Chapter 1

Standing in line for two hours to enter, and after paying an entrance fee that doesn’t seem cheap at all, it’s just people, people, people inside.

This was a dungeon located even deeper underground in the Umeda underground shopping district.

Ten years ago, a creature called "Danpon" suddenly appeared from another world.

Danpon negotiated with the leaders of various countries to generate dungeons worldwide and invited people to explore them.

Battles with monsters, the discovery of treasures, and growth through level-ups.

What dreamy words, like a game, right?

Famous streamers’ videos of defeating monsters consistently surpass one million views, and top-ranking explorers, known as top-rankers, earn so much from their video revenue that even if they donated it all, they would still have more than enough wealth from the dungeons.

Dungeon exploration has become a kind of sports competition. Previously, high-income sports included soccer, basketball, golf, tennis, and in Japan, baseball. Now, the top 10 high-income rankings are dominated by dungeon explorers.

Such a dream-filled dungeon it was supposed to be—but—

"Is this what dungeon exploration is?"

I, Ichino Taira, am inside the dungeon for the first time, sitting on a blue tarp and looking around.

I’ve always been interested in explorers, but I have almost no knowledge or experience. Still, the dungeon exploration I see in the news seems much more spectacular.

"Don’t be picky. Level 1 explorers with no connections are mostly like this. Even non-explorers come here because learning useful skills can be advantageous for job hunting."

My friend Aoki, who came with me, responds to my complaint.

He’s 18, with a face that triggers maternal instincts despite his rude mouth, a stark contrast.

I think he could conquer the world if he dressed up as a girl.

Aoki is right; there are explorers other than aspiring ones. For example, there’s a clearly salaryman-like person nearby.

When you defeat a monster, your level goes up. When your level goes up, not only do your stats increase, but you might also learn a skill. Most skills are useful in battles, but there are also skills like "Translation," "Appraisal," and "Instant Cooking" that can be used in daily life. While battle-related skills are heavily restricted outside the dungeon, non-combat skills can often be used normally, and many people come to the dungeon to acquire such skills.

That’s why the dungeon is always crowded.

I am currently sitting on a blue tarp, waiting for slimes to spawn.

In the past, there was a problem called "side-swiping," where someone would steal a monster someone else was fighting, leading to many incidents. Recently, however, explorers sit on blue tarps, and only the monsters that appear on their tarp can be defeated. There’s no need to search for monsters.

If a monster appears at the boundary of the tarp, the right to defeat it goes to the person on the tarp the monster moves to.

"Wouldn’t it be more efficient to go on an expedition to the Ishida Dungeon?"

"That place has been bought by the Nara Group and is now a dungeon exclusive to hotel guests. The minimum stay is 1.5 million yen per night, and it’s booked up for the next three years."

"Seriously?"

I sigh.

At that moment, a blue light appears in front of me, and a blue slime emerges.

It’s a monster with no eyes, nose, or mouth, looking like a large gummy.

Surprised, I reflexively swing the club I borrowed at the entrance.

It feels like smashing a cockroach with a bathroom slipper.

The slime squashes and disappears in a burst of light particles.

Left behind is a black medal, a D-Coin.

If I take this to the exchange counter, it can be converted to money. Each black coin is worth 50 yen.

After waiting for 30 minutes and earning 50 yen... that’s 100 yen per hour.

I paid 1000 yen as an entrance fee, and with an 8-hour limit, I’m looking at a 200 yen deficit.

"Low-level dungeon explorers don’t make much money, huh?"

"True."

A slime also appears in front of Aoki, and he smashes it too.

"Once you reach level 10, you can go to the second floor, and the efficiency improves a bit, but I think my savings will be gone before then."

"Level 10 requires defeating 7000 slimes. How old will I be by then?"

After 7 hours, I’ve defeated 15 slimes.

I’m still level 1.

It’s said that defeating about 20 slimes will get you to level 2, but it’s unlikely I’ll level up today.

Just then, a light appears in front of me.

I thought it was another slime, but it turned out to be a treasure chest.

I get excited, but no one around me seems particularly excited.

Most items from first-floor treasure chests are junk.

However, there are stories of high-performance accessories being found in first-floor chests and sold for millions.

"Open it!"

"Yeah—hope for a rare item!"

I open the treasure chest.

