Chapter 13 - Chapter 13: Two-Person Party
I was thinking of going into a dungeon and making some money as an adventurer, but I ended up taking care of a pair of sisters.
I feel like I don't know how it got to this point, but I was asked by their grandfather too.
In this society where social security has become so poor, it must be tough for just the elderly and children.
Probably, the children I saw in the dungeon were also at the end of such circumstances.
According to the innkeeper Oba-chan, it is "the end of the world."
Setting aside the girls for now, I made a great discovery.
It was a bug in the Item Box that I possess.
Electronic devices cannot be used inside a dungeon, but if I utilize this bug, they might work.
What would I do by moving electronic devices in a different space? Filming videos with a camera brought in.
If I upload that to a video site and get a lot of viewers, I can monetize it.
I should be able to capture something clearer than the analog equipment that has been tried and tested so far, but there is a problem.
If using a camera in a dark place, there is the issue of lighting.
My eyes can see well even in dark places, but the camera cannot do that.
To capture beautiful footage, bright lighting is necessary.
Can't I use the bug in the Item Box to use the camera and lighting together?
I won't know unless I try, but there is something more reliable.
Magic.
The girl I met -- Sana -- can use a light magic.
I should just have her cooperate.
In return, I will help her level up.
If we face monsters after leveling up, we should be able to defeat them more easily.
It's a WIN-WIN situation.
Sana headed to the government office and school to send her younger sister to elementary school.
If her sister goes to school, she should be able to dive into the dungeon with peace of mind.
Having found the possibility of using electronic devices inside the dungeon, I joyfully jumped out of the dungeon.
I need to buy a camera to use for video shooting and check if I can really shoot in the dungeon.
If I can use a camera, I can make a huge profit.
I was thinking of going shopping at Haneda again, but --.
"No, wait..."
For the time being, isn't there a smartphone for camera shooting?
I should confirm that I can shoot with a smartphone before buying a higher-performance camera.
I turned back halfway and decided to return to the dungeon.
When I got to the automatic ticket gate, I took out my smartphone and prepared.
This line is the boundary of where electricity can be used.
When I turned on the smartphone, I pressed the start button for video recording.
I took the backpack off my back, pretended to put the smartphone away, and stored it in the Item Box.
"Okay."
Once I had my preparations ready, I entered the dungeon again.
--Well, when it comes to video shooting, there is the issue of lighting --.
The entrance hall at the dungeon entrance is bright with fiber optic lighting.
I should be able to shoot with a smartphone from here.
I headed to the very edge of the hall and sat down there.
Fortunately, no one was around.
There, I tried putting the smartphone in and out of the Item Box.
Once I got the hang of it, success became more frequent, but the problem was the smartphone's orientation.
It doesn't come out in a good way.
It would be fine if I could confirm that I can shoot even if it's facing sideways, but there's no point in filming the ground or the ceiling.
After trying several times, I finally managed to pull out the smartphone facing forward.
"Got it!"
I can't touch it with my hands, but the video shooting screen is displayed on the smartphone.
Even inside the entrance hall, there is nothing that has been captured in such beautiful digital video.
Just this video should be able to rack up some access numbers.
When I move my body, the smartphone moves too.
After shooting a video of about 3 minutes that way, I stored the smartphone in the Item Box.
"Well, the question is whether the video was actually shot..."
I exited the dungeon, passed through the ticket gate, and immediately took out the smartphone to end the video recording.
If it wasn't shot, the video recording time shouldn't have increased...
I checked the video data -- I could see a time display of about 3 minutes.
"Okay!"
No, no, wait, wait, it's not time to panic yet.
If it wasn't actually shot, it's just a false joy.
It could be a sandstorm.
I took a deep breath.
When I pressed the play button -- the video of the dungeon's entrance hall played.
"Yessir!"
Now I can make money!
Rare monsters, battle scenes, the inside of the dungeon -- there is a lot of information that people who have never dived into a dungeon would want to know.
Let's upload it to the video site right away.
Right now, Harpy videos are trending and gathering people, so they must be watching this video too.
Now that I've confirmed I can shoot videos, I want a better camera.
Semiconductors have been replaced by Magic Stones, and a shortage of semiconductors continues.
Before the world stood still, many cameras flooded the market, but now there aren't many options.
Most people just get by with smartphones, and with the digitization of the economy and administration, the world has become one where smartphones are essential.
In response to this, the production of information terminals is being prioritized, so models like cameras are not being released much.
Well, for normal shooting, a smartphone is enough, and in a world like this, it's a bit difficult to make cameras a hobby.
"I see..."
I think shooting while moving will increase, so an action camera would be good.
Image stabilization should be powerful too.
When I left the dungeon, I headed to the pier and jumped onto a boat.
