Chapter 3: The Chasm of Catastrophe

“Hey! Why are you guys all lined up like ducks in a row? You’re eyesores!”

“Damn, I didn’t think we’d be unlucky enough to bump into a guild testing party today.”

“If you brats get in our way, I won’t let you off easy!”

Three mean-looking people headed towards us.

Do those three scary-looking demons live in the Chasm? All right, I’ll use my special Apple Fire skill and burn them to a crisp!

“Don’t do that, Furutsu,” Grida said. “They look scary, but they’re still just people!”

Ha ha ha! Really? They’re humans? I must’ve missed that! Silly me! That trio better be grateful that Grida saved their lives.

“Hey, instructors! You better keep a close eye on these little kids so they don’t get in our way!” one of them called out.

The instructors waved their hands as if to shoo the three away. In terms of rank and power, Holmer and Elumichai probably trumped them easily, but our instructors likely didn’t want any trouble in the middle of a guild exam.

“Good, they’re gone. It’s best to ignore people like that,” said the group leader, Zambarau.

A smart and level-headed response. Everyone else is handling this well too... Wait, is Fresa glaring at those guys? She’s surprisingly temperamental.

We arrived at the entrance of the Chasm of Catastrophe. In front of us was the stone signpost that was inscribed with that story about the terrible monster.

“Let’s confirm our mission and our respective roles one more time before we go in,” said Zambarau, as we stopped at the entrance.

Hey, I can read that signpost.

“Huh?! But didn’t Holmer-san say it was written in some impossible language?” Grida said.

Ha ha. When I was reincarnated, my base abilities were boosted. I guess automatic translation was part of it. Speech and writing are both automatically converted into my mother tongue.

“Wow! Can you understand every language, then?”

Heh heh. Of course! I can read anything from ancient texts to scribbles on the bathroom walls... Hey, wait a second!

“Is something wrong?”

Hey, Grida. They said that the sign read, “A monster emerged from the depths and annihilated a country,” right?

“Yup. But we don’t know if that’s true.”

Well, then they left out the most important part. A sign in front of a dungeon usually has some important warning message. Why did they do such a half-baked translation?

“What important part?”

If you were able to read the sign in full, you wouldn’t want to go in and out of here however you please—this is some bad news. This is what I see: “The live bait is gone, and the master and its spawn have fallen into slumber. None shall step foot in this chasm. The master devours a thousand to spawn a hundred offspring, and requires ten thousand beings to raise a thousand underlings. Men, women, the old, and the young have all been devoured until this land’s peoples were no more. The master and its spawn have fallen into slumber. They will rest a while until the country teems with people once more. Thus, one must never venture near this place. Should one near the threshold, one may disturb the master’s slumber and invite the terrors that hide within.”

“Furutsu, you mean...this area is some kind of nest?” Grida said, horrified.

Seems like it. Terrible, right? That “thing” that annihilated an entire country is sleeping somewhere, just waiting for humans to repopulate.

“That’s terrifying.”

Exactly. Showing up here is like waving a sign over your head saying, “Look! Humans are back! Time to wake up!”

***

Fresa and the group made it to the second floor, defeating quite a few demons along the way. Holmer and Elumichai were following the group from a short distance, cutting down the occasional wormlike monster that barred their path. Holmer in particular was extremely swift and skilled at it.

Zambarau can’t even begin to compare to Holmer. Rank A adventurers are amazing.

“Holmer-san’s very strong,” Grida agreed.

He sure is. If I had arms and legs, I bet I could cut things down just as gracefully... Huh?

“Furutsu?”

Now that I think about it, I reincarnated, but I can’t hold anything.

“F-Furutsu?”

Even if I did have a legendary sword, I’d just get some “Cannot Equip” pop-up. Isn’t it weird for a main character of one of these things to be an apple?

“Uh, Furutsu?!”

Also, even if I did defeat monsters without any equipment, fighting my way through the life-and-death trials of an adventure, what am I gonna do when I roll into a village? Is the guy at the village entrance gonna say, “Hello, welcome to Blah Blah Village!” to an apple? I can’t even use the “drop” command! The button’s gray! It’s freaking grayed out!

“Command? Grayed out? Calm down, Furutsu!”

This sucks! It’s so unfair! And while we’re at it, why are the people at the village entrance never in armor?! You’re guarding the place! Aaaaaagh!

