Chapter 2

Since smartphones cannot be brought into the dungeon, I returned to my room to put mine away and lied to my mother, saying, "I'm going for a jog."

I headed towards the dungeon, descending the stairs that had appeared in the yard. This time, I was able to descend safely. There was no one around. As I walked slowly, I found a cash exchange office.

"Welcome."

The one there was a giant marshmallow with only eyes, a nose, and a mouth. It was Dampom, the creator of the dungeon. Although he is now only seen at the cash exchange office, he used to be a media sensation when the dungeon was first created. Not only was his adorable appearance a hit, but he also introduced various items from the other world. Just the medicines alone included weight loss pills, hair growth pills, and disease-curing pills, among others. They sold these medicines to the government, important figures from various countries, and billionaires to make money. They then exchanged this money for D-coins. The reason D-coins can be exchanged for cash at the cash exchange office is because of this.

"Welcome to the Private Dungeon."

It seems that PD is indeed the abbreviation for Private Dungeon.

"Is this your first time? Do you need an explanation of the Private Dungeon?"

"Please."

"Sure. The Private Dungeon is a dungeon for solo use, specifically for you. No one else can enter by normal means."

"Normal means? Is there a way for others to enter?"

"There is, but I want you to find it yourself. Next, time in the Private Dungeon flows at one-hundredth the rate of the outside world. If you stay here for a year, only about three and a half days will have passed in the outside world. Consequently, physical growth and aging also occur at one-hundredth the rate."

So it doesn't completely stop.

"Next, when generating a Private Dungeon, if there is another dungeon within a 500-meter radius, there is a possibility that they will connect. In such a case, you can go to the other dungeon, but you cannot return directly to the Private Dungeon from the other dungeon. Please note that the flow of time will return to normal the moment you move to another dungeon. Also, you cannot open two places simultaneously, so please be careful."

"Okay, I understand."

There are no dungeons around here, so it shouldn't be a problem.

"Can dungeons be created anywhere?"

"They can be created anywhere that is spacious and not inside another dungeon."

You might wonder what would happen if there were another room underground, but since the dungeon is not actually underground but in a different dimension, it's not a problem.

"Next, the Private Dungeon can only generate dungeons based on the levels of dungeons you have actually visited. Since you have only visited the first level of the Umeda Dungeon, you can only generate dungeons derived from there."

In other words, there is a safety margin. You won't suddenly encounter a dragon in the Private Dungeon.

"Lastly, in the Private Dungeon, you can adjust the frequency of monster and treasure chest appearances. Please note that this can only be adjusted in this room."

"Can I change the settings? Can I make a room where treasure chests appear in abundance?"

"No, the frequency of treasure chests and monsters is linked, so it's not possible to have only treasure chests. The maximum frequency is five times the normal rate."

The slimes in the Umeda Dungeon can be defeated with one strike of a cudgel. Even if five times as many appear, it shouldn't be a problem. It's a pretty convenient setting. You can monopolize the monsters, and they appear five times as often.

"Do you rent weapons?"

"We only sell, not rent."

Come to think of it, the Umeda Dungeon lends weapons, but Dampom is not involved in that.

"How much is a cudgel?"

"10D."

"D? D-coins?"

I show the black D-coins I brought, thinking there might be a cash exchange office.

"Yes, 10 of those. Black coins 10 pieces... 500 yen. Can D-coins be exchanged for cash?"

"Unfortunately, since this dungeon does not have transactions with the government or companies, it is difficult to exchange for cash. If you can connect to another dungeon, you can negotiate with the Dampom of that dungeon and make arrangements."

There are also transactions between Dampoms.

"That's all for the explanation, but if possible, I would be happy if you could deposit some D-coins with us. If you have too few D-coins, it becomes a bit problematic for me personally."

"...Okay, I understand. I'll deposit some, not all. I'm going to explore the dungeon, so please set the monster spawn rate to five times. And I'll buy a cudgel."

"Sure, be careful."

I bought a cudgel from Dampom, thanked him, and headed to the dungeon floor. There was a metal door. The door to the Umeda Dungeon was always open, but this one was closed. I pushed the door open and entered—

Suddenly, a slime jumped at me.

"Whoa!"

I let out an embarrassing sound and swung the cudgel down. The slime was defeated with one hit, and D-coins dropped. In the Umeda Dungeon, it would take hours to line up and several minutes to defeat a slime, but here it was so easy. There were slimes all over the dungeon. I smiled to myself. This is the dungeon life I was looking for.