Inside is a can.

A completely black cylindrical can.

It’s slightly larger than a peach can.

I think it’s made of metal.

When I take it out, the treasure chest disappears like a dead monster.

"A D-Can?"

Aoki looks at the can and says.

"What’s a D-Can?"

"A Dungeon Can. It’s a can that opens and reveals a treasure when certain conditions are met. Selling it gets you 1000 yen, but you won’t know what’s inside until you open it."

"Like a gacha in a game?"

"Actually, it’s called a can gacha."

Getting 1000 yen would cover the entrance fee, but since it’s my first treasure, I want to keep it.

It’s light, and it doesn’t make any sound when shaken. I thought it might be empty, but apparently, all D-Cans are like this.

You won’t know until you open it.

"I’ll open it myself—do you have a can opener... of course not, right?"

"Regular can openers won’t work."

"How do you open it without a can opener or a pull tab?"

Regular cans usually have instructions on how to open them, but this one has nothing.

"I don’t know."

"Huh?"

"I don’t know how to open it. There are rumors that it opens when you defeat a monster or after ten years, but the conditions to open a D-Can vary. Collectors have over a million D-Cans, but only about 100 have opened. The contents of D-Cans vary widely, from dragon eggs to canned tuna."

"Canned tuna is really just a can, isn’t it?"

"That’s how it is. I think you should sell it."

I look at the can in front of me.

I can’t help but think it might open.

"I’ll take it home. I can always sell it later."

"Sure. Don’t get too obsessed. Many people have gone crazy trying to open D-Cans."

"Got it."

With that, our first day of dungeon exploration (if you can call it that) is over.

And then—

"Ichino, I’m quitting dungeon exploration."

"Well, it does cost money and time... but you’ve always wanted to be a dungeon explorer since you were a kid..."

"I realized I can’t last eight hours without my smartphone."

"Right—"

I remember Aoki is a smartphone addict.

He spent most of his breaks watching videos, reading novels and comics on e-books, and always carried a mobile battery.

You can’t bring electronic devices, dangerous items, or medicine into the dungeon (except for items found inside the dungeon).

If you try to bring them in, they get repelled by the entrance barrier.

"Hey, can you exchange these medals for me whenever you have time?"

"Sure... I’ll pay you."

The D-Medal exchange counters have an average wait time of one hour. Therefore, most explorers don’t exchange their medals after each dungeon run but wait a few days to do it all at once.

I give Aoki 16 black coins—800 yen.

While selling D-Medals between individuals is prohibited, this amount is generally tolerated.

In the end, since we were already in the city, we bought "Uncle Bikuro’s Cheese Cake," took the train, and went home.

I complain to my mother about dungeon exploration and lie down on my bed.

I take out the D-Can from my bag.

"Is it canned tuna or a dragon egg?"

A dragon egg could be worth tens of billions to hundreds of billions of yen. Even after taxes, it would be enough to live a life of luxury for many lifetimes.

"Status Open"

I shout at the ceiling light.

――――――――――――――――――

Ichino Taira: Level 1

Exchange Amount: 0D (Ranking: -)

HP: 15/15

MP: 0/0

Attack: 3

Defense: 2

Skill: 5

Agility: 3

Luck: 100

Skills: None

――――――――――――――――――

A screen like this appears in front of me.

Once you enter the dungeon, everyone can see their own status, but not others'.

I don’t know if my stats are high or low, but they seem pretty average.

Is the luck value fixed at 100 initially?

According to a simple explanation site, a higher luck value increases the drop rate of items and the effectiveness of skills that activate based on probability. However, the difference is minimal, so it’s not something to worry too much about.

D-Medals are summarized based on their exchange value, and rankings are created accordingly.

Top-rankers can earn tens of millions to hundreds of millions of yen in a day. I used to dream of that.

But for an average person, it seems like an unreachable dream.

Most dungeons have safety margins, and in Japan, almost all dungeons only allow you to go to floors where you can reliably defeat monsters. You can’t go to dangerous floors hoping for a big score.

So, when you’re low-level, you can only fight on low floors.

However, low floors are crowded, especially in dungeons with cheap entrance fees, like today.

I mentioned the Ishida Dungeon in Nara to Aoki, but according to internet information, it’s still exclusive to hotel guests.

