Chapter 3 - Episode 3: Should I Get Some Weapons?
A huge vertical dungeon appeared in the backyard of my house.
When I reported the appearance of the dungeon to the local municipality, this entire area would fall under government jurisdiction.
So I thought about it -- it seemed like something was wriggling far underground.
If I could defeat that thing, wouldn't the dungeon disappear?
I made missiles out of single-pipe scaffolding and dropped them endlessly for ten days.
As a result, the dungeon closed.
The fact that the dungeon was gone meant that some kind of monster at the bottom had been defeated, I suppose.
Proof of that was that a status screen appeared for me.
It is said that even ordinary people will experience this when they defeat a monster for the first time after entering a dungeon.
Those who see the status screen become known as "adventurers."
So I had become an adventurer, though I had never wished for such a thing...
--I pondered for a moment.
My level displayed on the status screen was 49.
This seemed like a quite high number, and indeed, I could swing a heavy axe with ease.
With this power, couldn't I make money by diving into dungeons?
If I had money, life from now on would be easier, and I could even renovate the house.
In other words, "FIRE! Early Retirement."
"Fire!"
I could live leisurely in the countryside without working.
I had saved up a decent amount, but because the dungeon appeared, the world was pushed to the brink of collapse, and inflation in Japan accelerated.
Naturally, my savings had shrunk along with that -- there wasn't enough money to FIRE.
It was a chance that had fallen from the sky, so to speak.
"If I have a level of 49, I can probably beat a brown bear in the mountains, right?"
However, I didn't have the guts to face a brown bear immediately.
If I couldn't win, there would be a real danger to my life.
Since the internet became usable after the dungeon disappeared, I started researching adventurers.
Adventurer levels in this world don't work like in games.
In games, you can grind steadily by defeating slimes, but that method isn't available here.
If you keep defeating weak enemies, you won't be able to go any higher.
Not only that, but if you slack off on fighting, your level gradually decreases.
To raise your level, you need to fight stronger and stronger enemies.
If you've reached level 49 like me, you must keep fighting enemies around level 49 just to maintain that level, or else it will drop.
Because of this, high-level adventurers seem to be quite rare.
Also, levels are self-reported.
Only the person themselves knows their true level.
Rumor has it there is a skill called "Appraisal."
If you have it, you can see someone's level from the outside, but the real thing has never been confirmed.
There was a guy who claimed to have "Appraisal," acted smug about it, got caught by adventurers, and got lynched, but it wasn't the real thing.
If the skill were real, he should have been able to see other people's levels.
That video became popular on video sites, so I had seen it too.
Couldn't we create the strongest warriors by putting the military into dungeons?
--With such thoughts, armies and police forces from various countries were deployed into dungeons, but they couldn't raise their levels well, and their levels dropped once they went outside.
They can't use heavy weapons that armies usually employ either.
It means nothing for soldiers using modern weapons to only raise their close-combat abilities.
Based on the experiences of such predecessors, the mechanics of dungeons are being uncovered.
There still seem to be many unknown parts, though...
"So then -- it would be best to use the accidentally obtained level 49 to make money, and retire quickly once the level starts dropping..."
There was one more thing.
The skill I obtained, the Item Box.
I tried storing the axe that was at the entrance in the Item Box.
Then -- the axe vanished before my eyes.
"Oh, amazing!"
Internet rumors say that people with an Item Box are also rare.
There are videos that look like it, but you can make them with composites or CG however much you want.
If you really have an Item Box, you are banned from traveling abroad.
That makes sense.
You could smuggle anything you want.
You could bring in heavy weapons or dangerous drugs into the country inside an Item Box as much as you wanted.
If yakuza or similar groups found out about that, you could be kidnapped or have your family taken hostage, and you wouldn't know what kind of demands would be forced upon you.
Yakuza would be the lucky ones; there might be countries that do such things on a national scale.
There are many terrible countries in the world that think human rights are worthless.