“Furutsu, calm down! You can use magic! You’re super powerful!”

I gasped.

“You’re fine just the way you are!” she continued. “Even if you can’t equip anything, even if you’re round and red, you’re still wonderful!”

Grida? I-I... What was I saying?

“Have you calmed down?”

S-Sorry, I lost myself for a bit there. I started to really think about how unlucky I’ve been, and I couldn’t control myself.

“I understand. You were an animal, but you all of a sudden you’re turned into a plant. Are you okay now?”

Yeah. I’m fine now. Thank you.

“Heh heh, good!”

Everyone but Fresa had worked hard to keep themselves out of danger. Sitting back is great and all, but me not doing anything meant Fresa wasn’t doing anything either. We probably weren’t scoring any points here.

“There are quite a few people on this floor,” said Prunum, who was a muscular and unfriendly looking guy.

The Chasm of Catastrophe was apparently very popular among adventurers. The monsters here dropped valuable items, and there were a seemingly infinite number of rooms filled with precious metals and jewelry, along with human bones. There were so many people in this dungeon, it practically felt like a holiday resort.

“Our goal is the fifth floor, the deepest part of the dungeon. I understand the appeal of hunting for treasure, but we should focus on our mission,” Zambarau said.

“I agree. We can explore this area all we want once we become actual adventurers,” Sliva added.

Upon hearing this conversation, Elumichai leaned over to Holmer and whispered something in his ear. They talked quietly for a few moments before scribbling something in their notebooks.

I see, even the conversations between party members are worth points. Looks like everyone is planning to ignore the monster corpses and move on.

“Whaaat? But it feels like such a waste...” said Fresa.

Never mind. Seems like not everyone can ignore treasure.

She kept glancing back at the corpses and was unable to hide her sad expression. Holmer buried his face in his hands with a look of disappointment. Next to him, Elumichai was scribbling furiously in the notebook.

Hm. I guess that’s a penalty.

“Furutsu, why is there so much treasure on the floor?” Grida asked.

This nest probably dragged in thousands—no, tens, maybe even hundreds of thousands of people to their demise. A whole region’s population was devoured. I’m sure their stuff just got left here, along with the monster’s leftovers.

“Eek! I s-see. These valuables would be worthless to the monster.”

Probably. Or it could just be that the monster instinctively knows that leaving treasure by the entrance would entice more people inside.

“Woohoo! I found another room! Look at all this treasure!” someone excitedly yelled nearby.

Hey, don’t make too much noise. The treasure’s just bait for the fisherman on the other end.

“I’m scared. This is so creepy!” Grida wailed.

Don’t worry, Grida. I’ll protect you, no matter what.

“Furutsu...”

This dangerous monster was lying in wait simply because it ate everyone and wanted humans to repopulate the area, and people wandering around in here might seriously wake it up!

Hm? What’s that? Why didn’t I stop Fresa and her group from entering this dangerous dungeon? Of course I tried! If I could yell, I would’ve done it already!

“You really did try your hardest, didn’t you?”

Yeah. I rolled and jumped and did everything I could, but no one understood me. Which is fair. I probably just looked like a dancing apple to them. All I can do now is pray that the monster lurking in here doesn’t wake up.

***

Fresa and the rest of Group C made short work of the first and second floors. After descending a long spiral staircase, we arrived at the third floor. This floor also had quite a few adventurers, and the clearing immediately in front of the staircase was filled with people selling food and items on mats.

“Listen up, everyone. According to the map, the third floor is the largest—ten times bigger than our goal, the fifth floor,” Zambarau said, his voice echoing through the cavern. It seems like this floor also has the most remaining treasure, so not too many people venture past this point.

No wonder this floor seems more crowded than the first two.

“There are a few places here that might seem a bit crowded and tight, but this should be the fastest route to the fourth floor,” he said, pointing to the map he must’ve copied during the meeting.

“Hold on a moment, please,” Sliva said. “There may be many people here, but there are also a lot of monsters. It might take a bit more time, but perhaps we should choose a route that gives us more space to fight...”

That’s a reasonable opinion. Hmmm...there’s something about this map...

“Is something wrong?” Grida asked.

No, it’s just that as I take a closer look, the Chasm of Catastrophe looks familiar. Where have I seen this before?

“Really?”