I defeated slimes one after another, like smashing watermelons. It took more time to collect D-coins than to defeat the slimes. Then—

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Ichino Taira: Level 2

Cash Value: 10D (Ranking: 10M over [JPN])

HP: 17/17

MP: 0/0

Attack: 5

Defense: 4

Skill: 6

Agility: 4

Luck: 103

Skill: PD Generation

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I leveled up! Also, buying the cudgel was considered a cash transaction, so I was on the ranking. I'm ranked below 10 million in the Japanese ranking. I remember that top-ranking players appear on both the Japanese and world rankings, but that's not relevant to me—no, with a Private Dungeon, it's not impossible.

Anyway, I'm going to level up! I found a treasure chest and naturally opened it. Inside was a long sword. I wanted to move on from the cudgel, but I couldn't equip it. It's not because of the required level or lack of sword skills. There's a law that prohibits using swords with a blade length of over 15 cm in the dungeon, except in emergencies. If you break this law, you can be arrested for violating the knife law, even in the dungeon. You have to return the sword to the entrance of the dungeon and obtain a registration certificate for dungeon-produced firearms and swords through the dungeon manager. Even if you say you're underground and no one can see you, you still have to follow the rules. Also, it's heavy to carry, so I decided to take it back.

When I returned, Dampom was playing a game. It was a rather retro game. I was surprised that he could control it with telekinesis, despite having no hands or feet. I was curious about the game, but it was probably one I didn't know.

"500 yen for a coin? That's a good deal."

Dampom muttered. ...Ah, yeah. I recognized the game.

"Excuse me."

"Ah, welcome back, sir."

"Thanks. I'll be back soon. Can I apply for ownership of this sword?"

"Yes, it will take about two days, but it's possible."

Dampom took out a computer. The application for sword ownership is done on a computer. Since there's only a power cable and no LAN cable, this room must have Wi-Fi. And electricity, too. I can't bring in my smartphone or computer, but Dampom can. Or maybe it was excavated in the dungeon?

"Free storage for up to three weapons, and 20D is required for the sword ownership application."

1D is one black coin, and black coins can be exchanged for 50 yen, so it's about 1000 yen. I had plenty of black coins from the slimes, so I could pay easily. After having the sword stored, I deposited all the D-coins I had obtained with Dampom and returned to the dungeon. I continued hunting slimes. After about three hours, I reached level 4. At that time, after a slime disappeared, a black coin and a one-liter bottle remained. This is—

"Slime wine!"

Wine that slimes ferment in their bodies after eating grains... The drop rate is an astonishing 0.1%—one bottle per 1000 slimes. It's a rare drop among slime items. Although it's a slime, it should be worth at least 30,000 yen. I can monopolize this.

"7000 slimes to level 10... 7 bottles of slime wine... 210,000 yen."

I couldn't help but smile. However, I was tired today, so I decided to go home. When I returned home and went to the entrance, my father was just coming back.

"Welcome back. How was the dungeon?"

"Pretty good... Ah, this is from the dungeon, so you can drink it."

"This... It's slime wine! It can be sold for a lot of money."

Yeah, 30,000 yen is a lot of money.

"No, I got it with the allowance you gave me to enter the dungeon."

"...Thank you. I'll keep it carefully and we'll open it when you turn 20."

He looked like a parent who received a gift from their child with their first salary. Maybe that's how he felt.

"That's an exaggeration. If you want it, I can get more. Go ahead and drink it."

"Get more? That's not so easy—no, you're right. I'll ask you then."

Father nodded deeply, saying, "I understand."

When I got home—

"Tai, you're back already? You just left a few minutes ago."

Mother was surprised. She probably thought I had gone jogging and returned in a few minutes.

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Ichino Taira: Level 5

Cash Value: 30D (Ranking: 10M over [JPN])

HP: 26/26

MP: 0/0

Attack: 11

Defense: 9

Skill: 13

Agility: 12

Luck: 110

Skill: PD Generation

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Yeah, I'm level 5 now. However, the required experience points increase as the level goes up. I deposited all the medals I had collected with Dampom, and the total was 1281, including yesterday's. Since 30 were already used, it's 1311. To reach level 10, I need to defeat 7000 slimes, so I still need to defeat about 5700 slimes. It's a long way to go.

Thank you.

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