Chapter 24

Perhaps because it was a dungeon formed in a factory, the scene that unfolded was somewhat different from the Sasaki family's dungeon.

The walls and floors were still made of earth, but there was a faint smell of iron. Thinking, "Huh?" he lightly touched the wall and dug into the earth, only to find reddish-brown stones embedded in it.

"Is this mixed with iron?"

"It's iron ore. Dungeons sometimes change their appearance to match the properties of the land where they form. We covered this in training, didn't we?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it... This is what it is. It seems a bit dull, doesn't it?"

"When they get large, you can see some strange sights. Like a wall with a waterfall flowing backward, or a floor made of candy."

"Like Hansel and Gretel. What a calorie-laden story."

He proceeded deeper into the dungeon, marveling at its mysterious characteristics. The difficulty level was not much different from the Sasaki family's dungeon. He punched and kicked the occasional slime or goblin, and sometimes even performed a back drop to scatter them.

Godo, who was filming from behind, asked a question.

"Still, Kosei-kun, your technique is impressive. Is this the power of the 10x learning efficiency?"

"Yeah, well. I just watched videos of fighters on the internet and mimicked them. That's all."

"That's a story that would make fighters around the world envious. To be able to do that just by watching and mimicking."

"Well, you see. As an explorer, I can't make a living as a fighter. I hope you can understand that."

He responded with a wry smile. Over the past few days, he had deeply felt the broken performance of the 10x learning speed for combat techniques, a benefit of the title "Savior of Souls."

After all, he could understand and mimic such videos with just one viewing. The movements of experts and advanced techniques did require some actual practice, but even then, it only took a few days for them to become part of his skill set.

It was incredibly unfair. If this were in any other business setting, it would be intensely resented.

"Thinking about it again, I can see why explorers can't take on other jobs."

"It's not that they can't. In principle... when an explorer has skills that give them an advantage over non-explorers, the union rules prohibit them from working in those professions."

Godo said that it wasn't legally prohibited, but in practice, it was almost as good as a ban.

This country guarantees the freedom of occupational choice for all citizens, which is undeniable.

However, there is a tacit understanding or an open secret within industries that hiring explorers is to be avoided.

This is because, at the beginning of the Great Dungeon era, the effects of titles and skills possessed by explorers—then called "ability holders"—gave them an overwhelming and absolute advantage over those without such abilities.

Without any established system, they used their powers in daily life and work, not just in dungeon exploration.

Naturally, this created a gap between ability holders and non-ability holders in every aspect of life.

The ability holders developed a sense of superiority, while the non-ability holders felt a sense of exclusion. This led to a volatile situation not just in Japan but worldwide.

The United Nations created the International Explorer Coordination Organization, known as WSO, and over a long period, changed the social climate to encourage ability holders to focus on dungeon exploration.

Even now, anti-skill and anti-exploration industry activists argue that explorers are nothing more than slaves confined to the dungeon.

Whether or not they are slaves, the analogy has some merit, especially when you consider the effects of skills and titles, which are now very real to me.

This can't be helped!

If this were unleashed into the world, it would be dangerous no matter how you look at it!

When you calmly and rationally judge the power you have, anyone can see that using it outside of exploration would only create inequality.

As Mr. Godo and the senior explorers said during the new recruit training, skills and titles should only exist for dungeon exploration. Using them in other contexts will inevitably lead to terrible consequences.

This is the first lesson all explorers learn, and as you continue to explore dungeons and develop your skills, it becomes a personal realization.

So, we live as explorers. If we are suited to it, we explore dungeons; if not, we work as union staff.

We will live in this Great Dungeon era, in the shadows and in the light.

"The dungeon is where I live."

"Yes, and it is the path we will walk together."

I feel like I have truly understood the most important mindset of an explorer.

Godo was there to support me, letting me know I'm not alone.

At the time of posting this story, it has achieved:

1st place in the Low Fantasy Daily Ranking

4th place in the Overall Daily Ranking

Thank you very much. I will continue to work hard.

Please bookmark and rate the story.