Leggy Mimic – 1

美脚ミミック、ハルミさん　～転生モンスター異世界成り上がり伝説～
Leggy Mimic, Harumi – A Reincarnated Monster’s Legendary Rise in Another World –
Author: 藤孝剛志

Chapter 1 – Briefing

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I am a treasure chest on the first floor of an underground dungeon.
A monster known as a Mimic, to be precise. I was in this form when I came to.
I have a feeling that I might have been a human before, but I cannot remember clearly.
Well, right now, I am a treasure chest and a Mimic.
As for what kind of treasure chest, I’m wooded, with corners that are reinforced with metal, and some other decorations. A very classic-looking treasure chest, but if treasure chests had ranks, then I would likely be near the bottom.
By the way, if you want to know why I am aware of my own appearance in spite of not having any eyes, it is because I can set my view point to anywhere around me.
And currently, it was showing me four Adventurers. Judging from that, I was in quite the pinch.

＊＊＊＊＊

“Alright, all of you newborns! Hello! I am Mariny, 10th floor Boss of this Aldora Dungeon!”

Apparently, this was a briefing.
I had only just been spat out of a black sphere, and I was now listening to the briefing with other monsters who had been spat out with me.
This Mariny was a spider woman, which meant she was a human torso sprouting out from a large spider’s head. And while she had claimed that I was a newborn, apparently, I had knowledge about spiders and humans. In other words, this wasn’t a clean slate.

“Now, I’m sure you are all so very confused in this newborn state you are in. But I’m going to keep this briefing short and omit any unnecessary details, because most of you will just die anyway! First, you will all be placed on the first floor of the dungeon. And there, you will try your best to survive the first season, in other words, five days! If you succeed, then I will tell you the rest!”

Yes. That wasn’t a briefing at all.
I scanned the area. The others were likely just as confused, as they looked dumb founded.
Now that I thought about it, I could see what was happening around me and hear voices, but that in itself was very strange. After all, I had no eyes or ears.
I had no nose either, but I could still smell the others. Well, I would just accept it for what it was.
Apparently, that really was all Mariny had to say to us, and so a large old man started to stuff us into a hand cart.
I was put in with five large dog monsters called Kobolds. Then the old man took us to a room on the first floor.
It was the burial chamber.
A small room within the dungeon, and monsters and treasure chests were placed in them.
The room was made with stone and the ceiling glowed faintly.
A short while after being placed there, I heard a voice.

‘It’s Mariny! I’m here to bring you news from Aldora! We are about to start our 389th season! So do your best to defeat the Adventurers!’
“Woof! Woof!”

The Kobolds were excited.
As for me, I wasn’t sure what to think.
This was a dungeon. A place where Adventurers came. And we apparently had to survive for the next five days.
However, didn’t being a treasure chest mean that I was already screwed from the beginning?
After all, I could not move on my own. And that was that.
The only thing that I could do was to perhaps bite any Adventurers who came too close, thinking that I was a normal treasure chest. That was my only method of attack.
And so I could only pray that no Adventurers would encounter me, however, there was a problem with that too. And it also had to do with being a treasure chest.
If someone found a treasure chest in the dungeon, of course, they would open it.
If they had let down their guard completely, then perhaps I could get one good bite in. But that was all. I was still just a newborn, small, and weak monster. No more than a little trap. I could do nothing after that. Apparently, Adventurers were usually in parties of four to six people, so they would beat me into sawdust and my life would be over.

“So you guys will just have to do all the work and… Hey! Oh, I guess it’s no use.”

Even though I tried to talk to the Kobolds, it seemed like they could not understand me.
But they had been listening to the briefing, so they should have enough intelligence to speak.

“Hey! Don’t urinate on me!”

While Kobolds were bipedal dogs, they still lifted a leg when spraying me.
Could it be that they didn’t see me as a fellow monster?
This was no good at all. Was there anything that I could do? As I thought about this, something appeared in my mind.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Name: Harumi
Race: Mimic
Gender: Female
Level: 1
Divine Blessing: Curse of Beauty
Divine Protection: None
Skill:
Mimic +2(Treasure chest)
Language (Inorganics +2, Humans)
Storage(*Only when in treasure chest form)
Items in Inventory:
None

++++++++++++++++++++++

Apparently, it was information about me. My status.
Ohh! I am Harumi?
I already knew that my race was a Mimic.
And I am female. Will I give birth to other Mimics? But wasn’t I born from some sphere? How does that work?
Level 1. That must mean that I’m weak as shit.
And what is ‘Curse of Beauty?’ That makes me so anxious.
But I have Mimic +2? That sounds pretty good compared to the others, doesn’t it? Can I turn into something that isn’t a treasure chest?
Since there are different types of languages, I suppose that means I need a specific skill in order to talk to the Kobolds. Does that mean that Miss Mariny has skills that allow her to talk to all the monsters?
As I thought about all of this, the door to the room suddenly opened.