I want to earn experience points more efficiently.

"If only I had my own personal dungeon..."

I’ve never heard of anyone owning a personal dungeon.

I’ve heard there’s a dungeon for the royal family in the Imperial Palace, but that’s just a rumor.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, the can I’m holding starts to glow.

Maybe—

The lid of the can opens!?

Why?

No, that doesn’t matter.

I look inside.

"...Huh?"

There’s a red glass ball... maybe a gem? A ruby?

No, I realize when I hold it. To confirm, I smell it.

It has a sweet scent.

It’s definitely a candy.

Not canned tuna, but a drop can!

And only one piece.

"Is this a real drop item... are you trying to be clever? It’s not a drop item because it wasn’t dropped by a monster!"

I shout, and from the first floor, I hear, "Taira, stop screaming and disturbing the neighbors!"

But out of curiosity, I search the internet.

【D-Can Candy】

55,100 search results.

Huh? Is it normal for D-Cans to contain candy? I see, a famous confectionery company in Osaka has released a can that looks like a D-Can, containing drop candies. I think I saw it in a commercial.

Because of this, it’s hard to find information about D-Cans containing candy.

In the midst of this, I find a thread on a bulletin board.

――――――――――――――――――――――――――

【I learned a skill by licking the candy that came out of a D-Can. Any questions?】

1: Anonymous Explorer

Any?

2: Anonymous Explorer

>>1

Liar

3: Anonymous Explorer

Liar

4: Anonymous Explorer

I learned a skill too

NTR (Note: NTR stands for "Netorare," a Japanese term for a situation where someone steals your partner)

My girlfriend disappeared

5: Anonymous Explorer

>>4

Did your imaginary girlfriend disappear?

6: Anonymous Explorer

>>4

My girlfriend is right here next to me

■ This thread is archived

――――――――――――――――――――――――――

...Yeah, that’s bad.

Based on this information, searching for 【D-Can Candy Skill】 doesn’t yield any useful results.

Should I get the candy appraised?

I search for 【Dungeon Item Appraisal】 and find information about appraisers.

People with the "Appraisal" skill can appraise dungeon items for a fee—

5000 yen.

This is the standard price.

For a high school student like me, it’s a significant amount.

If I spend it and get told it’s just a candy, I won’t be able to recover.

"Men are bold"

I decide to lick the candy.

I’m afraid to bite it.

I gradually lick and dissolve it.

It’s strawberry-flavored.

It’s delicious.

I usually bite candies, but I remember the thread said to lick it, so I keep licking.

And then—

I finish licking it.

There’s no change.

Maybe it’s just a candy.

I check my status just in case.

――――――――――――――――――

Ichino Taira: Level 1

Exchange Amount: 0 (Ranking: -)

HP: 15/15

MP: 0/0

Attack: 3

Defense: 2

Skill: 5

Agility: 3

Luck: 100

Skills: PD Generation

――――――――――――――――――

"---! I have a new skill"

PD Generation?

Damn, I don’t understand.

I search the list of currently discovered skills online, but there’s no such skill.

There are two types of skill usage: passive skills, which activate automatically, and active skills, which you activate manually.

I try to activate it by holding out my hand—

But I get scared and move to the yard to test it.

"PD Generation!"

I hold out my hand and say it.

Then—

"Huh?"

A staircase appears in front of me.

A staircase leading underground.

I’m shocked and dazed when—

"Taira, what are you doing in the yard?"

My mother comes out in sandals.

"Huh? No, this is—"

I’m worried I’ll get scolded for making a staircase in the yard.

But—

"Mother, it’s dangerous."

"What’s dangerous?"

My mother walks up the stairs and approaches me.

Is she flying?

"Mother, look down."

"What’s wrong with down?"

My mother looks down.

"There’s nothing there."

She means there’s no ground.

Literally, there’s just a normal ground.

It seems my mother can’t see the stairs.

What’s going on?

"It’s late, go to bed."

"Okay."

I watch my mother go back inside and cautiously step onto the staircase.

I’m afraid I won’t be able to enter like my mother, but I can easily go down one step.

When I try to go further underground, my smartphone is repelled.

There’s a barrier that prevents smartphones from being brought in.

"Is this a dungeon?"

I finally understand what PD means.

A dungeon visible only to me—PD.

This is a new series.

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