Club activities had run late, and by the time the sun finished its descent, the world outside was dark. Mika and I returned home only after walking Saori-chan all the way to her front door; I couldn't exactly let her walk back alone at that hour.
"I'm home..."
"Welcome back."
When I opened the front door and called out, Mother's voice drifted from the living room. Along with her greeting, the unmistakable scent of dinner wafted into the entryway—a natural consequence of us being a little late. Judging by the smell... is it curry tonight?
Mika and I shared a brief look before stepping up into the house, heading for the living room with our bags still in hand.
"Hey, Mom. We're home."
"I'm back!"
"Welcome back, you two. You're quite late today, aren't you?"
When we entered the room, Mother was sitting on the sofa watching TV, having already finished setting the table. I realized I probably should have sent a message letting her know we were dropping Saori-chan off. Taking a detour to Saori-chan’s house meant a thirty-minute walk at a normal pace.
"Sorry, Mom. We got caught up with sports festival prep, and since it was late, I walked Saori-chan home."
"Oh, is that so? Well, you could have at least let me know..."
"Sorry. I'll be more careful next time."
I gave a small bow to Mother, who let out a sigh that was half-grumble and half-relief, and apologized again for the oversight.
"Well, it's fine. Anyway, dinner is ready, so go change quickly."
Okay!
Mother stood up to finish the final preparations, and Mika and I headed to our respective rooms.
After parting ways with Mika, I dropped my school bag on my desk and swapped my uniform for loungewear. While changing, I checked my reflection in the full-length mirror. The spot where Yuji had punched me was still a visible red mark in the shape of a fist. It wasn't quite a bruise or internal bleeding, but the fact that a mark remained at all showed just how irritated he had been.
Still... considering I have a body reinforced by leveling up, that much impact would have probably caused internal organ damage or a rupture if he’d used it on a normal person.
"I should treat him to something on the way home tomorrow..."
Imagining Yuji probably rolling around in bed with embarrassment right now, I decided to buy him something to cheer him up. Maybe some taiyaki would do the trick.
Having finished changing, I didn't want to keep Mother waiting any longer, but just as I was about to leave, something in the corner of the room caught my eye.
"...Oh, right. This arrived the day before yesterday."
I scratched my cheek as I looked at the unopened cardboard box from a major online retailer. After a quick glance at my desk, I made a decision.
"Yeah, I'll check it tonight."
I moved the box over to my desk. I was digging through a drawer for a utility knife to break the seal when a knock came at the door.
"Onii-chan, I'm heading down to the living room! Hurry up and come down!"
"Yeah, I'm coming."
It was Mika. She must have finished changing faster than I did. Listening to her footsteps retreat down the stairs, I set the utility knife on top of the box.
"Opening this can wait until after dinner."
I put the investigation on hold and headed down to the living room.
"Sorry for the wait."
"Hm? Oh, Daiki. Sit down, dinner's ready."
"Thanks."
Following Mother's instructions while she reheated the pot on the stove, I took my seat at the table. Everything except the main dish was already laid out.
"That's rare. You're usually the one waiting for me, Onii-chan," Mika said, tilting her head curiously.
"I had some things to tidy up in my room."
"Tidying up?"
"The stuff I ordered online that came in the other day."
"Oh, that big box in the entryway? I remember that."
"That's the one."
Mika looked satisfied with the explanation.
"What's actually in there, anyway?"
"Hm? Just some toys, basically."
"Toys?"
"Yeah."
Technically, they fell into that category. Even if Mika got curious, it wasn't the kind of thing that would be a problem if she saw it.
As we chatted, the toaster oven chimed, followed by Mother’s voice.
"It's ready, everyone."
She walked over carrying a tray with two steaming plates of curry.
"Oh, katsu curry?"
"Yes. You brought home that orc meat yesterday, remember? I used that."
"Oh, right..."
The katsu on top of the curry was indeed made from the orc meat we’d brought back. Even with prices dropping lately, a single orc katsu at a department store deli would still cost well over a thousand yen.
"Of course, since you two took so long to get back, they aren't exactly fresh out of the fryer."
"S-Sorry about that."
"Fufu, I'm kidding. Let's eat."
Mother sat down with a wry smile at our stiff expressions.
"Well then, let's eat."
Let's eat!
We pressed our hands together. Tonight’s menu was orc meat katsu curry, miso soup, salad, and pickles.
I started by spooning some roux over the katsu, cut a piece, and took a bite. Yeah... the roux and the meat are totally at odds. I swallowed the mouthful, realizing I wasn't the only one who felt that way.
"...Hey, Mom? Does this curry taste a bit thin to you? Did you use too much water?"
