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TL: ALT
Chapter 178 – To-Do List
There are quite a few objectives for exploring the A-rank dungeons.
If I start talking about them, I’m afraid I’ll go on and on, so let’s take a look at the to-do list I made for myself.
<A-Rank Dungeon Exploration Task List
Number 1. I think that’s enough about Your Own World.
Next, number 2. The skill level 4 Escape, but I’ve decided to postpone this for a certain reason.
With Escape now at skill level 3, Escape (from combat) is easier to use.
The timer has been shortened, and the escape area has been expanded.
The Escape from Difficulty ability added at skill level 3 is unlikely to be used in normal exploration.
It would be a problem if I kept running into “difficulties” that I had to go back and redo.
And the problem is Escape from Reality.
Skill──────────────────
S.Lv2 Escape from Reality
Conditions for use:
For (5-S.Lv) seconds, you must have a strong desire to escape reality.
Special Notes:
In the alternate space you enter when you use Escape Reality, you can change the relative speed of the flow of time between the alternate space and reality at will. The range by which you can change it is up to (0 to S.Lv) times.
If you lose the will to return to reality, you will not be able to leave the alternate space.
The more you use this ability, the less you will want to return to reality.
────────────────────
With the increase in the skill level of Escape, the time required to activate Escape from Reality has been reduced from 3 seconds to 2 seconds.
Since it requires a strong desire to escape reality to activate it, the time reduction will be significant in an emergency.
However, Escape from Reality also has some drawbacks.
The longer you use it in a row, the less you want to return to reality.
From the feeling I had when I used it in the past, I think I’ll be able to use it twice, but the third time will be quite difficult.
It’s still okay now because it takes 2 seconds to activate, but when my skill level is 4, Escape from Reality will activate in just 1 second.
Last time, I panicked when Serika suddenly confessed her feelings to me, and Escape from Reality went out of control.
Even then, it only went out of control for three seconds.
Even though I’ve gotten used to using it a bit, the fact that the activation time will be reduced to one second is still a bit scary.
…Or rather, if I raise the skill level of Escape to 5, what will happen to Escape from Reality?
If it becomes a situation where I can’t even think about escaping reality for a moment, then raising the Escape skill to 5 would be too dangerous.
No, it would be better to give me a moment’s grace.
If 0 seconds is literally 0 seconds, then I would think about escaping reality for 0 seconds—in other words, it could activate even if I didn’t think about it.
If that happens, the moment I raise my Escape skill level to 5, Escape from Reality will be triggered, and I’ll go into subspace -> return from subspace to reality -> immediately trigger Escape from Reality and go into subspace -> return from subspace to reality -> immediately trigger Escape from Reality and go into subspace ->… and so on, a death loop will occur.
Because I don’t want to return to reality every time the loop repeats, eventually, my heart will break, and I’ll be stuck in subspace forever.
The additional abilities of Escape are steadily increasing in scale, from Escape from Reality to Escape from Difficulty, so the abilities at skill levels 4 and 5 should also be powerful.
However, I didn’t expect that the increase in skill level itself would be dangerous.
So, I have no intention of raising the skill level of Escape for the time being.
I’m already afraid to raise it to 4, let alone 5.
Well, enough of the scary stories; let’s get back to the to-do list.
Number 3 on the list is the second ability for the Hero.
This is the one that says “Unlearned,” and the unique bonus also has the line “You have not yet learned the special lineage of magic bestowed by supernatural beings/error! You do not meet the definition of the Hero job.”
In short, it means that I have to find a “supernatural being” and learn “a special kind of magic.”
When I hear the words ‘supernatural being,’ the first thing that comes to mind is a god… but I wonder?
I’ll ask the next time I visit the dungeon shrine.
If a god doesn’t work, I can’t think of any other candidates.
Next,
Number 4. “Countermeasures against government surveillance.”
As I mentioned before, my parents’ house was being watched, but now I’m being watched too.
I find it annoying, but there’s nothing I can do about it.
Should I at least find out who they are?
I left a mini-slime, Atropos, that I made with the Dungeon Master at my parents’ house.
Well, if the surveillance is being done by the government of this country, I don’t think they’ll suddenly try to hurt me.
From my point of view, it’s surveillance, but from their point of view, they might think they’re protecting me.
However, it’s not impossible that I might get into trouble with agents or operatives from other countries.
Even if I’m suddenly attacked, I don’t think I’ll lose, but if they use special, unique skills, it will be troublesome.
Fortunately, thanks to the skills and unique bonuses of the Usurper, I can say that my search and detection abilities are quite high.
I think they are at a level that is currently unmatched.
But you never know what kind of loopholes there might be.
It would be reassuring if I could increase the number of skills that can be used as countermeasures.
It would be ideal if there were skills that could automatically detect hostility or remotely monitor a specific target.
It looks like I’m going to have to find some incredibly twisted special conditions.
The next one, “How to peacefully neutralize people,” is also related to the surveillance measures in number 4.
However, I only realized the need for it because of what happened yesterday.
Yesterday, I knocked out my neighbor’s younger brother with the Hero’s unique bonus, but that was a bit too rough a method.
If I had to fight him off the same way every time he bothered me, his sister would probably collapse from the stress.
In addition, in order to knock out the target with this method, it is necessary to reduce the target’s HP to 0 with a single blow.
If the target is an explorer with excellent durability, he might just end up dealing damage.
If I let my imagination run wild, there might even be explorers with unique or unknown skills that reduce damage by half or equipment items that temporarily negate damage.
Aside from knockdowns, there are status-effect attacks from the skills of Magic Swordsman and Usurper, as well as the status-effect magic of the Demon King. However, major status effects are sometimes countered by accessories and the like.
Even if they aren’t, these status effect attacks and status effect magic are not guaranteed to hit 100% of the time, even with my current magic power and luck.
I don’t have any concrete ideas at the moment, but the skills that monsters have and rare items might be the key.
Number 6, “Raise mini slimes,” isn’t that high on my list of priorities.
I just thought it would be interesting to try raising them instead of me, who can’t level up.
By the way, Lachesis is still sitting on my left shoulder.
Number 7: “Find secret monsters.”
There are many secret monsters with unique abilities, but they are still powerful.
Unlike the mini-slimes I made using Dungeon Management, the highest level of the monsters I can summon is automatically applied, which is convenient.
However, I doubt I’ll be able to find them so conveniently on this A-rank dungeon tour.
The conditions for the appearance of secret monsters are unknown, but from past experience, it seems that you are more likely to encounter them if you explore recklessly.
Considering that the existence of secret monsters is not well known in the world, it is unlikely that you will encounter them very often.
You should probably consider yourself lucky if you do come across one.
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