"I want you three to pick up Pest and the humans he's protecting. Make sure you watch out for any monsters that could have respawned, especially the one in the long hallway."
"Understood, master," Death said with a slight bow.
Famine also bowed slightly, but War couldn't help but snicker a little.
"Hmm? What's up?" Senzo asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Well, you clearly care a lot about her, so why not go yourself, master?" War's tone dripped with mockery.
"..."
Senzo could only roll his eyes. "Yeye, very funny. Now shoo, shoo, get going, and return as fast as possible!"
"Understood, master," Death replied, glancing at War.
"!!!"
Feeling that gaze, War couldn't help but bow politely. Then he turned around and rushed in the other direction, leaving cracks in the floor as he fled.
"Looks like he's the troublemaker, huh?" Senzo muttered, seeing all three horsemen off.
Well, it's fine; having someone like that has advantages. But I will have to teach him some manners... Senzo mused, a content look on his face.
And just like that, he turned around and entered the safe zone once more, still holding Asako, who had slept through it all.
After entering the zone once more and seeing the doors close automatically behind Senzo, Emi and Naosuke heaved sighs of relief.
"Don't worry, I wouldn't endanger Asako," Senzo reassured them, patting the little girl's head again.
"That's true; you did always dote on her way too much," Emi added, chuckling a little.
"Uh..."
"Hehe." Naosuke couldn't help but relax a little as well, seeing Senzo unable to refute like that.
Sadly, he had been too old when Senzo moved into the apartment; otherwise, Senzo might have also doted on him like that.
He was staring so hard at Asako's back that it looked like he was trying to look right through her.
"I'll dote on her even more once we're outside," Senzo declared, trying to lighten the mood.
"Now, now, don't say unrealistic things, Senzo; it's not good to give them false hope," Emi countered.
The atmosphere grew heavy immediately.
"..."
Senzo was at a loss for words after hearing what she had just said. It made sense... but still, couldn't she try to be a bit more positive?
"Ah!"
That's when Senzo remembered the unfortunate fate Uncle Jiro had suffered.
"Well, enough with being depressed. What kind of abilities did you all awaken?"
He quickly tried to change the subject and learn more about this new Earth he had returned to.
"Hehe, don't be too shocked, Senzo, because in front of you, you see the one and only greatest frontline tanker in this dungeon!" Naosuke proudly declared, puffing out his chest with pride.
"???"
Senzo was just staring at him, with a confused look on his face.
"Frontline tanker? You mean you awakened abilities related to that?" he asked.
"Yep, want to see?"
Naosuke now had a smug look on his face while waggling his eyebrows.
"Wait, hold up a moment. What do you mean by 'wanna see'?"
Naosuke now looked at Senzo like he was an idiot. "Did you miss all the information when the world awakened?"
"World awakening? Is that what they call it when the dungeons started forming? And what do you mean by 'information'?" Senzo was slightly taken aback; it looked like his emergency patch was missing a lot of crucial information.
"..."
Naosuke was speechless. "Have you been living under a rock or what?"
But right after he finished saying that, Emi smacked him on the head. "Watch your tone!"
"Sorry, Mom..."
"Fine, I'll be gracious and teach you, Senzo," he proudly declared, puffing his chest out once more.
"..."
Senzo could only roll his eyes at the bravado of the teenager, but he was also grateful for all the information he would be sharing.
"So a couple days ago when the world awakened and dungeons started forming, everyone on Earth got the same message on a weird translucent screen in front of them, explaining what would be happening and how to share your status screen."
"Ohhh."
That made a lot of sense; if you couldn't share it at will, that would be rather inconvenient, wouldn't it? Senzo mused, still actively soaking up all the information Naosuke was sharing.
"And while there wasn't much information about the dungeons themselves, it did state that there were multiple types—the standard ones with safe zones like these, and also special dungeons, but sadly, it didn't tell us what kind of special dungeons existed."
"I see, go on," Senzo said.
"And then, a moment later, massive pitch-black pedestals fell from the sky in the middle of basically every major city."
"Wha!?" Senzo exclaimed, unable to contain himself.
"Are you serious?"
Naosuke meekly nodded his head, a little taken aback by Senzo's reaction.
"Um, were you perhaps unconscious when all that was going down?" he asked shyly, half-hiding behind his mother.
"Ah, sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, but yes, I was. So this is all new information."
"I-I see."
Naosuke said, still hiding behind Emi, not daring to come out anymore.
"Sorry, Senzo, you know how he is."
"Yeah, that was my bad. Don't worry, Naosuke, your explanation was very helpful," Senzo said with a helpless expression. It had completely slipped his mind how the boy in front of him had always been shy around anyone who wasn't immediate family.
Even though he and Senzo were buddies, he had never gotten rid of his shyness.
"So you can share status windows, huh? And how do I do that?" he asked, getting back on topic.
"I'll show you real quick," Emi replied, taking a couple of steps closer until she stood right in front of Senzo.
"Status public."
╔══════════════════════════════════╗
STATUS
╚══════════════════════════════════╝
Name: Konya Emi
Age: 38
Constellation Sponsor: The Archivist of Silent Truths
Traits: Calm Under Duress, Analytical Mind
Innate Abilities: /
Abilities: Cognitive Mapping, Threat Assessment, Data Retention
╚══════════════════════════════════╝
After she spoke, Senzo could clearly see her status screen materialize before him.
"Wow, and not bad, Emi, having multiple traits and even a constellation sponsor, huh?"
Senzo was genuinely impressed by her status screen. Even though it didn't seem combat-oriented, people with analytical abilities like hers were often far more valuable.
"Thanks, but even if I have multiple traits and a sponsor... it's useless in the current situation..." Her voice started cracking toward the end of her sentence, and tears started forming once more.
"Don't worry, you're doing great. I'm sure someone will help you through your current predicament."
Senzo did his best to make her feel better while not outing himself as that someone; he didn't want to make her suffer even more by letting her know he was going to challenge that boss soon.