Chapter 6 - Chapter 6: Entering the Dungeon for the First Time
I came to Tokyo to take up the profession of a dungeon explorer.
There are dungeons in the provinces, but the Tokyo dungeons are definitely the biggest and the most prominent.
Besides, the Special District is huge and has everything you could possibly need.
I liked that humans' desires had taken physical form.
Plus, the famous guilds are all gathered in Tokyo.
I wanted to show a little bit of my cheap-mindedness and see those people myself.
Old men want to see young girls in bikini armor, don't they!
I searched on the net, and there really are such girls.
This is what you call a man's romance.
Even though I'm an old man, my heart is still that of a boy, so I'm thinking inside that maybe there will be a wonderful boy-meets-girl story.
Well, if I were actually going to have a partner, I'd prefer a big-busted older sister type.
While thinking somewhat wicked thoughts, I arrived at the dungeon entrance.
Many people were gathered at the entrance of the dungeon, where a large black horizontal hole had opened up.
Everyone was equipped with armor or wearing robes, but there were also some people dressed in everyday clothes here and there....
Are those kids in school tracksuits? -- Is it okay to go to a dangerous place like that?
I'm also in everyday clothes, so I can't talk about others.
Then, there were people pushing bicycles and people pulling rickshaws.
There were also people combining bicycles and rickshaws.
"Oh~ I see~ Bicycles, huh..."
They probably use them for movement inside the dungeon.
Well, you can move faster than walking or running.
I don't think it would work on very bumpy terrain, but if you only go to flat places, it should be a great weapon.
Since I have an Item Box, I should have brought a bicycle.
You can't understand these things until you come to the site.
"Hm?"
Sometimes there are people carrying what looks like rifles on their backs.
"Are those guns?"
I searched a bit on my smartphone -- it seems to be an air rifle.
If it's an air rifle that fires bullets using compressed air, can it be used even inside a dungeon?
If it's a hand-pump type, you don't need a compressor.
I thought so, but can it actually be used?
I searched again -- it's dark inside the dungeon, and visibility is poor.
Because of that, sudden close-quarters combat tends to happen, and it seems there isn't much merit to air rifles.
Besides, I've already experienced that as levels rise, a simple thrown stone can become as powerful as a cannon.
There probably isn't much merit in using expensive air rifles.
"Yes! I'll buy magic stones~! Do you have any drop items~!?"
There are merchants who buy magic stones and drop items.
Public institutions also buy them, but sometimes selling to these merchants yields a higher price.
If there are multiple merchants interested, an auction might be held and the price might be driven up.
Merchants are registered, so there shouldn't be a problem, but it seems there are also black-market merchants.
"I'll be the tank role~!" "I'm a mage~! Is there any demand for me~?!"
Adventurers who seem to have no companions are calling out to those around them.
It seems not everyone is in a guild, and there are also free people who join parties as needed.
If you are in a guild, earnings are held by the guild first and then distributed further, so you won't suffer a huge loss.
You won't make a huge profit either, but if you get injured or sick, you can be treated by your own people, so there are merits.
"I'll take 1/2! Please~!"
Normally, profits are split by the number of people, but they seem to be offering 1/2 of that.
I can hear voices saying 1/3 or 1/4, but is it okay to discount it that much?
The fact that no one is calling out to them means they don't have the necessary skills.
If you pay the same money, you'd rather have someone with high abilities, and if push comes to shove, you'd want a muscular macho man who can carry you and escape.
Well, I think so too.
Everyone is probably risking their livelihood for real.
It's very severe.
Because of that, many women have a bit more exposure.
Is it to attract attention and get added to a party?
Isn't that scarier than monsters, the men in the party?
Well, maybe that's part of the deal....
Also, the people dressed as adventurers are all young.
There aren't many old men like me.
It's not zero, but it seems overwhelmingly young people are the majority.
When you see an old man, they are probably merchants.
"Woof woof!"
I heard a dog barking.
Some people seem to have pets as partners, but it seems dogs don't level up even if they kill monsters.
This has been tested and proven several times.
Only humans level up, but what happens if a monster kills another monster?
-- That hasn't been proven, and you can't deny the possibility of leveling up.
