Chapter 30: The Fear That Doesn't Disappear
He could imagine it wouldn't be something ordinary, especially since Tanaka had confidently said he could make better items. However, these gloves went far beyond what he had imagined.
'Even my chakra was amplified by 25%, just as he said...' It was unbelievable; he didn't want to believe it, but it was real.
It might seem insignificant depending on the ninjas who use them, but for the Uzumaki, who have a massive chakra reserve, 25% more chakra is immense.
Not to mention the other properties the gloves provide.
'Now I understand why he's being so cautious,' Masashi thought. 'With such talent, even I was tempted...'
Of course, though he thought this way, he had his reservations and high self-control. Despite feeling tempted by the overwhelming talent of creating items in such a ridiculously short time, he managed to restrain himself.
'And to think I believed the explosive stones he made were already fantastic,' he thought. 'The fact that he could make so many of them in such a short time, without them even exploding in the process... After all, he's putting them inside a spherical object, where the risk of direct contact causing an explosive reaction is high, but he managed to create a miracle...'
Just yesterday, after analyzing the explosive stone, he tried to replicate it, but the result was that the Explosive Tag exploded in his hands. Luckily, he was prepared for this and didn't get hurt, but he understood the difficulty of creating such a thing.
══════
Meanwhile, Tanaka finished two zombie dungeons on hard mode and leveled up twice.
'The zombies that are 50 levels below me are only giving me 1 EXP now...'
This realization made him understand that soon this dungeon would no longer yield EXP for him. The only good thing left would be the items.
'Very well, today will be the first day I head to the ghost dungeon...'
He swallowed hard as he prepared himself. Not because he feared they would be too powerful, but for a simpler reason... He was afraid of ghosts.
'Should I wait until I reach level 80 and head straight to the Orc dungeon?'
Honestly, he felt it wasn't a bad option, since he was only 4 levels away from reaching level 80...
But, as he started to get scared, his mind cleared, and the fear he felt passed.
The mind of a gamer can work miracles; however, this also had an even worse effect in this situation, as it felt like an emotional roller coaster. The fear came and went constantly; a gamer's mind might be able to make the fear disappear, but not the phobia he had of ghosts.
In his past life, he was diagnosed with 'Spectrophobia.'
There were several reasons that triggered this fear... Like the time his older sister locked him in the bathroom during a power outage and made ghostly noises after they had watched a horror movie.
Or the time when some friends played by the lake, doing some rituals they had heard from elders, and the water started bubbling. He could swear he saw something ghostly rising from the water, and everyone ran away. That's when he stubbed his barefoot on a piece of construction iron that pierced between his big toe and second toe.
There was also the time he got locked in an old house and started hearing voices and moaning...
Shaking his head, not wanting to relive those old memories, Tanaka took a deep breath and reached out to open the ghost dungeon.
The moment he did, the dungeon's domain expanded.
Tanaka left the house, and upon reaching the outside, he jumped to the top of the tallest building.
"Puhi, puhihihi~~~"
"Hahahaha~~~"
"Guha, guhahaha~~~"
Endless laughter echoed a few seconds later, and ghostly spirits began emerging from the ground. But, unlike zombies, they weren't confined to normal places, avoiding appearing inside houses or even on top of buildings. Apparently, any place could be the emergence of a ghost. Right next to Tanaka, one appeared, making his face pale.
"Boohoo, boohoo~~"
It was a crying ghost. She had the appearance of a delicate woman in a white dress, with black hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in years, sitting with her hands on her knees, seeming to cry in an echoing place.
══════
Crying Ghost LV31
MP: [1,860/1,860]
══════
Seeing this, Tanaka thought as he took a stone from his inventory and swallowed hard: 'So, instead of HP, ghosts only have MP...'
It was a discovery that he didn't know whether to consider good or bad. Whatever the case, he prepared to attack the Crying Ghost.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
Suddenly, the ghost simply turned, and its face distorted into a horrendous appearance.
"Holy crap!"
Tanaka jumped back as he saw several alerts in his retina: -1 HP.
The damage caused by this was minimal, but it gave him a different perspective.
'Could scaring be part of this ghost's attack?' Tanaka thought, feeling his heart race.
If so... Doesn't that mean all, or at least the Crying Ghosts, will try to scare him?
"Whoosh!"
"Die!"
When he attacked, the ghost's head split open like something piercing smoke, seemingly ineffective, yet the damage Tanaka caused was far beyond what the Crying Ghost could withstand.
[You Gained 2,570 EXP!]
"As expected... I hate this dungeon..." Tanaka muttered, touching his heart, which was still racing. And even when his gamer's mind calmed him down, and thus his heart rate decreased, it didn't change the fact that he had been quite scared just now.
Taking a deep breath, he formed hand seals and created 40 shadow clones.
The ground floor of the building was filled with shadow clones. Each one took a different path as they began to eliminate the ghosts.
After eliminating 100 ghosts, including the Laughing Ghost, the Disturbing Ghost, and the Crying Ghost, they started to disappear, giving way to a larger and more repulsive ghost.
"What the hell is that?"
Tanaka muttered. He wasn't the only one; his shadow clones had a similar reaction, after all, they were still clones of him, sharing the same thoughts and fears.
The creature that appeared was disturbing, to the point that Tanaka strongly believed he would have nightmares about it. It had a human-like appearance to some extent, but it was clearly distorted and macabre. It was bipedal but with its hands on the ground, in an animalistic stance, with long, skeletal arms and legs that seemed ready to pounce.
The skin was pale, obviously, and wrinkled, with a texture resembling melted wax or decaying flesh. The face was particularly frightening, with large, completely black eyes, devoid of any sign of life or emotion. The mouth was open in a sinister grin, revealing sharp, uneven teeth, and the thick, cracked, discolored lips added to the grotesque appearance.
At that moment, he felt like 'King' from 'One Punch Man' facing a monster. His heart was beating as fast as a drum.
══════
<Miniboss >
LV45 <Smiling Ghost>
MP: [21,000/21,000]
══════
"Fuck this shit!!" Tanaka shouted out loud as he began to attack. His clones did the same.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh...!"
His attacks streaked through the sky like rockets on a festive day, but as absurd as it was, when his attacks landed, the Smiling Ghost started to run—not in a normal way, but rather, like a four-legged animal while grinning menacingly, and even worse, it was running through the air.
"Go to hell!" Tanaka exclaimed, as he made 40 spherical stones float at once, attacking five at a time in a row.