Yeah. I don’t remember exploring many tunnels in my past life though. There’s this long, one-way tunnel. These small tunnels branch out, leading to small rooms. Each level of this chasm is considered a floor, but there’s a long, vertical passageway that connects all of them. Each cut-off point, or boundary of the passageway, is just regarded as a floor. All of this just looks so familiar...

“All right, then! We’ll use this route. Let’s go!” said Zambarau. Everyone began to walk forward.

Darn. A few more minutes with that map, and I might have remembered something.

Fresa and the group headed towards the staircase to the fourth floor. As usual, there were a lot of monsters, but the members of Group C were skilled. We steadily marched forward without any intervention on my end.

Hey, Fresa, I’ve said this before, but if I don’t do anything, you’re not gonna get any points. Be a bit more ambitious, will you?

“Hey, Furutsu, look!” Grida cried.

What’s up? I looked around and found the trio that heckled us at the dungeon entrance. Ugh, those guys again?

“Hey, look at those little birdies, all lined up in a row. They’re so useless.”

“We went out of our way to find this new passage, but now they’ve gotta show up and rain on our parade.”

“Tsk! Stop looking at us! The treasure up ahead is all ours. Hey, you! Don’t come any closer!”

It seemed like the rowdy trio had found a treasure room filled with bait from the monster. A thin guy, who looked like he was good with his hands, carefully scratched at the wall to open the entranceway. The second guy, who was on the shorter side, looked like a magician, and he was chanting a spell while glaring at us. The last guy was big and burly, with a sneer on his face. He kept flashing his axe at us as a form of intimidation. In response, Holmer and Elumichai, who had kept their distance, let out a menacing aura right back, but the little guy and the big guy kept trying to intimidate our group. Honestly—their ranks might have been low, but they were still adventurers. They should have known that the instructors following us outclassed them. Maybe that treasure was just that important to them, and they were desperate.

“All right! I found the hidden passageway! We’ll be rich!” the thin man called out, his echoing voice breaking the uncomfortable silence.

“You hear me? Not another step closer,” the short guy said. He finished chanting his spell, and put his arms up towards us, as if to fire something.

“Heh heh heh. Treasure! Riches! Treasure!” the big man yelled.

In that instant, the wall collapsed, and only the thin man’s torch lit the dark passageway ahead. What they found wasn’t treasure, but dozens of eyes, staring directly at them.

The man peeked in and screamed. “What? H-Hey?! What is that?! Auuugh!”

He was dragged inside, torch and all. “Eek! Help m—” Crunch!

As his cry for help was silenced, everyone held their breath. A moment after his voice faded, we heard a rustling sound from deep within the passageway, slowly creeping closer.

“Wh-What’s going on? What’s that sound?” the big man shouted in a panic.

I think I know what’s coming out of the darkness. I’ve heard this sound before—ants! I knew the chasm reminded me of something. It was an ant colony!

“Aaaack! A m-monster?!” the big man screamed.

“Damn, take this! Fire spell!” Beads of red light gathered on the short man’s hand as he shifted his target. With a loud boom, he launched a spell into the passageway.

“D-Did that do it?!” he said.

The smoke cleared, and we saw a large number of black monsters headed our way, unfazed.

“M-My magic isn’t working?!” the short man said.

“Damn it! My attacks aren’t going through! I can’t damage them!” the large man shouted, swinging his axe towards the monsters. Sparks flew as he made contact with one’s outer shell before his axe bounced off without making a dent.

“No! Nooooooo!”

“O-Owww! My leg! My leg! Someone! Help meeeeee!” The two screamed as they were dragged into the passageway.

I’m sure we all want to gloat and remind them that they had it coming, but they’re already dead. Let’s just forgive them.

“They’re coming towards us now! Stay vigilant and fall back!” Zambarau ordered, pulling out his sword.

Luckily, our group didn’t make the same mistake as the men before us and stayed back. We were unharmed, for now.

We should all be thankful for their greed.

Holmer, who had been watching from afar, quickly made his way towards us. “Wait, stop!” he yelled. “This is an emergency. The exam is on hold for now! Everyone, fall back!” The black demons started spilling out from the passageway.

I knew it. These monsters are like Sedel.

“The monster we beat before?” Grida asked.

Yeah. I think it was tagged as a B Class. Its limbs were so long that I didn’t think it was an ant. It seemed like “tags” were used to classify the danger and urgency for certain monsters by the guild. They were like wanted posters.

“Th-There’s so many of them! And they look like that man-eating ant!” Holmer exclaimed.

