Dungeon Stampede 2.0 Crossroads
"Bufho…! Bwooo!"
[Crunch! Crunch…!]
"Kyaaa!"
TogaTanami, who worked at a massage parlor, was in a tight spot.
"T-Toga! Pull harder!"
"…Yes!"
At the ergency exit of a super sento, she and a colleague were desperately pulling the doorknob. From the gap in the door, a bear-like paw with black fur extended, carving deep scratches into the iron door with its sharp claws.
(How did it co to this…!)
Behind the struggling won, a young man with a severe back injury lay unable to stand. He had gone out to check the situation and returned after being attacked by the monster.
"Groooaar!"
""Kyaaaa!""
The battle continued with just a single iron door between them. The monster kept pushing to get inside, but the door opened outward. If it realized this, it would soon break in.
All Toga and her colleague could do was pull the door with all their might to keep it from opening completely.
Since the second wave of the Dungeon Stampede started, they had been holed up in the facility, waiting for the situation to resolve. Fortunately, the super sento had restaurants, so they hadn’t suffered from hunger and had managed to get through the past few days unscathed.
She had tried contacting her father and brother, but there was no response. However, she knew their personalities well. They were surely fighting hard to handle the current situation.
While holding their breath in fear of the unknown, ti passed, and as custors and employees grew more anxious, they began to make noise.
The careless action of the young man who went out to check the situation had led to the current predicant.
"Bufhoo! Groooar!"
A foul beastly breath washed over her from above, sending chills through her body.
(Naruto…!)
In this life-threatening mont, the na of the man she liked and a deep sense of regret ca to mind.
The man Tanami had fallen for suddenly beca unreachable, only to reappear one day as a woman in front of her. The shock left her speechless at the ti.
Though they t again later at work, her cousin Ruri was there, and she couldn’t ask why Naruto had reverted from a woman to a man.
(Despite being so infatuated…!)
When she heard Naruto was going on a trip, she followed him, pretending it was a coincidence. She felt bad about it but was thrilled when they t. They exchanged contact details, and she was so nervous when she called him for the first ti.
However, the awkwardness and guilt made her unable to reach out afterward.
Now, as her mories of Naruto flashed before her eyes, her heart ached with sadness and longing.
(I want to see him again!)
[Tatatat!]
Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard, and the monster's paw that was scratching the iron door went limp. As Tanami and her colleague stood stunned, the sound of footsteps approached, and a deep male voice called from outside.
"This is the Self-Defense Forces! Are you alright? Tell us the situation inside!"
Self-Defense Forces… saved.
She opened her mouth to respond, but her throat was dry, and she couldn’t speak. Her colleague, in a similar state, managed a hoarse ‘help…'.
I'm alive… Ah, I want to talk to Nakihito again.
Shark High School’s defense was solid.
Thanks to the heavy machinery fighters who gained status in the dungeon. They rode around in heavy machinery, hunting nearby monsters.
However, seeing the reliable heavy machinery, nearby residents flocked for protection, causing Shark High School to beco even more overcrowded.
"…So! We can't accept any more people due to the school's capacity! Please understand!"
"Please, sohow!"
"Help us! If we're attacked by monsters again, what should we do!"
The staff explained to the desperate evacuees that no more could be accepted, but the argunt continued.
After the first Dungeon Stampede, the governnt and local administrations instructed shelters to stock food, water, and blankets. But there were limits. With many evacuees already sleeping in cars in the schoolyard, accepting more would an collapse.
"Ah, man. They ca again…"
"This is tough…"
The heavy machinery fighters, who leveled up using their power, exchanged looks of exasperation at the residents' pleas.
With so many gathered in one place, food and water shortages were inevitable.
They had brought food from a nearby supermarket but got scolded by a strict high school girl recently.
"Don't steal if you're protecting the school!" she had rightfully said, though they couldn't argue back despite thinking it wasn't the ti for that.
While they believed ‘reality isn't so clean-cut,' they also wanted the youth to remain pure. So, respecting her wishes, they behaved.
…..
In the parking space near the back gate, high school girls in tracksuits were training.
"Co on! Swing with more power from your hips!"
"""Yes!"""
Their weapons were bats from the softball club, and shields made from disassembled school desks by the art club students.
They all worked together to protect the school.
Chairs placed around the iron fence were quickly being converted to bicycles, as lightweight monsters had easily entered the school.
The students in training had not yet gained status. Those who had were already leveled up from previous defenses and were patrolling or on guard duty.
"Alright, dismissed! Wipe your sweat so you don't catch a cold!"
"""Thank you!"""
Ruri Toga, also known as Shark, was leading the training. Her fearless nature and caring attitude made her a charismatic figure at the school.
"Toga-san, can I talk to you…?"
"What is it, Miss Goody-Two-Shoes? Don't get too close, or you'll catch my bad habits."
"Hinagata Yuzuki…"
Hinagata Yuzuki, a classmate from Aikido class, approached Ruri at the end of the training.
Following Ruri, they walked to a rest area—just chairs lined up along the school wall. Ruri took a water bottle and drank.
"So, you want another pixie, right? Didn’t you get rejected by Jung? Give it up."
Though they had a truce, they weren’t exactly friends. To Ruri, the truce was temporary.
"Don’t say that. Just let talk to Veil for a bit…"
Since seeing the pixies, Yuzuki had persistently asked questions, annoying Ruri.
"Veil is napping now. We agreed at the defense eting to use the pixies for night patrol because they have sharper senses than humans."
Ruri glanced at the tall tree in the courtyard where the pixies rested.
"…"
Yuzuki’s shoulders drooped in disappointnt.
"What about the heavy machinery guys?"
"I don’t know… Probably eating stolen food again."
"….."
Ruri knew about the heavy machinery guys’ food supply.
She was initially glad that the food situation improved, but the classmate in front of her scolded them loudly, and that was the end of it.
Ruri was staying with a policeman's family. She understood the difference between right and wrong but felt rigid thinking was misplaced in such tis.
Still, the classmate's point was valid, so she said no more to her not-so-close peer.
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