"What's that...?"
In the crowd, there is a strange group wearing all-black robes.
Are they adventurers too?
Or rather, it looks like everyone is avoiding them -- no, ignoring them.
I searched on my smartphone with "dungeon, black-robed" and other terms.
"-- Labyrinth Cult?"
Ah~ -- so these are them.
They are a cult group that holds the doctrine that monsters are also life and should be accepted and become neighbors.
They don't seem to do recruitment or cause any particular harm, so they seem to be ignored and left alone, like "don't touch the gods and you won't be cursed."
Rumor has it they dive deep into the dungeon without weapons, contact monsters -- and get eaten alive.
-- It seems they are a crazy group repeating that.
No, I don't intend to deny it.
Compared to those who made money with fake animal rights protection, they are serious.
Since they are risking their lives for what they do, they are the real deal.
Because they are serious, it's better not to touch them.
Besides the Labyrinth Cult, there was another word that hit with "black-robed".
"Moles -- huh."
Mole is a nickname for a group that digs holes all over the dungeon to find hidden rooms and passages.
They don't hunt monsters; they make money by finding valuable items in hidden rooms.
It seems you can get a reward if you report hidden passages to the government office.
Like many adventurers, I turned my back on the black-robed group and headed for the dungeon entrance.
There were automatic ticket gates lined up there.
Next to them was a large gate guarded by police.
Is it for the entry and exit of something large, or for emergencies?
From here on the inside, it's a dungeon space where the laws of physics are twisted, right?
It's the same as when a dungeon appeared behind my house and I couldn't use electricity or fire at home.
Watching the adventurers going ahead, it seems they tap their Adventurer Cards at the automatic gates to enter.
I imitated them and went inside.
Once inside the dungeon, it was far wider than I could imagine from the outside.
The floor was leveled concrete, so this must be a hall.
From the moment I stepped one foot into this place, it was no longer normal space, but a different dimension space called a dungeon.
Even if I dug a hole from here, it wouldn't connect to Japan.
If the entrance suddenly closed, everyone inside would be trapped in a different dimension.
Or maybe they would just disappear and return to nothing....
It feels like my head is going crazy, but this is reality.
And yet, even though it's inside a dungeon, there is light on the ceiling, and it's reasonably bright.
Electricity shouldn't be usable inside a dungeon....
Could it be magical light?
If the inside of the dungeon is always like this, chemical lights shouldn't be needed....
Well, I'll figure it out eventually.
The changing light scene isn't just the ceiling lights.
In the dim distance, there is a concrete station platform.
In other words, there are railways laid out, and they are double-tracked.
Since electrical signals can't be used inside here, complex schedule operations seem impossible.
They probably run back and forth on the double tracks.
I had checked on the net beforehand and knew there was a railway inside.
Digital cameras can't be used here, so photos taken with silver plate cameras were uploaded to the net.
Every time you go deeper into the labyrinth, you can't walk all the way, can you?
It's a waste of time.
Especially for high-level adventurers, you have to advance to the depths of the dungeon at once.
Since this is a mine, efficiency is required.
That's why railways run through safe zones on each layer, transporting people and supplies.
Of course, it costs money, so adventurers who want to save money might be using bicycles.
"Hee~ There really is a railway..."
When I see such non-daily scenes, I get excited regardless of my age.
Electricity can't be used here, so how do they move the railway? -- Steam engines.
How do you run a steam engine in a dungeon where you can't even burn fire? -- I thought, but mages are boiling water using magic.
It seems there are steam elevators for vertical movement between layers.
I'd like to see that too.
To make it work as a mine, mechanization like this is necessary.
It's understandable that many countries can't resource-ize dungeons.
Basically, I don't think it's possible unless you're a developed country.
"Niwa-san! You're really going alone, aren't you?"
I had forgotten about the existence of a young man named Mochizuki-kun amidst the first-time dungeon scenery.
"At first, I have to test my skills. I have to judge how much I can do."
"I see."
He looked a bit disappointed.
"Oh, by the way. Do you know how the ceiling lights are shining?"
"That? They are pulling light fibers from the outside."
"I see. Light fibers."
Even in a different dimension space, light fibers can provide light?
