Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 215

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TL: ALT

Chapter 215 – Conquering the Umihotaru Dungeon and the God

Well, I’ve arrived at the Umihotaru Dungeon, but there’s not much to report.

I’ve already cleared the first two floors and part of the third.

To be honest, it’s a bit of a formality.

From the portal at the back of the third floor, I went to the fourth floor.

There was another underwater area on the fourth floor, but I handled it the same way I did last time, so there were no problems.

The fifth floor was not underwater, and part of the sixth floor was underwater again.

“So only the even numbered floors are under water?”

Thinking I had gotten some information to give to Haitani-san as a souvenir, I jumped (swam) into the portal to the seventh floor.

“Whoa!”

I was thrown out of the water and into the air, and I did a somersault when I landed.

Even though I knew I had the physical strength to do it, being thrown into the air like that still felt scary.

I didn’t land on the dungeon floor.

The floor was cobblestone, and when I looked up, I saw a vermilion torii gate.

Next to the torii gate was a stone monument with the words Dungeon Shrine.

“Wow, it’s been a while…”

While I was doing the A-rank dungeon tour, I never managed to get to the Dungeon Shrine.

I also thought that the A-rank dungeons were too easy to complete and that I wouldn’t be able to meet the requirements to visit the shrine, but I have to admit that I doubt that theory.

The reason for this is that in the job world, I was able to visit the Dungeon Shrine by moving through the floors of the C-rank dungeon, Black Swan Forest Water Park.

Well, it seems that the amount of faith collected by God over there and God over here is different.

There is no doubt that the shrine over there has a higher appearance rate.

I walk up the stone steps lined with torii gates at a leisurely pace.

Running up at a leisurely pace is a strange expression, but with my Agility now, I can actually run up the steps without getting tired.

I also have Muscle Fatigue Nullification skills.

If I use Muscle Fatigue Nullification, I think I could even run up Mt. Fuji from the base to the summit in a single bound.

The precincts I had passed through the Torii corridor were still as quiet as ever.

I looked around, but I couldn’t see the fox-eared young goddess anywhere in the area I could see.

And this atmosphere…

“What is it? Compared to before, it’s like…”

This shrine’s characteristic was that it felt abandoned but also had a pure, clean atmosphere. However, today, that “pure feeling” seemed a bit thin.

From the feeling I had when I called down Ototachibana-hime through the Divine Descent, I know that this “pure feeling” is the presence of God.

Then,

“God! Are you here?!”

I ran through the grounds and approached the shrine.

The doors of the shrine opened from the inside.

“Oh, isn’t that Yuto?”

The god that emerged from the shrine was the same god as always.

However, her voice seemed a bit weak.

“W-what’s wrong? Do you feel weak?”

“Hmm. Even a human child can tell, right?”

The god said as if in self-derision.

“What happened?”

“What, you should know too.”

“Me?”

“Earth has been a noisy place lately, hasn’t it? People’s hearts have been disturbed, each firmly believing that only their own ideas are right, and they have been cursing and excluding each other.”

“You mean Genron.net?”

“That’s right. God is the personification of the extreme north of thought. When national opinion is torn to pieces, the beliefs that each person holds will also be divided, and each belief will be purified as it approaches the dimension of faith. The extreme narrow-minded belief that will never mix will eventually take the form of a ‘god’ that is convenient for each person.”

It’s been a while, but she still talks about difficult things.

“Well, if you keep talking about extreme views, what you say will start to sound religious, and you’ll end up creating a god, right?”

“Hmm. As I thought, you’re quick to grasp the essence of things.”

“Does that mean the power of the god has been weakened?”

“Yes. I was originally a vague concept of a ‘god’ in this country. I am not an individual god like the Ototachibana-hime you summoned. I am the ‘god’ that people in this country imagine without any prior knowledge. You could say that I am a personification of the collective unconscious of modern Japanese people.”

“So it’s not a specific god like Ototachibana-hime, but a vaguely imagined god of this country.”

Even Japanese people who are not usually involved in religion may visit a shrine for the first shrine visit of the year.

However, I think there are not many people who really understand the deity enshrined in the shrine and pray to that deity.

There is only a loose awareness that there is a God in the shrine and that you make an offering to the God and make a wish.

When you think about it like this, it makes sense that the “gods” that people in modern Japan vaguely imagine are not the individual gods that appear in myths.

Unless you have relatives who are involved in shrines or have suddenly developed “second childhood” syndrome, how many of the names of the gods of Japanese mythology can you name?

“Well, I can say that I am not an individual god like Amaterasu, Ninigi, Okuninushi, Izanagi, Izanami, or the like, or I can say that I am a collective god that is all of them at once. However, due to the division of the nation, part of my existence and power became independent and took the form of individual gods.”

