Ultraman: I am really just a human.

Chapter 223 Hibiki Dungeon

"rustle."

Deep in the fog, the team was climbing up the mountain by ropes. Taki Akihisa, who was following behind the team, wiped his sweat as the equipment hanging on his backpack suddenly slipped off and rolled down the hillside.

"My detector..."

Taki Akihisa instinctively wanted to turn around to pick it up, but was stopped by the shout of the knight in front.

"Are you out of your mind?! Don't fall behind in a place like this!"

"Yes……"

Taki Akira opened his mouth, but could only continue following the group after glancing at the rapidly approaching fog.

Since this was a dungeon that had already been explored, the task force consisted of 5 warriors and 5 ordinary people. Asami Hiroko, having only recently acquired the Knight System, was also considered an ordinary person, while the others were scholars from various fields.

Originally, Taki Akihisa wasn't supposed to be included, but he asked for a spot after yesterday's gathering.

"You actually went to the head of the department to pull strings and force your way in... Even if it's been explored once, it doesn't mean it's absolutely safe. Do you even realize that?"

Hiroko Asami paused slightly behind her.

Despite it being her first time participating in a raid, she knew far more information than the others.

Even level 4 knights have a history of falling.

"Isn't this a small monster dungeon?" Taki Akihisa gasped for breath as he struggled to cross the hillside. "I'm a seasoned gamer, after all, and I'm not unfamiliar with dungeons. Each level of dungeon has its corresponding level of danger..."

"How can this be the same? It's not a real game!"

"Hurry up, everyone!"

"Bang--!"

"What was that sound?" Hiroko Asami stopped and looked around the mountains in confusion. "Has something happened? It seems to be near the dungeon entrance..."

"Something probably fell off the cliff."

"By the way, why is this dungeon entrance located in such a remote mountain area?"

"How would I know?"

Hiroko Asami shook her head and continued forward, but the rope in her hand suddenly became lighter, and the footsteps that had been relatively clear in front of her disappeared inexplicably, and even the voices became eerily silent.

"What happened?"

The rear guard knight frowned and stepped forward, then disappeared with Hiroko Asami and the others.

"call!"

Natsukawa reached out to grab Asami Hiroko, but his fingers slipped through the mist and grasped nothing.

It's an illusion.

The task force had already been to this location beforehand.

Something still happened...

After examining the detection equipment that Taki Akihisa had dropped, Natsukawa closed his eyes and released his telekinetic perception.

The Hibiki dungeon that appeared this time seems a bit different.

There was no fixed entrance, and even the level 5 knights who were trapped inside escaped.

Is it because of this white fog?

The snow of time, the mist of space... the insect girdle from the Kabuto world did mention them.

"There should still be time."

Xia Chuan raised his hand and summoned the Hypa Bug, transforming into a hyper-time-shifting state along with the Steel-Fighting Insect Gear.

The demons in Hibiki's world feed on humans, and many of them are large monsters. Given the team's composition, it wouldn't be surprising if they were wiped out.

However, due to the time required for gestation, demonic spirits usually appear in remote places.

As long as the team doesn't do anything reckless, their chances of survival are even safer than in a simple monster dungeon.

"Whoosh!"

Xia Chuan stepped into the depths of the thick fog, turned his head slightly, and sensed the Decade petrified belt more clearly.

It happened in a certain time-space instance.

"Mentor! Mentor Shenyong!"

"Stop looking, if that guy was going to come out, he would have come out already."

Outside the mountains and forests.

Fujiwara Saiji waited anxiously for Natsukawa to return, hovering at the edge of the fog, trying to enter several times but failing each time, and almost losing his way.

Although I believe in Xia Chuan's strength, this fog is too strange. It suddenly suppressed his transformation ability just now.

It seems that only Ghost Knights can move freely inside.

If even the mentor can't transform...

"Hey, can't you just leave us alone and cause trouble?"