I thought the space was torn apart, but is it connected?
Well, if it were really torn apart, humans would be cut up too.
"So, if we lay out light fibers, the inside of the dungeon will get bright, hahaha."
"Probably, I think it's impossible due to budget issues."
"That's what I thought."
This place has halls where adventurers gather and station platforms, so they light it up, right?
"Alright, let's go! Sorry, but let me go alone."
"No, no, I'm sorry for asking too much."
"See you then."
After parting with Mochizuki-kun, I broke the chemical light.
A pale blue light shone.
This will last for more than half a day.
I put on the equipment I brought from home.
A construction helmet and work goggles.
For now, protecting the head is necessary, I suppose.
With preparations complete, I started walking straight down the wide corridor while looking at the map.
Today is a trial run.
Just walking straight down the corridor.
Gradually, the corridor lost its color, and only the lights flickering here and there were visible.
Small lights, large lights, blue and white -- no red, but according to the booklet, that seems to be for emergencies.
The large lights must be magical light.
The area around the chemical light I have is in color, but when you move away, it's monochrome -- that's the feeling.
Still, it's a relief that the corridor is clearly visible.
And yet -- the shallow layers have many people.
They are probably low-level adventurers.
If there are many people, a lot of information can be gathered.
It seems traps and dangerous places are almost fully covered.
Just when I thought the dungeon clearing was over, it seems new corridors are sometimes discovered suddenly.
I saw in a net article that there are guilds that keep discovered corridors secret and clear them independently.
If you don't enter strange places too much, you shouldn't get lost -- I thought, and then I noticed something.
"If I enter a dark corridor, won't I lose track of direction?"
Can compasses be used?
If they can't, how am I supposed to check direction....
I'll search on my smartphone when I get outside.
Maybe compasses work normally.
As I continued down the corridor, I saw something transparent and wavy.
"This is... could it be a slime?"
I took a little distance and opened the monster booklet.
I wonder if it's okay to be so leisurely doing this....
"It says physical attacks are hard to work..."
It seems they can attack from above too.
-- That means I have to be careful above too, right....
I looked around -- the people around probably haven't noticed.
I took out a rebar mace from my Item Box.
"Ora!"
I approached the slime and swiped it sideways.
The transparent body squashed and scattered, then stopped moving immediately.
"Eh?! Did I do it like this...?"
It doesn't move anymore, and it's spread out on the floor like it's soaked.
No matter how you look at it, I've killed it.
It was anticlimactic.
When I shone the light on it, there was a black crystal about 3cm.
This is a magic stone.
This would be about 2000 yen.
It seems you need to earn about 20,000 yen a day, but can you make a living by picking up these magic stones one by one?
If this magic stone is 2000 yen each, to earn 20,000 yen, I need 10 of them...?
Can I handle about 10 of them?
"Rather than that, it's faster to dive deeper and aim for big targets..."
Then, I noticed a small glass bottle lying a little distance away.
When I picked it up, there was some liquid inside.
Is this a potion?
Really, do glass bottles drop like in games?
Glass drops, and weapons are steel.
Dungeons really are mines.
As I was about to leave the spot holding it, several people gathered.
They were holding buckets and wearing rubber gloves.
"Ah, um! Are you going to throw that away?!"
"Eh? Is that a slime?"
"Can I have it?"
"It's fine..."
"Yay!"
Everyone started putting the dead slime into buckets while rejoicing.
"Does this also make money?"
"Yes -- slimes, this is the main thing, more than magic stones."
Slime bodies are organic matter, so they seem to become raw materials for various things.
If it's organic matter, if you process it enough, you might be able to make benzene or toluene.
According to their talk, it usually becomes fertilizer.
Ah, I see.
Chemical fertilizers can't be imported, after all....
I asked about the bottle I just got.
"I want to ask something -- is this a potion?"
"Yes! You're lucky! Just this is worth about 10,000 yen."
A young man putting slimes in a bucket answered.
"Eh?! Is that so..."
"Anyway, it's a universal medicine that works on anything."
This gets today's lodging fee, but I want to keep this for injuries.
I don't know what might happen.
I left the adventurers collecting slimes and put the obtained potion in my Item Box.
