Okinawa Dungeon—-Floor Three Thousand One:
On Floor 3,001, the miners and Han backed up as The Hand began frantically reaching around, grabbing rocks, and tossing them.
"This dungeon's crazy!" a kid yelped. "I wanna go home!"
"Shh!" Han hissed.
The Hand glowed, the sound energizing it. It began reaching out and curling into a fist, slamming the ground.
"Mommy!" another cried.
One miner made a break for the door.
"No!" Omariro shouted.
〈Sound Gauge: 100% Full. *Devour* Unleashed.〉
The Hand quickly snatched up the kid and with a crush of its hand, he disappeared into thin air.
"No! Yūga!"
"Be silent, or you all share fate," Omariro ordered.
They trembled as the Hand began swiping around, attempting to grab at them. Han lowered his voice. "How do we play this, sir?"
"Hand use sound," Omariro explained. "Take it away."
"But we can't attack it without making noise, sir!"
Omariro pointed his staff at the side of the Hand. "Ears. Sound. Burst."
"Oh! Got it, sir!"
〈Sound Gauge: 45%〉
"Voice low."
"Sorry…"
"You guys aren't possibly going to fight that thing, are you?" a miner asked.
"Please," Han remarked. "This is the Legendary Mr. Nyugawa. He's battled things worse than this for decades."
They all shared a look and began gossiping amongst each other.
"No way it's him, right?"
"I heard he retired…"
"I heard he died!"
"Hand coming!" Omariro warned.
The Hand reached out, and Omariro slashed it back. "Now, boy!"
"Okay…" Han thought. "Sound. What can I use? Oh!"
Han held his cube out. "Cube: Activate Hypersonic Stunner!"
[Activating Hypersonic Stunner.]
The Hand was hit by a powerful blast of sonic waves, causing it to flail and hit the walls.
〈Boss HP: 100% → 95%〉
Omariro formed his blade and armor, growing in size. The kids behind him gasped.
"Wait, it really IS him!"
Omariro's blade glowed with a golden light, and more formed around him. "Jugen-Tōshi…"
The blades grew in size.
"…Seijin Rangeki!"
The blades impaled the Hand, causing it to explode in a blast of golden light.
〈Boss HP: 95% → 0%. Boss Defeated. Challenge Completed.〉
The gate opened, and Han and the other kids stared at Omariro in shock, who transformed back to normal, holding his back. "Rest needed. Prime gone."
"Uhm, sir," Han stammered. "You just used another Tōshi skill…with your current one?"
"All Jugen has three," Omariro stated. "Boy unlock his own soon."
"Wait, I have two more?"
Omariro nodded. "Shop. Boost."
"Shop?"
"We go. Come."
Omariro turned back to the miners, who stood there, trembling.
"Sir," one pleaded. "Could you please get us outta here? I don't think we want to see any more floors."
Omariro held out his hand, and they all disappeared.
"What'd you do to them?" Han asked.
"Sent to save floor. Weak youths."
He headed for the staircase.
"Doesn't mince his words," Han thought. "But super cool!"
Han followed him to the next floor.
Meanwhile—-
On Floor 2,053, Zaria and Rika were held in the air by durable metal hands, while Sōshin circled them, a gleeful look on his monitor.
"Isn't this fun? You'll be down here forever! With me!"
"Ah, yeah, super fun!" Rika replied.
〈Lie Detected. Enforcing Penalty. All Jugen has now been *Disabled.*〉
"Nice going, Rika," Zaria sighed.
"What? I didn't wanna admit to the guy we just wanted the kid!"
"You lied?" Sōshin gasped. "To me?"
"Well…" Rika said, nervously laughing. "Maybe?"
"You don't wanna be friends?"
"It's not that! We just…don't wanna be turned into computers!"
"Yeah, I'd hate to be a computer," Zaria clarified. "Really ruins the appeal of life. So whatchu say? Can we get the kid and leave?"
"NO!" Sōshin screamed. "Liars! I hate liars!"
"And here we go," Zaria groaned.
Sōshin headed over to a console nearby. "Don't worry. I will forgive you! I'll turn you into the perfect machines! Then you won't be capable of lying!"
"Wonderful…" Rika moaned. "Please, just let us go!"
"Too late!"