The Ghost Knight put down the phone after finally getting through, and with a dry blade of grass in his mouth, he smiled at Fujiwara Saiji.

"I have a pretty good understanding of the situation. I didn't expect someone to become a Level 6 Knight. But this is the Ghost World, a dungeon for us Ghosts. The Alliance has decided that I will lead the team once the passage appears..."

Please!

Fujiwara Saiji gritted his teeth and knelt down in front of the demon knight.

"Please let me join the team, I..."

"Don't you understand?"

The demon-type knight dodged and stomped Fujiwara Saiji under his feet.

"You're really getting in my way, kid! I have no interest in saving anyone. No one can interfere with my progress, not even your mentor, Kaminari!"

……

The timeline of "Hibiki".

When Xia Chuan opened his eyes, he found himself seemingly standing in an ancient market in an island nation.

Low, brick and tile houses, dirt roads and streets, and vendors hawking their wares.

Coarse cloth ancient costumes, kimonos... the most eye-catching are the samurai with swords wandering the streets.

If it weren't for the famous castle that could be seen in the distance, this place would look more like a rural village from long ago.

It was dirty and messy, completely lacking the special filters seen in movies and TV shows.

Is this the ancient timeline of "Hibiki"?

If I remember correctly, the Hibiki TV series is set in the modern world.

Could it be that we've missed the target time for the action team?

That would be troublesome.

He can't possibly stay in this instance until the modern era.

Xia Chuan walked out of the market street, his gaze sweeping over the kimono-clad girl who was bouncing a ball and singing alone at the street corner. He rummaged through the commoner's clothes that smelled slightly of sweat for a while, but found no money. Instead, he found a half-eaten sweet potato.

This time, I was just an ordinary person.

"One or two...where to go...the Heavenly God Festival...slurp!"

The kimono-clad girl who was humming suddenly stopped, hugged the ancient ball, stared straight at Xia Chuan, and licked her lips greedily.

"It looks delicious, even better than a ghost."

"call!"

Xia Chuan turned around to meet the gaze of the girl in the kimono, and in a flash, her petite and cute face transformed into a hideous white-haired demon.

The demonized monster is quite powerful.

It's far more advanced than that spider demon.

"Hey, Kaminari!"

A middle-aged man dressed as a monk walked out of the noodle shop and called out to Xia Chuan, who was behaving strangely, with a puzzled look.

"Come and eat first. I'll teach you how to cultivate as a demon when we get back. It's also important to have a full stomach if you want to become a powerful demon."

"ghost?"

When Xia Chuan looked at the street corner again, he could no longer find the girl in the kimono, so he could only follow the monk into the noodle shop.

He is an ordinary person, but not entirely an ordinary person.

After returning to the temple from the market with the monk, Xia Chuan finally understood his situation.

Because of the existence of demonic spirits, some people renounce their human identity and become "demons" through arduous training, and rely on the power of "demons" to eliminate demonic spirits.

However, the power of demons brings a great burden and can even corrupt people's hearts. In addition, they are often injured in battles, so each generation of demons will train their own successor.

He is now the apprentice of one of the "ghosts," and is the chosen next generation of "Frozen Ghost."

Frozen Ghost is the mage's name, and also his transformed form.

"Buzz!"

While the mage was away, Xia Chuan picked up the transformation tuning fork, examined it, and gently touched it before placing it on his forehead.

Indeed, a strange force spread along the reverberating sound of the tuning fork, but it was automatically dissipated and bounced off before it could get close to him, and it didn't elicit a reaction for quite a while.

Logically, Ghost Riders should transform through these sounds, but nothing happened to him.

Despite possessing the ability to transform into any Rider, he was unable to do so.

Not the Knight System?

Xia Chuan examined the transformed tuning fork in his hand again.

"You're still early," the monk laughed from outside the door. "There's no shortcut to becoming a ghost. I cultivated for a year before I could barely transform."

(End of this chapter)