章 28: Protagonist Meets Protagonist

ICDS Universe, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.

After his solo Dark Ratman raid, Tatsuo did exactly what he said he would do. And that was return to his apartment and dive into bed. Then, at around eight in the morning, he woke up feeling refreshed and looked at the time.

"Hmm… I should have time to run at least one raid before I have to start getting ready for Sumire-San to show up." Tatsuo muttered to himself while wiping the sleepiness from his eyes. "Alright, let's go."

With that said, Tatsuo slowly climbed out of his bed and walked into the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. Then, a few minutes later, he was dressed in the [Orc Lord Set] and ready to head into the Dungeon.

ICDS Universe, 1st Dungeon, 15th Floor.

After using a [Floor Master Battle Voucher], Tatsuo was once again standing in front of the Floor Master room, intending to fight the Dark Ratman again. However, this time, he intended to fight it in a party. And this would mark the start of his grind to obtain, at the very least, the rest of the Floor Master Set.

{Would you like to enter a party?}

In response to the prompt that appeared when he touched the Floor Master's door, Tatsuo replied with a "yes." Then, he carefully looked through the list of available parties.

"Ever since he started grinding the Floor Masters back on the fifth Floor, I think Kang Shin always started his own party." Tatsuo muttered to himself while looking through all the available raid parties. "So, his name should show up if he's in the Dungeon and raiding the boss."

Unfortunately, after searching for about five minutes, Tatsuo was unable to see Kang Shin's name no matter how hard he looked. So, he ended up just entering a random party. Regardless of the party make up, he was confident that he would be able to survive the raid, especially with his ability to [Blink] away from the Dark Ratman's [Dark Thunder Explosion]. As for helping other people clear the floor, he could not care less.

And Tatsuo's thought happened to be right. After about twenty minutes, he was able to defeat the Ratman. And because his contribution was judged to be the highest, he was able to pick from the rewards before anyone else. And the item he chose was the [Thunder Crystal], a transparent crystal filled with black sparks of lightning, making it look like a plasma globe.

'Hmm… I guess my body was just too tempered by DOATECH's torturous training.' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'Because other than the body enhancing elixirs, I've properly gotten all the other ones.'

With that thought running through his head, Tatsuo popped the [Thunder Crystal] into his mouth and swallowed it. Then, he heard a Dungeon Notification.

{You consumed a [Thunder Crystal].

-Your resistance to lightning increases slightly.

-Your affinity with lightning increases.}

After hearing the Notification he was expecting, Tatsuo immediately left the party without a word to the surviving members, which only totaled seven. Then, he returned to the Boss Room's door after drinking a [Fatigue Recovery Juice] from the Floor Shop.

And once again, Tatsuo laid his hand on the Boss Room's door and accepted joining a party. And just like he did a little mor than half an hour ago, he looked through all the available raid parties. And this time he was not disappointed, as he found a party created by Kang Shin.

"Hell yeah!" Tatsuo exclaimed as he entered Kang Shin's party.

In the next instant, Tatsuo felt as if the world around him started to wave like the surface of a pond. Then, before he knew it, he was standing in the same place. However, there were four other people in front of him.

And although there were several people standing there, only one really caught his attention. It was a tall, black-haired young man wearing the [Wraith Queen Set] and carrying an [Orc Lord's Glaive over his shoulder.

'So, that's what he looks like in real life, huh?' Tatsuo thought to himself as he looked the young man, who was even a few inches taller than him, up and down with an appraising gaze.

At the same time, the young man in question, Kang Shin, was appraising Tatsuo as well. However, the thoughts in his head were totally different.

'He's dressed like a superhero from American comic books.' Shin thought to himself. 'That's kinda badass.'

Shaking his head to rid himself of those thoughts, Kang Shin then addressed the rest of the team.

"Alright, now that we're all here, let's introduce ourselves. Shin said with a smile.

First to introduce themselves were a party of three women who were all from the same world. One was a sword and shield warrior, one was a mage, and one was a priestess, a standard three-man party build by those from worlds with a long history of magic.

Then, everyone turned their attention to Tatsuo, who had not spoken yet. Meanwhile, Tatsuo continued to look at Shin as he introduced himself.

"I'm Tatsuo, an assassin from Earth." Tatsuo said calmly.

Hearing that Tatsuo was from earth, Shin's eyes opened wide in surprise. A moment later, however, he went slightly on guard after registering that Tatsuo called himself an assassin.

"Calm down, Kang-San." Tatsuo said with a small smile. Then, he continued as if he could read Shin's mind. "Assassin is just the name of my class. In fact, I've actually met you before back on Earth. You might remember if I tell you my whole name. It's Soramoto Tatsuo."

