35 : Go Ahead – 1

“Login.”
“Chuu”
Tuesday, the next day.
After my lecture in college ended, I logged into CNP.
I immediately headed towards the 3rd layer.
The rats along the way?
One was killed through poison and I collected its corpse, but as for the others, I either ignored them, beat them to death, or poisoned them and left them there as a distraction.
I’m already this far into it after all.

“Now, I’ll be investigating the 3rd layer but…”
Other than the dangling meat fern flowers that were growing abundantly from the ceiling, there was a maze solely made of concrete.
It most likely wouldn’t have an obvious end to it since it was ultimately structured to be an endless loop.
Even if that wasn’t the case… the space here has become distorted in a way that wouldn’t allow me to apply regular logic to this maze.
Moreover, I don’t know how credible the map is, so I’ve given up on marking things down.
I came up with a better idea anyways.

“Appraise”
I used the『Appraisal Loupe』on the air in front of me.
The curse concentration displayed was the same as last time, 11.
When I stepped into the area where the stairs were and appraised the space around the low fence that intervened between here and the floor below, the curse concentration was then shown as 10.
I stood at the boundary between the two and tried to memorize as much as I could regarding the differences when it came to sensations and visuals.

“It seems do-able.”
“Chuu?”
“I’m saying, I’ve found a clue as to where the center of the curse was located.”
That’s right, the curse in the 3rd layer was so dense that the space had become strange.
Though if you look at it from another perspective, somewhere, there’s a place that was gathering curses strong enough to distort the area.
I can’t confirm if that “somewhere” was the center of the『Tower of Mice』or if there was a dungeon boss located elsewhere.
However, at the very least, there should be something that was beckoning the curse.
If I got my hands on whatever it is, there’s a high chance that I’ll be able to make something that’ll allow me to leave this dungeon.

“Okay, time to explore… the right side first.”
I began moving towards wherever the curse concentration felt even the slightest bit higher.

———-

“As usual, I only see Poisonous Bite Rats here.”
Quite some time had passed since I started searching around.
I completely wandered through the 3rd layer aimlessly.
Well, I mean I kept following the direction where the curse concentration seemed the highest, but because the changes in the environment were so meager, I was bound to get tired of it eventually.
I haven’t come in contact with stairs or anything either since I was solely heading towards denser curse concentration.

“Hm?”
At this point in time, I sensed the smell of something different.
It was a strong smell, one that would get your appetite going with just a mere waft. The smell of grilled meat which coincided with the death I recall the other day.

“Any footsteps and squeaks?…… None.”
There were no signs of footsteps or squeaking, at least not around me.
However, considering what occurred a few days ago, it’s hard to imagine that a flock of small rats wouldn’t suddenly appear.
Which means, they’ve probably already gathered and are now in the middle of their meal.
In that case, let’s scope out the situation for a bit.

“There they are.”
The source of the odor was easily found.
After progressing for a few meters, I began to hear the cries of the rats, so all I had to do was follow the sounds.
Then, in order to peek around the corner, I stuck my left hand out and was met with a startling scene.

“””Chuu chuu chuu……”””
“Uwaa……”
At least a hundred small rats were congregated around a bloomed dangling meat fern flower.
The rats themselves were contesting with one another as they would occasionally kick, bite, push and tug on each other to supply their stomachs with even the slightest bit more of the meat.
Furthermore, as they viciously fought, it was only natural that a couple of them would somehow die.
However, the rats in the『Tower of Mice』not only included the dangling meat fern flowers in their diets, but their own kin as well. As soon as a rat died, the others would immediately huddle around its corpse and devour it, bones and all.

“In a sense, this was a lot like the cultivation of Gu poison.”
If they’re going this far, then it wasn’t really a struggle for survival anymore… Similar to how Gu poison was made, it seemed almost as if it was caused by some kind of sorcery, a curse strengthening their desires to kill each other.
Wait, maybe this clash over survival was possibly how the Poisonous Bite Rats or Poison Spitting Rats came to be.
Whatever it is.

“First things first, appraise.”
I aimed the『Appraisal Loupe』at the small rats and used it.


△△△△△
Young Poisonous Rat　Level 1
HP: 10/10
▽▽▽▽▽


“As expected, each one of them were weak on their own.”
They had the same level and HP as the moss from the dangling meat fern flowers.
That being said, their strength was in numbers. Just the other day, I experienced being eaten alive throughout my entire body, so I won’t make the same mistake of underestimating them again.
Even so, when I checked on the situation before, I confirmed several Poison Spitting Rats who appeared to be serving as guards for the little ones.

“I mean, I’ll probably somehow manage one way or another.『Taruwiveno』”
“Jyuu!?”
I fluttered my wings dynamically and in the instant that I came around the corner, I invoked my evil eye on the Poison Spitting Rat.
Soon after, I repelled myself back using the floor and immediately returned to where I was earlier.

“””Chuu chuu chuu!”””
“Well, I knew that would happen.”
About a minute later, the Poison Spitting Rat went down…… and the other rats started to partake in it right away.
The items were a bit of a waste, but right now my life was more important than some materials, so it can’t be helped.

“Now then, I should pry off all those guards first, huh.”
I resigned myself to my fate, repeating the same thing over and over again until all the rats that looked like Poison Spitting Rats were gone.
They were probably following orders from the boss in the『Tower of Mice』anyways.
It seemed like the Poison Spitting Rats couldn’t separate from the Young Poisonous Rats even if their fellow comrades were defeated. Because of that, they didn’t come after me and they couldn’t run away either so it was quite easy to deal with them.
Still, that overlaying sense of leadership…… I was indebted to it currently, but it was likely going to be a pain during the actual boss fight.
That wouldn’t happen anytime soon, but I couldn’t help but think about it after all.

“Moving on, since the guards were taken care of and the Young Poisonous Rats have finished eaten, I wonder what I should do with them?”
I was done dealing with the guards.
The dangling meat fern flowers were also all eaten. The smell that was emitting from them dissipated and the rats that were hanging off the vines were all gone as well.
Even in a situation like this, I persistently checked my opponent’s state by extending my right hand out from the corner.
Several of the Young Poisonous Rats…… began growing bigger.
I panicked and hurriedly appraised them.


△△△△△
Poisonous Bite Rat　Level 2
HP: 550/550
▽▽▽▽▽


“Didn’t you just instantly get a lot stronger?”
Regardless of whatever theory I might’ve had, it appears that the Young Poisonous Rat had grown and evolved into a Poisonous Bite Rat.
It’ll most likely somehow find a way to level up, move to another layer, and lie in wait for me to show up.

“Well, regardless,『Taruwiveno』”
“Jyuu!?”
That might’ve been so, but I wasn’t going to put in the time to verify it.
Which is why I’m now poisoning the evolved rat while healing with the poison kettle.
Its body was of course consumed by the other Young Poisonous Rats, but it didn’t seem like cannibalism provided enough sustenance for them since the rats that ate the corpse weren’t indicating any signs of growth.
Okay, looks like there’s around 100 Young Poisonous Rats left. I guess it’s about time, huh.

“Here we go!”
“””Chuu!?”””
I freed my Rat Flail and sprung out from the corner, swinging down on the unsuspecting crowd of Young Poisonous Rats.