s right, you’re right.”

I haven’t seen any intermediate portals between the first three floors.

Some dungeons with fewer floors may not have any portals.

On the other hand, it’s also possible that I just haven’t reached the portal yet.

From the Dungeon Master’s perspective, there is no sign of a portal in those three floors.

If this dungeon had seven floors in total, there is a chance that the portal would be on the fourth floor.

If there are seven floors in total, the portal would be on the 3.5th floor, so it could be on the third floor, but I know from the Dungeon Master’s perspective that there is no portal on the third floor where I am now.

What are the chances that there is a portal on the fourth floor?

If there are eight floors in total, then the portal would be on the fourth floor, and there would definitely be a portal on the fourth floor.

Even if there are nine floors in total, the intermediate portal would be on the fourth floor, so there would be a 50-50 chance that there would be an intermediate portal on the fourth floor.

However, if there are ten or more floors in total, then the intermediate portal would be on the fifth floor or higher.

It’s one thing to get through the third floor, but it’s a pain to get through two floors―the third and fourth―while taking the captured guys with me.

I might get comments like, “How can you get to the exit without getting lost in a dungeon you’ve never been in before?”

…No, can I cover it with Hypnosis?

No, that won’t work either.

There is a high probability that there is another underwater area on either the third or fourth floor, just like the one on the second floor.

There was no underwater area on the first floor, but there was one on the second floor.

At the moment, the probability is 1 in 2.

The possibility that there is an underwater area on either the third or fourth floor is quite high.

Furthermore, it is also possible that the middle area is on the sixth floor or higher―in other words, it is not impossible that the Umihotaru Dungeon is a deep dungeon with more than eleven floors.

The location and concept of this dungeon (such as the monsters’ tendency to appear) suggest that the floors are likely to be deep.

The deeper it goes, the more underwater areas there are, and I have a feeling that ancient sea creatures like megalodons will be attacking in swarms.

Since the monsters are modeled after creatures that normally lurk in the deep sea, it would be natural to think that the dungeon itself would be deep.

In that case, it would clearly be safer to somehow make it through the two underwater areas and meet up with Serika and the others.

Still,

“What a last-minute request…”

“I am sorry. It was an urgent request.”

“No, it’s not Serika’s fault.”

It’s fine to get Yamato and the guys from the Men’s Association back on their feet and walking, but I’m a little worried about Kandori.

With her status as a surprise box, there’s a good chance she’ll try to escape by some unknown means along the way.

Well then… while I keep Kandori incapacitated, should I summon Hobijinkai to carry her?

If you’re thinking about the worst-case scenario, it would probably be safer to have a disposable normal monster (such as a Rock Golem or Lizardman) carry her.

No, a Sahagin that can do underwater would be better.

It would be a waste to use a high-level Arc Sahagin I caught in the job world, so a normal Sahagin I got in the Metropolitan Area Outer Discharge Channel dungeon the other day would be fine.

Even as I made up my mind,

“――!”

I could feel Serika’s tension on the other end of the phone, which was beyond words.

“…What’s wrong?”

I asked, lowering my voice.

“It looks like we have a visitor here as well.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Who do you think I am?”

From the calmness of her voice, it didn’t seem like she was just trying to be tough.

“Okay. I’ll be back as soon as――”

I was about to say that I would be back, but then I saw Kandori trembling at the edge of my vision.

The long sleeves of her lab coat and her worn-out jeans were bulging from the inside.

There was also a large lump on her head, which was wrapped in a pink bandana.

Kandori was still crawling on the ground, looking at me with a malicious smile on her face.

One of her eyes burst open from the inside.

At the same time, the Voice of Heaven rang out.

‘Warning: A dungeon flood has occurred in the B-Rank Dungeon, Kandori Kiriko’s Left Eye Vitreous Body Dungeon.’

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