It was called that because an astonishingly enormous circular opening stood in the center of the hall.
There was also an incredibly broad spiral ramp winding all the way down to the Dungeon.
This was the only official entrance to the Dungeon.
Magic Stone Lamps were set into the walls.
Countless adventurers came and went here.
However.
As a god, Haimo was forbidden from entering the Dungeon proper.
The rules only allowed him to see them off at the entrance to the spiral ramp.
Looking at the Five Swords and the Empress, who were already itching to get started.
Haimo nodded.
"All right."
"Off you go."
"I'll wait right here for your good news."
"From here on, it's up to you."
"Yes, Lord Haimo!"
Sasamori Aya, Tsukuyo Inaba, and the others immediately answered in unison.
Tsubaki grinned too, showing a mouthful of white teeth.
"Don't worry, Lord Haimo."
"With me around, I guarantee I'll bring them back in one piece."
Haimo nodded.
"Then I'll leave them in your hands, Miss Tsubaki."
"Well... see you later."
With that.
Everyone waved goodbye to Haimo for now, followed the flow of people, and disappeared around a bend in the spiral ramp.
But.
As they descended farther along the spiral ramp.
Once their initial excitement had cooled a little, the strange looks around them began to sting.
There was no helping it.
Their party simply stood out too much.
They were all beautiful girls, accompanied by two bears, a blind girl who even walked with her eyes closed, and a woman who hadn't brought so much as a weapon.
Even with a prominent Lv. 5 adventurer leading them, they couldn't stop the whispers.
"Hey, look over there."
Several adventurers resting and wiping down their weapons huddled together, their eyes drifting involuntarily toward the group.
"That's Tsubaki from the [Hephaestus Familia] leading them, right? They must have some serious connections."
"Who are those girls following her?"
"And bears? A big one and a little one?"
"This is ridiculous..."
"They even brought a blind girl."
"Maybe these little girls just came down here to pad their credentials?"
Though the whispers were hushed, they still reached everyone's ears with remarkable clarity in this environment.
"These jerks..."
Hanabishi Warabi puffed out her cheeks like steamed buns in anger and glared fiercely back at them.
But her harmless glare only made them burst into laughter.
Even the Black Bear, Fierce Man, bared his teeth in irritation and let out a low growl.
"Ignore them."
Walking at the head of the party, Tsubaki didn't even turn around as her lazy voice drifted back.
"In the Dungeon, your mouth is the most useless thing you've got."
"If you want someone to shut up, the only way is to dislocate their jaw with your own strength."
"Besides..."
Tsubaki turned her head.
"You really are rookies. That's a fact."
"Getting looked down on is one of the mandatory lessons for beginners."
Chapter 29: The Dungeon Adventure Begins
That was what she said.
Though she was verbally putting the rookies in their place like a seasoned veteran.
But as a Level 5 Level 1 Adventurer, Tsubaki's instincts, honed on the edge of life and death in the Dungeon, still told her this group wasn't quite as simple as they looked.
Especially that blind girl named Tsukuyo Inaba.
Her display of locating things by sound at the Guild earlier had surprised even Tsubaki, a Lv. 5.
That kind of hearing was definitely not something an ordinary blind person could develop through training.
And then there was the other one...
Tsubaki's gaze settled on the black-haired girl named Sasamori Aya.
This one was even more remarkable.
After walking around their armory, she hadn't taken a single proper weapon. She had entered the Dungeon equipped with nothing but that set of light leather armor.
Empty-handed and bare-fisted.
Her getup inevitably reminded Tsubaki of the combat prostitutes from the [Ishtar Familia] who specialized in unarmed combat.
Those combat prostitutes often preferred not to carry weapons either.
After all, a large portion of them practiced martial arts.
Could this girl be following the same path?
If so, she's going to have a rough time early on.
After all, no matter how tough a human fist was, hitting a monster's bones would still hurt.
"All right, this is the actual labyrinth."
Before they knew it, the broad spiral ramp around them had disappeared, replaced by a tangled network of rocky tunnels.
The light dimmed as well.
Only the occasional patch of low-purity phosphorescent moss embedded in the walls gave off a faint blue glow.
Tsubaki stopped, turned around, and pointed at the dark tunnel entrances around them.
"Once you actually enter the dangerous areas of the Dungeon, these complicated tunnels split the adventurers up considerably."
"Don't expect to keep seeing crowds of parties like you did up above."
"And although this is only the first floor, it's still a real battlefield."
"The first five floors mark the beginning of the upper levels. They're mainly populated by low-level monsters like Goblins and Kobolds."
"Individually, they're weak enough that you can beat them to death with any old stick, but they make up for it with numbers, and they love ambushing people."
"Farther down, around the sixth floor, you'll encounter a monster called a War Shadow. Those things move fast and have sharp claws. They're Newbie Killers in every sense."
"As for the seventh floor onward..."
"If you're unlucky enough to encounter a hard-shelled Killer Ant and fail to finish it off immediately, it'll call for reinforcements. That could trigger a small-scale monster stampede."
At this point, Tsubaki paused, her gaze sweeping over the delicate-looking girls behind her.
"But at your current stage, getting used to the pace of the first five floors will be enough."
"Today's goal is to let you draw some blood, and while we're at it..."
"Screee-!"
Before Tsubaki could finish saying, "get you familiar with your weapons."
At the bend ahead.
Several short, dark figures suddenly darted out.
They had green skin and large, pointed ears, brandished rusty short swords and wooden clubs, and let out irritating shrieks.
-Goblins.
Six of them in total.
"Here they come."
Tsubaki raised an eyebrow, considered for a moment, then stepped aside and leaned against the wall with her arms folded.
"They're the lowest-level small fry, but they'll do for a warm-up."
"Go on, let me see your..."
But.
Before Tsubaki could finish.
Sasamori Aya immediately charged straight into the middle of the Goblins.
"Hey! Don't rush in so..."
Tsubaki frowned and was about to warn her not to get careless.
But.
The next second.
Her voice caught in her throat.
The Goblins clearly hadn't expected a human woman to dare charge them bare-handed either. In their moment of shock, they swung their short blades wildly.
Clang!
A crisp clash of metal rang out.
The rust-covered blade struck Sasamori Aya's raised arm, only to scatter sparks as though it had hit a steel plate.
It hadn't even broken her skin.
"?"
Tsubaki's pupils contracted slightly.
After all, even with bracers, an ordinary adventurer's bones would have broken from taking that blow head-on.
And.
Something even more shocking followed.
Sasamori Aya remained expressionless.
She brought the fingers of her right hand together and straightened them.
Like a knife-hand.