Chapter 3

The next morning, I woke up a little early and went slime hunting in the PD.

I decided to continue until a treasure chest appeared.

I had also gotten used to handling the cudgel.

When I started feeling a bit tired, I took a rest in the room where Danpon was.

Thanks to my level up, I felt I could fall asleep more easily and recover from fatigue faster than before I started leveling up.

Last night, I read a summary site about the Umeda Dungeon and learned that a treasure chest appears somewhere in the dungeon after defeating about 500 slimes.

This is a very clear indicator.

There is no clock, no smartphone, and no sunlight in the dungeon, so the sense of time can get distorted, and you can end up staying for much longer. Therefore, the goal of getting a treasure chest is a clear benchmark.

The size of the first floor of the Umeda Dungeon is said to be 250,000 square meters, which is roughly the size of one Koshien Stadium.

If the dungeon were a perfect square, you wouldn't miss the treasure chest, but it is quite intricate. It feels like I'm walking a large area.

The treasure chest can appear anywhere, and if I continue hunting in the same place, the efficiency of slime hunting will drop, so I keep moving.

In the Umeda Dungeon, there are maps, signs, and staff, so I won't get lost, but in the PD, I have to memorize the map myself.

This is quite a challenge.

While thinking this, I continued hunting slimes and finally found a treasure chest.

That's enough for today's hunting.

By the way, the contents were—

“Crystal?”

A purple crystal-like object was inside.

Is it valuable?

I'm not that knowledgeable about dungeons. I'll look it up on my smartphone later.

I took a short nap, took a bath, and then headed to school.

My mother was suspicious, asking, "Why are you sweating so much from such a short jog?" but I managed to bluff my way through it.

I then attended classes seriously. I had a good nap, but I still felt a bit sleepy.

Still, I managed to get through it, and it was finally lunch break.

I talked with Aoki about yesterday's dungeon exploration.

Yesterday, Aoki told me he was quitting being a dungeon explorer and got quite a scolding from his parents.

"Why again? Weren't your parents against you becoming a dungeon explorer?"

"Yeah. It took a lot of persuasion. But yesterday, when I changed my mind, I thought I would get hit by my dad."

"You didn't get hit?"

"My dad is level 32. He can control himself. It's called anger management."

The status in the dungeon is powerful in the dungeon, but it has some effect outside as well.

Level 32 means he has a decent status.

"Is your dad a police officer? Police officers must have high levels, right?"

Since the dungeon appeared and the number of dungeon explorers increased, crimes committed by explorers have also increased. Police officers now need to have levels to apprehend them.

However, outside the dungeon, the benefits of levels are minimal, and there haven't been any extremely dangerous criminals who can stop bullets with their bare hands yet.

"So, are you going to continue being an explorer?"

"I'm going to work part-time now. I'll save money and go to a dungeon school."

"Dungeon school? That's pretty expensive, right? Are you serious?"

"If I go to a country with a low cost of living, it will be around 3 million yen."

It would take a lot of time to raise my level to 10 in a place like the Umeda Dungeon.

Considering the safety margin, it would take several weeks even if there were few people.

However, there are dungeons overseas where you can dive deep even at level 1 without a safety margin.

Among them, there are dungeons where a safe method of hunting monsters has been established, and you can go on a trip to forcibly raise your level, which is called a dungeon study abroad.

You can come back at level 10 in about two weeks.

"What kind of part-time job are you going to do?"

"I'm still thinking about it. For now, I want to do something related to dungeons."

"Well, good luck."

I will sell slime wine and make a fortune, but I can't spread the word about PD too much.

By the way, can this crystal be sold for a high price?

I took out the crystal I was going to look up later.

"Huh? Did you buy a streaming crystal? Was it expensive?"

"Streaming crystal?"

"Is it not? It looks like one."

"What is it?"

"Don't you know? It's a device for streaming inside the dungeon."

Eh? Normally, live streaming is done using a smartphone or specialized equipment, right?

Oh, that's right. The dungeon has a barrier, so you can't bring those in.

Danpon used a computer, but that was an exception.

Then, how do you stream inside the dungeon?

I started researching dungeons recently, so I didn't know, but this streaming crystal is used for that purpose.

"This crystal can send video information from the surroundings outside the dungeon. It can be used not only for video streaming but also for sending necessary information from the outside. It can receive text information like a pager."

The method of sending data is something I understand.

I learned yesterday that there is Wi-Fi or something similar in the dungeon.

I searched for streaming crystals on my smartphone.

They are quite popular.

...How expensive!?

The market price is 100,000 yen.

"Treasure chests appear quite often in the dungeon, but the demand is even higher—oh! I'll get a qualification as a dungeon video editor!"

"Huh? What about the part-time job?"

"If I get the qualification, I can find part-time jobs editing dungeon streaming videos, right? I'll apply right away."

The proactive Aoki immediately applied for a course.

I was curious, so I looked it up, but the tuition was 90,000 yen, which is quite expensive.