Not just the camera, I have to buy an extra air mat too.
Also, since the number of mouths to feed has increased, I have to buy extra food.
When I arrived at Haneda, I headed straight for the electronics store.
"Well, what should I do..."
I looked at the camera shelves.
As expected, the options are limited, and they are quite expensive.
No, this is an advance investment
If I can monetize and go viral, I can recover it quickly.
There are some that can shoot 360 degrees, but well, a normal wide-angle lens should be fine.
If I make a profit well, I can buy more later.
As a result, I bought the best action camera available for sale.
It seems the image sensor made of Magic Stone semiconductors has good performance and seems to be strong in dark places.
It should be perfect for dungeon shooting.
Good, good, next is extra food.
After purchasing, I pretended to take it out of the outside and threw it into the Item Box.
This is troublesome, but it can't be helped.
"Next -- was there anything else...?"
That's right, I should probably buy at least minimum armor.
Even on lower floors, there could be accidents.
The first trouble was when I was targeted by that.
Heading to the hardware store, I bought gauntlets, leg guards, body armor, shoulder armor --.
Is this it -- I unified all the colors to dark shades.
Next, headgear -- I tried a type with a shield.
Something might fly at me during combat.
I've heard that when fighting seriously, metal fragments can pierce the face.
I bought it and put it on right there --.
"Wow, you look like an adventurer."
Later, it would be good to update equipment with drops from monsters.
I don't know the logic, but there seem to be drop items with unbelievable performance.
--That said, fighting half-naked like some top ranker is a bit much...
Unless you have confidence in your body, I'm just an old man.
I do have a body trained by farm work, though.
After shopping to my heart's content, I returned to the Special District again.
"Have Sana and the others returned?"
For the time being, even if I shoot, I can't shoot without her magic lighting.
I need her cooperation.
At the same time, I can level up Sana.
I returned to the inn.
"Welcome back."
Oba-chan greeted me.
"I'm home."
If she greets me, I have to reply, right?
I'm an adult, haha.
"You've dressed up nicely."
"Haha, it seems the girls have returned?"
"Yes, just now."
"I wanted to send my younger sister to a primary school in the Special District, but I went to ask various things about whether I need to transfer my residence registration."
"It seems female adventurers are treated as day laborers, so it seems okay not to transfer the residence registration."
"So that's how it is."
"I don't think I can continue this kind of work forever."
"Basically, it's dangerous work. I tried diving in myself, and I felt there was a sufficient risk of losing my life."
"Actually, I hear stories like that too."
After chatting with Oba-chan and returning to the room, the sisters were indeed in the room as she said.
They were eating potato salad in a Tupperware container.
"What happened to that salad?"
"I got it from Oba-chan."
"I see~"
Should I give extra potatoes to Oba-chan?
"Awesome!"
Mio shouted when she saw my outfit.
"Thank you -- Sana, how were the government office and school?"
"It seems it's okay not to transfer the residence registration. It seems many women dive into dungeons while their children go to school."
"So that's how it is..."
"Mio will start going to school from tomorrow."
"If you're going to school, don't you need things to prepare? Notebooks, mechanical pencils, etc."
"The current school provides everything as tablets."
"Really? Seriously?"
There are no blackboards in the school, and everyone studies while looking at tablets.
That's the flow of the times.
I'll have lunch too.
I plan to go to the dungeon in the afternoon, so I'll eat right now.
"It's just salad, right? Shall I eat bread? It's delicious if you sandwich it."
"Yes!"
Mio reaches for the bread I offered.
Perhaps because she couldn't eat before, she has a strong appetite.
Well, kids don't get fat no matter how much they eat.
I gave bread and milk to the two of them and ate too.
"Mmm~"
Let's edit and upload the video of the entrance hall I shot just now.
Editing means just cutting out unnecessary scenes before and after and attaching a thumbnail.
Upload completed immediately.
If I had a PC, I could put flashy fonts and clickbait phrases in the thumbnail.
"Sana, look at this for a moment."
"What is it?"
"You'll understand if you look."
I show her the video on the video site.
"...Is this the entrance to a dungeon?!"
"Yes, yes, I captured it well, didn't I?"
"How did you shoot it?! You shouldn't be able to use smartphones or anything inside a dungeon."
She seems excited by the footage she has never seen before.
She is not the only one surprised.
It has already been played quite a lot, and the video counter is spinning continuously.
Those who have dived into the dungeon will know this footage is real.
Well, there are still people in the comment section saying it's fake or CG as usual.
That's usual.
Let them say whatever they want.
If they post links everywhere and it causes a firestorm, the access will increase.
"I used a little trick."
"What kind of..."
She has a slightly suspicious look on her face.
Just like the people in the comment section, does she think it's fake?
Since I need her to cooperate with the shooting, she should know it's real soon enough.