Hearing that Assassin was only the class that Tatsuo was bestowed, Shin calmed down a lot. Then, he started trying to remember if he had ever met the young man, who had to be at least a few years younger than him, before. Unfortunately, he could not remember such a meeting.

In actuality, thanks to the background that was created when Tatsuo entered the ICDS Universe, Tatsuo and Shin had met once before. Though, the meeting was quite brief, as Shin had been travelling around the world with his father for training. And when they came across the Soramoto dojo, they stopped by for a friendly spar.

During that meeting, although Tatsuo was not old enough to participate in the spar, he did speak briefly with Shin, as they were both the heirs to family's martial arts. But since that was at least seven years ago, Shin was having trouble recalling the meeting.

"Sorry, I don't remember." Shin said in an embarrassed tone while scratching the back of his head with a similarly embarrassed expression on his face.

"Don't worry about it." Tatsuo replied while waving his hand dismissively. "It was, like, seven or eight years ago. So, the fact you can't remember such a short interaction is completely reasonable."

While Shin put on a relieved expression because Tatsuo did not seem to be offended, the three women who made up the rest of their party had their eyes shining brightly.

"Whoa! To think that the Crowned Prince and the Solitary Assassin are from the same world." The mage said excitedly.

"I know, right! That must mean that there world is really powerful." The sword and shield warrior said with just as much enthusiasm.

"I can't wait to see just how strong they are together." The priestess said while clasping her hands together as if she were praying.

Meanwhile, both Tatsuo and Shin looked as if they took some degree of physical damage.

"What the hell? Solitary Assassin?" Tatsuo shouted in a discontent tone. "How the hell can anyone call me solitary? I entered so many parties on the 5th and 10th Floors!"

"I thought I've told everyone that I'm no Crowned Prince!" Shin shouted simultaneously.

It was clear to see that Tatsuo and Shin were both embarrassed by their nicknames. Though, their reasons were different. For Tatsuo, it was because this was the first time he had heard his epitaph. Shin, on the other hand, was embarrassed that someone from his own world had just heard his embarrassing title. Though, he had gotten used to it over the four years he had been a Dungeon Explorer.

"*Cough* Anyway, let's get the raid started." Shin said as he turned away and pressed his hand on the door. "We'll take care of the Ratmen first. Then, we'll focus on the Dark Ratman. But you don't have to worry, I'll make sure their all focused on me. So, all you have to do is worry about the normal ratmen."

In response, the three women nodded with solemn expressions on their faces. Meanwhile, Tatsuo only clenched his fists as he was ready to see just how strong the main character of this world was for himself.

A moment later, Shin pushed the door open. And as soon as he stepped into the Boss Room, he shouted at all the Ratmen.

"Hey, get over here so I can kill you and take all your cheese!" Shin shouted while using the skill, [Provoke].

[Provoke] was a skill that draws all nearby enemies' hatred onto the user. As a result, it freed up the rest of the party to act more freely.

And just as intended, all the ratmen, including the Dark Ratman, turned bloodshot, angry eyes towards Shin. At the same time, Shin dashed forward, intending to finish off all the normal ratmen as quickly as he possibly could.

Tatsuo also dashed forward, intending not to be left behind. And to Shin's surprise, he was even a little faster. But Tatsuo did not engage the first ratman he came across. Instead, because none of the ratmen were paying attention to him, he activated [Stealth] before slipping behind the ratman at the back of the pack.

Then, once he was in position, Tatsuo reappeared with his weapon coated in his [Energy] as he slit the ratman's throat.

{Critical Hit}

{You learned the Skill, [Back Stab].

-When attacking from behind, damage increases by 10%.

-When attacking from behind, the chance of getting a critical hit increases by 10%.

-Damage and critical hit chance will increase with Level.}

'I've killed so many monsters by sneaking up on them and killing them from behind since I became an Explorer.' Tatsuo grumbled mentally as he slipped back into [Stealth]. 'So, why am I just getting this skill now?'

Meanwhile, Shin, who was fighting the ratmen from the front was surprised by what he was seeing. Tatsuo's [Stealth] was so good that not even he could see through it. Yet, he had been able to see through a Stealth-type Awakened's stealth without an issue in the past. However, like the trained martial artist that he was, he did not let those thoughts affect his performance.

Like that, the normal ratmen were cleaned up quickly. On top of that, none of the women in the party had taken substantial damage. However, it looked like that was going to change soon.

"I'll burn you up!" The Dark Ratman shouted as he started to spark with black lightning.

