Chapter 5

After finishing my morning meal at the café and taking a short break, I headed straight to a clothing store.

The clothes I’m wearing now smell a bit sweaty, don’t they? I thought there might be a dress code at the place where Milk is going, so I decided to buy and change into something a bit more expensive.

But I don’t really understand fashion.

In the end, I just bought whatever the store clerk recommended.

The total came to 80,000 yen, which made my eyes pop out as a high school student, but I liked them, so I paid and changed in the fitting room.

I left my belongings in a coin locker and headed to the meeting place.

I arrived seven minutes early, but Milk hadn’t shown up yet.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Milk arrived five minutes before the scheduled time.

She’s my childhood friend who always arrives five minutes early.

"I was just in the dungeon, so I wasn’t waiting."

"Just now? Wait, from last night?"

Oh, right, usually one floor takes about eight hours to explore.

It’s now eleven, so it wouldn’t be strange to think she had been exploring since last night.

"Just kidding."

"Right. Your clothes look freshly washed and clean. Yeah, they suit you."

I just bought them.

We went to a pancake shop.

It’s a bit of a walk from here.

Is this really a pancake shop?

It looks really expensive.

It’s the first time I’ve been to a sky lounge in a high-rise building.

But there’s a line.

"I’m Makoto Maki, I have a reservation."

"Mr. Maki, we’ve been waiting for you. This way, please."

It turns out Milk had made a reservation.

We went inside, leaving the line behind.

Wait, what? We were led to a private room at the very back, which was clearly more luxurious than the other seats—could this be a VIP room? Don’t think too much, I told myself.

From the window, you can see a panoramic view of Osaka.

"Beautiful view, huh?"

"Yeah, it is."

If I were with Aoki, we’d probably say, "Look, people are like ants," and play dictator, but the atmosphere isn’t like that.

I’m glad I changed my clothes... I would have stood out if I had come in my explorer outfit.

I looked at the menu.

The pasta and pancake course was 1,200 yen.

I thought it was cheaper than expected, but it was actually 12,000 yen.

And the drink is extra.

"Sorry, it’s more expensive than I thought. Last time, my dad ordered for me without looking at the menu."

Milk is a lady, but she has common sense.

She used to go to the candy store with her friends a lot, and she seems to have a good sense of money.

"It’s fine. I can afford this much. Besides, I invited you, so let me treat you to the lunch course."

"You’re so reliable. Then I’ll take you up on that."

So we ordered the lunch course and grape juice.

We toasted with the grape juice that arrived first.

It’s freshly squeezed, so the flavor is rich.

But thinking about it being 1,300 yen makes me a bit hesitant.

While I was savoring the grape juice, Milk brought up a topic.

"By the way, did you read the news about the slime wine?"

"Slime wine news? What’s that?"

You read it? That means you got the information from your smartphone, not TV.

For detailed dungeon-related information, online news is more common than TV.

Of course, there are many rumors, but recently laws have been put in place to regulate them, so the reliability has increased.

"A collector released a lot of slime wine, and the price dropped significantly. Yoroshi, it was a good decision to sell it at the shop back then. If you had put it up for auction, it would have only been worth about 100,000 yen."

"Ah... I see."

That’s because of me.

I had Danpon release it this morning too.

"...Huh? Collector? You mean a wine collector?"

"Yeah, that amount isn’t something a regular explorer can get. And it’s apparently being sold again recently."

"Well, the drop rate is 0.1%, so it’s hard to collect alone."

"0.1% is the rate when the minimum luck value is met."

"Minimum luck value?"

"Yoroshi, you don’t know? Even though you’re exploring dungeons?"

"No, I was invited by Aoki and went to the dungeon for the first time last week. Before that, I had no interest in dungeons."

I only did the bare minimum research.

Basic strategies for beginners, budget for equipment, and dungeon entry fees.

And it was from Milk that I first learned about the minimum luck value.

The drop rate of items is set based on a minimum luck value.

If the luck value is below the minimum, the drop rate drops significantly, to one in a hundred or one in a thousand.

The minimum luck value for slime wine is 50.

In this case, whether the luck value is 1 or 49, the drop rate of slime wine is less than one in a million, not 0.1%.

The information I had read, that the luck value doesn’t significantly affect the drop rate, came from a quick read.

And the 0.1% drop rate for slime wine on the information site is the initial value when the minimum luck value is met. The drop rate increases with a higher luck value, reaching about 0.2% at a luck value of 100.

