This is the 4th floor. So far, the wicked beings that have appeared are goblins, goblin mages, goblin priests, goblin warriors, kobolds, and slimes. Apparently, the scope of Evil beings changes every five floors. Even so, everyone seems to have good stamina. I'm starting to feel a bit tired. I didn't expect such a difference in stamina to show up. At that moment, Ryuzaki-kun discovered a hidden room. Thank goodness, we can take a short break. When we entered the room, there was a treasure chest on a pedestal. Shibaya-kun reacted quickly.

"Oh, a treasure chest. Let's open it right away!"

"Wait a moment, Shibaya. That treasure chest looks different from the ones we saw before."

"Huh, really? Ah, there's something written on the pedestal."

I wonder what it says. Let me take a look. It says,

"This is the Caprice Box. If the box's owner likes you, you'll receive a variety of treasures. If not, the worst outcome will be death for all. Also, reading up to this point will be considered opening, and the door will close. Now, open it quickly."

As soon as I finished reading, the door closed, and the seven of us were trapped.

"Hey, seriously? We're actually trapped here. Shibaya, is there anything else written?"

"Wait a moment, Ryuzaki. It's no use, we have no choice but to open it."

"I'll give it a try. I have the best luck among this group. Is that okay, Ryuzaki?"

"Hey, Kubo. Well, there's no other way. Be careful."

Kubo-kun opened the box. What will happen?

The moment he opened it, a loud voice resounded. I recognize this voice; I can't believe it—

"Pampakapān, congratulations! These seven opened it~. Ryuzaki-kun, Shibaya-kun, Kubo-kun, Kondō-kun, Nagasaki-san, and Furukawa-san, you will be given valuable weapons and armor~."

As I thought! That voice belongs to the goddess. My name wasn't called. She must be plotting something. I need to brace myself.

"And, Shimizu-san, I hate you so much. I was planning to leave you alone, but there was something that bothered me~. Therefore, I will personally dispose of you. But, just killing you won't satisfy me, so here's a gift. It's called the Wickedness Elixir. In short, if you drink this, you'll become an Evil tribe~. I'll have you become a Evil tribe and be sentenced to be killed by your classmates~."

"No, stop joking! Why do you hate me? I've only heard your voice, I don't even know what you look like."

"But you know, I've seen your face~. So, die."

She fell for that so easily. Was that on purpose?

"This isn't a joke. Everyone, the owner of this box is that goddess we encountered earlier."

"Hey, Shimizu, is that for real?"

"Yes, the previous question indicated the situation when I was in the goddess's room. I didn't see her, but I heard her voice. She answered normally to that question. Everyone, this time—"

Wait, why can't I speak suddenly?

"Yeees, that's enough~. It would be boring if you said more~."

As I thought, this goddess is involved!

"Goddess, please wait a moment. Why do you hate Shimizu so much? You only heard Shimizu's voice; you haven't seen her face, right?"

"Ryuzaki-kun, that's because this girl violated a taboo~. I must give her punishment. Well then, it's time for the medicine~. Ta-da, the Wickedness Elixir~. Come on, drink it quickly~."

"What! Hey, that doesn't answer the question. Why would you touch a taboo just because you saw Shimizu's face?"

I can't move. A small vial appeared in front of my mouth.

"------"

I desperately tried to convey to Ryuzaki and the others. But everyone's body was frozen, and they couldn't speak or move. They were all struggling to move, but nothing happened.

Resisting was futile, and I ended up drinking the Wickedness Elixir. In that instant, something grotesque appeared within my body. The urge to scream couldn't be suppressed. At that moment, everyone's paralysis was released.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

"Shimizu~!"

"Shimizu-san!"

"Hey, this is bad. Evil energy is overflowing from Shimizu-san. Goddess, can't you do something about this? How can Shimizu-san be forgiven?"

"Are~ Kubo-kun is also siding with Shimizu-san~? Then, shall I just kill everyone~?"

Aaah, keep my consciousness. At least, I must not let everyone escape. That goddess is changing her mind and planning to kill them all. If she wanted to kill me, she could have done it anytime. Why didn't she do it then? Think, think. This room, that box... Could it be?! She can hardly interfere in this world? Maybe she needs the space of this box and this room to intervene. If we can escape from this room, maybe others can be saved even if I can't.

"E- E-, Everyone, run! Run away quickly. If we stay like this, everyone will be killed."

"Can we just abandon our friends? Damn, there must be a way to save her."

Ryuzaki-kun, thank you for calling us friends. In this situation, Kubo-kun is the one I can rely on.

"Ku, ku, Kubo-kun, p-please, take everyone and run."

"Shimizu-san—damn it! Everyone, run! Ryuzaki, Shibaya, Nagasaki, Kondō, Furukawa, run now. The wicked energy is expanding rapidly. We can't handle it right now. While Shimizu-san is holding herself, let's escape."

"But, Kubo."

No choice, it's a bit rough, but I have to make sure they escape from this room. I somehow managed to throw everyone out of the room while trying to keep my consciousness, and then I blocked the entrance by punching the ceiling.

