Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~

After the explanation at the Academy on the first day was over, all year students were gathered in the plaza and the entrance ceremony was held. I don’t usually see the second and third year students.

The uniforms for the second and third year students are slightly different. They seem to change the design of the uniform a little bit every year.

The Academy has several large buildings and is quite spacious with multiple plazas. I wonder if there are multiple cafeterias because we hardly ever meet in the cafeteria.

I haven’t seen the Hero or the Principal since then either. They said a lot of things about the Spirit King, but so far I don’t know what they were talking about.

If there was anything nice from the Appraisal Ceremony exam, it was that the Hero was in Normal Mode’s stats.

And that there were almost no Hell Mode players in this world. It’s a world where even an S can become an all-E if the player is playing in Hell Mode, and even the Spirit King who has lived for a thousand years doesn’t know that. Moreover, the Principal of the Academy has not changed since its founding. 

I attend the Academy, so my attitude is that if there’s anything I need, I’ll tell them.

The classes at the Academy are general education for the first year, but there is a class on magical beasts. What I’m learning now is about the ecology and activities of Goblins and Orcs. I think this class is unique to this world. They teach us how to defeat them, their weaknesses, and points of caution.

The afternoon was divided into what to do by Talent, but there was no class for Summoners, my talent. When I talked to the homeroom teacher, he told me that there was no exam and that I should just take the class as I saw fit. Apparently, I could do some research in the library, which was quite appropriate. I took classes on swords, magic, and other random things. I’m going to take all the classes for now.

There are four days of Academy and then two days off. Since we have two days off out of a six-day week, it doesn’t seem too cramped.

On a holiday morning after four days of Academy, the four of us are in front of a dungeon.

Today we are challenging a C-class dungeon, which we, who are E-rank adventurers, can only enter with our adventurer cards.

The dungeon in the distance seemed to be a large building, maybe three stories high. The reason why I’m looking a little further away is because there is a line. In front of me, there is a long line of what I assume to be adventurers in armor. Apparently, it’s crowded in the morning.

(Is it about three stories high? I’ve heard that C-class dungeons have four to six floors, but the buildings are so short.

While Kurena was happily looking out the window of the Magic Ship at the Academy city, I was checking to see how the dungeon existed, and since there was no building with 10 or 20 floors, I assumed that the dungeons were underground.

“It’s a dungeon!”

“Oh, the dungeon!

When we got in line, Kurena and I excitedly talked with each other with smiles on our faces.

“Why do you look so happy!?”

“…”

Cecile gave us a “Tsk Tsk” and Dogora was watching from the sidelines.

After a short wait, our turn came.

“You’re students, aren’t you? Do you have your adventurer’s card?”

The person in charge of the dungeon told us to show our adventurer’s cards. Our gear looked good, but we are still told to be careful.

It cost me 200 Gold coins to equip the three of them. The Mithril Axe and the Great Sword cost 100 Gold coins. The Ancient Tree Wand for Cecile, and the armor for the three of us cost another 100 Gold coins. My budget was dwindling fast. I only have about 200 gold coins left.

Kurena seems to like big swords.

“‘This is our first dungeon. How do we enter?”

“Oh, I see. So this is your first time. Well, you’d better ask a lot of questions. Come on, we’re going to room 205.”

“Ok.”

(Question? Room 205? I thought we were in a dungeon, but now we’re in an apartment?)

I asked a lot of questions at the Adventurer’s Guild about the difficulty level and the items available. I thought that once I had the equipment and knew the strength of the magical beasts to some extent, I would be able to handle the rest, but I realized that there was still a lot I didn’t know.

There are several adventuring parties carrying carts. There seemed to be a ramp leading up to the upper levels. Other than weapons and armor, we only brought what we could fit in <Inventory>. In my <Inventory>, there is a large amount of magical tools for light, food, and camping sets.

There were several large doors lined up on the first floor, there were several rooms on the second floor as well, with doors lined up along the corridor at even intervals.

I opened the large door labeled “Room 205”. It looks like it could hold a large adventurer or a cart of some sort.

When I opened the door to the room, the first thing that jumped out at me was a Rubik’s Cube floating in the air. A large cube, maybe a meter on each side, was floating in the air. It flashed red, blue, yellow, and various other colors as it ticked away like a Rubik’s cube.

“Please close the door when you enter.”

“‘It spoke!”

Everyone was surprised when the Rubik’s Cube floating in the air spoke. We closed the door as we were told and gathered in front of the floating cube in the middle of the room.

“Please present your adventurer’s card.”

While we were startled, the Cube continued the conversation, which sounded mechanical, like a robot from an old anime. The conversation was cut off at some points, but it didn’t seem like a person was talking.

At any rate, being surprised doesn’t help, so we showed our adventurer’s cards to this unfamiliar thing.

“Adventurer Rank E Allen, E Kurena, E Cecile, E Dogora, right?”

“Yes.”

“Welcome to the C-class dungeon. My name is C205, and I am the administrator of this dungeon.”

(Oh, so you can visually see the system that manages the dungeon? I don’t know how they do it, but it’s elaborate.)

“Excuse me, this room seems to be a dead end, can we get to the dungeon from here?”

“That’s right. I will lead you to a dungeon in another dimension.”

“Another dimension? You are a mackerel?”

(It looks like an instance dungeon. They must have another mackerel.)

The online game I used to play often had instance dungeons, dungeons that were created for each party. Listening to the explanation, the style was similar to those dungeons.

A mackerel is a server. When I was playing games in my previous life, it was common to have different servers for different locations in the game. It was common to have different servers for different towns, fields, dungeons, etc. to reduce the server load due to congestion.

I recall that all instance dungeons were separate servers with isolated spaces.

“Mackerel, sir? I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

“No, I understand the other dimension. I want to go to the dungeon, so I need you to send me there.”

“Yes, sir. I checked the records on your adventurer’s card, and this is your first dungeon. May I explain the dungeon to you?”

(Hmm? You still have some explaining to do? I’ve got friends here, so I’ll listen.)

I prefer to learn as I go along, rather than receive thorough explanations. If I didn’t understand something, I would look it up on the Internet. This time, however, I have friends with me, and I need to reduce the danger.

I will continue the conversation with C205 seriously.

“Please explain.”

Kurena was watching C205’s and my conversation with excitement. She had a look on her face that said, “How can Cecile stand there without a care in the world?”

“Depending on the adventuring party and the room you enter, you will be sent to a different dimension. No other adventurers will come, and therefore no help will come, so please be prepared.”

“Whoa! It’s completely different!”

“What? What? From earlier!”

“Cecile, don’t you get what the mackerel said!”

(I can summon all I want and kill as many magical beasts as I want!)

“Allen’s gone crazy. I feel like…”

Cecile was stunned by my reaction.

After that, just to be sure, I asked him a few questions about how to return home, about traps, how to get to another floor, and about the conditions of the dungeon.

The bosses of the dungeons seem to be C-rank magical beasts for C-class dungeons. Other than the bosses, the other magical beasts in the dungeon are either E-rank or D-rank.

After the explanation was complete, we were immediately sent to the first floor of the C-class dungeon.

“Well, good luck to you.”

As the Rubik’s Cube said this, my vision changed from room 205. The room is still small, and C205 was floating close by, but the front of the room was open, giving way.

Allen and the others all look around.

“Are we in the dungeon?”

“Looks like it.”

Dogora answered Kurena’s question.

“Okay, we are on the first floor of a dungeon. Let’s go.”

Everyone nodded, and Allen and the others walked into the dungeon.