Thinking about it that way -- wouldn't it be better to just stay in the countryside doing nothing until my level drops and I lose my abilities?
It is said that a gentleman does not approach danger.
"But wait! I want money!"
Money is heavier than life!
Some people say noble things like "money isn't everything," but it's still money.
With money, you can do anything.
Besides, with a level of 49, I should be fine even diving into floors where fairly strong monsters live.
After all, this is a chance to make money.
I hadn't been very interested in adventurers until now, but I looked into various things on the net.
There, the official top rankers were listed -- though, it was self-reported.
The most popular among them was, surprisingly, a woman.
She was a beauty with black bobbed hair and long, narrow eyes.
I understand why she would be popular just for that, but her outfit was amazing.
She was wearing a bikini armor, and it seemed she wasn't joking.
What she was equipped with was magical equipment dropped from the dungeon.
Even with such an outfit, it seemed to increase attack and defense power.
It was like a game, but items like that did drop inside dungeons.
A famous example was potions that cured diseases and injuries.
If we could synthesize such things with the power of science, the world would change, but it was said they were made of substances that couldn't be understood even after analysis.
Well, since the physical laws were bent in this world, it wouldn't be strange to be in a state beyond human knowledge.
First of all, what did it mean that attack and defense power increased when the level went up?
You wouldn't understand the meaning, would you?
It really was a game.
Mocking this, some people joked, "Now the world has been swallowed up by a game world where gods are playing."
However, potions dropped in dungeons seemed to exert their effects only near the dungeon.
If you wanted to cure diseases or injuries, it seemed better to use potions inside the dungeon.
In fact, there were cases where incurable cancer patients were taken into dungeons and used potions.
As for what happened, it seemed their symptoms really improved.
Potions also had grades.
Depending on the severity of the injury or illness, higher-grade potions seemed necessary.
For that reason, potions dropped in dungeons also sold for high prices.
It seemed magical power obtained in dungeons couldn't be used outside the dungeon or its vicinity.
For this reason, it was said that perhaps some power coming out of the dungeon was being utilized as magic?
--Rumors said there were exceptions to this.
Whispers circulated like urban legends about the existence of a special government unit that gathered people who could use magic outside the Special District.
Could it be that they were handling high-level criminals who left the Special District and caused trouble?
--That kind of story.
Some footage that looked like it had circulated, but it lacked credibility.
Well, either way, it was a story unrelated to me.
Magic couldn't be used away from the dungeon, but high-level power seemed to be maintained.
What about skills?
What about the Item Box I got?
Well, I'd find out if I tried...
Setting that aside, I kept staring at the bikini armor.
She wasn't big-breasted, but had a well-proportioned body like an athlete.
She seemed to be a young lady from a good family, and that seemed to be a factor in her popularity too.
Why was a young lady hunting monsters in a dungeon?
It was strange.
If she was a rich young lady, she wouldn't be after money like me.
Did she have money and time, so she couldn't be satisfied with normal things, or something like that?
Well, it was life-or-death, so it must have been full of thrills...
Rich people's actions were hard to understand.
She didn't seem to be solo; she had companions.
They were also high-ranking rankers, a popular female adventurer with glasses -- a big-breasted mage.
The one posted on the net was wearing a black dress that looked very much like a mage, with cleavage and a navel exposed, but was that also a drop from the dungeon?
Was it a masterpiece that could deflect or resist magic?
She was also beautiful, so she must be very popular.
The big-breasted woman had one more feature.
She publicly claimed to have an Item Box.
A pair of strong, beautiful adventurers -- there was no way they wouldn't be popular.
It was just like heroines in manga or anime.
It seemed photo albums were even being released in town.
The other top rankers were men, but their levels were around 35.
So my level 49 was a number that could make me a top ranker.
Really?
"Hmm."
I didn't need thrills or anything like that.
I just wanted enough money to FIRE.
"Okay!"
I made up my mind.
