Deep Dungeon: I’ve been thrown into a game-like world with a class system. Armed with a mediocre ability and no allies, I’ll take it easy and progress at my own pace
The lobby of the Western-style mansion was, as expected, empty… no, wait, someone was sprawled out asleep on the sofa.
What boldness, to sleep on the central circular sofa. I could never do something like that.
At a glance, I knew who it was. It was Ms. Yamada. Still in her uniform, her panties were almost visible.
…Anyway, with her still asleep, I proceeded down the staircase leading to the basement.
Hmm, I think it would be best to start by checking the map window. Dolphin had given me a long-winded lecture about knowing yourself and knowing your enemy, but all he really wanted to say was to always check my current position.
‘*I am on the 50th floor.*’
“Eh? Ehhh? So Dolphin’s info was true?”
Isn’t it supposed to start from the first floor? If I hadn’t gotten information from Dolphin beforehand, I would’ve been instantly killed during my first encounter with a monster.
Dolphin’s information covered a lot. For instance, the stairs leading outside open into a plaza, and there’s an elevator in that plaza. The dungeon is crawling with monsters, but there are designated “sanctuaries” where monsters can’t enter. The plaza itself is also a sanctuary, so as long as I stay here, I’m safe.
The floor of the plaza was made of a material resembling marble, shiny but designed not to be slippery. The ceiling was high and emitted a dim light, so there was no need for additional illumination.
“Alright, let’s find the elevator.”
I walked along the wall of the plaza, searching for a marker. Is this it? A strange red character resembling a distorted alphabet letter I’d never seen before.
When I brought my hand close to it—
Gogogogogo.
The wall opened, revealing two triangular buttons—one pointing up, one pointing down.
Here’s a note: In this dungeon, you descend from top to bottom. Unlike buildings where the first floor is the lowest level, and higher floors are numbered 2nd, 3rd, etc., in Deep Dungeon, the highest floor is the 1st, and you progressively go deeper.
By the way, even if you mistakenly try to go down when you shouldn’t, you won’t be able to proceed.
There’s a condition to using the elevator. You can only travel to floors above (shallower levels) than the ones the player who pressed the button has already visited.
This is a pretty common feature in games—you can skip cleared floors to continue playing faster.
However, the elevator only stops every five floors, meaning you must advance at least five floors to use the elevator to the next stop.
“Well then, let’s press the up button.”
I pressed the upper triangle button. Nothing happened.
After waiting for just over a minute—
Uwoooooo.
A low male scream echoed, making my shoulders jump.
“M-Monsters aren’t here, right… This is a sanctuary, a sanctuary!”
I looked at Dolphin with pleading eyes, but he floated expressionlessly, casually asking, “What would you like to investigate?”
As if I could focus on that now.
Uwooooooooo!
The screaming grew louder.
Gagagagaga.
This time, it sounded like a cliff collapsing. The wall slid open from left to right, revealing a small room about the size of a toilet stall.
Yep, this was definitely the elevator.
Alrighty then.
Inside, there were square buttons with numbers arranged like in any typical elevator. Just as Dolphin had said, there were buttons for every five floors, from the 1st to the 50th.
Without hesitation, I pressed “1st floor.”
Uwooooooooooo!
Da—mn, it’s so loud! That screaming seems to be coming from the elevator itself…
And it’s moving so slowly… At this rate, it might take nearly ten minutes to reach the 1st floor. Well, I guess I’ll have to wait patiently.
“Dolphin, I need to confirm something.”
“The search results for ‘I need to confirm something’ are…”
“Enough with the jokes already. Just double-checking: The weakest monsters are on the 1st floor, treasure chests up to the 10th floor aren’t trapped, and anyone can open them, right?”
“That’s correct. Even someone as green as a newborn fawn like you should be able to handle the 1st floor with ease.”
I’m trusting those words and heading to the 1st floor. Please, please make it true.
I’m desperate here. There’s a reason why someone like me, who isn’t athletic and relies solely on knowledge, is going through the trouble of venturing into this dangerous dungeon.
At first, I thought I could just stay in my room and wait for Sakaki or Kanzaki to clear the dungeon for me.
But Deep Dungeon forces players to adventure. While I understand that dungeons are designed to push players forward, isn’t it too cruel that I’ll starve to death if I don’t go?
You remember that vending machine-like display in the room, right? That machine can dispense food, but you need Garld, the in-game currency earned in the dungeon, instead of money to buy anything.
Being a loner, I’m obviously solo. So I can’t trade with others for Garld they’ve earned.
Alright, alright, I’m getting a little worked up, but letting that bother me means losing.
Even a fawn like me can hum a tune while handling the 1st floor, right, Dolphin?
Gagagagaga.
Oh, the elevator came to a stop with an unpleasant noise.
‘*I am on the 1st floor.*’
Alright, I’ve confirmed the floor just in case. The map is clearly displayed in my field of vision. Though I’m in my physical body, it feels like I’m inside a game.
Apparently, my visible range is automatically mapped, and as I explore, the map expands (thanks to Dolphin’s info).
As soon as I exited the hall with the elevator, I encountered a monster.
“W-Wait, this thing’s impossible!”
The weakest monsters are supposed to appear on the 1st floor, right? What kind of joke is this? How am I supposed to handle this as a newborn deer?
The first monster I encountered was humanoid, about three meters tall. It looked like rectangles stitched together to vaguely resemble a human shape… I know this one—it’s a Golem, right?
For the weakest monsters, there are plenty of classic game tropes. I’ve never heard of starting with a Golem! Golems usually show up in the middle or later stages of a game.
Wait, green text displaying the monster’s name appeared above its head.
‘Paper Golem’
H-Hooo. So it’s a flimsy paper Golem. If it’s made of cardboard, I might actually be able to defeat it. No, I *can* defeat it.