For now, I know slimes are a piece of cake, and there's no point in killing things like this one by one.
I decided to aim for the lower layers.
As I walked, a large light came towards me.
It seems to be the light of the dungeon train.
On the cargo car at the back, something huge and furry was loaded.
"What is it? It's not a bear..."
I feel like I can see long arms, and it doesn't look like a doll.
There are enemies like that too.
To maintain level 49, maybe I have to keep killing monsters even more amazing than that....
I really think I should make a quick profit and stop being an adventurer.
I don't think this will continue forever.
A dungeon that suddenly appeared one day.
It wouldn't be strange if it suddenly disappeared one day.
I killed about two slimes and advanced deeper into the dungeon.
Since I knew dead slimes also made money, I stored them in my Item Box.
"Hmm."
Without an Item Box, I would have to carry the prey one by one.
The train I saw earlier probably wasn't free either; they must have charged a fare.
If I announced the existence of my Item Box, I could make a fortune at once.
I think I'd make money, but I don't know what would happen....
Thinking about my Item Box, I arrived at the corridor to the lower layer.
There is light here too.
It's probably the same as the light fiber lighting in the entrance hall.
They are pulling it all the way here.
This area seems to be a safe zone, with many people.
It seems some people are camping with tents.
Do these people live by saving expenses as much as possible and collecting only magic stones and drop items?
They might think it's inefficient to carry monster carcasses out.
I can also see merchants buying supplies here.
I see -- they load the supplies bought here onto the railway and transport them.
Near the corridor going down, there is a slightly brighter place.
It's a steam elevator that moves with hot water boiled by a mage, the elevator to go down to the lower layer.
"Excuse me. Is that elevator paid?"
"Oh..."
I spoke to an older male adventurer, but he only gave a curt reply.
He was dressed in tatters and seemed to have been diving in the dungeon for a very long time.
"Did you come this far dressed like that?"
He seemed to be curious about my equipment, which was basically everyday clothes with just a helmet on.
"I just became an adventurer and have no money."
"I'm not saying this to be mean, but it's better to turn back here."
"Thank you. But I'll try going down."
"...I warned you."
He was surprisingly kind.
Judging by his appearance -- I felt that the dungeon wasn't really a profitable business.
That's what I think -- but outside, the economy is bad, and the only jobs are primary industries.
So, it wouldn't be strange for people to think that a dungeon where they can dream of getting rich quick is better....
I walked down the corridor to the lower layer.
There is a hole connecting to the bottom, and it seems they expanded it to install an elevator.
Even if you dig a hole in the ground normally, it might connect to a different dungeon.
I looked at the map I was given.
The corridors going down seem to be in scattered positions, and there are layers right next to each other.
"I feel like I might get lost..."
Well, maybe because of the high level, I can see even in the dark, so it feels a bit better.
-- I arrived at Dungeon Layer 2.
If applied to buildings on the surface, this would be the first basement floor, but since the place entered from the surface is Layer 1, this is designated as Dungeon Layer 2.
Near the elevator, there was another platform, which served as a train departure and arrival point.
There is light fiber lighting here too.
It's probably placed in safe zones and key points.
National budgets are poured into the dungeon business.
Compared to laying light fibers all the way to America, this much is possible, I suppose.
It seems they connect each base with railways and transport supplies.
How many layers is this railway maintained up to?
For example, in a layer where huge monsters like dragons appear, wouldn't it be dangerous even if a railway runs there?
For countries that are mining dungeons, it's better to get a large number of weak monsters that become resources than to kill huge troublesome monsters like dragons.
-- That might be the case.
There are people camping here too, and merchants.
It's said that if you leave trash in the dungeon, it gets absorbed, but are the people camping okay?
I don't really understand.
Or maybe if you don't move from the same place for a long time, it gets absorbed gradually?
Then I'd understand... or maybe not....
I advanced for a while from the departure point and checked the map, when suddenly a black shadow appeared.
"Grrr..."
A pack of black dogs? No, wolves -- with five glowing red eyes growling towards us.
If there are many enemies, should I form a party?
Having faced a bear in my hometown, I've become indifferent to wolves.
Or maybe killing the slime gave me the mindset for fighting?