It was an ability I had gotten for free, so to speak.
I would dive into dungeons and make money.
That was fine -- but which dungeon should I choose?
Dungeons had appeared all over Japan, but the biggest and most crowded was Tokyo.
Ten years ago -- suddenly one day, a dungeon appeared in Tokyo Bay, computers and home appliances stopped working, and there was a huge commotion.
Uncontrollable ships collided, planes crashed --.
After investigating the appearance at great sacrifice, it was discovered to be a dungeon that twisted physical laws, and the surrounding area was filled in to create the Special District.
As the industrialization of dungeons progressed, the Special District grew bigger and bigger, looking like a huge city now.
Adventurers had already become so integrated into daily life that they were listed among children's "dream jobs."
I searched through videos of the Tokyo Special District.
There were no videos inside the dungeon, but there were many videos of the Special District on sites.
Many hotels and inns for adventurers to stay in.
Companies and government offices that bought resources coming out of the dungeon.
Depending on the item, private trading was sometimes more expensive, so there were sites that collected detailed market prices.
Guilds formed by members centered around capable adventurers.
Weapon shops selling all kinds of weapons.
It was just like the "starting town" from a game.
The Special District was, literally, a special area, so laws like the Gun and Sword Control Law that once existed in Japan did not apply.
In exchange, taking weapons out of the Special District was prohibited, and naturally, you would be arrested.
"If I put weapons in my Item Box, that doesn't matter, right?"
Inside the Special District, there were government offices and fire departments.
Of course, there were police, but their role was slightly different from the mainland.
Public order in the Special District was maintained by checks and balances between guilds centered around high-level adventurers, and the police didn't intervene.
Guns didn't work against adventurers who had raised their levels.
Adventurers who disturbed public order could only be suppressed by even higher-level adventurers.
"Even so, what if an outstanding top ranker appears and becomes a criminal...?"
So far, such examples didn't seem to exist, but it wasn't guaranteed they wouldn't appear.
It was rumored that the special unit handled them...
Well, it wasn't just Japan; similar problems might occur in other countries.
In some countries, the government completely managed adventurers and prevented them from becoming high-level -- such policies were in place.
It was a feeling that they didn't approve of a mere citizen having power surpassing the government.
If an adventurer who gained power started a revolution, it would be troublesome.
Setting aside the Special District, I had decided to become an adventurer.
I should prepare some weapons.
Weapons were sold at weapon shops in the Special District, but they seemed quite expensive.
Since it was a closed market, it seemed like outright rip-offs were rampant.
Even knowing they were expensive, I would have to buy weapons I couldn't buy outside.
Or I could aim for weapons dropped in the dungeon.
Armor made from materials originating from dungeons was said to exist, but it seemed expensive.
For example, leather armor made from lizardman skin.
Well, such things wouldn't come into rural hardware stores.
I also heard that fur from monsters was trendy among the wealthy.
Speaking of which, I heard a large-scale farmer's wife bought fur -- was that it?
Setting that aside -- I wanted to make a weapon of my own preference.
The strongest weapon I had thought of.
Besides, I had an Item Box.
I could make weapons that would violate the Gun and Sword Control Law outside and bring them in.
For now, I decided to check how much could fit in the Item Box.
I tried putting leftover sandbags outside into it.
I put in about ten, and they fit without any problem.
"What the hell, I wish I had this ability when I was making sandbags..."
Well, that was impossible.
While doing that, it had already become pitch black outside.
"I'll make the weapons tomorrow --"
I prepared dinner as usual.
"Huh?!"
I doubted my own eyes.
I saw a scene different from usual.
Usually, I turned off the lights except in the room I was in, but the pitch-black kitchen was clearly visible.
It was monochrome-ish, but the field of view was bright.
"Eh?"
I tried bringing up the status screen.
Aside from the Item Box, there were no other skills.
Did high levels mean the eyeballs were also strengthened?
I went outside to try.
