Chapter 19

"Are you talking about King Campbell, the world-ranked number one and CEO of the GDC Group, King Campbell?"

"Yes, that's right. I don't know any other King Campbell. Even though I'm his daughter, being the child of Daddy doesn't mean I have such a high status. Daddy has a hundred mistresses and even more children. I'm just one of them."

Indeed, the world's richest and greatest explorer is on a different level.

If the United States recognized polygamy, he might have married all of them.

But, if I'm one of over a hundred children, does he even remember all of our names?

"Isn't that lonely?"

"It's normal for a strong male to have many females. Even I am attracted to strong men. At least, my mother doesn't think her position is unhappy."

She said it clearly.

Maybe this isn't something outsiders should comment on.

"Then, what does Oshino want with me?"

"I want you to be my companion! I'll prepare ten million as a signing bonus! Of course, in dollars!"

It was such a sudden proposal.

Ten million dollars... that's on a different level.

If I hadn't just seen a blank check from Ushizou, my head would have exploded.

"Why are you approaching me, Oshino?"

"I'm just an ordinary high school student, right?"

"An ordinary high school student wouldn't have our special membership card."

The Oshino-branded black card.

I see, that's how you got my information.

I inquired by phone yesterday, and the dungeon receptionist is an employee of the Oshino Group.

Of course, as the CEO's daughter, she would have access to such information.

"No, I received this from an acquaintance—"

"I know. But your acquaintance must have thought you were qualified to have this card. He wouldn't have given it to you for no reason."

Oshino narrowed her eyes and said this.

Her gaze seemed to see through everything, and I was momentarily speechless.

"I want to form a party with a strong person. With you, I can achieve my dream."

"I'm still level 27. I'm strong for my age, but with your connections, you could form a party with even stronger explorers, right?"

"Level is just a decoration. At first, people are grateful for it, but eventually, it loses its meaning."

"What do you mean?"

"To level up, you need experience points. But the required experience points increase exponentially. To keep up, you need to fight stronger enemies, but eventually, you hit a wall. The monsters you need to defeat to level up require stats you don't have. This becomes especially noticeable from the 20th floor and above, where the safety margin disappears. To continue growing efficiently, to keep leveling up, to keep diving deeper, and to keep climbing the rankings, you need talent. People without talent will inevitably give up. And you have talent. After all, you have the ability to defeat an Evil Oger at your age."

"……!?"

Why did she know!?

I only told the dungeon management about my victory.

Did the information leak?

"Bullseye. I only hinted at it, but I didn't expect such an obvious reaction."

"Why?"

"The shop where you had your Growth Ring appraised is part of our chain. Of course, customer data comes in. That day, you were at the Expo Park Dungeon. And from internet eyewitness reports, it was written that the Evil Oger was defeated by a high school couple, one of whom was a girl with green hair."

Oshino looked at Higashi.

Indeed, there was more than enough circumstantial evidence.

I only thought about keeping "PD Generation" and "Detailed Appraisal" secret, so I was careless about other things. I need to be more careful.

"Sorry, my hair must have stood out."

"No, don't worry about it. But, that was a one-time trick, not as strong as Oshino thinks. If a second Evil Oger had appeared, we would have died."

"But you survived."

I understood her point.

But there's one thing I'm curious about.

"I want to know. Oshino—"

"Call me Hime."

"What is Oshino's dream? With your current position, you can achieve most dreams without diving into the dungeon, right?"

After all, the Oshino Group, which includes Oshino Resorts, is one of the largest companies in the country, even under the GDC Group.

As the CEO's daughter, you can achieve most dreams.

What kind of dream do you want to achieve in the dungeon?

"I want to be recognized by Daddy. To do that, I want to be ranked higher than him."

"Your opponent is the world-ranked number one!?"

"I'm more motivated by bigger goals."

What a big goal.

My goal of reaching a higher rank than Ushizou seems small in comparison.

And wanting to be recognized by your father...

It's an unimaginable wish for me, who has a good family relationship.

"I want to graduate from university. I don't plan to dive into the dungeon seriously right away."

