Chapter 365

Itai no wa Iya nanode Bgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 365

Defense Specialization and the 8th Layer 2

Maple and the others arrived at the 8th Layers Guild Home using the bridges that had been built between the buildings that were sticking out of the water. A portion of the Guild Home was underwater, and one could go down some stairs into the lower parts of the building that were completely submerged.

Is it safe to go down here?

Well, it is inside the Guild Home, so I dont think there would be anything dangerous below Should we go take a look?

When Sally, who was good at swimming, tried to go down the stairs, a pop-up window appeared, telling her that she was currently unable to enter.

Tsk, I guess thats a no. So I have to meet certain requirements in order to go down here?

There were still so many things we didnt know about, so we had to do some investigating first. Sally reread the message received from the GMs. According to it, achieving the required cumulative number of defeats in the previous event, would give them everything they needed to explore the 8th Layer.

Im sure it has something to do with this, right?

Then lets take a look around!

As they would usually do, Maple and everyone spreaded out to take a good look around the sunken city.

Since most of the city was underwater, there were many NPCs going here and there by boat. Those who were going on foot had to cross the bridges between the buildings.

This time, Maple decided to go take a look around the sunken city with Sally, so they left the Guild Home and started their search right away.

I wonder if we can get inside those submerged buildings

You think? They seem to go pretty deep down underwater, though

The water was transparent enough that it was possible to see quite a bit of the submerged sections of the buildings from above water. As Sally observed, they seemed to go quite deep into the water.

Everything seems to be submerged, even outside this city, so there must be a way to go take a look underwater.

Otherwise, this would be a Layer where one could only explore the few buildings that protrude from the surface of the water. Assuming that wouldnt be the case, the two walked around the city, and quickly found what they were looking for.

It was very similar to the NPC that was selling those machines for flying in the air in the 3rd Layer. There were several diving suits lined up as if they were asking you to use them to explore underwater.

Should we give it a try?

Yeah!

As they were looking at the diving suits, the NPC started talking to them.

If youre looking to do an underwater search, look no further! You might be able to go even deeper underwater depending on the treasures you manage to bring out of the water.

At the same time, a pop-up window with a message from the GMs appeared in front of them.

It explained that they had added these new diving suits along with the 8th Layer, which would allow players to explore underwater. The purpose of this Layer is to go deeper underwater and get the gear that sleeps on the bottom of the water by exploring using these diving suits along with the items obtained during the previous event.

It looks like the idea is to go underwater and get enhancement parts for the diving suits so that we can then go even deeper underwater and look for rare gear. It also seems that we can use these to get to the underwater section of the Guild Home.

Ooh With water this deep, Im sure theres a lot of great stuff to be found underwater!

Maybe theres a sunken ship full of treasure? We have to check it out!

Or even a water-eroded building that would turn out to be a trace of a former civilization, where there may be many treasures to be found inside, Sally said. Just like back when the 4th Layer was released, getting this much content out must have taken a lot of time and dedication, so it would be a shame not to explore it.

Lets get ourselves some diving suits then!

Yeah, lets! Lets try them in shallow water first.

Agreed~!

Maple and Sally each chose their diving suits and headed for a water-covered field with little foothold.

After getting Maple and herself on a boat, Sally rowed towards the field.

The 8th Layer was similar in nature to the 4th Layer in that you couldnt just do as you pleased unless you first bought a diving suit and then upgraded it. The description of the diving suit showed that whenever you tried to dive below the depth it allowed you to, the time you could be active in the water would begin to decrease rapidly. Therefore, the idea was to start by exploring some shallow areas, salvaging materials to upgrade the suit, and then try deeper spots.

It really does feel like the ocean.

Yeah, and since theres no foothold, monsters arent going to be walking around here. Its going to be a whole new experience!

Im not very good at swimming But Ill still do my best to find some good items!

The diving suit and the other underwater exploration items obtained at the previous event were meant as an aid during exploration. Since Maple didnt have the Swimming nor Diving skills, she had both a shorter dive time and inferior mobility underwater compared to Sally, who had both skills. In order for Maple to be able to explore thoroughly and have a chance at finding items, she had to extend her dive time.

Since they still didnt know what awaited them underwater, they didnt go too far away from the sunken city, instead focusing on finding an area where they could dive using their initial diving suit.

Once Sally stopped rowing, she put on her diving suit. Although it wasnt a cosmetic accessory, it seemed to overwrite ones appearance. Sally was now wearing a wetsuit instead of her usual blue clothes.

Although her underwater movement speed had increased, the amount of time she could stay underwater hadnt changed much, so it was meant to be used by people who could explore faster like Sally.

I look different But my gear is still the same.

Thats a first! This kind of thing would normally replace your gear

Imagine if we were able to take this diving suit out of the 8th Layer? Since it doesnt change your gear, your stats remain the same. Itd be a real problem if everyone starts walking around wearing this

If Maples usual black armor appearance were to be replaced with this diving suit, her opponents wouldnt be able to tell what type of skills she could use against them. But since wearing the diving suit was restricted to the 8th Layer, this idea could be nothing more than an expectation for the future.

At any rate, since they were going to explore underwater, Maple also put on her diving suit. In her case, the suit completely covered her body like a spacesuit, and even had something that looked like an oxygen cylinder on her back. The only transparent part of her suit was the frontal screen on her diving helmet.

Unlike Sallys suit, Maples suit allowed for a longer time underwater while at the same time reducing underwater movement speed, so she intended to use it to move slowly underwater while exploring thoroughly.

Ooh, yours does look like a typical diving suit.

Really?

Yeah, you should be able to remain underwater for longer with that tank.

Alright~ Lets see how long I can stay underwater!

Yeah. We go at three?

Yeah!

One, two, three! The two plunged into the water at the same time. Water splashed up and a large amount of bubbles passed in front of them. After their view became clear, what spread before them was a world of clear blue water and a group of water-eroded buildings that looked so old that they could be considered to be ruins.

While many small non-monster fish were swimming around and various aquatic plants were swaying peacefully, there were some monsters here and there. They didnt seem to be heading towards them at the moment, but they still kept their eyes peeled.

So, Maple? How is it?

Waaah! Sally!?

Even though the two were underwater, Maple was able to hear Sallys voice normally. She hadnt confirmed it would work both ways, but the 8th Layers diving suit seemed special.

Since the 8th Layer is basically underwater exploration all over the place, they made it so that players wearing diving suits could communicate with each other normally. Exploring without being able to talk to each other would be a hassle, after all.

Eeh~ So thats why Being able to speak to each other underwater has a certain mysterious air

Be careful about your timer as we explore. Remember that suit makes you move slower than usual.

Although they could hear each others voices, they were still underwater, so they had to keep moving in order to make the most out of the little time they had.

The monsters here dont seem to be aggressive, so lets try getting inside buildings for now.

Yeah!

It would be better to prioritize getting into those places where they wouldnt come out of the water