Seeing that, Shin immediately distanced himself from the Dark Ratman. Unfortunately, the sword and shield warrior reacted much slower. AS a result, she was just about to be hit with the Dark Ratman's paralyzing lightning that preceded the real [Dark Thunder Explosion].

However, before the woman wielding the sword and shield knew what happened, she ended up almost fifteen feet away from the Dark Ratman. And when she saw how far away she was, she could not help but be confused. However, she was not the only one who ended up confused, as the other two members of her party and Shin were confused, as well.

"It's a lightning festival.!" The Dark Ratman shouted jubilantly.

And while they were confused, the Dark Ratman released [Dark Thunder Explosion]. But there was no one close enough to be hit by it.

"Hey, stop spacing out!" Tatsuo shouted. "When [Dark Thunder Explosion] ends, this will be the best time to attack it!"

In fact, it was no coincidence that the sword and shield warrior suddenly appeared further away from the Dark Ratman. It should not be a surprise that Tatsuo was the one who saved her. However, he usually did not pay attention to the members of his party, as he did not care if they cleared the Floor or not. But since he wanted to get the first place in contribution, he did something a little different than normal.

Realizing that Tatsuo was right, Shin shook off the thoughts of how that woman simply disappeared. Then, he hoisted his glaive into a throwing position while concentrating all his mana and the energy from his body onto the tip of the blade. Then, as soon as the Dark Ratman's attack ended, he threw the glaive forward with all his might.

A moment later, Shin's spear slammed into the Dark Ratman's chest. And although it was not enough to pierce all the way through the Dark Ratman's torso, it did punch a large hole into its chest and sent it flying backwards.

In the next instant, before anyone else could react, Tatsuo appeared in front of the downed Dark Ratman with his arms crossed in front of him and the light of [Spatial Slash] glowing on the blades of his bladed knuckle dusters. Then, he swept his arms to either side and decapitated the Dark Ratman with little issue.

As soon as the Dark Ratman died, the usual announcements that followed a successful Floor Master raid rang out in everyone's ears. And since Tatsuo and Shin had done so many Floor Master raids since they started climbing the Dungeon, they were not all that surprised. The women from the other world, however, were positively ecstatic at the fact they survived.

But there was one thing that did surprise Shin. And that was the fact that he did not get the first place in contribution. In fact, ever since the first time he defeated the Orc Lord, he had never gotten any less than first place on a boss raid. So, this was something new for him.

Tatsuo, on the other hand, could not help grinning at the message that said he was first in contribution with a sense of accomplishment. Then he chose his reward, another [Thunder Crystal], and waited for everyone else to choose their rewards, as well.

Not long later, everyone else had chosen their reward. Then, after being rejected by Tatsuo and Shin when they were asked to party together as they climbed the rest of the Dungeon, the thee women left the party, leaving Tatsuo and Shin alone in the boss Room.

"That was you that saved that one girl before the [Dark Thunder Explosion], right?" Shin asked once he and Tatsuo were alone.

"Yeah, it was me." Tatsuo replied with a nod.

"How did you do it?" Shin asked in a curious tone.

"When I Awakened, I got the power of space manipulation." Tatsuo replied. "And the first thing I learned to do with it was [Blink], or short-range teleportation."

"Tch!" Shin clicked his tongue in jealousy. "I want to Awaken, too."

"So, you haven't had the dream yet, huh?" Tatsuo asked while cupping his chin with his right hand.

"The dream…?" Shin muttered as vague memories of dreams that he could not remember in detail appeared in his mind.

In fact, the dreams Tatsuo was referring to were the catalysts for the Awakening of humans on Earth. Before each human Awakened, they would have a dream about a possible future they might face. For example, Tatsuo had a dream about talking with Shin and his Elementals before going off to battle in a canyon.

"Now that you mention it, I've been having strange dreams with people that I can vaguely recognize in places that I know I've never been to before." Shin replied while wearing a contemplative expression.

"Well then, you're probably gonna Awaken soon, Kang-San." Tatsuo replied with a smile as he patted Shin on the shoulder. "Anyway, I'm gonna get going. I have some stuff to do this afternoon. But I'll be running this raid for a while. So, maybe we'll be able to see each other again."

"Huh? Are you collecting the Floor Master Sets and the Elixirs, too?" Shin asked in a surprised tone. "If so, then you're the first one to do that other than me that I've met."

"Yup , that's right." Tatsuo said with a smile. "Anyway, I'll be back at the same time tomorrow morning. See ya."

With that, Tatsuo left the party. Then, he stepped into the Floor Shop before leaving the Dungeon. He needed to make sure he was ready for when Sumire showed up, after all.