"Coincidentally, I'm a college student too, and I can't act seriously until I graduate."

……Huh?

"Oshino is a college student?"

"Yes. I was born on March 3rd, so I'm one year older than you. I'm a student at Kyoto University this spring."

You look like a elementary school student, yet you're a college student!?

And an elite one at that!?

No, if you're 18 now, you're probably one year older than most people.

People like me, Higashi, and Milk, who were born in April and May, are the minority.

It seems that not only my information but also Higashi's information has been obtained.

"Oshino, are you going to form a party with her?"

"Yeah, just temporarily."

"Then I'll join too!"

Yeah, I decided that earlier, so I don't mind.

"But, let me confirm something first."

Higashi declared, pointing her Grand Mage's staff at Oshino.

What's with her competitive spirit?

Is she angry because her meal was interrupted?

"Whether you have the strength to form a party with Oshino! Being just a rich girl isn't enough for him!"

"Fine. I'll show you my strength!"

Is this already a confrontation?

Wait, let me finish my lunch before we move. Please wait a moment.

The three of us then moved to the fifth floor.

The fifth floor is different from other dungeons, as it has somewhat special monsters.

Goblins, Lizardmen, and Cubes, which are floating cubic monsters.

These Cubes don't attack; they just run away.

However, they run very fast (even though they don't have legs).

The methods to defeat them are to attack from a distance before they escape, corner them in a dead end, or move faster than they do.

They give about twice the experience points of a Goblin.

As I was thinking this, a Cube appeared.

"Let me show you my strength—"

She said this and kicked off the ground.

Wow, she's fast!

She caught up to the escaping Cube and finished it off with a dagger.

"How about that? I'm level 23 with an agility of over 250. No enemy can escape my legs. Can you do that?"

"I'll show you! Oshino, can you sense a Cube?"

"I'm not sure if it's a Cube, but there's a monster over there."

"Let's go."

Higashi said.

Thanks to my luck, another Cube appeared.

"You seem to be a wind-element mage, right? Cubes have magic resistance, so weak magic won't work."

"Hopefully, it's not weak. Then, I'll show you! Wind Bullet."

Thanks to the Grand Mage's staff, compressed wind shot out like a bullet, shattering the Cube in one hit.

A D-coin and an iron box fell.

"Good job. To get a Treasure Box right away is impressive."

"Treasure Box?"

"It's like a treasure chest. Most of the time, it contains potions or magic stones. Unlike D-cans, it opens easily and there are no bad outcomes, but no big wins either."

"That's right. Cubes drop one Treasure Box for every ten killed. How about we see who can collect the most Treasure Boxes in the next hour? Here are three dungeon-produced pocket watches. We'll meet at the stairs in one hour, and the person with the most Treasure Boxes wins. To make it fair, take this floor map. As a handicap, the Treasure Box you just got counts as one for you."

"I don't need a handicap. I accept the challenge!"

Did this turn into a competition without us noticing?

"Hey, both of you?"

"Start!"

They declared the start of the competition and ran in different directions.

Am I supposed to join too?

I don't have any ranged attack methods, and my agility isn't that high.

※ ※ ※

One hour later.

The three of us regrouped at the stairs.

The results were:

Higashi—3

Oshino—3

Me—27

I won by a landslide.

"That's strange. Why did this happen? Hey, Higashi, what's up with Oshino?"

"I don't know. I can only say that this is Oshino's doing—"

No, I think I killed about the same number as both of you.

Higashi used ranged attacks, and Oshino used her agility, but I targeted Cubes that were cornered.

Thanks to my ability to detect presence, it was easy to find enemies, and I could kill about the same number as both of them.

The difference in numbers is simply due to luck.

After all, they drop every time, not just one in ten.

Thus, Oshino recognized Higashi, and Higashi recognized Oshino, and a temporary party was formed.

Oshino Hime: "Call me Hime."

Ichino Taira: "No, that's embarrassing... It feels like I can't remember a customer's name, like a host."

A temporary party was formed without Milk.

Even though the first girl to appear was supposed to be the main heroine.

～～～～～～～～～～

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