I swung the rebar mace with one hand.
Normally, you can't swing a bundle of heavy rebar like that.
I swung it down towards the wolf's head.
"Crunch!"
The black beast's head was crushed, and its eyeballs and innards flew out.
Fortunately, it was dark, so the colors were black and white, and it wasn't too gross.
And yet, the opponent was a living thing, yet I aimed for the head without hesitation and swung the weapon down.
Is this because of the battle with the bear?
Breaking the taboo chain of killing living things is quite difficult, but I was forced into a situation where I had to do so against a brown bear.
"Raaar!" "Grrr!"
One jumped at me, but its movement looked slow.
The same thing happened when I faced the brown bear.
I pulled back the rebar mace and struck the face of the attacking wolf with the end of the handle.
"Yelp!"
I pursued the enemy who had fallen to the ground.
The black fur was dented into a U-shape and crushed.
"Yelp yelp yelp!"
The wolf whose lower body couldn't move was flailing with only its front legs, but it soon went quiet.
"Uu..."
The remaining three wolves seemed to have already lost their fighting spirit, but this is work.
I can't let them go for money.
I swung the mace down continuously at the heads of the two wolves.
"Crunch!" "Yelp!"
"Well --"
For the last one, I'll try the sand iron bat.
-- As a result, the effect on the four legs was not so good.
Maybe because the neck is firmly fixed, or maybe because the skull is thick, it seems these animals don't get concussions easily.
Using a bat is probably limited to humanoid creatures -- that would be the conclusion.
Well, my homemade mace is working well, so I'm not troubled by this.
"I was able to defeat the monsters on the 2nd layer without any trouble..."
I feel like the me who was scared looks like an idiot.
No, the fact that the first opponent was a brown bear was abnormal.
These wolves are weaker than bears.
Still, it seems I have to dive deeper to maintain my level.
Well, I could easily get magic stones from slimes, but it seems I have to dismember these.
According to the monster booklet, they are located around the chest.
I crushed them with a mace, but if I have to cut open the prey's belly, I'll need a new resolve.
I took out a knife from my Item Box.
This is what I brought from home.
I also wore rubber gloves and stared at the prey.
For now, there's the option of putting it in the Item Box and handing it over to the merchants.
"Ugh!"
If I can't do this, I can't survive as an adventurer.
I hid the chemical light and made up my mind, then cut open the monster's chest area.
Without light, the vision becomes black and white, so the grossness is somewhat lessened.
Even if liquid flows or innards spill out, there isn't much mental damage.
The visual grossness is reduced, but it smells fishy.
Fortunately, it doesn't seem to smell too much like beast.
When I put my hand inside the monster's body, there was something hard.
A little bigger than a slime, about the size of a ping pong ball.
This would be worth about 5000 yen, so I've achieved today's quota with this.
Besides, the wolf's meat and fur should be sellable too.
It feels easy, but that's only because my level is high.
Well, I'll manage somehow --.
Rather than that, there are five in total, so I have to do it quickly.
When I got to the third one, I noticed a knife lying nearby.
Is this a lost item, or a drop item....
Is a drop item just a normal knife, or does it have some special effect?
That top-ranking woman in bikini armor also said her armor has special powers, so it wouldn't be strange if the knife had something like that.
"Hmm, I wish I had Appraisal..."
-- While thinking that, I heard a sound of something approaching stealthily.
I knew high-level people had good eyesight, but it seems their hearing is also high-performance.
I looked towards the sound, and there was a small silhouette -- several children?
"Hey! Is there something you need?"
The small silhouette reacted with a start, snatched the black corpse lying on the ground, and ran away.
"Hey, wait!"
Their backs showed three people, and they were clearly children.
To become an adventurer, you must be 16 or older and have a national card.
Children shouldn't be able to enter the dungeon....
If something like this happened, there should be more commotion, but since it's business as usual, this must be considered normal.
Everyone knows there are children in the dungeon, but they pretend not to see them....
Well, what was snatched was the corpse whose body was crushed by the mace, so it's fine.
I put the remaining four corpses into my Item Box.
They must have reasons why they have to do such things too.
That's why everyone pretends not to see them.
That's probably how it is.