“Are they in the same class as Sedel, the one I defeated with my apple magic? There sure are a lot of them!” Fresa said.

“Hey, is Sedel a C Class?” someone asked.

“No, he was a B! We can’t kill even one of those! There’s no way we can defeat a whole h-horde!”

Fresa and the party kept retreating. As Holmer had said, the exam wasn’t a priority anymore.

“Aaaaagh!”

“Huh? Wh-What are those things?!”

It was as if a military force had suddenly marched into a holiday resort. A pandemonium broke out on the third floor of the dungeon.

“Don’t worry about others! Just focus on escaping with your life first!” Holmer called out. He and Elumichai were watching the ants while trying to let us escape.

“Holmer-san, I’ll fight too! Remember Fresa-chan’s signature apple magic? I can beat these monsters!” Fresa said.

“No. You guys are too inexperienced—you aren’t even an adventurer yet. Leave it to the pros and run. Got it?” he replied with a stern look on his face.

“I understand,” she replied after a brief silence.

The passageway to the second floor was flooded with adventurers running for their lives.

“Hey! Stop that! Don’t push!” someone yelled.

“Eek! They’re getting closer!” another person shrieked.

There’s too many people here. It’s almost as crowded as the last time I went to the beach. At this rate, not all of us are gonna make it out.

“Holmer-san, if this keeps up...” Elumichai started.

“I know. Worst case, I’ll leave Group C to you,” he replied.

It seems like the instructors have resolved themselves, but even if Holmer’s extremely strong, there’s no way he’d stand a chance against a monster that devoured a country.

“Damn...is this it for us?” Prunum mumbled under his breath.

From deep within the dark passageway, we could hear the screams of the adventurers that lagged behind and the rustling sound of the ants. It was only a matter of time until they reached us here.

“Instructor, sir! I have an idea!” Zambarau said.

“What?” Holmer replied.

“Our group will be done for before we can reach the upper floors. Since the ants are making their way up towards the entrance, how about we go down instead, find a safe place, and see if we can survive?”

Guess he’s got the brains too. That’s not a bad idea, though there’s no guarantee that help will show up.

“Good idea. Luckily, we have plenty of food and water. We could last for a few days.”

We should pray that help will arrive by then. Once we’re out of rations, they might eat me.

“All right. We’ll go with that plan. Does anyone have any complaints?” Holmer asked.

No one raised their hands. It seemed everyone understood that staying here would only lead to death.

“We should hurry, before the ants block the passage to the lower floors,” Zambarau said.

“You’re right. It’ll take some time, but let’s head for the passage on the other side of the dungeon. We should be able to head down from there. Follow me!”

***

Holmer guided us as we desperately made our way towards the passage to the fourth floor. “Good. Seems like the ants aren’t here yet.”

Like the other passageways, this one had a huge wooden spiral staircase leading downwards, with a few rope ladders in case of an emergency.

“Elumichai will lead the way. I’ll be at the very back. Should we get stuck here and the ants arrive, I’ll use every ounce of my power to stop them,” Holmer said.

Wow, he’s really committed to his job. He’s a shining example for all adventurers. It’s seriously respectable.

“Don’t you worry about me. I’ll flip this over three times,” he said, taking out his hourglass. “If nothing happens within that time, I’ll follow you down. Elumichai, once you reach the next floor, if I’m not there within one flip of an hourglass, keep moving and watch your rear.”

Elumichai nodded.

“All right. Take care, you guys,” Holmer said, turning his back towards us with a sword in his hand.

The rest of us descended the staircase. Occasionally, Fresa—and only Fresa—would cast a glance behind us.

“Don’t worry. Holmer-san’s strong,” Elumichai said, reassuring Fresa with a gentle smile.

“I know,” Fresa replied, looking glum nonetheless.

The staircase seemed to go on endlessly, lit only by our lanterns. We all fell silent, and only the slight tapping of our footsteps echoed through the passageway.

“Stay vigilant. Other monsters could be lurking anywhere.” Zambarau’s voice bounced off the stone walls.

A few people responded “Roger!” and we continued our silent descent, glancing at our surroundings.

“It’s about the end of the third flip,” Sliva noted, glancing at the hourglass in Elumichai’s hand.

It’s about time for Holmer to make his descent. If nothing goes wrong, that is. If the ants do show up, he’ll probably fight them until he dies.