Previously, even in the countryside, LED lights lined the roads, but now LEDs couldn't be used, and streetlights had been abolished to save power.
In other words, pitch black -- but I could see.
The starry sky I looked up at was like jewels of light scattered across the heavens.
Staring at them, I was overcome by a sensation of melting into silence and mystery.
This means I won't need a light when getting up to use the toilet at night.
I wanted to keep looking at the starry sky, but I decided to sleep in preparation for tomorrow.
--The next day after the status appeared and I could do various things.
I immediately went to a hardware store by the sea in my beloved light truck.
To make weapons.
Arriving, I walked around looking at the wide floor.
Shovels might become weapons too -- but there, I found a tomahawk.
What I had at home was an axe, different from a tomahawk.
How were they different? In an anime where the white demon of the federation appeared, the shape of the Tomahawk held by enemy grunts was a tomahawk.
In the Kintaro song, it is said they hold a tomahawk, but wasn't that an axe?
Axes were used for splitting firewood, and tomahawks seemed to have different uses.
Because of that, there weren't any large tomahawks.
Everyone's were one-handed.
If I bought this one-handed tomahawk and replaced the handle with a long one, it would become a large weapon.
"Alright, let's buy a tomahawk."
Come to think of it, weapons like this should be at the Special District weapon shop.
Next, what caught my eye was a toy plastic bat.
It was quite long.
I'll buy this one too.
As for what to do with it -- let's see the finishing touches of the craftsmanship.
I was looking at the hardware store, but I noticed something.
I had an Item Box.
If I put the products here inside it, I could shoplift freely, right?
If I bought goods for free and resold them repeatedly, I could make money without even becoming an adventurer... right?
No, if the products ran out, the store would get suspicious.
No, first of all, could I even use the Item Box away from the dungeon?
--I tried putting a small bag of bolts and nuts into the Item Box just to test.
"It won't fit..."
It seemed the skill could be used even away from the dungeon.
If so, I could shoplift freely after all...
I had a slightly wicked imagination, but after leaving the hardware store, I visited the used heavy machinery shop where I had bought single pipes before again.
There, I bought another 20 used single pipes and piles.
"What exactly are you making?"
Since I was buying so many single pipes, an employee in work clothes looked at me with a puzzled expression.
Well, it might be rare for an individual to buy so many single pipes.
"I'm making a fence to keep beasts away."
"Oh, there are a lot of deer these days..."
Deer had actually increased massively, causing damage from wild animals.
In the past, there were no deer around here, but the overpopulated deer had moved in and settled down.
I think the cause was a decrease in hunters.
I thought we should drive out high-level adventurers to exterminate the pests, but such things were prohibited by the so-called Bird and Beast Protection Law.
Anyway, the government seemed to not want to send adventurers out of the Special District too much and didn't want them to use their power.
Indeed, high-level adventurers were so powerful they could be called human weapons.
They probably wanted to suppress them.
"If they were to seize power..."
Thinking that was the same in every country.
A new nation inside a nation wasn't necessary.
"There are bears in the mountains too."
"I see~. Maybe we should actively sell our single pipes in that genre."
Since there was one more item I wanted, I asked about it too.
"Don't you have any steel bars here?"
"We do~"
I bought used steel bars too.
There were various thin and thick ones, but I bought ones about 20mm in diameter.
Even if they were rusty or slightly bent, they were usable, but I tried to find ones that were as straight as possible.
I would bundle these to make a blunt weapon.
I loaded what I bought and went home.
I would do the work in the garage.
Since I did crafting as a hobby, I had almost all the crafting machinery.
Well, I didn't have a milling machine or lathe, but I thought I had the electric tools used normally.
If I made money, I could buy even more various tools.
Dreams expanded.
First, I would replace the tomahawk handle with a long one.
The handle of an old rusty axe at home seemed usable as is, so I would attach it.
Axes and tomahawks had handles that were thicker at the top so they wouldn't fly out when swung.