"But doesn’t everyone meet the luck value of 50?"

The initial value is 100, right?

Everyone meets it from the start. In fact, if everyone had a 0.2% drop rate, the value would...

"What are you talking about? The initial luck value is usually around 7 or 8. Luck value doesn’t increase much even when you level up, and very few people have a luck value of 50."

"...Huh?"

The initial value is around 7 or 8?

The luck value rarely increases?

I start at 100 and it increases every time I level up.

Is Milk joking?

But then she showed me her smartphone screen, which had a pink case, with the average luck value displayed.

The average for level 1 is 5?

For level 10, it’s 8!?

For level 50, it’s 20, seriously!?

"The higher the luck value, the easier it is to increase. People who are over level 100 might have a luck value over 50, but they don’t usually fight slimes. There are more efficient monsters to earn money from. That’s why slime wine was expensive."

While listening to Milk, I stared at the smartphone screen, which then switched to an incoming call screen.

It said "Dad."

"Sorry, I’ll take this outside."

Milk immediately left, and a delicious-looking salad with salmon and salmon roe was brought to the table.

I wanted to eat it first, but I waited for Milk to come back and looked up information about the minimum luck value.

It seems the mushrooms I sold this morning also have a minimum luck value of 80.

Even below that, the drop rate is 5-6%, which isn’t too low, but I see.

No wonder the guy at the exchange shop was surprised.

Twenty mushrooms... I need to be more careful when going to Umeda D next time.

While I was thinking about this, Milk came back.

But she looked a bit upset.

"Sorry, I’m glad you started eating."

"Was the call okay?"

"Yeah, my dad apparently wasted money on me, and I got a bit angry."

"Like a crossbow?"

"No, an experience potion. One drink gives you the experience of killing 1,000 slimes."

"Wow, that’s great. Leveling up is tough until level 10."

I wish I could have bought and drunk such a potion.

"It costs 5 million yen?"

"High, right? It uses a special mushroom that’s hard to come by."

Wow, a mushroom.

Could it be the mushrooms I sold this morning...? No, that’s probably overthinking it.

"But it’s not just about money. Yoroshi is working hard, and it feels unfair for me to level up just by drinking a potion. Besides, the Ishidai dungeon is already like paying to go in."

"Well... But your dad is a veteran explorer, so he knows the struggles of low levels well."

I chose my words carefully, trying not to upset Milk but also to defend her father.

Makoto’s father is a well-known explorer.

He’s ranked third in Kansai and has appeared on TV a few times.

As an explorer, he knows the struggles of low levels and probably has high hopes for Milk, who has awakened to magic.

Actually, if we’re talking about unfairness, I’m using the PD, which is even more unfair.

My luck value starts at 100.

"Still..."

"Besides, it’s still a while before Milk can explore the dungeon. I’m going ahead, so catch up, even if you have to drink a potion."

"You might overtake me."

"Don’t underestimate me. I’m developing my own dungeon strategy and growing rapidly. I might even become stronger than your dad."

"---?!"

When I said that, Milk was a bit surprised and then laughed happily.

Maybe declaring that I’ll surpass the third-ranked explorer in Kansai is a bit much?

"Okay, I’ll wait. I’ll catch up soon!"

When Milk’s smile returned, I started eating the salad.

By the way, the fluffy pancakes were like eating clouds and were delicious.

Incidentally, Milk told me that the meal expenses for dungeon explorers are considered basic expenses for building stamina and can be claimed as a business expense.

I need to think about tax returns properly.

After collecting the PD, I went home.

When I got to my room, one of the D cans was open, and a candy was inside.

Luck value?

Thanks to my luck value of 138?

I thought about taking it to an appraiser to have it appraised.

If it’s a skill candy, it could sell for a high price, maybe even hundreds of millions.

It could be enough to live off for life.

But I just told Milk that I would become stronger.

I felt there was some meaning to opening the D can at the moment I decided to become stronger.

So I chose the skill over the money.

I licked the candy.

I learned a new skill.

The new skill I learned was "Detailed Appraisal."

...Wait, what? Detailed Appraisal? Not just regular Appraisal?

***

"Hey, Dad. Sorry about earlier. And thank you. By the way, do you remember that talk? The one about if I ever like someone. You said you wouldn’t approve unless he’s stronger than me. That’s not what I meant—no, no, I’m not dating anyone. I don’t have a boyfriend."

Thank you.

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