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

The sun was about to set.

Our base was located one street inside from the main street, but we could hear the hustle and bustle from inside.

It was festive outside.

Incidentally, the S-class dungeon that my friends and I were trying to conquer was not supposed to have sunlight, but for some reason it was bright during the day.

And when night fell, it was dark.

It was the same even for the 2nd floor and onwards.

The light in the dungeon was also due to the power of the Digragni.

It was our day off and we were having dinner.

The food at the base, which housed two well-off adventurer parties, was always very lavish, but that day's food was even more so.

Helmios' servants had to put their skills to the test.

"But are you okay with being here Prince Zew? A Dungeon Festival is being held outside."

"Hmm? I don't care."

(I invited you because I had no reason not to, but how can you be so relaxed.)

Prince Zew plopped down on a fluffy couch.

"It's okay. It's Allen's Coming of Age ceremony."

"Mr. Helmios. It's our Coming of Age ceremony."

It was October 1, my birthday.

That year, with the exception of Formar, all of my friends and I became adults.

15 was the age of maturity for humans and dwarves, 30 for elves, and 50 for high elves.

That's why Sophie became an adult only that year.

Even serfs at least celebrated the Coming of Age ceremony.

It wouldn't be a village-wide effort, but a modest one at each house.

Nobles would invite influential people for a grand celebration at their mansion.

And Royalty would host a ball for Prince or Princess when they came of age.

In some countries, Prince or Princess would parade through the Royal Capital.

When I asked my friends while we were in the dungeon if they wanted to hold a Coming of Age ceremony, everyone agreed to hold one.

And since it would be too much to do it several times each time someone had a birthday, we decided to do it all together on my birthday.

It was my birthday, but it was the Coming of Age ceremony for my friends and me.

(It's been 15 years since I reincarnated into this world.)

My memories of my previous life were already very hazy at that time, except for the memories of an important game that I was very passionate about.

It was deeply moving when I thought that I had already become an adult in another world.

And the reason why Prince Zew was flopping on the couch was because of the conversation we had the day before when I met Ur.

He asked me if I wanted to go out to dinner the next day, and I told him I couldn't go because of this and that.

The conversation ended there, but that evening, Prince Zew arrived with Ur and Sara in tow.

Prince Zew himself carried a large barrel of sake on his shoulder and brought it to me in celebration.

Apparently, he went out of his way to come to our Coming of Age ceremony on the day of the Dungeon Festival.

"But the city seems to be celebrating, as it did yesterday."

(I haven't attended any festivals since my previous life.)

In my previous life, I had not participated in any of the seasonal events that took place in the game.

I was not interested in those events because they basically have no items or experience. They only gave clothing that changed appearance.

I had a saying, "I'd rather be naked than equip ineffective items."

However, after being reincarnated, I didn't dislike a festival which I could celebrate surrounded by people I could trust.

"Mm? I had a few drinks with my compatriots until late afternoon."

"Don't worry needlessly", was what Prince Zew was trying to say.

It seemed like he was already drunk when he came.

The Dungeon Festival was an event unique to the 1st floor city.

In the development village, October 1 was a harvest festival, but there were very few fields to harvest in the dungeon.

There was no harvest festival, so the people probably made that day the day of an annual festival.

It was a day to worship the Digragni, the Dungeon Master, to thank him for their safety in the dungeon, and to wish them well in their future raids.

That year seemed to be particularly exciting, as I could hear the joyful voices of the dwarves from inside the base.

"I wonder if Admiral Galala will be back soon. He said he was going to defeat the Dungeon Boss."

Admiral Galara, a Dwarf hero, challenged the Dungeon Boss in the morning of the Dungeon Festival.

Dwarves crowded in front of the temple, anxiously awaiting his arrival.

The fight began in the morning, but I thought it would take a lot of time to defeat the Dungeon Boss.

My friends and I were still working on gathering equipment and leveling up.

The Prince Zew party didn't have enough strong members.

In the midst of all that, Admiral Galara's party, having gathered the Stone Slabs ahead of the others and determined that they had sufficiently prepared, took on the Dungeon Boss.

To my surprise, the Dungeon Boss seemed to be on the 5th floor.

For us, who were on the 4th floor, we just had to conquer1 more floor.

"But, Allen. Now we can see this dungeon being conquered."

"I guess so, Dogora. It seems the dungeon will be conquered faster than I predicted."

Dogora was the first to say what I was thinking.

We were always together, so such things were happening more and more.

(Too bad! I wanted the first time bonus, but, well, if this will help strengthen the Five Continents Alliance, it can't be helped. Maybe I'll check later to see how strong the Dungeon Boss is.)