"I want you to help me with the shooting."
"There's nothing I can do..."
Hearing my words, she looks anxious.
Well, she might not be able to imagine what I'm doing.
"There's magic light, right?"
"I can use that."
"If I shoot a video in a dark dungeon, I need lighting. Chemical lights are dim, and electric lighting can't be used, right?"
"But... I can't do anything else, right?"
"Of course, just lighting is fine. I'll pay you a share, and I'll help you level up."
"It feels like there's only a benefit for me..."
"That's not true. I need magic lighting. And --"
"And?"
"I told you my secret, didn't I? I want to rely on you as much as possible. It's better to have fewer people who know the secret."
"..."
"Of course, you can refuse."
"No -- no one will hire me with my abilities, so if you don't mind, I will help."
She seems to have made up her mind.
She has to earn a living for her younger sister too, so she probably doesn't have much choice.
"Good. Then, since Mio-chan will go to school from tomorrow, I'll ask you from tomorrow."
"Understood."
While Mio and Sana were talking, Mio was playing with an analog toy.
The one I lent her.
"Mio-chan -- don't tell anyone at school that a weird old man is taking things out of nowhere."
"Understood!"
Is it okay?
If someone asks, I'll have to escape with "It's a child's words" or "I don't know."
"Mio-chan, what about a school bag?"
Since it's tablet classes, is it not needed?
I can't go empty-handed.
"..."
How did they get to school?
Speaking of which, it seems she was absent most of the time.
I took out an old backpack from the Item Box.
The spare I brought.
"Mio-chan, if you like it, I'll give it to you."
"Really?!"
"Yes."
A girl is happy receiving a slightly tattered backpack.
It's a scene that pierces an old man's heart.
Tears are coming out -- because I'm an old man.
Since we finished eating, I decided to go out to the dungeon.
"I'll go too."
"Huh? What about Mio-chan?"
"Mio will stay home!"
Mio says that, but...
"Are you okay?"
"I'm okay!"
Such confidence.
"Well, Oba-chan is here too, so it should be okay... but don't unlock the door for anyone you don't know."
"Yes! Understood."
"I wonder if it's okay..."
"I'm fine."
The sisters look more at ease than I am, who is worried.
Grandfather and older sister go to work, and the younger sister stays home.
This might have been the daily life of these sisters...
I left the room with Sana.
"Oh, going out?"
"Just to the dungeon. I'm leaving my younger sister behind, but is it okay?"
"It should be fine." / "I'm fine."
Oba-chan says she's fine too.
I put down the backpack, pretended to take something out, and took out potatoes.
"Thank you for making potato salad for the children. Do you need extra potatoes?"
"Since I live alone, it's no use getting only potatoes."
"I see~"
Well, that's true.
I sometimes get troubled by receiving a large amount of things from the neighborhood.
Even if such things happen, having this Item Box means I won't be troubled.
I understand that, but for now, I pushed the potatoes on her.
It's not something that will suddenly rot.
Well, if you don't keep it in a dark place, sprouts will grow.
Leaving the inn, the two of us headed for the dungeon.
It would be nice to take out a bicycle, but it's impossible in a crowded place.
Well, it's not that far.
"Mmm, that's right..."
For Sana's level up, I intend to let her deliver the final blow, but I want to use the dagger dropped by the goblin.
It fits her equipment perfectly.
My knife is a small one not suitable for combat.
I search for someone who can use magic among the crowd gathered in front of the dungeon.
Such people are usually selling their services, so it's easy to tell.
"I'll clean with magic~ Do you have anything to clean?"
A young man wearing modern armor, but he seems to be selling magic.
Looking at his appearance, he doesn't look like a magus.
"I'll ask you to clean. How much for one time?"
"2000 yen."
"Please."
Pretending to take it out of the backpack, I took out the goblin dagger from the Item Box.
"Stinks! A goblin dagger."
"Will this get clean?"
"It's fine, I've done it before."
If everything gets clean, it's a business.
Bring a lot of laundry and get it all cleaned at once.
"Then please."
It seems to be prepaid, so I paid the fee with my smartphone.
"Clean!"
Blue light seeped into the dirty dagger, black things floated up and crumbled, falling to the ground.
It's not sparkling, but it seems to be in a usable state.
"Wow, amazing. I've never seen it before."
"Yes, done~ Please use us again."
I sniffed it a little -- it doesn't stink.
"This is amazing."
Magic is amazing.
The dagger is usable, but since there's no sheath, I rummage through the street stalls.
They sell both ready-made items and drops from the dungeon.
I chose something that looked usable and put the dagger in.
"Here, use this."
"Is that okay?"
"Yes, if it's heavy and troublesome, I'll carry it until right before the battle."
"I'm fine."