The hands dragged them into the next room, where blowtorches and conveyor arms waited for them. The arms dumped them on the conveyor belt, which strapped them down.
"No Jugen…" Zaria noted. "Means I can't kick for shit."
"Healing won't work either!" Rika added. "I don't wanna become a robot, Zaria! I'm too cute for that!"
"Uh, yeah. That's for sure the reason."
"Excuse me? You got something to say, ZARIA?"
"Nada."
Sōshin watched from above. "So excited! I wonder what your monitors will look like!"
"Hey, uh, Sōshin?" Zaria called out. "You got any other suggestions that would clear the air? That's not PC-ing us?"
"How else are we gonna be friends? I'm stuck down here!"
"What if we get you out?" Rika proposed. "You know, bring you with us? After all, we're here to save Touma, and he's now a computer, so…"
Sōshin's monitor shifted into that of a loading screen. Then, the conveyor stopped.
"I'm listening…go on!"
Both Zaria and Rika sighed a sigh of relief.
"So, do you know how to fix him?" Zaria asked.
"Nope," Rika shrugged.
"Girl, seriously?"
"What? I didn't wanna be a robot!"
Sōshin appeared between them. "Whatchu girls talking about over here? Is it how to free me?"
"Uh…" they both mumbled.
Zaria quickly cleared her throat. "You free us, and we'll…get right to it!"
"Awesome! I'll finally be free!"
The straps holding them down loosened, and Sōshin went into the workshop room. Rika grabbed Zaria's shoulders. "Did you just lie to him?"
"Nah, girl, you would have seen the Penalty pop up."
"Wait, you were SERIOUS?"
She patted Rika on the shoulder. "Yep. Get to work, Rika."
"ME? This is a job for Han!"
"Girls!" Sōshin called out. "Come on! Freedom is nigh!"
Zaria turned back to Rika. "It's fine. This a factory, right? Tinkering time."
Rika slapped her forehead. "I'm gonna be a computer…"
They walked into the workshop, where Sōshin was chatting with Touma. "We're gonna be free, pal! Can you feel the excitement?"
"I was free just a few hours ago," Touma pointed out.
"Hehe!"
Rika approached Sōshin. "So, um, Sōshin, how exactly did you turn Touma into a monitor?"
"The factory you were in!" he explained. "It takes out the brain and central nervous system, and reactivates it inside a digital framework!"
"A lot of stuff he just said," Zaria commented. "That I did not get."
"So…can this digital network be moved?" Rika inquired. "Like, to a different system?"
"Well, yeah! I've gotta switch monitors every two months or my battery dies!"
Rika snapped her fingers. "That's it!"
"Oh, you found a solution?" Zaria said. "That's not bullshit?"
"Sorta. But you're not gonna like it."
"Rika…"
Rika turned to Sōshin. "How exactly do you 'jump' systems?"
"I've gotta establish a wireless link. Then, after 10 seconds, I can transfer my consciousness into that system."
He strolled over to the console nearby and linked with it. Soon after, the console began to speak.
"See? Simple! But I'm only limited to objects inside this factory. And no one's ever got anything I can jump into, so poor me…"
Rika turned toward Zaria, whose eyes widened and immediately made an X with her arms. "No. Hell no. No way. Nope. Declined. Refusal. Whatever else means 'NO.'"
"Come on! I broke my fingers for you!"
"I didn't ask you to!"
"Are you my bestie or not?"
"Yeah. But in no way, shape or form am I hosting a living child-computer inside my phone."
"He's not a child! You aren't, right, Sōshin?"
"Actually, I am!" he confirmed. "I'm 12!"
"Okay, so that explains a lot then. But still!"
Zaria took a deep breath. "We'll rock paper scissors for it."
"I have a BROKEN HAND."
"Use the other one!"
Rika scoffed, holding her other hand out. "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"
She formed a pair of scissors, and Zaria formed a rock. "I win!"
"The hell—-no, you cheated, do that again!"
Zaria backed up, smug. "Looks like you're taking him. I'll chill back here."
Rika folded her arms. "You do know you have to use your phone to transport Touma, right?"
Zaria's jaw dropped. "You said what now?"
Rika smirked. "Mhm."
Zaria rolled her eyes, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "Fine. You go first."
Rika pulled hers out, putting it close to Sōshin. "Here. Try jumping into this."