"Shimizu-san~ You did it at the last moment~. Well, fine then. I can erase your presence from this world~."

This is enough. I won't move as she wishes.

Ah, I've reached my limit. Sorry, Sakuragi-kun, Mika. At that moment, my consciousness faded.

***

Sakuragi Haruto's Perspective:

Ryuzaki and the others are taking a long time to come back. Did something happen? The plan was to reach the 5th floor, use the teleportation room placed every 5 floors, and gather at the entrance of the dungeon. But they still haven't returned. Yeah, that's Kubo. He must have come back. Something's wrong with him!

"Kubo, why did you abandon her!"

"What could we have done in that situation? At that moment, there was no way to save Shimizu-san. One wrong move, and all of us would have been killed by Shimizu-san. Of course, I feel frustrated too!"

Wait, what's going on? Did something happen to Shimizu? I hurriedly headed towards where Ryuzaki and the others were. There, six heavily wounded individuals were present, but Shimizu wasn't among them. This can't be a joke. Before I could say anything, Shimazaki burst out.

"Hey, Ryuzaki, Shimizu's not here! What happened?"

"Shimazaki, Sakuragi, sorry. We couldn't protect Shimizu. Let me explain."

After asking Ryuzaki and the others for details, I was shocked. A taboo was violated by the goddess just by seeing Shimizu's face and even made her consume the Malevolent Heart Elixir to turn her into an evil tribe member! And on top of that, just because Shimizu answered back a bit, the Goddess changed her mind and decided to kill us all. So, to prevent that, Shimizu risked her life to help all six of us escape and caused the room to collapse. Is this for real?

While everyone and the Knights were making noise, Marcus-san was calmly thinking about something.

"Nonsense, a hidden room! And it's the Caprice Box! That's something you can only find in B-rank dungeons and higher. Why is it in a D-rank dungeon? But, this malevolence is genuine."

(TL Note: Well, malevolence here is I think something called miasma)

"Everyone, pay attention!"

We now know that Shimizu is in a critical situation. But right now, we must not enter the dungeon. We can't handle this miasma even with our abilities. Luckily, it's a dungeon, so it won't invade the capital. I intend to hold an emergency meeting with the king and discuss our future actions. You all should return to your rooms and wait. That's all!"

As expected, Marcus-san is always composed. I need to learn from him.

"Kubo, everything Ryuzaki said is true, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. We were in a panic, and we don't know what happened to her after that. Sakuragi-kun, you can hit me if you want."

Damn it! Oh well, so this is hatred. The Goddess, I'll definitely kill her next time we meet.

"Hit me? Why? Ryuzaki and the others aren't at fault. It's all because of that Goddess. Hey, Kubo, it's the first time for me. I've never felt such murderous intent towards someone or a Goddess before."

"You--- I see."

I looked at Shimazaki, who was sitting down. They used to be best friends.

"Sakuragi, I'm going to rescue Shimizu. It's only on the 4th level."

I knew you'd say that.

"No, I won't allow it."

"Why not? Aren't you worried about Shimizu? With the Goddess's whims, even with the lowest stats and no skills, if she becomes part of the evil tribe, she'll be immediately defeated."

"Shimazaki, I also want to help her immediately. But look, there's a tremendous amount of miasma emanating from the dungeon entrance. It's probably coming from Shimizu. We can't handle it at our current state. We are weak. Currently, the best we can do is advise the king to prohibit entering the dungeon. That way, Shimizu won't be attacked. In the meantime, we'll search for an item to turn her back from the evil tribe to a human."

"I understand the reasoning, but how can you stay so calm, Sakuragi? What are you going to do, Kubo-kun?"

Kubo stopped Shimazaki, who was about to jump at me.

"Shimazaki-san, please calm down. Look at Sakuragi-kun closely."

"Huh, oh! Sakuragi, your hands are covered in blood."

"He also wants to go help right away. But he's a hero. If the hero acts impulsively, it will only create more chaos around him. He's suffering too."

After hearing those words, Shimazaki seemed to regain composure.

"I'm sorry, Sakuragi."

"It's okay. Hey, Kubo, Shimazaki, I have a favor to ask."

"A favor? What is it?" "What, a favor?"

"I want you both to keep four girls behind me, Kaneko, Aoki, Ogura, and Koutou, away from me from now on."

"That's fine, but why?"

"They're still like that even now. They seem to be enjoying Shimizu's current state. If they come near me, I feel like I might end up killing them. I can't hide my murderous intent."

"Hey!" "Wait, that's not right!"

"I'm barely keeping it under control right now."

"Understood, we'll try our best to keep them away."

"Got it. I'm sorry about earlier."

Shimizu, I'll definitely help you!

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Apparently the next chapters from 8 to 54 are available on another website, you will jumping straight to chapter 55.

If you wish to continue reading chapters 8 to 54 on this website, please make a request in the comments section. As I am hesitant AKA lazy to do so if there are few or no requests, especially since the chapters are already available on another website.

If you guys notice anything wrong, please feel free to comment and let me know!