She wrapped the belt attached to the sheath over her tracksuit.
It weighs about 1kg, so it seems okay.
Preparations are done, so we head for the dungeon.
Before passing through the automatic ticket gate at the entrance, I turned on the action camera and stored it in the Item Box.
"So, are you going to shoot inside the dungeon?"
"Yes, yes -- if it goes well..."
"If you can shoot a video, I think it will go viral worldwide."
"If I can make money that way, I won't have to do dangerous things."
"But, to shoot a video, you have to defeat monsters in the dungeon."
"That's right..."
When the two of us entered the dungeon, we took out the bicycle hidden in the darkness.
"A bicycle?"
"It's convenient for moving -- I bought it specifically. Even though I have a bicycle in my hometown."
Well, the one I had was a mamachari, so I might not have been able to ride it in a rugged dungeon.
"The Item Box is convenient..."
"To be honest, with just this, you don't need anything else."
"I think so too."
With this, we will go two floors at a time.
When I got on the bicycle, she tried to sit on the rear rack.
"I think your butt will hurt. It's better to put your feet on the rear wheel step and stand. Put both hands on my shoulders."
"Like this?"
She grabbed my shoulders.
"Yes, yes -- then let's go."
Since my level is high and my leg strength has increased, two-person riding is a breeze.
This is good -- the bicycle is the right choice.
"A, um, Daisuke-san!"
"Daisuke is fine."
"What about the magic light?"
Since we are speeding through the darkness on a bicycle, she seems scared being behind me.
"I can see well in dark places, so I'm fine."
"R, really?!"
While talking, we arrived at the entrance to the second floor.
From here it's downhill, so we slow down while braking.
There is a campsite, but of course we pass it by.
What I am aiming for is the 2nd floor -- that is, this place.
I think I could go to lower floors, but Sana with me has a low level.
It seems the 2nd floor is mainly for people around level 10.
After entering the 2nd floor and moving for a while, we stopped.
There are no enemy figures around.
"Well, are you ready?"
"Y, yes! I'll do my best!"
"Alright!"
Preparing for battle, I stored the bicycle and prepared the camera.
I'll use the Item Box bug again.
I wish this could be done easily.
In a sudden battle, there might not be enough time.
Well, footage after defeating prey might have impact too.
"Sana, please give me the magic light."
"Yes, light! 《Light》"
A shadow appeared at our feet.
If it's this bright, the camera should be able to capture it somehow.
Walking on, a black wolf came from somewhere.
I can see five of them, but it seems patterns of five are common.
"Sana, wolves! I'll handle it, so don't get close."
I took out the Sand Iron Bat from the Item Box.
I'll try to finish them off properly and let her deliver the final blow to aim for a level up.
"Yes!"
"For the time being, please watch out for the surroundings too."
"Understood."
"Here I go!"
"Gyaain!"
Since beasts don't seem to cause concussions, I hit them quite hard.
They flipped over on the spot and flailed their legs.
Is this it?
"Eek!"
Behind me, Sana is scared.
Is it okay for adventurers to be like this?
Well, if she levels up here, she should be able to defeat 1st floor slimes and rabbits easily.
Then she can earn a living bit by bit.
If she gains combat experience and confidence, she can come down to the 2nd floor.
For the time being, I made five wolves unable to fight.
They should still be alive, but some aren't moving, so that might have been a failure.
"Sana, finish them with the sword."
"Y, yes... ugh."
She must be scared, she can't bring herself to do it.
"You have to do your best for your sister."
"Yes! Ugh... eei!"
She stands in front of the wolf convulsing and rolling, closes her eyes, and thrusts the dagger.
At that moment, light envelops her body.
Since she can't move for a while while glowing, I watched the surroundings.
"Got it! I think I leveled up."
"Did anything change?"
"Huh? Y, yes! The dagger feels light!"
"Then let's finish the rest."
"E, eei!"
While she is doing her best, I stored the wolves in the Item Box.
For the time being, taking the Magic Stones is later.
Her level up comes first.
After that, she defeated about ten wolves and seems to have reached level 7.
"With this, the 1st floor is a breeze."
"I also learned magic!"
"What did you learn?"
"Clean and Light Bullet magic."
"Oh! That's amazing. Maybe you have a talent for magic."
"Thank you!"
She bowed politely.
Light Bullet magic is an attack magic.
With this, she can do long-range attacks, and there seem to be monsters in the dungeon that only magic works on.
While talking about magic with her, someone approached hidden in the darkness.
No matter how you look at it, it's suspicious movement.
If I pretend not to know, they must be planning an ambush.
"Hey! I can see you! What do you want?!"
"Chi! Damn it!"
The man who approached was illuminated by Sana's magic light.
The revealed face was familiar.
The man who tried to extort potions from me.