I didn't know if Admiral Galala and his party would be able to conquer the dungeon, but I prayed for their safe return.

As the Coming of Age ceremony began in a natural way, Helmios and Prince Zew went out of their way to congratulate us.

I enjoyed a pleasant meal with my usual unchanged friends.

"Hey, at least have a drink today."

Cecile, sitting with her eyes open, held a wooden mug close to my face, asking me to drink.

Apparently, Cecile was quite intoxicated with alcohol.

I had no particular reason to refuse, so I accepted and drank.

The alcohol I had not tasted for a long time was not good.

The first drink I had after coming to this world was still the same.

I chuckled to myself thinking I still didn't like the taste of alcohol.

"Speaking of which, Prince Zew."

I talked to Prince Zew over drinks.

There was something I wanted to ask him about.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"Her Highness Princess Shea has succeeded in subjugating the Evil Cult, so when are you returning to the Beast Kingdom?'

"I will not return. His Majesty the Beast King told me to conquer the dungeon. And I have not completed my task."

(Wasn't the condition to be the first one to conquer?)

Soon, Admiral Galara might announce his successful conquest.

"His Royal Highness Prince Zew..."

Ur shed tears of joy at those words.

Prince Zew was ultimately unable to gather the strongest beastmen adventurers due to the interference of Crown Prince Bek.

Prince Zew could form a party consisting of numerous 1-star or 2-star Talents, but it was almost impossible for him to form a party with only 3-star Talents.

Even Prince Zew knew that.

The only reason he stayed was to protect the beastmen.

He always used his position as a Prince to lead the beastmen.

Prince Zew never seemed to talk about such things.

"I thought you were very young, but I didn't realize you hadn't even had your Coming of Age ceremony. Has the Hero who saved Rosenheim always been this way?"

When Ur shed tears, which caused the celebration to become somber, Prince Zew changed the topic of conversation.

It seemed that Prince Zew had heard about our success in Rosenheim.

"Yes. He has always been awesome!"

Cecile, next to me, reacts strongly to Prince Zew's words.

Cecile stood up, clutching a wooden mug.

"How?"

"Here we go again."

While Prince Zew was showing interest, Kiel murmured in a small voice.

It was a story Cecile had told dozens of times since we entered the Academy.

The story was not unpleasant, but responding to Cecile's story which she recited with a twinkle in her eye, about what happened when she was 10 years old from beginning to end was quite difficult.

"This is how, when he was just 10 years old, he defeated a Mardegarsh with only a dagger!"

Cecile imitated me, who had twisted a dagger into the Madegarsh's eyeball while being eaten by it.

There was not the slightest hint of a Noble's elegance in Cecile.

"I see. We have Mardergarsh in Beast Kingdom as well. It is quite a feat to be able to defeat one at just the age of 10."

"Yes. That's right!"

I looked at Cecile, whose eyes were fixed on me.

I tilted my head to the side and wondered why, as Cecile appealed to me with her eyes to brag more.

"No, no, no. There are many distinguished people and Heroes here. I heard that Mr. Doberg defeated a Red Dragon when he was just 10.

Already starting to get drunk, I drunkenly said about what I wanted to hear.

Doberg the Dragonslayer

It was a legend that was quite famous and well-known in Latash Kingdom.

I, a serf, was told about that famous story by a Priest during an Appraisal Ceremony.

However, Doberg continued to drink silently and didn't participate in the conversation.

He didn't seem to want to answer anything.

"I want to hear what Mr. Doberg happened! Was the Red Dragon strong?"

Kurena, who was even more interested than me, forced Dogerb.

"... Well, it was strong."

Doberg let out a sigh and spoke.

Perhaps Doberg didn't want to ruin the festive atmosphere.

It was a story in a book called Master Swordsman Doberg's Heroic Biography.

A Red Dragon lived near the village where Doberg was born.

The Red Dragon had apparently told the village to offer sacrifices.

Doberg learned about it when a friend of his was chosen as a sacrifice.

None of the adults took up arms, saying it was inevitable.

So, Doberg stole a fine sword from the village blacksmith and went to fight.

Miraculously, Doberg succeeded in cutting off the Red Dragon's head and defeating it.

Doberg was so calm when he told the story that I was sure that he had been asked to tell the story dozens of times by children.

"That's awesome!!!"

"So..."

Everyone's longing eyes fell on Doberg, but he said, "I've talked about this," and quietly started drinking again.

"Mm, what?"

As Kurena wanted to hear more of Doberg's feats...

The festivities outside turned into screams.

We heard screams coming from outside.

Ur stood up and reacted first as he had good years.

"I think something bad happened! Let's go!

When Allen said so, everyone got up and ran outside toward the source of screams.