“Woof!”

The Kobolds ran towards the door happily.
And in a flash, they were decimated.
Someone had swung a sword.
And like that, the five Kobols were decapitated on the ground.

“Ahh…why would you charge in like that…”

Four Adventurers entered the room.
By the looks of them, they were a warrior, sorcerer, monk, and thief. But why did I know that?

“Hey! Why are you taking detours on the first floor? There is no point in killing Kobolds here!”

Said the sorcerer woman.
For some reason, I could understand what the humans were saying. It was likely because of the language skill.

“Exactly. All you are doing is reducing the durability of your weapon on these small fry. Don’t you know that such little things could be lethal once we reach the lower floors?”

Complained the monk, who was a young man.

“But… We’re the first ones here this season. That means we get to hunt all we want!”

Grumbled the filthy man, who was the warrior.

“Look here. What use could veterans like us have with monsters and a treasure chest on the first floor? We should be leaving these scraps for the novices.”

Apparently, it was considered good manners.

“It will be replaced, anyway. It’s just a little superstition. You know, if you find something good here, it means we’ll have good luck on the rest of our journey, right?”
“What could you possibly hope to find in a first floor chest…”

In spite of saying this, treasure chests had an allure, and the four started to move closer.
It was over.
My life as a monster was about to end abruptly.
No, I would bite them at least once!
They have lowered their guard, thinking that I’m just a treasure chest. And when they open me, I’ll bite!
Just like that…

“That’s a Mimic.”

Muttered the thief, who had been silent up until now.

＊＊＊＊＊

And here we return to the beginning. I was in quite the pinch.
They knew that I was a Mimic now, so I could no longer launch a surprise attack.

“Woah, are you serious?”
“What should we do? Should I shoot it with magic?”
“But it would be a pity to waste a weapon’s durability or your magic energy.”

Y-yes! Well said, monk! Just leave this scrub and go somewhere else!

“But still. Don’t Mimics drop that one rare item? Maybe it’s worth killing?”

No it’s not! I don’t have any items!

“A Mimic’s rare drop item is the Covetous Medal. It increases item discovery. You can make a fortune by selling it.”

Everyone’s eyes brightened at this.
Thief! Must you continue to say unnecessary things!

“Since it will be a waste to use weapons or magic, I’ll try kicking it.”
“Yes. Surely it will only take a single hit to kill a Mimic on the first floor.”

The warrior came closer.
He was bulging with muscle, and his legs looked strong. I would definitely die if kicked by them!
As was plain to see, I was only as durable as any other wooden box.
Something! I needed something to get out of this!
Yes! Speech! Maybe I could talk my way out of this!

“HELP!”

The warrior’s foot froze. Ohh! This might work!

“Did you hear something?”
“It looked like that Mimic moved?”
“Maybe it’s shaking with fear?”

Yes, they didn’t understand me at all!

“Help! Help! Help!”

My lid shook, but they did not understand me. Did the language skill only mean that I could understand them?

“Gaaah!”

As a last ditch effort, I opened my lid wide and bared my teeth threateningly at them.
And then I lost my balance and fell.
This was the worst. I never had much hope for my attacks being effective, but now I had lost my one chance to bite.

“What is wrong with it?”
“It just fell over by itself and now it can’t move?”

Something. There had to be something else!!
I desperately checked my stats again.
The first thing that my eyes landed on was ‘Curse of Beauty. Hmm. It was almost impressive how useless it sounded.
I had Inorganics +2 with language, but that was also useless if I couldn’t talk to humans.
And storage was just to put things away, right?
So, Mimic +2! I would have to wager everything on it.

“Mimic! Mimic, mimic, mimic! Anything! Just let me move!”

Yes. I was a treasure chest because of Mimic.
In that case, shouldn’t I be able to change my appearance?
And so I screamed frantically.
I could not think of anything else. I could not rely on anything else.

“What the hell is wrong with it?”
“Gross!”

And before I could understand what was happening, I had grown a pair of legs.

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