DanMachi, My Members Are From Slice-of-Life Anime

“Haha, that’s true.” Alexie chuckled awkwardly.

……

The turmoil in the man-made labyrinth finally came to a complete end with Olivas' death. This labyrinth will now be transformed into an "experience point" instance, awaiting the challenge of brave adventurers.

Meanwhile, at the deepest part of the underground city.

Inside the gap between the 60th and 61st floors.

A giant wolf, bound by countless vines and chains, slowly opened its eyes. In the center of its head, a huge, seven-colored magic stone emitted an angry light.

"Woooooooo..."

A deep, angry howl spewed from the giant wolf's throat, and as the magic stone on its forehead flashed, a verdant pearl hatched from its body.

The precious pearl fell to the ground, slid through the gap, and entered the 61st floor.

In a moment, it burrowed into the head of a Behemoth and instantly hatched.

"Aaaaaaah... Arya!"

Having lost its tentacles, the fairy sent out new branches and walked towards the ground.

……

A few days later……

During the day, Xia Jia uses Yui's help to deduce the most suitable ingredients for making the "Gluttony Hot Pot," and at night she goes to "Alaya Academy" to check in.

I squeezed in some time to use fantasy elements to appease the library editors. I also had time to chat with Kayaba Akihiko and work through SAO.

After seven days of rest, Asuna and the others gradually returned to school and resumed their school life. However, physical education classes were replaced with combat classes.

Out of sheer boredom, Shaka was dragged to class by Asuna and Yuuki. Of course, most of the time she just lay on her desk catching up on sleep.

Well, the only thing that didn't go well during my sleep was when a female teacher with long, straight black hair threw chalk at me during my Mandarin class.

They were also pulled aside after class for life guidance.

I'm always being lectured about enjoying my youth, and they practically forced me into some one-person club.

Please, I'm not the male protagonist of a slice-of-life light novel.

In short... I'm living a fairly comfortable life.

Today, Xia Jia received several messages.

"Have Finn and his crew finally saved enough money to start working on the man-made maze?"

Shaga flipped through the intelligence sent by the shadows, scratching his head.

"Recruiting adventurers from all over the city... Hmm... Is it really necessary to go to such lengths for a man-made labyrinth?"

He ignored the intelligence.

This man-made labyrinth in this timeline is so small that it doesn't even have a single celestial spirit clone. What's the point of trying to conquer it?

"Oh, and it seems there's also Dionysus's 'Frenzied Orchid,' but we have the switch for that thing, don't we?"

Xia Jia rubbed his temples.

He rarely paid attention to Shadow's games, only occasionally playing along with him in a role-playing game.

In order to satisfy his performance for passersby, Xia Jia mostly chose to ignore him.

After all, I'm the main character. If I get too familiar with a random passerby, I might be relegated to a "supporting role."

"Should we go and watch the closing performance?"

As Xia Jia was thinking, the system emitted a new notification sound.

Yui transformed into a little fairy and floated onto Shaka's head:

"Dad, information from Kotoko... she seems to have found the most abyss, 'Casios'."

Chapter 517 Starphobia!

"Information on Cassius?"

Xia Jia became interested.

The concept of the Abyss was heard from the heretics; it is said to be the place closest to the origin of the monsters.

They called it the "shell" of the underground city.

It was an unknown place unexplored by humans, accessible only to heretics and monsters. Reed and his companions had once wanted Fels to explore it, but were warned by the dungeon.

"If anyone dares to bring humans into this place, I will destroy the underground city."

The mother trembled, using a similar gesture to warn Reed.

While having Yui open the video recorded by Iwanaga Kotoko, Xia Jia asked, "Is the dungeon alright?"

"Dad, you should see it yourself."

Instead of answering directly, Yui drew back a blue light curtain in front of Shaka.

In the scene, a "great void" that Shaga had never seen before appeared before his eyes.

It is no exaggeration to say that this is a vast expanse, higher and more expansive than any other space, almost large enough to accommodate a small country. Compared to this "great void," adventurers are as insignificant as ants.

There lay a plain. Beyond that, a mountain. He could hear the faint murmur of flowing water. Glaciers and seas of sand coexisted side by side, and beyond them lay a desolate wilderness. On the ground, there were glittering formations, whether crystals or quartz, he couldn't tell.

The surroundings were as dark as night. Above, it shone like an aurora bridge, swaying gently.

"This scene is like a collection of the deepest underground cities..."

"It's like another world."

Xia Jia looked at the scene before him and sighed.

The scenery on each level of the dungeon was different, something that didn't exist before the gods descended. It was simply a large, empty cavern from which monsters would crawl out from the cavern's rock walls. It wasn't divided into levels like it is today.

Perhaps, deep within the dungeon, there was such an underground world, with another side containing only monsters?

He couldn't help but think of the everyday world, and the endless debate between the geocentric and flat-Earth theories.

From Shaka's perspective today, using the human eye to determine whether the world is round is actually a bit far-fetched.

Human vision is drawn to light. When gravity reaches a certain level, light is swallowed up and distorted. No one can be sure whether the circle seen by the human eye is real.

"The deeper you go into the underground city, the larger it becomes. Will the deepest level be big enough to cover the entire world?"

"Could there be a similar underground kingdom?"

Looking at this place, between reality and dreams, a realm of fantasy and mystery.

Shaja's eyes lost focus, lost in the awe of exploring the unknown.

The person who filmed the video seemed to be just as engrossed in it as Xia Jia.

A moment later, the scene began to change, and a pale white hand slowly rose:

"what is that……"

Kotoko Iwanaga's voice came from the video.

Xia Jia followed her gaze.

The seemingly endless "great void" has an end. At the deepest part of the steep walls, the "sphere" exists.

It looks like black, gray, and dark purple all at once.

A black sun.

Or perhaps it should be described as a "giant magic stone." There is no other way to describe it.

Given the size of the enormous cavity, and the fact that it could be clearly seen from that distance, this black sun was probably no smaller than Behemoth.

Even bigger!

“That’s the origin of us monsters,” Reed’s voice came from the video.

The voice was faint, but it sent chills down Xia Jia's spine.

"A magic stone? If that thing really is a magic stone from the dungeon, just how big are the 'monsters' in that dungeon?"

"Could it be that this world itself is a gigantic behemoth?"

Shaga recalled many terrifying creatures that carried the world on their backs and wandered through the sea of ​​stars.

Something called thalassophobia crept into his heart. No! Perhaps it should be called astrophobia.

Xia Jia abruptly turned off the video and covered her eyes:

"This is not something humans should see; what it represents is terrifying."

What if humanity's ultimate target for conquest is the very earth upon which it depends for survival? Is this the kind of farcical ending the gods ultimately desire? Isn't that a twisted sense of humor?

"No. The gods never said they wanted to conquer the dungeons! The end they spoke of was always just the black dragon..."

"The reason I had the idea of ​​conquering the underground city is because I have the confidence to do so! In fact, the gods never expected that the children of the lower realm would actually be able to see the true face of the underground city."

calm down.

Xia took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.