Chapter 1

I thought it would be nice if a company like this existed, and so I picked up my pen.

Morning always comes.

It shines brightly, ignoring human affairs, and announces the start of the day.

Perhaps the Japanese salaryman is most aware of this when he clocks in at the office.

It's the same for me.

Checking the fit of my gloves, adjusting the position of my gauntlets, and confirming my weapons.

Where has the peaceful Japan I knew disappeared to?

I am aware that my appearance is far from what is considered a normal job.

“Well, it’s time for you to get to work.”

But there’s no helping it.

This is my job, after all.

I turn to my colleague, who is doing the same final checks, to confirm.

“I think everyone knows today’s quota. Don’t slack off, don’t cut corners, and don’t get hurt. Let’s keep these three points in mind.”

The initial, ambiguous smile that is characteristic of the Japanese, which questions common sense, disappears, and in its place, a strong, confident smile, as if from a real professional, answers my words.

My job is to clear dungeons, no, to thoroughly clear them.

“Let’s start clearing the dungeon with all our might today.”

To create a dungeon that even a hero can’t clear.

This is the story of salarymen who have encountered a fantasy that has emerged from a hidden daily life.

Tanaka Jiro, 28 years old, single, no girlfriend for seven years, and currently a NEET.

“Freedom!!!”

I don’t care about bothering the neighbors. Lying on my back on the bed, I shout.

After six years of working at a black company with over 120 hours of overtime per month, where working on holidays is the norm and overtime pay is never full, and after seeing so many people come and go that it’s a waste of time to count, I had finally gotten used to the routine of finishing my work and masking my stress with cigarettes when my boss walked into the smoking room and said something that triggered me.

“Do you have time to smoke? If you’re that bored, there’s more to do. Finish yesterday’s report quickly, okay?”

I had just spent the night at the office to finish a deadline, and usually, I would have smiled and apologized, saying, “Sorry,” and gone back to work, but this time, I glared at my boss.

“Huh? What’s with that look? If you don’t like it, quit. We can find someone to replace you anytime.”

I learned that day that the string of a person’s patience can really snap.

My boss probably thought I had gone back to work after silently leaving the smoking room.

I clicked my tongue loudly at my boss, who was taking out a cigarette from his chest pocket, and went back to my desk. The first thing I did was pack my personal belongings into a cardboard box.

I didn’t touch any company documents, and it only took about ten minutes to pack up my personal items.

“Chief, I’m quitting now.”

I ignored the voice trying to stop me as I walked away.

I loaded everything, including the contents of my locker, into my car and drove home.

And so, a NEET was born.

The first thing the NEET did when he returned to his cheap apartment was light a cigarette.

“What should I do from now on?”

I had quit in a fit of anger, but I didn’t regret it.

Rather, I wanted to pat myself on the back for doing a good job, perhaps because I had held in too much frustration. Despite becoming unemployed, I felt strangely relieved.

My phone was turned off.

The company would probably be calling my phone right now, but I didn’t care.

Even if I was called irresponsible, there was no need to worry.

Besides, I had enough savings to last not just two or three months, but a year without working, because I had been sleeping or working on my days off.

I didn’t need to rush because I had savings, but I couldn’t live on them forever.

Fortunately, I had enough energy to think about getting a job after taking a break.

I had no intention of returning to that company.

“Oh, the mailbox is a disaster.”

Looking at the mailbox from the layout of the 1K room, it was so full that I couldn’t tell how the mailman had managed to fit everything in.

Of course, I hadn’t used the room much recently, except to sleep or change clothes, but I still wanted to at least clean out the mailbox.

I stood up with a deliberately old-man-like grunt.

“Wow, it’s stuck.”

The densely packed feeling was no joke. As if to prove it, when I tried to pull out a bundle of flyers, they barely moved and wouldn’t budge any further.

“Well, there’s no helping it.”

Muttering to myself, a habit that had increased since living alone, I squatted at the entrance and pulled out the flyers one by one until they came loose.

“Oh, it’s torn… Is this a religious pamphlet? Well, that’s fine. This is a flyer from the local supermarket… but it’s from three weeks ago? Huh? What’s this?”

While worrying about the amount of cigarette ash, I tapped it into the ashtray and peered at the flyer that caught my attention.

“Recruiting testers? Hmm, what’s this?”

“Dungeon Tester Recruitment!

