Chapter 5

Tentacle Sunfish

{NewbieLover: Floor 1 Tentacle Sunfish Guide Even an Iron Can Do

Welcome

First, did you get your party together?

A party can have up to five people, so if possible, go in with five

Unlike Floor 0, one wrong move on Floor 1 and you're dead

I'll assume you've kept that much in mind and get into the guide

Now, as you can see, the Floor 1 monster has something attached to its tail, right?

Tentacles

Tentacles + sunfish

That's why the Floor 1 monster is commonly called a Tentacle Sunfish

Fortunately, the Floor 1 tentacles aren't for attacking, they're for movement

But there is a problem

The moment you press ‘Yes,’ it snaps its tentacle and charges at you

I'll tell you how fast it is beforehand

Fuck. Ing. Fast.

It smacks the ground with its tentacle and flies ten meters in under two seconds, arriving right in front of your face

A fish the size of a front door comes charging at you trying to bite you apart

This is where the Warrior class becomes insanely important

Don't even think about drawing your sword, grab your shield with both hands and spread your legs front and back

If you chose Warrior, you get the Shieldsmanship trait and the Heavy Strike skill, right? Practice a few times before going in

When the Tentacle Sunfish comes flying at you, leave Shieldsmanship alone since it activates automatically like a passive skill

And the Heavy Strike skill activates even if you just shout “Smash”

Then the Tentacle Sunfish that rammed its head into your shield will be left dazed

At that point, everyone rush in and stab it like crazy. It'll die after a few hundred stabs

You don't have a Warrior in your party?

Then dodge like your life depends on it

It only aims for the face, so the instant you hear bang! crouch down immediately

Then it'll just brush past you

You might get a few scratches, but you won't die

The time limit is ten minutes, and the Floor 1 Tentacle Sunfish drops dead on its own exactly at 9 minutes 59 seconds

You can clear it with either of those two methods

Do you happen to have a Summoner? And did you, by any chance, summon someone with fire abilities?

You might expect a lot because it's fire against a fish, but forget it

Unranked Wishes from levels 1 to 9 aren't very useful.

How long do you think it'd take to burn that huge Tentacle Sunfish with a tiny candle flame?

Anyway, keep that in mind, newbies}

____________

Clara looked extremely good in a knight's uniform, like someone who had originally worked as a knight.

She said all she needed was a sword, but since only items from the tower could be brought into the tower, I got both.

And now, the current situation.

Roarrr!

[9:55]

[9:54]

[9:53]

Ding~!

[You have cleared Floor 1]

[Clear time: 7 seconds]

This is insane.

It ended up being a seven-second clear.

...How did this happen again?

Let's calmly think back to what happened before I went to sleep yesterday.

That night, I was messing around on the Gallery again.

____________

{Anon: I became a Summoner, how do Summoners find parties?

Five people max, but even if a Summoner brings just one summon, doesn't that force it into a four-person party?

ElfLover: You became a Summoner, why are you looking for a party?

└Anon: Didn't you awaken because you wanted to climb the tower?

└ElfLover: Nope? I summoned because I wanted to marry an elf?

└Anon: Holy shit! You married an elf? One of those beautiful elves?

└ElfLover: Nope?

└Anon: What do you mean nope? The elf wasn't pretty?

└ElfLover: Don't become a Summoner...

└Anon: Why are you suddenly telling me not to become a Summoner? I already became one?

└ElfLover: If I tell you not to, then don't, you fucking bastard

└Anon: Why are you suddenly cursing, you fucking retard

SwordMageF: Average summon lolol}

Hmm~ Looks like everyone has it rough because of their summons.

Our Lady Clara isn't like that.

I fell asleep while savoring the word “our,” which had somehow already become natural to say.

And then morning came.

That was when things started happening.

While sleeping, I rolled onto my side, and an impossibly warm and soft sensation touched the back of my hand.

Flinch!

I knew immediately.

The sensation touching the back of my hand right now was...!

Should I just pretend not to know and keep sleeping?

But I already flinched. She must know I'm awake.

I slowly opened my eyes.

And sure enough, Lady Clara was right in front of me.

“Did you sleep well?”

‘Wow...! Is this the sight married men with beautiful wives get to see every morning?’

And I get to open my eyes to an unbelievably cute and beautiful elf?

“Um, excuse me? Did you come into the wrong room?”

“Of course I came to the right room!”

My reason can't take this!

When I tried to pull the back of my hand away from her chest, Lady Clara grabbed that hand and brought it up, pressing it against her face.

What is this impossibly soft and squishy sensation!?

Her small face fit entirely in my hand. Her cheeks felt so wonderfully soft.

“Ask me if I slept well too!”

“D-did you sleep well? Lady Clara?”

“Drop the Lady!”

“Uh... D-did you sleep well? Clara?”

Beam.

Clara smiled at nothing more than me asking whether she'd slept well.

At that smile that could steal someone's heart in an instant, the fingertips of the hand cupping Clara's face twitched without me realizing it.

Her long ear was touching my fingertips. Even that was soft and pliant.

“Mm. It's already morning, but is this our first night together?”

Gulp.

I swallowed unconsciously.

Clara was wearing my T-shirt from yesterday as pajamas.

It was still September, so it was a thin short-sleeved shirt meant for summer.

And because of that, something seemed to be showing through...

Click.

At that moment, I heard Dad clear his throat as he came out of the master bedroom.

My parents are in the room right next door!

Only then did I come back to my senses and push myself upright.