“Holmer-san...” Fresa said with a worried look on her face. She looked back up the passageway again.

“Fresa, are you okay?” Zambarau asked. She nodded silently.

You’re not okay at all.

“I’m worried about him too,” Grida said.

Yeah. If Holmer’s buying us time, he’s sacrificing his own odds to live for our odds of escaping. I really hope he makes it back okay.

After a while, I saw the end of the passageway. The others probably can’t see it yet, but we’re close.

A bit later, one of our party members cried, “Yes! We made it to the fourth floor! Nothing unusual here!”

Good, we managed to escape safely.

“Don’t let your guard down. Keep observing your surroundings, and let me know if any of you feel ill,” Elumichai said, flipping over the hourglass.

We just have to wait for one flip, and hope Holmer shows up...

Thud.

Something fell from above us.

“Wait, what’s that?”

“I-It’s...”

It’s an arm. A bloody arm from the elbow down, to be precise.

“Elumichai-san! Th-This gauntlet is...” Fresa started.

There’s no mistaking it. That’s Holmer’s arm.

We all took a few deep breaths and someone let out a small scream.

“I’m sorry, everyone! Please go on without me!” Fresa said, heading back towards the staircase.

“Wait!” Zambarau said, grabbing onto her arm.

“Please, let go! I have to go! Holmer-san...he’s gonna die!”

“There’s nothing you can do even if you go back there! I’m sorry, but we have to move forward!”

“Noooooo!” Fresa screamed. “Holmer-san! Holmer-saaan!” She struggled to get out of Zambarau’s grip.

“No! You’re gonna die too!” he said, desperately trying to stop her.

“Furutsu...” Grida said.

Yeah. It might be too late, but I can’t just keep watching. I’ll try to do something.

Fresa yelped, surprised by my sudden movement as I squeezed myself out of her hand.

Don’t worry, it’s not like I’m squeezing out any juices. I felt her let go of me, and I rolled onto the ground. I just have to aim for his breastplate and hit as hard as I... I mean, gently tackle him. I’ll have to hit him as lightly as possible.

Clang!

Okay, that was good.

“I-Is this your apple magic? Fresa, you...” Zambarau said, as he let go of her arm and stepped back.

“L-Little apple?”

All right, now it’s your turn, Fresa. I’ll use my weakest tackle and aim for your backpack! Hup!

“Ack?!” she cried.

As I hit the backpack, Fresa was pushed back towards the staircase.

Okay! I’ll aim for the space between Zambarau and Fresa. Power at one percent! Remove the shackles of fire, traveler!

Ding! “Confirmed activation of spell. Strength is at one percent.”

Fwoosh!

The flames burned the ground, creating a crater between Fresa and the party.

“Wh-What are you doing, Fresa?!”

All right, I’ll leave the theatrics to you.

“Don’t come any closer! Please! Stay away!” Fresa cried, scooping me up and raising me over her head. She made a brave face with a stiff upper lip. “I’m sorry for my selfishness, but I think I can save Holmer-san!”

She really went and said it. I wonder where she gets that confidence from?

“D-Don’t be an idiot! There’s no way you can go up against that many monsters! Come back here!” Zambarau shouted.

“One percent!”

“Huh?”

Huh?

“That was a mere one percent of my power! If I give it my all, my power will increase a hundredfold!”

“How do you know that?!”

Why do you know that?!

“How does Fresa-san know about your magic?” Grida asked. She looked genuinely surprised, and I couldn’t hide my shock either.

I think she just said that as a bluff. She might’ve just happened to get the right percentage.

“Fire-Apple magic! Five percent strength!” Fresa cried.

Order coming right up! Five percent of my strength in the same area! Remove the shackles of fire, traveler!

FWOOM!

This round made the crater even deeper. The whole area from Fresa to Zambarau was burnt pitch black.

Fresa’s amazing. People usually can’t be this adaptable.

“I can cast this spell infinitely!” she cried.

Uh, no, I don’t think I can do that.

“That’s amazing. This apple magic is powerful...”

“T-Terrifying. This forbidden fruit, grown from the soil of Hell, is absolutely terrifying.”

I don’t even know what the truth is anymore.

“Everyone, please go on without me. I’ll defeat all those ants!” Fresa said.

Defeat? Wait, Fresa, stay focused! Our goal here is to save Holmer, remember?

Zambarau paused for a moment before relenting. “I understand.”