Recruiting 100 people!

Details:

Full-time: 30

Part-time: 70

Age: 16-35

Dormitory provided!

Parking provided!

Martial arts experience preferred!

Salary:

Full-time: Monthly salary 300,000 yen + danger allowance + commission

Bonus twice a year

Part-time: Hourly wage 3,000 yen + danger allowance + commission

Working hours:

Full-time: Minimum 5 hours a day, 2 days off per week + holidays

Part-time: Minimum 3 hours a day (minimum 3 days a week)

Job description:

We, the Demon King’s Army, have designed dungeons to test their effectiveness against heroes! Please test them for us!

Actually enter the dungeon, fight monsters, search for treasures, and clear the floors.

Please note that there is a risk of injury, so we will prepare a consent form for you to sign.”

“Ridiculous, is this a prank?”

I exhaled a puff of cigarette smoke and stopped reading.

The flyer was clearly well-made.

The layout and photos were designed to catch the eye, and the paper quality was good.

It was clearly made by a professional.

But the content was questionable. The catchphrase was clearly malicious, I thought.

A phone number was written, and a map was even drawn, along with the address.

And the address was

“Next town?”

It was accessible by car, train, bus, or even on foot if you tried hard enough.

“Quite an elaborate prank, isn’t it?”

I was 90% convinced it was a prank.

The salary was outrageous, and the days off were very attractive.

“No, no, I can’t be bothered with such a ridiculous prank.”

I threw the flyer on the table and stubbed out my cigarette on the ashtray.

“There’s no way a company this convenient exists.”

I had never seen such a suspicious job listing, even for a game tester.

I fell onto the bed, and what I saw was a TV and a pile of games in front of it. Even though I had played a fair amount of games in my student days, they had all become backlog games due to my job, mainly RPGs. I couldn’t help but think it would be interesting if a flyer like this existed.

“Martial arts, that includes kendo, right?”

And in the corner of the room, I saw a well-used kendo gear set.

I had replaced it whenever my body size changed or it broke.

I hadn’t been able to go recently due to my busy job, and the last time I went was half a year ago, but I had continued to visit the nearby dojo.

Even though I was 90% convinced it was a prank, the remaining 10% stimulated my interest and presented conditions that suited me.

“Oh, well, I have nothing to do, so why not go with the flow of the prank?”

I was making excuses to myself.

I wanted to work at such a place if it existed.

I had such a desire.

“Phone, phone… What the, what’s with this call history?”

There were dozens of missed calls, most from the company. Some were from my senior, the chief, but I ignored them and dialed the number on the flyer, hesitating for a moment before pressing the call button.

“Yes, this is the Demon King’s Army Dungeon Tester Recruitment Department, Sue. How can I help you?”

“Um, I saw the flyer, are you still recruiting?”

I thought it would be an unused number, but I was taken aback by the clear response from a woman, which was more than I expected.

Her name suggested she was definitely a foreigner, but I thought she spoke fluent Japanese.

“Yes, thank you for your inquiry. We are currently recruiting both full-time and part-time positions. Which one are you interested in?”

“Full-time.”

I thought my work ethic had waned, but I must have still had some left, and I chose full-time for the salary and days off, thinking it would be too tough to be a part-time worker at my age.

“Understood. We would like to conduct an interview. Do you have any available dates?”

“Um, any time is fine.”

“...Understood. May I have your name, age, and phone number? We will contact you with the schedule today.”

“Understood. My name is”

The conversation went smoothly from there.

I gave my name, age, and mobile phone number, and was briefly asked about my martial arts experience and told what documents were needed, and the call ended there.

“Thank you for your time. This is Sue. Goodbye.”

“Is this not a prank?”

As the phone went silent, I couldn’t help but mutter.

Was this a dangerous flyer?

I probably should have hung up without giving my phone number.

It’s exactly as they say, regret comes too late.

“If the next caller sounds suspicious, I’ll go to the police.”

Feeling a sense of danger, I tried to stay calm and looked at the flyer again.

Then I reached for a cigarette.

Just as I was about to take a puff to calm down, my phone rang.

“What is it, the company? Wait, this number”

The cigarette fell from my mouth.

“Hahaha, that’s too quick.”

The number on my phone was not from the company, but from the number on the flyer.

“Wow, that’s big.”

I had ironed my suit and prepared a new white shirt.

