My Refrigerator Turned Into A Dungeon
Chapter 373

Repop

Having steadily cleared the 7th floor, we descended to the 8th. But once again, giant ants stood in our way.

"Hmm, ants again... But seriously, did they get even bigger?"

The Giant Ants of the 8th floor had grown even larger than those on the 7th.

"Hey, if it's above Giant Ant, is it Mega? Or Big Giant??"

"Machi, quit worrying about dumb stuff! Look out, here they come!"

The big Giant Ants of the 8th floor, upon spotting us, charged at us with the speed of a car that mistook the gas for the brakes and plowed into a convenience store.

"At this size, fighting them isn’t much different from taking on a compact car..."

At 3 meters tall, their charging speed was comparable to a car. And since they barely fit in the tunnel, the displaced air created a roaring wind like a subway train, making their approach even more intense.

"But such brute-force charges are dangerous. Take this—[Salt Piles: Scattered Stakes]!"

Just before the Big Giant Ant reached us, I formed five star-shaped salt stakes in the tunnel.

The charging ant plowed right into them, and its body was sliced apart—like squeezing mayo through a narrow nozzle or cutting cookie dough with a star-shaped cutter.

"Gotcha!"

"Hyah!"

As the now-head-and-torso-only Big Giant Ant flew toward us, our bone hammers and Hyper Excalibar slammed into its forehead, reducing it to smoke.

But, Serai-san...

"Gotcha!"? Really? Hmm... Maybe my wild training to toughen you up went a little too far.

"Ugh... That was hard. Hey, did it get even tougher?"

"Hmm~ Well, it’s not impossible, but if we’re not careful, we might hurt our wrists."

The Big Giant Ant’s forehead was apparently incredibly hard, leaving the two of them shaking their wrists after the attack.

"Hmm, so they’re pretty tough, huh? Bigger size means a bigger head. Makes it hard to target the body directly."

With the tunnel packed tight, flanking to attack its body wasn’t an option.

"Yeah. Even if we tried binding it with slime, that huge head would get in the way of hitting its legs."

"Then our only option is to lure it to an open area and ambush it again, right?"

Hmm, Serai-san’s plan seems solid.

First, I’ll bait the ant while the other two lie in wait. Then, we’ll lure it out far enough so only its head and torso emerge, letting us focus attacks on its less-armored body.

If we keep its abdomen stuck in the tunnel, we can limit its movements while fighting.

"—So, how about we stick to this strategy and just advance whenever we find a good spot ahead?"

"Sounds good to me. Seems easy enough."

"Yeah, I like it too."

Yeah, the Big Giant Ant’s head is basically a shield and pincers combined. No point smashing through that when we can just target the squishier parts.

"Alright, let’s go with this plan."

""Roger!""

...

And so, we repeated the bait-and-kill cycle, advancing through four checkpoints before hitting the dreaded fork in the tunnel.

(Hmm, a split path this time? Tight space too... This could be trouble.)

The Y-shaped junction after the last checkpoint had a low ceiling and was cramped. Using it as an ambush point would be tricky.

(Well, with three possible attack directions, we should probably just hurry through... Huh? What was that sound just now?)

While debating which path to take, a heavy thud echoed from deep within the left tunnel.

But even when crouching and straining my eyes, I saw nothing unusual within visible range. The sound must’ve come from further in.

(What the heck was that...?)

""Kyaaaah!""

But as I stood there puzzled, a scream came from the tunnel behind us.

"What?! No way...!"

While I was scouting ahead, the other two were supposed to be guarding the rear. So why was there a scream...?

No time to think—I spun around and sprinted back.

Racing through the narrow tunnel, I soon spotted the two running toward me in a panic.

"What happened?!"

"An ant just appeared out of nowhere!"

"Seriously?!"

"I thought you guys took care of them?!"

"No, we haven’t seen any since descending! Either way, move down!"

(Don’t tell me it’s a repop... But who could’ve killed the monsters? As far as I know, we’re the only ones attacking this mountain dungeon right now...??)