"What's that?"
"A cellphone. You'll be able to leave, but you'll probably be stuck with me."
"Fine by me! New friend! Yay!"
"Yeah…"
She set it down on the console, and soon, the phone screen shifted, and a happy face popped up on it. "Ha! I think it worked! I'm free! Finally free! Hey, you've got a lot of stuff on here! Snapchat? Twitter? Camera Roll?"
"Hey, don't go in those—!"
Zaria put her phone up to Touma's screen. "Here, kid. Your mom wants you back."
"Thank you…"
Similar to Sōshin, Touma jumped into her phone screen. "Man…you argue with a lot of people, huh?"
"Sure do. Might not wanna look any further. You'll get traumatized."
Rika turned her phone screen off. "Okay. Let's just go get this commission done before he figures out my passcode."
"2176!"
"Damn it!"
They left the workshop, the metal door opening once they approached.
"How do we go up a floor?" Zaria wondered.
"Return to where you came in," Touma explained. "Once you're in the area, the gate will reopen."
"Thanks for the tip."
Once in position, stairs leading back up to the previous floor emerged, and they walked up.
Back on the save floor, they noticed even more of a crowd than before.
"Looks like new Kaitansha are arriving," Zaria noticed. "Okinawa must be a pretty popular place."
"It is," Rika said. "Let's go before they hog the shop."
Back at the Sigil Shop, the vendor was patiently cleaning off her sigils when Zaria approached, putting her phone down. "Say hello to your son, ma'am!"
Touma's voice shot out. "Hi, Mom."
"Touma!" she gasped. "What happened to you?"
"This weird kid turned me into a computer monitor. Now I only exist in the digital realm. Bright side, I can take over technology."
Zaria scratched her head. "Is there any way you can get him out of my phone? Any devices that can host him?"
"Well…I only have this TV…"
She picked up a TV from the floor. "I use it to show customers previews of my products."
"Great! That'll work! Here, kid! In you go!"
She held her phone to the TV, and Touma jumped into it. His mom watched as his face took over the monitor. "Son?"
"Yeah, Mom, it worked."
She hugged the TV. "My boy! When I find the person who did this to you, I will rain down a thousand curses onto them!"
"Well, actually he's—-"
Rika and Zaria quickly motioned "NO."
"—somewhere far below."
"He'd better be. Or he's toast."
She turned back to the girls. "As thanks for your assistance, I will honor my end of the deal! Pick two each, any of them! My treat!"
〈Commission Complete.〉
Rika tapped her chin. "Hmm. I'm thinking we do one Teleport Sigil and three Level-Up ones for each of us, right, Zaria?"
Zaria was busy examining the Tōshi Sigil. "Ooh, I wonder what this lil' thing's gonna do for me!"
"Zaria!"
"Huh, what? Oh. Sup?"
"We have to be smart about this," she insisted. "Can't believe I'm saying that, but yeah. We're still pretty low levels. With this, we can at least jump to Prime."
Zaria reluctantly tossed the Tōshi Sigil. "Fine. Whatever. Han owes me, though."
"You owe ME!"
"For what?"
Rika turned on her phone screen, where Sōshin was busy playing a chess game. "Hmm…should I put this knight here? Or to the left."
"You did that to yourself, honey."
Rika waved her off. "We'll take three Level-Up Sigils and a Teleport Sigil, please."
"Coming right up!"
With a snap of her fingers, four Sigils were laid out on the table. Rika and Zaria each picked up one of the orange ones, and they squeezed them.
〈Level-Up! +2,000 Levels!〉
Both of their bodies glowed, and they fell to the ground.
"Whoa," Zaria blurted out. "I feel…good!"
"2,000?" Rika realized. "We're like, no longer trash!"
"I've put a little boost in," the vendor stated. "Don't be reckless now, you're still many ways from the higher levels. But you're now at least capable."
Zaria and Rika bowed. "Thank you, ma'am."
She bowed back.
"Now, let's use this thing and find our party."
Rika held up the teleport sigil.
〈Sigil Ability: Teleport. Description: Teleports to a party member of choice.〉
Rika touched it.
〈Sigil: Activated. Please state a Name.〉
"Omariro Nyugawa."
〈Teleporting.〉
The vendor waved goodbye as the girls disappeared.
"Good luck, children."
——