Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~

I asked for the reward for being the first ones to conquer the S-class dungeon to be able to fit 20 Stone Slabs in a Magic Board.

I had thought that Digragni, who had not yet become a God, wouldn't be able to change Modes from Normal to Hell or Extra, or change Talents.

But he was a Dungeon Master with a large amount of magic tools.

I had thought long and hard about what rewards I wanted for Digragni, and what would best strengthen my party.

Orichalcum weapons and armor could be indirectly obtained from the S-class dungeon.

My friends and I had also got most of the useful magic tools and things we needed for our adventures.

The first thing that came to mind when I saw a Magic Board with 10 Stone Slabs was why.

"Ten slots?"

There was a limit to how many Stone Slabs one could fit on a Magic Board, and the user had to be creative within that limit to make use of the Golem.

Golem Soldiers were probably designed to be that way.

Everything had a slot, and there was an upper limit.

One could only equip 1 Status Increasing Ring on each hand.

It meant that the Ring had 1 slot per hand, for a total of 2.

There was always an upper limit to equipping items, and releasing that limit was often possible in the games that I used to play in my previous life.

We would be given a Quest, and whoever overcame it, would receive an expansion of slots.

(Is this a "Slot Expansion Quest"?)

In my mind, the Rosenheim war was a "Talent Change Quest".

And I had been thinking what "Quest", the S-class dungeon was and had found the answer.

In my mind, trying to capture this S-class dungeon was "Merle's Magic Board Expansion Quest".

"20 Stone Slabs to fit in a Magic Board?"

"Is it impossible?"

With that, I held out the Magic Board to Digragni.

The Magic Board then disappears from my hand and appears in front of the face of the giant Digragni.

The Magic Board slowly spun in front of Digragni's face.

I stared silently at Digragni, who was thinking while looking at the Magic Board.

My friends had left me to negotiate with Digragni and were watching the process.

"Oh, yeah. This is possible. You're a guy who thinks about interesting things! Look!"

The Magic Board started spinning faster and looked like a single sphere.

And it began to shine brighter.

The glow and the speed of the rotation gradually calmed down, and the Magic Board returned to my sight.

There were dents on both sides of the Magic Board that could fit Stone Slabs.

Digragni had increased the number of dents on the Magic Board to 20.

The status of the Golem started to float like a hologram instead of appearing on the backside of the Magic Board.

"Is this something we can or can't do with increased Stone Slabs?"

''An? Yes, even if you put multiple Giant Slabs on it, the Golems can't get any bigger. But yes, you're right. You can try out a few more things."

"Yes, sir. I understand. Merle, you did a great job in the battle against Gordino."

I handed the Magic Board to Merle with that line who accepted it with trembling hands and tears spilling from her eyes.

"Oh, thanks."

From the moment I had heard from Helmios that I could choose a reward for being the first ones to conquer the dungeon, I had told my friends that the reward would be 20 dents in the Magic Board.

And when I had told them that, and no one had objected.

When we were in the Academy, Merle was completely useless in dungeon raids.

When we entered the S-class dungeon, she wasn't a Tank for the first few months either.

Merle was very anxious during that time, but the rest of us assured her there was nothing for her to worry about.

"Merle."

Merle couldn't stop crying and Kurena hugged her from behind.

"All right! Now I've given you your reward!"

"Oh, I'm sorry."

(Don't leave yet.)

"What?"

I stopped Digragni who was about to leave.

''I heard from the Dungeon Management System when I conquered the A-class dungeon that if we defeated the S-class Dungeon Boss, we could challenge Dungeon Master Digragni."

"...Oh, yeah. That's the story. I'd forgotten about that because no one has challenged me. But give me a break now. Lord Elmea will be pissed at you for playing around here."

Digragni paused for a moment, then responded as if he had just remembered.

I didn't know how long ago he had set it up, but maybe I was the first person to talk to him about it.

Digragni refused the challenge, blaming the circumstances.

"I understand. I'm not strong enough yet, so I'll challenge you next time, but there's something I want to check."

I wasn't planning on challenging Digragni that time.

It was because Merus told me to stop as my friends and I were not strong enough to win.

We wouldn't win even with Helmios, Admiral Galara, and Prince Zew at their best helping us.

On the contrary, Merus told me that quite a lot of people would die.

When I asked Merus how strong Digragni was, he said that even without reaching Godhood, Digragni was excellent at fighting and was as powerful as a Great Demon General.

The Dungeon Boss was quite strong, but they were not as strong as Great Demon Generals.

I knew that I still didn't have the strength to fight the Demon King's army.

(I need to be stronger.)

To that end, I was having that ongoing conversation with Digragni.

"Make it quick!"

Again, Digragni wanted me to cut to the chase.

"If I defeat Master Digragni, my reward will be as I wish it to be, is that correct?"

As expected, the Dwarves, including Admiral Galara, were startled by my words.

I told Digragni to give me whatever I wanted if I won.

"Oh? You're funny! You're a funny guy! Of course! I'll do anything you want if I can! Only if you win though!"

"Thank you. I will devote myself to winning the fight."

I bowed deeply, indicating my willingness to challenge Digragni.

Then I raised my head and looked at Digragni's chest.

(I can get extra slots and Digragni himself. Fufufufu.)

I had already marked Digragni as a prey from the moment he showed up.

Digragni was in the form of an Adamantite Golem.

But there was a crystal firmly embedded in its chest.

I was having a hard time holding back my laughter.

Cecile sighed, wondering if I was serious after somehow understanding what I was thinking about.

"Oh. Take your Certificate and talk to the system around there and I'll make sure you get connected to me."

"That helps. Thank you for your time."

I thanked Digragni for his time.

"Oh, wait a minute. I'll give you a lift."

"Huh?"

""Oh, oh, oh!""

My vision changed at once.

I was in the plaza in front of the temple on the 1st Floor of the S-class dungeon.

I looked around and found a large number of adventurers staring at me..

"Oh! You guys! The Tower of Trials has finally been conquered!''

Then I heard Digragni's voice behind me.

Digragni had teleported with us.

The declaration that the dungeon had been conquered was not broadcasted to only the adventurers present in the plaza, but to the entire city.

And the declaration came from none other than the Dungeon Master Digragni himself.

No one thought of it as a lie.

Unlike a business card sized Certificate of Conquest, that declaration was an overwhelming proof.

I turned back to look at Digragni and found him looking cool.

(Is this Digragni's cool pose?)

I had heard that Digragni couldn't help but strike a cool pose when all eyes were on him.

It resembled a pose from a squadron I saw as a child in my previous life.

Shaqing!

Then Merle said, "Mnn!" and started doing cool poses.

Both Admiral Galara and his fellow dwarves struck cool poses and expressed their dungeon conquests with their bodies.

After conquering the dungeon, Admiral Galara's guilty emotions were blown away.

"Well then, I'll be waiting for your challenge!"

Digragni said, and disappeared from the scene, as if he had jumped up.

He seemed to have returned to Latash Kingdom's Academy City to work on the Talent changing dungeon.

"What do you mean? Hey, what the hell are you guys doing!"

The dwarves gathered around Admiral Galara.

Merle was one of them.

"All right, we're gonna drink till morning! You guys, get out of the way! Admiral Galara's on his way!"

One of the dwarves carried Admiral Galara and said.

Apparently, they are transporting Admiral Galara to his usual favorite bar.

Admiral Galara was being carried away like a portable shrine, filing complaints but no one listened to him.

That day marked the first time the S-class dungeon was conquered, so the city was full of excitement.