"Alright! Good!"
I swung the tomahawk I had exchanged for a long handle.
Normally, even if I swung it with two hands, it was so heavy it would swing me around, but I could swing it lightly with one hand.
"Amazing!"
Once finished, I put it in the Item Box.
Next was the steel bar.
Using a cutting machine with a rotating circular blade, I cut the iron rod.
I decided the dimensions would be 1.3m -- length was a weapon, but if it was too long, it would be hard to handle.
Besides, I should leave long-range attacks to throwing weapons.
I made the handle part 30cm and wrapped rubber around it.
Here, I was referencing Japanese swords I had searched for on the net.
It was really helpful that the internet became usable again in the last few years.
All of this was because it was discovered that magic stones produced in dungeons could be used for semiconductors.
Since that fact was discovered, a dungeon bubble occurred, and the world began to develop rapidly again.
Well, truly, the year the dungeon appeared, ten years ago, was hell.
Since the handle was made, now it was the tsuba (guard).
I cut two thin steel bars I had at home and sandwiched them to make a guard.
Once the shape was complete, I pulled out a semi-automatic welding machine.
Covering the welding surface, blue sparks flew.
When finished, I hit it with a welding hammer to remove slag and spatter, the garbage.
"Oh!"
Once I attached the guard, it suddenly looked like a weapon.
The weight was about 3kg, I suppose.
I posed with it -- should I sharpen the tip so I could thrust with it?
"No."
This was strictly a blunt weapon.
My eyes were a bit stinging from using the welding machine, but they recovered quickly.
Was this the recovery power of level 49?
I swung the completed weapon.
Even with something so heavy, I could swing it at a speed that made the wind whistle.
If you were hit by this, the opponent would definitely die.
That was why the government didn't want to send adventurers out.
Once this was also finished, into the Item Box --.
Since I had made a close-combat weapon, next was a throwing weapon.
First, the simplest catapult.
There was a place to put the projectile at the end of a sturdy rope, and you swung it to throw.
The longer the rope, the faster the tip speed.
It was the same as a giant windmill.
Giant windmills for power generation seemed to turn slowly, but the tips of the blades reached speeds close to the speed of sound.
"Well -- what should the projectile be...?"
Would rocks falling on riverbeds be fine?
It was something to throw and discard anyway.
I picked up concrete fragments rolling around outside.
This could be used as a projectile too.
It had a certain weight when held, so I decided this would be fine -- but there weren't many fragments if you searched for fragments.
There might be some at industrial waste disposal sites, but entry would be prohibited.
I would have to get lucky and encounter a demolition site, or buy commercial concrete blocks and break them...
Well, ordinary stones would be fine.
"Next -- missiles."
I had thought of single-pipe missiles to defeat the unknown enemy existing underground, and I was thinking of making them again.
This time, as a spear thrown horizontally.
I would attach a metal pile to the end of a single pipe and throw it at the enemy -- but not with bare hands.
I bent thin steel bars and welded them to make a thin, long, slightly curved throwing spear device.
I would hook this onto the butt of the spear and launch it using the lever principle.
Imagine the arm of a baseball pitcher extending.
I referenced videos I found on the net for production, but this was a legitimate weapon used since primitive times.
Passed down continuously, it had revived as a weapon for monster hunting in the modern dungeon era.
--That said, normally you couldn't throw single pipes as spears.
This was thanks to the current state of high level.
------◇◇◇------
With various weapons completed, I immediately went to the mountains to test them.
I couldn't test such things in the backyard of my house.
Even in the countryside, swinging weapons would get me reported.
If I swung an axe and said "I'm splitting firewood," it would be fine, but this looked dangerous no matter how you looked at it.
Rumors spread at Mach speed in the countryside.
I had to avoid causing a commotion.
That was why I came to the mountains in my light truck --.
"Grrr..."
Right now, in front of my eyes, there was a black, huge, shaggy creature...
How did it come to this?