I had shaved and put on a suit, and the building that greeted me was a huge twenty-story building.

Moreover, the entire building belonged to the company I had applied to, not just a tenant on one of the floors.

“I’ve never heard of MaoCorporation.”

If it was such a big company, I should have heard of it, but I had never heard of it, even though I lived in the area.

“Mao for Demon King? Not even a pun.”

I parked my car and stood there for a while, but I couldn’t just stand there.

I moved toward what looked like the entrance with a brown envelope containing my resume and other necessary documents.

Then, as I passed through the automatic doors,

“Huh? Did I hit something?”

I stopped, feeling something soft, like passing through a curtain, but of course, there was only an automatic door at the entrance.

There was no curtain-like fabric.

“Am I imagining things...”

There was no point in standing there, so I headed toward what looked like a reception counter, but I stopped again.

“Cosplay?”

Or, more accurately, Hollywood special makeup, I guess.

I was standing in a clean, white and gray entrance hall.

There were two women at the gray, glossy stone counter, but they were not ordinary women.

“Long-eared foreigners?”

They looked like a race from anime or games, specifically elves, and more specifically, dark elves with brown skin, silver hair, and blue eyes, wearing women’s suits.

One had short hair and the other long, but both had faces and appearances that could rival even a gravure idol, let alone a receptionist.

But such a race should only exist in games.

I was worried that I was hallucinating from fatigue and that it was understandable to be seen as strange, so I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and looked again, but nothing had changed.

“I’m not tired, right?”

It had been three days since that phone call, and today was Saturday. Surely, the fatigue from the black company had worn off by now.

I was thinking about leaving, but I also thought this might be the kind of company.

“Excuse me, I’m here for the tester interview.”

I rechecked my phone’s location and, mustering my courage, I approached the counter and called out to the receptionist with long hair.

“Yes, may I have your name and the name of the person you’re here to see?”

Thinking about how beautiful her voice was, I straightened my back.

“My name is Tanaka Jiro. I’m here to see Sue from the Tester Recruitment Department.”

“Yes, Mr. Tanaka. We have your information. I will call Sue for you. Please have a seat over there.”

Being smiled at by a dark elf is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, isn’t it?

Even if it was special makeup, it was a rare experience.

When was the last time my face felt hot from something other than the sun?

I nodded, remembering, and headed to the waiting area.

I had nothing to do, but I didn’t feel like fiddling with my phone.

Instead, I checked to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything.

“Good, I didn’t forget anything.”

But the check was over in an instant.

Checking five or so documents would only take a minute, considering my previous job.

I hadn’t read them so thoroughly in a long time.

Now, I was back to having nothing to do...

“Huh?”

The sound of high heels tapping on the floor caught my attention.

And I realized.

This company is strange, mainly in a fantasy way.

“I’m sorry for keeping you waiting. Is Mr. Tanaka Jiro here?”

“Yes! I’m Tanaka Jiro.”

“I will be conducting your interview. I’m Sue.”

The woman who bowed slightly was a different dark elf from the receptionist.

I couldn’t see the details from a distance, but the woman in front of me was undoubtedly real.

If the makeup was so realistic that it made her look real, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a movie studio.

She had long silver hair tied up and wore silver-framed glasses, giving her an intellectual look. That was my first impression of Sue.

“Please follow me.”

“Yes!”

She might be more beautiful than the receptionists.

She looked about twenty, but her presence made her seem older.

The combination of dark elves and suits, a mix of reality and fantasy, was so out of the ordinary that I decided to accept it as a part of the company.

It was strange that I didn’t feel any regret or disappointment.

As Sue led me, I was taken to a small conference room on the first floor.

“Please have a seat. Would you like coffee?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

I had been saying “yes” a lot, but I guess that’s normal for an interview.

You need to speak up when you need to, but otherwise, minimal responses are important.

I straightened my posture, recalling the tips for interviews.

“Huh?”

But I ended up looking like a fool in front of the woman who was about to interview me.

“So, you can see them, can you?”

“Huh? That’s amazing, is it a magic trick?”

Instead of nodding in agreement with my response, I wished she would give me some time to calm down, as if my brain was about to overheat.

If a tray of coffee had flown over, anyone would have reacted the same way.

“It’s magic.”

Sue’s matter-of-fact response only added to my confusion. She took the