“Um, Clara? We still don't know each other very well, so things like this should happen slowly...”

Trying not to meet her eyes, I grabbed my legs and moved them. I made sure to emphasize how desperately busy I was just trying to sit on the edge of the bed because my legs were injured.

“Han Suho?”

“Y-yes! Clara.”

Clara suddenly called me by my full name, including my family name.

“For an elf, ‘slowly’ doesn't work, you know? Is a hundred years slowly?”

“Th-then as quickly as possible...”

“Hmm~ I'll accept that for today!”

With those words, Clara flung open my bedroom door.

“Father, Mother, your daughter-in-law offers her morning greetings!”

“Ahem. Did you sleep well, daughter-in-law?”

“Did Father sleep well too?”

“Of course~”

Even without seeing him, I could tell from his voice that the corners of Dad's mouth had risen.

“Clara? Why were you in Suho's room...?”

“As his wife, I was waking up my husband! We have to see Father off to work together!”

Clara's voice was lively and completely unconcerned. As if nothing suspicious had happened at all.

As if she'd simply heard yesterday that Dad left for work around six and came to wake me up.

Before Mom could misunderstand anything strange, I quickly got into my wheelchair and left the room too.

“Mom, Dad, did you sleep well? I-I just woke up too, actually. Clara woke me up.”

“You never get up this early normally.”

“My daughter-in-law is admirable, waking up so early in the morning.”

“It's only natural to see Father off in the morning when he's leaving for work!”

And so the noisy morning passed.

Before entering the tower, I thought I'd explained things thoroughly enough to Clara.

What kind of monster would appear, how it attacked, and even that we couldn't kill it too quickly because rankings were based on clear time.

“System window.”

[Conquer the Tower]

[Floor 0][Floor 1]

I tapped Floor 1, which had appeared after clearing Floor 0, and Clara and I entered the tower.

A preparation room the size of a classroom, just like on Floor 0.

Just as we'd discussed beforehand, I lay face down at Clara's feet.

The Floor 1 field was ten meters by ten meters.

From now on, the size of the field would increase according to the floor number on every floor.

The monster on this floor was visible beyond the transparent wall of the preparation room.

The so-called Tentacle Sunfish.

Wriggle wriggle~ Bang!!!

Wriggle wriggle~ Bang!!!

This thing had a purple tentacle as thick as a person's waist attached to its tail, and it wriggled that tentacle around while smacking the dirt floor, making banging sounds.

As if it were ready to leap at us at any moment.

[Would you like to kill it]

[Yes][No]

[10:00]

From now on, the time limit would also increase according to the floor number.

“Are you okay even after seeing it in person? Clara?”

“Ugh... A fish with a tentacle tail. It's so disgusting! The purple is especially disgusting!”

“Uh... We're still in the preparation room, so we can leave. Should we just leave?”

“Start right away!”

“...Are you really okay?”

“Hurry!!”

“Here we go!”

I tapped ‘Yes’ on the system window.

[9:59]

Bang~!

The instant the transparent wall in front of us disappeared, the Tentacle Sunfish charged toward us.

At the same time, Clara manifested her Wish.

[O Fire]

Oh?

Three syllables were instantly engraved into my mind.

‘So this is what a Wish is like.’

Clara's Wish appeared in my head.

Like a system window I could see even with my eyes closed.

A flame the size of a fist appeared directly above the incoming Tentacle Sunfish.

The Tentacle Sunfish shot toward us like an arrow from ten meters away.

Up to this point, it was exactly as the guide had described. But then.

Whoosh!!!

Before it had even crossed half the distance, the fist-sized flame expanded until it wrapped around the Tentacle Sunfish's entire body.

‘This is...’

Soon, the fireball became enormous enough to engulf the entire Tentacle Sunfish, which was the size of a front door.

‘Way too different from the guide!?’

I could feel the scorching heat all the way from where I lay.

[9:58]

Boom~!

In an instant, Clara kicked the Tentacle Sunfish away.

When the Tentacle Sunfish, now a ball of fire, looked like it was about to reach us, Clara intercepted it in advance.

‘She kicked a creature weighing hundreds of kilograms!?’

[9:57]

The Tentacle Sunfish failed to reach us and crashed into the dirt right in front of us.

Thud.

Wriggle wriggle.

‘Its vitality is ridiculous...’

It had been burned enough to give off the smell of well-cooked fish, yet its tentacle kept wriggling.

Even so, the Tentacle Sunfish could do nothing except twitch its tentacle...

.

.

.

[9:53]

Ding~!

[You have cleared Floor 1]

[Clear time: 7 seconds]

[You have entered the Floor 1 clear rankings]

[You have become Rank 1 on the Floor 1 clear rankings]

[Would you like to register your name]

[Yes][No]

In the end, it died while giving off nothing but the smell of nicely grilled fish.

...I clearly told her we should drag things out before killing it because I'd attract too much attention if I entered the clear rankings...

It wasn't as though Clara had rushed to kill it as quickly as possible. She hadn't even swung her sword once.

All that happened was a burst of scorching flame around the charging Tentacle Sunfish, and then Clara kicked it away...

The end.

Floor number and grade were determined by level.

Floors 1 through 9 were Unranked Floors. Levels 1 through 9 were Unranked Levels.

Normally, anyone level 10 or higher couldn't even enter the Unranked Floors.

But Clara was level 5, with stats close to level 12 and the standing of a mid-ranking ability user.

...This is my summoned creature!?

“Let's go straight to the next floor!”