“Is that what happened?

It’s hard to believe that Tozaki wanted this, but it’s amazing that the online antagonism developed to the point where the gods split apart.

“So, is it possible for the gods to split into the eight million gods and disappear…?”

“Do not worry. The division of opinions in the country has calmed down a bit now. Although the power of the gods that have already split cannot be restored, it should be possible to prevent further weakening.”

“That’s good.”

“However, the fact that the probability of this shrine appearing has decreased is a problem. The number of people who visit this shrine has always been limited, but from now on, the conditions will be even stricter. If that happens, it will be even more difficult to gather faith and increase my power as a god.”

“Oh, I see…”

“It seems that you wanted my blessing for the hero abilities that you acquired in the job world.”

“You can see through me? But from the way you talk…”

“Yes. I don’t have that kind of power now. Besides, if you’re talking about granting specific powers, the separate gods would be better at that.”

“Why? Aren’t the gods more powerful?”

“Since I am just a vague ‘image’ in people’s minds, it is difficult for me to grant specific, concrete powers that would be useful in battle. Skills and abilities like the Ripple Calm that Ototachibana used are easy to understand, aren’t they?”

“I see… So even if you say that you have ‘power’, it’s more practical to know that you can do this specifically, rather than vaguely having power.”

If there were two job applicants, one saying, “I have a high level of education, and I’m confident in my potential!” and the other saying, “I have this qualification and I have X years of work experience!” then the latter would be more immediately useful.

If you’re a recent graduate, the former would be stronger, but if you’re a mid-career professional, the latter would be more advantageous.

Well, I don’t have any academic qualifications or work experience.

“Has the Ototachibana-hime shown any interest in you?”

“I don’t know. It seems that she felt a connection with me because I’ve held the Kusanagi sword before, and she lent me her strength.”

Ototachibana-hime’s husband is Yamato Takeru.

The scene where Yamato Takeru overcomes an enemy fire attack with the Kusanagi Sword is one of the highlights of Japanese mythology, isn’t it?

Similarly, the scene where Ototachibana-hime sacrifices herself to save her husband, who is caught in a storm at sea, is also famous.

“But, I don’t know… I guess our chemistry wasn’t that great.”

The ideal man for Ototachibana-Hime is Yamato Takeru―the hero of Japanese mythology.

A wandering hero who left legends in different parts of Japan.

You could say that he was the hero of heroes, as he subjugated the rebellious gods.

On the other hand, I do not have an ounce of that traditional “masculinity.”

My teacher once told me in elementary school that I was like a wimpy girl.

…If someone said that to someone today, I’m sure that teacher would be bombarded on social networking sites.

I don’t think it’s worth nitpicking the myths, but the story of Yamato Takeru and Ototachibana-hime seems a bit Showa-era to me.

At least I don’t think Serika and I will ever have a relationship like those two gods.

When Serika is in trouble, I want to rush over and protect her, but I think it’s more likely that she will be the one to help me out of my (social) problems.

Including things like that, I guess I wasn’t someone worthy of Ototachibana-hime lending her power to on a permanent basis.

“Wait, does that mean I failed the interview for Ototachibana-hime?”

“Well, well… the gods are fickle and difficult beings. There’s no need to worry too much… She happened to lend you her power once. I’m sure she’s praying for your happiness as well.”

“A prayer email?!”

It’s the kind of thing a human resources manager who doesn’t seem to believe in gods would write using a template from an online business email.

Of course, from the HR manager’s point of view, there’s probably no other way to write it.

As I was depressed, with my trauma subtly stimulated,

“W-well, there’s probably a God who likes you. I like you too, and besides… you know. That obnoxious god from the other world, that guy named Splefnir, he liked you too.”

The god consoles me.

“…That’s true.”

After all, Splefnir gave me a support ability like a cheat of cheats called Your Own World.

“Do not worry. Eventually, a god who understands your value will appear. There are many other gods in the world.”

For some reason, the god comforted me as if I had been rejected by a woman.

… No, I don’t really want to be chosen by a god, no matter what.

I was left with a slightly unsettled feeling, but meeting God after such a long time was good.

After chatting with the god for a while, I went through the portal to the eighth floor of the Umihotaru Dungeon…

Huh? You mean you want to know how I defeated the Umihotaru Dungeon?

I easily reached the boss room on the tenth floor and killed the dungeon boss with a single blow.

Unfortunately, the dungeon boss was not a secret monster.

It was the Tube Worm Mother Root that Kandori had transformed into in the Experimental Space, but there was no way it would create micro-dungeons all over its body and cause a flood.

In order to avoid a trap dungeon where I get caught in the tentacles, I solemnly use Superior Inferno to finish it off.

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