"I shouldn't have. I followed the instructions on the package exactly, so it shouldn't be thin..."
Mika and Mother both poked at their curry with their spoons, frowning slightly. If she followed the recipe, then the issue was likely that store-bought roux simply wasn't strong enough to handle the intensity of orc meat. The balance was completely off.
I shared my theory with the two of them.
"I think the katsu is just too rich. The flavor is overpowering the roux. It’s outmatched."
"Ah, that makes sense..."
"I see. So if I want to use orc meat as a topping, I need to buy that expensive, specialized curry roux. But that stuff never goes on sale..."
Mika looked enlightened, while Mother looked a bit dismayed. Simple dishes like yakiniku were one thing, but using monster meat like orc meat in complex home cooking was clearly still a challenge. Simple recipes were definitely the way to go for now.
"Well, it's not like it's bad. I'm fine with it."
"...Yeah, true."
"...You're right. Next time I'll try to account for that."
We accepted the meal for what it was and finished the strangely balanced katsu curry. It wasn't that it tasted bad, it just felt... wrong.
"Thank you for the meal."
Once we were done, Mother started on the dishes and Mika migrated to the sofa to watch TV. I excused myself and headed back upstairs. It was time to start the investigation of the Slime Dungeon.
Back in my room, I sat down and finished opening the cardboard box.
"Let's see... packing slip... yeah, everything’s here."
I checked the contents against the slip. If anything was missing or broken, I’d need to report it immediately. Once everything was out of the box, I picked up two smaller boxes with identical packaging.
"First things first."
I pulled out two multi-functional desk clocks. They displayed the date, time, temperature, and humidity. I skimmed the manual to check the settings, then popped in the AA batteries I’d bought at the 100-yen shop.
Setting them up was a bit of a chore since I had to do it twice. I pulled up the exact time on my PC and synchronized both clocks manually. They had a radio-controlled auto-set feature, but that would ruin the experiment, so I’d disabled it. (I realized afterward that it would have been easier to let them auto-set first and then disable the feature, which made me feel a bit stupid.)
"Preparation complete..."
I looked at the two clocks ticking in perfect unison, then turned my gaze toward the desk drawer that served as the entrance to the Slime Dungeon.
I took a deep breath, hesitating for a split second before lightly slapping my cheeks to focus.
"Alright... let's do this."
I used Spatial Storage to pull out a sealed container of salt. I had been doing this for over a year now, yet I felt strangely tense given the nature of this particular test.
I pulled open the bottom drawer—the entrance to the dungeon.
"...Yeah. Same as always."
Seeing a slime sitting right there as usual brought a weird sense of calm. This sight had become a staple of my daily life over the last year. I chuckled at the thought and observed the monster. It was just a regular slime.
"..."
In silence, I used a small measuring spoon to scoop some salt and sprinkled it over the slime sitting at the bottom of the drawer.
"!?!?"
The slime shriveled, its body expanding and contracting violently as its volume collapsed, until it finally vanished. It was a familiar sight, but salt really was a death sentence for those things.
Unfortunately, no drop item appeared. Not unusual.
"Ready for the next step."
I leaned in to make sure no other slimes were nearby, then picked up one of the clocks. I double-checked it against the one on the desk. They were still perfectly synced.
"Placement... the corner should be safe. If I put it in the middle, a respawned slime might break it."
Using Psychokinesis, I carefully moved the clock into the corner of the dungeon floor. I was lucky to have that skill; without it, placing the clock without entering the dungeon or dropping it would have been nearly impossible.
With the clock safely positioned, I pulled back and closed the drawer.
"..."
I sat there staring at the remaining clock on my desk. Only a minute passed, but it felt much longer. Once the sixty seconds were up, I steeled myself and pulled the drawer back open.
"A Big Slime this time? Okay... you get the big one."
A Big Slime was now occupying the space. I swapped to a larger measuring cup, scooped up a healthy amount of salt, and doused it. Just like the smaller one, it spasmed and dissolved into nothing.
This time, however, a drop item remained. I used Psychokinesis to pull it out—a large Core Crystal.
"Nice, but that's just a side prize."
A bit of a shame. Magic items and skill scrolls were still incredibly rare.
I tucked the Core Crystal into Spatial Storage and leaned back in to retrieve the clock. Psychokinesis was great, but the fact that I had to maintain a line of sight to use it was a hassle for things like this.
"Got it."
Complaining under my breath about the skill's limitations, I successfully brought the clock back out.
"Now, let's see the results... wait, what!?"
I looked at the display and let out a genuine cry of shock.
Because...
"...The time... it's off."
The clock on the desk and the clock I had just retrieved from the dungeon were no longer in sync. Right before my eyes, they were ticking away at two completely different rhythms.