I'm impressed that he can apply without hesitation.

When I got home, I immediately went to the dungeon in the yard.

Danpon was still playing with a Game Boy.

When he noticed me,

"Hello."

I greeted him, and he replied,

"Hello."

Cute.

I took the cudgel I had left and went to defeat slimes.

I planned to stay overnight.

My goal was 3000 slimes—six treasure chests.

At my current pace, I can defeat about three slimes per minute. It takes one hit to defeat them, but it takes time to find them.

If I can defeat three slimes per minute, it will take about 20 hours to defeat 3000 slimes.

I will need to take breaks, so it will take a full day.

Each slime drops one black coin, worth 50 yen.

For 3000 slimes, that's 150,000 yen.

However, according to my agreement with Danpon, I will only cash in D-coins when the dungeon allows it.

Until then, slime wine will be my main source of income.

For 3000 slimes, I expect to get about three bottles of slime wine.

If I get a streaming crystal from the treasure chest, I can sell the second and subsequent ones, but it won't come out that easily.

So, I went slime hunting.

It's quite tiring.

It feels like a long time before the first treasure chest appears.

Finally, the contents of the treasure chest that appeared were a black magic stone the size of a ping-pong ball. Magic stones are being considered by the Japanese government as a source of decarbonized energy and are a priority for purchase. However, this magic stone would probably only sell for about 500 yen.

However, thanks to this magic stone, electricity bills in Japan have become very cheap.

It's an amazing story that the power generation capacity of thermal power plants worldwide has decreased to less than 10% of what it was 10 years ago.

The value of coins and magic stones increases in the order of black < white < yellow < red < blue < purple < copper < silver < gold.

The order up to purple is the same as the 12 levels of the Imperial Court.

There is said to be a medal above gold, but it has not been discovered yet.

According to rumors, a purple magic stone of the same size can be sold for 50 billion yen, indicating that it contains an enormous amount of energy.

After that, the treasure chests only contained cheap items or junk.

The slime wine might be more valuable.

For 3000 slimes, I expected to get about three bottles of slime wine, but I got seven.

I'm grateful for the skewed probability.

Now, how do I sell these?

There are limited places where you can sell items dropped from dungeons.

You can't sell them at ordinary recycling shops.

There are three places to sell them.

- Sell at a dungeon shop.

This is a place that sells dungeon goods with permission from the government.

If you bring items here, they will buy almost anything you got from the dungeon, except for junk.

Some items may be bought at a high price.

- Auction at a dungeon auction.

This is held once a week in various places, and valuable items are traded.

Sometimes items can sell for dozens of times their usual buyback price, but sometimes they don't sell even at the minimum price.

- Sell at a cashing office.

This is a place that buys items at the minimum price.

They will also buy junk that is difficult to carry.

Items sold here are auctioned through Danpon.

No matter which one you choose, your personal information is linked and your income is recorded (you can't hide income).

However, if I bring multiple bottles of slime wine to the shop or auction, they might suspect how I got them.

So, I think it's best to sell one bottle at the shop and the rest through Danpon.

As a high school student, a few tens of thousands of yen should be enough for now.

So, the next day after school, I took the train to the dungeon shop.

There, I unexpectedly met someone.

A girl with light pink hair in a ponytail looked at me in surprise and called out.

"Eh? Taichiro?"

"Milk?"

It was Makino Milk, her real name.

We drifted apart after going to different high schools.

"What's with your hair color? Did you debut in high school?"

"No, it's my natural hair color. I awakened."

"Eh? Really!?"

Awakening means awakening to magic.

As you get closer to 18, one in 10,000 people awakens to magic and can use it.

If the magic power is strong, the hair color can change to a different color.

Unlike me, who has no magic power even at level 7, Milk apparently had magic power from level 1.

"I didn't expect to meet you here."

"Really. We live close to each other in our hometown, but we hardly ever see each other. Eh? Taichiro, did you become an explorer? I remember you were born in April."

"Yeah, I did."

"Then Aoki too? I think Aoki has a similar birthday, right?"

"He gave up on being an explorer after one day."

"Ahaha, that sounds like Aoki."

"Did you turn 18 too, Milk?"

"Did you forget my birthday? It's May 5th, which is very easy to remember."

Oh, that's right.

She was born on Children's Day.

So, she hasn't figured out what magic she can use yet.

You can't use magic outside the dungeon, and you can't see your status until you enter the dungeon once.

"During the Golden Week, my family is going to the Ishibutai Dungeon to celebrate my 18th birthday."

Wow, the Ishibutai Dungeon, I think it's a hotel stay for a minimum of 1.5 million yen, right?

For the whole family to go, she's definitely a rich girl.

"So, I'm thinking of buying a crossbow there."

"Eh? Aren't crossbows in the dungeon very expensive?"

"Yeah. I was surprised when I saw the price. The cheapest one is 5 million yen, including 30 arrows."

You can't bring weapons from the surface into the dungeon, and there are no ranged weapons in the drop items or treasure chests.

So,